20 replies to this topic

[Fenice_86]

I only recently came back to the game, i have only 1 char, my ele, and i really enjoy playing it.
I'm looking for a class to make an Alt but i really cant decide (i will probably wait until the next big skill update for sure), i'd like to play a char similar to my ele, here what i'm looking for:

• I dislike meele fights (even if i usually play D/D on my ele the feeling of being a spellcaster is always with me and i love it)
  
• Therefore i like ranged fights, even if they are close quarters
  
• I play Auramancer therefore i like being an offensive SUPPORT char
  
• I like the arsenal provided by my 4 attunements class mechanic
  
• I totally dislike how engineer looks so i wont play it at all, never, sry
  
• I just want a new char a bit "stronger" than my ele with as much as possible the same features and pros

I'm basically thorn between Guardian and Ranger... they both suits a lot of my needs and i'm aware that the first one is considered the top 1 class and the other the "worst" one (??)
I dont wanna be too mainstream with Guardian and i dont wanna feel useless if i go Ranger (that's why i'm waiting for the skill update).

Beside all these thoughts what would u suggest me to make?

[HughPR]

Hi, I've had exactly the same problem; I love ele but want a second prof now that I'm 80. Well, guardian is good but you have to be prepared to be a 'selfless' player. If you know what I mean that all's good, but if not then never mind. I've found that I'm a 'selfish' player, ie I like to do lots of damage and take care of myself in a group when I need to, with not too much concern for others in the group other than aoe healing, hence I'm not a great guardian.

If you like offensive support, I would go ahead and try guardian, and don't worry about being mainstream Try sword/torch (or focus), staff, and GS for offensive support.

You could also try mesmer; they're a bit bulkier than ele and, random aspect aside, can help by applying boons to allies and debuffing foes, plus their main two elites (ie not moa morph) are very much team-orientated. It's a trickier profession to get the hang of and I wouldn't pass judgement to level 35, as you probably will feel underpowered at first, owing to a lack of experience, lack of trait points, and a lack of high-end utility skills. Try GS and staff to start with, as they'll keep you out of melee and have some nice skills.

Hope this helps

[Fenice_86]

HughPR, on 04 January 2013 - 09:33 AM, said:

Hi, I've had exactly the same problem; I love ele but want a second prof now that I'm 80. Well, guardian is good but you have to be prepared to be a 'selfless' player. If you know what I mean that all's good, but if not then never mind. I've found that I'm a 'selfish' player, ie I like to do lots of damage and take care of myself in a group when I need to, with not too much concern for others in the group other than aoe healing, hence I'm not a great guardian.

If you like offensive support, I would go ahead and try guardian, and don't worry about being mainstream Try sword/torch (or focus), staff, and GS for offensive support.

You could also try mesmer; they're a bit bulkier than ele and, random aspect aside, can help by applying boons to allies and debuffing foes, plus their main two elites (ie not moa morph) are very much team-orientated. It's a trickier profession to get the hang of and I wouldn't pass judgement to level 35, as you probably will feel underpowered at first, owing to a lack of experience, lack of trait points, and a lack of high-end utility skills. Try GS and staff to start with, as they'll keep you out of melee and have some nice skills.

Hope this helps

I was monk back in GW1 and i "love" to be "at service" of someone in danger so that's np for me, i was / i am too used to always keep an eye to my friend's HP and position on map, that's why i like being support.
Uhm... mesmer u say? I'll check once again skills/vids/wiki about it and see if i find something new that could charm me (i already double checked all classes in a lot of ways never being able to come to a conclusion sadly)

[xtbx]

I would suggest you to try to get over the Engi look (whatever you meant with it) cuz every other class will feel ... "dumb"?

I don't know how about others but I feel like being onehanded when playing other classes than Ele - so far tryed Mesmer, Guard, Thief, Warr
maybe Ranger or Necro will be different but I doubt it so I myself am looking into Engi with hope

Edited by xtbx, 04 January 2013 - 11:21 AM.

[Fenice_86]

xtbx, on 04 January 2013 - 11:20 AM, said:

I would suggest you to try to get over the Engi look (whatever you meant with it) cuz every other class will feel ... "dumb"?

I don't know how about others but I feel like being onehanded when playing other classes than Ele - so far tryed Mesmer, Guard, Thief, Warr
maybe Ranger or Necro will be different but I doubt it so I myself am looking into Engi with hope

eheh i feel ya, even if i tried guard, war and thief just to lvl 10 and i'm sure they can offer a lot more they aren't comparable to an Ele...

