Guild Wars 2

I’ve been toying with all of the soldiers and some other classes and I find the soldiers to be most enjoyable. In particular, Revenant and Guardian, although Warrior can be fun in a “seek and destroy” kind of way.

I started a rev last night and I’m loving him. The agile gameplay, with the shadow step on S/S is awesome. Plus the asura looks great as a rev.

I’m struggling with the idea of his role in dungeons and fractals, though. I have a level 35 guardian (obviously no big deal) that was my main over a year ago before I quit… and I’d very likely remake a guardian to play one. Guardians clearly have more of a role in dungeons and fractals.

Warrior and their banner sharing group gameplay is an idea that bores me. And while I like the pure destructiveness of the warrior in the open world, he’s basically a one skill machine (that’s hyperbole, there’s more to it than that but that’s just how it feels sometimes. The thought of stacking might and being pure support bores me without even doing it.

Is Rev really that unwanted in dungeons and fractals? I like the feel of both the guard and rev but I know jack and crap about revenant beyond what I’ve experienced in 10 levels.

Is Guardian really a jack of all trades that I believe it to be?

Is warrior purely a buffbot?

Hello all… I’ve played on and off since release… gotten a bunch of classes to 10-15 and stopped. Highest level is 30. I’m definitely in newbie territory.

I’m thinking of giving this game a real shot. I have some time at night to play and I’d like to get a couple of hours in.

I’m looking at these classes:

Warrior
Guardian
Ranger
Elementalist

I know what I’m getting with warrior, guard and ele… I’m not entirely sure about ranger.

I do NOT want to be a healer at 80. At all.

Is it possible/viable/not totally gimping myself to play a condi ranger? Or is playing ranger andnot using the elite stupid?

I’m not all that competitive of a player. I don’t even own HoT.

Is a D/D thief viable? I’ve never played a thief so I’m curious. I’m open to some other combos, but I hate guns in fantasy set MMOs, so I’d avoid rifle at all costs.

Other option is a warrior I started and played until the extremely high level of 7.

Thanks for the heads up!

I played for a few months about a year ago. Had a Guardian to level 40 or 50, don’t quite remember.

Had fun, but in thinking of coming back, I decided I need something different and I’m entirely unsure of which direction to go…

I generally prefer facesmashing, so Warrior is DEFINITELY in consideration.

But Necro, Mesmer, Elementalist, and Thief are all options as well.

So here’s my questions:

1) I’ll be more PVE than PvP, if I PvP at all. And I’ll be mostly solo, but group dungeons/fractals aren’t going to be ruled out of the equation. Of the five classes, which three would you recommend fit me best based on what I’ve listed, in your opinion?

2) What are the different builds I can use? I don’t need full details or anything… Just basic rundowns…

Thank you for any help!

How do I know when to change my utilities? May seem like a dumb question, and I’ve watched a guide on AC on youtube, but I know I’m going to be totally unaware of what’s coming up next my first and maybe even second time through. I’m going to guess that it just becomes kind of a “experience it and figure it out” kind of situation…

Beyond that, it sounds like Retreat should be the only skill that is permanently on my skill bar for AC…

Any recommendations on when to swap what? Or is it again just a “go by the feel” kind of situation?

savacli.8172:

AC will be the first dungeon up on the list. At 35 you’ll be appropriately level’d for both the story and Explore mode of the dungeon. Retreat, as usual, deserves one of your slots. WoR will be great as there is quite a lot of projectiles through the paths. Purging flames is going to be another skill you’ll want to bring into dungeons as Guardians generally get the task of condi clearing.

As you do not have certain Radiance traits yet you cannot effectively “spam” blinds.

Alright, so my utility bar will be: Shelter, Retreat, Purging Flames, WoR.

Question: What exactly do you mean with the blindness stuff? I guess I’m asking because if the blinds are ineffective, would I be better off running scepter + focus or mace + focus?

Alright, level 35… Well, 34 and about a tenth of an experience bar from 35…

I have just one trait at the moment. So builds aren’t exactly priority for my first dungeon romp that’ll be upcoming this week…

Short and sweet, what should I look to do in my first dungeon run?

