Guild Wars 2

A little elaboration on the topic:

I run a main ele, but have 80s in each class but two. I love the class, and 95% of my hours are on it. One of my absolute favorite thing to do is dueling.

A close second would be roaming.

So what I’m looking to see is a fun thread where people discuss their favorite duels, and maybe elaborate on why some of their duels aren’t a favorite.

PLEASE READ: This is a WvW thread.

So if you want to follow a format, you can make a list of your favorite classes to fight.

I’ll kick it off.

My favorite classes to fight are in ranked order

Elementalist
Engineer
Thief
Guardian
Necro
Warrior
Ranger
Mesmer

A little explanation on my list: I love fighting elementalists. I think ele fights are the most engaging thing we can do, and one of the best ways to learn about our class. Heck I learned something in a string of duels last night with some fellow eles.

You’ll find on my list that it almost goes in decreasing order of how passive the class is. Mesmer, being one of the most passive classes I think in the game, is my least favorite fight.

I have less fun fighting thieves since their repeated nerfs, as they stealth a lot more.

Lastly, I’ll add which I most frequently tie, as I rarely will lose a duel. I most frequently tie bunker condi engineers, warriors and mesmers which all fit that bunker, condi stereotype.

Discuss!

A note, I never turn down a duel, but I will sometimes turn down a rematch if I found the fight to be stressful. I’ve turned down several mesmers for rematches, especially if I find their play to be annoying. In the same regard, one of the people I duel most frequently is a mesmer, as the person is extremely nice and plays intelligently.

I don’t like duels cuz they all Condi mesmers and then they go ch ange their build and rematch. I’ve dueled with ds and its funny how easy it is to win

any duel where both players are glass is fun

not WvW but rather sPvP, but!

my favorite class to fight is thief
ranger gives me the most difficulty
and guardians are always boring to fight
mesmers are the most annoying, but they make up for it by being satisfying to kill

in order prob
thief
warrior
necro
ranger
ele
mesmer
engineer
guardian

reikken.4961:

not WvW but rather sPvP, but!

my favorite class to fight is thief
ranger gives me the most difficulty
and guardians are always boring to fight
mesmers are the most annoying, but they make up for it by being satisfying to kill

in order prob
thief
warrior
necro
ranger
ele
mesmer
engineer
guardian

Ah, I do a lot more WvW than SPvP. But I like your list.

Guardians are pretty easy to counter, but I find their skills fun to watch, so I think I placed them a few spots higher.

Rangers just kitten me off. I dislike how most of them are some form of spirit rangers.

Thanks for your list!

Deez, I find glass-glass often comes down to luck rather than skill. IE Lag, or an unpredictable trait.

Bad Ele, that’s the reason I don’t really re-duel a lot of mesmers. They love to make counter builds, while my build is made for literally everything. But eles most certainly can beat condi mesmers.

is this about how challenging/difficult duels are or about how fun it is to play against those classes?

Mbelch.9028:

A little elaboration on the topic:

I run a main ele, but have 80s in each class but two. I love the class, and 95% of my hours are on it. One of my absolute favorite thing to do is dueling.

A close second would be roaming.

So what I’m looking to see is a fun thread where people discuss their favorite duels, and maybe elaborate on why some of their duels aren’t a favorite.

PLEASE READ: This is a WvW thread.

So if you want to follow a format, you can make a list of your favorite classes to fight.

I’ll kick it off.

My favorite classes to fight are in ranked order

Elementalist
Engineer
Thief
Guardian
Necro
Warrior
Ranger
Mesmer

A little explanation on my list: I love fighting elementalists. I think ele fights are the most engaging thing we can do, and one of the best ways to learn about our class. Heck I learned something in a string of duels last night with some fellow eles.

You’ll find on my list that it almost goes in decreasing order of how passive the class is. Mesmer, being one of the most passive classes I think in the game, is my least favorite fight.

I have less fun fighting thieves since their repeated nerfs, as they stealth a lot more.

