Curse

BlueManOfDoom · Apr 02, 2007, 09:45 AM // 09:45

Can ether solo good with henchmen? or would just being a Monk be better?

I am thinking about buying this game but sense main jobs are permanent i want to know some things.

Do henchmen have a bad exp or item penalty?
i was reading they cost money and take loot.
do they ever take very rare items and/or cost alot of money?

kinda want the community's reputation with the jobs. Last MMO i played there was "useless" jobs and "everyone wants to party with" jobs.

Want a job with good reputation, Good solo(do not need the best) and fun.

Aegeroth · Apr 02, 2007, 10:04 AM // 10:04

This topic will save you much hassle.

Most loved Class: Monk
Most demanding Class to play: Monk

No great shock there. If you a monk, theres a good chance partying will be easy, but its very demanding.

The class which is publicly liked least, id have to say is Mesmer, for PvE.
They are very effective in PvP though.
But i love Mesmers all round.

Id say the best start you can get is with a Necromancer, people invite them, its not a hard play, theres plenty of versatility too. They can be Supportive with Buffs and Minions and Offensive with Direct Damage and Buffs.

And on the Henchmen topic;
Henchment do take gold, any sum of gold obtained by the player is split up between your party, regardless of Ai/Human charcter type, money given to Ais simply dissappears.
Items is different though, there is a chance an item will drop for you, in which case it appears for the whole party, but for a fair while only you can pick it up, after the time anyone can take it, im not sure on the precise time.
If an item is for a henchmen, it wont appear.

TheLichMonky · Apr 02, 2007, 10:07 AM // 10:07

It also depends on what you like, rangers and dervishs have their ups and down as do all classes, if you like to be a caster, then monk, elly, necro and mesmer ar for you, they can all solo certain areas

BlueManOfDoom · Apr 02, 2007, 10:11 AM // 10:11

Do you have to look goth if your a Necro?

ohh... how is customization? can you pick face/hair and then job?

or will the job determine how you look?

TheLichMonky · Apr 02, 2007, 10:19 AM // 10:19

Theres no jobs, when you make a necro which u can customize, you basically level the character and use your skills to make certain builds which teams will need, such as a SS ( spiteful spirit) or a mm ( miinion master)

Toutatis · Apr 02, 2007, 11:02 AM // 11:02

Any profession is capable of soloing. Some professions might find it easier, but all professions can do it.

Henchmen take their share of the loot. Whenever you pick up some gold, that gold is divided equally among all party members, regardless of whether they're human, henchmen or heroes (think of heroes as customisable henchmen that you can pick up in Nightfall). When items drop, they are randomly assigned to party members. If an item is going to be assigned to a henchman, then it just doesn't drop (I think it disappears into Hammerspace or something). So being in a larger party can potentially reduce your gains from adventuring, but if you can go without henchmen then you're under no pressure to use them.

As far as each of the "jobs" go, here's my opinion on each of them. Some of them are more useful in the party than others, but none of them are useless. All of them are also great fun to play with, so pick one that you think matches your style and see how you do.

Warrior: Best armor, great damage, pathetic energy management. Also a monk's worst nightmare if the warrior in question suffers from delusions of invincibility. Virtually every party will want at least one of these, and also a very easy profession to learn to play with.

Ranger: Decent damage, great attack range, option to get a pet for extra damage, arrow preps to enhance their normal attacks, and able to change the laws of nature in the local area (can be a blessing or a curse). When it comes to strategically pulling mobs, they're second to none. Many parties will want one of these.

Monk: The game's primary healer - 'nuff said. One of three professions that have reusable rez skills. Every party will always want a monk or two, and I for one refuse to leave any outpost without one.

Elementalist: The game's primary nuker. Amazing damage output and highly versatile, if not a bit squishy. Also very easy for newcomers to learn the game with, and quite popular in parties because of their damage dealing ability.

Necromancer: In PvE, necromancers can be extremely popular because of their ability to raise undead minions that create a wave of destruction. Having one of these around is like having a "get out of tough mission for free" card.

