Hey guys! This is a companion topic to the races discussion.

With the last beta coming up, I think a lot of us are planning to finally nail down our launch decisions over those three days.

I thought it would be fun if we did a sound-off of where we stand at the moment given our experiences from the last two betas or (for those who are jumping in now) from the coverage pre release.

So!

• What are your favourite classes right now?
• Why?
• What is on the top of your must-play list for this coming beta?
• (and for any this may apply to) Are you planning on playing something completely different come release? Which class?

It'll be great to see how opinions change after this beta, so expect to see a similar topic crop up closer to release for comparisons.

Also, we'll probably be chatting about this on the next Lincolncast, so any good posts / big trends here will be featured.

- I have only played Necro and Guardian. Both have been thoroughly enjoyable, and I discovered I like melee combat more than I thought I would. So I will probably give at least two different classes a try in the beta (Engineer will probably be one of them.)

- I love everything GW2, I can't hate classes!

- I want to say I want to try the ele before release at the same time I am wondering if I should just wait. I know for a fact I will be playing Ele as my first character because it was my first in GW1 and nothing is more fun than air spiking another caster in PvP.

- Surprisingly I want to try the Engineer out more and more. Not sure why because this was originally the class I wanted to play least when it was first announced, perhaps because it is something I have never tried before in the GW franchise.

Oh, I guess I should add my personal thoughts here too;

Favourite classes

Like @RobbieMac I know I'm going to play warrior out front because of my GW1 character and just loving the way that played. Luckily I love the way warrior plays in GW2 as well : )

So, at the MOMENT, my class line up in terms of my levels of interest and if I like how they play would be;

1. Warrior
2. Elementalist
3. Ranger
4. Engineer
5. Necromancer
6. Guardian
7. Thief
8. Mesmer (sigh, it's so sad to see this here, mesmer was my 2nd fav in gw1)

Why?

I love the sheer build diversity of the ranger, warrior and elementalist. All of those can spec heavily into close, medium AND long range of combat and they all have interesting spreads across damage, support and control. I never thought I could play a control warrior until I saw some of the hammer builds out there and I never thought I'd love rifle as much as I do.

My Must Play List

1. Ranger
2. Elementalist
3. Engineer

I love how I THINK they work, let's see if they hold up to play testing.

Other

I personally think saving a class for release is risky, as you never know if you'll REALLY like it until you give it a shot. So no, the only reason I won't get around to the thief is because there isn't enough time.

Favourites and Why:

1. Warrior: Gave rifle + axe/warhorn a serious look during the stress test and absolutely fell in love with the profession. Will probably be my main. Love the rifle, reminds me a bit of the GW1 ranger with it's mix of DPS and condition application.

2. Ranger: Gave it another chance after being turned off by pets in BWE2. Did some research before the stress test and decided to roll with two bears. What a difference that makes. You hardly have to micro-manage them at all as they have terrific survivability. They allow you to focus entirely on your weapon/utility skills. I tried longbow/greatsword and was amazed at the damage potential of this class. Probably the highest sustained DPS in the game.

3. Guardian: Spent the most time so far with this profession but I've grown bored of supporting/defending lately. I want a profession that's more capable offensively. Will definitely be creating a guardian alt though.

I have also tried a thief but was disappointed (this was actually my favourite profession before I got a chance to play the game). The whole stealthy/squishy playstyle didn't appeal to me.

I don't plan on trying any more classes. Engineer interested me pre-BWEs but after playing against them/watching a few gameplay videos, it doesn't seem like something I want to try anymore. I don't have much interest in trying out any of the scholars either.

Warrior is first for me. My go to class across MMO's did some theory crafting thinking an axe mace warrior might be a good idea. Also The ability to quickly switch weapons and be effective at range with longbow and rifles has me really interested. Curious to see what happens to Warrior longbow skills. It's funny when I pre purchased GW2 I swore off warrior just because I always end up playing one.

