What to play?

Hi there. I'm thinking on getting back into the game, there's really nothing out there that I feel like playing right now and it would be nice to fill up my HoM a bit more. Last time I played was like 3 years ago, and quite frankly I don't remember squat about the game plus it has changed a lot. I'm at 15/50 in my HoM so I would have enough stuff to do.

Anyway I'm having unusual problems choosing a class to play. I started to do some research before making my mind up and to be honest I feel like it was a mistake. I'm even more confused now, because let's face it, forums are always full of contradicting opinions and posts containing a lot of words such as "OP" and "useless".

You can treat me like an utter noob, I really forgot how the game works. I know that whatever class I choose I want to play it using mostly it's primary spells with just borrowing stuff from the secondary that feel kinda "right" in terms of play-style. This effectively means I'm unwilling to go for any builds filled with PvE skills no matter how great will you tell me it works or stuff like elementalist spamming daggers. Sure I'm all for experimenting but I just want my core class to be the main source of fun, I think you get the picture.

I'm sort of drawn to the mesmer, but I feel like it might be a rude awakening seeing how you (supposedly) need extensive knowledge of the game. It also seems you're doing most of your damage as a reaction to the enemy's actions and I'm not sure how well that works really. There's something about mesmer's playstyle that is really appealing (I'm thinking mental aikido), but I'm simply afraid I'm gonna struggle playing one.

I'm also thinking about ranger, I like bows and to me personally it's the best looking class in GW. The thing is I understand rangers are really not in their greatest time right now and I really don't feel like being the underdog nobody needs on their team.

Necromancer is another option. Looks really versatile and fun, but misses interrupts like the two above classes, not sure about other utility stuff.

Look, I know you're gonna tell me to choose whatever I enjoy the most, but face it - it's all different in endgame and it's gonna be quite a while before I get to that. I don't wanna be useless, struggling or just a nuisance in a team.

I generally like damage dealing classes with lots of utility, survival and "fun" skills. Doesn't have to be the top DPS out there as long as there is a variety of skills making up for it. Has to be ranged with engaging gameplay, but not something that would require me to quit work in order to get familiar with the class. Oh, and I don't like spammy stuff.

Thanks in advance for any info and suggestions.

well ranger deals damage, is ranged and has rupts just like the mesmer but the rupts are a little different... either of the two would seem to meet your interests. ranger has less of a learning curve imo.

Ritualist may be what you're looking for.

1) You won't use PvE skills much, if at all.
2) You'll always be using most of your bar for Rit stuff and can pick up whatever utility you like from other professions. Smites, Curses, Command, whatever.
3) Spirit based builds are easy to play and are powerful.
4) There are unique skill types like Item spells and Binding Rituals (spirits) which give you an experience unlike other professions do.
5) They can be spammy, but it depends on your definition. They don't require you to sit there clicking one skill over and over, though with some builds it's more or less a matter of 1-2-3-4-5 and 6-7-8 when appropriate.
6) No interrupt abilities, but if you wanted to you could put points into Domination Magic and pick some up. Rits have good energy management so they can fuel them perfectly well.

Hm, I'm now looking at ritualist abilities and I have one question - do spirits, minions and ranger pets count as "allies"?

Yeah. Also, this may prove to be a valuable resource.

for mesmer it really depends on what bar you use. for example, if you use a panic bar you really dont need any experience, as long as your smart enough to cast panic on groups instead of individuals.

necromancers are pretty fun to use, people like to take spiteful spirit necros with them for most things. and theres almost always a use for a minion master though thats usually a hero. also necros have the best looking obsidian armor

That's not entirely true, they do have a spirit that interrupts all actions when it hits. Granted, it's not extremely reliable as a result and I think costs 25 energy.

The problem with the spirit-based interrupt is that you cannot choose when or which target to be interrupted. You have very little control over your spirits. That said, the rit is a great profession and desired on teams even in HM and high end areas. It is also a great farmer for almost anything including ectos.

necros can do interrupts using spinal shivers and a staff/wand that deals cold damage
just throwin that out there

The thing with the ritualist is that I guess most PuGs would expect me bring a healing bar, isn't that right? Also, any other comments on mesmer, ranger and necro?

Oh, and if you don't mind a side question - getting a skill unlock pack makes all the skills available at any trainer? Description is pretty vague to me to be honest.

Actually, pretty much every PUG expects you to be offensive spirit spam as a Ritualist. As for skill unlock packs, I've never bothered to buy them so can't help there.

unlocked skills are available at any trainer of the campaign the skill is from (core skills are available at trainers in all campaigns). For example, an unlocked factions skill would be available at all factions trainers, but not at prophecies or nightfall trainers. I wouldn't bother with unlock packs though, especially if you start in factions; most skills there are available quite early on.

If you play a Rit, you'll most likely be expected to run an Signet of Spirits bar.

Basically - Signet of Spirits, a few more offensive spirits (I use Vampirism, Pain, and Bloodsong), Painful Bond, Spirit Siphon and Summon Spirits. I also use Armor of Unfeeling to make them take less damage and last longer. Spiritleech Aura is also popular. Obviously you can sub in whatever spirits you want, which also makes SoS a good utility skill, depending on where you want to spread your attribute points.

And yes, the unlock packs make the skills available at any trainer in that campaign - a Factions unlock pack means you can buy all Factions skills at any trainer. You still need to capture or use an elite tome for the elite skills, though.

As to what to play - Necromancers are always going to be a popular choice, because they're rather overpowered. I find minion-mastering extremely boring so my Necro usually runs Spiteful Spirit, but I don't find the profession too fun. Mesmers are currently very popular thanks to the recent update that made them a lot more powerful and a bit easier to use. Personally they're one of my favorite professions, though I prefer hexing to interrupting (I leave that for a hero). Ritualists are also very popular thanks to spirit spam making them able to farm almost anything. I love Rangers, myself, but they're definitely not meta right now. They're still very good, though, and you've got a wide variety of options for them. They updated pets to make them suck less, you can trap, you can cause conditions (my favorite thing to do), you can interrupt, etc.

Also Rangers make very good secondary Rits and can easily handle spirit spam. They have slightly higher AR as well as extra protection against elemental damage, and Expertise works on binding rituals, so they're cheaper to cast. A primary Rit will have stronger and longer-lasting spirits, though, thanks to Spawning Power. SP also makes Rits pretty good as /N creating minions - won't be as many as a primary Necro, but they'll again be hardier and last longer. Plus Explosive Growth is a fun skill.

Hm, it seems spamming spirits is not exactly the most engaging activity out there. I see there are some direct damage spells for a ritualist, but I understand they're not as effective as just using an army of spirits? Anyway, still considering this option as I could always switch to support/healing and the class itself is weird enough to be fun I guess.

Also trying out mesmer right now, I think I can see the potential here - looks like you can disable pretty much any mob while dishing out decent damage. It's very situational though and my Koss often kills stuff before I finish casting Empathy, I'll see how that comes out later.

I think ranger and necromancer are out of the picture already, so I gotta decide between either ritualist or mesmer. I really don't feel like playing both, mostly because of the HoM thingy.

HoM stuff counts account-wide, for the record.