best class to start with? - Page 2 - Guild Wars Forums

Cuilan · Apr 11, 2009, 05:29 PM // 17:29

I started out with a necromancer and then an elementalist. Odd how I don't like those classes anymore.

If you think you can learn and research fast, mesmers aren't bad to start off with. Many people like disruption like classes in games.

Saphrium · Apr 11, 2009, 07:43 PM // 19:43

Necromancer was the first character I had, and to tell you the truth, there is no other classes you need to consider.

MrTickle · Apr 12, 2009, 12:33 AM // 00:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saphrium

Necromancer was the first character I had, and to tell you the truth, there is no other classes you need to consider.

QFT

I have 2 accounts and 16 characters but my fav is still my prophecies Necro

Twan4188 · Apr 12, 2009, 09:53 AM // 09:53

When I bought guildwars some years ago, I wanted to play as a Necromancer. However I found the options pretty hard in the beginning, with Health Sacrifce and all. It got deleted for a Warrior instead. It's great Heavy Armour and nice Damage was a great thing to start with. Besides that, you can combine it with much professions without actually making a wrong choice. Energy management is not as important as it would have been would you've chosen a Elementalist.

Lourens · Apr 12, 2009, 08:35 PM // 20:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrTickle

QFT

I have 2 accounts and 16 characters but my fav is still my prophecies Necro

Necromancers are very fragile and maybe hard to understand as rookie,

rangers get 70 armor and another 30 armor vs elemental and the warriors get 80 armor and another 20 vs physical those 2 classes are the best to begin with their high survival rate won't let you feel like your a newb because you won't die as fast as necromancer would do.

Earth · Apr 12, 2009, 09:56 PM // 21:56

Threads like these will just tell what class people like the most, apart from 1 or 2 replies.

You can start out with whatever, but what would be best imo is to just try as many different classes as you can, and see what you like.

Saphrium · Apr 13, 2009, 07:33 PM // 19:33

well since necro has armor ignoring damage, is ranged, not a primary damage dealer nor a primary healer, can summon minions to tank and get energy when monsters die. I would consider a class like this easy to start with.

refer · Apr 14, 2009, 12:04 AM // 00:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earth

Threads like these will just tell what class people like the most, apart from 1 or 2 replies.

You can start out with whatever, but what would be best imo is to just try as many different classes as you can, and see what you like.

They should add a quiz in game for when you go to make a character. It could be a button at the bottom of the profession selection screen. Sounds lame but I think it'd be perfect lol. It could have all these questions about how you like to play and what you're good at and then offer suggestions. It could also point out why primary matters the most (looks/primary attribute/runes/beyond 12 attribute points/etc). I think this would be a better approach for new players than selecting the primary first then learning about it in game after. Maybe they could have demos of professions playing like on console games when you don't click past the start screen after a couple minutes so new people could see what the profesisons look like in action. Nothing complicated, just basic stuff. I don't know why but I love anything that makes the beginning of games easier and faster lol.

D A R K S O I F O N · Apr 17, 2009, 03:31 AM // 03:31

go with ele, there so much fun to play with. There used with every style of gw from pvp (ha,ta/gvg/ra/jq/ab) to just plain pve farming for golds/titles and dungions.

