Good profession for a beginner?

GURUofRANDOM

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jan 2007

E/W

I'm pretty new to the game...and I was wondering...what profession combination is easy to pick up and play for a beginner? For PvE, I mean.

Vexed

Vexed

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2006

Mo/

Warriors are pretty easy to play. They're also easy to play badly. Elementalists are fairly straightforward as well (until you get up to higher levels).

Honestly, just pick a class whose description appeals to you - they all have their ins and outs, and they can be played differently. I started with a monk and loved it. I also like my ranger. And my warrior. And my necro. You get the idea.

Oh, and especially on your first time through the game, don't get hung up on the perfect secondary. You can always change it later. Focus on the skills of your primary first, then see what secondary might supplement them.

Age

Age

Hall Hero

Join Date: Jul 2005

California Canada/BC

STG Administrator

Mo/

Ranger is a pretty not to hard of a good one to learn as well as Necro not an MM.It depend on what campaign you are in.

Sir Mad

Sir Mad

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

Moe's Pub

Pigs Can Fly [Pigs]

R/

I'd say anything but a sin (they have a weak armor and it takes some practice to stay alive in a melee in PvE with them), maybe a dervish (same reason, but they also have defensive skills so I dunno) and mesmer (mainly because you're going to have hard time to find a group with a mesmer - still I encourage you to make one later, but it may not be the best choice to start).

Captain Arne Is PRO

Captain Arne Is PRO

Banned

Join Date: Jun 2005

Do NOT play a Monk as your first character.

I personally found that playing a Monk got my hopes up in the game.

You'd enter an outpost and get dozens of invites/whispers to join a team.

This does not happen. Any class other than Monk would be a good way to start, so that you don't get any false ideas about the game.

Nilator

Nilator

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Arne Is PRO
Do NOT play a Monk as your first character.

I personally found that playing a Monk got my hopes up in the game.

You'd enter an outpost and get dozens of invites/whispers to join a team.

This does not happen. Any class other than Monk would be a good way to start, so that you don't get any false ideas about the game. Wow, I ws gonna say the exact opposite thing.
Playing as a Monk first, gave me information about how to NOT play other professions. If you see people bitching about say a warriors skills or whatever, they normally won't bitch at the monk so long as he/she is healing/protting the team. Monks also have very good solo farming abilities so you can earn the money to upgrade(armor, weapon, etc) your future characters.

Paperfly

Paperfly

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2006

I've come to the conclusion that a Blood necro is the ideal first character.

- They're the ultimate self-sufficient generic spellcasters. They do damage, self-heal, and have a range of interesting and quirky utility spells to keep you from getting bored.

- They have enough good skills in every chapter that it doesn't matter which expansion you buy first.

- Soul Reaping is a good crutch for begginer spellcasters. And Death necros have a hard time in areas without corpses or fleshy creatures, and Curses necros really need Prophecies.

- At 16 Blood + 9 Soul Reaping, you have enough attribute points left to fiddle with skills from your secondary, or add skills from Death or Curses at a reasonably effective level.

- They're a "midfield" class, so you have more leisure to observe what's happening around you. Whereas players who start on a Warrior often have difficulty adjusting to staying off the front line later.

- You can easily get groups by advertising as a battery. This includes the endgame and high-level farming spots, where you can often sneak in as a BiP + Order of Pain necro (both core skills, natch).

Urquell

Urquell

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Dec 2006

Poland

Oak Leaves of Darkness

E/D

Ele for nukers cast or warrior for good prevention against damage.

Pick Me

Forge Runner

Join Date: Feb 2006

Thornill, ON, Canada

THE CANUCK MONKS (TCM)

W/R

Warriors are the easiest. All you do is point and click. Then you start to learn skills (sever artery - inflicts bleeding, gash - inflicts deep wounds when target is bleeding -> a nice two hit combo).

After you have learned a few offensive techniques, you can learn defensive techiques. Watch Yourself, Doylak Signet, Balance Stance all work well together.

It doesn't matter what 2ndary profession you take. W/Mo is a nice starter, but don't use the monk side too often. Concentrate on the warrrior until you get used to what you will be facing and how to defend yourself.

Necromancers are nice, but they can often kill themselves if you are not careful. The are very balanced as a class.

Rangers are a jack of all trades. They have the 2nd best armor, fight at long range. Slow healing though.