Lastly, I’ll add which I most frequently tie, as I rarely will lose a duel. I most frequently tie bunker condi engineers, warriors and mesmers which all fit that bunker, condi stereotype.

Discuss!

A note, I never turn down a duel, but I will sometimes turn down a rematch if I found the fight to be stressful. I’ve turned down several mesmers for rematches, especially if I find their play to be annoying. In the same regard, one of the people I duel most frequently is a mesmer, as the person is extremely nice and plays intelligently.

When I roam with s/d my favorite order is: Easiest to hardest profession (assuming the player is skillful…) to defeat from top to bottom
Thief
Ranger
Ele
Engi
Guardian
Warrior
Necro
Mesmer

Now when I roam with s/f the order changes:
Ranger
Engi
Necro
Ele
Warrior
Guardian
Mesmer
Thief
Btw did we encounter each others during season 1 in wvw Mbelch? I met dreztina and frowny during those 2 weeks and we did couple of duels but I don’t recall if we met Mbelch while roaming.

D/D roaming in WvW listings from safest and predictable to unorthodox and omg lots of conditions to spam at me via risk, Length of the battle may varies but doesn’t mean it’s harder.
Ele
Ranger
Guardian
War
Thief
Engi
Necro
Mesmer

Spvp varies more on Build vs Build, reflex vs lag and profession advantage. WvW has much more variables, more space and time for enemies to cd. Either stages of combat are far from balance in the game, expectation of game play varies on how anet views each of its professions role.
I can say playing d/d ele has a great risk vs reward feel, rather than other profession. Who thrive with key builds to overpower and destroy other profession via dualist builds.

FrownyClown.8402:

I don’t like duels cuz they all Condi mesmers and then they go ch ange their build and rematch. I’ve dueled with ds and its funny how easy it is to win

<3 I could go on a rant about dueling builds. You said it though.

LightningBlaze.4913:

When I roam with s/d my favorite order is: Easiest to hardest profession (assuming the player is skillful…) to defeat from top to bottom
Thief
Ranger
Ele
Engi
Guardian
Warrior
Necro
Mesmer

Now when I roam with s/f the order changes:
Ranger
Engi
Necro
Ele
Warrior
Guardian
Mesmer
Thief
Btw did we encounter each others during season 1 in wvw Mbelch? I met dreztina and frowny during those 2 weeks and we did couple of duels but I don’t recall if we met Mbelch while roaming.

Oh heck yes we did!!!!! Just saw your signature. Oh those were some great duels.

Thanks for posting with your preferred match ups. I noted that all the ranged people jumped to the top as soon as you switched to focus ;D.

If you recall, I’m the elementalist that we basically tied if you used your fiery great sword but I won if you didn’t use it. Tormentum Nex. You Serane and I know each other.

Waisenpai.6028:

D/D roaming in WvW listings from safest and predictable to unorthodox and omg lots of conditions to spam at me via risk, Length of the battle may varies but doesn’t mean it’s harder.
Ele
Ranger
Guardian
War
Thief
Engi
Necro
Mesmer

Spvp varies more on Build vs Build, reflex vs lag and profession advantage. WvW has much more variables, more space and time for enemies to cd. Either stages of combat are far from balance in the game, expectation of game play varies on how anet views each of its professions role.
I can say playing d/d ele has a great risk vs reward feel, rather than other profession. Who thrive with key builds to overpower and destroy other profession via dualist builds.

Thanks for clocking in. I agree with SPvP being a very skewed area, which is why I tried to keep this more towards WvW, unless people only duel in SPvP.

I wouldn’t say ele builds are predictable at all! I sometimes will fight an ele and feel like I’m in hot water, or fight an ele and know I’m going to win. I guess I’m one who really has love for the finer things. I know Ozii is one of those people too, who obsesses over every stat piece to make sure we are built the way we want to be.

Your list is very like mine.

Gorni.1764:

is this about how challenging/difficult duels are or about how fun it is to play against those classes?