About engi i totally reject the look (hate the backpack) and mechanical stuff in a fantasy world just dont suit me

edit: just to know: in which situations/kit an Engi popup its backpack? (maybe i can avoid those builds ahahah)

Edited by Fenice_86, 04 January 2013 - 11:34 AM.

[Ojikes]

Go Guardian or Warrior for some face stomping. Different play styles etc.

Support Guardian / Shout or banner warrior perhaps? Play staff with guardian or rifle warrior?

[xtbx]

Fenice_86, on 04 January 2013 - 11:33 AM, said:

eheh i feel ya, even if i tried guard, war and thief just to lvl 10 and i'm sure they can offer a lot more they aren't comparable to an Ele...

About engi i totally reject the look (hate the backpack) and mechanical stuff in a fantasy world just dont suit me

edit: just to know: in which situations/kit an Engi popup its backpack? (maybe i can avoid those builds ahahah)

ye, we are on the same boat here ... that is why I'm hesitating to go for Engi myself ... I know it's playstyle from tPvP where look doesn't matter for me
but the playstyle is the closest to ele from all other classes - constant switching between "sets" and lots of utility

u can check the look of all Engi gear here for example:

[kekuso]

Played D/D ele for the longest time, loved the auras/support as well as the tankiness/cond. dmg. I thought no other class would be as engaging until I tried an engineer. Disliked it all the way up to level 70ish, which is when I unlocked the grenadier major trait and started using multiple kits such as the tool kit and bomb kit. 1500 ranged spammable AoE dps/conditions, 3 blocks, a 1200 ranged pull, and TONS of other utilities.  What more could you want in wvw?

Also, check this vid that served to further inspire me to keep playing engi, despite their ugly backpacks:

[Fenice_86]

(i would play pve only and as a casual player btw)

i'm taking a look at mesmer like hughpr suggested... still thinking about it too... i saw some nice vids

[Bloggi]

This is just my two cents, and say that with emphasis, but personal opinion is that although you dislike being in melee range, you are likely well experienced with that position in combat and would probably perform way better than you think. And it might be more fun than you imagine. I was in a similar situation. Leveled a necro first, went with an ele as an alt and found that I was playing very close to the action even with a staff. In some ways I regret not having started with the ele first, because that profession offered me the playstyle and manner of support that I was really looking for as a necro, but didn't actually find it [yet].

At that point I didn't like being in melee range and even now it's still a little out of the comfort zone for me, and I had sworn that the warrior would be the last profession I would ever level. Wrong. The warrior became my third toon and now I've moved on to level a guardian. Sometimes it might actually be good to have a number of toons with very different playstyles to keep things interesting for yourself, so you can choose one to play depending on your mood at that time, or to better a dungeon group composition for example.

A mesmer is a good suggestion and my brother recently leveled and plays one. Even there I stil see him in mid/ frontline position on some occasions.

The topic of what constitutes as 'mainstream' is an interesting one to debate. TBH I understand that cookie cutter builds are very useful and in a lot of cases are considered 'optimal' hence become 'mainstream'. To challenge myself a little, I've taken to theorycrafting myself first without reading any of the build guides in the forums, as I'm sure others here have also done. But even then we wind up crafting a build that can look very similar to a 'mainstream' build already suggested by somebody else.

The issue here I think is in the way the traits are laid out. I believe that clearly, there is a degree of pigeon holing in professions. A fair number of traits (and even some utilities) are obviously very weak and hence bring down the usefulness of certain trait lines. If we shunt those points over to what we perceive to be 'stronger' trait lines and look for synergies, then that's exactly what a lot of other people are doing. We get a 'mainstream' build.

In short, don't worry about playing a 'mainstream' build because it may be very difficult to avoid, even if you independently came up with the build. Theorycraft and play your own, and modify the build according to experience gained when leveling and in open world PVE, and later dungeons.

At least based on my rather limited experience, the guardian IS an offensive support profession. The class mechanics does not offer the same variety of the elementalist's attunement skills but nevertheless the F1-F3 skills are individual skills that are used situationally.

[Kaguchan]

I don't get why people have to ask the community what they should play. Test it by yourself... thanks to sPVP you can even get a good view of the skills. There are so many guides/videos showing classes, do you REALLY need the community?

[Fenice_86]

I ask the community to share my ideas and to have a confrontation with others, as i said i was already at "half-way" of my decision but i think it's always good to have a debate, i like it

[Fenice_86]

Thx Xekk for ur nice post... my fears are around a possible "boredom" by playing a class that just "1-2-1-2-1-2" all the time and the fear to see my next char's class nerfed duo to the common opinion it is OP now and will become useless by the time i lvl'd it to 80.

