Wich profession/build should I be/use, based on the following characteristics:

I prefer a defensive/debuff role, trying to focus on survivability and avoid being disabled/kited. Also my main focus Is to challenge most players on PvP. I don't want to be a killer; nor be killed, too. Something like, a "balanced" player. So here goes;


1 - A single-target ranged skill that debuffs (stun/slow)
2 - A dash skill with low cooldown.
3 - A skill that performs damage + gains hp based on that damage percentage/flat damage
4 - A buff that prevents slow, or stun (Or both of em?)
5 - A heal over time buff
6 - DOT skill.
7 - A skill that ignores defense, or does a medium/high p. damage (single/aoe).

If any of the following skills are not possible, change It for a similar one and tell me Its description.

So... wich profession should I be, based on all of those descriptions I mentioned? Suggestions of different professions/skills/builds are welcome.

A brief resumée of this would be: Jump In the opposite party and debuff (ITT: Stun/slow, etc) everyone while the rest does the killing. Like you simply don't care. Then heal, repeat. A "element surprise" with a decent amount of defense/elemental resist., capable of countering any sort of disables/debuffs and such.

Thank you.

Paragon comes to mind. Snowstorm for AoE. Running skill.

Paragons can have good energy management with a party around them and can support.

Ranger also worth looking into as a runner. And come to think of it, Mesmer or Necromancer might interest you.

Keep in mind that this is a party based game. If you are looking for a single character that can play through solo without heroes or hench, best to look at another game.

1. Ranger, uses bow. Many skills like that.
2. Ranger has many IMS skils.
Can't really help with 3.
4. Cripple
5. Troll Unguent provides healing regeneration.
6.Burning, Poison.
7. Many armor pen skills, although usually nerfed for PvP a bit

I'll be cliche and say GW is all about synergy. You cannot accomplish ALL of this with one class ALONE/AT ONCE.
Any class that could pull this all off in one go would be pretty amazing. But still, the class you seem to be looking for in this setting, I'd say is: Dervish.

1- Dervs do not primarily rely on ranged weapons on current meta, but they have plenty of PBAoE's to accomplish this. To accommodate this area would have to be a different class entirely.
2- A few running skills, cheap, almost spammable, low cooldown, anti-kite, and there is some anti-kd/condition removal on them just as a bonus to boot. With this, no one can avoid your PBAoE's.
3-Twin Moon Sweep is the best I can think of here. Or Victorious Sweep, perhaps. Both attack skills with + damage and + health.
4-Grenth's Fingers- you transfer your conditions to nearby foes. Remember that you can have a healer that can remove conditions for a reason.
5- Grenth's Aura, See those two scythe attack skills, and/or use Vampiric scythe mods. Also, Conviction, this skill gives you more survivability if you are suffering from more conditions.
6- You have the potential to inflict massive amounts of bleeding, disease, cripple, cracked armor, weakness, and burning simply by spamming 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 as a Dervish.
7- Dervs do lots of damage by simply auto-attacking (in medium sized packets) and have potential for a lot of AoE if your enemies are stupid enough to ball adequately for you. These days in the meta of PvP, no one relies too much on masive, single high-damage attack packets, but rather smaller, and quick subtle ones. Through this, Monks hardly run an old staple skill known as Protective Spirit (a skill that reduces all damage to x<10% of that enemy's max health at any given time) any more because rarely anyone is dealing more than 10% of a targets health in one attack. If you do run such builds, it is very much a surprise and is based on your entire team make-up.

As a Derv you can spam all your AoE's and single target skills at the SAME
TIME. Which makes them very OP and nice ^^


...Unfortunately, that was a total waste of time.

As you don't want to be a killer or be killed as well as go defensive/annoy others, go Ranger for reasons mentioned in the above posts.

Rangers got almost every one of those points you mentioned, and you will RARELY be attacked because no one in their right of mind would focus on spiking an enemy ranger right off the bat.

They are definitely the hardest class to master in PvP though, second to only a Prot/Infuse Monk.

My best advice would be to try out all the classes and see which one you like best.
As for builds, don't get too attached to just one or two of them, there are plenty of areas later on in the game that will require you to change builds every now and then.

As far as your guideline go, really any profession can be molded around to fit what you're looking for.

After reading all of the replies on this thread and a skill list for each profession... the closest to a tank/debuff ~ disable; element surprise looks to be a Prot/Elem. (ITT: Defense/debuff/buff/a few ranged attacks). I'd say War/Elem but warriors seem to be easily disabled as far as I can tell from a few previous PvP matches. Also, since this Is a team-focused game, Prots are more appropriate for the occasion: as far as everyone Is alive, as I can tell by the incredible party-reliance. Not saying that this Is my final decision; I'm still up for suggestions and such. So If you have one, please do so.

Added a brief resume of what I have In mind, In bold.

Any more tips?

Also, thanks for the replies, I appreciate em.

There's really nothing in this game that fits all of your criteria.

Your best bet is probably to go with a mesmer that has a few protective skills such as Shield Bash. Mesmers have plenty of skills to harass and break down their opponents. They lack in protection, which is why you'll be needing to spec a secondary that makes up for it. Warrior, elementalist, monk, and dervish might all be some common secondaries to give you some extra survivability.

Actually, Ranger/Necro toucher is close. Of course, the touch skills would fulfill 3.) A skill that damages the enemy and grants you health of the damage. Fallen Angel covered the other points.