Qing Guang · Apr 17, 2009, 05:19 AM // 05:19

The problem with starting with an ele is that you get too used to having a huge energy pool to work with. My first four were all casters, one of whom was an elementalist with VERY high Estorage, and they've permanently screwed up my view of energy, to the extent that I cannot stand running a war (had a pvp one... for literally 5 minutes - deleted after her first RA attempt), and I am constantly stunned that my Paragon has run out of energy (mostly fixed now, but I still struggle with it).
On the other hand, if you start as war, you may become a little used to having high armor and being able to tank; I know that after long stretches of running my derv, I've had that problem.
Personally, I started with a Ritualist, and I had great success running her as a healer. Therefore, out of the core six, I'd recommend a Monk - healing is uncomplicated in PvE (only 2 overarching rules: red bars must stay full & red bars must always be red), and it's an easy way to find groups. Healing also gives you control of most of the party (threatening not to heal Assassins who attempt to tank is always fun) and prevents you from having to rely on AI monks or spend extended periods of time trying to find a human one. It's not too difficult a job if you are paying attention, and if you do it well, most people will like you.
Necromancers are also fairly simple to play. Death Magic is an easy place to start - my second and favorite character is a Minion Master, and she whizzed through two campaigns with little difficulty. Soul Reaping means you won't have the energy-crises of Elementalists who've hit the bottom of their energy tank, and a good minion army helps clear areas very quickly. Curses is more difficult (I still haven't mastered it), and Blood Magic requires (from what little I have tried) careful management of one's own health. Still, I'd recommend this class as a close second to the Monk.
I haven't ever run a Ranger in PvE, but I enjoyed running a BHA Ranger in RA for quite a while. They've got excellent survivability and are very flexible, so I'd say this is also a good choice for a learning player, though not as good as the above.
While I love my now-PvE Mesmer dearly, I, like others here, STRONGLY advise NOT starting as a Mesmer. The problem with Mesmering is that it requires a knowledge of what all the other classes do and what all their skills are - a good Domination Mesmer, for example, needs to be able to glance at what an opponent's casting, recognize it and know what its effects are, and choose whether or not to interrupt it (and what interrupt to use if she does), all in a split second. Thus, it's logical to hold off on trying out this complex class until one has at least a reasonable feel for the other professions. In addition, in the grand scheme of Invite Priorities, they are usually clumped with Assassins at the bottom of the list (though I usually insist on bringing at least one mesmer hero with me, most acknowledge that human mesmers are generally more useful in PvP than PvE).

My vote in general: roll several classes at once, and decide which ones you like best. If you want to try another profession, delete one you don't enjoy playing. Eventually, a favored character will rise out of the bunch (happened to me - made all four of my Factions characters on the same day, but eventually fell most in love with my Necro/Sin). Play around a little, and see what you enjoy playing - every profession has its niche, and everyone has different preferences, so pick the prof that you have the most fun playing as - because in the end, that's what the game's about.

Catchphrase · Apr 17, 2009, 07:54 AM // 07:54

Warriors and Monks easy to learn and get decent but difficult to get good with.
Rangers and Mesmers difficult to learn if you're going for interruptions but once you get hang of it you will be good as everyone else.
The rest are easy, they just spam spells.

Utaku · Apr 17, 2009, 08:17 AM // 08:17

The best class to start with is the one you'll keep having fun with later on. So it's all a matter of personal preference.
I started with mesmer, and even though I had little clue of what I was doing in the first 20 hours, it's still the profession I enjoy the most.

refer · Apr 17, 2009, 08:20 AM // 08:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Utaku

The best class to start with is the one you'll keep having fun with later on. So it's all a matter of personal preference.
I started with mesmer, and even though I had little clue of what I was doing in the first 20 hours, it's still the profession I enjoy the most.

I think it's fun, just that getting into PvP is pretty crazy with it.

$hade. · Apr 17, 2009, 08:46 AM // 08:46

IMO start with the (general) hardest class to work with as even though the learning curve will be the longest you'll learn a lot more from a harder class and learn how to be a better player. There is no better class and every class can beat every class.

Regarding PvE though the Warrior or any other tank-ish class (i.e. Dervish) would be the "best" to start PvE with but in reality ANY class you choose can be a fun one as they are all diverse and there are hundreds of combinations of classes you can mix and match your own play-style with.

Generally...

Warrior-DamageDealer/Tank/Melee
Mesmer-Support/Interrupter/Caster
Ranger-DamageDealer/Ranged
Monk-Support/Healer/Caster
Necromancer/Support/Hex(Curses)/Caster
Elementalist/Support/Damage-Dealer/Caster

Assassin-Support(ish)/QuickDamage-Dealer/Melee
Ritualist-HeavySupport/DamageDealer-Healer-Buffer/Caster

Dervish-DamageDealer/Tank/Melee
Paragon-Support/Damage-Dealer-Shouter-Buffer/Ranged

deco inferno · Apr 17, 2009, 09:19 AM // 09:19

The best class to start with depends on your style really. For someone who wants to run in and hit things the warrior is Undoubtedly the best class to start with. For ranged damage you have a choice of ranger or elementalist, depending on your taste. Monks are the only healing characters for the core professions so if that is what you wish to do then go with the monk.