With my D/D Aura ele every fight is a total chaos of continue switching Attunements and using so many skills!

[Bloggi]

Fenice_86, on 07 January 2013 - 11:52 AM, said:

Thx Xekk for ur nice post... my fears are around a possible "boredom" by playing a class that just "1-2-1-2-1-2" all the time and the fear to see my next char's class nerfed duo to the common opinion it is OP now and will become useless by the time i lvl'd it to 80.

With my D/D Aura ele every fight is a total chaos of continue switching Attunements and using so many skills!

Just to clarify, when you talk about 'total chaos' with a D/D ele, does that mean you're looking for more or less complexity with your next toon?

The general consensus of the guardian and the ranger as a profession is largely what you've mentioned initially: the guardian is a top-notch profession in its current state whereas ranger may be a little underwhelming. That said I've seen videos of glass cannon rangers tearing things apart, and someone who's used a condition ranger also speaks good things about it. At the moment my guardian is only at level 43 or so, and I've never leveled a ranger.

Even then I don't see the guardian as being boring to play. I know some folk joke that the profession can destroy mobs just by autoattacking but it isn't like that in my experience. I've enjoyed taking aggro from big mobs, burning through all my weapon skills, using the virtues, utility skills and even busting out the elite skill as appropriate and feeling pretty satisfied at the end of it. And I still need to dodge and kite. The degree of challenge would depend on what sort of mob we're dealing with and their level compared with ours.

If I had the choice, I'd be leveling in open-world PvE in a group rather than solo. Some professions can look after themselves better than others, but it is just much more interesting playing as part of a group.

None of us can predict what they will decide to nerf or 'adjust' next. But you can always fall back on your ele in the end. I could be wrong, but I don't see the ele receiving much in the way of nerfs from here on. The ele is currently running as my main toon and I still like it in its present state, despite some challenges associated with the use of it.

[CLOfriendOSE]

Hm. What exactly do you plan to do with this character? If it's just general PvE, then why not go with the Ranger?

You can go Axe/Offhand (I like Warhorn, AoE Fury/Might/Swiftness) and pick a bow to use (most prefer shortbow, I prefer longbow). Then grab the trait that lets you throw traps. Take healing spring for the heal. You'll have a reliable source of poison/cripple/burning and Healing Spring is a LONG water field. (The #2 axe skill procs the field 5 times iirc).

You can pick pets that are support type, if you'd like. I like the Stalker that gives 5 stacks of AoE might for its pet skill. Jellyfish is great for underwater (provides Regen, Freezing, a Darkness Field). It's fun collecting the pets and making builds for different pet configurations.

I feel a lot like a "Druid" with this setup. I just wish that spirits were stronger/usable. I also find the pet management to be involved enough to keep me engaged (knowing when to use pet skill, when to pull the pet away from enemies/enemy AoE, etc).

If you plan on doing higher end things I think Guardian would be the safest bet.

[Fenice_86]

Thx both and, to answer both:

I will mainly go in "high end pve" for sure (and also helping friends lvl'ing around) and by "total chaos" yeah, i mean complexity in skill rotation and the need to master a good pool of skills (i know nothing can beat ele at this and only engi would be on par) to be effective at 101%

So this char should have the same effectiveness of my ele with better overall stats (that's what i'm looking for, more or less) i think the Guardian is the best suited atm

[Thaddeuz]

I'm gonna go by elimination.

Elementalist: Its you first

''I dislike meele fights (even if i usually play D/D on my ele the feeling of being a spellcaster is always with me and i love it)''
Guardian and Warrior : Melee character, yes you can range with them, but range weapons are mainly for specific situation and when you need to kite because you health is low. I don't really understand if you wanna try a mainly ranged guardian, but if so i don't recommend it.

''I totally dislike how engineer looks so i wont play it at all, never, sry'' So we eliminate Engineer.

''I play Auramancer therefore i like being an offensive SUPPORT char'' So we eliminate the Ranger, he don't really have support skils at all.

I never played the Thief so i won't gonna speak about it. But after that Mesmer and Necromancer seem to fit you the better.

- They are two hard to kill profession. The Mesmer because of all the Illusion that take the agro and the Necromancer because of his hp pool.
- They are both good at support. Mesmer give randoms boons, give invisibility and probably the best Elite skill pool for team support. Necromancer can create massive and constant AOE blind with plague, you can give some boons, remove boons on foe, transform ally's condition into boons, etc.
- Mesmer are a little harder to play if you want to get high dps and survive as you need to really learn how to play the profession, Necromancer are the easiest leveling profession within the Light armor profession.

