25 replies to this topic

[Sovelin]

I am fairly new to the GW series. I played GW1 when it first came out for a few weeks. I played as mesmer and remember hating the profession. Anyway, I'm trying to decide on a class, but am having some difficulty settling on one. I was interested in both rangers and elementalilsts, but heard terrible things about both at endgame.

I'll be playing solo and with a group at about a 50:50 ratio, so solo survivability as well as group dynamics is important. I usually prefer to be the one doing high DPS, which is why I thought either elementalist or Ranger might be good.

Any tips for a newbie?

[Manaphus]

Well if you prefer high DPS im no pro but for the short time I actually played as one for I found that warriors were insanely strong, but if your soloing I could reccomend Guardian as they have a decent DPS as well as having a very large range of healing skills meaning you'll last longer if soloing but again im no pro this is all my opinion

Edited by Manaphus, 12 November 2012 - 11:43 AM.

[Senatic]

Ele damage ain't all that great, there  is like one viable build if you're going for raw dps. I'd suggest a warrior above a ele in this regard, can't speak for a ranger.

The ele is more of a "Jack of all trades, master of none" type of class. Warrior also has more skills that benefit the group then the ele does.

Edited by Senatic, 12 November 2012 - 11:51 AM.

[HurricaneMP]

Ele has more then one decent build, also Ele's are great fun! as long as you don't mind dodge rolling, kiting and running away fairly often..
Can't comment on Rangers as i haven't got one.

[Gremlin]

Well you have 5 character slots so you can change and swap around as you like and there is no bad class.
I have found that the power of a character changes with level, some classes start off struggling a little and get extremely powerful later on.

Tried them all in the beta and thought Guardian Thief and Ele pretty powerful and fun to play.
When I started the game I wanted to play my usual favourite Ranger and some others that were totally new to me.

I have Ranger to lvl 80 and enjoyed the ride my pet does the major damage and I kick in with conditions.
Ranger with 1h sword does the most damage with shortbow having a pretty good output too.

I have an engineer to 30 and that's more a support class imo though they can and I have soloed pretty well.
Guardian to lv 9 they can solo pretty easily there are some tanking builds with superb healing and survivability..
Ele I only have to lvl 9 but its been pretty easy so far.
Currently breaking in the necro class lvl 13 so far and its also pretty good at damage dealing.

All the scholar "caster" classes are squishy but with dodge and good skill use you can kill whatever you meet.
Only big mobs and veteran creatures need careful treatment.

Champion creatures are best left well alone if your soloing.

have you visited the codex site http://en.gw2codex.com/

As a new player I would steer clear of the world map and builds sections they will spoil the game a little much more fun to discover things by yourself at least untill you are totally stuck.

But the Generator section will let you choose a character class and experiment with weapons and skills giving you some idea of power and builds available.

Most of all enjoy

Edited by Gremlin, 12 November 2012 - 12:08 PM.

[Wordsworth]

As a Ranger I don't recommend it, especially for your first class. I had a Ranger as my first class and I can't tell you how quickly I hopped onto another character as soon as I hit 80.

Elementalist is a fun class. That for me is all that matters.

Warriors and Guardians have the DPS/Support you're looking for.

[Biz]

Ive played Warrior and Ranger to 80, Warrior is my main, I go for the "Berzeker" DPS AOE damage with dual axes and rifle - Damage output is great, surviviability is moderate if not fairly good when fighting mobs that are not stronger then "veteran" - A.i. anything that can go from around half the hp to dead in under 10 seconds by the "axe to head" method - you can use a nice trick warriors have with their downed skill number 3 and a trait called "Sweet Revenge" - where you stand up from downed with around 50% HP and 10 seconds of full functionality - if you kill something in those 10 seconds you remain upright and killing.

Ranger - why I have spent just a little time on this character, I can tell you now that If you pick bears (or similar meat shield type pet) it is just like playing with a second player that has tons of health but doesn't really do much damage... You can quite literally switch between pets every 20 - 50 seconds for a fresh 100% health tank. Survivability of rangers is Good if not Superior due to the tanking pet, not quite "now you are downed, now you are not" of warriors tho, one of the healing spells is a strong AoE regen field that doubles as party support. "Spirits" all players in the area buffs, like chance of burning on attack - that are quite useful in static fights, think dungeons.

Guardian - Ive played just a little of this, but I can tell you now, guardians are walking tanks regardless of their build. I barely had to dodge where my Warrior at the same level was low on health, my Guardian left barely scratched. Passive 100% block of the next trike works well against hard hiting mobs - like Veterans guarding Skill points - you can just run past them and start channeling - they will attack and get blocked, you get the skill point and run away before they hit you again. Rangers here can just send in their bear and do what ever (works on chests too). Guardians have a set of Very useful aoe regen, aoe block, aoe projectile block/reflection skills that are very useful in groups, even if they deminish their dps somewhat. Guardians are better at using Greatswords then Warriors with out specing into them with traits. Staffs on Guardians have aoe 5 target damage that doesn't count like projectile and thus doesn't get reflected, Extremity effective for tagging mobs in zergs = more loot, faster leveling.

