Semi-new player... looking for class advice

Hey everybody! Long time lurker, first time poster

I played GW a while ago, before any expansions. However, I have to confess that I've never made it past about level 10, not really for any particular reason.

With GW 2 coming out, new heroes/expansions and class tweaks since I last played, I'm excited about giving it another go. For real this time.

I love the caster classes, and definitely want to start in Prophecies for character aesthetic reasons. Mesmer was always my first pick, though Necromancers and Elementalists are looking appealing these days as well. I can't seem to find any good new player build threads, despite a lot of lurking... Most of the PvX builds have elites and skills I don't pick up until deep in the game, and my attempts to create new characters leave me frustrated with the 1-2 skills I get until magical places like "Lion's Arch" which, on the map, seems impossibly far away from the start location.

In your opinion, which character has the smoothest "ramp up" and are there any builds that are particularly friendly to a casual player? Ideally I'd charge through the game, see the story, and get a few of those Hall of Monument jobbers just in time for GW 2.

I am a returning player, haven't played since 5 months after Prophecies released. I had 2 accounts back then, and about 2 years after I quit I ended up giving away one of my accounts to a friend, well it ended up being the account that I had my 2 level 20s on that completed all of Prophecies missions, forgot which account was what and I didnt check. My second account was basically one that my wife tinkered around with but not really got anywhere.

Anyways, I am starting over in Prophecies. I figure that by now it will be extremely hard to find groups to complete the missions. Is it possible to complete all the missions and possibly bonus objectives with just using henchmen? If so, can you guys give me an idea of what profession and perhaps build to play that will make it a possibility?

Guys, don't spam each other's threads. And go make necros. Gogogogo!

haha, I deleted my post and put it in here.

Thank you. Does it matter what my secondary profession is?

Lol. I heard that necros were good... looking at builds now! MM seems like it could be fun, though sometimes those "long ramp up time" classes are tough

Ritualist. I lurv it. I started out as a MM Necro, went through prophecies and factions, but once I found ritualist I was in love and never looked back.

Everything in the game is possible to complete with any profession and any secondary when you have a full contingency of heroes backing you up.

Noone can tell you which prof is good. It's your decision.
Use wiki!

But I'd advise you ritualist, monk or paragon.

Good luck and have fun

P.S. Start in Prophecies in not a good decision for people like you, go NightFall instead. You get there heroes and level up quickly and easily.

I'm a new player (had GW for less than a month so far). I decided to start in Prophecies and to take my time, following all of the side quests I could. My intent is to fully enjoy as much of the content (especially the quest content) as possible. I made an Elementalist, did all of the pre-Searing quests to test out all of the secondary professions, then went and created a Mesmer/Necro because those two professions seemed the coolest.

So far, my primary quest line is up to the third mission, and I have a couple of side quests I want to get done before I start the mission. I haven't found a compelling reason to invest any attribute points in the Necro attributes -- they're all going into my primary profession. (I suspect the reverse would also have been true if I had taken Necro as primary instead.)

By taking my time doing all of the side quests, I had gotten up to level 11 (or 12?) -- fairly over the level of the henchmen in the two missions I've done so far. I took a side trip to do the Commando mission for a few hours last night (completed it twice, failed more times than I wanted to count) and got to level 18. I'm having a blast.

I figure, if a noob like me can take one of the reportedly more challenging professions (Mes) and have little trouble in the missions with 3 henchmen tagging along, you more seasoned folks shouldn't have any trouble with any of the professions. So, I definitely echo the posters above in saying: pick a profession that looks fun, and enjoy the game.

I looked in to starting in Nightfall, and that might be a good choice... though I didn't really enjoy the story or characters. :-/ I wasn't too interested in paragon or dervish, though the skill ramp-up for other classes might be a lot better. And heroes never hurt.

Currently, my highest level char is a Mesmer (level 9!). I like the idea behind it, but I just find that, other than Empathy, I do little to no damage. Things die, and it's easy, but it takes a looong time to clear out a bunch of mobs. It feels fun when I can interrupt something, but when it's just 3-4 melee mobs, it takes forever for my henchies to clear them out. I'm guessing it gets better later on.

Ritualists seem really cool, and I hear good things... but I couldn't get into the asian-influenced theme. :-( Lame, because Ritualists are probably one of the best starting classes, but immersion is important for me.

Personally I have always thought that Necros were among the best starting classes, if your into casters that is. They are very versatile and can do far more then just minions.

