High Damage Classes

I bought Nightfall a while ago, probably around the time it first came out, and stopped playing it a while late. I've just decided to get back into it, and had a few questions. I'd like to know what kind of class/build I should take if I want to have high damage. (health points aren't a priority). I'd also like a short class description. Simple as fine, ex. Warrior: High Damage, High health, slow attack.

Edit: I'm also attracted to both the persona of dervishes, and the role they seem to play.

if you have factions, assassin [moebius strike]+[death blossom]

one of the best dps warrior [dragon slash] is also factions, unfortunately

if you want to go derv, [wounding strike] is a good choice.


edit: this is for pve, right?


sin: best ias (increased attack speed) in the game; lots of armour-ignoring aoe dmg
war: decent ias; has good variety between sword/hammer/axe builds; unless its axe, its mostly single-target dps only; generally relies on [dark fury] necro for best efficiency
derv: worst ias of the 3; inherently does aoe dmg; one of the fastest deep wound's in the game; imo the lesser class of the 3 melee options

For a warrior I would agree going with [dragon slash] or [warrior's Endurance] with a scythe. Warrior's Endurance lets you spam fast recharging attack skills as a Warrior without having to worry about your energy

[flail][warrior's endurance][power attack][eremite's attack][victorious sweep][empty][empty][empty]

This way you get the both of both worlds. Even a dervish cant spam attack skills as fast or as often

I'd say Warrior or either Necro or Mesmer as a second. Warrior has [hundred blades] and [whirlwind attack] when combined with skills like [barbs] and [mark of pain] dish out insane damage. They have a very nice set of attack speed boosts and adrenaline gaining askills as well.

Mesmer and Necro provide their damage through armor ignoring hexes mostly. THings like [spiteful spirit], [spoil victor], [visions of regret], and other non elite skills like [empathy], [backfire], [insidious parasite] all do very nicely.

Then you can toss in some more PvE skills, but it is more about how you like to play. Each class has some nice options for damage, but not all classes are fun for all people to play. Pick something you enjoy playing, then look into how that class can dish out the most damage.

dervishes can deal insine high damage, only they attack slow.
with [asuran scan], an PvE skill from EOTN you can reach 200 ~ 300 in a swing max.

Have you looked at zealous vow?

also, WE scythe with bull's strike hitting three people at once is just about the coolest thing in guild wars.

Just want to point out that you don't have to rely on any orders to be efficient. Sure the extra adrenaline from [[dark fury] is a bonus but warriors can handle themselves on that page, and having an orders hero spamming won't usually cut it especially in HM to my experience. The constant self damage he's inflicting tends to be a liability for the whole party, and it's only justifiable to use if you're running a heavy physical team. If you just want an adrenaline boost, you can take the classic [for great justice] + [enduring harmony]. As for the single target dps, that's usually applied to swords, but every weapon has a few aoe options. Axe's and especially hammers imo are better aoe damage dealers.

As for the op's original question, general speaking I'd say any class properly played can dish out huge damage. But it's common agreament that melee classes tend to have the highest DPS, followed closely by the necro.

To that, I'd say warrior is the best. Assassins are okay but are outshined by warriors in versatility and adaptness. Dervishes are also okay, but the simple fact that an [warrior's endurance] scythe warrior can pull bigger numbers at their own game makes them kinda useless. Perma-avatars are fun though, but that alone doesn't justify choosing it over the warrior and both derv and assassin are still somewhat squishy.

For necro's, damage isn't a problem but keep in mind it's a support class. Watching [mark of pain] and [barbs] obliterating a mob in a couple of seconds is a thing of beauty, but you'll be dependant on the rest of the party's attacks for that. I have one but I'd rather be inflicting the damage directly instead of relying on others wich might not always go the way I want to.

Could be I'm just a melee sort of person. And sorry I didn't use the short description you asked

ele's have the highest aoe dmg capabilites. ;-)

I'm aware of Zealous vow, good skill, I like it. I just mean that under the effect of Zealous Vow, you can still deplete your energy by spamming energy attacks before it ends and get the energy benefit from it.

Warrior's endurance can be kept up all the time and cant be stripped. Under Warrior's Endurance you can spam skills all you want and not run out.

All this to say that Warrior's Endurance's benefits are instant and the Dervish's are delayed by 20 seconds.

Just an urban myth ...

[Mark of Pain][Splinter Weapon] + [hundred blades] and/or scythe + [wounding strike]

... at least in pve that is.

In HA? Yeah, Ele's have a ball.

p.s.: Why Nuking Sucks