I've played around with Guardian a fair big (got to level 17) it's fun I need to figure out how to actually play it though. I rocked a mace torch setup the majority of the time and seemed to do pretty good. Augmenting that with the staff was a fun change of pace. The other class I've played most is Theif which has been pretty fun. double daggers seemed a little under powered compared to a shortbow dual pistol setup.

Elementalist is a class i'm curious in just because I can be the Avatar and you have to deal with it!!

Mesmer and Engineer seem like I have to "think" to much at the moment I'll wait for people to post guides about them.

@MrMazz said:

Mesmer and Engineer seem like I have to "think" to much at the moment I'll wait for people to post guides about them.

Definately. Which is why I'm playing engineering from the get go. There's so much shit to learn about em and so many different play styles that it will keep me busy for a looooong time. Eventually, when I'm kicking ass with it I'll go thief and then warrior. I guess that's three!

I was immediately drawn to the Elementalist. Seeing them run around casting, flipping through attunements on the fly and laying down combo initiators and AOE spells, not to mention that lightning/fire rush/retreat. It all made playing the 'wizard' class look way more exciting than it's ever been in any other MMO I've seen.

That said, I typically rock two-handers in RPGs, so I was anxiously awaiting greatsword gameplay videos to come out. When they did, I wasn't very impressed. It didn't look big and hulking and powerful, and I wasn't all that impressed with the Warrior's skills, compared to the Elementalist. Then I saw the Guardian, and wasn't interested in the support style gameplay. Ranger didn't do it for me either.

The Thief was later revealed and looked really, really cool. For a while that was my class to play. Then eventually I went back to the Elementalist. But then with the Mesmer reveal, the way they handle the greatsword looked too fucking badass to ignore. Plus they can swap weapons and wield a pistol AND had some sweet magic skills? It all seemed like the perfect class for me.

And yet here I am, still unable to quite get away from my initial amazement with the Elementalist. Swapping through attunements for different purposes just looks like too much fun.

Planning on playing each class for at least a little before spending some serious time with the Elementalist, Thief, and Mesmer to decide which one I'll be rolling with for launch. Maybe Engineer too, because they just look cool.

I'll try this out.

So far my favorite is Ranger.

Why? Mainly because I've been falling in love with bows again a few months ago.

I'll try to give Guardian a try mainly because I don't think I'm very good so to be able to help my party members is a huge plus.

As for release, I'm not sure. I'm torn between staying with my Ranger or making a Guardian. I'm still picking Charr though. I love kitties!

I'll give this a shot. Each bullet corresponds to the matching one in the OP

• Thief and maybe Guardian are my favorites currently
• They are the two I have played the most of. I really like how versatile the Thief is, you can run a good AoE DoT build that rolls through general PvE, as well as great spike damage for dungeons and PvP. Also, scorpion wire is a must in dungeons if you ask me. I'm sure anyway who was on that Catacombs run where me and @Subjugation were pulling things will agree.
• I want to try out necro in the next BWE. I hear good things from almost everyone who has played one, and the fact that MM is still a thing makes me really happy. I also might check out some PvP with the mesmer, just to see how it is and if I can wrap my mind around it.
• As for release I plan on playing a human warrior. I played warrior in GW1 and tend to lean towards tanky melee classes in MMOs, so I feel like its a good fit. For this reason I have avoided playing as one in the past betas. As for a secondary character, the Thief really surprised me with how much I enjoy it, so I will probably make a Sylvari one of those.
• BONUS! As for a class I really have little interest in playing, the current pet situation plus me messing around with it and not liking it means ranger is on the bottom of my list. Asura ranger even more so. Fuck those guys.

* My favorites are (from most to slightly-less-most favorite): 1)Engineer, 2)Mesmer, 3)Thief, 4) Warrior, 5)Ranger

* Why?

