Guild Wars 2

While I have only been playing a month, it seems in addition to breaking the holy trinity of profession roles, this game also breaks the mold of archetyped gameplay. For example, I’ve seen warriors and thieves staying at range with their guns and elementalists and rangers fighting up in melee. I’m trying to compile a list of alternative playstyles to help myself choose alts as well as help my friends see what makes this game different. I appreciate any feedback in terms of things I’ve missed or options that aren’t actually legitimate playstyles.

Melee:
Warrior, Thief, Guardian – Obvious
Elementalist (Daggers)
Ranger (GS, Sword/Dagger)
Mesmer (Swords)
Necromancer (axe and daggers?)

Ranged
Elementalist, Necromancer, Mesmer, Ranger – Obvious
Engineer (Not a standard archetype)
Thief (pistols)
Warrior (rifle and bow)
Guardian (scepter and staff)

I also thought about breaking this into melee, mid-range, and long-range. However, I don’t think I know all the profession’s weapon styles enough to differentiate. There does seem to be a big difference between a guardian’s staff and scepter or an engineer’s pistols and rifle in terms of style due to the range difference.

All super helpful answers! I’m scared to change my key bindings, but I’ll give it a shot if I still can’t effectively dodge after trying the above techniques.

Is there a good heuristic to know what my stats should be for a given level? Should I just make sure my gear lvl requirement is near my level? Some pieces are still from character creation. Should I use my Karma to buy gear, or save for later?

I have a feeling it is my ability to evade/dodge. This active playstyle is why I love this game over other MMOs, but I feel it is also my weakness because I am used to the virtual rolling of dice for every attack.

Since I only get about two back to back dodges before my endurance is drained, how do I decide when to do it? Is there a way to tell a basic attack from a powerful one? Is it something I should be doing constantly?

Don’t have access to the game right now, but I can maybe try making a video or grouping with someone later.

I have only been playing for less than a month, and I have spent most of my time trying the different races and professions. Soon as my characters get into the upper teens, I find myself dying constantly. Even as a guardian with a shield, I am dropping as fast as my characters in light armor.

I generally use the weapons and armor granted from quests or dropped from monsters. I carefully choose my skills and traits, yet still my health goes down faster than my enemy. Do I need to stack vitality while leveling? Or maybe I just don’t fully understand the dodge mechanic? I try to jump to the side when I see something big coming.

My friend I play with is having the same problem, so I was wondering if any other people had this problem when they were first learning the game and what they did to overcome it? Thanks!