Question about attributes and professions

I jsut started reading about Guild Wars and I read that you can pick a 2nd class at some point during your character's progression.

What I don't understand is what the differences are between choosing a class a primary or secondary. I have a few specific questions, but if you feel like explaining the whole thing, I could use some reading material :P

If we take a Monk / Warrior example (Monk primary)


1)How are the hit points and energy levels calculated every level? Do you get the hit points of a Monk as a Monk/warrior? Or an average between a Monk and a Warrior? Will a Monk/Warrior have the same Hit points and Energy as a Warrior/Monk? Or does the order have an effect on that too?

2)I read that you can have all attributes in your secondary, except one. Do you get to choose which Warrior attribute you will bypass?

3)As a Monk/Warrior, if I decide that Axe Mastery is the attribute I will not have, does that mean that I will not have access to any of the skills included in that attribute? For example, does that mean I cannot use the Axe attack called Axe Twist?

Or does it mean that my Axe skills will simply be weaker?

4)I understand that you can raise both your attribute's level and your skills levels. I assume that raising your Hammer Bash skill by 10 points will raise the damage and/or accuracy of the blows dealt with that Hammer Bash attack. But what effect will it have if I raise Hammer Mastery by 10 points? Does it just increase efficiency of every single skill in the attribute? Meaning that 10 points in Hammer Mastery will also make my Hammer Bash attack skill more efficient in accuracy and damage?

I think you should actually read the manual in this case...

I would if I had bought the game yet

And sorry I just realized this is the wrong forum for questions

Every class has the same HP ( level based though ) and same energy ( always)

HP rises when your level rises

Energy rises with either the primary attribute from the elementalist ( enery storage ) , or using wands and armour that gives extra energy and energy regeneration. There is not much extra energy armour for warriors, that's why they are bad classes for energy.


Each class has a primary attribute, wich you can only use ( use points in it ) when you are the primay profession: W-Strength, R-Expertise, Mo-Divine favor, Me-Fast Casting, E-Energy Storage, N-Soul Reaping


You can still use skills from those lines, even if you're not primary prof, but they won't be as good, because you cannot put points into them.

Max attrib. points for secondary is 12, for primary 16.

Your primary determines a couple of things:

1. Your appearance
2. The armor you can wear (and thus your energy levels and level of defense)
3. The runes you can use (thus your max attribute levels)
4. The primary attribute you will have available

Only a monk primary will be able to make use of Divine Favor, and only a Warrior primary will be able to make use of Strength. The primary attribute of a class really changes the way that class plays overall.

Hit points and base energy are equal for all classes across the board and are determined by your level. Certain armors, however, can give energy, energy regen, or health boosts. Because these things are dependant on armor, and you can only take the armor of your primary profession, then your primary profession is the determining factor (for example, a monk primary will get 4 energy regen while a warrior will only get 2, this being determined by the armor).

No. The one attribute you don't get from your secondary is that class's Primary Attribute. A Mo/W wouldn't get to use the warrior's Strength attribute just the same as a W/Mo wouldn't get to use the Monk's Divine Favor attribute.

The latter. If you don't put points into an attribute line the skills from that attribute line will still be available to you. They just won't be strong enough to be worth using 9 times out of 10.

There's no such thing in this game as 'skill level' as far as an in-game statistic. Generally, when you hear 'skill level' people are referring to the ability of the player behind the character. The only thing within the game itself that will impact the power of a skill is how high its linked attribute is. The real determining factor between one player and another is when and how they use that same skill.

Attribute levels increase the power of their linked skills, and in the case of weapon attributes, they also increase the chance of critical hits. Rarely does the attribute level impact accuracy, as accuracy is usually set and dependant upon the weapon used (most noticable in different bow types). Accuracy can be hampered with some hexes and conditions, but increasing your attribute level with the weapon won't help you against those.

1) hit points are the same... you get same ammount of hit points on any profession.... although they can be added or deducted from runes and weapons...
different armours give you different energy bonuses. monk primary has 4 energy regen but warrior only has 2... monk starts off with 30 energy and warrior starts off with 20 (if they're not wearing any armour)....
leveling up does not give you any energy

2) nope you dont get to choose since ur war secondary u dunt get strength.

3) you can use the skills... but its just weaker.

4) you dont add skill points into skills, you use them to buy skills from the npc's...."Meaning that 10 points in Hammer Mastery will also make my Hammer Bash attack skill more efficient in accuracy and damage?" more dmg but not more accuracy

^^^^^dam shulda pressed refresh before answering^^^^^^

1) Hit points and energy levels are the same per level of every class. You start off with 100 at the start and gain 20 per level until you have 480. Energy is at a constant 20 with 2 pips of regen, but is increased by armour you wear for the class and the wands and offhands you wield. Superior and major runes which increase your stats decrease your health. Minor, Major and Superior Vigors gives +30, +41 and +50 HP respectively.

