well now this is my cup of tea.
Ele and Mesmer my two main classes, with Necro being a class I love but im nowhere near as good with.
Ele, as of right now, is possibly the best overall class besides Warrior. Actually, at a high level id go as far as saying Ele is the best class period. Ele hits like a truck even with defensive stats, can stack might for the team, heal the team, stay mobile and stay alive quite easily ONCE YOU KNOW WHAT YOURE DOING. At start, Ele will seem like it cant survive at all due to light armor and lowest hp, but eventually youll see that the ele is literally a mobile tank, and I dont mean tank as in absorbing damage, I mean tank as in rolling out and blasting the enemy. In PVE, Ele is wanted for its might stacks, Ice bows, Fiery Great Swords (which is being nerfed) and aoe. the constant aoe heals and, regen and condi cleanse works in your favor as well. As amazing as all this sounds, there is an extremely high learning curve. Also, Ele is a beast from range using staff. In WVW Ele can hold his own one on one using daggers against just about any build or class out there. Staff in group fights can decimate a large part of a zerg.
Ahem, onto the Mesmer. Mesmer has been my main since… about 5-6 months into the game. Let me start by saying I absolutely hated the Mesmer while I leveled it up, the only class I hated more was the Ranger (which I love now). Mesmer is extremely unique; its large hp pool and weapon selection make it quite an attractive selection. Heres the confusion… Mesmer is actually a melee class. While it has 3 ranged weapons (GS is ranged for mesmer, Scepter, and Staff) you wont find the real strength of the mesmer unless you use a 1 handed sword. Mastering the 1hs mesmer is difficult and will take some time. Cooldowns on your offhand weapons is something you will have to get used to. Mesmers have versatile builds though most people run one very, very similar, I have used an aoe healing zerk mantra mes since I started. The April 15th patch actually nerfed my build but I still use it effectively. Mesmer is NOT a class I would suggest for PVE at first, however if youre willing to learn and are looking for a class to invest in I think Mesmer is the perfect choice. While Ele is in a better spot, I think Mesmer will eventually (september?) get its feet back under it. Mesmer is by no means BAD in pve, its the lack of AOE for events and regular map clearing that make it somewhat annoying to use. For WvW its a mixed bad, its not TOO helpful in large scale fights but can dominate in 1 on 1 scenarios. Same goes for PVP, while Mesmer isnt popular in PvP, this is more of the fact that people stopped theorycrafting and started sticking to “meta”…. atleast, thats part of it anyway. Overall Mesmer is a love it or hate it class, I def think its worth the time and effort, its more of the… “experts” class, so to speak.
Finally we have the necro. Necro is the class I actually had the most fun leveling up. Ill make this one short. To be brutally honest, ive been using my necro for pve and dungeons lately after 2 years of hearing how bad they are at it, and I have to say…. no. Necro is just fine. They wont stack might, give ridiculous regen, or reflect projectiles like a Mesmer, but they hold their own just fine. That there though is the problem, its a selfish class. If playing with other good players, necro is a ball because how the class operates both from melee, mid, and long range is awesome, it just needs to be understood. Players that dont know necro or havent been playing long and just believe the hype will think Necro sucks and want you to switch to war or guardian. Dont be one of those guys. For WVW Necro is the kitten. They CAN have some serious problems in one on ones, ive seen it happen, but at the sametime in groups, or even small groups (2 on 2 or so) they can and will wreck your face open. Their only weakness is lack of vigor/ protection / stability. The huge upside is Necro is one of the few classes, maybe only class (imo) that has advantage over really really good engis. (A GOOD engi will make anyones life hell!). in PVP Necro is a mixed bag. I think necro is great in pvp, some people with meh, it really depends on the group for this one. Overall its a great class, just dont fall into the “SUCKS IN PVE DONT USE” category. PVE is more than just dungeons, its tagging mobs and getting loot, which the necro is great at.
With all that said, roll all three to level 10 and see which is best for you.