Here’s my thought process:

Hammer + Sword/Focus

Utilities: Shelter, Retreat, Save Yourselves, WoR/SYG, Renewed Focus

Hammer for the symbol + 2 skill (and if I need to I have a utility root and knock back)

Sword + Focus for DPS/Blinds/Shield

Shelter for the blocks.
Retreat for blocks + swiftness
Save Yourselves to draw boons
WoR/SYG for projectiles/stability situationally…

Any suggestions? Rotation I was thinking Auto on Hammer then MB then switch to blind with 2, auto, blind with 4, shield with 5, auto until hammer is ready, back to 1, 2.

I’m feeling a bit more confident now in my abilities, but I know I’ve still got a lot of learning to do!

Actually, it’s not ideal, but the skill “Retreat!” Works as a movement speed boost for Guardians. It’s limited and there’s a decent sized cool down, but it is a speed boost.

Gildos.8460:

the rotation of players, so 1 – 4 – 0 would mean 1 person to the near point and 4 people to the mid point. As it says in the article that notation means near – mid – far.

Yeah. Being a newbie I had no idea what near – mid – far meant. I’ve only PVE’d and my character is only level 27. So that didn’t mean much to me. Thanks for the clarification.

And thanks for the article.

Thaddeus.4891:

MeththeMadman.7420:

Just to make sure, you saw that they are re-working the trait lines now too, right? So the current 6/6/6/0/0 may not be what you think it is. Or it may be. Personally, I’d avoid theorycrafting until we know exactly what the heck is going on But, if that’s your cup of tea, go make it

Ya i know, but they will still look like the trait line we have now. Valor will still improve meditation, honor will still improve symbol and shout, etc. Some trait will be deleted or merge the but trait line will continue to improve the same area as they are now. It’s just for fun, while we wait for more information.

Ya, you know far more about this game than I do, and I actually really enjoy reading your posts. Just wanted to make sure that everyone saw that part because there’s a lot of people saying stuff around here that I think missed some of the stuff in the articles

So, in part 1 you talk about rotations and then give specific examples. At first I thought you meant skill rotations, but all professions have totally different skill rotations… So what exactly is a “rotation”?

Thaddeus.4891:

Why? With a good portion of the stats from trait going into gear, a full zerker gear will make sure he have the maximum power, precision, ferocity stats.

Lets take the guardian for exemple. With a 6/6/2/0/0 build I miss on 200 ferocity and now i’ll probably be able to get it fully. The improvement of basic stats will probably make me lose a bit of power, precision and gain a bit more vitality, healing power and boon duration. You lose a bit and gain a little bit, overall it will be similar. Now take trait. With the new system I will have the equivalent of a 6/6/6/0/0 build now. I could take Mace of Justice and maybe the the new Meta would be now GS + M/F with an overall better dps.

Just to make sure, you saw that they are re-working the trait lines now too, right? So the current 6/6/6/0/0 may not be what you think it is. Or it may be. Personally, I’d avoid theorycrafting until we know exactly what the heck is going on But, if that’s your cup of tea, go make it

I mean, I understand some skepticism, but why not wait until you know how this is actually going to work before getting bent out of shape? With the re-worked traits, this may work out in everyone’s favor. Beyond that, they could be buffing the snot out of the GM/Ma traits to make them more desirable than the adept would ever be.

I feel like there’s a lot of grumbling that could be for naught at the moment.

Dayra.7405:

MeththeMadman.7420:

I think people are going to need to wait to see what happens with it before getting frustrated.

My frustration has nothing to do with how good or bad the new Traits will be.
It has to do that again (after the china-trait-change) Anet put’s it’s resources into something that worked best before they touched it, instead of things that urgently need work like WvW/EotM balance.

I currently think the moment HoT comes out will be the moment I stop playing GW2 as not buying HoT will make a 3rd class citizen, but I do not see a point in HoT I like to have so much that it is worth a euro.

You never know. There may be a way through wvw for skill acquisition. That’s what I’m saying. Let’s wait and see before getting frustrated. I can definitely see your concern, though. The idea is troubling for wvw’ers.

Dayra.7405:

Corpus Christi.2057:

It’s an expansion, which introduces NEW mechanics, so it is more than LOGICAL that there will be substantial changes to the PREVIOUS mechanics.

Is this an expansion? I don’t believe so, but would be nice, if I do not buy HoT I keep my current traits.

No but this system is going to go in across the board.