Hey there, I would say I made the thread to poll how eles feel about dueling and when they enjoy it. I like to think I enjoy almost every duel. But I’ve been in the heat of some phantasm mesmer duels and I just think….. >_____> When I’m done winning this I need a drink.

Mbelch.9028:

LightningBlaze.4913:

When I roam with s/d my favorite order is: Easiest to hardest profession (assuming the player is skillful…) to defeat from top to bottom
Thief
Ranger
Ele
Engi
Guardian
Warrior
Necro
Mesmer

Now when I roam with s/f the order changes:
Ranger
Engi
Necro
Ele
Warrior
Guardian
Mesmer
Thief
Btw did we encounter each others during season 1 in wvw Mbelch? I met dreztina and frowny during those 2 weeks and we did couple of duels but I don’t recall if we met Mbelch while roaming.

Oh heck yes we did!!!!! Just saw your signature. Oh those were some great duels.

Thanks for posting with your preferred match ups. I noted that all the ranged people jumped to the top as soon as you switched to focus ;D.

If you recall, I’m the elementalist that we basically tied if you used your fiery great sword but I won if you didn’t use it. Tormentum Nex. You Serane and I know each other.

O that was you! The focus just counter so well the ranged condition types with the exception of the annoying constant steaths mesmers haha. FGS is awesome at kitting d/d eles so don’t feel bad because even serane was defeated easily with it at times xD. There was like 1 or 2 instances where I would cast fgs during the wrong time in our duel and I would pay with a defeat lol. I defeated you without the elite too but didn’t keep track of our win/lose ratios. I believe it was very even. Your build and play style was very similar to Serane and that’s why I asked you if you knew him and if you were using his build. Serane was the first very challenging d/d ele I have faced since god mode for the ele was eliminated. You are the second. Against Serane I did keep track and the ratio was usually 1 win for me for every 3 duels…. On rare occasions I would beat him 2 or 3 times in a row and then he would come back with the same winning streak lol. He is so good.

LightningBlaze.4913:

O that was you! The focus just counter so well the ranged condition types with the exception of the annoying constant steaths mesmers haha. FGS is awesome at kitting d/d eles so don’t feel bad because even serane was defeated easily with it at times xD. There was like 1 or 2 instances where I would cast fgs during the wrong time in our duel and I would pay with a defeat lol. I defeated you without the elite too but didn’t keep track of our win/lose ratios. I believe it was very even. Your build and play style was very similar to Serane and that’s why I asked you if you knew him and if you were using his build. Serane was the first very challenging d/d ele I have faced since god mode for the ele was eliminated. You are the second. Against Serane I did keep track and the ratio was usually 1 win for me for every 3 duels…. On rare occasions I would beat him 2 or 3 times in a row and then he would come back with the same winning streak lol. He is so good.

I am like 0-10 against Serane I cannot lie. He is really good.

oZii.2864:

LightningBlaze.4913:

O that was you! The focus just counter so well the ranged condition types with the exception of the annoying constant steaths mesmers haha. FGS is awesome at kitting d/d eles so don’t feel bad because even serane was defeated easily with it at times xD. There was like 1 or 2 instances where I would cast fgs during the wrong time in our duel and I would pay with a defeat lol. I defeated you without the elite too but didn’t keep track of our win/lose ratios. I believe it was very even. Your build and play style was very similar to Serane and that’s why I asked you if you knew him and if you were using his build. Serane was the first very challenging d/d ele I have faced since god mode for the ele was eliminated. You are the second. Against Serane I did keep track and the ratio was usually 1 win for me for every 3 duels…. On rare occasions I would beat him 2 or 3 times in a row and then he would come back with the same winning streak lol. He is so good.

I am like 0-10 against Serane I cannot lie. He is really good.

Indeed he is. So far I consider him to be the best overall Ele I have encountered.

me and four buddies transfered to SoR for a holiday vacation! if anyone wants to do some small GvG’s or duels lets me know.

I think I encountered serane once while roaming. I ended up losing to a lf churn after a was being focused by him and a condi mesmer. Lol. Apparently all the good eles run signet. I’m gonna prob start playing power again after basic. Please share your build with me nex!

