Profession Help

Hey. I've been having some issues deciding between a couple of professions. The 3 I am interested in are Mesmer, Paragon, and Ritulast, i probably spelled that wrong. Im basically looking for something that isn't too hard to use and you can learn with pretty easily. I've wanted to make a Mesmer but I heard you have to know a lot about countering spells and stuff. Is that something i would pick up on easily? Also, paragons seem interesting but ive heard bad things about them. Ritulasts seem like a bunch of fun but they also seem like a lot of work. So can someone help me out here?

I'm guessing you're new and have the Trilogy? That means you have 8 character slots -- you can try one of each.

Yes, successfully playing a mesmer does require some knowledge of the game -- what casts versus what attacks, etc. -- but that doesn't mean you can't just use an offensive build while you're learning. The best way to learn about the skills you'll end up countering/punishing, though, is by using them. So trying the different professions and learning how they work is beneficial to the mesmer.

Paragons are in need of a buff right now, and you might get a little bored/frustrated playing one as your main. Or you could find them thoroughly enjoyable as-is. Try it!

Ritualists are very powerful right now (some say too powerful) -- they're definitely popular because they're so versatile. They can heal, they can "spirit-spam," they can do some pretty potent AoE, and they can solo/farm a lot of stuff. ...Not all at once, mind you, but these are the various options you have. And they're actually quite user-friendly.

There is no "wrong" profession. All are capable of completing the games and getting titles and goodies. While there are some niches where specific classes fill certain roles better than others, overall it's just a matter of personal preference. Give them all a whirl -- you might even be surprised to find you like something other than these three!

I agree on what Star Jewel said. All professions are very capable of playing the game. It is best to find a playingstyle that suits you best. I play all three of the classes you named and I enjoy all three of them.

Mesmers can be very powerfull to play with, but requires some good knowledge bout your enemy's. Paragon is my favorite of these three, but also the strangest. Ritualist is really versatile, giving you lots of different kind of gameplay to use.

Best way is to try them all three and see what you like the best

ditto on pretty much all points that have been said

i never played a mesmer, so i have nothing to add on them
paragon-- don't expect to be the main damage dealer, but if you can have at least 1 henchman or hero paragon with you, they actually kinda rock
ritualist-- still trying one out, as much as i hate spellcasters tho, i probably wont go past level 10 with this... but they do seem quite versatile

I think Ritualist would be the best choice in your case. Spirit spamming is easy and effective and they're also a great class for farming.

After you've gone through the game a little and know a bit about every area and what monsters it has, the mesmer becomes more powerful in terms of damage and crowd control, and thus a valuable asset to every team. Keep in mind, though, the mesmer isn't very good at solo-farming.

As for paragons... Personally, I found them rather boring, but that's just me. They are very powerful when it comes to team support, providing party wide damage buffs or protection. But I never felt like it had a vital role in a party.

I agree with the above ^. Ritualist would be the best choice. You can do a Spirit Spammer, or a straight DPS type build, or even be a heal/prot with a Restoration build.

Mesmers take a bit more thought and experience to be really effective, but like any class, you can get by with the basics in most places without being too specific.

Paragons - from the look of the way GW2 works, the Paragon is a good class to learn as far as leading into GW2 is concerned. They seem mostly to be used as either a combo of damage+buffs, or as pure buff (Imbagon).

As others have said, there's no wrong profession. Those three are all nice.

Never played paragon too much. I know it is not bad, but would need some buffing.

Mesmer needs, as others said, a bit more experience/knowledge than others to become effective, but after that, it'll be great.

Ritualist... yeah, my most played profession. (don't have one anymore...)
Ritualist can do almost anything: it can do huge loads of damage. It can do spirit spam. It can do healing. It can become effective minion master (Rt/N). It can farm almost anything. Ritualist might be what you're looking for.

Rit. Spirit spam is boring but at least you can run something different like a hybrid Channeling/Restor, Soul twist protection rit (shelter+union+displacement+armor of unfeeling), etc. It's newbie friendly enough but good spirit positioning is important.

Paragon is pretty boring IMO. All you do is chuck spears and spam "save Yourselves", "there's nothing to fear", and "fallback"/"go for the eyes"/"stand your ground". Motivation is even worse. The extent of targeted stuff is "Make haste", Signet of synergy, "It's only a flesh wound", "brace yourself", "lead the way", burning refrain, enduring harmony, Finale of Restoration,Inspirational Speech, mending refrain. Most of these aren't time sensitive (i.e. maintaining refrains) so it's really just mashing keys and spear chucking.

Mesmer is a second or third character choice. You don't want to play an "advanced" class when you start off because you will cast stuff and do nothing (i.e. Power spike on power attack or something like that). You need to be able to recognize which things are worth interrupting/shutting down and which are melee/casters.

Hi as someone with one of each profession I can actually say that my paragon is my favorite. Admittedly the imbagon build I usually run with isn't the most challenging but it is effective.
Also, imbagons never seem to have trouble getting into PuGs in the elite areas and you seldom have to put up with the "You haven't got .... skill?" ---> Kick that goes with that.

Hope that helps.

I'm a noob, having played for about six months, and PvE only, but of my 8 characters, 2 are ritualists, 2 are mesmers, and my most recent character is a paragon. One of the surprises about the paragon is that she can wear 80 armor, like a warrior, even though she's not really front-line. (Most of the time I have her wearing Shining Blade costume over it, though, because like the elementalist females, her armor is impractical in appearance.)

