Choosing a Prof + Build-- Favorites + Personal Preferences :D

I recently took a 9-month break from MMOs and the like to for the sake of school, and I had heard mixed things about Guild Wars (undoubtedly because the MMO I came from was Lineage II, a game often full of psuedo-rationalizing clanmates + friends who despise other games, particularly WoW) but after a friend got it, and after I found out that there is no monthly fee, I had to try it. So a few days ago I looked at the professions tab and found oodles of different professions and builds to choose from.

Having found no particular tier list of overpoweredness/nerfness/popularity/unpopularity profession and build-types as most MMOs tend to establish (I almost always prefer to choose unpopular and/or underestimated classes), I have only one question--

What is your current favorite build, and why? It doesn't have to be the "best" build (although I'm sure a "best" build does not exist, if it did, I certainly wouldn't choose it anyway), it only needs to be your preferred one. One that you personally find fun.

So far I've gone onto a variety of forums + Guild Wars-Wiki and all that rot, and I've certianly become aware that some combinations of professions have advantages over others.

As for what I prefer, I've found that I enjoy complex classes over simple ones. In Lineage II I played an Elemental Summoner, a versatile and uncommon class that's difficult to play but ends up being way more fun than dull archers/tanks/nukers.

Any tips/suggestions are appreciated.

Box

Edit: Oh and PS, the reason I'm not finding out what I like right now is because Nightfall is still coming in the mail

I haven't played a melee character (except an assassin who I hate) to level 20.
I think my monk is my favorite character, and the build I use is (shockingly) not a farming one. I play a monk because it's wayyy easier to get a group for missions, and I quite like the armors and skills.

My "main" character has been, for a couple of years now, a Necromancer; the build I run is a hybrid Minion Master/Spiteful Spirit build. This.. is not the "best" choice by far ;D But it provides me a lot of fun. Two minion spells, a minion-heal, 2-3 curses that do area damage on action or being hit, and 1-2 utility skills and a rez. Been playing it that way for a long time and I do just fine.

Other character I have that's a lot of fun is my Paragon; and if you want to play maligned and unpopular professions, well, that's your choice right there. Not necessarily super-versatile, but it fits my playstyle very well.

Also keep in mind that while you can't change your primary profession, you get a free secondary profession (in Nightfall, at Level 5, which comes pretty quick), and can unlock and switch between any secondary professions later in the game. So, lotsa freedom to mess around with things.

Nice, thank you for the responses! Exactly what I was looking for.

Yes I knew the Paragon had to have some noticeable disadvantages, their entries in guildwiki are brief and there are fewer guides on how to play with one.

So far I'm interested in two things, if you could fill me in on a little more info about the two, i'd really appreciate it! ;D

Minion Master-- I've always liked summoning classes, and it seems that the minion master is just what I'm looking for. Massive spamming of mobs that die but are constantly being reborn. I'd be even more interested, only problem is that MMs are apparently VERY popular T.T (I might just get Factions later, because I'd like to try out the unique Ritualist/Necro that I've read about)

Dervish "Runners"-- I've also always liked fast characters, fast fast fast. Gets me from A to B in a jiffy, and hit-and-run always seems exciting (although they say Dervishes can hold their ground fairly well anyway)

Well, if you like summoning, you might want to try necro ritualist.. or even ritualist/necro.

There is 1 basic, major difference between which one you have primary.

Necro Primary = Soul reaping skill (get MP everytime something dies)

Rit primary = (name forgotten) skill that boost the HP of any creature you summon or create (ie, undead as well as summoned spirits).

Necro summons tend to be longer lived, and are mobile, but require a dead corpse nearby to exploit. ritualist spirits are shorter lived, and stuck in one place, and have long recast times. BUT they have some nice utility.

In GW parlance, a "runner" is someone who is, essentially, a taxi. Because of the way the game is set up, when one person in a party goes through a zone entrance, it moves the entire party there; so a runner has the rest of the party (usually lower-levelled folk who have paid him) sit right at the entrance to a zone, and he runs through all the enemies with skills that buff his armor/avoidance. One of the earliest, and most famous, runs is in the Prophecies campaign, and it involves a pass through a mountain range to a city where you can buy max-value armor. This allows lower-level characters a distinct advantage as they go through the rest of the missions. And once you've reached an outpost or city zone, you can instantly travel there at any time by bringing up the world map and clicking on it; no long transit routes or travel times, unless you're going to a new place.

