Guild Wars 2

I’m a one mmo player. I just switched to GW2. My first char is Ranger, Lvl15.

What do I like?
- A single primary character that recieves 95% of my attention.
- Ability to solo or not rely on others. Self sufficient.
- Be a valued asset to a team or guild.
(Contradictory? Solo & a team player? Lesson learned from other mmo’s)
- Not fond of close melee combat (ex: tank in other mmo).
- I like glitz, pizzaz, fun, and exciting abilities & utilities.

I like the Mesmer, not sure of its survivability. Elementalist & Necromancer too.

Big thx in advance.

if you enjoy flashiness and being able to solo while being useful in a party, elementalist is probably a good way to go. ele is a very versatile class and incredibly strong (Highest ranged dps class in the game with a staff), they’re also always welcome in group content due to their ability to quickly stack a lot of boons (positive status effects) on people and have great tools (elemental weapons) they can summon to clear things very fast

My first was a ranger also. My second and third mesmer and elementalist. Those are my 3 favorite but mesmer is my main. I like ranged combat on all three but have grown to really like melee on my mesmer and ranger and even on my elementalist (I find it very satisfying smashing things with her lightening hammer). The GS #2 and #3 on the ranger are kind of flashy. They have “ghost animal” animations that appeal to me. I like swooping in as a bird of prey and then pouncing like a big bear. And both mesmer and elementalist are very flashy, being scholar class.

Both Mesmer and Elementalist fit your criteria.

Solo Both do well solo.

Asset to Team
Elementalists provide water fields, might stacking, and AoE damage to a team.
Mesmers provide feedback, mass invisibility, and portal to a team.

Melee Combat
There aren’t really “ranged” and “melee” classes in this game. A great number of Mesmer builds use sword as one weapon set, because of it’s damage output and invulnerability frames (distortion). One of the flashiest weapon sets for Ele is dagger mainhand (which isn’t really melee, just very close range). You could play both of them as solely ranged, but you’re giving up a tool in your toolbox if you do.

Same is true of Ranger. Longbow is nice, but greatsword is also very useful.

Having said all of that, as a former “mostly ranged player”, I can tell you that this game may change your mind about melee. With weapon swapping, you can jump in and melee, then pop back and pewpew, and jump back in again as the situation leads.

Mesmer’s are plenty survivable once you learn them, and get past the stupid New Player Experience trait progression. You kinda need some traits in order to put out illusions fluidly.

Based on your post, I think I’d lean Elementalist, though. Mesmers have some hurdles to get over like the trait thing, and they can be frustrating in zergy situations as you see your illusions get wiped out before they can do anything useful.

Every class can solo. Melee is about dealing high damage and killing things efficiently, it doesn’t have much to do with tanking.

With the exception of Necro (that has less group utility), any class fits your criteria. I’d recommend trying three classes to start with. The following three are chosen because they feel different, have different types of pizazz/utility, and differently leveling curves:

• Warrior: easiest to learn, easiest to max utility/DPS, lots of fun skills.
• Elementalist: easy to play, tricky to master; tons of utility/DPS, plenty of fun skills.
• Engineer: difficult to play, difficult to master; a lot of valuable utility for experts, plenty of DPS, some of the most interesting skills in the game.

One element of leveling that affects builds/profs enormously is the trait system. Since it’s gated substantially (doesn’t unlock automatically and access to a lot of traits is limited situationally), it has an enormous effect on some profs. Of my three recommendations, engineer is the one most affected by this. i.e. it is the one you might have to level to 80 and beyond to get the full idea.

(My personal favorite — mesmer — isn’t on the list; it is perhaps even more ‘crippled’ by lack of traits than any other.)

I’ll second the pick for a staff elementalist.

A single primary character that receives 95% of my attention.
That one’s up to you.

Ability to solo or not rely on others. Self sufficient.
A staff elementalist can kill things before they can touch you. Can use earth and ice elementals to tank harder solo content.

Be a valued asset to a team or guild.
High aoe damage, conjure weapons for the team, provide good offensive boons, mitigate damage with blinds and CC, clear conditions from self and allies, long duration aoe swiftness.

(Contradictory? Solo & a team player? Lesson learned from other mmo’s)
Very good in both solo and group play.

Not fond of close melee combat (ex: tank in other mmo).
All damaging staff skills are 1200 range.

I like glitz, pizzaz, fun, and exciting abilities & utilities
Fireballs, flames, meteors, frost, lightning, arcane explosions, ice storms, lightning storms, sandstorms, elementals and so on. Plenty of glitz and glamour for an elementalist to show off.

I’d say stick to your ranger, at least for now. Ranger is a Warrior’s younger cousin so it exels in selfsufficiency and can be a valued part of the team, given your team is not allergic to Rangers. Why not Elementalist or Mesmer? Too squishy for a start. Familliorize yourself with the game first with a proffesion with sturdy HP and low learning curve. Why not Warrior? Warrior is more melee reliant proff, while Ranger can be a melee and ranged, but be warned: ranged play is looked down upon in grouped PVE. But if you are in search of a proff to main right here and right now and forver then do check on Warrior – the most versatile in all game modes, always welcomed in grouped play, easy to learn and easy to play class.

If you wanna break your fingers but have incredibly fun, play engineer!
However that applies only if you like the steampunk feel to it. And like boom boom.

Thx very much for all your replies.

I went with Elementalist. I’m only Lvl13 but so far its the perfect choice for me. Very much looking forward to leveling up and experiencing the game.

Starting with a squishy class isn’t a bad idea. You might die more frequently at the start but at least you are less likely to get into terrible habits.