Newbie PvP Class?

I am a PvPer in other games (primarily DAoC) but new to Guild Wars PvP. What is the best class for me to create that will help me with the PvP learning curve in GW?

Normally, I play healing classes or CC classes but I have ruled out a healing class because spending my time in PvP watching health bars bounce isn't going to teach me anything. Usually CC classes require a lot of knowledge, such as the ability to recognize what the enemy is doing/casting/using and being able to counter them appropriately... so I'm ruling that out too (for now).

And lastly, I don't want to play whatever class (if there is one) that usually calls targets.

Suggestions are appreciated!

You've essentially ruled out every class for pvp that there is.
Healers tend to do more than watch red bars, they also gotta pay attention to the actual map, positioning, weapon sets, energy management and the list goes on.
A big part of the game is interrupts and damage/cast denial through hexes and conditions such as ineptitude and blind.

Every class you play in pvp will rely on your ability to tell what the other person is using and how it will affect you, so unfortunately there is no way to quickly slide into pvp and hit the ground running.

You'll have to brush up on skills for starters and learn what the various conditions, enchantments and hexes do and how they will affect your class.

But for starters in PvP i'd recommend a Dervish probably, lots of people I know have mentioned that they find them really easy to play in places like RA.. (Though I can't give any personal opinions on that since i mostly play monk)

Melees call targets...mesmers/rangers control the field and rupt.

Paragon...? Do people still use those?

Classes you see in GW's PVP are mainly: Warriors, Dervish, Rangers, Monks and the other Casters. I find it rather hard to find a Paragon these days but I could be wrong. Devs are the class I see a lot but necros are seen as much as well.

I would say that GW's PVP isn't easy. And no one class playing can just run in and survive if they do not do everything you said you do not want to concentrate on. Maybe you may want to simply just go in with you favorite class first and try things out for a while, then decide?

elementalist.

you have strong spells that you use to follow called targets.
you have aoe to hit balls of enemies.

Thanks for the replies so far. I guess I did eliminate a fair amount of roles. My question was less regarding survival or uberness and more about... complexity, I guess.

Usually some classes involve more button mashing, or quick reflexes, or judgment calls--yeah, I get that all of them if played well require this, but I'll be playing badly to start.

I guess I'm looking for the class(es) that are easiest to play and allow me to watch the fight as much as possible so I can study the other players and learn to recognize abilities (enemy and friendly) and pick up tactics.

Or... which classes to avoid because they are notoriously hard to play well!

Water ele is probably closest to the kind of dedicated CC class you're looking for.

Ingame : Press B.
Watch some pvp-matches (GvG and / or HA).

Although thy will be high profile guilds you will be able to see how they play and what roles are needed in PvP.

To start PvP-ing i suggest u go to Random Arena's and try out the different professions there.

If you're only just getting in to GW PvP, Jade Quarry and Fort Aspenwood are probably the most forgiving, since they're "PvP-lite" -- really a mix of PvP and PvE -- and you can sort of hide among the chaos. You'll get a chance to kill people and try out different professions without the pressure of people heavily counting on you to know what you're doing. Random Arena does carry a degree of expectation to know what you're doing, and if you don't, you'll suffer some rage. I wouldn't recommend staying in JQ/FA if you're serious, though, because of the nature of the formats.

Ele is a good start imo. You sould whatch some GvG and HA action to see what fits you the most

I'd try out the Dervish. They're relatively easy to play and get good results with. Plus they have some nice survivability. Of course, with any class, there's a certain degree of skill and experience you'll need to be super effective, and they aren't the alpha and omega of PvP, but relatively speaking, you can grab an Avatar, a few Flash Enchants, and a few Scythe attacks and start wreaking havoc in RA's.

Monking is alot more than just watching red bars go up and down, especially prot monking, which is a concept relatively unique to guild wars. the essense of prot monking is to prevent damage from occuring in the first place, by using skills from the protection prayers line. this is especially vital with dervishes being as op as they are. basically, you constantly have to watch the feild for spikes/deadly hexes/rangers or mesmers training you, and you need to know where the damage is going in order to preprot it.

I would say either prot monking or flagging are the hardest role to play in the current meta.

Thanks for all the replies. They have been really helpful. (I wrote a longer reply, but it was held up for modification or got lost somehow). Thanks especially for the class tips, the PvP location ideas, and the "B" key to observe fights (that rocked!).