Ritualists are a very close second. They are nice to play because once again they do have multiple builds that can be used to change up how you play and keep things from getting too repetative.

Mesmers are a more focused class, pvp being their shining point, but they can do very good damage and the interupts can be a real life saver when it comes to keeping the dmg your party takes to a minimum.

As always I strongly suggest starting a few characters, one of each if you have the slots, and playing each to at least lvl 10 if not all the way to 20. This will give you a great feel for how the character functions and makes it easier for you to know what ones to pick when filling out your party. It will also help you unlock more skills for each profession which is a must for the use of heroes.

Yes, unfortunately most builds you find posted are not about beginner skills.

I wish there was a wiki page that listed skills for a profession in the order they become achievable as you progress through a campaign. Then people could make up builds suited for certain points in the game. Unfortunately, with 10 professions and 4 campaigns that means 40 very detailed pages, a daunting task.

The best advice I can give you for getting skills is to take the game slowly. Do the missions, but also explore the zones around the mission outposts. There's many places you never reach if you just do the missions. In those "hidden" places there's secondary quests and skills traders that have special skills you cannot get until much later in the game.

Oh, and after you get the ability to use Signet of Capture, you should start reading up on all the bosses in the zones you go into, because you never know what goodies they might hide (even if they're not elites).

As for making builds... that's a bit harder. You have to understand what makes your profession "tick" (and there's sticky threads on the profession sections of the forum that attempt to teach that). For each profession there's basically 2-3 core ways of using it. Each way has a governing principle and gives you a sort of template of how a build should look like. Once you get those you should be able to start looking at a list of skills and pick out yourself what makes sense.

Don't despair if some skill you drool after cannot be obtained from where you are. Usually the skills scale up as you go, if you don't have them usually means you can make do without them.

First of all, no single character is a one-man-army and no profession is expected to be all-powerful. It's about teamwork. A team can be more than just the sum of its parts. Conversely, take the seemingly most powerful profession with its best build and pit it alone against some mobs, and there will be a weakness they can exploit.

Secondly, the mesmer is a subtle profession. It is not an "in-your-face" fighter, it is a grey eminence, a power hidden in the shadows. It uses the attacks of its comrades to channel its power and uses the attacks and actions of the enemy and turns them against themselves. Empathy is a random example of this.

To the point: is melee your problem? Look into what melee is about and how you can subvert that. Melee is about physical damage and physical proximity to the target. Melee fighters need to be able to see and to move around quickly. They use either adrenaline or energy to fuel their attacks, and they often use skills that increase their hit speed. Oh, and they can't do much when they're knocked down. That's enough hints, go get them. :P

PS: One more thing. You may have noticed that GW is very much a strategy and tactics game. You have to read up on each zone or mission you enter and prepare your team and build accordingly. If you want to just brave it head-on, sure, you can find a mediocre build that mostly works most of the time, but expect the results to vary (a lot).

I don't think any particular class has the smoothest ramp up. I depends a lot upon your own playstyle.
Although I will say that unless you've played other MMOs or this not your first character, it may be best to not play a Monk or Mesmer.

Other than that, it is too early to seriously talk about builds. As you've noted, you only have a limited number of skills to start with, and it's usually just a matter of picking which skills seem to work well for you.
Normal mode GW is, of course, designed to mesh with this lack of skills and so the difficulty starts low and ramps up as you go.
GW is designed to be a group game, so fill you party with henchmen.
(Btw, from what you said, it almost sounds like you haven't visited any of the [skills] NPCs - which is where you would get the majority of skills.)

In the early stages of the game your secondary is not important. It's actually easiest, in the early stages (and still viable later) to basically ignore you secondary and use only skills and attributes from your primary. Monk is the most generic (Prophecies) secondary because it gives you access to better rez skills.

Yes.
Any class. Except maybe Monk (unless smiting) or Mesmer.
As I said above, when starting out, "build" is not a valid idea due to the lack of skills and the lack of money to buy the needed weapons, skills, armor, runes, insignias, etc..

I don't think I've even seen a skills vendor yet, so maybe that's part of why it feels so limited. I've got juuuust enough Domination skills available to mostly fill a bar, which is not enough to make a choice about anything. I'll have to hunt down one of these skill vendors... I've always been totally gung-ho about the mesmer profession, but haven't really had access to the skill setup to make it feel smooth. I always feel like I'm waiting on the enemy to do something or a skill to recharge.

