Guild Wars 2

To add the the large number here on the forums. I wanted to refrain for asking for help but the classes are more or less well designed that It’s hard to find one that suit’s me as they can all more or less do the same thing so props to ArenaNet for pulling that off.

I’ve already looked into them all, played some of the ones that interested me briefly. Not quite sure how to get to the Mist that people say is helpful in the decision so if anyone could point me in that direction, thanks to you.

So to begin with:
I want to focus on ranged combat. I’ve always sucked at close quarters and tend to let other people do that for me. I’ll fight in close quarters if I have to, but range is optimal for myself. Also not a fan of magic casters, not really my type of combat leaving me with: Warrior, Ranger, Engineer and Theif

I’m not sure how I feel about Micro-managing the pet for the ranger, that and I’ve heard bad things about their PvP and WvW viability.
The Theif has a ranged option of dual pistols or shortbows but again, I’ve heard a few things about them that and their range of their skills don’t really feel right for me.

Warrior is a heavy armour type which I’m not sure how I feel about – I’ve only ever used it once in Star Wars as the Vanguard because it had Assault Rifles XD.

and Engineer’s look funny with their rifles and alot of their skills require to be up close and personal and I’m not sure how I feel about using a turret to optimise my DPS. I’m VERY independent when I want to be.

That’s about it. I appreciate the time the community has used to read this post and maybe soon we’ll be fighting against or with each other soon.

Many thanks!

~Flynn

From the sound if it you’re looking for a sniper type class, but thats not always going to be an option. Even kiting takes place in either close or mid-range, also projectiles do not home in, the farther you are, the less likely you are to hit due to a target’s movement. Many enemies will close the gap quickly, Risen in particular can run faster than you can, and some enemies can even shadowstep and close the gap to you instantly. In short, you won’t find a situation with any class where you won’t be forced into close and mid-range combat at some point (usually quite often)

That’s just the way the game is, there’s no clear threat system, so if the mob decide to switch to you and attack, you have to deal with it by dodging and kiting. In PvP, almost every class has multiple means of closing the gap on ranged attackers. So remaining a pure ranged isn’t always doable.

Engineer excels at mid-range combat, think of their rifle more like a shotgun, and with the grenade kit can even dish out a LOT of long range ground targeted AoE, but the majority of their abilities aren’t long range.

The thief is not really a ranged class and I don’t recommend trying to pay it as one. The shortbow is great but is often a backup for when you need to get away or do a lot of AoE damage, and the pistols are just… well… terrible.

Don’t turn your nose up at the warrior. Just because the warrior wears heavy armor doesn’t make it a meatshield. Guild Wars 2 doesn’t have the trinity format of other games, so think of it less as a tanky type class and more like a DPS with more armor. it just means you’re more survivable.

Warriors have access to both the Rifle and Longbow, and both I find to be excellent ranged weapons (bow for more AoE rifle for high single target damage) They also have several utility skills to punish enemies that get too close, such as AoE fear, knock backs, and more, including a signet that speeds endurance regent o fuel dodges. The adrenaline skill on the rifle is essentially a sniper shot that does massive damage, and the weapon itself can cripple (skill 2) and has yet another knockback (skill 5), whereas the longbow can flat out immobilize a foe (skill 5) and lay a down a huge AoE fire field as it’s burst skill.

The warrior might be just what you’re looking for, but I would suggest to keep a melee weapon for secondary, maybe a hammer so you can swap and have access to AoE cripple, knockback and knock down (and AoE stun burst skill) if things force you into close range.

As for ranger there’s really no way around the pet. Many of your abilities work with it, and it does account for a percentage of your damage. They’re going to be doing some work on the ranger class soon so keep your ear to the ground but if you don’t like the pet there’s really no getting past it.

Finally, take another look at mesmer. They are pretty great at range and are godly in 1v1 pvp. The greatsword is your longest ranged weapon. Let me repeat that. The GREATSWORD is your long range weapon. You shoot lasers out of it, can knock enemies down back in a wave, and stab the ground to make an energy blade shoot up underneath an enemy.