[Tregarde]

Fenice_86, on 04 January 2013 - 09:08 AM, said:

I'm basically thorn between Guardian and Ranger... they both suits a lot of my needs and i'm aware that the first one is considered the top 1 class and the other the "worst" one (??)

I'm assuming you're under the impression that Ranger is "the worst one"? Trust me, they are not. A well played Ranger is very deadly, either in PvE or PvP.

While I do agree with much that has been said above, in the end you're not really going to know which profession you like best till you play them. Try them all out, see which one you have the most fun with, then go with it.

[CLOfriendOSE]

I know that I've been able to steamroll all leveling content so far with my ranger. And who said they don't have support abilities? Sure, most of their focus is on control/conditions, but there are some pretty good skills people overlook. I think the interesting thing about range is how almost everything they do is a finisher. They may have fewer skills, but the position of the battlefield is still very important to them to be most effective.

On an Axe/Horn , Longbow setup, you have:
----
Bouncing Auto Attack (projectile finisher), fan of 5 axes (each axe is a projectile finisher, goes through targets, and bleeds), single target 3second freeze(always useful)
Call Birds (hits like a truck, is nice because it's a DoT that isn't a condition), Shout that gives fury might and swiftness for 15s on a 35s cooldown, can be traited to be a 28s cooldown.

Longbow:
#3 applies 10 stacks of vulnerability at once!
#4 is a long range knockback/down on a 15s cooldown.
Longbow #5 is a huge AoE cripple
---  

So, this weapon combo give you access to: Bleeding, Freezing, Vulnerability, Knockback/Interrupt, Cripple, Fury, Might, Swiftness

And then the healing skill is healing spring, a huge water field that grants regen and heals you and your pet for quite a lot. Also, you'll be shooting healing projectiles through it for quite a while.

Then, look at pets (I know people don't like to, but we have to. They are really fun, but you have to micromanage them so they don't die in a fire).
Brown Bear - AoE condition removal
Owl - Chill,[vulnerability, AoE swiftness (10 seconds, 20 second cooldown)]
Raven - Blind, [vulnerability, AoE swiftness (10 seconds, 20 second cooldown)]
Fern Hound - AoE regen (10s, 25s cooldown) cripple, knockdown
Stalker - 5 stacks of AoE might!
Red Moa - AoE fury, heal and apply vulnerability.

So, for example, with Red Moa and Warhorn, you can keep fury up almost all the time, 5s downtime untraited.


As I said before. Guardian is probably the "safer" bet given what MMO communities are like. But, if you're worried about getting bored of the skills, I don't know if you'll be happy with guardian. It got old for me pretty quick. Ranger is just "different" in terms of thinking (not just about skills, but more the battlefield and you and your pet's position). I think  it's worth giving a try if Guardian doesn't work out. I know I've been enjoying it.

[Fenice_86]

uhm talking with 3 guild mates who have Ranger and reading the sub-forums here and on the official website i must say that the Ranger doesnt appeal to me...

I think i'll move to Guardian... even if i will keep playing my Ele for now until the next skill update comes out

Edited by Fenice_86, 09 January 2013 - 12:59 PM.

[Ninja Battle Lion]

Fenice_86, on 04 January 2013 - 09:08 AM, said:

I only recently came back to the game, i have only 1 char, my ele, and i really enjoy playing it.
I'm looking for a class to make an Alt but i really cant decide (i will probably wait until the next big skill update for sure), i'd like to play a char similar to my ele, here what i'm looking for:

• I dislike meele fights (even if i usually play D/D on my ele the feeling of being a spellcaster is always with me and i love it)
  
• Therefore i like ranged fights, even if they are close quarters
  
• I play Auramancer therefore i like being an offensive SUPPORT char
  
• I like the arsenal provided by my 4 attunements class mechanic
  
• I totally dislike how engineer looks so i wont play it at all, never, sry
  
• I just want a new char a bit "stronger" than my ele with as much as possible the same features and pros

I'm basically thorn between Guardian and Ranger... they both suits a lot of my needs and i'm aware that the first one is considered the top 1 class and the other the "worst" one (??)
I dont wanna be too mainstream with Guardian and i dont wanna feel useless if i go Ranger (that's why i'm waiting for the skill update).

Beside all these thoughts what would u suggest me to make?

If you like kite-y, close range fights there is always the Thief. Between Shortbow and Dagger/something and Vigor you'll have as many Evades as you want for managing distance (basically making melees your b*tch).

You won't have the sheer multitude of options that Ele provides, of course, but those you do have are pretty awesome.