1) Engineer - Dual Pistols with condition damage Traits is boss. You really need to use your control abilities well to keep yourself going while the massive Bleed stacks can go to work, and I find controlling to be quite fun

2) Mesmer - Surprisingly powerful in melee, great against mobs with the Staff. Boons and conditions everywhere! This isn't your GW1 Mesmer, that's for sure, but it works, and it's still all about deception, which is a Mesmer must.

3) Thief - Love the versatility and how the 3rd skill is dependent on BOTH weapons. I really like the initiative system because it creates a unique rhythm but doesn't hurt your brain to keep track it.

4) Warrior - Probably the best Weapon-Swapping class. Opening the party up with a Rifle and then closing in with the supremely overpowered Greatsword makes you feel like an instant badass.

5) Ranger - Look, all I'm saying is that the Stalker's Roar is the best skill in the game and that the positional skills (Shortbow, I'm looking at you) make the ranger the tactician's choice (trademarking that).

* Plans for upcoming Beta: WvWvW with my new rig to see how it actually runs, sPvP to see if I can learn to love it, but mostly just wandering about with my Engineer. I'll probably hold offf on dungeons in favor of killing mobs and crafting things!

*Plans for Release: Rack up enough gold to rack up enough diamonds to rack up enough character slots to have one of every class (I'm like a lazy Noah) because while I listed my top five, I actually haven't even touched Necro or Ele. Also, pick a race other than Human (I've sequestered myself in Human lands for Beta). And CRAFT LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER. ALL OF THE CRAFTING. I look forward to filling up the Guild Storage with Blueberry Pies.

This is going to be mostly theoretical and therefore probably insane, as I haven't touched anything besides necromancer yet.

• That said, I can only rank the professions by what I plan to play at launch and what I don't. Elementalist, thief, mesmer, warrior, ranger > necromancer, guardian, engineer.
• While managing AI can be a rewarding classpect (great wordplay, me), when I reach the point that I'm corralling a crowd, it starts to just become a headache. Thus, at least until I'm more familiar with their mechanics, necro and engi don't seem as though they'll be particularly entertaining. I was split between playing warrior and guardian as a support-focused heavy armor profession, but ended up picking warrior because I like the potential of support through offense. The more I'm in the thick of things, the better my allies will be doing, as opposed to the guardian's relatively reserved style.
• I really want to get some time in sPvP with an elementalist, to test out some of my planned builds before release. Also planning to play some PvE as a guardian, to continue giving those other professions a shot.
• Barring any surprises, the first five professions I listed above will be what I create at launch, in that order (elementalist -> thief -> mesmer -> warrior -> ranger).

Before the first beta event I had planned on rolling a mesmer, but then the info about clones and phantasms was revealed and it didn't really interest me, so I decided to go for Necro instead. In the first BWE however, I rolled an ele and absolutely loved it. The fact that you can have many different play styles by just using the one weapon and switching between attunements is fantastic. The different weapons also let you play at three different ranges.

My second favourite so far would have to be the engineer. They are really fun to play, and some of their skills are awesome, the shield ones in particular. The reason it isn't my favourite is, as I've said before, the turrets are woefully underpowered. If I got used to using the different kits I might enjoy it more, but I was set on using turrets and they weren't as powerful as I would have liked them to be.

I think I've played most of the classes a tiny bit, but I'd like to give a bit more time to the mesmer and necro classes, as they held my interest for a while, and I want to give them a chance before release.

Speaking of release, the elementalist currently holds the place for my main by quite a bit. Any other class would have to really impress to knock it off the top spot.

So far I've only tested elementalist and as I won't be able to play during the last BWE I will most likely go elementalist at launch aswell. In GW1 (and most other games of this type) I always preferred being a warrior and go in close and bash heads in. I'm not sure why I'm starting to gravitate towards more caster type classes. Anyway I really liked the elementalist in BWE1 (didn't play BWE2) so I'll stick with it.

What are your favourite classes right now?