Having observed lots of PvP fights in game, I am now learning towards one of the following: ranger/x (elem? mes?), water elem/x (mes? rt?), or spear assassin/paragon.

My new question is this: If I create an assassin (PvE) and want to play with my friend who only has prophecies, can I get to his location? Will that not work because I only get assassin skills if I level up in factions? And how would I subclass Paragon--do I need to travel to the Nightfall area?

Help much appreciated. Thanks.

If u got all the campaigns u can ofc get to your friend in prophecies, but you will most likely have to "run" there. and paragon u just pick up as a secondary profession when u get ascended. wich means you do not have to go to nightfall.

Each campaign has a starter area and a port city. Once you get through your starter area and reach a port city, you can travel to the port cities of any of the other campaigns. It's possible to go "backwards" from a port city, deeper into other campaigns' starter areas. However, though this can be done to an extent with Prophecies, there's an exclusive tutorial area that non-Prophecies characters can't get in to.

So if you started an assassin, you'd have to do your starter area (called Shing Jea Island) and get to Kaineng Center (Factions port city). From there, you'd pick up quests that allowed you to go to Lion's Arch (Prophecies) and/or Kamadan (Nightfall). If you wanted to join your friend, you'd have to run back (or buy a run) from Lion's Arch to Ascalon City, where he will show up after he leaves his exclusive tutorial area. (That said, it would probably be more fun for you both to start in Prophecies and do the tutorial together. Nothing wrong with having multiple characters, and each campaign offers unique starter quests and experiences for native-born characters.)

If you want to switch your assassin to /Paragon secondary, if memory serves, you should be able to get it after you finish your Ascension mission in Factions. As long as you have Nightfall on your account, I think the profession changer in Factions will allow you to take /P and /D.

So basically, it sounds like I should roll a prophecies character so my friend and I can play together and do the learning quests and worry about the whole assassin/paragon thing later?

I played for a bit in 2005 but I don't remember anything and general consensus seems to be that the Prophecies tutorials are best for learning. Plus, (please correct me if I'm wrong) I'll only be able to pick up class specific skills in Factions/Nightfall for the A/P?

Gotta say, Guild Wars is kind of a logistical nightmare.

A/P is not a "casual" build, although it can work as one, it's really part of an extremely tight coordinated team spike, which depends on everyone on the team hitting certain damage skills at the same time to score a kill. That build you're seeing obs will do next to nothing in RA, because it does not put out damage over time. There are plenty of good casual assassin builds though, I'll recommend this one just because the elite is easy to capture. Whoever told you to copy any old build from obs or pvx was honestly not very helpful.

Ranger is a great choice, as basically the same build is highly effective in lower and upper PvP. Rangers need to know how to play on a team and also how to play relatively on their own dealing with splits and flagger pushes etc.

Since you likely have the open character slots, know that you can also make PvP characters. This gives you characters that are automatically level 20 and have access to max weapons. (Note: it's a really bad idea to go into any type of PvP without being level 20/max weapons.) They can also access any item mods or skills you have unlocked on your account, either from encountering them on any of your PvE chars, or else spending balthazar faction to unlock them. PvP characters are especially good for experimenting with different professions quickly.

Well I thought I would give an update since I received a lot of good advice. While I thought the assassin/paragon looked fun, FoxBat brought up the excellent point that it's more an organized group build. The water elementalist was also suggested (and looked fun too) but again I think it's probably a better build for a coordinated team.

Final decision? Ranger. As FoxBat pointed out, it seems equally suited to random arenas and potentially group play later on. It also had decent survivability and the interrupts I like when I PvP.

After PvEing to get used to the class, I finally got the balls to throw myself into random arenas and had a good first night (13 wins, 2 losses--and 2 wins when we were down 3v4!) I'm sure I'll get a good ass kicking as things progress, but I had fun and enjoyed the profession. Thanks for all the tips.

Oh, one more question to toss into the mix. What's the expected role of a ranger in RAs? Is there one or is it just random puggery? (Wow, that sounds wrong.) I have been primarily floating with a bleed/poison build and interrupting when I can--though my interrupts need lots of work as I'm still figuring out what everyone is doing/casting and which are my priorities.

Rangers are about spreading poison and interrupting key skills. Check this out: http://www.teamquitter.com/phpBB2/vi...t=3797&start=0

Wow. Terrific link, thanks!

like Disc Priest.