Guild Wars 2

Personally I’d love to see a scythe. However, if we get access to that it probably will not be till the expansion that gives access to Elona and the Dervish. Possibly the same thing for the throwing spear, since that was the Paragon’s main weapon. Given the more European bent of the Krytan/Ascalonian warrior, I’d lean towards 2H Axe, Morningstar, or Flail. Morningstar I think is out, it’s just a re-skinned 2H Hammer for the most part. I’m kind of in favor of the Flail, a nice chain weapon and something completely different while not straying from the standard European/Fantasy genre. As for a polearm…well can never go wrong with a big stick with a big blade/spike/or hammer at the end. Personally I’m a fan of the glaive. However, I do like guisarmes and halberds too. Guess a bardiche, bec de corbin, lucern hammer, or spetum would be cool too.

Guess I’ll add my two cents in also. I do not pvp at all, one day I’ll give it a shot, so I only have a purely pve experience. In a way, almost makes me a perfect juror for this coughs ‘trial’. My main (I think) is a level 80 mesmer, GS/Sw+Sw most of the time. I have a level 80 Ele, D/D (I’ve done staff and Sc/D too. Not a fan of the focus). Also have a 65 War Axe+Axe/Hammer, Rifle, Bow, or Axe+Shield pending on the situation. Oh and a 59 Guardian, my squishy toon (Yeah the hardest one to kill is my squishiest, laughs).

As for the debate as to which is stronger/better, I actually find Warrior and Elementalist to be about the same. The problem is your trying to compare an apple to an orange, the only similarity is they are both fruit, or in this case player classes. A Warrior is an orange. He’s got a sharp powerful flavor, but he only grows in a small region of the world. In other words, he can do stuff in a fairly small area of influence; dps, support, healing, or tanking. He suffers from the tough exterior, but squishy interior of an orange too. Get past the armor and he doesn’t have a lot in the survival tools. They are there, just not a huge amount, relying more on the tough outer shell.

Apples on the other hand; grow all over the place, have a less in your face flavor, a softer skin, and a harder ‘meat’. They may take damage easier, but their ability to get out of situations makes them harder to kill. They aren’t as super in the flavor department as an orange which is more like “Oh my god! Citrus flavor in my face!”. It’s more subtle and can kind of catch you by surprise sometimes, but it is no less powerful. Plus their ability to be versatile is a nice boost. They are not a tank, not a healer, not dps, or support. They are yes or E. All of the above. They can specialize in a role, but they can -always- still contribute to the other roles.

The apple might be more complex to play, but that’s just due to the fact that elementalist is generally more complex than Grok, who has a stick with a pointy bit and beats people to death with it whilst muttering, “ugh” and “urk”. I play my War on the days when my brain doesn’t feel like waking up any further than my caveman level of intelligence (we all have those days). Or when I just feel like “Hulk, smash” and eventually remember I’m not big and green. Often followed by eating dirt.

On a side note, Guardians are pineapples, maybe coconuts. Mesmers, I’m thinking are black grapes… kitten all those little seeds. Annoying till you miss one and bam….ow ow ow. Kind of like a shatter.

I seriously need less time on my hands.

Mesmers may have lower damage, however, that can be partly based upon current spec. What I mean is that on some fights, phantasms can be awesome. Some, they are worthless due to aoe’s and getting one shotted. In Guild Wars 1, Mesmer was all about timing and to some degree it is here too. That timing is notable for shatter builds, when to get the clones out and when to shatter (a.k.a. when are they going to survive getting to the target).

Also, I believe that mesmers are still semi similar to the GW1 version, wherein they weren’t necessarily the top dps or anywhere near, but they were one of the top sps (support per second). Since there’s no such thing as a sps meter, I cannot verify if they were the top, but then again I’m not sure how’d you quantify interrupts, portals, ranged reflects, misleading mobs, laying down conditions (both damaging and non-damaging), and boons. In a lot of ways, even though we don’t do top damage, we make stuff easier. I am certainly no pro, but there are a lot of good mesmers who have done dungeons on the forums and lots of posts that can give good pointers.