New, looking for profession overview

Hello all! I looked into guild wars ages ago(did the trial before the release of the first game), and am JUST getting around to actually buying into the game, and I'm excited! I've got the first set(dubbed prophecies now, right?) on order, and should be here in a week or so. So, here is my question. I have no idea where to start. I'd hate to waste my time with a less than optimal proffession combination. So, my question is, is there a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of each proffession? Maybe a summary of good proffession combinations and ability combinations? Anything to get me headed in the right direction would be fantastic. Thanks for any help!

warrior: good damage per second - best armor of the phrop professions - specs into sword / axe / hammer...as well are just strenght skills

ranger: most versatile profession EVA - use a bow...but great 75% chance to block skills - can use a pet ally...great inflicting conditions

ele: elemental damage = massive damage (until you reach HM - not important now though) - quite versatile

mesmer: great for hexing / degen enemy health / energy stealing

necro: minion summoner / hexing / degening / gain energy when stuff dies

monk: heal your team / protect your time / smite enemy foes to hell!

< rough on each prof

good combos

w/mo - people say its crap but for a newb [mending] can be a nice way to keep yourself alive...ignore people who say you suck for using it
w/e - for [shock] as an additional knockdown

r/n - toucher (people call it lame - including me) but its newb friendly

me/n - mesmer have fast casting (cast your spells faster) me/n to use hexes from both profs with fast cast speeds.
me/e - fast cast on ele spells

n/mo - minion master with area heals for your minions
n/me - see me/n

mo/e - [glyph of lesser energy] - self explanatory really
mo/me - [channeling] - as above

e/mo - reusable rez from monk line
e/me - [channeling] again

remember once you choose your primary profession - and once you've played through half the game you can change your second profession - so you aen't stuck with it if you are unhappy

all professions have their highs and lows - so no class is BETTER than any other - its down to how you play them
for example warriors have great damage but are weak against elemental damage


as you are a newb my advice is play ranger or necro or war or ele...they are the most newb friendly / versatile - and ele is just spam keys and nuke crap
monk - you need some exp of game mechanics etc. and it aen't fun to be raged at if your a newb and mess up when playing with others as monk
mes - best to steer clear of for the time being - amazing profession but not a newb friendly one IMO


LOOOOOOng post but I hope it helps

Imho, if you're just starting out, then you should just play what you think looks cool or what your think you'll have most fun playing.Then once you've got the hang of things, start to delve into different proffessions and have a play about.
Also, each proffession has it's upside & downside. There's no 'best' proffession, although some will argue. Everything has it's use for somethin in the game.

Edit: @Above, sorry but I really disagree with the wammo bit, there's much much better skills for warriors to use for self heal such as [Healing Signet] and [Lions Comfort]. Mending is just bad. 3Pips of regen for <=1 energy is just bad.

Look into cancelling your order and getting Trilogy. That is Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall in one. Probably going to cost you the same as just prophecies has...

Additionally, if you get trilogy from Amazon, you will get free shipping and Eye of the North (Giving you the full set) for $50. A good deal if you ask me.

That being said:

There are no "Bad" combinations. Secondary classes are mostly just that. Secondary. You will use your main class skills most of the time. (Some exceptions of course).

If you PvE you will get the learning curve. You gain skills at certain points of the game and you will be able to see what works and what does not. Additionally, NOTHING is set in stone other than your primary profession (And you can just start another character to have a different primary).

Your skills are interchangeable, your secondary class as well. Even your distribution of skill points is up to you.

If you want to know more, your best bet would be to peruse the wiki's. All the information at your fingertips.

Awesome guys, thanks for the direction! Now that I know what each proffesion is about, I can now pick something I like, ha ha. Anyway, anyone have a link to a particular wiki? Thanks again for the help!

www.guildwiki.org

or google: guildwiki.org



can't remember the exact website as I have it favourited

that is pretty much EVERYTHING you'll need to know par price checks on items

also play in Phropecies 1st it has the smallest / most newb friendly learning curve

http://wiki.guildwars.com --official wiki
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page --Un-official wiki [Most prefer it]
www.pvxwiki.com --Wiki for builds.

