Guild Wars 2

Ok I’m having a huge problem finding the information I’m looking for so I’m gonna ask for my self.

I’m looking to make a character purely for wvw only. I want to build a character that’s made for zergs. I’m not going to be roaming at all. If you could post your opinion on what the best Zerg proffesion is to basically win in Zerg battles and take down gates/walls. All I ask is to list from best to worst for zerg.

I do realize that there are other factors that can determine how well the character is for certain things specially how the player uses it but all I ask what’s good for Zerg battles and taking gates/walls and I’m not going to be roaming with the character so please do not take roaming into consideration.

Ok let me add something to the question…say the Zerg is balanced/has a good amount of every class. What would be a good to add to it? Another question.. What proffesion isn’t seen in zergs very often but extremely useful to have?

it’s called any class

just press #1 skill and follow blue triangle

Guardian
Mesmer
Elementalist
Warrior
Necomancer
Engineer
Ranger
Thief

That is how I’d rank classes from most useful to least useful to a zerg. The top 6 classes can change a little bit depending on who you ask. the bottom 2 won’t as neither has any real utility or worth to large group combat other than their singular field or singular blast finisher.

Exactly what I thought someone would post and exactly not what I asked

Necromancers are the best class for pure Zerg fights where there are a large mass of people going at it. Spectral Wall interrupts enemy charges, Well of Blood can heal you and everyone around you, and if the enemy forms a zergball to stack buffs, well of corruption ruins their day. Also, Dropping Well of Darkness and Well of Suffering adds random conditions to every enemy around, and since there is alot of crap going on in a zerg fight the enemy usually does not notice them. And if you are set to gain health every time a well pops, you are vampiring off 15 people. Then you can go to Plague Form and Blind/cripple a large body of people while practically invulnerable. It usually takes 15 people just focusing on a necro to kill it in Plague form. And if for some reason you find yourself all alone in a combat zone you can pop deathshround and try and get back to your side of the lines.

I’ve found the Necro is not so awesome at 1 v 1 combat unless you get the jump on the enemy. It does okay though. But in zerg battles, it really can’t be beat.

Thank you atherakhia I can’t believe how hard it is to get an answer like that thank you

Aeros that was exactly what I was looking for and with the above list I was gonna go with warrior or Necro I couldn’t decide but thanks for the insight helped alot

While I somewhat agree with Aeros in that the Necro has a lot of utility and is moderately fun to play, their value to the zerg is limited greatly by the number of guardians and mesmers on the opposing side simply because of the nature of condition damage. In equal numbers the Necro will be wrecked and since Mesmers are probably the single strongest class in the game and Guardians one of the strongest in both PvE and PvP, their numbers aren’t exactly low.

I’ve got an 80 guardian allrdy I can’t get into mesmers much or eles so it’s just a matter of Necro or warrior

Necro would be my choice between those 2 then. Warriors are fun and I have one myself. But their problems are both obvious and difficult to fix. Necromancers on the other hand improve patch after patch dramatically and are certainly top tier right now but still have room for improvement and ANet seems capable at fixing them.

Atherakhia.4086:

Guardian
Mesmer
Elementalist
Warrior
Necomancer
Engineer
Ranger
Thief

That is how I’d rank classes from most useful to least useful to a zerg. The top 6 classes can change a little bit depending on who you ask. the bottom 2 won’t as neither has any real utility or worth to large group combat other than their singular field or singular blast finisher.

This is the order of usefulness I feel each class has in WvW:
Guardian
Elementalist
Necomancer
Warrior
Mesmer
————————
Thief
Engineer
Ranger

If you wanted to zerg ATM the top 5 profession are the ones with the synergy.

The bottom 3 are the black sheep’s of the zerg. They are missing abilities that would make them necessary in the zerg.

Thanks everyone that helps out tons!!

How does engineer lack synergy for a Zerg exactly? We can be huge dps or tanks, honestly healers if heavy elixer focused too… With bomb kit we have fire fields and blast finishers and than grenades for one of the quickest and longest range AOE in the game, also with healing turret dropping a water field and constant healing from it we can do anything! Engineers are the most under rated class in the game don’t be too quick to cut us out

The question somewhat misses the point, because the best zergs are balanced with different classes. If a zerg has 10 Necro’s already, for example, the addition of one more will not have much impact. But if they have only 1 Mezmer and you brought a second one, that could be invaluable.

AydenStar.4216:

If you wanted to zerg ATM the top 5 profession are the ones with the synergy.

The bottom 3 are the black sheep’s of the zerg. They are missing abilities that would make them necessary in the zerg.

Yes, the synergy is the important thing. However, the other three classes are not useless in a zerg by any means; just not individually necessary, perhaps.