Edited by Biz, 12 November 2012 - 12:35 PM.

[Senatic]

HurricaneMP, on 12 November 2012 - 12:02 PM, said:

Ele has more then one decent build, also Ele's are great fun! as long as you don't mind dodge rolling, kiting and running away fairly often..
Can't comment on Rangers as i haven't got one.

I didn't say decent now did I, I said when it comes to raw dps there is really only one or two ways to go because most builds while fun and viable are not as efficient as other classes DPS builds.

As far as Ele being fun, yeah. That's why the ele is my main.

Edited by Senatic, 12 November 2012 - 12:52 PM.

[Impmon]

Play mesmer you'll like it.  Plus after playing wvw or spvp & getting wrecked by another mesmer you'll quit whatever you chose and reroll a mesmer so just start was one now

[Mura]

If you like being busy, pick an engineer.  I got tired of working so hard so I'm leveling a ranger now.

[blindude]

All classes are absolutely viable.The thing is how much active gameplay you d like.

[Evans]

My 2 cents, elementalist is a pretty hard class to start out with.
It depends on your experience in the genre and your determination I guess. I assume you'll be dying quite a few times at first. The elementalist is really squishy and it takes practice to learn your elemental rotation and dodging skills (this is all relative of course).

Ranger has a pretty good survivability, but arguably less group synergy.

If you want to learn the basics and learn what to expect from PVE, while still doing good damage and group support, I also suggest warrior or guardian. They're far more forgiving classes.

[Sovelin]

Wow, thanks for the replies everyone! I didn't expect that much of a response. Good to know the community is very involved in this game. I've been playing RPGs for years, and have played several other MMOs. I usually play as a caster or ranger because I do enjoy kiting and being able to take on mobs that are higher level than me. I'm quite good at avoiding getting hit, unless I'm stuck in a dungeon and am surrounded by mobs, in which case I have to group.

Anyway, I've only tried warrior a handful of times. I enjoyed being able to take hits (something I could never do as the ranger/caster class), but they always did such little DPS that each fight would last forever and I would get bored. From the sounds of it, this game is pretty similar in that respect. The guardian sounds like it can outtank and out-DPS a warrior, with excellent group dynamics. If a guardian can really dish out the damage, I might lean towards that. But does the guardian suffer in the long run (ie, how useful is it in WvW and PVP)? Ranger, I'm assuming, can handle himself quite well in PVP.

At this point I suppose I'm leaning a bit more towards Ranger, but Guardian is sounding better and better the more I hear about it.

[AngryTom]

Sovelin, on 12 November 2012 - 05:11 PM, said:

Wow, thanks for the replies everyone! I didn't expect that much of a response. Good to know the community is very involved in this game. I've been playing RPGs for years, and have played several other MMOs. I usually play as a caster or ranger because I do enjoy kiting and being able to take on mobs that are higher level than me. I'm quite good at avoiding getting hit, unless I'm stuck in a dungeon and am surrounded by mobs, in which case I have to group.

Anyway, I've only tried warrior a handful of times. I enjoyed being able to take hits (something I could never do as the ranger/caster class), but they always did such little DPS that each fight would last forever and I would get bored. From the sounds of it, this game is pretty similar in that respect. The guardian sounds like it can outtank and out-DPS a warrior, with excellent group dynamics. If a guardian can really dish out the damage, I might lean towards that. But does the guardian suffer in the long run (ie, how useful is it in WvW and PVP)? Ranger, I'm assuming, can handle himself quite well in PVP.

At this point I suppose I'm leaning a bit more towards Ranger, but Guardian is sounding better and better the more I hear about it.

Alternatively you could make one of each profession, and after you finish the tutorial take them into the Heart of the Mists to try out a fully unlocked version. You can test the skills and different weapons on training dummies or take them into the casual PvP arenas.

[Gremlin]

Sovelin, on 12 November 2012 - 05:11 PM, said:

Wow, thanks for the replies everyone! I didn't expect that much of a response. Good to know the community is very involved in this game. I've been playing RPGs for years, and have played several other MMOs. I usually play as a caster or ranger because I do enjoy kiting and being able to take on mobs that are higher level than me. I'm quite good at avoiding getting hit, unless I'm stuck in a dungeon and am surrounded by mobs, in which case I have to group.