Monks, great defense and healing, poor offense. People will expect a lot from you when you venture out with others.

olly123

olly123

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2006

sh*tvill england

tgc

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nilator
Wow, I ws gonna say the exact opposite thing.
Playing as a Monk first, gave me information about how to NOT play other professions. If you see people bitching about say a warriors skills or whatever, they normally won't bitch at the monk so long as he/she is healing/protting the team. Monks also have very good solo farming abilities so you can earn the money to upgrade(armor, weapon, etc) your future characters. id never go monk as ur first profession, it would put u off the game, all these so called pros (W/Mo) telling u how to run ur own build, then when one dies calls u a n00b, and constantly spams "im dead" woudl put any beginner off, so i would go with probably a ele or necro

Age

Age

Hall Hero

Join Date: Jul 2005

California Canada/BC

STG Administrator

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by olly123
id never go monk as ur first profession, it would put u off the game, all these so called pros (W/Mo) telling u how to run ur own build, then when one dies calls u a n00b, and constantly spams "im dead" woudl put any beginner off, so i would go with probably a ele or necro I did but then agian I played it in beta in the halls of heros and when the game went gold it wasn't that bad as other were learning the game so the pressure wasn't there.

tarbok1

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Feb 2006

I'd go ranger for my first toon. Nice enough armor not to die instantly, ranged dps so your not dieing when your using henchies, learn to use interupts, skills, damage types. Good all around jack of all trades.

Vorianatriedes

Academy Page

Join Date: Jan 2007

Neo Trinity Fighters

N/R

Its up to you really necromancers can be one of the hardest to learn and are fairly weak untill you get some of the stronger spells later on and get used to them. I find necormancers have the a very long lerning curve but once oyu get it they are a diversatile class and can have some good combos. Like I remember in the presearing when I was level10 me and 3 other necromancers took out 30 char in one go(we werent to use a catapault to take them out but we didnt know that). I took out 10 myself using mark of pain + ignite arrows while they ran after someone else. It took me 50 hours to get sued to them though and at first I kept on dieing. If you have the patience to master them I recomend them as they probably are the most self sufficent casters having a good mix of healing damaging and energy gaining skills such as Spiteful spirit and demonic flesh. Necromancers can even tank, if you use a combo like aura of the lich then blood renewal and then demonic flesh and then use vampiric swarm. Minion Masters are always good and popular along with batterys and SS and SV necromancers. Really though its up to you. Whether you like close combate being a support class, nailing people from a distance while your ravernous pet tears them to shreds or you like having loads of high damage spells that can kill people in a short amount of time. If any of these appeal to you then chose a class with one of these characteristics or if you dont know which can do what then let us know what you like your role to be in a party and we can advise on which class is best for you. From what I have heard things are easier as a warrior at first atleast and warriors can be very popular or unpopular depending on whether they prevent anyone else in the party from much taking damage or aggro every enemy on the minmap and cause your party to get overwhelmed. Warriors are absolute tanks from what ive seen and can take a ton of damage.

ainkami

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jan 2007

you should play whatever you find most interesting. If you are going to play with Hero/henchman, then your profession doesn't really matter much. If you want to play with other:

warrior: easiest to play. mostly a tank rather than damage dealer in pve.
ranger: interrupting and condition spreading. low damage
elementalist: high damage, fire ele always wanted in a group
necro: only Minion Master wanted. blood/curse will usually get you kicked.
mesmer: not wanted at all
monk: always wanted and in short supply. but must suffer abuse from time to time from players.
assassin: not really wanted
ritualist: only restoration(healing) wanted.
dervlish: easy to play. good damage. somewhat wanted in a group.
paragon: medium difficulty to play. decent damage. somewhat wanted in a group.