You don't mention what styles of play you've enjoyed in the past with other games. I started out with a ranger because I liked the rouge from Diablo 1 and amazon from Diablo 2. The ranger is very versatile and can do a bit of everything. If you like simple blowing stuff up the elementalist would be a good choice, warrior for hack'n'slash. The monk is good if you enjoy playing a support role in a team, but it might be best to save that for when you know more about the game. I wouldn't recommend a mesmer for a starting character (I'm not saying >don't<, it's just it can be a bit more complicated than other classes). Necro is another fairly versatile class as you can be a caster or raise a minion army (though they die over time unlike in some other games).

There are some great summary articles on the guild wars wiki:

Also you >probably< don't have to wait a week? If you download a trial you >should< be able to play with that for now, then just enter your CD key into your trial account once it arrives and you're good to go. I'm not 100% certain that is correct tho, maybe someone can confirm?

Oh yeah, good question, ha ha. I was thinking I wanted to do a more "caster" kind of charecter. A little less on the hands on side. So, I'm thinking I'll probably try out the Necromancer. We'll see how that goes, ha ha. Worst case I can delete and restart.


But yeah, I'm going to download the trial tonight and start playing! How long is the trial for?

i would definitely suggest getting a trilogy pack. more campaigns for more gameplay and ur not limited when it comes to skills. being limited in the skills u can use makes things difficult.

You can have more than one character on an account. Make a few characters, play around with them, and see which ones you like to play.

Remember, you can create as many different PvP characters. (AKA rerolling) just keep 1 SLOT for a PvP character

Can't go wrong with this. You get skills, armor, heroes and a storyline (another game?)

Necro's has the easiest job for starting the game. People call it MM (means Minion Master). You can go more than 2/3's of the game with no problem. However, minions will lose their usage and will die easier. To a point that they even make poor meat shields. But, once you get to that point there will more skills to grab.

I would suggest playing the professions in this order.

1) Necro (It's easy, great to start out with)
2) Elementalist (Also easy, but changing fighting style may become a must)
3) Warrior (Learn to tank asap)
4) Ranger (Same deal as ele, just got to learn to interrupt)
5) Monk (Get the backline basis down.)
6) Ritualist (Not favored as a pure healer/pure damage hybrid learning FTW)
7) Dervish (Not a pure tank nor a midline, harder to learn)
8) Paragon (PvE will only favor the imbagon, sad but true)
9) Mesmer (Less build love than the paragon)
10) Assassin (Get your combo's down right, then come play this)

If you have any trouble, PM me, Zodiac Ele (not always on that character) and I'll see if I could help.

For a starter I would suggest going monk or ranger or warrior. Easy to handle and can be of use mostly everywhere. Others ok too ofc Just try every proffesion for a day or 2, and pick which one you like most.
About your combinations, second prof monk is best to help you keep alive, but this will become useless very soon. Elementist is good pick because of glyph of lesser energy, reducing the energy cost of skills. Ranger is fun for a pet, but far from usefull. In the start of the game it doesn't matter too much if what you run is good, as you most likely will die alot anyways, just the way of learning the game I would start with something fun, and by the time you need very good builds for hard mode or elite area's you will be able to change your secondary profession alrdy, so don't worry about that!

GL & HF in the world of Guild Wars

Oh btw, disagree with Meteor.. Mesmers ftw! <3 Wouldn't pick it as your first proffesion though. I would put it above rit and derv and para though. But thats just a matter of taste I guess.

Ok all, thanks for the help! I started my free trial, and things went pretty well. But, how, exactly, do you get new spells and abilities? I started with a necromancer, and got a new ability when I finished a quest, but that was it. I didn't even get a minion spell of any kind... so, do I just need to wait and keep playing? Will more abilities pop up?

Check out the 3 wikis, they have a ton of info, but otherwise keep going through the quests/ missions and "collecting" the skills you get as a reward from the quest and just try out different things but make sure to look through what works and the appropriate section for your profession on this board for build's and some really good how-to's and introductions. You can also buy skills you've unlocked or once you've gotten to certain outpost's in the game for cash and a skill point.

Awesome, that's what I thought. I got frustrated yesterday, and started a Ranger charecter, and I'll probably stick with her, but atleast now I know how to get abilities, ha ha.