Anyway, I've only tried warrior a handful of times. I enjoyed being able to take hits (something I could never do as the ranger/caster class), but they always did such little DPS that each fight would last forever and I would get bored. From the sounds of it, this game is pretty similar in that respect. The guardian sounds like it can outtank and out-DPS a warrior, with excellent group dynamics. If a guardian can really dish out the damage, I might lean towards that. But does the guardian suffer in the long run (ie, how useful is it in WvW and PVP)? Ranger, I'm assuming, can handle himself quite well in PVP.

At this point I suppose I'm leaning a bit more towards Ranger, but Guardian is sounding better and better the more I hear about it.

The ranger does work extremely well imo.
You have 4 animal companions 2 for land fighting 2 for under water, just for laughs I am capping them all.
That way I have a choice of damage poison fire freeze etc, you can swap between 2 pets to keep one alive all the time.

Your longbow does spike damage knockback and area effect cripple.
Shortbow rapid fire condition damage and an escape leap back  so you poison bleed etc.
Sword can be paired with dagger for more bleed cripple poison evade.
Or with a warhorn for more summoned support.or Axe for a very effective whirlind defence.
With the axe as a primary weapon you have a bouncing attack that hits multiple targets.
Finally 2 Handed sword does some nice blocking slashing attacks but its imo the weakest of the weapons, though maybe I am just bad with it.

The trait lines can be used to customise your character even more this is admitidly a slow progression but once you getting 10 20 30 points into a line they can really boost your abilities.
Runes and Sigils on armour and weapons customise even more.
Point is any class can be tuned for damage defense survivability healing condition damage or even magic find.
There is a load of content.
btw try entering the mists with a character your immediately lvl 80 and can play around with skills and traits and test them out on targets.
See what works for you.

Edited by Gremlin, 12 November 2012 - 07:01 PM.

[Zheo]

Welcome to the game young padawan.  A few things to consider to help narrow down your choice:

Do you prefer getting up close and personal to fight, or is fighting from range more your preference (if you don't overly care, it makes it even easier!)

Do you like flashy spells, or are projectiles more your style?

Going for your first character I would lean towards a class that has medium to heavy armor - they are more forgiving when you inevitably get beat on.  Rangers are good...I leveled a ranger to 60 using a Longbow/Sword + axe combo then switched to my thief just because i really got into it.  Guardians and Warriors are also fun.

If you are looking for a dynamic, fast moving experience, I would go with Ranger to start. You get a free pet to do damage and tank, and when learning, having a 2 on 1 advantage does make quite the difference to start.

Like others have said, though, give a few classes a try. Get them each to level 5 or 10 and then decide.  It really comes down to playstyle. Do you want to stand and kill, or fly around dealing damage? Do you want to stand and take a beating in close or is raining death from afar more your style? Give a few classes a choice...if you dislike one, log out and hit the delete button and start over.  The game isnt going anywhere. You have plenty of time to find the class that fits you.

[Mystika]

I have a level 80 Ranger, and they do very well solo...even in high level areas. They are very versatile, with a good choice of weapons and utilities. However, they do not have many party support skills...healing spring is the main one and some spirits that add to party damage. There is a skill, also, where you can send your pet to revive a fallen ally and one to help revive you when you are downed.

[licho]

Sovelin, on 12 November 2012 - 11:26 AM, said:

I am fairly new to the GW series. I played GW1 when it first came out for a few weeks. I played as mesmer and remember hating the profession. Anyway, I'm trying to decide on a class, but am having some difficulty settling on one. I was interested in both rangers and elementalilsts, but heard terrible things about both at endgame.

I'll be playing solo and with a group at about a 50:50 ratio, so solo survivability as well as group dynamics is important. I usually prefer to be the one doing high DPS, which is why I thought either elementalist or Ranger might be good.

Any tips for a newbie?

I would care less about performence at END GAME, since nobody knows how the wheel of nerf will turn. Whats now is favor of the month can no longer be such in new year.

Also you have 5 slots, use them well. You may have both elementalist and ranger to try them out. Or even better make them of different races to experience different personal story.

From the two, i would say that ranger is more newb friendly. Since pet can tank dmg, and you have better armor and hp on your own, as well as you have little more flexibility when to comes to weapon sets.

Other good pick would be warrior, which are even more resilent, as well as are straigh forward.

[SpelignErrir]

Ele: Fun, but complicated and incredibly difficult, good if you want a challenge on an alt but you'll just end up quitting if you make one your first characters and don't understand most of the game

Engineer: Kind of boring...grenadespam -yawn-

Guardian: Faceroll. Faceroll trash mobs. Faceroll vets. Faceroll silvers. Faceroll champions. Faceroll dungeons. Faceroll wvw. Faceroll faces. The faceroll class.

Necromancer: Kind of boring imo. Decent class to start with, high health pool means you have better survivability than most other classes.

Mesmer: Champion of 1v1. Terrible for killing large mobs. That is all. I wouldn't recommend it to a new player, though, it's somewhat difficult if you don't know what you're doing.