I think people are going to need to wait to see what happens with it before getting frustrated. The AMA should help a bit.

I guarantee this is no where near as terrible as some believe it to be.

ZudetGambeous.9573:

The answer is that you can’t. After this you will be allowed to be one of 2-3 Anet approved builds. They don’t want any variations or diversity because it makes their jobs too hard.

sigh There’s variation within the three trait lines you choose. That’s out of five possible. If you do the math, I believe that comes out to a crap ton of different variations of builds. Not sure how many will be viable (because I don’t know what the trait reworks are) but there will be a ton of flexibility.

Thanks! Definitely helped me out.

So my best bet for tomes is Black Lion chests at such a low level?

Wait… What’s going on? Specializations are tied to map completion?

I got a tome of knowledge last night, I have no idea how… And I’ve been reading about these scrolls that take you to level 20 immediately. I want to begin to collect these so that I can level my revenant quickly (but not quick enough that I don’t learn the class) when HoT drops. So when I get to sticking points, I’d like to use these tools.

How the heck do you get them?

(I’m level 25, I do PVE only at the moment).

So… How would you recommend leveling? I’ve done map completion in the Charr city, Plains of Ashford and I’m about to finish Diessa Plains… I’m level 22… When I finish Diessa I’ll be 23. That’s two levels below the next zone… I could probably do Lion’s Arch map complete and that’ll help a bit… But I can’t figure out why I’m below where I should be…

Gotta be honest, the back and forth is confusing the crap out of me…

I get that I should have SYG on my bar…

Do I want Retreat?

What utilities should I be using at level 22? What are some good ones come dungeon time that I should definitely invest in?

Currently I have Bane Signet, SYG and Retreat. My heal is the default, which I believe is Shelter.

Thanks for all the tips. I’m currently attempting to figure out where I want to go with my guardian long term. Even though I haven’t tried it yet, I’m thinking wvw may actually wind up being an option for me, but I’d still primarily be PVE.

I’m only level 22 at the moment, so keep in mind I still don’t understand many of the mechanics… But I DO want to try to find a build/way of playing that minimizes needing to switch traits/skills for the time being (I understand that you have to be more flexible long term, but for now, I feel like that’s too much and I will ease myself into it).

I’m thinking that Hammer/Sword + Focus would be a good way to play for now…

With hammer, you have MB + the chain that grants a symbol. I can root if necessary and MB is a gap closer.

With sword/focus I have a blind, protection and an added blind. If I open with Hammer chain (1) > MB (2)> Switch > Blind (2) > Shield (5) > Auto (1) > Blind (4) > Switch… is there any issues there?

I think Altruistic Healing is something I’m going to look towards once I get to traits, but traits wise I’m still confused as I haven’t reached them yet. Shouldn’t be long, though, before I’m dungeon capable, so planning ahead is important.

As a young guardian (level 22) I think I’ve experimented a little bit with weapons and have come to the conclusion that the hammer is my favorite. The only caveat is I love the constant blinds with GS/1H+Focus.

Is there any leveling recommendations here? (As I’m posting this, I realize I may be better off asking in a different thread… There hasn’t been a response here in 7 months…)

Alright… Level 13 now. Starting to get curious about skills…

First off, I did two skill point challenges… But when I went to unlock a skill, I couldn’t unlock any of them… But Smite Condition was already unlocked (which I didn’t do).

This is probably a noob error…

To the actual skills… From what I understand I have to unlock five tier 1 skills (1 skill point cost each) so I can unlock Tier 2 skills.

For Tier 1 these are the skills I’m looking at:

-Smite Condition (not on purpose, I wouldn’t have chosen that skill, but it’s already unlocked…)
-Signet of Judgment
-Wall of Reflection
-“Retreat”
-Bane Signet

Is that a decent start?

Furthermore, how do I check how many skill points I’ve amassed?

Thanks again for all the help here!

Sav, I tried to friend you last night in game but I don’t know if I did it correctly. Noob and all.

Alright, good to know that I have to unlock each weapons skills. Going to start using some of these weapons that I pick up.

Are the white armor, although level appropriate, a smart idea? Or should I just try to get by with drops until I get to 20 and can actually afford stuff on the post? I almost feel like wasting money on whites will put me in a cash bind later. Then again, the cost is probably so little that by the time I get to 80 it doesn’t make a slight difference.