Even that is somewhat debatable, however. For example, if you realize the value of having a good scout, you may appreciate how much a thief who’s good at it can benefit a zerg. Not much appreciated, perhaps, but can be a matter of life and death for the entire zerg, perhaps making 1 Thief, at times, THE most valuable class of all.

Ok let me add something to the question…say the Zerg is balanced/has a good amount of every class. What would be a good to add to it? Another question.. What proffesion isn’t seen in zergs the most but extremely useful to have?

I recommend the ArrowCart class.

Zeek.6743:

Ok let me add something to the question…say the Zerg is balanced/has a good amount of every class. What would be a good to add to it? Another question.. What proffesion isn’t seen in zergs the most but extremely useful to have?

Probably a staff elementalist. You just add big damage and big heals to everyone and you can’t have enough of that.

Zeek.6743:

Ok let me add something to the question…say the Zerg is balanced/has a good amount of every class. What would be a good to add to it? Another question.. What proffesion isn’t seen in zergs the most but extremely useful to have?

What would be a good to add to it?

“Okay we have too many Staff Eles” said nobody, ever. Staff Eles are one of those classes that you can stack onto a balanced zerg and make the zerg even stronger. With Water and Static Fields, good CC and good AE DPS Staff Eles offer a ton of support to the balanced zerg.

What proffesion isn’t seen in zergs the most but extremely useful to have?

This is a tough one, but I’m going to throw the Engineer out there. A well played and properly geared and specced Engi can really wreak some havoc on a zerg’s back lines using the Bomb kit, Throw Mine to strip boons and they have a huge water field when destructing the healing turret.

Wastrelz.8235:

The question somewhat misses the point, because the best zergs are balanced with different classes. If a zerg has 10 Necro’s already, for example, the addition of one more will not have much impact. But if they have only 1 Mezmer and you brought a second one, that could be invaluable.

AydenStar.4216:

If you wanted to zerg ATM the top 5 profession are the ones with the synergy.

The bottom 3 are the black sheep’s of the zerg. They are missing abilities that would make them necessary in the zerg.

Yes, the synergy is the important thing. However, the other three classes are not useless in a zerg by any means; just not individually necessary, perhaps.

Even that is somewhat debatable, however. For example, if you realize the value of having a good scout, you may appreciate how much a thief who’s good at it can benefit a zerg. Not much appreciated, perhaps, but can be a matter of life and death for the entire zerg, perhaps making 1 Thief, at times, THE most valuable class of all.

Any profession can scout. True, thieves my do it better then other classes but should that be his/her only role in WvW? Rangers are good a soloing camps, is that their purpose in WvW? If so, I want my money back….

Atherakhia.4086:

the Necro has a lot of utility and is moderately fun to play, their value to the zerg is limited greatly by the number of guardians and mesmers on the opposing side

Correct. The better a zerg / guild group is organized, the less damage/debuff/whatever you will be able to do with a necro.

If I were to start a new toon now, with the sole purpose of playing in my current guild (100% WvW) I`d go guardian / mesmar / ele in that order.

Zeek.6743:

What proffesion isn’t seen in zergs the most but extremely useful to have?

No such thing.

styx.7294:

Probably a staff elementalist. You just add big damage and big heals to everyone and you can’t have enough of that.

In the higher tiers, if you don’t have enough of a “front line” force of warriors and guardians to protect your “back line” of ranged classes, all the static fields and churning earths in the world won’t save them when the enemy melee pain train stacks stability, sticks tight to the commander so the aoes only hit 5 people and double dodge rolls into the back line and wrecks them.

So OP, play whatever class you want. If you are hardcore about wvw you’ll have multiple characters to fit whatever your server needs that day. Just keep in mind that classes like ranger, thief and maybe engineer are far better as roamers and don’t bring as much to a zerg fight as other classes. And if your server isn’t organized, running into an enemy zerg as a solo melee warrior/guardian is just asking to die instantly and you’d be better off running a ranged class like staff ele or necro.

Zeek.6743:

Exactly what I thought someone would post and exactly not what I asked

That’s exactly what you asked. Which class for zerging? Answer: any of them.

Now if you want to maximise your WXP and loot, that’s a different question. But frankly take any class you like into the zerg, spam 1, heal if you’re low, follow the Dorrito and now AoE loot your way to your legendary weapon.

Pick the class you think is the coolest, as genuinely, it doesn’t matter when you blob with another 70 people.

I have played every class in WvW and have 3 specifically geared for WvW, I mostly agree with Athers list. Here is my brief description of each class. List goes from worst to best in zerg and heavy siege situations only.

Ranger: The class is not bad but the mechanics are not the best for WvW. Rangers are decent brawlers and can be fun but just about everything the can offer to a zerg is covered by a class with more WvW utility. Have not played mine in WvW after patch so this all could have changed.

