Honest opinion on the classes?

[Deleted]

Hey guys,

So I wanted to play Guild wars 2 again after being gone for months and wanted to level a new character.
So the first thing I did was to find info about every class and I kind of wish I didn't..

I swear to god, the forums on the official Guild Wars 2 website are infested with people moaning about their class with the occasional guy/girl saying the class has no problems.
The picture I've been getting about almost every class is that It's broken to the point It's not worth playing it.

I have only played an Elementalist and leveled that to 80 but wanted some change, but I'm getting a little bit discouraged now.

So I was hoping if you guys could give me an honest opinion about every class.

p.s. I am interested in every aspect of the game so it would be nice if had a class that also gets taken to PvE content for example.

[Fencers]

Ranger is the easiest/most powerful PVE class bar none for a solo player. Warrior is a very close second, but is even more powerful than Ranger once they are fully kitted. All other classes are about the same in PVE effectiveness. And they all play relatively the same in all honesty.

The thing is Guild Wars 2 is an action game. Even more so than it is an MMO in the traditional sense. Movement, dodging, circle strafing, darting in & out of combat, etc- that is the nature of playing GW2.

In playing GW2 one is playing what could be described classically as an Arcade game. Play GW2 like it's Dark Souls, DMC, Godhand or Ninja Gaiden. It's easy.

I do not have any PVP advice.

[Meledelion]

It sort of depends on your goal and how you play. Playing with a set team of friends for instance changes the "best team build" drastically.

When I'm pugging there are certain classes I simply won't invite because usually people play builds on them that I consider bad (staff ele, lb ranger, condi nec/engi,...) while the classes I like (war, mes and guard) do more dmg even if you bring the wrong build or the builds are so well known people just bring them.

Let's look at dungeons. If you're going to pug them you're best of running either war, mes or a guardian since in general people like those classes and they're quite easy to play so you get 3war+mes+guard.
If you're not pugging the ideal build is something like war, mes, ran, thief and ele if you need projectile defense you can change the thief for a guardian (or the mes).

So depending on how you play your view vastly changes. Rangers for instance are close to unplayable (in a decent way) in pugs since if you want to be able to keep your pet/spirits alive (big parts of our dps) you need everyone to be in melee (aoe hits only 5players and prioritizes PC over NPC), you can ofc equip a longbow and a ranged pet and hope for the best but that's a certain play-style that surely gets the job done, it's just a tedious project.

For PvP a similar thing happens. In tPvP mesmers aren't as wanted anymore due to an increased number of nerfs (and condition builds) which makes it so you hardly see them. If you enter soloQ you'll see them quite a bit. I'm a r38 player so I don't know what's common below my rank but it's usually GS warriors and backstab thieves. You don't really see those a lot on tPvP either. Basically for tPvP people are far more selective so you don't see warriors, mesmers and elementalists that much.

It's really hard to recommend certain professions since it really depends on your build (weapons) and play-style. Some people swear by S/P thief because of the evade, others prefer D/D for the insane damage and constant stealth management yet others prefer P/D conditions and so on and so forth.
________________________________________________________________

If you're looking for a "polar opposite" of the ele I'd go with something like guardian. You go from a "fluid" play-style to a very "static" one, where you specialise in one thing.

You sort of need to specify your preference in regards to what you're looking for.
Mesmer is quite different but again a clothy and sort of a support prof.
Necro is an aoe-ing monster with good single target dps(different builds) but doesn't bring other wanted stuff such as might/vulnerability.
Engineer is sort of the opposite and brings lots of utility but doesn't bring the dps.
Ranger has awesome dps (when in melee) and nice support (perma fury/spirit/spotter).
Thief brings mainly damage and vulnerability, with some qol utility like stealth for running.
Warriors bring both the dps and utility (banner of strength/discipline + fgj/omm/empower allies).
Guardian can bring defensive support and good dps, most ppl simply don't seem to realise this (or think that a guardian is supposed to be a tank...).
Elementalists can bring amazing support (passive regen, 3k party heals, vulnerability, 25stacks of might, fury) and shit tons of dps (lightning hammer) but you need a team that's willing to bring a class that feels flimsy. You'll hit like a truck but you have to hope you don't get agro

[Dirdie]

Every class in every game is broken to the point it's not worth playing. That is all you ever read on forums, because forums are where people goto complain. Pick what interests you and just have fun and not worry about others opinions.

[Valeron]

warriors are pretty mediocre in sPVP

they are rather boring to play but they are fairly easy to play and you can do well at most aspects of the game

Really just pick a class that interests you. Whatever you do, don't go by the official forums, they are a cesspool.

[Dundebuns]

I find warriors a lot of fun in sPvP. When I got out of the mind set of doing as much damage as possible and started listening to another guild member, I changed my weapons and my traits and started making a serious impact in the matches I played in. It got more fun too.