2) No, each class has a primary attribute which you can only use if your primary is that class.

3) If you spec in another attribute, you can still use skills from axe mastery as long as you are wielding an axe. It just wont be as powerful.

4) When you look at skills, you will notice that the effects of them are based on an attribute line. Increase the line and the skill will be more effective. You cannot increase the effectiveness of a single skill alone.

In that case, did I just imagine some warrior shouting 700+ health? :-/
I always thought they got more

They probably used endure pain, defy pain, or both, with a high strength attribute. Those skills temporarily increase your maximum health.
They also might have used some other skills from their secondary profession to increase their health.

Thanks a lot !

Hi.

The way guild Wars professions work is you choose your primary profession at the outset and choose your secondary shortly after as the story progresses - as you stated yourself.

Each profession has an attribute which only primaries can use which is pre-set:
Warriors have Strength, Tactics, Axe Mastery, Swordmanship, Hammer Mastery.
Monks have Divine Favour, Healing Prayers, Protection Prayers and Smiting Prayers.

Divine Favour and Strength are the primary attributes meaning that only primary monks have access to Divine Favour and Only Warriors can use Strength. Divine favour spells improve Healing and Protection prayers meaning primary monks give the best health boosts to allies. Raising attributes in Strength increases the damage dealth by Hammers, Axes and Swords because the higher the Strength, the more the attacks penetrate armour.

It is a popular choice for Warriors to choose Monk as their second Profession because they deal good damage and can heal themselves - to a limited extent. However this healing is limited due to the lack of Divine Favour attributes. It is less common to find Monks with Warrior secondaries because Monk armour is weaker and they should stay out of melee range. The damage dealt isn't as great either because of the lack of the Strength Attribute. (It is a feasable option because a Mo/W can use Axe, Hammer and Sword Mastery)

Warrior/Monks do not have a great energy pool because their energy only regenerates at half the speed on Primary Monks. Furthermore, Warriors use shields in their left hand rather than focus items (which provide additional energy) because they attack at melee range.

As attributes increase, their respective skills are significantly improved. As a Warrior increases Axe Mastery, axe skills because more effective - i.e. they deal more damage and negative conditions last longer on foes. On top of this, the Warrior can increase Strength to improve the damage dealt.

Similarly with Monks, if the healing prayers are increased the effectiveness of healing skills increase. For example, Healing Breeze (a spell that raises an ally's health over time) will provide faster regeneration with higher Healing Prayers.

In response to your questions:

1) A Warrior/Monk is a good melee attacker but a poor healer because he has no access to Divine Favour. A Monk is a good healer but a poor melee attacker because of weaker armour and no access to Strength.

2) Strength and Divine Favour will always be the attributes that can only be used by Warriors and Monks respectively - in other words, you don't choose which attribute you want to abandon.

3) As a Monk/Warrior you will always have access to Axe skills so you can use Axe Twist when you find that skill. You will, however, have access to Strength skills but you cannot raise attributes so they are pretty much useless for Primary monks to use.

4)If you raise Hammer Mastery ALL hammer skills and attacks will deal more damage, including Hammer Bash - the same with Axe Master and Swormandship. Choosing how you distribute your attributes can be complicated because you may need to sacrifice other attributes because you have a limited number to points to play with.


I hope this makes sense!

I've seen lots of people say that warriors and monks have the same base energy, but that warrior only has 2 pips of regen while monk has 4.

The last part (about the regen) is correct, but warriors (and rangers, I think) only start out with 20 energy, while monks and other mage classes start out with 30... Just wanted to clear that up.

No. Take a look at your armor more carefully.

Its soon (minutes) after you begin the game. Youll get a chance to change it to any of the others (infinite times) later in the game.You will not get the primary attribute (they are listed as primary attributes, but you can get the skills of it and use it at minimum effectiveness), armor, or runes of your secondary class.You will get up to 480 hitpoints at level 20, it is the same as every class. You will have 20 energy and 2 energy regen at level 1 and level 20, that too is the same for ever class (Although for many classes this number is modified by your armor. Casters usually get +energy and +2 more energy regen. Rangers get +1 energy regen and +less energy. Warriors gain no additional regen and have a few sets of armor that add a little energy. But they get adrenaline.) So yes, a Mo/W W/Mo or just plaing Mo will all have the same hit points, and the same base energy. The energy and regen of any of the monk primary classes will be boosted by their armor.no its always the primaryIrrelivent, because you do not get to choose. But you can still have the skills and use them at minimum effectiveness. There is no accuracy. Raising "Skill levels" just means getting skill points to buy new skills. Raising your hammer mastery attribute will increase Hammer Bash's damage.