Curse

APCaligo · Aug 01, 2006, 02:47 PM // 14:47

This is more of a question than discussion...but I posted it in discussion because it's not just a simple question, more of a thinking question.

A little about me:
I have one good character, my Warrior. Started out as a Wammo, is still a wammo, but I'm working on saving up money to get him some skills to switch to a W/N or W/R

I have tried the monk, elementalist, ranger and necro primaries. I had my elementalist up to Aurora Glade, then deleted him...why I dunno. I wish I hadn't, because he was my first character. My first ranger was r/w and made it to the last mission in ascalon before I rerolled him as r/me and then he made it to kryta. Once again...deleted. Why? cuz im dumb i guess. Necro made it just past pre-searing, lol. Monk made it to the end of North shiverpeaks.

I currently have a Ritualist still on noob island, and an Assassin that just got off of noob island.

I guess I have a character deleting problem, lol.

Anyway. When I first bought prophecies about 9 or 10 months ago, I decided I was going to have one of every character. With only 4 slots that couldn't happen. Well the more I played the more I just focused on one character, which ended up being my warrior.

Even now with 6 slots and buyable slots, I still want to roll one of everything, but I just can't. It's too time consuming and tedious for me to try and get 8 characters through pve. Hell after 10 months of playing I still can't afford to buy 15k glads for my warrior (probably because i keep buying armor for my other characters and then end up deleting them)...right now he's in 1.5k plate, which I have come to dislike due to lack of energy bonus.

So I've decided I'm going to keep my character number down to 3 or 4 characters, because like I said I don't have alot of time to try and have 6 or 8 good characters. Also because I'm a firm believer that a person who sticks to a few characters is more likely to play them well...while a person who tries to do everything will just end up mediocre at everything. I'm quickly finding that trying every build and every secondary with my warrior is becoming expensive.

I am primarily a PVEer, with occasional visits to the random arenas. So which classes should I pick? I'm keeping my warrior of course, but what about 3 others.

I know it's really my decision...but maybe you guys could give me some common pros and cons for each class or something...tell me why you guys suggest one class over another, or why you enjoyed/hated playing a particular class. Anything to help me decide would be greatly appreciated. Please help my confused mind, lol. I'm probably just overanalyzing... I know it's just a game but I'm dumb like that. I do the same thing with every rpg I play.

Nevin · Aug 01, 2006, 04:09 PM // 16:09

Okay heres my 2 cents...

#1 Necromancer - They're a hell of a lot of fun, you can reroll them into many builds and they almost never have trouble getting into a group. Minion Masters, Spiteful Spirit Spammers, and Batteries. Plus in PvP they're nothing to sniff at either.

#2 Ranger - For a PvEr theres nothing more fun then playing a Ranger. Having a pet that accompanies you through your journey and what not. They also get a bundle of cool skills which really can distignuish them. Due to expertise they also make very good work of secondary professions, mainly the necromancer, paragon, and warrior.

#3 Monk - This is your cash cow. Look up a guide to 55ing on this forum. You can find it in the Farming section. Read it, understand it. Having a 55 means having an endless supply of cash for the rest of your characters. It can get boring after a while, but when you have nothing to do theres nothing more simple and productive then killing 20 trolls at a time.

APCaligo · Aug 01, 2006, 04:23 PM // 16:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nevin

Okay heres my 2 cents...

#1 Necromancer - They're a hell of a lot of fun, you can reroll them into many builds and they almost never have trouble getting into a group. Minion Masters, Spiteful Spirit Spammers, and Batteries. Plus in PvP they're nothing to sniff at either.

#2 Ranger - For a PvEr theres nothing more fun then playing a Ranger. Having a pet that accompanies you through your journey and what not. They also get a bundle of cool skills which really can distignuish them. Due to expertise they also make very good work of secondary professions, mainly the necromancer, paragon, and warrior.

#3 Monk - This is your cash cow. Look up a guide to 55ing on this forum. You can find it in the Farming section. Read it, understand it. Having a 55 means having an endless supply of cash for the rest of your characters. It can get boring after a while, but when you have nothing to do theres nothing more simple and productive then killing 20 trolls at a time.

OMG...that's the three I was considering, no shit. Lol. I was also considering an ele or keeping my rit...I think I'll keep my rit and just leave him sit for a while until I build something else, I really need some cash right now. Most of the warrior farming builds I've come across or come up with just aren't doing it, mainly because they all call for glad's armor or something. Maybe once I get a couple characters built up I can bring in the cashflow to make more characters.

I was leafing through different designs for the monk, necro and ranger....amazingly enough I chose canthan designs for all three...good because there's less to grind through mission and quest-wise, bad because i'll have to buy skills...maybe i'd be better off just making all tyrian characters so i can get as many skills as possible for free, lol.

