Hi - I already own GW2, and I know that somewhere in there is a game that I can really enjoy and play longterm.
I really enjoy the questing and exploration experience so far, although the slow running speed drives me crazy, but my real issue is that I cannot find a class that I enjoy - like, at all. Normally I can get to max level on any class if it's my first, but I am really struggling with this game.
So far, I have tried:
Warrior
I usually start most games with a Warrior. Greatsword annoyed me, because it basically only has one decent attack. Out of 5 skills (6 if you include F1), there are two charges? Isn't that a bit redundant? I'm sure it's good for PvP, but it strikes me as a criminal waste of an ability slot. What I did like was the Rifle - that was a perfectly designed weapon. Bleeds, power attacks, weakness debuffs, roots, a knockback, and a volley. Perfect. Except I picked Warrior to be a melee class - it feels HORRIBLY wrong to use a Rifle as a Warrior.
Mesmer
Mesmer sounded interesting, and the fact that it was primarily a caster that could use a Greatsword interested me greatly. However, the damage and defense compared to the other classes I tried was pitiful, and it made soloing very tedious. Certain skills were fun and useful though, but the one thing that really annoyed me was the poor AI on the illusions, and how they would disappear the instant I dropped combat, even though I was chain pulling. The Mesmer also had fairly long cooldowns on most moves, which again, seems criminal when you've got so few skill slots.
Guardian
Incredible damage with Greatsword and Hammer, and I like the group utility. However, the class seems a bit dull. Also they don't have a passive movement speed increase (at least that I could find) and this is a really big issue for me, as I hate moving so slowly everywhere. I actually had to delete my Human Guardian and remake it as an Asura, because the smaller model gave me the illusion of running faster. Although I like Greatsword and Hammer with the Guardian, it gets really boring using only the same 5 skills over and over, and I only get another 5 if I switch.
Elementalist
In an effort to try and resolve my issue with disliking tiny amounts of skills, I tried an Elementalist. Very disappointed to see that they cannot swap weapons, effectively removing another 20 or so skills from the player, but nevertheless, still quite nice to be able to use more skills. However, once again, the vast majority of them are useless. The damage and defense of the elementalist was also rather weak as I got past level 15 or so, and it got the point where I was dying a lot, and it got very frustrating. Bonus points for having Signet of Air as a movement speed increase.
Engineer
Tried to like level 3 but immediately hated the class, and don't really like the concept of it anyway. Don't know why I made it tbh.
Please can someone suggest what class I should try next, or if I should continue with one of my other characters instead and reasons why? I would like to play WvW and do the end game dungeon thing (fractals I think?). One thing I've been struggling with is that it seems ranged is a must in WvW, and melee get destroyed. Yet, in PvE, due to there being no tank, I feel like I should be playing a melee class, otherwise I die so quickly, and I really dislike being squishy.
Many thanks for your time if you read all of this, and your advice if you choose to give any.