Guild Wars 2

Having done some testing on the invincible dummy in HotM with builds I could find on the forums on the Elementalist, Warrior, Mesmer and Necromancer (using Warrior as a reference point since they have such immense sustained damage) I’ve came to some interesting results. Of course I’m probably not doing things perfectly as I only spent about 15 minutes on each class, but it does give a rough overview.

Using berserkers amulet and absolute glass cannon traits with the standard armour this is the result I had:

Warrior: 12 second kill (Greatsword+Axe/Mace – just using the Axe auto after the second HB as the dummy dies before the third)

Mesmer: 13 second kill (Greatsword – 3 phantasms up already so this is long term sustain.)

Elementalist: 15 second kill (Scepter/Dagger. Damage falls off REALLY hard after this though since I’ll be waiting for burst skills to come back. Deceptively fast kill, dummy should have had more HP)

Necromancer: 19 second kill (Axe/Warhorn-Dagger/Focus. Falls off quite hard after Wells expire, but condition damage is stupidly high.

Mesmer: 20 second kill (No phantasms set up in advance)

Overall it seems like the casters sustained DPS is roughly equal if we take into account the fact that Mesmer phantasms will die sometimes in longer encounters, so they can’t match the Warrior.

I realise that this is awfully anecdotal, but at least to me it provides some frame of reference as I haven’t really seen anyone post any testing results or numbers yet.

I’m just farming some gold until I decide. Orr champion farm is silly good at the moment, made 50g there yesterday in a few hours. ^^

It just seems like there is such a massive disparity in damage between the proffessions, I’ve never seen such imbalance before. It puts me off a littlebit since I’d like to be a spellcaster that can compare in damage with the top, which seems to be impossible in this game. :/

I’ve just made a Mesmer, Warrior and Thief and had a go at the dummies in HotM. I realise that I’m awful with all these classes so my testing isn’t much reliable at all, but I noticed there is a gigantic disparity between the damage these classes do. Is it supposed to be that way? I think I doubled my Mesmer damage with both the Warrior and Thief, it wasn’t even remotely close.

Thank you ever so much for the replies guys, they are very much appreciated.

I shall have a go at both the Necromancer and Mesmer then, leveling them both up and see which I like. The Elementalist just wasn’t for me though, GuildWarsPlayer. Attunement swapping is an awesome mechanic and I like how fluid it feels, but the lack of good long range weapons (Staff is… eh. Not awesome) kind of killed that dream for me.

Again, super thanks. <3 Time to go level that Mesmer first I think, then Necro.

Hiya.

-Everything I am talking about is PvE. I’m not too interested in PvP, although if you have some insight to give there as well, feel free-

I’ve only been playing Gw2 for a week, so I’m rather new. My Elementalist recently hit 80, which was nice, but ever since I realised that it wasn’t a class I would enjoy in the long run it’s been a bit more iffy. I just leveled it to 80 so that I could grab some extra gold for my second character more easily.

I’m just wondering if you guys could give me some tips on which class could potentially be a good fit for me based on the criteria I list below. Hopefully there is indeed a class that is like this.

- Ranged damage dealer, magical preferred but not required

- Has extremely high sustained damage, among the highest in the game

- Doesn’t necessarily need to have good burst

- Doesn’t need to be very tanky, but not dying in one hit without taking a lot of defensive traits and gear would be nice

- Doesn’t need a lot of boons or healing

- Light Armor preferred, but not required (I realise this only leaves Mesmer and Necromancer, which is why it’s not required)

- I’m not a big fan of pets

Also, I have a couple more questions. Knowledge is king.

As I intend to play the proffession that I en up with for a very long time – I had my WoW Mage for the better part of 7 years as a comparison – I have to make sure it suits my playstyle. I was woefully disappointed when I figured out that the Elementalist was nothing like what I wanted it to be, but rather a ‘jack of all trades, king of none’ which automatically makes them bad for optimized PvE setups as other classes can fill their spot and do it better than them.

Do ranged classes just plain do less damage than melee classes when grouped in Gw2?

Could anyone that really knows what they are talking about without having to provide potentially faulty information type up a quick tier list of classes in PvE based on overall desirability and DPS?

I’d think that at the very least being able to use one handed swords as an Elementalist would make sense.

Oh I am not at all concerned with the difficulty of playing classes. I’m a rather quick learner and, if I may be a bit bold, a very good player as proven by extremely high world rankings throughout other games.

When people say ‘Oh this class has so many buttons, it’s hard!’ I just think ‘Awesome, that class has more possibilities than others’ – it’s not about difficulty.