Also, do you know any guilds that do alot of pve....most of the guilds i come across only care about gvg, and like i said i don't pvp much.

APCaligo · Aug 01, 2006, 04:23 PM // 16:23

EDIT: whoops...double post.

XvArchonvX · Aug 01, 2006, 04:24 PM // 16:24

As I see it hrere are the advantages/disadvantages of each class in terms of PvE:

Monk:
Advantage: Easy to find a group. Very high in demand in PvE. Generally has a high survival rate
Disadvantage: Can sometimes be unjustly blamed for team failure. Smiter monks are generally frowned upon.

Ranger:
Advantage: Diverse strengths. Can cause many conditions in short periods of time. Barrage rangers can do reliable AoE damage. Best profession in terms of ability to interupt. Second strongest armor class in the game (until Nightfall is released). Good running skills will allow you to run yourself to many places in the game if you wish.
Disadvantage: Not the strongest in terms of damage per second. Not always prefered when a group is forming.

Necromancer:
Advantage: Good energy management with Soul Reaping. A MM is generally highly desired in much of Factions. When a MM is not the best choice for a mission, SS or Blood necros still do well. Good diversity in strengths. Generally highly desired in groups.
Disadvantage: May require a good diversity in skills and strong knowledge of quests and missions to be able to build to perform best to a larger degree than other classes. Generally dependant on things dying to be used at full potential.

Elementalist:
Advantage: Can provide some of the best DPS in the game and also has many good knockdown skills.
Disadvantage: Generally only Meteor Shower based nukers are prefered in groups. Almost no self heal and very reliant on enchantments for energy regen.

Mesmer:
Advantage: Are excellent at shutting down many bosses. Can build to counter any other class with relative ease. Have some of the best energy management skills in the game.
Disadvantage: While having slightly better self heal and defensive skills than elementalists, are still generally dependant on monks. Can have trouble finding groups in PvE. Due to their situational nature, require a good understanding of enemies in order to take them down.

Ritualist:
Advantage: Has many spirits that can help all allies (not limited to the party). Great support for a monk.
Disadvantage: Generally restoration ritualist are preferred. Has many slow cast, long recharge spirits. Generally cannot directly replace a monk in a group.

Assasin:
Advantage: Can do an excellent job in protecting the back lines by taking out individual enemies that are attacking casters. Can escape dangerous situations quickly.
Disadvantage: Most groups don't like 'sins. Requires a good understanding of the class to be able to play well due to relatively low armor level for a melee class.

This is simply my view of the classes and is likely to miss some advantages/disadvanteges of the classes. I have 3 accounts and have at least 1 lvl 20, ascended character of each class. With that said, there is no "weak" class. However some classes are generally better suited for some situations than others.

My favorite profession is the ranger, and with that said, I do admittedly have a bias. Take my opinion with a grain of salt and go for what you would enjoy the most, not simply what is supposed to be the "best" class.

Y.T. · Aug 01, 2006, 08:12 PM // 20:12

mes, ran, monk

ele gets old, i have ele with almost 3 mil exp on her and i hardly ever play her now cos i'm expected to nuke the sh** out of <insert mob name here> 95% of the time.... if i'm lucky i'll be able to switch to warder build.... ugh

monk is just useful

mes is the mosr versatile char in whole game, u can get all 2ndries and do what u want - anti-casters builds, anti-melee builds, curses with me/n, rezmer/smiter with me/mo, u name it - there is a mes build for it

ran is fun to play after u hit lvl 20 and get some elites, low-lvl ran does little damage and dies fast but u juat have to be patient. plus ran is ur cash cow as well, trappers ftw. if u have factions just start ur ran in factions instead of old-presearing - u'll be lvl 20 after 5-7 hrs of playing

Dana Hawkeye · Aug 01, 2006, 10:37 PM // 22:37

This may be slightly off-topic ........ but I will explain why.

I only really use 2 main characters, my first and oldest, a warrior named Trudi Wotan and my favourite, my ranger Dana Hawkeye (Pictured to left).

I decided a long time ago to only play one or two professions after initially trying out the others. Like you, my thinking was to be good at one or two as opposed to being average across the range.

It is my ranger Dana Hawkeye that I have invested most of my time, gold and effort into:- She has both Tyria/Cantha 100% mapped, Tyria/Cantha Protectors and also the Advanced Skill Hunter titles.

In addition, she has most secondary professions skills unlocked as well (nearly had them all prior to Factions release) - this is still an on-going goal, to unlock EVERY skill in the game on one character.