One warning to give you though, the class you play can give you a hard time working with certain other classes.

Many with an elementalist as their main will struggle at first with the low energy and energy gain that the warrior has. similarily a warrior may have trouble with an elementalist due to their low armor value. While this problem usually goes away with some time it may leave you with a disdain for some classes.

In short:
Melee- Warior
Ranged- Elementalist(magic) Ranger (Martial)
Healer- Monk

If you have never played a role playing game and are unsure what to expect, roll a warrior.

And though it has been mentioned numerous times, do not start out with a mesmer. It cannot be stressed enough, I know many who rolled a mesmer as their first and enjoyed playing it but knowledge is most definately the key to the mesmer.( Heck I have played the game since beta and other than the occasional interrupt, backfire and empathy I still get confused on what they do :P)

PS: I know he has already chosen a ranger, this is incase anyone else searchs the forum

Qing Guang · Apr 17, 2009, 09:37 AM // 09:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by deco inferno

One warning to give you though, the class you play can give you a hard time working with certain other classes.

Many with an elementalist as their main will struggle at first with the low energy and energy gain that the warrior has. similarily a warrior may have trouble with an elementalist due to their low armor value. While this problem usually goes away with some time it may leave you with a disdain for some classes.

My play style problem is Melee combat. While I have a Level 20 assassin, warrior and dervish, I do find that when I play them I miss being able to hit things from afar. ranged damage means you can change target and instantly start dealing damage to them, rather than waiting for your character to reach them.

QFT. As someone whose initial four characters were all casters, I struggle with not being able to use spells or high-energy skills. Of my nine characters, only one is a noncaster (my Paragon - which is only technical; she is entirely chant-based and thus might as well be a caster). Of my melee damage dealers, one is a Dervish (used Avatar of Lyssa for the looongest time because I couldn't stand having such low energy), so technically a demi-caster, and the other is an Elementalist who prefers to run PBAoE/melee builds (because I desperately wanted a melee character before getting NF, but couldn't stand a Warrior's low energy and lack of spells - not to mention their armor sets, most of which I'm not fond of). If you gave me a Warrior or Assassin to run I might choke. I struggled with my PvP Ranger for the longest time, and in the end she got deleted to make way for a second necro.

Moral of the story: Pick characters with professions that fit your general interests, because although it is possible to run all different types of character, playstyle limitations (whether they be casting-only, weapon-only, ranged-only, or melee-only), once developed, are very hard to break.

Dante the Warlord · Apr 17, 2009, 11:44 AM // 11:44

necromancer is a great class to start with. As a new player, you can experiment with MM (minion master) and create armies for minions to do your bidding. Its a great in many PvE spots and when you get bored, you can try SS, which is just one of the most FUN things to do EVER. I just love watching the numbers flash across the screen...

War is great too, though there is very little to do and all you generally do is rush in and beat up your opponents, no special skills, raw power. The most fun i have had over wars is usually collecting armor and weapons.

GO NECRO

t00115577 · Apr 17, 2009, 12:25 PM // 12:25

Mesmer or Monk, if I was starting over id go with mesmer, in the long run you will be happiest as mesmers are so completely overpowered

E S P A D A NO8 ITACHI · Apr 20, 2009, 01:27 AM // 01:27

either go with monk or as an ele. They are highly needed in pvp as well as in jq/ab.

Apr 17, 2009, 09:19 AM // 09:19	#35
deco inferno Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Mar 2006 Profession: E/	The best class to start with depends on your style really. For someone who wants to run in and hit things the warrior is Undoubtedly the best class to start with. For ranged damage you have a choice of ranger or elementalist, depending on your taste. Monks are the only healing characters for the core professions so if that is what you wish to do then go with the monk. One warning to give you though, the class you play can give you a hard time working with certain other classes. Many with an elementalist as their main will struggle at first with the low energy and energy gain that the warrior has. similarily a warrior may have trouble with an elementalist due to their low armor value. While this problem usually goes away with some time it may leave you with a disdain for some classes. In short: Melee- Warior Ranged- Elementalist(magic) Ranger (Martial) Healer- Monk If you have never played a role playing game and are unsure what to expect, roll a warrior. And though it has been mentioned numerous times, do not start out with a mesmer. It cannot be stressed enough, I know many who rolled a mesmer as their first and enjoyed playing it but knowledge is most definately the key to the mesmer.( Heck I have played the game since beta and other than the occasional interrupt, backfire and empathy I still get confused on what they do :P) PS: I know he has already chosen a ranger, this is incase anyone else searchs the forum Last edited by deco inferno; Apr 17, 2009 at 09:30 AM // 09:30..

