Guild Wars 2

Are the new elite classes more powerful? Or are they just a different mechanic?

Does a non-elite class have any real chance against an elite class in PvP?

I really do not want to have to grind honor points just to try an elite class. All I do is PvP. I have no interest in PvE.

It kinda depends on class and game mode I guess.
E.g. Druid has completly different role than “normal” Ranger.

It really depends on ur skill level and what profession you main. Mesmer for exampe, the vannila pu is arguably better than chrono, while with engineer, scrapper poops on regular engi

OP, you don’t have to go into PvE at all if you buy the expansion. The pvp elite specs are automatically fully unlocked in pvp if you buy the expansion.

And yeah, I’d say if you main necromancer, ranger, engineer, guardian or are interested in revenant, you really should buy the expansion. The other elite specs for other classes are arguably on par with the base class, but some like tempest have better teamfight niches while daredevil is stronger in 1v1s than vanilla thief. Chronomancer is a mixed bag. People forgot how fast mesmers die when they have a red target on their head (people die all the time so they don’t get confused by clones) and when their good amount of defensive cooldowns are up. That’s not to say that chronomancer isn’t genuinely fun, or can’t wreck face, but it’s not as strong as people originally expected it to be.

I didn’t realize that the elites are all unlocked in the PvP area. Thanks.

Why is it that I only see Revenant as an elite option when I create a new character?

Laserbolt.6731:

Why is it that I only see Revenant as an elite option when I create a new character?

Because it’s not an elite option.
If you want to be a Druid, you make Ranger then select proper trait line.

Morwath, thanks. Do you have to be a level 80 in PvE to do this? Or can you start a new character at level 2 and still make, say, a Druid in PvP?

Sorry for my ignorance, I have been away for months.

well reaper is an upgrade to necromancer, no doubt about that, after Qing on vanilla cele necro for a day after these last few on reaper there’s no doubt the difference is huge, mainly because you can actually accomplish stuff without being stunlocked once people start getting coordinated, and the new possibilities actually raise the skill ceiling.

Laserbolt.6731:

Morwath, thanks. Do you have to be a level 80 in PvE to do this? Or can you start a new character at level 2 and still make, say, a Druid in PvP?

Sorry for my ignorance, I have been away for months.

You can start new character at level 2 and still make, say, a Druid in PvP as long as you have HoT bought.

New elite’s are surely advantageous no matter what anyone says. They are more versatile and powerful in some ways. If the skill lvl is same, HoT classes will win. If you are more skillful, you can beat them with good effort. But it started to feel like " If you want power, buy HoT."

But like I said, you can outplay if you have more skill, experience and reflexes. But it is not fair for a game, which insists that there is a real balance between normal game and expansion characters. There is no balance now, it will scale someday maybe.

It depends on class. Thief? Nope. Mes? Yup. Necro? Yup.

But the latter two are extremely overpowered right now.

Christonya.3856:

It depends on class. Thief? Nope. Mes? Yup. Necro? Yup.

But the latter two one are extremely overpowered right now.

fixed it 4 u

try actually killing a druid reaper or dragonhunter on you’re own with mesmer
before you make statements like this the amount of everything they got is insane

Extreme.8350:

Christonya.3856:

It depends on class. Thief? Nope. Mes? Yup. Necro? Yup.

But the latter two one are extremely overpowered right now.

fixed it 4 u

try actually killing a druid reaper or dragonhunter on you’re own with mesmer
before you make statements like this the amount of everything they got is insane

Continuum, shield 5, Gravity Well, Gravity Well, shield 5. Feel free to add any other CC you want but you shouldn’t need more than 10 seconds, maybe mantra plus trait for an easy starter.

Extreme.8350:

Christonya.3856:

It depends on class. Thief? Nope. Mes? Yup. Necro? Yup.

But the latter two one are extremely overpowered right now.

fixed it 4 u

try actually killing a druid reaper or dragonhunter on you’re own with mesmer
before you make statements like this the amount of everything they got is insane

Mesmers are incredibly overpowered right now. Just because they can’t 1v1 the (arguably) tankest classes in the game doesn’t diminish the power they bring to any team.