Thief: Thieves are great in WvW but their mechanic and abilities are far more useful in other areas of WvW. They are also terrible siege attackers and defenders, bringing almost nothing to the table. They are meant to be played as scouts, havoc groups and supply control. When a zerg slams into a tower or keep and wipes several defenders it is very helpful to send thieves to cut off the reinforcements rather than continue to siege.

Engineer: Aydens post was spot on with how the Engineer lacks synergy. He is a decent defender with grenades and has a lot of support abilities but he just seems to lack a group dynamic. On a side note, they are one of my favorites to play in WvW, despite their weaknesses.

Necros: Necros are great but are at the bottom of the top 5 because they have a very specific role in a zerg. The are the anti boon and control class in zergs. They destroy all the nasty boons on the other zerg and control movement with their marks. Once you reach a critical mass of Necros in WvW they become very difficult to deal with. Zergs that do not communicate get destroyed. They can drop conditions like crazy to.

Ele: With awesome combo fields and a huge amount of utility Eles could easily be the best class in WvW. They just offer so much and have 3 very different styles of play. The support staff, the D/D not as useful in siege but great in the field, and the blow the sh.. out of everything crit. staff. Not the best of the 3, but with a decent zerg to act as your meat shield 8k-9k crits with meteor shower is so sexy. I would say their biggest downside is they have a higher learning curve than most classes and lag really messes you up since you have 20 skills + utilities to work with to be effective. Basically, if you have a low end computer the Ele is the worst class for you.

Warriors: Even with the blind buff warriors are awesome. If you build a warrior ment to zerg you are an offensive powerhouse. This does not mean go full zerker, but learn how to control the battle field. Lemongrass and Melaundru Runes are almost mandatory but allow you to be nearly immune movement conditions with the right trait. Hammer, axe offhand, great sword, sword main, shield, and Longbow are the weapons I see most but nearly all their weapons have some usefulness in WvW. I have even seen the mace making a comeback.

Mesmer: What can I say, they can do everything. They are good at siege, defending, screwing with the enemy zerg. Even with the recent nerfs they are a powerhouse. They can also be very helpful at ripping boons and spreading nasty conditions. Lastly, their phantasm builds can make any melee rage. I would say their only down side is no easy access to swiftness and you have to follow a few specific builds to be as effective as I mentioned above.

Guardian: The guardian is the heart of the zerg. You can sway entire battles by spreading boons and removing conditions. After playing a guardian in WvW I realized how pointless my shout warrior was because guardians were so much better at support. They are also great at controlling the battlefield and shutting down melee trains. Lastly they still back a serious punch even with all their defensive capabilities.

Without knowing what play style you actually like (melee, ranged etc.) and adding in the “less played zerg class” I would recommend Necro. Tons of AOE and can be all ranged (900-1200 on virtually everything) Can add a certain amount of control from slows, to fears, especially areas like enemy zerg entering through open door. Epidemic allows you to take advantage of conditions from your zerg mates and spread their dps around. You can kitten people off on walls LOL.
The ability to drop well of corruption on the nasty guardian/eles leading the enemy zergball charge and watch them melt is entertaining. The new torment is very effective from necro. Get massive amounts of conditions on yourself then simply transfer back to the enemy and hit epidemic is quite fun.
And as part of your original post, necros are still one of the least played classes in WvW

Downside. You have a hard time doing any actual damage to enemy siege, walls doors etc. If you get caught running back to your zerg solo and get attacked, you will likely die except to bad players/up arrows

Having said that all classes are pretty useful in a zerg and can add good things

Necros are still in flux as to their importance but I believe the modern zerg is coming around to them being a defensive requirement. Their marks seem to have no player limit unlike other AoE, they can strip stability, their other condi/boon management is second to none and their fear can scatter a stack. They are becoming/have become an extremely powerful element of zergs.

Guardians though are probably the pinnacle zerg class. They can lead from the front with incredible healing/bunker builds and they buff everyone around them. Almost as important is their ability to lock down enemy forces.

Mesmers are heavy utility… their glamours are all very good. They can pull which can be helpful with siege and their damage output is respectable.

Eles are field dropping machines and one of the few that can drop a water field. Their high damage and utility makes them better than the ranger/engineer the only other classes that have a water field.

How to wvw:

Get an elementalist.
Use staff
Aoe the top of walls, groups of players.
Heal your zerg.
Put combo fields down for your zerg.

basically all you want is survivability, and aoe. if you are like smaller zerg like 10 – 15 you might need more damage oriented possible dagger dagger ele it has good survivability boons and conditions for your enemies. and then you can switch back to staff when you are aoeing walls or on the move with a larger zerg