Mesmer: Probably the least popular of the professions, as they're highly specialised and more difficult to learn. However, they can still be extremely powerful in combat (and can make mobs die for apparently no reason thanks to their unique skills). They're often overlooked and can sometimes find it difficult to get into parties, but that doesn't make them any less deadly.

Assassin: Requires Factions, and is capable of inflicting an insane amount of damage on a single target in a very short amount of time. Also the most mobile with their ability to shadowstep (short-range teleport) in and out of combat. Your best friend up against bosses, but not designed for sustained combat (if an assassin decides to try to tank he can go from being the party's best friend to their worst nightmare). Popular in certain areas nearer the ends of each campaign where bosses get much tougher, but often overlooked in early game areas.

Ritualist: Requires Factions, and also the game's secondary healer. Can be useful if there are no monks around, but they lack mobility and are perhaps best suited to situations when specific points need to be defended. Can also add some heavy artillery with their attack spirits, as well as having a coupla skills that allow them to rez themselves as well as others (making them the second of three professions with reusable rez skills). Far from a "must have", but very useful nonetheless.

Dervish: Requires Nightfall. Relies heavily on enchantments, many of which have secondary effects when they end. Able to unleash a whirlwind of destruction in the melee with attacks that hit multiple adjacent opponents as standard (which is gonna happen a lot in PvE), although they're not as durable as warriors. Plus they're the only profession that gets transformation skills, which are pretty cool to watch. Great fun to play with, and always a valuable asset to the team.

Paragon: Requires Nightfall. Highly versatile and very well armored, they're at their best in large parties as their support skills tend to affect everyone at once (and a few of their skills power up if there are more allies around). Also the third of the three professions with reusable rez skills. Perhaps not as popular as they were originally as they've been nerfed a bit since their introduction, but I still like having them around sometimes.

geekling · Apr 02, 2007, 11:04 AM // 11:04

Your choose the primary profession first. Then customize the looks of your character based on that choice, your primary profession also determines what armour you can use, and yes if you go for necro it all is very goth.

SpotJorge · Apr 02, 2007, 12:29 PM // 12:29

well i started game with a warrior and ive loved it a lot, including the farming and run experience, then with the farm fever i created a monk and i liked it a lot PVE, Farming and runing ... then one day when i was bored i created a ranger and all i can say is ... WOW ... a totaly new experience of how to play the game now i understand why everybody that have rangers love it a lot, rangers can do theyr places in party with so diferent ways that even now i get surprised with what a ranger can do

Ranger
Runner - 5 stars
Solo farming - 5 stars (UW R/Mes solo trapper farmer is a must - think ranger is only caracter that can solo this area)
PVE - you never get bored playing your ranger with every build you choose, just change your second prof and have fun (R/E fire build is a must)

The Last Cruzader · Apr 02, 2007, 01:04 PM // 13:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpotJorge

Ranger
Runner - 5 stars
Solo farming - 5 stars (UW R/Mes solo trapper farmer is a must - think ranger is only caracter that can solo this area)
PVE - you never get bored playing your ranger with every build you choose, just change your second prof and have fun (R/E fire build is a must)

Rangers are fun, but there are many proffessions that can solo UW/Smites these days. I don't know about soloing all of UW now..

XvArchonvX · Apr 02, 2007, 01:44 PM // 13:44

Just to comment on the professions inquired about by the OP:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toutatis

Ranger: Decent damage, great attack range, option to get a pet for extra damage, arrow preps to enhance their normal attacks, and able to change the laws of nature in the local area (can be a blessing or a curse). When it comes to strategically pulling mobs, they're second to none. Many parties will want one of these.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toutatis

Dervish: Requires Nightfall. Relies heavily on enchantments, many of which have secondary effects when they end. Able to unleash a whirlwind of destruction in the melee with attacks that hit multiple adjacent opponents as standard (which is gonna happen a lot in PvE), although they're not as durable as warriors. Plus they're the only profession that gets transformation skills, which are pretty cool to watch. Great fun to play with, and always a valuable asset to the team.