From what I've been reading:

Elementalists are fun in normal mode, but weak in HM and therefor not a great choice.

Mesmers got a buff recently, and are good, but better suited for PvP or team play

Necromancers are good starting chars, strong in the PvE gain, and have flexibility to change builds to suit game changes.

Ritualists are also strong, but as a player I'm limited because I find the Factions starting zone lame.

Here's a link to some skill info. Look under "By Acquisition Method" for the list of skill trainers.
http://www.guildwiki.org/Index_of_skill_lists

Specifically:
http://www.guildwiki.org/Skill_train...8Prophecies%29

Note: If you're still in "Pre-Searing" (everything is green and pretty) there won't be any.

Necros have the smoothest ramp up. They are the same in NM and HM. Mesmers are meh in NM, there's not much that's worth shutting down.

eisberg and Kelthien

Players with other expansions have an easier time of it these days mainly because of the hero system and the faster character progression.
With Factions and Nightfall its common to be lvl 20 before leaving the start areas and once you get a couple of heroes to the same level the path is pretty smooth.

One option open to you with prophesies is to stay in presearing till lvl 20 then most of the trip to lions arch and beyond will be a breeze even without players.
Also gets you a title if your interested in those and intend to get the other expansions.

If you have the option begin in Nightfall and start gaining heroes and skills for builds.
I don't enjoy playing Melee classes as much as the casters.
Out of all characters I would say the Necro Mesmer and Ritualist get the most play.
The Necro is in the lead having completed all the games

Kelthien hi there!

Every class has merit, and the fun of it is going from noob island and building yourself up as you progress, so choose whatever you fancy really.

Should you need help with quests and suchlike, or want to get to LA without much fuss (not running, but fighting) give me a holler, I would be more than happy to help you a little, and provide advice.

IGN: Venganza Espirito

I could give you guys a run to the Magical Kingdom of Lions Arch. Free of charge.
IGN: Leonard Fireheart

A ritualist is quite a good starting class if you like caster class.
The dev is quite popular as well at the moment. I see more running dev than warriors.
Ranger is gonna be my all time fav no matter how lacking they are saying about it now. It is one class that can hold lots of different secondaries and one class that has a high survival rate.

I took a mesmer through Prophecies and even before the update she really tore through PvE. I did have a main to provide weapons and a tome and a lot of skills unlocked (and thus available at the trainers). Also look at your secondary.

Every starting class will have a disadvantage. But if you need skills you can unlock them through PvP or Zaishen challenges.

Play the character class you like. Necro's and Mesmers are strong and stay strong, ele's could use a buff but are fine, Rits are overpowered.

I've got a full up Mesmer, started in Prophecies long long go; all Mesmer skills in the game. Works in PvE, although hard mode requires using effects rather than direct damage which tends to not do much. These days I use Mesmer mostly in PvP, when I happen to do PvP that is.

Elementalist is also a good caster choice for just playing through the game. Going through Prophecies, Ele/Mo can help you keep hench monk Alesia alive which is important, she not being the sharpest tool in the shed.

That being said, my primary is a Ranger with Warrior close second. Paragons are good, but not until fully leveled and with the right skills; including Save Yourselves which is a Factions skill that really needs 5 or more in Kurzick or Luxon faction track and is thus a pain.

Assassin, versatile fun character. Once fully leveled and with a variety of faction and PvE only skills can be run in caster mode as well.

TBH, only two classes I don't have are necro and ritualist.

Do not believe everything you read.

Ritualist is the best if you want to play with heroes and/or henchmen and for farming. When looking to play with other people the problem is there are a lot of them and you need several builds cause you can't bring double spirits.

Monk is the best if you want to play with other people. Every group needs a good healer and there is a shortage of them. But keep in mind that most of the game you are looking at a few red bars instead of the game itself.

Mesmer is a very nice caster class. You are welcome in most groups. You can play a lot of different styles. Deals some nice damage if you want but you can also concentrate on having a supporting role by shutting down the enemy's groups.

Ele and Necro are bout the same when it comes to possibility's. Average scores for finding pick up groups and for going out with hero's and henchmen. both can do loads of damage. The difference in atmosphere is like day and night. Necro's are more versatile in playstyle due to the minion master way. But Ele's are better at solo farming. In my opinion it comes all down to taste though when choosing between those two.

Paragons and Rangers are considered a bit of odd classes and doesn't count as real casters. Paragon's are more limited on builds due to the nature of the class and due to the fact it only can get skills in Nightfall and EOTN. But it has much more armor. Rangers have a good self support and you can pick from a lot more skills. But there are not a lot really powerfull builds around.

