Guild Wars 2

Something that has been bothering me lately is the relative skill caps that the classes have and how effective those classes are. For example, there seems to be a prevailing opinion that warriors have a very low skill cap, and also have very low effectiveness in spvp. On the other hand, engineers have a high skill cap, but low effectiveness.

So I guess I have two questions:
1. How do the classes rank in terms of the balance of skill cap versus effectiveness?
2. What can be done to fix the ones that are screwed up?

skill cap vs effectivness doenst exist, but it is only a “l2p issue”: a spec can be a noobstomper, and being useless against competent opponents.
it is a matter of skill
/thread

While clearly some classes have higher initial skill caps, the skill cap for all classes is low enough that it really should not be an issue. What separates the really good players from average ones is knowing your opponent(s) and predicting what they are going to do and your reaction time.

IMO from a game design perspective it’s nice to have some classes with low initial skill caps and some with higher ones. It allows new players to just jump right in with certain classes and be effective. I actually think that if ANet had a few solid sPvP templates for each class it would be a really nice addition for newer players jumping in sPvP for the first time but ANet has so many more important things they need to work on.

“Initial skill cap” is commonly referred to as a “skill floor.” And yes, Anet’s goal was to make professions with varying skill floors and skill ceilings, all equally effective. I think it’s possible.

The OP’s example of the (probably) two least-used professions for paids—warrior and engineer—is very good. The two professions are at opposite ends of the spectrum as far as skill floor goes, but at a similar level of effectiveness, i.e. not very effective. On the other hand, you have, say, guardians and eles, two other professions at opposite ends of the skill-floor spectrum, that are both doing fine in paids.

I don’t think we need to worry too much about the “skill cap vs effectiveness” because Anet has already shown that it can make professions like guardians and eles both be good. So, let’s focus on making other professions as viable as guardians and eles, whether they are low-skill-floor professions or high-skill-floor professions.

In my opinion, all professions have a similar skill “ceiling.” I.e. it may not take you long to learn your warrior at first but to really play well you’ll have to memorize attack animations, learn when to dodge, have good positioning and great reflexes, reflexes probably being the most important. Still not sure if I like that or not.

I haven’t played all professions but obviously that doesn’t stop me from having an opinion

Definition:
Skill floor low = Easy to be effective with minimal effort
Skill cap high – lots of finesse and minor details to be mastered for maximum effectiveness.

Thief
Skill floor – low
Skill cap – medium

Ranger
Skill floor – low
Skill cap – medium

Elementalist
Skill floor – medium
Skill cap – high

Engineer
Skill floor – high
Skill cap – high

Warrior
Skill floor – low
Skill cap – low

Guardian
Skill floor – low
Skill cap – medium

Necromancer
Skill floor – medium
Skill cap – high

Mesmer
Skill floor- high
Skill cap – high

i think u play mesmer dont you?
nice try

mesmers are actually tough in a tourny but more about when and how to use your portal and time warp and other things not just activating your shatter. The more i play in paids the more i realize every skill has a high skill cap. but all for different reasons. An engineer has to figure out how to make use of every ability he has in all of his toolkits he is using, wheere a thief does not have as big of problem with that but for thief it is all about positioning other wise you will get focused and bursted down. Rangers need to learn the timing of all of there abilities and dodges which is the same with a bunker guard. Bunker guards have an amazingly high skill cap because of knowing exactly which attacks to dodge at the right time when they have 3 people attacking them at once. each class has its strengths weaknesses and ways in which they can improve. they cannot just be judged from low to high. i can tell you right now if im in a match vs some one like payne it will be a very hard fight for me even though we are both thieves, and the same build. But he is always in the right position to gank me and so i am fighting from a disadvantaged spot from the beginning. This is due to his experience and skill as a thief. The same will happen with me vs a less experienced thief.