Guild Wars 2

I’m trying to get out of my warrior comfort zone and pick a new main class to focus on, ideally for pve, pvp, AND wvw. I’ve tried ele on numerous occasions but always get discouraged with all the attunement switching and give up. My guildies have encouraged me to stick with ele for both wvw and dungeon parties. I was planning suck it up and go with the ele until I researched Tempest and the less-than-stellar reviews it’s getting.

So knowing that I’m really starting from scratch and considering the upcoming elite specializations of the mesmer and ele professions, convince me which to make as a new main.

Here’s the caveat: I don’t want to make one of each. Saying “why not try both?!” will lead me to having two classes to spread my attention, and most likely will discourage me. I’ve put this thread in the mesmer forum because I’m ultimately looking for you to play devil’s advocate against my guildies’ recommendations to run with a ele. The expansion changes just might be what tips the scale.

Well, you already have access to Killshot Warrior, so I don’t really understand why you’d want anything more.

Buuuut seeing as you’ve asked, here we go.

Ele

• PvE – Great
• WvW – Wonderful
• PvP – I’m sure D/D is still godmode despite todays nerfs

Mesmer

• PvE – Rubbish
• WvW – Do you like roaming? No? – Aweful
• PvP – God’s gift to gaming

Other considerations

• Ele – talk about your boring staple of MMO classes
• Mesmer – Best, most amazing class experience for all time. For all time! ~Kanya West.

That pretty much sums it up.

~ Oh and Chronomancer has two thumbs up from the whole community, more or less across all game modes.

~ I keep seeing one Ele player in the PvP forums say over and over again “I swear I was the only good Tempest player during BETA” – So I assume Tempest is amazing but only he knows it :)

Mesmer, because ele is incredibly boring. Granted, i’m probably biased, but i bet so are your guildies recommending ele.

As someone who is an ele main but has repeatedly tried to get into mesmer I will agree with Ross Biddles bullet point comparison except the boring part about ele.

Ele is great in all game modes where as Mesmer is generally pretty poor except for small scale PvP whether that be WvW roaming or conquest PvP. Chronomancer might make them better for PvE but you’re going to be a buff bot nothing more.

Elementalist is in a class of its own (with engineer) for PvE. Using staff it does god like damage, provides water fields, the elite glyph has decent uses even in lvl 50 fractals. If you build for it you can even to crazy stuff like rezzing people in the AoR Horrik throws out without taking any damage and in full server gear.

WvW it’s one of the backbones of a Zerg and any organised group, PvP its been dominant for a long time.

I’d like to say better things about mesmer but if I had to choose between the 2 for all game modes the elementalist wins hands down which is really sad.

SoupRDude.6287:

Here’s the caveat: I don’t want to make one of each. Saying “why not try both?!” will lead me to having two classes to spread my attention, and most likely will discourage me.

I think this is a personal issue you’re going to have to come to terms with on your own. A bunch of different opinions on the forums from other people isn’t going to give you a feel for how it plays to you. For example, I strongly disagree with the poster above me who feels elementalist is a lot of fun. I can’t stand the class. It was my second level 80, my first in full ascended everything, and my first in fractals. And I regret the time I sunk into it.

(Note: I don’t think it’s somehow wrong to enjoy an elementalist, it’s just not for me. So, guy above me, no offense intended!)

Anyway, you mention “divided attention,” that’s a temporary problem. Once you feel you enjoy one over the other, drop the one you don’t like and voila, no more divided attention.

The best advice you’re going to get is, “why not try both?!”

Yeah no worries Land of Cheese. Elementalist for me wasn’t fun levelling and was even less fun in dungeons until I started playing with a decent party that could provide the aegis I needed.

The rest of my 2000 hours were fun but it’s starting to get kind of stale and boring. Only things that make it any more fun is when you do weird stuff like rezzing and teleporting an ally to you that thinks he’s done for with glyph of renewel in air. The WTF just happened moments are good and utilising all of the class in every way is great fun when people think something is going to be hard and you can really carry them through it.

Like I say, I’d love to play mesmer more and feel competitive in dungeons but it just isn’t and can’t justify using it over elementalist outside of “just for funzies”. Mesmer is a lot of fun, it just isn’t competitive in PvE outside of a glorified troop transport in speed clears.

Oh and I do agree with you on the try both aspect.

Edit: OP why not extend your choices to revenant, guardian and engineer? All 3 will perform very well in all 3 aspects of the game and offer a lot of different styles.

When Mesmer gets nerfed it often has the trait or skill gutted, When Ele gets nerfed it often has the trait or skill slightly shaved down then is buffed somewhere else to make up for it.

Druid :> Gives you a healer for PvE, a really good roamer for WvW and probably something for PvP, too. I will at least try it (not this weekend, though, i already have to play Chrono, Rev and DH).

Land of Cheese.2584:

SoupRDude.6287:

Here’s the caveat: I don’t want to make one of each. Saying “why not try both?!” will lead me to having two classes to spread my attention, and most likely will discourage me.

I think this is a personal issue you’re going to have to come to terms with on your own.

I get that. I have tried both, but not for thousands of hours. I know that there are some who pour their heart and soul into a profession and know it backwards and forwards. I also know that there are some who have dug into the new elite specializations and have a pretty good idea of how the profession may/will change going into HoT. So essentially I’m trying to leverage that experience.

I really appreciate all the feedback from everyone!!

SoupRDude.6287:

Land of Cheese.2584:

SoupRDude.6287:

Here’s the caveat: I don’t want to make one of each. Saying “why not try both?!” will lead me to having two classes to spread my attention, and most likely will discourage me.