Got to level 10 last night. Having a lot of fun. Did it relatively quickly (I think I played for about an hour and a half). The many ways to accrue experience make the running around actually worth while (other MMOs make running around tedious, this game it feels much less).

Couple questions: Everyone keeps saying to level your weapon skills… I assumed that as my character leveled, each weapon leveled too… I’ve been using the great sword almost exclusively… Do I have to use other weapon types to unlock all of their weapon skills? I’m going to guess that’s an important thing to know! Haha!

As far as buying equipment from the trading post, which was advice that was given to me, about every 5-10 levels… How the heck can I afford it? Right now, I can’t afford one piece of level 10 gear with the money that I have.

MAC question (if anyone plays on one, if not, ignore this) – How do I activate my F1 skill without manually mousing over? Actually pressing F1 doesn’t work. I may have to reassign them to different keys.

Thanks for all of the help in here, I’m recognizing stuff as it’s happening and it’s significantly helping me through the game. I appreciate everyone’s feedback and support and I hope some other newbie Guards can get something out of this.

Alright, I’m going to stick with my Guard! Logging in now!

Couple things:

First, I can’t reply to PMs yet (apparently I have one more day to wait).

I’ll be in game at around 8 PM tonight. I’m going to be a somewhat casual player and I’m on the US server. Sav, it’s definitely a possibility!

Question for all of you, since everyone here seems to have a ton of quality info…

Guardian seems a little… complicated. I’m not opposed to that, but I wonder if I should start with a simpler class to learn the game mechanics first? I want to play a Guardian, but I also had a desire to play a Warrior…

So, even though my overall goal is to build a strong Guardian (it’s the class I prefer at the moment) I feel like I could learn the game mechanics a heck of a lot better with a more straight forward face smasher like the Warrior… Am I wrong? Is it better to just play the Guardian now if that’s my overall goal?

savacli.8172:

For a leveling Guardian I would advise you to have a staff in your inventory. The AutoAttack on the weapon tags up to 5 targets which makes it great to get credit in events. The 3 ability also helps for swiftness which is really desired if you’re doing map/story completion or Edge of the Mists (EotM). The Retreat Utility skill also helps with swiftness as does Save Yourselves (SY) to a lesser extent.

Dumb question: How do I acquire a staff? Is it a drop? Or should I buy one?

Found a greatsword last night at level 2. Using it now. It’s fun to use. Another question for you (anyone): I read about making sure you keep your weapons upgraded, how do I do that? And can I choose the traits I want on it somehow or is it buy/pick up with the stats you get?

If “buying” traits means real money – then no, I won’t be buying. If it’s gold, I would probably do a little of that.

As far as my play style… I’m definitely going to want to be PVE and Dungeon focused. Solo a lot as far as leveling goes.

Started my Charr Guardian last night (also my very first GW2 character). First off, wow. I wish I got into this game earlier. Graphics are great. Runs extremely smooth. Just a good game. Sorry I’m so late to the party.

I’m level 4 (no need to be worried, I realize 4 is a high level… I’m not a pvper though, so you’re all safe…)

I’ve read all sorts of general game tips that are going to help me significantly… But are there any tips specific to Guardian as I level that I should be aware of?

Thanks ahead of time for any help!

Think I’ve pretty much settled on a Warrior or a Guardian. Definitely going Charr, too (male).

Warrior armor looks a lot more bad kitten … But aesthetics are only part of it. I want to say I’m going to make a Guardian, but I think this is one of those decisions that’s going to happen at the creation screen and just be in the moment.

Both classes sound fun. Warrior may be simple, but bashing skulls is never dull. Guardian sounds like it can be a kitten, too, though. So we’ll see. Haven’t named the characters yet, but I’m planning on logging in around 10 PM EST for an hour or so tonight just to get started. Maybe I’ll see some of you in game!

Donari.5237:

If you agree with most players that dps is king, you’ll want warrior (and a well-played warrior with banners and such can be effective support as well). If you’re willing to do less dps in order to really buff up your friends, guardian is the way to go. I suggest you try some of both to see which keeps you having fun in combat the most, then focus in on that one.

May have to go with this suggestion.