What server is Serane on? I should try to find him if Mag is ever matched up against it again.

He is in agg and I think they on sos

Fishbones.6914:

me and four buddies transfered to SoR for a holiday vacation! if anyone wants to do some small GvG’s or duels lets me know.

Meeeeee for duels but darn it would have to wait till the weekend. Will you still be around?

@dreztina: Yea he is in sos but his guild transfer on other servers looking for more gvg. You can whisper him to try to find his updated current server. He is friendly.

Fishbones.6914:

me and four buddies transfered to SoR for a holiday vacation! if anyone wants to do some small GvG’s or duels lets me know.

Hopefully we run into each other~

I use to be on GoM.

I won’t be on much until Tuesday night though. May even be able to take you up on your offer for some small group fights if my havoc buddies are on.

…

As for the topic of the thread, other eles have always been my favorite to duel. As for the rest of the classes it really depends on what build they are running.

we will be stuck on SoR until at least sunday night, we had lots of fun last night though!

Fishbones.6914:

we will be stuck on SoR until at least sunday night, we had lots of fun last night though!

Were you that human female d/f Ele roaming with a full glass thief last night?

i dont think so, i was only using d/f in OS for a couple duels. was roaming with guard, mes, and theif with d/d for most of the night in EB, and JQ bl. just look for the [yarr] tag!

Haha great to see some good responses here.

Serane is by far the best elementalist I’ve ever faced, but Heidia, you’re pretty darn good with that build. Yeah we were quite even.

Serane told me if he’s the best ele, then I’m likely third best. I’ve beaten him, but quite infrequently.

Frowny my man, I can’t just give out the build! But I can help you with crafting your own.

Unfortunately for me as a roamer, I’m up against FA and TC this week, but at least there are some decent people from TC to duel with.

Myst, glad to see someone else who appreciates the art of dueling other eles! I was personally hoping ELEtism would turn into an ele dueling ring lol.

In the Ele v. Ele duels I’ve done I had fun, but they take so long oh my God.

Imagi.4561:

In the Ele v. Ele duels I’ve done I had fun, but they take so long oh my God.

True that.
I had a set of duels with one of my friends a while ago, also an ele, and throughout the multiple matches we played, neither of us died at any point.
It was pretty funny.

P Fun Daddy.1208:

Imagi.4561:

In the Ele v. Ele duels I’ve done I had fun, but they take so long oh my God.

True that.
I had a set of duels with one of my friends a while ago, also an ele, and throughout the multiple matches we played, neither of us died at any point.
It was pretty funny.

Perhaps the two people are too tanky?

I never have ele duels that run more than 10-15 minutes, and those are the really long ones.

Glad you guys like them though.

Mbelch.9028:

P Fun Daddy.1208:

Imagi.4561:

In the Ele v. Ele duels I’ve done I had fun, but they take so long oh my God.

True that.
I had a set of duels with one of my friends a while ago, also an ele, and throughout the multiple matches we played, neither of us died at any point.
It was pretty funny.

Perhaps the two people are too tanky?

I never have ele duels that run more than 10-15 minutes, and those are the really long ones.

Glad you guys like them though.

Hotjoin matches last 15 minutes. I was using full signets at the time for funsies, not sure what he was doing.

P Fun Daddy.1208:

Mbelch.9028:

P Fun Daddy.1208:

Imagi.4561:

In the Ele v. Ele duels I’ve done I had fun, but they take so long oh my God.

True that.
I had a set of duels with one of my friends a while ago, also an ele, and throughout the multiple matches we played, neither of us died at any point.
It was pretty funny.

Perhaps the two people are too tanky?

I never have ele duels that run more than 10-15 minutes, and those are the really long ones.

Glad you guys like them though.

Hotjoin matches last 15 minutes. I was using full signets at the time for funsies, not sure what he was doing.

Haha that’s why, but yeah this IS more geared towards WvW. (See first post).