Ranger: -snore- effective but has the entertainment value of...something...that's really boring. Like math.

Thief: Fun, very unique, and definitely effective

Warrior: Guardian v2: Return of the Faceroll

[Sovelin]

I decided to try out the charr Ranger. I'm going to play it til level 10 (at 3 now) and see how it goes. I like doing ranged, and I like that when I get further I can do a second set of weapons for up close and personal (short sword + dagger). After I hit 10 I'll give Guardian a shot, as these both seem to be very newb friendly. That way I'll know if I'm enjoying the range better or melee/support.

[Desert Rose]

Ranger is right now in a sorry state. It was my first level 80 character but because I felt I perform subpar I switched to another profession; so I leveled up an Engineer, a Guardian and an Elementalist. A few days ago I played my Ranger again because my dungeon group already had the three other professions; wow, do Rangers suck... I think my Engineer does as much damage against up to five foes than my Ranger does against one. In the next run I switched to my Engineer because I simply couldn't endure it. But hopefully the upcoming patch will bring Rangers back to at least half of their GW1 glory, I really want to like that profession.

Warriors are the kings of DPS, especially against stupid AI, however they are not as sturdy as their heavy armor and high hitpoints might suggest. Guardians and Thieves have less but still good DPS but more survivability due to their inherent profession mechanics and utility skills. A grenade Engineer also has good DPS and is ranged, what you seem to like.

[Sovelin]

I'm not enjoying ranger as much as i thought i would. The per is kind of annoying. I did a lot of reading on guardian vs warrior and i think i like the sound of the guardian a but better, so I'll give it a shot. Where exactly does a thief fit into as far as pvp vs pve? And solo vs team?

[Gremlin]

Sovelin, on 13 November 2012 - 03:35 PM, said:

I'm not enjoying ranger as much as i thought i would. The per is kind of annoying. I did a lot of reading on guardian vs warrior and i think i like the sound of the guardian a but better, so I'll give it a shot. Where exactly does a thief fit into as far as pvp vs pve? And solo vs team?

The pet becomes very strong when you put a lot of points into the beastmastery line.What you can do with the pet if you don't want it is to put it away, trouble is it keeps coming back again at odd times, hopefully they will fix this.
You could set it to passive it will avoid combat and then use it to heal you when your downed,, you can also learn a skill to set it to heal allied players.
Even if you make use of it when its defeated it just hangs around by your side till the combat is over then auto heals to full.
IMy armourfish and shark are pretty good underwater allies and I use bears on land.Only played thief to 12th Its kind of rangerish but with Pistols and shortbow.It has a lot of hide and evade skills that can keep you out of danger.

Edited by Gremlin, 13 November 2012 - 06:22 PM.

[CepaCepa]

Sovelin, on 13 November 2012 - 03:35 PM, said:

I'm not enjoying ranger as much as i thought i would. The per is kind of annoying. I did a lot of reading on guardian vs warrior and i think i like the sound of the guardian a but better, so I'll give it a shot. Where exactly does a thief fit into as far as pvp vs pve? And solo vs team?

Ranger works a bit differently than everyone thinks. For a ranger to do maximum damage comparable to the high dps specs of other professions, you NEED to be in top notch control of your pet --- That means moving your pet out of red circles, pull it back and/or make it immune and/or switch pet when you spot big trouble coming its way. It's not the typical "sniper" kind of ranged character, pet is a very key mechanism for a ranger to excel in harder PvE contents.

With guardian and warrior you can faceroll all the way to 80, and then in exp dungeons you'd need to now learn all your mechanism or you'd die left and right, over and over. Guardian can be very powerful, it can be powerful even without you paying attention to what you do, but if you DO pay attention to what you do, it can be nigh-unkillable and hence a great addition to any team.

Thieves, being the stereotypical assasin type, is strong in PvP in general, especially if you go for the more gimmicky builds. In PvE, thieves are high and reliable damage dealers with good mobility and adequate group utilities. It's very effective in the right hands, and hence you see a lot of them in PvE AND PvP.

[julystork]

TBQH

There are only 2 classes that should be played

Just 1 question: do you like playing ranged? Yes, pick warrior, choose rifle or longbow to go with your gs
No? pick guardian

[Xunlai Agent]

I would recommend the two soldier classes or the Mesmer which I find the most fun out of the scholars.

I actually made a Ranger as my first character and really enjoyed her and leveled to 80 quite soonish. My next character was the warrior and I was stunned how much more damage I was putting out and with what ease I was contributing significantly to my group with the help of shouts. Since then I have not revisisted my Ranger especially since they nerfed crossfire. The Ranger seemed fine until I had a point of reference and realised how much of a drawback single target attacks coupled with weak utility skills really are!

I am currently leveling my Guardian and my Mesmer which has been highly enjoyable so far