By sticking to one or two characters, not only do you not tend to spend too much gold on them when you have 'maxed' them (Armour, weapons, runes etc) and thus tends to build up as well as the XP, but they become part of what you are as a player - just my view.

I do have 3 other characters, one my Necromancer for a change of scenery and two 'mules' for storage purposes - I cant part with things, so tend to hoard.

By doing this method, you also build up your 'wealth' - not that it makes much difference in Guild Wars, but you can concentrate on 'creating' the character you want easier, than spreading it all around other characters.

This is just another view on what you could do. Good luck in whatever you decide.

APCaligo · Aug 02, 2006, 01:35 AM // 01:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Y.T.

if u have factions just start ur ran in factions instead of old-presearing - u'll be lvl 20 after 5-7 hrs of playing

Yeah but I'll also have to buy most of my skills. I'm poor remember

EDIT: Oh and the first time I played a ranger, I didn't die once until Kryta...the poison got me...lol

Dana, You have a really good point. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks to focus on one or two characters. Don't get me wrong, if people can afford to play all 8, more power to them. Like I said, I've experimented with all of them in one way or another, just enough to understand them a little better.

Talon one · Aug 02, 2006, 03:39 AM // 03:39

having one main character that gets all the cool weapons and armor is good. but i think in order to become a truly good player you have to play all available professions with as many builds as possible. not only does it help in learning all the skills and what they do, how they are used and how they can be countered, but you also learn how the battle looks from another pespective.
like when you play monk and suddenly realise that you cant heal ppl when they run out of range. or when you play a warrior and notice that you cant tank if the squishies keep running past you. in short, all those little things that you can do to help each other during a battle, unspoken team coordination.

i'm not saying everyone needs 8 pve characters, you can test characters and builds in random or team arenas free of charge

Solarii · Aug 02, 2006, 06:13 AM // 06:13

We had a poll about this in our guild forums, directed at what was your favorite character and why, and most of us came up with Necro or Ranger.

There isn't really a right answer though, you need to pick one based on your playing style. The coolest thing about those two classes is their versatility, but with all the different builds out there you could probably make that argument about any class.

It's hard to say there is a more versatile class than ranger. If PvE is your thing you have a bevvy of skills to choose from... archery, beastmastery, traps, etc. Or if PvP is your thing there are even more choices... cripshot, spikers, the dreaded touch-ranger, bunny thumpers, the list goes on and on.

And its the same with necro.... Minionmaster, SS, blood-spiker, battery, yada yada yada. And You can make similar lists for every class in GW.

So, ask yourself if you like to be in the middle of the action mashing buttons and slashing bad-guys, or do you want to hang back and blow them apart from a distance, or keep your teammates alive or make them more powerful, or whatever. Then decide.

Spellforge · Aug 02, 2006, 06:49 AM // 06:49

I'd suggest sticking to the 6 core classes as each new chapter will add something for each of them (so you'll get a reward for your time spent)
I'd stay away from the new classes added as new content won't be added for them in future chapters - Nightfall won't have new content aimed at Rits or Sins for example.

When I finished Prophercies I had a Warrior , a Ranger and a Monk.
I played Factions start to finish with a new Necro. I have taken this character back to Prophercies to get Spinal Shivers etc.

Like the OP I don't have a lot of time to play (My Ranger is a bit neglected now - She was only created in the first place because every single good drop my other characters where getting where bows)
I like the warrior for the up close melee , running , farming etc
The monk is great to get into groups (but can be boring) or 55
The Necro as others have said can be different builds doing different jobs which is great (I'll use Necro first in next chapter)

Curse You · Aug 02, 2006, 06:55 AM // 06:55

I started out with one character (of course), my Necro. I took about 2 weeks to play around Pre-Searing, mostly because I didn't want to leave. While I was there, I made my warrior about 1 week after playing as a necro. I had only 2 characters (and 1 PvP) for almost a month before I decided to make an elementalist (thus using up all 4 slots).

Now, even though I had 2 characters at the start, I focused on my Necro. I got my necro all the way through the campaign before I even took my warrior from Post-Searing ascalon. By that time I had made a good amount of money, mostly because I used AL 15 up until the Desert. I then brought my warrior through the campaign (a little faster, because I knew it).

After all this, it was around the time that TotPK got torn up. That was how I made my fourtune. I used my necro's huge number of skills to be an Order necro for barragers and thus made about 100k+.

Anyhow, where I'm going with all this is, you need a character that is good for farming. From my experience, two of the most sought after professions are Necromancers and Monks. Necros because they can do so much, and monks because they heal/protect.

So my sugestion would be Necro, Monk and Ranger (I have since made a ranger).