Guild Wars 2

Hello everyone,

I recently started playing GW2 again after a break. I used to play s/tPvP with pretty much any profession which means I do understand the basic mechanics.

Anyway, WvW is more fun for me now and I would like to find a good roaming (solo or small group) profession. I already have my ele for big zerg fights but a 2nd char for that would be nice as well. I know eles can roam too but I played enough S/D and D/D for the next few months.

Here is a short version of what I’m looking for:

• close range combat (I simply like it because it’s a nice change coming from a staff ele)
• good 1v1 (1vX is no necessity)
• something unique
• fast in and out of combat
• (somewhat decent in zergs)
• (not heavily condition based)

Here are the 3 professions I’m currently thinking of:

Thief:

• melee
• good 1v1 and 1vX
• stealth (unique)
• extremely high mobility
• zerg fights?

Mesmer:

• melee still good?
• good 1v1 (1vX?)
• Illusions and Portals (unique)
• good in combat mobility, ooc mobility?
• zerg fights (I know Portal and Time Warp are really strong but besides that?)

Guardian

• melee?
• good 1v1 (1vX?)
• Consecrations, Symbols, Wards (how good are they in small fights though?)
• mobility?
• good in zerg fights

As you can see I have a lot of questions (bold characters) and I’m hoping more experienced WvW players are able to answer them.

Please let me know which profession you think fits me best since I can’t decide. They all look good but I’m sure one of them might be better for that role.

Blackhat.4016:

Hello everyone,

I recently started playing GW2 again after a break. I used to play s/tPvP with pretty much any profession which means I do understand the basic mechanics.

Anyway, WvW is more fun for me now and I would like to find a good roaming (solo or small group) profession. I already have my ele for big zerg fights but a 2nd char for that would be nice as well. I know eles can roam too but I played enough S/D and D/D for the next few months.

Here is a short version of what I’m looking for:

• close range combat (I simply like it because it’s a nice change coming from a staff ele)
• good 1v1 (1vX is no necessity)
• something unique
• fast in and out of combat
• (somewhat decent in zergs)
• (not heavily condition based)

Here are the 3 professions I’m currently thinking of:

Thief:

• melee
• good 1v1 and 1vX
• stealth (unique)
• extremely high mobility
• zerg fights?

Mesmer:

• melee still good?
• good 1v1 (1vX?)
• Illusions and Portals (unique)
• good in combat mobility, ooc mobility?
• zerg fights (I know Portal and Time Warp are really strong but besides that?)

Guardian

• melee?
• good 1v1 (1vX?)
• Consecrations, Symbols, Wards (how good are they in small fights though?)
• mobility?
• good in zerg fights

As you can see I have a lot of questions (bold characters) and I’m hoping more experienced WvW players are able to answer them.

Please let me know which profession you think fits me best since I can’t decide. They all look good but I’m sure one of them might be better for that role.

Thief:

Mainly functions as a blast finisher in zerg fights. Our kit has 0 options to attack targets over 900 range, and one of our two ranged options are terrible. Thieves don’t have a lot of natural tankiness or mitigation skills, so it can be rough being in the thick of the zerg.

Mesmer:

Portal, Timewarp, Null Field, the mass stealth, and even post nerf into the void are all strong in group combat (and don’t they have a large projectile reflect too or am I thinking of something else?), mesmers in general are pretty good in all aspects of the game. Their out of combat mobility is generally viewed as pretty meh though (they are slow)

Guardian:
Bar none the most desired class in all aspects of the game. They are good in small groups and zergs.

There are solo guardians out there, and they can be quite terrifying 1v1. That said, other than swiftness they don’t have much overall mobility so they are very vulnerable to classes that can reset a lot. As a solo roamer, I win most fights against guardians by simply poking them endlessly over time and ducking in and out of their range.

Thank you very much!

I have a few more questions now:

I heard there is a way to give Mesmers good ooc mobility by using certain runes and food? Is that true? And is it worth using instead of the other runes and food?

Are rangers good for roaming? I know Thiefs are pretty good at that but a friend told me a ranger can do it as well (not as effective though) but has an easier time taking small camps solo. Is that true?

Thanks again for helping a new WvW player out!

Blackhat.4016:

Thank you very much!

I have a few more questions now:

I heard there is a way to give Mesmers good ooc mobility by using certain runes and food? Is that true? And is it worth using instead of the other runes and food?

Are rangers good for roaming? I know Thiefs are pretty good at that but a friend told me a ranger can do it as well (not as effective though) but has an easier time taking small camps solo. Is that true?

Thanks again for helping a new WvW player out!

Rangers are better at taking camps because their pets allow you to deal with more enemies at once. Thieves, on the other hand, have a difficult time at soloing camps because they have to take the enemies one by one.

You can give your Mesmer a full set of Centaur runes and use the Mirror Healing ability in order to have near perma swiftness (which will become perma-swiftness if you use a Focus on your offhand). Outside of swiftness, mesmers lack the skills which provide ooc mobility, the only one being their Blink.

Thief can work in a zerg fight, you will just have to build tankier. Shortbow is extremely good at dealing with multiple opponents, sometimes I’ve even ran in the front line of a melee train just spamming cluster bomb, with the option to shadow step out any time I feel I’m getting too low on health, resetting, and coming back.

You can also snipe enemies low on HP with the sword quickly and then get out with Infiltrator strike.

In an organized zerg fight, a thief is almost required to take down the casters at the side.

For 1vs1 i would take the thief, they are hated and feared by every solo player. For zergs and small groups i prefer the gaurdian, you need more guardians than mesmers ( one mesmer for ten others is enough) but they are both very good

A good thief can distract an entire zerg for quite a bit of time. You aren’t going to kill many, but you can definitely make them angry enough to delay them or break down the chain of command for a bit.

Not to mention, if you want to track a zerg, and pick off stragglers, shut down certain pieces of siege (not in a tower of course), or focus on commanders or other support targets that NEED to come down.

I am doing my level best to get my thief up to at least 30 to start running him in WvW, especially after playing him in PvP.

Thanks for all the answers!

My next char is going to be a Thief (also because my guild leader and 2 commanders said we need more scouts on our server) and after that a Mesmer will follow. Thanks again everyone!

Thief if you want to feel good about yourself and see how skilled and gifted you are in PvP, you outshine everyone you meet in 1 v 1.

Anything else if you feel like fighting game “You vs Thieves”, as you will find nothing but thieves in WvWvW because no other class runs solo expect those masters of PvP.

Thief for roaming or solo.

Mesmer for being a portal/veilbot but being kinda useless in zergs but fairly good at roaming.

Guardian/Necro/Ele/Warrior for being awesome in zergs.

Or one could just do a power/crit Necro and laugh at how hideously OP they are, yet few seem to have taken notice yet (everyone is too busy to complain about stealth, clones or immortal Guardians). Ranged auto-attack hit harder than Thief backstab and everything pretty much melt in front of you.

And on the plus side, you can also spec for zerg warfare when you want.

Thief if you like mobility and 1v1. Mesmer if you like to be useful at key moments in a zerg and flip camps with ease (some mesmers get tired of all the portal, veil requests after a while). Guardian if you want to be a super support class that borders on un-killable when played well.

Dawdler.8521:

Or one could just do a power/crit Necro and laugh at how hideously OP they are, yet few seem to have taken notice yet (everyone is too busy to complain about stealth, clones or immortal Guardians). Ranged auto-attack hit harder than Thief backstab and everything pretty much melt in front of you.

The forum warriors may not have noticed, but the better zergs have. These days necros are about as common as guardians in zergs.