Rangers are also one of the best classes for interuption in the game. They are also very strong when it comes to condition dealing.

Dervish may be enchantment reliant, but their enchantments are generally easily to reapply. Also there are usually more than one enchantment used at a time, so enchantment stripping is very rarely enough to completely strip a dervish. With the right build a dervish can actually out tank a warrior in many instances as well since can not only buff to counter any damage taken, but also counter degen as well. This assumes a good investment into earth prayers of course.

In terms of farming, a ranger can solo farm a lot of areas, but generally not as efficiently as some other classes can.

Dervish are excellent farming characters with the use of builds such as the 130hp_Dervish as well as builds that don't rely on enchantments, such as the D/Me FoW Spider Cave Solo.

Griff Mon · Apr 02, 2007, 03:15 PM // 15:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueManOfDoom

Do you have to look goth if your a Necro?

Necros have their big connection with the dead. So the character choices have a sort of "vampiric" or "goth" look to them. Your character appearance choices and armour choices tend to fit in with these definitions.

So, yes you are somewhat confined to a certain "look". You can modify this within your character creation screen and make yourself look as un-goth like as possible.

Bankai · Apr 02, 2007, 03:15 PM // 15:15

Just a note.

It's boring as hell to solo this game as a monk.

Hell Raiser · Apr 02, 2007, 06:40 PM // 18:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bankai

Just a note.

It's boring as hell to solo this game as a monk.

I quite enjoy it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueManOfDoom

Can ether solo good with henchmen? or would just being a Monk be better?

Any profession (I can see where you got the idea that they are called "jobs") can solo with hench.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueManOfDoom

Do henchmen have a bad exp or item penalty?
i was reading they cost money and take loot.
do they ever take very rare items and/or cost alot of money?

AI- Henchmen are treated as players when it comes to exp and item gain. The exp is divided when you kill an enemy. Gold drops from enemies (although, unlike item drops, there is no alert that an enemy droped a pile of gold) and when any person in the party picks it up, it is split between the entire party. Henchmen do not cost money to recruit, you simply add them to your party.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toutatis

Any profession is capable of soloing. Some professions might find it easier, but all professions can do it.

Henchmen take their share of the loot. Whenever you pick up some gold, that gold is divided equally among all party members, regardless of whether they're human, henchmen or heroes (think of heroes as customisable henchmen that you can pick up in Nightfall). When items drop, they are randomly assigned to party members. If an item is going to be assigned to a henchman, then it just doesn't drop (I think it disappears into Hammerspace or something). So being in a larger party can potentially reduce your gains from adventuring, but if you can go without henchmen then you're under no pressure to use them.

As far as each of the "jobs" go, here's my opinion on each of them. Some of them are more useful in the party than others, but none of them are useless. All of them are also great fun to play with, so pick one that you think matches your style and see how you do.

Warrior: Best armor, great damage, pathetic energy management. Also a monk's worst nightmare if the warrior in question suffers from delusions of invincibility. Virtually every party will want at least one of these, and also a very easy profession to learn to play with.

Ranger: Decent damage, great attack range, option to get a pet for extra damage, arrow preps to enhance their normal attacks, and able to change the laws of nature in the local area (can be a blessing or a curse). When it comes to strategically pulling mobs, they're second to none. Many parties will want one of these.

Monk: The game's primary healer - 'nuff said. One of three professions that have reusable rez skills. Every party will always want a monk or two, and I for one refuse to leave any outpost without one.

Elementalist: The game's primary nuker. Amazing damage output and highly versatile, if not a bit squishy. Also very easy for newcomers to learn the game with, and quite popular in parties because of their damage dealing ability.

Necromancer: In PvE, necromancers can be extremely popular because of their ability to raise undead minions that create a wave of destruction. Having one of these around is like having a "get out of tough mission for free" card.