Apr 11, 2009, 05:29 PM // 17:29	#21
Cuilan Forge Runner Join Date: Mar 2008 Profession: Me/	I started out with a necromancer and then an elementalist. Odd how I don't like those classes anymore. If you think you can learn and research fast, mesmers aren't bad to start off with. Many people like disruption like classes in games.

Apr 11, 2009, 07:43 PM // 19:43	#22
Saphrium Krytan Explorer Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Granite Citadel Guild: Post Searing Ascalonian Merchants Profession: N/Me	Necromancer was the first character I had, and to tell you the truth, there is no other classes you need to consider.

Apr 12, 2009, 09:53 AM // 09:53	#24
Twan4188 Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Ashford Guild: White Dragon Order [WD] Profession: W/Mo	When I bought guildwars some years ago, I wanted to play as a Necromancer. However I found the options pretty hard in the beginning, with Health Sacrifce and all. It got deleted for a Warrior instead. It's great Heavy Armour and nice Damage was a great thing to start with. Besides that, you can combine it with much professions without actually making a wrong choice. Energy management is not as important as it would have been would you've chosen a Elementalist.

Apr 12, 2009, 09:56 PM // 21:56	#26
Earth Always Outnumbered Join Date: Jul 2006	Threads like these will just tell what class people like the most, apart from 1 or 2 replies. You can start out with whatever, but what would be best imo is to just try as many different classes as you can, and see what you like.

Apr 13, 2009, 07:33 PM // 19:33	#27
Saphrium Krytan Explorer Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Granite Citadel Guild: Post Searing Ascalonian Merchants Profession: N/Me	well since necro has armor ignoring damage, is ranged, not a primary damage dealer nor a primary healer, can summon minions to tank and get energy when monsters die. I would consider a class like this easy to start with.

Apr 17, 2009, 03:31 AM // 03:31	#29
D A R K S O I F O N Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: ^ ^In your bedroom (0-_-0) Guild: Unexpected Advantage (UA) Profession: E/Me	go with ele, there so much fun to play with. There used with every style of gw from pvp (ha,ta/gvg/ra/jq/ab) to just plain pve farming for golds/titles and dungions.

Apr 17, 2009, 05:19 AM // 05:19	#30
Qing Guang Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: California Guild: Lucid Spirits [LIFE] Profession: N/A	The problem with starting with an ele is that you get too used to having a huge energy pool to work with. My first four were all casters, one of whom was an elementalist with VERY high Estorage, and they've permanently screwed up my view of energy, to the extent that I cannot stand running a war (had a pvp one... for literally 5 minutes - deleted after her first RA attempt), and I am constantly stunned that my Paragon has run out of energy (mostly fixed now, but I still struggle with it). On the other hand, if you start as war, you may become a little used to having high armor and being able to tank; I know that after long stretches of running my derv, I've had that problem. Personally, I started with a Ritualist, and I had great success running her as a healer. Therefore, out of the core six, I'd recommend a Monk - healing is uncomplicated in PvE (only 2 overarching rules: red bars must stay full & red bars must always be red), and it's an easy way to find groups. Healing also gives you control of most of the party (threatening not to heal Assassins who attempt to tank is always fun) and prevents you from having to rely on AI monks or spend extended periods of time trying to find a human one. It's not too difficult a job if you are paying attention, and if you do it well, most people will like you. Necromancers are also fairly simple to play. Death Magic is an easy place to start - my second and favorite character is a Minion Master, and she whizzed through two campaigns with little difficulty. Soul Reaping means you won't have the energy-crises of Elementalists who've hit the bottom of their energy tank, and a good minion army helps clear areas very quickly. Curses is more difficult (I still haven't mastered it), and Blood Magic requires (from what little I have tried) careful management of one's own health. Still, I'd recommend this class as a close second to the Monk. I haven't ever run a Ranger in PvE, but I enjoyed running a BHA Ranger in RA for quite a while. They've got excellent survivability and are very flexible, so I'd say this is also a good choice for a learning player, though not as good as the above. While I love my now-PvE Mesmer dearly, I, like others here, STRONGLY advise NOT starting as a Mesmer. The problem with Mesmering is that it requires a knowledge of what all the other classes do and what all their skills are - a good Domination Mesmer, for example, needs to be able to glance at what an opponent's casting, recognize it and know what its effects are, and choose whether or not to interrupt it (and what interrupt to use if she does), all in a split second. Thus, it's logical to hold off on trying out this complex class until one has at least a reasonable feel for the other professions. In addition, in the grand scheme of Invite Priorities, they are usually clumped with Assassins at the bottom of the list (though I usually insist on bringing at least one mesmer hero with me, most acknowledge that human mesmers are generally more useful in PvP than PvE). My vote in general: roll several classes at once, and decide which ones you like best. If you want to try another profession, delete one you don't enjoy playing. Eventually, a favored character will rise out of the bunch (happened to me - made all four of my Factions characters on the same day, but eventually fell most in love with my Necro/Sin). Play around a little, and see what you enjoy playing - every profession has its niche, and everyone has different preferences, so pick the prof that you have the most fun playing as - because in the end, that's what the game's about.