Hyena.2037:

From the sound if it you’re looking for a sniper type class, but thats not always going to be an option. Even kiting takes place in either close or mid-range, also projectiles do not home in, the farther you are, the less likely you are to hit due to a target’s movement. Many enemies will close the gap quickly, Risen in particular can run faster than you can, and some enemies can even shadowstep and close the gap to you instantly. In short, you won’t find a situation with any class where you won’t be forced into close and mid-range combat at some point (usually quite often)

That’s just the way the game is, there’s no clear threat system, so if the mob decide to switch to you and attack, you have to deal with it by dodging and kiting. In PvP, almost every class has multiple means of closing the gap on ranged attackers. So remaining a pure ranged isn’t always doable.

Engineer excels at mid-range combat, think of their rifle more like a shotgun, and with the grenade kit can even dish out a LOT of long range ground targeted AoE, but the majority of their abilities aren’t long range.

The thief is not really a ranged class and I don’t recommend trying to pay it as one. The shortbow is great but is often a backup for when you need to get away or do a lot of AoE damage, and the pistols are just… well… terrible.

Don’t turn your nose up at the warrior. Just because the warrior wears heavy armor doesn’t make it a meatshield. Guild Wars 2 doesn’t have the trinity format of other games, so think of it less as a tanky type class and more like a DPS with more armor. it just means you’re more survivable.

Warriors have access to both the Rifle and Longbow, and both I find to be excellent ranged weapons (bow for more AoE rifle for high single target damage) They also have several utility skills to punish enemies that get too close, such as AoE fear, knock backs, and more, including a signet that speeds endurance regent o fuel dodges. The adrenaline skill on the rifle is essentially a sniper shot that does massive damage, and the weapon itself can cripple (skill 2) and has yet another knockback (skill 5), whereas the longbow can flat out immobilize a foe (skill 5) and lay a down a huge AoE fire field as it’s burst skill.

The warrior might be just what you’re looking for, but I would suggest to keep a melee weapon for secondary, maybe a hammer so you can swap and have access to AoE cripple, knockback and knock down (and AoE stun burst skill) if things force you into close range.

As for ranger there’s really no way around the pet. Many of your abilities work with it, and it does account for a percentage of your damage. They’re going to be doing some work on the ranger class soon so keep your ear to the ground but if you don’t like the pet there’s really no getting past it.

Finally, take another look at mesmer. They are pretty great at range and are godly in 1v1 pvp. The greatsword is your longest ranged weapon. Let me repeat that. The GREATSWORD is your long range weapon. You shoot lasers out of it, can knock enemies down back in a wave, and stab the ground to make an energy blade shoot up underneath an enemy.

Thanks for the imput!
To address the first point, I’m not really a sniper type. Used to be but quickly grew out of the style as it felt boring to completely stay in the back and camp away while face rolling my keyboard. The best example I can probably give is SWTOR and it’s Trooper/Vanguard class/spec. It has some ranged options but sometimes you have to run in and deal the damage.

I’ll check out the warrior when I figure out how to get to the mists and followed by the Engineer.
The Mesmer sounds awesome but I’ll put that aside for a second character along with the Ranger. I can only give it a go no? Thanks again. At least now I got some sense of direction in what to do XD

You can go to the mists at any time. Just click the crossed sword icon in the top left of your screen to open the PvP menu and click ‘Go To The Mists’

If you’ve never been there before there’s a little tutorial area to check out and when you’re done there climb the stairs to the portal opposit where you appeared. Once you’re in the heart of the mists itself there are golem dummies you can attack, and in the PvP lockers you can preview pretty much any armor in the game if you’re worried about the aesthetics of an armor type.

Hyena.2037:

You can go to the mists at any time. Just click the crossed sword icon in the top left of your screen to open the PvP menu and click ‘Go To The Mists’

If you’ve never been there before there’s a little tutorial area to check out and when you’re done there climb the stairs to the portal opposit where you appeared. Once you’re in the heart of the mists itself there are golem dummies you can attack, and in the PvP lockers you can preview pretty much any armor in the game if you’re worried about the aesthetics of an armor type.

I’d give you a medal if I could…but I only have a cabbage medal…sorry
(+1 if you get the reference!)

I decided to hob into a couple of lobbies myself today and tried using the Engy and Ranger. As expected I have issues keeping the pet mechanic with the Ranger and I was doing fairly well with the Engy yet the turrets and all that kept defeating me at every turn during the chaos.
It’s some food for thought but thank you muchly!