Profession Pondering

I only tried the Engineer and it was ok, but I agree on the randomness. Plus I could never really see how the Turret AI acted, it seemed like it didn't fire very much and I didn't know how to direct it. So turret AI might suffer just like Companion AI does for the ranger.

Next Beta I will test out the Necromancer and see how that goes. Ranger is the class I ultimately want to play, not because of the companion thouhg, the Melee sounds very fun on a Ranger.

Necromancer was sooo fun! Going to have to try Ranger next BWE and i really do hope they fix the pets.

I probably had the most fun with my mesmer and necro over the weekend. I love the concept and intricacies of the mesmer but, like you, I'm concerned about it's viability in WvW. Although I *am* curious if I could use stealth and portals to drop a huge force right on top of a zerg trying to take a keep The necro was my backup choice if I didn't like the mesmer and I really did have a lot of fun with it, plus it's sheer survivability is a definite draw.

I'm planning on spending more time with both classes next time and taking my mesmer into WvW and sPvP (I only had a brief foray into WvW with my necro last time) to see how I get on. Also planning to give ranger a try but with a ranged pet and see if it does any better.

Moving on to warrior and thief next bwe, hopefuly they will have tweaked the a.i. to not target them so aggressively when in mixed groups.

The Necromancer for me, but if I get more hours out of the next bwe, I will probably try at least one more prof, as there are several that are very interesting. Then, of course, I am an altoholic :D

Almost definitely a Necromancer for me. Elementalist is a very close second though... Guardian and Ranger didn't draw me, and I haven't tried the others. Will be giving them a go come the next beta! 

No I haven't.

I went into the beta trying to make a choice between 3 of the classes that attracted me most: Necromancer / Thief / Ranger.

The necromancer (as archetype) always is the odd one out, because in general I prefer physical (melee + archers) over casters. For some reason the whole minion and attrition play has always entertained me. The dark arts RP part even more so.

The thief has been a long time favorite of mine, because I prefer the tactical element of ambushing people. The versatility and dept that stealth offers has always been something I liked.

The Ranger falls straight into the archetype I generally go for: Archers. Bow and arrow has always been a thing I loved about (mostly) fantasy oriented games; and more often than not if possible I combine this with the element of stealth that the thief/rogue archetype offers. Which can even been seen back in the First Person Shooters I play where I tend to prefer snipers over direct combat.

----

Over the course of the beta weekend I hoped to determain which of the three peaked my interrest most, hoping I would exclude two out of three, or in the worst case hoping to eliminate at least one.

Unfortunately the BWE pretty much did the opposite of what I had expected. It made the choice even harder. All 3 professions ended up feeling really solid and all had a few downsides that are pretty much spot on with what Lewis B describes in his post.

The necromancer, which was my favorite beforehand and still is after the BWE, lived up to my expertation on several fronts: It is one of the most versatile professions around being able to totally change your playstyle on a whim (not just ranged vs melee; but attrition to burst, from minions to life draining; from conditionmancer to team support.) and versatility is something I harshly need. Just like Lewis B, I am not much of a alt-o-holic.

The reason for me is quite simple: Rather than spreading my attention over X toons; I prefer to focus on a single one and master it. That way I have the feeling that I always benefit for 100% of the time I invest into the game. I often make 1 or 2 alts that I play sporadically as a refresher or if the situation requires for it.  With that in mind I need my main toon to be versatile enough so that I can change my playstyle once in a while so it feels like a new class yet keep it's core elements so I can still benefit from my experience.

The downside of necromancer was the poor minion AI. That really slapped me in the face hard; I knew it wasn't all that good, but it was pretty horrible. And Minionmaster is (also in GW1) one of my favorite specs. Also when I played the necromancer, even though I liked the concepts of it; it wasn't quite getting a spark for me yet, something the ranger did. It might simply be due to lack of gametime and I couldn't quite find a weapon and trait combination that felt solid. But I missed a spark.

The Thief was actually quite high on my list before the Closed Press beta. After playing one I am very two sided on it. On one side I found the melee combat in this game to be quite good. It was smooth and flowed fast. The thief was able to do some really solid damage and grinding some in Queensdale with I could get mobs down faster and cleaner than with the other 2 professions.

That said, the thief still has 2 major downsides for me. First off is the steal mechanic. I have been discussing this (on gw2guru) for months now; but the system simply isn't interresting whatsoever. I find it out of all professions to be the worst class specific skill. The only thing that is saving it right now is trait interaction. Being able to stealth shadow step and get various buffs makes this skill, but the bare naked steal ability is rubbish. The second part I disliked is the initiative system; although it appears fun at first sight, all it leads to is spamming abilities. The whole cooldown system just flowed MUCH better with me. There were also a lot of abilities and setups that really made me question it's use.

Finally the Ranger. The good thing was that the archery in this game blew me away from the start. This is EXACTLY the kind of archery that I hoped to find in many a RPG before this. It is interactive, it looks great, it sounds great. You can move while shooting, and you have a feeling you are putting damage into people. I mainly ran with a Longbow / Shortbow setup, which wasn't the best (2H sword was blowing people away) but it was the true archer feeling that made me happy.