Toucher Rangers primarily engage in point-blank range combat, mind, but there is nothing stopping you using the life-stealing touch skills as support only, with an otherwise bow-based build to fulfill your other requirements.

With a Ranger/Necro you could put together a build fulfilling all the criteria you set above, without too much of a murderous attribute spread, though it certainly wouldn't be the most effective of builds (with both a focused Touch-Ranger and typical Ranged-Ranger out performing it).

As previously mentioned, you could also try Paragon/Necro, utilising Leadership to power the Necromancer life-steal skills you bring.

I can see both these builds working to a reasonable standard in PvE and perhaps even the low-end PvP, so you could play them there too, but they'd be far from optimal (and if with other players, particularly in PvP, prepare to be flamed alot). But so long as you are having fun and enjoying it, that's what matters right? I enjoy taking non-optimal builds out for a spin sometimes too.

1. Ranger, ranger, ranger
2. Again, ranger
3. Dervish, terrible ratios though, the backline keeps you alive. all profs have self heals though, ranger I find is most superior (once its applied to you, it cannot be removed)
4. Ranger, Monk, Warrior (if your bad). See mechanic: Block
5. Ranger
6. Necromancer, Ranger, Mesmer
7. Mesmer

It sounds like you want to PvP as a tank, GW frontliners deal damage, otherwise your role is to assist the frontline in dealing damage (as a pose to the frontline protecting the mid/ backline from harm while they unload).

Quick and dirty, for GW PvP

Warrior - you kill stuff, if your not, your dead space. Your easily shut down but that is because you would literally own the game otherwise

Ranger - ranged utility and shutdown. You will interrupt enemy player actions, apply DOTs and / or snare. You are very resilient but damage potential is low.

Mesmer - shutdown (particularly casters), armor ignoring AOE, Armor ignoring damage, snares, disruption, denial. Mesmers can do a lot of things, mainly you are there to counter players and punish them for doing what they need to do to win. You cannot cover all your bases with 8 skills, so stick to a role and do it well (can be said for any profession tbh).

Necromancer - debuffer. You weaken the enemy and debuff the hell out of them, you are fairly resilient, focusing on self heals, but your easily focused.

Monk - You heal and prot, no exceptions (otherwise you roll another profession to PvP with)

Assassin - your a warrior but your easily killed and have a few escape and initiate buttons (shadowsteps) to compensate. Your burst requires little set up time and can lock enemies out if used correctly.

Ritualist - utility, you can do a lot of stuff, you can heal groups efficiently, or play tower defense and set up summoned stationary units that either help your team or hinder enemies. Also has access to decent offensive support buffs.

Paragon - group utility, incredibly team reliant. Useless in serious PvP, overshadowed in casual PvP, skill choice is limited.

Dervish - Dervishes are Pierce Brosnans of GW, Warriors are the Daniel Craigs of GW, both can kill you. Pierce Brosnan will kill you with one hand while sipping a martini in the other. Daniel Craig is raw and unrefined in his work and has to work for his kills. (in other words, Dervishes are pretty much better in every single aspect)

Yes, that's the idea. In short: Jump In the opposite party and debuff (ITT: Stun/slow, etc) everyone while the rest does the killing. Then heal, repeat.

But everything points out for the ranger class... unless If someone proves me wrong. Or even that my build/idea can be effective somehow.

At first, It would make me a tanker with life-steal-related skills... but the high-party dependancy Is what fears me most.

I find builds that fits your role better than said MetA/gimmick/OP builds. But then again... can't really say much when my knowledge about this game Is near to 0.

-EDIT- Changed text In bold, to make It more clear/avoid confusion.

-EDIT2- A spell that makes me want to use a Elem. as my secondary class Is pretty much... this. Gotta admit that there's so many spells/skills/stances/whatever that It gives me a feeling that I -MUST- play this game for, at least, a couple months to experience PvP myself and reach a final decision based on what I saw ingame.

What format of PvP are you working towards playing? Because most formats are party-support-dependent. No single player can carry a match on their own. And if you intend to try different formats, you'll probably use different builds or even different classes to synergize with your team or fill a specific role for the format.

Have you bought or do you intend to buy the PvP items and skill unlock packs? If not, you may be doing a fair share of PvE to get the necessary unlocks to play PvP. In which case, by the time you compile the skills you need, you'll have probably spent enough time with the classes to see how they work to make an informed decision.

It's advisable to try different classes anyway, so you know what to expect from your opponents. PvP characters are freely re-rollable. Try out different things. See what fits your playstyle.

It might also be helpful to take a look at some of the meta PvP builds at http://www.gwpvx.com/
They can help give you an idea of what people run and why the skills work together. That can help you understand the roles different classes play in today's PvP scene.

If your doing low end pvp, I'd say play as an assassin

1. Wastrels Collapse - kd
2. Dash
3. Vamp Daggers?...
4. Their getting knock-locked, so their on their ass 24/7, and by the time your done their dead.
5. Shadow Refuge?
6. Uhh... auto attack? unless your using shameful fear....
7. All sin dagger attacks have +dmg that ignores defense. And if your using conjure that only boosts the dmg by a certain amount

I recommend you go A/E Wastrels and Conjure....
Or go palm-knocklock... both are pretty meta.