It makes me a bit sad to see so many people say that Elementalists aren’t particularly great at damaging though, as DPS and healing are the loves of my MMO-‘life’. In WoW I mained a Mage from 2006-2013 and loved it to bits, main alts were Warlock, Priest and Rogue if that tells you something. In Diablo 2 I played predominantly Paladin and Sorc on multiple ladders into the very high 90s, et cetera.

As far as I’ve understood, the Elementalist is more like the elemental Mage of WoW, while the Mesmer is more of an illusionist (arcane?) typey and the Necromancer is more focused around debuffs, being annoying and is perhaps a bit tankier than the other casters. Would this be a correct statement?

Since it apparently doesn’t take long to level to 80 I’ll do that as an Elementalist first though and see how I like it. If it’s not for me then I’ll try out one of the other two casters.

Thanks again for the responses, looking forward to new ones!

~Kira

I have had a feeling that it’s just the usual venting of frustration on the forums – those posts I usually ignore. I just read a few posts that seemed to analyze it a bit further and came to the conclusion that Elementalists were quite good in PvP but rather bad in PvE. Either way it’s the class I’ll be picking up. I’d dislike going with another class without at the very least checking if I enjoy the ‘pure’ mage of GW2. :)

Thank you for the answer.

~Kira

Edit: That’s fine, Ptolomy. From other games I’m used to leveling a character without assigning attributes and skill points for many levels in order to make sure it is an optimised character at a later point when they can be better spent. I’m fine with a rough leveling process as long as the end result is good. :)

Hiya.

So, I am currently downloading GW2 after having purchased it earlier today. I’ll just prefice this by saying that I am a veteran gamer that is very competetive.

Usually I enjoy playing a magic user such as a Mage in WoW, Wizard in Diablo 3, Witch in Path of Exile and Sorceress in Diablo 2 (you get the idea). In GW2 the equivalent appears to be the Elementalist. That’s all fine and dandy, but after having read a bit around multiple forums I’ve seen people in general consider Elementalists to be just plain bad in PvE – is this the case? I’ve seen posts stating that they do laughable DPS compared to others, their healing isn’t even close to as good as a Guardians and their tanking potential cannot match heavier armour users. Is all of this true?

As much as I like playing a Mage that utilises the elements to to their bidding, I dislike playing a blatantly underpowered class even more. I need to feel like I’m contributing a great deal to the group by exceling at something vital, such as DPS or healing.

Is it the case that Elementalists are rather bad at the moment, and if not – which aspects of PvE do they outshine other classes at?

Thanks in advance for your insightful answers.

~Kira

Edit: I have gotten PMs which I cannot yet reply to as my account is very new. Rest assured that they are not being ignored – I am taking them to heart. Thank you ever so much.

Oh leveling is something I find interesting in MMOs. I don’t enjoy it as much as I do in, say, ARPGs where I enjoy hitting very high levels/high ladder spots immensly, but it does provide great insight into the classes. I shall take your tips to heart – especially the one where you advice me to go off the natural path at times.

Perhaps I’ll get to play it tomorrow evening. The download has been on for 7 hours so far and it’s only at 19%. Sigh. If only I’d done this before moving.

I see. That’s a clever system. It’s nice to hear that I’ll be able to hop to other servers from time to time – that’s one of the things I was worrying a littlebit about.

Now if only the game would finish downloading… I just moved to a new apartment yesterday and haven’t got any decent internet connection running yet so it’s downloading at a heartwrenching 150 kb/s. >_<

Can’t wait to get started out as a Human Elementalist. I just hope I’ll be able to find a guild that’s nice and sociable from the get-go.

How long does a ‘guest’ last for? Can I guest another server until I log off or is it two instanced dungeons?

Thank you very much for the tips so far guys. It is very much appreciated.

What about servers? I’d hate to pick one of the less populated ones as I enjoy having full cities and generally just quite a lot of people running around in the world.

Hiya!

I’m a completely new player – the game is in fact downloading as I type this post – and I am in need of a wee bit of handholding. I’m a veteran gamer, and a competetive one at that.

From what I’ve seen, the Elementalist class appeals the most to me. I’ve always been a fan of magic users: especially ones that wield the power of the elements. (See: WoW Mage, Path of Exile Witch, Diablo 2 Sorceress, Diablo 3 Wizard etc.) Is the Elementalist a viable class when it comes to top end PvP and PvE?

As well as that, is there one or perhaps a couple of servers in particular that outshine the others in term of activity and PvP/PvE rankings as well as the difficulty with which a new player can find an okay guild?

As a last thing, is there anything I really should know before venturing into the land of Gw2?

Thank you ever so much in advance for your answers guys. It truly is appreciated.

~Kira.