Apr 17, 2009, 07:54 AM // 07:54	#31
Catchphrase Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Apr 2009	Warriors and Monks easy to learn and get decent but difficult to get good with. Rangers and Mesmers difficult to learn if you're going for interruptions but once you get hang of it you will be good as everyone else. The rest are easy, they just spam spells.

Apr 17, 2009, 08:17 AM // 08:17	#32
Utaku Krytan Explorer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Paris, France Guild: We eat pancakes [Yumy] Profession: Me/	The best class to start with is the one you'll keep having fun with later on. So it's all a matter of personal preference. I started with mesmer, and even though I had little clue of what I was doing in the first 20 hours, it's still the profession I enjoy the most.

Apr 17, 2009, 08:46 AM // 08:46	#34
$hade. Krytan Explorer Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Canada Guild: [FiRM[] Profession: R/	IMO start with the (general) hardest class to work with as even though the learning curve will be the longest you'll learn a lot more from a harder class and learn how to be a better player. There is no better class and every class can beat every class. Regarding PvE though the Warrior or any other tank-ish class (i.e. Dervish) would be the "best" to start PvE with but in reality ANY class you choose can be a fun one as they are all diverse and there are hundreds of combinations of classes you can mix and match your own play-style with. Generally... Warrior-DamageDealer/Tank/Melee Mesmer-Support/Interrupter/Caster Ranger-DamageDealer/Ranged Monk-Support/Healer/Caster Necromancer/Support/Hex(Curses)/Caster Elementalist/Support/Damage-Dealer/Caster Assassin-Support(ish)/QuickDamage-Dealer/Melee Ritualist-HeavySupport/DamageDealer-Healer-Buffer/Caster Dervish-DamageDealer/Tank/Melee Paragon-Support/Damage-Dealer-Shouter-Buffer/Ranged

Apr 17, 2009, 11:44 AM // 11:44	#37
Dante the Warlord Desert Nomad Join Date: Jul 2006 Profession: W/R	necromancer is a great class to start with. As a new player, you can experiment with MM (minion master) and create armies for minions to do your bidding. Its a great in many PvE spots and when you get bored, you can try SS, which is just one of the most FUN things to do EVER. I just love watching the numbers flash across the screen... War is great too, though there is very little to do and all you generally do is rush in and beat up your opponents, no special skills, raw power. The most fun i have had over wars is usually collecting armor and weapons. GO NECRO

Apr 17, 2009, 12:25 PM // 12:25	#38
t00115577 Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Sep 2007 Profession: Mo/	Mesmer or Monk, if I was starting over id go with mesmer, in the long run you will be happiest as mesmers are so completely overpowered

Apr 20, 2009, 01:27 AM // 01:27	#39
E S P A D A NO8 ITACHI Banned Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia Profession: E/Me	either go with monk or as an ele. They are highly needed in pvp as well as in jq/ab.