Mesmer: Probably the least popular of the professions, as they're highly specialised and more difficult to learn. However, they can still be extremely powerful in combat (and can make mobs die for apparently no reason thanks to their unique skills). They're often overlooked and can sometimes find it difficult to get into parties, but that doesn't make them any less deadly.

Assassin: Requires Factions, and is capable of inflicting an insane amount of damage on a single target in a very short amount of time. Also the most mobile with their ability to shadowstep (short-range teleport) in and out of combat. Your best friend up against bosses, but not designed for sustained combat (if an assassin decides to try to tank he can go from being the party's best friend to their worst nightmare). Popular in certain areas nearer the ends of each campaign where bosses get much tougher, but often overlooked in early game areas.

Ritualist: Requires Factions, and also the game's secondary healer. Can be useful if there are no monks around, but they lack mobility and are perhaps best suited to situations when specific points need to be defended. Can also add some heavy artillery with their attack spirits, as well as having a coupla skills that allow them to rez themselves as well as others (making them the second of three professions with reusable rez skills). Far from a "must have", but very useful nonetheless.

Dervish: Requires Nightfall. Relies heavily on enchantments, many of which have secondary effects when they end. Able to unleash a whirlwind of destruction in the melee with attacks that hit multiple adjacent opponents as standard (which is gonna happen a lot in PvE), although they're not as durable as warriors. Plus they're the only profession that gets transformation skills, which are pretty cool to watch. Great fun to play with, and always a valuable asset to the team.

Paragon: Requires Nightfall. Highly versatile and very well armored, they're at their best in large parties as their support skills tend to affect everyone at once (and a few of their skills power up if there are more allies around). Also the third of the three professions with reusable rez skills. Perhaps not as popular as they were originally as they've been nerfed a bit since their introduction, but I still like having them around sometimes.

Read this. Now read it again. You should be able to choose your profession.

PS: there are 4 character slots for the Prophecies campaign, 6 for prophecies+factions, 6 for prophecies+Nightfall, 8 for Proph+Fac+NF. And you can purchase them in the account store for $10(USD) per slot. So you can make many different characters with different professions.

PPS: You select a characters Hair Style, Hair Color, Facial Features, Skin Color, and height when you create them.

Bryant Again · Apr 02, 2007, 06:50 PM // 18:50

I'm going to break down your post by answering each question to my best knowledge...

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueManOfDoom

Can ether solo good with henchmen? or would just being a Monk be better?

All professions are capable of working with henchman. You won't have to worry about this one.

Quote:

I am thinking about buying this game but sense main jobs are permanent i want to know some things.

Do henchmen have a bad exp or item penalty?
i was reading they cost money and take loot.
do they ever take very rare items and/or cost alot of money?

Well, it depends on how you look at it. When some money is picked up, no matter if it's henchmen/heros or players, it's always divided by the group. You'll 10gp from an 80gp drop with either a full human party or a full henchmen party.

I can't give an opinion on rare item drop rates...Sure, if there's more people, more rare things will drop, but there's still the same chance of you getting nothing. If you have henchmen, rare drops drop less because they wouldn't use them. It's a little tricky to explain...I hope that you can.

Quote:

kinda want the community's reputation with the jobs. Last MMO i played there was "useless" jobs and "everyone wants to party with" jobs.

Want a job with good reputation, Good solo(do not need the best) and fun.

Well, I'll give you some sad advice: Assassins are probably the only class with a bad rep, since it's hard to play one in Factions. The first main bad guys you have to kill in that campaign have an exploding effect that really hurts an assassin because of their lower armor value. Assassins have a general armor rating of 70, while a warrior can have as 96 (he has his armor + his shield), so an assassin will take more damage. So if you play an assassin, just be careful - it's harder than the rest.

Aside from that, play what looks fun to you. Monks are the most sought after, because you always need a healer in the party. Warriors are valued because they're great at taking the first big wave of heavy damage.

Still, play what looks cool and interesting. That's what matters the most. There's no sense in playing something you don't want to.

