Disclaimer: this is not a "halp me, I don't know what to play, please decide for me"-thread, but rather a "would someone be kind enough to explain how Warriors and Guardians differ in playstyle so I can decide myself"-thread.
I recently ditched my Elementalist as it was too squishy - now I'm looking to play a Heavy Armor-class.
From what I understand, Warrior has a much more aggresive playstyle than the Guardian; deals more damage, takes more damage. And the Guardian is a defensive support-class with little damage output.
How true is this?
Can Guardians do any damage outside of Greatsword (hell, even with Greatsword)?
Are they more heal-y and defensive than Warriors, and if so, by how much?
Is it viable for a Warrior to run Longbow/Greatsword (or just ranged/melee in general)?
Both in PvE and PvP, how do their playstyles generally differ (defensive/offensive, DoT/direct damage, kiting, pulling multiple mobs)?
Can a Guardian hold it's own in a 1v1 situation in PvP?
How about PvE - how is questing as both of these classes? Multipulling, AoE, mobility, etc..
Is it true that Weapons have so many more builds to choose from, wheras Guardians are forced to go Greatsword if they wish to deal damage (etc.)?
I would like something defensive yet offensive, capable of taking on multiple mobs/enemies at the same time, while being able to go kiting-mode if things get overwhelming (Guardian's Scepter and Staff seem more focused on support/healing, which concerns me). I would also like some build diversity - being able to move traits and stuff around to accomodate certain Weapon-builds etc. What class would suit me the most then?
There was two things I was missing in the Elementalist - the ability to stand still and nuke (at least for a bit before starting to kite) and general defense.
How about Necromancer? Is that more "heavy" than the Elementalist (life drain etc.?), capable of standing still and DPSing (with pets potentially tanking)?
Thanks in advance.