Obby sanctum duels aren’t limited to any time frame, and personal dueling servers are great too.

Mbelch.9028:

P Fun Daddy.1208:

Mbelch.9028:

P Fun Daddy.1208:

Imagi.4561:

In the Ele v. Ele duels I’ve done I had fun, but they take so long oh my God.

True that.
I had a set of duels with one of my friends a while ago, also an ele, and throughout the multiple matches we played, neither of us died at any point.
It was pretty funny.

Perhaps the two people are too tanky?

I never have ele duels that run more than 10-15 minutes, and those are the really long ones.

Glad you guys like them though.

Hotjoin matches last 15 minutes. I was using full signets at the time for funsies, not sure what he was doing.

Haha that’s why, but yeah this IS more geared towards WvW. (See first post).

Obby sanctum duels aren’t limited to any time frame, and personal dueling servers are great too.

Ha I’m too busy buying pretty weapons and stuff to afford my own dueling server.
It was before fractured, too.

They’re free to get into, too.

Mbelch.9028:

They’re free to get into, too.

…I swear I have an excuse somewhere officer, I must have left it at home.

Hey Mblech and any other ele that is on a server which faces fort aspen wood, once i finish regearing my ele (havent played it in a while but just got back into it) would i be able to duel u guys? Would be nice to know how i stack up against the better eles in the game haha

mbelch is ezpk

Been running signet of restoratiob power build. Havinf trouble with condi bursts. Any tips?

FrownyClown.8402:

Been running signet of restoratiob power build. Havinf trouble with condi bursts. Any tips?

I’ll work with you today, OK mate? I think it’s hard to do Sig without 30 in water, but it is do-able.

jojo.7490:

mbelch is ezpk

Thanks, Zillbruh. You should use the screenshot of us together, fire and ice style lol.

Reckless.6325:

Hey Mblech and any other ele that is on a server which faces fort aspen wood, once i finish regearing my ele (havent played it in a while but just got back into it) would i be able to duel u guys? Would be nice to know how i stack up against the better eles in the game haha

Absolutely! I love dueling, and you’ve got at least 3 days to slap on some exotics and hit me up. PM me in game, OK?

P Fun Daddy.1208:

Mbelch.9028:

They’re free to get into, too.

…I swear I have an excuse somewhere officer, I must have left it at home.

Come now, I’m just having fun with you.

Just a couple shots of my ele in Divinity’s Reach.

FrownyClown.8402:

Been running signet of restoratiob power build. Havinf trouble with condi bursts. Any tips?

30 water, cleansing flame. Yea restoration is hard without 30 water if you come across a condition class.

Looks like my ranking is completely different to everyone else’s :o

1:Engineer
2:Warrior
3:Mesmer
4:Thief
5:Ranger
6:Guardian
7:Necromancer
8:Elementalist

Note that these are favorite classes to fight, not easiest. I really dislike an ele mirror matchup. I suppose it’s because it feels very spam-heavy to me, as you’re constantly in each others face trying to outdo each other. Lacks so much depth in comparison to all other matchups. (I’m talking D/D btw)

I love engis, since they are unpredictable, and punish bad play very hard. They don’t like cc though, but if you overcommit you’re dead on the floor in no time. On the other hand if you don’t commit enough you’ll have to fight through the burning proc everytime you reengage.

Warriors are fun since they keep you on your toes, and beating them is very satisfying, since it really feels like you outwitted the straightforward hulking warrior.

I can understand why mesmers are such a hated matchup, and dont get me wrong, I hate PU condi-trolls as much as the next guy, but shatter-mesmers, hybrid mesmers and even phantasm mesmers demand a very unique playstyle. Pressure as hard as you can and burst burst burst. If you lose the pressure, you die. I find myself doing dozens of rematches against everything but PU condi tanks.

Thief is a bit like mesmer, except that you really have to rely on the thief to be either bad or glass to be able to win. Fighting a methodic D/P thief that plays conservative is straight-up obnoxious at times.

Rest of the matchups are much more straightforward