1. Ranger
2. Necromancer
3. Engineer
4. Guardian
5. Elementalist
6. Warrior
7. Mesmer
8. Thief

Why?

The ranger really attracted me partly as I've played pet classes before, and partly because I like the idea of the support ranger role, with spirits/support pets. I tend to prefer ranged classes as I like to kite and observe a battle and be able to adapt to things coming in from behind or the sides. I also love traps and the ability to defend a choke with them and ranged damage (although this could apply to many classes). Also the ability to have a melee ranger, or long distance ranger, or a positional shortbow ranger is really cool for sPvP and gives me lots to try out :D

What is on the top of your must-play list for this coming beta?

The Engineer and maybe Guardian. Also more Necro. And I'll be playing my ranger in WvW if it's not wiped.

From what I've played thus far... Elementalist > Ranger > Warrior > Mesmer > Guardian

• The Elementalist has the most simultaneous active skills out of all professions, about as many as classes in classic MMOs have - I love that.
• The Ranger has everything I wish my WoW Hunter had, from throw away pets with interesting active pet skills over full melee competence to sporting full DPS, with very little of it stuck on the pet.
• The Warrior has a lot of choice when it comes to weaponry, and that's of course awesome in Guild Wars 2, because it means that Warriors can draw from a huge pool of abilities. Found the class a bit too straight-forward for my liking.
• The Mesmer's Illusions and Phantasms are pretty cool on paper, but highly flawed in practice. It's about building Illusions and exploding them on command in one of four different ways, kinda like a WoW-Rogue's combo points system - they're target specific, and disappear when switching targets. It's too slow building to truely work well for PvE, and in PvP while awesome, it's also kinda limiting. Too flawed a class mechanic to fully endorse it.
• The Guardian is a horrible mess, kinda the opposite of the Warrior. Not one straight forward skill. Every skill is hybrid, and is neither fish nor fowl. I don't think the Guardian suits me at all, being more of a straight forward DPS type.

Hopefully I'll find the time to try out the Thief and Necromancer and Engineer in BWE3, so I'll be ready to nail down my main class for release, being perfectly informed.

If I was to give the classes "points" based on what you guys have said so far regarding what you'll play at launch (8 for number 1, 7 for number 2, etc) we would have...

1. 63 - Elementalist
2. 56 - Warrior
3. 44 - Ranger & Mesmer
4. 41 - Engineer
5. 39 - Guardian
6. 37 - Thief
7. 23 - Necro

That is actually hellof surprising. Of course, there aren't many people weighing in as of yet, but necro pulling up last and guardian in the lower pack? Wow. Opinions have changed a lot from the early polls.

Notes:

For ties, I've knocked the points down as many levels there are on the spot - for example, first would usually get 8 points but 2 tied for first would each get 7 points and three tied for first would each get 6 points.

I give 4 points to any classes people mention they won't be playing as their main but have enjoyed or will definitely try out (and don't elaborate any further, for example, robbie's post).

I've mostly played necro, so its hard to say that one class is my favorite over another. That said, the classes I'm interested the most in descending order are as follows:

• Engineer
• Warrior
• Elementalist
• Necromancer
• Thief
• Ranger
• Guardian
• Mesmer

I plan to give Engineer and Thief more of a go this next BWE, as well as some more Elementalist (only played like 30 mins of one thus far). I'd like to see Mesmer just so I can get a better idea of how they're played, because I have no clue right now, which is why they are on the bottom of my list. On one hand, it surprises me that necro is so far down on people's lists, but on the other hand, a non-minion necro can be a low-damage, support-based playstyle which doesn't tend to be popular with people, and minions are too fragile to rely on, especially in PvP.

@selfconfessedcynic:

Warriors & Wizards being the most popular out of the bunch - surprising? Predictable, I'd say...

@Seppli said:

Warriors & Wizards being the most popular out of the bunch - surprising? Predictable, I'd say...

Demons & Wizards?