Minion masters are pretty popular, but not so popular that you're often going to wind up with two in a group. There are a bunch of different types of minions, and different ways to use them. There's the "minion bomber" which makes minions and then hits them with Death Nova, kills the minion (or lets it die) and it unloads a bunch of area damage when it goes. There are "Orders"-type minion masters that try and have as many up at once, and use a particular line of skills to do a lot of damage every time one of the minions attacks. Those are probably the two most popular types, and the choice of minions you bring varies depending on what you're doing with them.

A dervish is basically a warrior with slightly lighter armor, more magic, and a weapon that can hit up to 3 enemies at once; they make lots of use out of starting and ending Enchantments.

Now, dervishes DO make good runners; but that's more of a sideline way to make some extra money as opposed to a job description.

The only melee class that's really hit-and-run is the Assassin, in Factions (although a lot of folk try and play them as some kind of tank and wind up faceplanting).

Thanks again for the comments! I enjoy the large variety of playstyles that exist for a given class honestly Amazon is too slow! T.T

I actually do have a few more questions, although not personal (apologies I would do this in another topic but that's kind of a waste)--

Can you transfer a PvE character level 20 --> PvP? And if you can, do they have any notable advantages (like equipment or abilities) against PvP characters that started at level 20? Or are they essentially unrelated?

Also, when a PvE character reaches 20, what do they have going for them (I don't know if level 20 takes a while to get, but w/e)? Are there large-scale events/raids/etc?

Box :-)

I'd say the most versatile and shockingly bias tho I am profession is the Ranger - From Long Range you really get to appreciate Guild Wars, you get More cross class skill combos than ever and on top of that you get a permanent pet ally (My White Tiger Tiddles says Hi BTW :P)

a level 20 PvE caracter has a slight disadvantage in PvP. PvP characters have access to every skill unlocked on the account and can change armor quickly(and freely) between matches. taking PvE characters to PvP is generally a bad idea.

and there are a few wnd game areas that lvl 20s can go through. look them up on wiki:Underworld, FoW, Tombs, Sorrow's Furnace, The Deep, Urgoz, DoA

and i really cant pick a favourite character/build. i have a few.

My SS necro is just excellent. nothing like a huge mob committing suicide.
My assassin. I just cant get tired of a mobius + Death blossom spam combined with mystic regeneration.
and my Dervish. I play so many different builds on this character, my template folder is getting confusing.

Coloneh: only one of the areas you listed is actually an end game area (DoA), none of the others require that you actually finish a game to get to them.

Thanks again for all the comments everyone :-)

guild wars dosnt have "end-game" areas. we have level 20 areas. sure you could attempt UW and stuf with a level 7, but you probably wouldnt get very far.

I absolutly love mesmers, they are one of the most uncommon chars in pve (and yet they are a core prof). They have such variety in builds.

You have to Ascend before you can enter to Realm of the Gods (= Fissure of Woe, realm of Balthazar and The Underworld, realm of Grenth). Ascending with 7lvl char is pretty impossible, but I think there is still little change to it... (Doppeldanger is still 20lvl? Haaaaard)

EDIT: I looked this article http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Experie...nce_and_levels
When you are lvl 7, your total XP is 21,000. Still, you have get 1000xp from Sanctum Cay, 3*1000xp from Desert missions, then you have 4000xp (I'm too lazy to count other missions etc.). Then you are lvl 3. (I think you get that 600xp some other ways ). But, when defeating Doppelganger, you get 50,000xp. So, then you are AT LEAST 11lvl, so, strictly, it's impossible to get UW at lvl 7.

Yes, I know, I'm bored.

If you want a complex class, I think that Necromancer should provide you with enough of one. If you made an Elemental Summoner in GW, the closest would be N/E, but a lot of people would probably think that you're crazy, though such a build does exist. I'd suggest Minion Bombing instead. It's pretty much Animate Bone Minions + Death Nova. When the minions die, Death Nova is triggered, which deals damage to and poisons adjacent foes.

Another class that can be pretty complex is the Assassin. There are numerous ways that you can combine and skills. It's required that you know how to do that for it to be efficient too. However, Assassins aren't that widely accepted in PvE, so it might not be a good first choice. I guess that's not really applicable, since you're getting NightFall :P

I've been thinking about it for a while, and I really can't pick a favorite. Of the professions that I enjoy playing the most, though, Warrior, Ranger, Necromancer, and Elementalist are up there. Starting off with a Warrior (more armor) or Elementalist (sheer power) is probably the easiest. I haven't gotten into the rest of my characters as much, and I lack a Dervish character, but I've heard that a lot of people like that profession too, which can also be pretty complex.