I think this is a personal issue you’re going to have to come to terms with on your own.

I get that. I have tried both, but not for thousands of hours. I know that there are some who pour their heart and soul into a profession and know it backwards and forwards. I also know that there are some who have dug into the new elite specializations and have a pretty good idea of how the profession may/will change going into HoT. So essentially I’m trying to leverage that experience.

I really appreciate all the feedback from everyone!!

I think it would probably help if you say what you like to play like.

Do you like getting in the thick of it wrecking face? Do you like supporting your allies while giving pressure damage? Do you like doing sneaky stuff? Do you essentially want to be a glorified troop transport or buff bot?

I’m struggling with exactly this choice right now. I think BWE3 and any changes that go live with HoT are going to be huge deciding factors for me.

Ele seems to have a lower skill floor, especially if you play staff. It’s pretty simple to get high damage, healing, or control contributions just by clicking the appropriate skills off cooldown. The skill ceiling feels pretty high as well, especially if you look in to a dagger/dagger build. The amount of synergy the class gets from the mix of combo fields and finishers is pretty awesome.

I’ll definitely be testing the Chrono out a lot in BWE3, especially in WvW and raids. My concern is that the Wells are our only real new ‘trick’ and that, awesome as they are, they require too much effort/coordination to get the maximum benefit.

If illusions continue to be as frail as they are today, then we’re also at a severe disadvantage with our class mechanic in any encounter with plentiful AoE, which will probably be the case in raiding environments.

If you do not feel comfortable playing elementalist and want to seriously do stuff outside of SPVP or roaming in WVW, then pick something else entirely.

As has been pointed out, if you want to get more serious about WVW and choose mesmer, beware you are incredibly out done in group play except the roles of veilbot / potalbot, both of which made me quit my mes in that aspect of WVW altogether.

In PVE on mes you will have a much harder time tagging targets at events then any other class in the game. Your only decent contributions will come from helping groups to skip trash mobs on dungeon speed runs. Chrono might come into play in the upcoming raids and 50+ fractals but that remains to be seen and I’m willing to bet they will be outdone by other classes as well.

Overall, when looking at all 3 game modes, mes is not a good choice outside of its niches.

If I were you I wouldn’t get too invested in either ele or the mes, but keep on looking. You may want to wait and just chill until HOT comes out, because both WVW and PVE metas will most likely change or at least become more inclusive of other classes / specs.

The only thing worth considering:

Ross Biddle.2367:

Other considerations

• Ele – talk about your boring staple of MMO classes
• Mesmer – Best, most amazing class experience for all time. For all time! ~Kanya West.

Ele theme is in almost every fantasy game, mesmer is pretty much only gw2 at the moment.

Curunen.8729:

The only thing worth considering:

Ross Biddle.2367:

Other considerations

• Ele – talk about your boring staple of MMO classes
• Mesmer – Best, most amazing class experience for all time. For all time! ~Kanya West.

Ele theme is in almost every fantasy game, mesmer is pretty much only gw2 at the moment.

It’s true that it’s a unique, awesome play style. I’m the kind of player who really values being a representative of an under-played/under-valued class. That said… it can be frustrating to constantly be fighting against so many game mechanics that don’t enable the class to perform as well. Aoe damage destroying our illusions, PvE resistance to interrupts/stuns, and the underwhelming performance of Confusion in PvE (which has gotten better) all represent real struggles we face that are less of an issue for some other professions.

apharma.3741:

you’re going to be a buff bot nothing more.

:(

If my guild told me to not play my main but play something I didn’t like I’d find myself a new guild.

On topic ~ Ele is something I play rarely where as I have a ton of fun playing Mesmer seeing as it’s my main. But I play for FUN not efficiency.

The tempest’s less than stellar reviews are by people who have mastered and love the attunement switching mechanic.

For someone who was turned off elementalist because it it, it’s probably better than the core elementalist for you.

In PvE, elementalist is probably the better class to go with.

Group PvE mesmer is incredibly boring due to two of the three main mechanics going against the design of the mode, with the one that isn’t inherently flawed being the most boring of them. Interrupting being very limited on defiant enemies, and bosses having so much health that bursting via shatters is a DPS loss to just casting phantasms and babysitting them, and phantasm builds are awfully dull.

In PvP, elementalist is probably better, but mesmer is a lot more fun.

PvE chronomancer has some potential for being fun, but since the last set of balance changes, I’m worried that it’ll just turn into a well spamming only class. All’s well that ends well feels as though it simply gives out way too much alacrity to allies with more powerful cooldown skills far too easily.

Mes+ele = Meele… i guess you are playing warrior.

Alacrity is going to make mesmers in group play in all game modes much nicer to have around.

i wish the new mesmer was more unique kinda.. its just old mesmer on crack mostly. which will be fun, after 3 years though.. new would be nice.

Morfedel.4165:

Alacrity is going to make mesmers in group play in all game modes much nicer to have around.

I hope that’s true, I like being wanted to have around.

Old-school mesmer felt like a lot of “get your phantasms up and keep them up for maximum damage.”

Chrono seems to offer a lot more. Maximizing Quickness and Alacrity uptime requires good use of wells and a healthy cadence of shattering. If the impact of “soft crowd control spells” allows our interrupt traits to flourish against defiance bars and challenging PvE enemies, then that’s even better.

Still concerned about our WvW performance, but I’ll be trying it out this weekend.

As for the earlier post about Ele/Tempest feedback… I have to say I agree. I had a blast playing my Tempest and successfully pulling off an Overload felt powerful and rewarding in the same way that a 3-clone shatter requires timing and awareness. I think it’s worth a try.