which class ?

hello i am about to purchase this game and have a few qiestions.
1. is there many groups in this game or does everybody solo pve quests ?

2. which class is the best for having pets the ritualist or the hunter ? for pve and pvp later

3. any good guilds out there looking to take a newb coming from wow ?

thanks in advance

1.Everything in this game is done with a group, whether with real people or AI henchman (in pve). Unless your solo farming in PvE for money..

2.rangers are the only ones who can have pets, you can go secondary ranger though and get a pet.

I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can without trying to confuse you..

1. It depends on which Chapter your getting. There are 3 chapters and the were released in this order.. Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall. Then the only "expansion" is Eye of the North that just came out. (It requires that you own one of the other 3) Nightfall and Prophecies still seem to good sized players in the different towns and outposts.. so its not too hard to get a group. Parts of Factions are just a ghost town, so there is pretty tough. BUT you can pretty much do any mission solo with Heros & Henchman.

2. It depends on what you consider a "pet". The Ranger class allows you to tame an "animal" in the wild and as you level, your pet levels. There's a whole attribute line of skills specifically for your pet. So you pick your pet skills, and controll the pet that way.

A Necromancer can raise minions, but these are mindless creatures that you have little no control over. They just follow you and attack whatever comes in your agro bubble.

A Ritualist can raise spirits, which are like stable turrets that fire upon your enemy. Again, you don't have much control on who the spirits fire at, they have their own AI and pick their own targets.

3. There is a constant stream of guilds looking for members "good and bad" unfortunately you won't know until you join one. Check the forums for guilds looking for members.

PS: The chapter you purchase dictates what classes you can select as a primary. Prophecy's give you the 6 core (Warrior, Necromancer, Ranger, Elementalist, Monk, Mesmer).. Factions gives you the 6 core PLUS Assasin & Ritualist.. Nightfall gives 6 core and Dervish & Paragon.

also i was wondering how the ritualist does in pvp and pve that class seems pretty neat to me ?

I think its safe to say all classes are well balanced in pvp. Only when you get into the very uppercrust of gvg do you stop seeing certain classes appear, even then no class become useless, just less used.

The ritualist is a sort of "jack of all trades" class - they have offense, defense, and other assorted support abilities, but they don't focus in on any one area to the same degree as most of the other professions.

A ritualist can be a very powerful character, but it usually involves setting up your "environment" to do so. For instance, many ritualist skills take health from a nearby spirit to give added effects, or buff those spirits' abilities. Others work independent of any nearby spirits, while yet others focus on things liek enchanting weapons w/ special weapon-spells.

Basically, from what I've gathered, you seem to be interested in factions, since that's where ritualists come from. If I may be so bold, though, that may not be a good first-entry to Guild wars. Factions is a faster pace, and less instructional campaign than Prophecies or Nightfall. The campaign is also quite short, so you may find it lacking.

I would suggest starting w/ Prophecies for a more gradual progression and longer campaign, or Nightfall for heroes and some more professions.

Nightfall also adds Heros which are AI companions that you can choose the skills and weapons for so they have an advantage over the henchmen.

so maybe i should make a hunter to start off then see how it goes ?

Please.. this isn't WoW - you can make a *ranger* and see how it goes

Otherwise, happy hunting! (har har har)

Rangers are a strong class, good armor (especially against elements), do good damage, spread conditions (poison, burning), interrupt target actions, and do it all at range.