Berserker isn’t worth using at the expense of any of the strength/defense/discipline lines and doesn’t bring much to the table either. The rage skills are just lol-worthy except the elite one.

sigh. so first off, chronomancers right now are one of the best designed elite specs, they are far from underpowered and not that over the top, you guys are comparing things from a silly 1v1 point of view. no, chrono in pvp shouldn’t win to for example condi reaper, it’s stupid. that point doesn’t make any sense, you’ve gotta think about the utilities mesmer provides, the added mobility, stealth if the mes has stealth, so on, their role is not to lolduel people if they’re playing marauder. it’s to +1 the fights in a rapid and violent way, like thieves (doesn’t prevent you from duelling when you have the chance). You’ve got to get out of the mindset that you should be able to duel about everything with any build on any class.

Regarding reaper, is good on group fights, but not so much on 1v1 due the fact the skills are within melee range only. My core power necro still beats reaper on 1v1 on my experience so far. Perhaps in the future when the specialization is more refined, reaper might have a better chance against the odds.

It’s really hard to conclude because not every spec is equally wellthought out. Chroni is a direct upgrade to shatter mes. Reaper is pretty much a total rework on necro. Dragon hunter is a reborn ranger. Druid is basically a new class. Daredevil is intended to make thief a brawler but instead it makes stealth d/p more effective. Glint is pretty much a requirement for any rev build. And so on..

depends on class, for warrior I would almost say its required to not use elite to be competitive.

in regard to engineer it just depends on build. condi won’t want scrapper, my carrion build doesn’t need to either. scrapper is great for bruiser melee builds, but rifle offers a very strong and relevant skill set so it’s still a good choice for on point. I wouldn’t fear scrapper on regualr engi.

ranger isn’t viable without druid, and revenant seems to need glint. so for those two elites seem essential.

reapers, chronos and druids are outright “upgrades” and their respective core professions are inferior. not sure about the rest.

Soldiers engi is pretty much untouched and viable still without HoT.

azyume.6321:

Regarding reaper, is good on group fights, but not so much on 1v1 due the fact the skills are within melee range only. My core power necro still beats reaper on 1v1 on my experience so far. Perhaps in the future when the specialization is more refined, reaper might have a better chance against the odds.

trust me on this, condi reaper is also good at duelling. It actually has an easier time than base necro on a lot of matchups because: stability, and the possibility to actually put a bit of distance between you and a melee fighter if need be. solves a ton of problems. makes fighting warriors, mesmers with mantra, rangers a LOT easier. Not saying celenecro is bad now. but it offers a lot less possibilities of counterplay once people get coordinated. Now i think the issue might be that a little rework on base professions could be of use. I’d love that.

I use terror necromancer still. I get the weapon sigils on swap now, which makes it fairly stronger than it was before HoT.

glaphen.5230:

Extreme.8350:

Christonya.3856:

It depends on class. Thief? Nope. Mes? Yup. Necro? Yup.

But the latter two one are extremely overpowered right now.

fixed it 4 u

try actually killing a druid reaper or dragonhunter on you’re own with mesmer
before you make statements like this the amount of everything they got is insane

Continuum, shield 5, Gravity Well, Gravity Well, shield 5. Feel free to add any other CC you want but you shouldn’t need more than 10 seconds, maybe mantra plus trait for an easy starter.

And none of those skills do any noticeable damage, so hardly would you kill a Druid or DH with them…

Mesmer is one of those classes that don’t require Elite spec to be effective, since Chronomancer does not increase your dps production. Chrono is still great as CC for group support, but if you want some dps go classic Mesmer.

venusiano.8246:

glaphen.5230:

Extreme.8350:

Christonya.3856:

It depends on class. Thief? Nope. Mes? Yup. Necro? Yup.

But the latter two one are extremely overpowered right now.

fixed it 4 u

try actually killing a druid reaper or dragonhunter on you’re own with mesmer
before you make statements like this the amount of everything they got is insane

Continuum, shield 5, Gravity Well, Gravity Well, shield 5. Feel free to add any other CC you want but you shouldn’t need more than 10 seconds, maybe mantra plus trait for an easy starter.

And none of those skills do any noticeable damage, so hardly would you kill a Druid or DH with them…

Mesmer is one of those classes that don’t require Elite spec to be effective, since Chronomancer does not increase your dps production. Chrono is still great as CC for group support, but if you want some dps go classic Mesmer.

How do you kill anyone in 10 seconds of CC, it’s a real mystery to me.

TheLargeUnit.2793:

scrapper poops on regular engi

Na, standard Engineer is still fantastic.

Although some of the Reddit meme builds are being shown the door as they weren’t particularly good to begin with.

None of the elites are mandatory.