Ele/Mes/Necro + General Gameplay questions - Guild Wars Forums

kewlsunman · Apr 26, 2005, 05:56 AM // 05:56

I just pre-ordered Guild Wars and am eagerly anticipating its arrival Thursday. In the meantime, I've been spending a lot of time poring over the copious and wonderfully detailed guides on this site and others in an effort to try to decide what class I want to be. I, unfortunately, have not been able to participate in any of the Beta Weekend Events because of my indecisiveness. Thus, I am here because I need help in deciding what professions and what builds I'd like to try out.

First, a quick description of what I'd ideally like to play: I want a PVP focused character, preferably a caster (I like shiny spells), that can dish out lots of damage in a very short amount of time. I like a fairly twitchy feel that requires fast decision making and reaction. My example would be the Arcane/Fire mage of World of Warcraft. That character had Fireblast (instacast), Presence of Mind (made the next spell instacast), Blast Wave (instacast area of effect), Cone of Code (instacast AOE), Arcane Explosion (w/ talents - instacast AOE), and Frost Nova (instacast AOE - though not really a damage spell). The idea is basically that you can churn out tons of pain while on the move and while quickly adjusting to the situation.

It seems to me that the closest equivalent in Guild Wars is the Pyromancer: Ele/Mes build that focuses on PbAOE Fire spells and uses Inspiration-line skills to get keep the energy supply going. I was originally kind of set on this build, but a few things deter me.
1) I read somewhere that, though AOE is good for PVE, Air is probably more appropriate for PVP. This really isn't a big issue considering I can respec later on.
2) What about Mes/Ele for Fast Casting? It seemed like a lot of the Fire spells have cast times and Fast Casting seemed like a really seductive solution to that.
3) I have a personal bias for the Necro armor (just so much sexier). How well would a Necro/Ele build stand up. You use the Necromancer's Soul Reaping in conjunction with Elementalist Fire or Air spells as an alternative to the Mesmer's Inspiration line. Is Soul Reaping a viable alternative in PVP?

I think that if this were my first MMO, I'd play Necro/Ele. However, I have, or had, a lvl 60 Warlock in WoW which turned out to be a horrible decision. I thought the Warlock was an innovative approach to the standard caster formula, but it turned out that our "diversity" and "uniqueness" was not only our saving grace, but all we were. I really do NOT want to play a gimp character, basically. I've heard good things about the balance in this game, but I remain skeptical due to my past experience.

So my questions really are these:
1) How is the gameplay in Guild Wars? How do cast times work? Do I have to stand still as I cast? The fun of PbAOE disappears, in my opinion, if I had to stay in one place and hoped everyone stood around me as I waited for my spell to cast. I would seriously consider going Air Elementalist to act as a ranged, spell sniper if the cast times were to hinder the speed of the combat.
2) How big and how reliant on AOE is end-game PVP? In WoW, end-game, raid-level PVP was basically an AOE-fest. Whichever side had more mages and more priests to protect the mages wins. I'm curious if AOE is essential to a good raid party. I'd like to play a character that is more or less necessary.
3) How fast does one get sick of the Necro armor? I really, really like Necromancer armor design =))

Thanks for all the help in advance guys!

-ksm

Apr 26, 2005, 05:56 AM // 05:56	#1
kewlsunman Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Apr 2005	Ele/Mes/Necro + General Gameplay questions I just pre-ordered Guild Wars and am eagerly anticipating its arrival Thursday. In the meantime, I've been spending a lot of time poring over the copious and wonderfully detailed guides on this site and others in an effort to try to decide what class I want to be. I, unfortunately, have not been able to participate in any of the Beta Weekend Events because of my indecisiveness. Thus, I am here because I need help in deciding what professions and what builds I'd like to try out. First, a quick description of what I'd ideally like to play: I want a PVP focused character, preferably a caster (I like shiny spells), that can dish out lots of damage in a very short amount of time. I like a fairly twitchy feel that requires fast decision making and reaction. My example would be the Arcane/Fire mage of World of Warcraft. That character had Fireblast (instacast), Presence of Mind (made the next spell instacast), Blast Wave (instacast area of effect), Cone of Code (instacast AOE), Arcane Explosion (w/ talents - instacast AOE), and Frost Nova (instacast AOE - though not really a damage spell). The idea is basically that you can churn out tons of pain while on the move and while quickly adjusting to the situation. It seems to me that the closest equivalent in Guild Wars is the Pyromancer: Ele/Mes build that focuses on PbAOE Fire spells and uses Inspiration-line skills to get keep the energy supply going. I was originally kind of set on this build, but a few things deter me. 1) I read somewhere that, though AOE is good for PVE, Air is probably more appropriate for PVP. This really isn't a big issue considering I can respec later on. 2) What about Mes/Ele for Fast Casting? It seemed like a lot of the Fire spells have cast times and Fast Casting seemed like a really seductive solution to that. 3) I have a personal bias for the Necro armor (just so much sexier). How well would a Necro/Ele build stand up. You use the Necromancer's Soul Reaping in conjunction with Elementalist Fire or Air spells as an alternative to the Mesmer's Inspiration line. Is Soul Reaping a viable alternative in PVP? I think that if this were my first MMO, I'd play Necro/Ele. However, I have, or had, a lvl 60 Warlock in WoW which turned out to be a horrible decision. I thought the Warlock was an innovative approach to the standard caster formula, but it turned out that our "diversity" and "uniqueness" was not only our saving grace, but all we were. I really do NOT want to play a gimp character, basically. I've heard good things about the balance in this game, but I remain skeptical due to my past experience. So my questions really are these: 1) How is the gameplay in Guild Wars? How do cast times work? Do I have to stand still as I cast? The fun of PbAOE disappears, in my opinion, if I had to stay in one place and hoped everyone stood around me as I waited for my spell to cast. I would seriously consider going Air Elementalist to act as a ranged, spell sniper if the cast times were to hinder the speed of the combat. 2) How big and how reliant on AOE is end-game PVP? In WoW, end-game, raid-level PVP was basically an AOE-fest. Whichever side had more mages and more priests to protect the mages wins. I'm curious if AOE is essential to a good raid party. I'd like to play a character that is more or less necessary. 3) How fast does one get sick of the Necro armor? I really, really like Necromancer armor design =)) Thanks for all the help in advance guys! -ksm