What Guild Wars 2 Profession will you be?

[Zoobi]

Did you feel like it was too easy in PVE Zoobi?

Not really, though I don't understand what you mean. PVE hasn't been hard on any of the classes I played. You just have to actually pay attention to your surroundings and what enemies are around you.

[Zavon]

Well, I mean compared to the other classes I played (all of them), the ranger seemed a lot more faceroll. Like, I guess what I'm trying to say is that it didnt' require a lot of effort to kill mobs, which sort of turned me off from the profession. I was hoping that as the game grew in difficulty the ranger might require more work.

[Zoobi]

Well, I mean compared to the other classes I played (all of them), the ranger seemed a lot more faceroll. Like, I guess what I'm trying to say is that it didnt' require a lot of effort to kill mobs, which sort of turned me off from the profession. I was hoping that as the game grew in difficulty the ranger might require more work.

You do have to actually micromanage your pet pretty intensively in some of the events that I played otherwise they will die, other than that it wasn't too hard.

[Zavon]

You do have to actually micromanage your pet pretty intensively in some of the events that I played otherwise they will die, other than that it wasn't too hard.

You know, I'm glad you said this. It occurred to me that keeping a pet alive through massive boss AoE would be very annoying.
That at least might mean that things are challenging at the group level.

[Mangoel]

I played a ranger to 23 the last beta weekend, and found the class tons of fun. I also played most of the other classes to varying degrees, an 11-12ish guardian being the second highest I got to in that weekend, and didn't find ranger to be noticeably easier as you mean than any other class. Yeah, I could pretty easily fight content out of my level range (it only felt appreciably challenging fighting in areas and doing events 4-6 levels above my current level when I hit 15+), but no more so than any other class; hell, on my guardian I could solo in a level 9 area when I was level 2, so I think it's more the nature of the PvE than it is necessarily the classes, although some may be better at capitalizing on that sort of playstyle than others. WvW was a blast, and the various kits I tried on my ranger were all fun and dynamic. Definitely made me want to play a ranger on release for that reason. It fit my playstyle more than the other classes I tried. That said, I'm not sure how useful ranger will be in organized or group vs. group combat, because I didn't get a chance to participate in much of that, but I think good players will be able to make the class solid, if nothing else.

I'm also really glad that, for once, it's a ranged weapon/pet class that doesn't seem to be leading class popularity charts, because it's annoying as hell to play as "that" class when your reputation is predetermined for you.

[Stalis]

I have no idea what class I want to play in GW2. Partly because i know next to nothing about the game and partly because I usually play healing classes and there supposedly aren't any healing classes in GW2. Not even sure I want to buy the game considering that fact.

I hear everywhere the game is supposed to be awesome but I can't understand why there are no healers. I also don't understand why most people who say that say it like it is a good thing.

[Taolas]

Got my Engi to 31. The Asura summon golem minion elite felt a bit underpowered for being an elite. The summon golem powersuit wasn't bad at all, but I feel class-based elites would be more powerful, maybe. I also realized racial heals/utilities have corresponding toolbelt skills, which is pretty cool. Overall I might be getting a bit burned out on Engi and could roll an Ele to start. Ugh, now I want to do the catacombs dungeon with my level 30

Did any of you do the Sylvari jumping puzzle in the East? It's at the center of that spiraly sandy area. You get to the top, then can jump down into a nightmare court area. Did anyone finish the second half of the jumps there? It's quite a bit.

[Zoobi]

I barely touched the sylvari zone because I wanted to save it for release. Kind of regret completing the first asura zone completely for the same reason, but whatever it's just the first zone. Only 4 more days til headstart!

[Ero Elohim]

Racial and bonus (pre-order, digital deluxe, etc.) elites are purposefully underpowered. They're more for novelty than usefulness. At least, that's the idea. The Sylvari Grasping Vines racial utility skill is incredibly powerful in WvW.

[Zavon]

I have no idea what class I want to play in GW2. Partly because i know next to nothing about the game and partly because I usually play healing classes and there supposedly aren't any healing classes in GW2. Not even sure I want to buy the game considering that fact.

I hear everywhere the game is supposed to be awesome but I can't understand why there are no healers. I also don't understand why most people who say that say it like it is a good thing.