The mesmers are among my favorite characters, even though they're relatively fragile -- maybe I like them for that reason, that they're challenging to keep alive. I like my ritualist characters too, though. I guess I would suggest that as Star Jewel said: try various professions, since you probably have 8 slots.

Paragon: IMO don't pick, its not versatile enough u will get bored playing one. (sorry for the imbagon hate)

Mesmer: Better choice, has many different options, and u DONT need to know more stuff while playing a mesmer with most of the builds. Its just clicking the skills mindless. When it comes to rupting... U'll do that when u've spend some more time with ur lovely mesmer

Ritualist: Easiest and best in pve, spirit spam ftw nowadays... Not my personal favourite, since nowadays everyone makes one.. Not as many builds as for a mesmer, but they are versatile.

My choice would be Ritualist, since u are farely new at the game, and ritualist are easy and fun to play with.

I disagree. What mesmer skill can you click mindlessly? Panic? You need to make sure things are in range to maximize effectiveness.

Clumsiness/Ineptitude/Wandering eye/signet of clumsiness/images of remorse? Need to cast it on something not casting at the moment. Arcane conundrum is maximized when used on casters, otherwise it's just energy management. Empathy/Calculated risk is similar as well as Mistrust.

Leech signet, power drain, psychic instability (PI), Tease, Migraine/Confusing Images (casters only pretty much), cry of frustration, power spike/power lock, drain enchant are rather conditional.

Mind Wrack/Fragility are more or less hex fodder for shatter delusions unless you build around them.

E-surge/chaos storm/cry of pain(if only for the damage of 50+100 from 5 degen)/overload/unnatural signet/spiritual pain/Visions of Regret (VoR is a reactive hex) maybe. Conjure Phantasm/Nightmare + energy burn aren't good enough to use. If enchanter's conundrum did damage unconditionally it would be in this boat.

It's not like Barrage, spirit spam, or Searing flames... where even hero AI can run it to maximum effectiveness.

Of the three you name, got one of each. Mesmer I use mostly for PvP when there is any. Especially HM PvE not so useful.

Paragon is hard to level up, once you get there the number of usable hard mode builds for solo with heroes and henchmen are very limited. But highly effective. Just feel like you are trapped in a box.

Ritualist rocks, versatile, and with spirit spam a decent farmer who can make you money!

Might also look at Ranger? With spirit spam can farm much the same as a Ritualist. Ranger is not popular with many because of low DPS. But a Ranger is my main for solo with heroes and hench; has been since this game was released nearly six years ago.

A live Ranger shooting arrows while his pet chews on the target has lots and lots more DPS than any other class at all that is dead! Simple as that.

Correct me if i misread this in some way but mesmers are far from useless in HM PvE.

Yeah ur right, sorry I assumed people do have brains.

If you're just learning the game, and can get into the winning Mesmer interrupt/lockout/denial/punishment mentality, and get good at it, you will be a terrible, destructive force on the battlefield. Enemies will fear and hate you. Teammates will respect and admire you. Women will find you irresistable.

I have a character for every class. Every one of them have done HM books for EotN using mostly H&H or 1-3 humans plus heroes. There is no class that is not useful in HM PvE - some are just more useful than others. Sometimes things may take longer using a particular class(es), but GW isn't a speed contest. There is no requirement to do things as fast as possible (barring some mission bonuses).

Which is to say - play whatever class(es) you enjoy.

Thanks for all the help guys, right now im trying out a mesmer but i might switch to a ritulast. I have been really enjoying the mesmer but i havent gotten to a high level yet, considering Ritulast alot becuase i am really in need of money

/agreed
apparently people that played rangers from the beginning understand this better than people that "tried" a ranger for just a few levels

Personally i prefer spellcasters, so my main characters r Elementalist, Mesmer and Necromancer.

My mesmer uses a pretty braindead easy pure damage build.
I leave Interrupting to my Mesmer hero.
I am even convinced my Mesmer does more damage then my Ele using a (gimmick) Searing Flames build.
Though it must me noted that a vital part of this mesmer build r the 2 Sunspear Rank skills

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I suppose Ranger as a player character may be better, but i never liked Ranger heroes and Henchman.

Confusing it can get, how we all recommend other classes, the ones we prefer and like better.
Wich pretty much sais its mostly personal taste what u should play.

Only thing i would recommend is dividing them in 3 different groups (melee, spellcasting or support) and decide wich of those 3 yer character should be like.

(Support being Healing Monk, Protection Monk, Healing Rit, Healing Necro/Rit, Paragon and Protection Ele)

Actually, most classes can easily outdamage a ranger in HM, not to mention other classes being more versatile and bringing more to the party's table.
That's because Searing Flames is a bad build. Especially for HM, where eles suck at the moment.


@down:
For SF to be really effective, even in NM, you need at least 2-3 SF eles in your party. Instead of wasting slots for more fire damagers, you can run Savannah Heat and abuse NM AI mechanics, while keeping slots for something more useful for the current area/mission you are in.

For NM, its managable (Searing Flames build), with a few other usefull skills.
The main reason why my mesmer build would be better: more armor ignoring damage.

As said on this forum, HM Ele need some fixing.