On top of that all the ranger skills just seemed to be extremely well done. Each skill had a solid place, with hardly any of them did I have the feeling it was useless or maybe too good. Not to mention the animations on each was unique and solid.

The downsides on the other hand here are also not too shabby. First of all is the pet: While I am not at all opposed to having pets, my experience in MMOs quickly learned me they are generally a viability when you have to rely on them this much. In GW2 it ain't much difference, with the exception that the AI makes it all the worse. The second thing was that I felt that compared to the necromancer the Ranger doesn't offer the versatility. I am not a fan of spirits, nor a huge fan of using traps. So I felt my options were limitted to being either ranged offensive or melee offensive; where my necro felt like it could do anything.

I still put my necro at the top, but I really need more gametime to get a better picture. The worst issue I have is that, I can switch my opinion on what to play on a whim. If I see a movie with an archer, I really REALLY want to roll an archer. If I watch a movie of a bunch of Navy SEALs infiltrating a complex and killing guys; I really want to sneak around in stealth.

I wouldn't at all be surprised If I ended up rolling the profession I currently dispise most, simply because of this random advertisement I saw on TV that made me interrested in that gamestyle cheeky

In my previous MMO life I was a major alt-o-holic, by default. I typically take a class to max level, do some raiding/PvP/end game and start to get bored, so I focus on a different alt and the cycle repeats itself. With GW2 I was determined to be more focused. Since it seems the journey will be very fulfilling, without the feeling of "rush to max level so I can play the game," I went into the first BWE thinking I would end up choosing between the elementalist and mesmer. I have always enjoyed ranged damage and the way ranged classes in GW2 is structured, some melee abilities and some ranged, I thought I would be set after the first weekend. I came away being more unsure then ever because, before the BWE ended, I played the guardian a bit. I really didn't think I would like melee combat but I was having a lot of fun with the guardian. The next BWE I'm going to focus more on the physical classes like thief, warrior, and ranger to see if I find one class I click with.

Not yet.

For me it has always been about the Guardian or the Engineer.  This past BWE is spent a lot of time playing the Guardian and it plays pretty much exactly as I expected, and I enjoyed it a lot.  The next BWE is going t o be 100% Engineer, and hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have made up my mind.

I've played the Ranger during the Beta-Event and I had a blast with it. I really can't understand why everyone is hating on the pet. Sure, the AI has some flaws but it"s nothing that cannot be fixed with a patch.

You have to remember one very important thing:

Your pet only attacks foes which are attacking you. If you want your pet to attack foes on their own, you have to target you foe and push F1. I used F1 and Pet-switch all the time and I managed to down two bosses in a higher-lvl area on my own this way, two guardians ( who where 3 lvls higher than me and died during this fight very fast ) watched me fighting the two bosses while they were lying on the ground. After I beat the crap out of the two bosses they both were like "htf did you manage to beat them".

Using F1 whenever switching targets or pets, casting F2 for special attack when needed, using heal as on for pet and switch pets all the time with F4 before they go down!!!

Some improvements I would like to see with the ranger pet:

Making Fs even more responsive, but it is already working quite well.

Pet AI should learn to dodge and to get out of AoES!!! This would be my biggest wish!

I have always been a caster class kind of guy.  Mages, in general, my default favorite.  GW's Elementalist is a realy good mage class, in GW1 and especially in GW2.

I have never had much of a taste for rangers until GW1.  It was in GW1 that I first fell in love with the Ranger profession and I found that in GW2, that love affair continues.

I am an Alt-aholic, though I haven't been to a meeting in a long time, and I'm also a proud button masher.  I don't spend much time looking into the number crunching or the details of the mechanics or any of that stuff.  I come to the game to kill stuff, save people, that kind of thing.  I don't care how or why it works, I just like that it does.

With all of that said...I know that I really like the Ele and Ranger classes in GW2 (I know...big shock...don't worry...I can revive you ing GW2!)  Of course, as I said, I'm an alt-aholic.  I spent a good portion of my time trying out some of the other professions.  I agree that Mesmer has some really nice stuff to it, speaking only from a PvE point of view.  I also played a bit of Engenier but wasn't to thrilled with it.

All of this must be taken under advisement, however, taking into consideration that I rarely got an alt over lvl5.

The article, however, made a very interesting point.  Lewis mentioned that he found faults in everything he tried.  I'm not entirely certain that that isn't accidental.  It seems to me that Arena net has always worked hard to keep the classes in balance, and that they don't just use the usual methods to achieve that balance.  I think it is part of the unique nature of their class and of their approach that they actually build in drawbacks to each of the classes.  It is how you can have 8 classes all capable of doing the same things (Tank, Support, DPS) and still maintain a clear division to them.  