Well, the simple answer about why this is a good thing is this: Novelty. By removing "roles" from the game, you have simultaneously destroyed the possibility of familiarity and been forced to have to design the mmo wheel from the ground up. This means, that after 10 hours of playing Guild Wars 2, it still won't feel exactly like WoW. This is the kind of NEW game that people have been asking for for years. If you wanted more of the same, I can respect that. I'm not going to try to convince you that one is better than the other. I mean, I've spent countless hours playing WoW. It was great, and for me, it had a great run. But like so many others, MMO after MMO just made me more jaded because it couldn't bring me something *novel*. They all failed, primarily (I believe), because of the damn role system. If you are healing health bars in Rift, its pretty much the same as it is in WAR or WOW. Your "role" is essentially your gaming experience.

Now, enough about why its good. Here's what they put in its place: Shared responsibility. It is your job in Guild Wars 2, regardless of what profession you pick, to take care of *all the roles*. The combat is dynamic and exciting as a result. If you come across a giant mob, you have to find a way to defeat it. You have to move to avoid attacks. You have to dodge to avoid attacks. You have to use abilities to block attacks. You have to position yourself into helpful fields set by other players, to take advantage of team support. You have to heal yourself. You have to keep your attacks up. You have to watch your cooldowns.

The *gameplay* is AMAZING. Do you realize that as jaded a group of gamers we are here on catacombs, when I made a post about it being the next great thing, not a single person that played it DISAGREED? Seriously, the dysfunctional retard clan that we are-- Myself, Graveworm, Zoobi, Valec, etc... All were in agreement. GRAVEWORM AND VALEC AGREEING... AND ME.

You do yourself a great disservice if you don't play the game.

If you are a player that just genuinely enjoys support, I highly recommend trying out the Guardian, Elementalist, or Engineer.

[Zoobi]

If you are a player that just genuinely enjoys support, I highly recommend trying out the Guardian, Elementalist, or Engineer.

I want to emphasize this part. There isn't the traditional healbot in GW2 like in every other mmo to date. However there are playstyles for pretty much every class that you can play support like functions. Almost all of the classes have some sort of built in utility in the form of buffs/debuffs that you can emphasize if you prefer that playstyle.

[Stalis]

I will give it a shot. The thing I like about healing classes is I like working as a team. I like having abilities that affect my friends who are playing the game with me. With dps classes in other games playing in a group and playing solo is essentially the same. I like the feeling of its me + a friend vs the monster and not just me vs the monster and also a friend vs the monster just at the same time. Even in non rpg games, like basketball games I would much rather play a pointguard and get 30 assists than play something else and score 100 points.

If there is a class that lets me have that kind of playstyle in guild wars 2 I'll probably enjoy it.

[Andile™]

I've dropped engineer from the short list and am now between guardian and thief.

[Graveworm]

I will give it a shot. The thing I like about healing classes is I like working as a team. I like having abilities that affect my friends who are playing the game with me. With dps classes in other games playing in a group and playing solo is essentially the same. I like the feeling of its me + a friend vs the monster and not just me vs the monster and also a friend vs the monster just at the same time. Even in non rpg games, like basketball games I would much rather play a pointguard and get 30 assists than play something else and score 100 points.

If there is a class that lets me have that kind of playstyle in guild wars 2 I'll probably enjoy it.

I'm probably going to be playing a support warrior in PvE and WvW. Between banners, shouts, and the Warhorn skills, there is a lot you can do to bolster the people around you. Fuck, being able to say "support warrior" is one of the reasons Guild Wars 2 makes me hard.

[Zavon]

Stalis, the way this game is designed is that everyone offers support. If you are a thief, you can throw down a smoke bomb to protect nearby allies. Further, while in the field you give all allies in it the ability to life steal for a short while. Support is there-- its just not healboting!

Every profession has the ability to make support a priority. They all do it in different ways though.

[Taolas]

I thought elementalist was a bit light on support, like when compared to a support warrior. They have water magic for healing, but I felt other classes did that much better. Haven't played one since beta 1 though.

