Quote:
Originally Posted by Axel Zinfandel
Assassin have the highest single target DPS.
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(Scroll down to tl;dr)
Still extremely situational. Very rarely do you come across a mob while with a
7 hero that you can pull a full assassin chain on (this is considering real, 5+ skill dagger chains; 3 doesn't count, especially DB-esque chains, as that
isn't a true single-target spike). If you are able to pull a full assassin chain on a monster on a mob, either:
A) You're just having fun.
B) You're heroes suck [at dealing damage].
C) You're not going to be able pull of that chain twice in the same battle.
D) The monster is going to die before you finish the attack chain, and you'll be uselessly auto attacking for the rest of the fight.
That aside, yeah, Assassins have the highest single-target spike DPS.
Overall Single Target DPS = Warrior/Dervish; no long recharges; auto attacking deals a fair amount of damage.
Earth Shaker Warrior is great for it's setting up for AoE attacks/defensive uses, but if you really want Hammer Damage in PvE, Dwarven Battle Stance is where it really shines (stack a GDW and some + damage enchants on him as well)
Elementalist is the least situational. They still do the same amount of damage to a balled mob as they would a single target- and those numbers are pretty big.
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Back on topic,
Your question is very, very broad...
It's still extremely situational. I would bet on overall, Elementalists in PvE. Taking into mind in PvE:
a) What if stuff isn't dying? Necromancer doesn't have energy.
b) What if stuff doesn't cast spells? Mesmers have no energy.
c) What if stuff has lots of enchantment removal? Elementalists have no energy.
d) What if stuff blocks a lot? Assassin's have no energy nor damage. (Asuran Scan is the be-all-end-all of all melee woes, but considering the majority of the PvE community hardly considers it's existence...)
From the above mentioned list, A), B) and C) are the least likely cases. (I ignore caster shutdown, because you should have adequate removal on your heroes).
Why Elementalist overall? See below.
Why not Necromancer?
Necromancers have the best energy management in the game. It's inherent, and they very rarely have to bring any additional skills to compensate for a lack of energy . A majority of their damage is either armor ignoring, or health degeneration (the latter being pretty useless in PvE), with cold damage being a minority of skills (Icy Veins is pretty meta, and Toxic Chill can be used well as a Discord replacement, but that's besides the point). Because the majority of their damage comes from Armor Ignoring sources, the numbers tallied in to the skill of it's
unconditional damage such as any Blood Magic are much, much lower than an Elementalist investing a similar amount of attribute points into it's own primary attributes.
However, within a 7 hero team, Necromancers would probably be the most damaging, as their
conditional damage such as Discord, Spiteful Spirit are easily helped by the utility and potential skills you can put on 7 heroes. As opposed to an Elementalist who can apply forms of Cracked Ayrmor on their foes and still be unable to output the same conditional DPS.
All this aside, also consider lower-end areas/NM, where armor-ignoring damage deals
far less damage than an Elementalist with a simple nuke.
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While this argument conveys in a somewhat circle, Elementalists can relay their damage
without having to rely on their fellow heroes. All energy management is self-maintainable from enchantments (Necromancers have to rely on their team mates to kill), but the big numbers work both ways for both classes. You can't just go onto the Isle of the Nameless and say, "Bam, Elementalist deals more damage against the Master of Damage," and call that a real situation in PvE. In PvE, primarily Hard Mode, monsters have far more armor (even with the update, it's still pretty large), and an even larger health pool.
tl;dr:
For general PvE:
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Necromancers with a
7 hero team/conditionally.
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Elementalists overall/unconditionally.
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Mesmers are out of the equation due to
a majority of their skills are shutdown. Their direct damage consists only of Energy Burn and Enererygy Surge, great for spiking, but not much else. (Ineptitude/it's non-elite counter parts are extremely strong, I'll give them that much)
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Assassins have the greatest spike potential, but such a spike is unneeded/impractical/for funzies while with 7 heroes. Just stick with the
meta DB chains (
playing a raw Dervish is actually far stronger than spamming this chain...).
-All other
"Frontline-esque" classes have t
he potential to surpass the damage of their caster counterparts, but the casters can do it in larger packets and in a shorter amount of time.
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Splinter Weapon is overpowered and
can be used for huge dps on any class. Just carry a spear on yourself or a hero. Calling targets helps too.
-If you
play anything relying on a martial weapon,
Asuran Scan is your very, very best friend. Bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, people might say crap about it. Try it yourself before you judge please?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Turkey Baster
You could technically run an Assassin with 129 armor if I'm correct between "Stand Your Ground!", Insignias, and Great Dwarf Armor. Well over 100 even without the shout, which is plenty of armor.
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No. SYG! doesn't bypass/stack with the cap (IAU does). Whatever your bonus is from GDA (based on your Dwarven Rank) + your equipped insignias, will be your new armor total. Which is all you really need. Protective Spirit/ST Defensive Rit/Imbagons are your friends... Guild Wars is a team game... Believe in your heroes, or your friends, at the very least.