I don't think I could ever touch Engineers though. I'm thinking of rolling a ranger though. I want the Asura animations, but short and long bows are just tiny on them regardless.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the reply everyone!
I'll take everyone's advice and decide later today what I'll be playing

p.s. Special thanks to Meledelion for the boatload full of info ^^

[Fencers]

warriors are pretty mediocre in sPVP

they are rather boring to play but they are fairly easy to play and you can do well at most aspects of the game

I can't say there is anything more involved or "exciting" in playing another class over warrior. They all play basically the same to me in PVE; auto attack, one or two damage weapon skills, one or two weapon utility skills, a engage/disengage and small cluster or buff gaining or debuff removing free skills.

The only resources one truly manages are countdown timers. All tertiary resources are flatly on/off mechanically- do you have enough initiative, y/n? do you have enough rage, y/n? are your attunements off cd, y/n?

Natch, opinions differ. I just find it interesting that one would suggest a class is more involved over another based on no mechanical evidence. GW2's gameplay simply doesn't support intellectual rigor on any level whatsoever from a mechanics standpoint.

[Valeron]

yup, should have said in my opinion.

[Valeron]

In pve it's that way for sure Bovinity although there is still a discernible difference in feel of play between say a D/D Elementalist and a Turret Engineer.

[Lazuli]

I can't say there is anything more involved or "exciting" in playing another class over warrior. They all play basically the same to me in PVE; auto attack, one or two damage weapon skills, one or two weapon utility skills, a engage/disengage and small cluster or buff gaining or debuff removing free skills.

The only resources one truly manages are countdown timers. All tertiary resources are flatly on/off mechanically- do you have enough initiative, y/n? do you have enough rage, y/n? are your attunements off cd, y/n?

Natch, opinions differ. I just find it interesting that one would suggest a class is more involved over another based on no mechanical evidence. GW2's gameplay simply doesn't support intellectual rigor on any level whatsoever from a mechanics standpoint.

Fencers tells it how it is.

[Fencers]

yup, should have said in my opinion.

Of course. I just found it an interesting opinion in an thread on opinions.

I do not have an actual problem with your POV. Bovinity sort of beat me to it- even the skill bars in GW2 are internally and logically consistent for the most part. It's very League of Legends-like in that regard.

As quick example;

Warrior Rifle: 1 Auto, 2 utility [slow], 3 damage [rapid fire], 4 utility [armor crush], 5 disengage [kb]
Ranger Longbow: 1 Auto, 2 damage [rapid fire], 3 utility [deaggro], 4 disengage [kb], 5 utility [slow]
Engineer Rifle: 1 Auto, 2 utility [root], 3 damage [arc], 4 disengage [kb], 5 utility [leap]

The process of using any 3 of those classes and weapons is very similar. A couple of utility skills as "outs", a control skill or two, some damage skills synergized around auto attack. Primarily due to the gameplay in GW2 is all about movement as chief concern, the gameplay is rather parred down from a higher view of mechanics.

Now of course we have fireball tossing Eles, plague bolt flinging Necros, Guards tossing out orbs of light and Mes' slinging purple orbs of fabulous. Though essentially, they are all firing off different colored orbs of light.

The only true differences in play come from granular application buffs/debuffs [which are largely incidental in GW2] and dishonest comparisons such as; "B-b-but a great sword Warrior is different from a pistol Engineer!", et cetera.

I do believe it is somewhat fair to say in response to the OP all the classes are about the same in level of competence in PVE. With no class being so dynamically different that one would be stymied by the mechanics of a Mesmer vs. Engineer. Or that an Elementalist is somehow less "boring" [mechanically, natch] than a Ranger or somesuch. So long as one approached the game with the foresight that GW2 is an action game.

[Clymene]

In playing GW2 one is playing what could be described classically as an Arcade game. Play GW2 like it's Dark Souls, DMC, Godhand or Ninja Gaiden. It's easy.

I may be picking a nit here but GW2 combat is no way like DMC or Ninja Gaiden, haven't played the other 2. Those games actually have depth to combat. There is no juggling in GW2 and combat in PVE really only consist of as you said circle strafe, dodge and auto-attack.

On topic, no class is broken in PVE, but yeah Ranger with bear is stupidly OP for open world content

[Fencers]

I may be picking a nit here but GW2 combat is no way like DMC or Ninja Gaiden, haven't played the other 2. Those games actually have depth to combat. There is no juggling in GW2 and combat in PVE really only consist of as you said circle strafe, dodge and auto-attack.

Of course, but juggling and so forth are granular mechanics. The comparison is one as a game reliant on twitch action, fast reflexes, timing and learning the telegraphs of monsters. Qualities one sees in games as mentioned.

For example, if you miss you sword swing or ninja star throw in any of those game you have missed due to your own timing. Not because of some to-hit attribute or hidden dice roll. When Dante swings his sword it travels through gamespace and has collision, Ryu must dodge and stay mobile to avoid attacks, etc, etc.

Again, in a design sense, GW2 is classically Arcade.

[Valeron]

I found Guardian dreadfully boring. It's the only profession that I can't get to level 80 yet. However, YMMV

Hammer skill 4, banish, is loads of fun though. It never gets old.