Spazzer · Apr 02, 2007, 07:04 PM // 19:04

"How is Ranger or Dervish?"

Do you like playing frontline or midline?

blood4blood · Apr 02, 2007, 08:13 PM // 20:13

I'd recommend Ranger over Dervish for your first character.

-Ranger is more versatile overall (archer, beastmaster w/pet, trapper, interrupter, condition-dealer, barrager), is mostly straightforward and easy to play, and it's easier to control aggro and henchmen/heroes using a bow than a melee weapon. Community rep has improved for rangers, you should be able to get a group just about anywhere in the game (I remember back in '05 not being able to get PUG's sometimes, but that was '05 and it's different now).

-Dervish is a fairly specialized melee attack profession that tends to rely heavily on maintaining and removing various enchantments. A lot of other classes are more forgiving to mistakes, making them much easier for new and/or casual players to run effectively. Judging by the chat I see in towns and outposts, Dervishes are not very popular with PUG's these days (there are still too many of them, and like Assassins, it's very easy and all too common to play them poorly).

Eilsys · Apr 03, 2007, 08:52 AM // 08:52

Play a Ranger. I've noticed that people will whine about your build if you Monk (y r u not woh?!), ask you to either play SS or MM if you're a Necromancer, rage about your aggroing as a tank... it doesn't matter what you actually *do* (if anything) as a Ranger, but people seem to think they're required in a good, balanced group.

Mesmers, Assassins, Ritualists, Dervishes, and Paragons can have a harder time finding groups.

jummeth · Apr 04, 2007, 10:57 AM // 10:57

[QUOTE=Aegeroth]This topic will save you much hassle.

Most loved Class: Monk
Most demanding Class to play: Monk

No great shock there. If you a monk, theres a good chance partying will be easy, but its very demanding.

The class which is publicly liked least, id have to say is Mesmer, for PvE.
They are very effective in PvP though.
But i love Mesmers all round.

Id say the best start you can get is with a Necromancer, people invite them, its not a hard play, theres plenty of versatility too. They can be Supportive with Buffs and Minions and Offensive with Direct Damage and Buffs.
[QUOTE] I have to disagree with most of your post there.

Monks after you get over the initial hurdles of not healing 10hp with a heal other is quite easy to play. If your team are full of Frenzy HealSigging ppl, then Jim I won't save them from the dbl dmg boss monsters.

Other professions like Necro do decent damage, but sometimes can be a drag on the team if not played well, ie. a wasted slot. Similarly for an Elementalist who tanks all the damage and screams about over-exhausting themselves 30 seconds into the fight. So for the next 2 minutes is only useful for Frenzy Wanding....

At least a bad monk throws the odd Heal Other and will rebirth you on a team wipe. Where as crap Other professions are just as much of a liability as a bad monk.

People don't like mesmers because they aren't all sparkly with what they can do, similarly, a Warrior hate necro are not the all huge explosions and w/e of a minion necro. But both those aformentioned professions have the ability to reduce physical damage so dramatically Hench monks will suffice anywhere.

Unfortunately, its the case that although a prot monk will in the end negate far more damage than a heal monk will, most pve pugs I see still insist on running 2 heal monks... etc etc.

@OP: The PvE campaign is so easy, any profession can solo it with hench. Its just boring to do it though.

If you want a fast way to clear the PvE campaign, just bring a profession with a lot of front loaded damage. And good survivability. Finished.

BlueManOfDoom · Apr 05, 2007, 12:00 AM // 00:00

ok... i will be a ranger, i think it will be cool to have a wolf fight with me.

now i just need to find a trial key to test out GW on my PC...*sigh*

Akshara · Apr 05, 2007, 08:32 PM // 20:32

My two most developed characters overall are a Ranger and a Dervish. In my opinion, you'll have more fun with a Ranger as a newer player, and have a little easier time playing through the missions with heroes and henchmen. Dervish will be more fun the second time through. If you eventually get the other campaigns as well, you'll be glad to have chosen a Ranger first.