Vorianatriedes

Academy Page

Join Date: Jan 2007

Neo Trinity Fighters

N/R

Its not true that curse/blood necromancer will get you kicked, people all the timer want order necromancers, sv or BiP necromancers along wiht mms of course espicially for raiding the underworld. Ive know groups wait for mins just to get an order necromancer. You are right about one thing though there arnt many builds of necromancers people want necromancers with the mentioned skills if oyu dont have those you wont get into any underworld raiding parties so you dont get much choice on the skills you use but are in high demand, if oyu do make it into one and you cant show any of those abilities oyu get kicked very quickly which is kind of annoying. Its abit unfair though they are the only class that is only wanted for a few skills. So you will find yourself if oyu have those skills in high demand but always being told what to do or being kicked from a party which is fair enough I guess. According to one of my pro friends mesmeers are the msot undervalued class but are one of the best as one can take down 2 lvl28 monks no problem. Most people dont realize that though as you dotn see them doign much. You see warriors attackign overwhelming odds, you see elementalists summoning meteors from the sky, healers are everyones best friend, you see necromancers controlling ravernous hordes and meanwhile the mesmer doesnt look like its doing much but really its taking out all their casters espicially healers at record speeds. Untill my friend explained this to me I though they sucked to and after he said this I realized every good team I had been in had atleast one mesmer. Now I always try to get a mesmer in my team.

Arkantos

Arkantos

The Greatest

Join Date: Feb 2006

W/

W/Mo. No, I'm not lying.

Age

Age

Hall Hero

Join Date: Jul 2005

California Canada/BC

STG Administrator

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vorianatriedes
Its up to you really necromancers can be one of the hardest to learn and are fairly weak untill you get some of the stronger spells later on and get used to them. I find necormancers have the a very long lerning curve but once oyu get it they are a diversatile class and can have some good combos. Like I remember in the presearing when I was level10 me and 3 other necromancers took out 30 char in one go(we werent to use a catapault to take them out but we didnt know that). I took out 10 myself using mark of pain + ignite arrows while they ran after someone else. It took me 50 hours to get sued to them though and at first I kept on dieing. If you have the patience to master them I recomend them as they probably are the most self sufficent casters having a good mix of healing damaging and energy gaining skills such as Spiteful spirit and demonic flesh. Necromancers can even tank, if you use a combo like aura of the lich then blood renewal and then demonic flesh and then use vampiric swarm. Minion Masters are always good and popular along with batterys and SS and SV necromancers. Really though its up to you. Whether you like close combate being a support class, nailing people from a distance while your ravernous pet tears them to shreds or you like having loads of high damage spells that can kill people in a short amount of time. If any of these appeal to you then chose a class with one of these characteristics or if you dont know which can do what then let us know what you like your role to be in a party and we can advise on which class is best for you. From what I have heard things are easier as a warrior at first atleast and warriors can be very popular or unpopular depending on whether they prevent anyone else in the party from much taking damage or aggro every enemy on the minmap and cause your party to get overwhelmed. Warriors are absolute tanks from what ive seen and can take a ton of damage. Learning the role of Necromancer is not that hard compared to Monk,Mesmer or Ritualist.Eles are that hard but it does good timeing as for necro it is pretty straight foward.

Paperfly

Paperfly

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2006

Quote:
Learning the role of Necromancer is not that hard compared to Monk,Mesmer or Ritualist.Eles are that hard but it does good timeing as for necro it is pretty straight foward. Also, Elementalists are pretty underpowered throughout PvE when you first start out. Remember that the skills that bring them up to par are quite late in the game - Meteor Shower takes ages to get to (assuming you even have Prophecies), and most of the other headliner skills are elites.

...So nine times out of ten you'll end up as a Flare spammer for the first 30 hours or so of play, not exactly an exciting experience.

Samuel Dravis

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Mo/Me

I thought ele was pretty nice. I mean, you aren't going out in front to be whacked on, and you have very little to worry about. You don't care about your teammates becuase there's nothing you can do for them anyway. ^_^ Definitely a lower level of stress than monking. As soon as you get Searing Flames, however, is when you can start doing some rather nice damage...I still haven't gotten over it. :P

bungusmaximus

bungusmaximus

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2006

Guild Of Handicrafted Products [MaSS]

W/Mo

Another thing about monking when you're a beginner is knowing what hexes/conditions can really hurt your team and therefore must be removed at once. I started as a warrior and sometimes stuff happened to me that I didn't even grasp (how should I know what empathy is when I just bought the game a week ago, it still killed me though). Warrior is quite a nice class to learn what monsters can throw at you. After my warrior I started monking and it was a lot easier to keep my team alive. When someone pinged 'I have blind on me!' I actually knew what to do.

Coloneh

Coloneh

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2006

D/W

actually i think it might be important to ask if you have played RPGs/MTG/D&D before. its really about learning strategy combinations. if you havent done something like this before, go warrior or ele until you learn strategy. if you are comfortable with rpg strategy/synergy play anything that sounds interesting.