I do it with most games. ESO I started as a Dragonknight DPS and then got to a little higher level (still crazy low) and decided I wanted to be a tank/off-healer Templar. But it was playing the game that made me see and understand that. So this sounds like great advice…

savacli.8172:

Here’s the question that will make a defining cut in which class you want. Are you looking for personal survivability, or do you like the challenge of looking out for you team?

I’m not trying to bait; I’m looking for an honest answer. Classes in the game tend to adhere more closely to one of the other.

I like being of use to a team, so yes, I’m looking for that.

But my guess is that the majority of the time personal survival is going to be much more important for me as I’ll be solo…

Guard certainly seems a lot more interesting… But then again, strapping on some heavy armor and a carrying a monster weapon and smashing things into oblivion with some offense doesn’t seem so boring, either.

I’ll have to really think about it. Appreciate the feedback so far in here, if anyone else has anything to add I’d appreciate it!

Miku.6297:

Guards aren’t terrible for dungeons and they definitely have low hp but they make up for it in healing/toughness.

I suggested Warrior because they usually have higher damage output, and are very mobile for open world solo play.

So from what I’ve gathered:

Guardians:
-Guardian is low HP but is the best defensive type profession in the game.
-Can do damage, but their strength is defense.
-Wanted in dungeon settings for their control/support mechanics
-Tougher to learn versus Warrior
-Not very mobile

Warriors:
-High damage output and high health pool.
-Not as defensive as the guardian.
-Wanted in dungeons for offensive buffs.
-Easy to learn.
-Highly mobile.

Is that about accurate? Seems like Warrior may hands down be the better choice of the two as I don’t see the downside to them versus Guardian. Having said that, there’s something drawing me to the Guardian. Not sure if it’s simply because it seems like the Warrior is much easier so there’s probably a bunch of them running around…

Appreciate the responses. I had thought Guardian myself, but then I read a thread in the Guardian forum about the Guard having low HP and not doing great in dungeons and it kind of made me a little concerned…

Hope that’s not the case!

Sorry, I made one of these in the players helping players forum, but some great replies there really got me thinking about how I want to play the game going forward, so I figured I’d ask all of you.

Here is a rundown about me:

-Limited playing time (will be casual) [and in that casual time, I am also playing ESO now that it’s sub free]
-Primarily focusing on PVE and probably solo
-I do enjoy dungeons, so dungeon utility is important.
-Not afraid of a more difficult class
-Usually, I like heavy armor and being in the fight. Feeling tanky is a lot of fun (but I’m open to ideas)
-Dealing damage can be a ton of fun, too.
-Not big on crowd control caster types
-Don’t want a class that isn’t wanted for dungeons.
-Don’t want a class that’s going to bore the crap out of me.

Having said that, these are the classes I’m considering at the moment:

-Guardian
-Elementalist
-Thief
-Warrior

Necro/Ranger are eliminated because they seem to be “unwanted” in dungeon settings.

Mesmer is eliminated simply because it doesn’t sound all that interesting to me.

Engineer in eliminated because I really don’t like the idea of guns in MMOs.

So, if anyone wants to take a quick second and share an opinion on what I laid out above, I’d very much appreciate it!!

Man, I was all set to start playing with a guardian until I read this thread. Low health pool? Frustrated with playing in dungeons? Ugh.

I was looking for a class that can be tanky, wears heavy armor and is wanted in dungeons (for PVE purposes) and can solo relatively well while leveling.

Wow! Thanks for all the help here!

I did some reading on my own last night and I think I’ve narrowed it down to a few classes, but favoring one in particular.

The Elementalist, the Warrior, the Guardian and the Thief are all definitely classes that sound like a ton of fun.

I’m not big on the whole “gun” thing in an MMO, personally.

But the class that I think I’m leaning towards is a Guardian. Tanky (but not a tank) and they seem to be good for dungeons and PVE, which is where I’d spend the majority of my play time (as limited as it’ll likely be).

Of course, I’ll probably play the other classes at some point too, though.

I’m going to be downloading the client tonight, will probably get to play later this week… But I have a question for you regarding classes…

I enjoy playing tanks in MMOs. Now, from what I understand, this isn’t a standard MMO. But is there a place for a tank?

If there is a need for tanks, does race matter?

And lastly, if there isn’t such a thing, I’d really enjoy playing a DPS type. Any recommendations?