Seriously though seeing the three archetypes (warrior, ele, and ranger) as the top 3 is not really surprising at all. It's actually what one would expect.

So far I've put at least some time in every class but the Guardian, and from that my order would be something like:

1. Elementalist
2. Warrior
3. Necro
4. Ranger
5. Engineer
6. Thief
7. Mesmer

I originally went in to my first BWE with my mind set on either the Thief or Necro. Those are both classes I often pick in rpgs. But when I played them they didn't grab me like I expected. While the Necro's death shroud mechanic is interesting, I don't really care for his pets (at least the ones I unlocked). And Thief felt more like a duelist or swashbuckler than a thief (and kind of weak as well).

I actually watched the Yogscast Elemantalist spotlight before I played one and thought for sure I was going to dislike them after seeing so many ground targeted AoE skills. But as it turned out the awesome dagger Elementalist focus and the available flexibility among the attunements won me over quickly. As far as the Warrior goes, I almost never play them since they're usually pretty simplistic. But I found the Warrior's large variety of weapons and play styles to be much more interesting than usual. The rifle skills were also a lot of fun and sold me on the potential of a mixed ranged and melee Warrior (which is really the most exciting part to me, since I love using the rifle in GW2).

Ranger and Engineer were both fun during the time I spent with them, but I didn't have enough time to determine if I'd enjoy them long term. The Ranger's sword skills were a blast though. It felt a bit like playing the thief with added strength and survivability. The Ranger would have ranked higher if they had a rifle option because bows just don't do it for me. Likewise, the Engineer would probably rank higher if they had a rifle that felt like a rifle instead of a shotgun. The jump shot was a standout there, but the rest of the rifle skills were kind of disappointing. The pistol and shield engineer definitely seemed like the most fun build. What kept me from really enjoying the Engineer though was that I felt the kits were a bit of a mess. A couple of the ones I tried were terribly disappointing. And even though some were fun, the kits kind of all felt a little disjointed as a whole. I'm still not sure whether or not I like the kit mechanic.

I probably put the least time in the Mesmer, so there's not much to say other than I didn't like the shatter mechanic or most of the weapon skills I used. In theory the illusion/deception part of the class appeals to me, but during my short time with the class that didn't seem to play out like I had hoped (illusions seemed too easily destroyed).

Next BWE I will put some time in playing a Guardian despite not really having any interest in them. I was surprised by how much I liked the Warrior, so maybe I'll find something equally exciting about the Guardian after I spend some time with them.

• What are your favourite classes right now?

Warrior and ele based on what I have tried

• Why?

they dish out some descent damage (although all together it seems to me it is harder to spike than in GW1)

• What is on the top of your must-play list for this coming beta?

Mesmer and ingenieur. But I am pretty sure it will not change my mind since the mesmer thing is adding chaos to a game that I find already hard to read because too many things / particles happening at tjhe same time so putting tons of clones of my own on top of that...I will probably end up fooling myself with my own clones lol

I am also curious to see what they will do to the long bow of the warrior and to the initiative of the thief

• (and for any this may apply to) Are you planning on playing something completely different come release? Which class?

for the moment I am more inclined to start a warrior to learn the melee gameplay. I hated playing melee in GW1 because I had this sensation that you were running after people all the time. Now, in GW2, the number of gap closers seems a bit more descent so playing should be more enjoyable. And the movement mechanics they did seems to bring some point to maneuver so that makes melee interesting now so lets try it !

• Favourite: Engineer, Guardian
• Why? Engineer because of the turrets and silly, silly abilities. Guardian because I really like the idea of area denial. Both: because I'm a huge support-oriented player.
• Must-play for this upcoming beta: Mesmer. Lots of support potential and I never gave them a solid shake.
• Will be playing both an Asura Enginer and a Sylvari Guardian on release (if I enjoy Mesmer, I'll do Sylvari Mesmer, Charr Guardian).