All classes are very capable of finishing all campaigns in normal mode in almost every order (though ritualists and paragon's are limited on skills in some campaigns, so you might wanna play the "home" campaigns first to unlock the best skills before leaving to e.g. prophecy's). All classes are very capable on finishing in hard mode as well. But keep in mind that in hard mode you need some skills of your own.

Dunno about Nightfall but in Factions you shouldn't be 20 before you leave Shing Jea. If you do all the quests (including those for all secondary professions) you get something like 17-18. If you just follow the main storyline it's 13-14.

I guess you can get 20 on Shing Jea Island if you farm Haijuu Lagoon but I don't really see what the point is, since in Kaineng Center you get like a dozen quests right off the bat, each paying 3k of XP.

For me, breeze = incredibly boring. I just don't see the fun if there's no challenge involved.

I don't think enough people nowadays appreciate the thought that's been put into Prophecies. Every single step, every quest, every zone, is meant to teach you something.

If you stick to Pre until you're 20 and then skip most of the trip to Lion's Arch then you'll be massively underprepared for the rest of the game. You can still "beat" the game thanks to gimmicks like heroes but what you're actually doing is cheating yourself out of all the fun, IMHO. And I should know what I'm talking about, having played through lots of games in "god mode" and regretting it later.

Bottom line, just take these pieces of advice that advocate "making things easier" with a grain of salt. Give the game designers some credit, they didn't make a game that's impossible to play.

QFT

Prophecies has the best learning curve of all campaigns. And it was much more fun to play.

Wow!!! I totally went to bed and came back this morning with a bunch of responses. For a game this old, I have to give major thanks to the community for being so active!

It seems like skill unlocking is my main gripe... maybe I'll take the time to see where some skill trainers are and if I can pick any up that might alleviate the boredom of spamming my wand and Empathy on my Mesmer. At first glance, much of the skills in the common PvX mesmer builds aren't in Prophecies (at least not early on), and basing a character around skills I won't see for a looong time is just asking for trouble... like when I tried to make an air elementalist.

Necro might be a better bet, since I think most of all the skills I need for an effective build are within the first couple hours of the game.

Re: Elementalists - I haven't heard much to the contrary, but pretty much everything I've read (or heard from actual living people) is that their damage is reduced in hard mode pretty significantly, where Mesmer, Rit, and Necro skills are much less affected.

Depends a lot upon what sort of Ele you are, and what you take to be meant by "pretty significantly". Some people will say that a skill that does 2 less damage than another is "significantly" less, but is it really?

That's totally true, and I don't really have numbers for it. :-/ It seemed like it was enough to be "inconvenient". It's one of those lame things where you spend 50+ hours working towards some sort of end-game, only to find out that the toolset you have isn't and will never be equipped to handle that end game. :-/

Generally people just seem to say "It's slow enough and there are other professions that play similarly but don't have these issues, if you're not super passionate about being an elementalist, the grass is definitely greener on the other side"

I personally find Necromancer and Ritualist the best classes, but it comes down to personal preference, every class has its ups and downs.

If you want to know more about your professions, then check out the subforums in our Campfire section. Each subforum has a basics thread stickied at the top. These threads discuss the better skills, secondaries, and some give single campaign builds that will help you through to the end.

I must urge you to choose the path of the Warrior. Only then can you truly face evil head on and look straight into its terrible abyss, and summon your relentless courage to spit back at its face! Die screaming in Frenzy my friend! Die and die again! For death is glorious.

I agree to both your points however players are in short supply since the advent of the ldoa and survivor changes the 7 heroes and the HOM.
If your don't happen to be on at the right time you will have a frustrating experience trying to get other players to join with.

I would advise anyone who has nightfall or factions to begin there rather than prophesies.
If you have no choice about starting in prophesies then yes its possible to play the entire game with henchmen but if you are worried about managing with those limitations then stay in presearing for a while.
Sure the run to Lions arch may well be boring but there is plenty of lvl 20 content remaining to still enjoy the game.

And if your eventual intent is to fill the Hom then remaining to lvl 20 is sensible since its the only way to get that title.
Consider also presearing is crowded right now with people going for ldoa which means many of those entering post searing will also be lvl 20.

Anyway the Suggestions are offered make of them what you will

Pretty much answered. Good luck! :]

/closed