And yeah, some games are dps dps dps, but in GW2 you always have skills present that are not about dps. Some classes are proactive, like blind the enemy or weaken his attacks, which can be used to save a teammate or yourself. Others have the defensive buffs. Likewise, you always have some form of damage you should use as well.

[Zavon]

I think that the elementalist shines on using combo fields more than any other class. Also, if specd healing rain is freaking sweet!

[Stalis]

I will keep an open mind. I went ahead and bought the game. Too many people tell me it is going to be awesome for me not to try it out. Guardian, mesmer and engineer look the most interesting to me, just based on their 1 paragraph descriptions from the website. Not so much engineer just because I don't particularly like the flavor of technological classes.

[Zavon]

Well Guardians have heavy front line buffs for support. They do things like put protective bubbles around everyone, or make a line that no enemy can cross, or drop a seal on the ground that gives everyone nearby the protection buff (which is -33% all incoming damage).

Mesmer support is a little more tricky (pun). Baseline, they don't offer near as much support as a,guardian, but if you trait support you can be formidable. For instance, you can make it so every time you shatter it heals nearby friendlies. Or, when you summon a phantasm everyone gets regeneration. The mesmer has more of a chess master play style to it.

[VKhaun]

Very happy with my class choices now that I've played a little bit. Movement feels good on the warrior and I'm happy with how the humans look. My Sylvari engineer looks cute and funny, but somehow cool at the same time.

I think the most pleasant thing about the whole GW2 start experience, was that auto attack toggle. I always said that about TSW (and other games before) that if you're going to make the player repeat one button over and over you should let them set it to automatically repeat. Somehow people actually argue the point with me over TSW. Like somehow having to hit their 1 key five times between every skill rotation or ten times to kill an easy mob without blowing timers makes it a better game.

[Andile™]

So is this how the auto attack works? Instead of attack with each key press, it becomes a on/off switch?

I spent most of the time exploring so didn't do much fighting. :-p

[VKhaun]

So is this how the auto attack works? Instead of attack with each key press, it becomes a on/off switch?

I spent most of the time exploring so didn't do much fighting. :-p

Yeah, you pick one skill to apply it to (I forget what you press to set it, but hover over your 1-4 skills and it gives a tooltip about it) and that skill will repeat over and over on your target once you've used a skill on it and are 'in combat' until it's dead. It will even cycle three hit combos.

[Taolas]

To turn it off you can bind "stow weapon" or something to put your weapons away. Also, you can use the 'stop auto attacking on target change option' and hit tab, if there's another enemy around. It's a bit odd that it isn't a switch, but whatever. Also, turning away from an enemy should work, but it will resume once you're facing again.

[VKhaun]

After going in and running around, getting a feel for the game... I hate to say this, but you were right about the blocking. The game has a nice smooth pace. Not terribly fast, but skills and movement feel responsive and the cooldowns are generally low enough that you always have a choice of what to be doing rather than just rotating things as they come up. The active block skill is just too short, too slow, and on too long a cooldown. I also hate the way the shield hovers off your arm. Maybe with huge thick gauntlets it would clip and connect, but it would still be attached rather than held.

I've been looking at the c.buidler at work tonight (maintenance issues giving me lots of down time) and the 2h sword ranger looks much closer to how I wanted to play the warrior, with multiple counters on shorter cooldowns, and more protections. While I'm not a big fan of pets there are some less convetional options, like birds and spiders, that I'd be open to and it looks like the pet only actually adds one button (F2) and not five or six as I'd feared. I even like Troll Unguent and Longbow better than the warrior's equivalents.


Fuck yeah
http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fMEQ...IsxajzGpNLEGFA

Nice round stats with consistent damage rather than crit stacking. Counters, dodges, knockbacks, leap... positional stun to help other people. Nice set of skills on longbow, and the greatsword knockback combo leads into a weapon swap to the longbow and another knockback and burst skill. Stacked regen, and a whole series of melee steroids to pop for bosses or 1v1's.

[Taolas]

Yeah, I haven't played a ranger too much, but get the same feeling as you. I actually like the engi shield quite a bit, but it only reflects projectiles. You can cancel the engi block to push things, which seems to interrupt them, and the second skill is an interrupt as well. They have a tool kit shield too, which does block, and is useful if you stack confuse on an enemy.