For example...you may see the engineer's unpredictability as a drawback, others may see it as a challenge...using the random outcome to lead them into a different style, not mainting as much control, but rather reacting to those random moments for a more interesting and enjoyable play.  Also, where you may see the pet as unresponsive and poor, as demonstrated by JP's post above, its all about actually taking more command of the pet.  The AI is a bit more general so that you can more easily command it.

There are still some minor problems with it, indeed with everything, but that is part of the fine tunning and class balancing that they are working on.  I believe Arena net learned a very important lesson from GW1.  That lesson is they may think things will work one way, but give those tools to their crazy and inventive players, and what seemed fair and balanced is suddenly horrifyingly overpowering.

Need I really bring up the 55 build's of GW1?  Who would think of becoming nearly invulnerable by reducing your HP to 55?  Its insane.  The fact that it works is besides the point.

Then again...perhaps it is the point.

Galen

Warrior for me!  Normally, I tend to roll one of each class and level them all up to maximum, but this is usually for PvP reasons.  By playing each one, you can learn their strengths and weaknesses, and how to counter them effectively.  For PvE however, I usually just play with my Warriors though.

The good thing about GW2, is that after obtaining 8 character slots, I can have 1 of each Profession at max level within the hour.  This is a great design on ArenaNet's part (IMO) as it takes the grind out of learning your opponents capabilities.

However, there is an issue with Warriors, and interestingly enough, it stems from the playerbase making false assumptions, and not the design.  Already, after a single weekend, there have been players actively complaining about Warrior survivability in PvE, because they have made the assumption that because Warriors wear Heavy Armour, they are a tanky class and can therefore withstand lots of damage.  At low levels, this isn't the case, as there is very little difference between a damage Warrior and a survival Warrior.

On the flipside, there are people begging for nerfs because the class can deal significant damage, which 'isn't fair' because it is a 'super-tanky' profession.  Again, this is based on assumptions carried over from other MMOs.  In order to hit like a truck, you have to sacrifice all survival.  And the base armour for Heavy isn't that much higher than it is for Medium (Warriors have 2147 base armour, Thieves have 2000).  Add in a shield, for a huge 62 increase.

Unfortunately, I think this is an issue that is going to persist for some time.  On the one hand people are demanding change in their MMOs.  When they find these changes though, they invade the forums asking that the game be molded to be more like conventional MMOs.

Personallly, I loved the increased difficulty in PvE over the weekend, it was refreshing to actually feel threatened by basic mobs while leveling my character.  I had to pay attention to my armour, I had to avoid higher level mobs, and I needed my full bag of tricks to keep me alive for the times when I bit off more than I could chew.

BWE did absolute nothing for making a decision. I was sure dagger/dagger elementalist was the way for me, but the weekend showed me the potential of the other professions, so now I don't know. The Ranger is actually the front runner, Pet AI nonewithstanding. My only issue with them (which is still something that would need looking at if I am to truly pick that profession), is the responsiveness of the Attack command and pet health. Anything but a bear seemed to go down in a blink of an eye, faster even than I could realise it was happening and swap them out or recall them. The pet would also occasionally fail to respond to my order to attack my current target, which was annoying.

If those two issues were adressed, I think the ranger may beat the elementalist. At least until I get around to trying a Warrior or something :)

I went to the BWE thinking my main would probably be a necromancer. Sure, I liked it. Being a necromancer felt like someone had combined the raw power of every other profession and given it all to me. I found myself attacking groups of players without a moment's hesitation and winning most of the time too. Two warriors charging at me? Lunch time, minions 

However, once I tried the thief I instantly fell in love with it. My survivability depended on my ability to use stealth, dodging and movement to avoid damage. Nothing could catch me. I could quickly kill a lone enemy and vanish when help arrived.  It was just pure awesome. 

My reasons for playing is WvW.So my comments below are in that context.

I had Ranger #1....Engineer #2 to make and play.I loved the rangers ability to "reach out and touch someone" from keep walls ..or attacking those on the walls.(Yes I love keep fights).The ranger pet I found ...dies too often to actually be part of the game.Engineers turrets have less range than a Ranger(though perhaps some of the other devices have greater range). I discovered the elementalist late in the beta and was impressed.I will try this class more.The necromancer and their ability to go into shroud form  showed lots of potential.I really would like a site that really details all the skills...traits etc...a great character planner.I have seen some but,they didn't have all the information I was looking for.

Could always try Thief's ranged options. They're not shabby.

Stealth (as a way to recover initiative) and reliance on dodging might be a hit or miss though.

I seriously can't wait to play a Mesmer again.

I didn't play a ranger in the BWE, although a guild mate did. He used a melee focused build and as such his pet wasn't taking all the hits and had better survivability. Just food for thought.

Necromancer.

I also experimented with ele and thief during the recent BWE, but neither grabbed me the way necro did.  I ran a minionless necro using axe/focus and swapping to staff and putting points into Blood Magic, Soul Reaping, and Spite trait lines.  It was a blast.

The resiliency of the necro profession is going to be hard to surpass.

@Zantetsuken

Agree 100%

Next BWE I am going to try Ranger and Necro ( I wasn't going to play necro and save it for launch, but I don't think I can wait )