New character advice - Ranger of Guardian?

[Caelthar.7513]

I'm thinking about creating a new character and I'm torn between Ranger and Guardian.

Right now, I have three professions at level 80:

Engineer - my main character, used a kit build in HoT ("playing the piano") and now I'm running a Holosmith. Both of these feel very enjoyable to me. I spend >90% of the time in-game on the Engineer.

Elementalist - staff Tempest, feels glassy as I've not invested much time into the character build.

Revenant - Mainly used as gathering character as the class doesn't feel very enjoyable to me with any of the weapon combinations I've tried. Compared to Engineer, I feel like I'm always waiting for something to come off cooldown while auto attacking.

 

I'm looking for a class that's enjoyable to play in the open world (solo and events), occasionally dipping into WvW and fractals. I don't PvP or raid.

Which class would you recommend, Ranger or Guardian?

[Infusion.7149]

For WVW , Guardian. For PVE Firebrand with quickness is "up and coming" build.

[Tora.7214]

both are very fun to use and quite able to solo champion enemies/events. guardian is mostly pure dps oriented, while ranger is a bit more versatile (and you will never feel alone because you have your pet :)

[Psycoprophet.8107]

Their both great for most content, both are fun. I find guard more fun because more active playstyle and visuals of skills are flashier/cool looking haha

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

Go ranger - you clearly took liking to more complex classes (engi/ele), and if that's the case ranger has more on offer then guardian. Guard has one complex spec - firebrand. Ranger two - druid and soulbeast.

 

Also while functially both are similar (can be healers, tanks and dps), there is a vast difference in how they go about it. Guard is very binary - his damage is basically pure bursts, his condition damage is almost exclusively burning, his tanking is mostly blocking.

 

Ranger approaches these with more...finesse. His has much more wide array of condies (bleeds, poisons, burning), wide array of defeneses (stealth, damage immunity, block, evades, condi damage reduction), and multiple tag-team plays he can make with his pet.

 

Also while i don't play guard much i feel guard is all about being instant, but...well not fluid. Kinda like teleporting in with burst then waiting for another such cast. Ranger on the other hand while fast is not instant cast based. He is however very VERY fluid in gameplay, especially if it's shortbow condi ranger. You just have to play it to feel it, but it feels great to me.

[Yannir.4132]

> @"ZeftheWicked.3076" said:

> Go ranger - you clearly took liking to more complex classes (engi/ele), and if that's the case ranger has more on offer then guardian. Guard has one complex spec - firebrand. Ranger two - druid and soulbeast.

 

Druid is not complex. That's like saying Necromancer is complex. It has more tools than a core ranger but Avatar is basically Shroud with a different skill set. Don't get me wrong I like druid but complex is just the wrong word for it.

 

Personally I'm a fan of binary if that's what Guardian is. The class has this straight-forward zealous ruthlessness, that you're probably unused to seeing from this profession archetype, mixed in with the more traditional Paladin-ish ways to play. It's also more like a Cleric from D&D than a Priest from WoW.

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

> @"Yannir.4132" said:

> > @"ZeftheWicked.3076" said:

> > Go ranger - you clearly took liking to more complex classes (engi/ele), and if that's the case ranger has more on offer then guardian. Guard has one complex spec - firebrand. Ranger two - druid and soulbeast.

>

> Druid is not complex. That's like saying Necromancer is complex. It has more tools than a core ranger but Avatar is basically Shroud with a different skill set. Don't get me wrong I like druid but complex is just the wrong word for it.

>

> Personally I'm a fan of binary if that's what Guardian is. The class has this straight-forward zealous ruthlessness, that you're probably unused to seeing from this profession archetype, mixed in with the more traditional Paladin-ish ways to play. It's also more like a Cleric from D&D than a Priest from WoW.

 

Joke''s on you - necro **is** complex. It may not require "playing the piano", but his insane variety of builds, non godmode defenses that need you to know really well what you're doing and when, along with very deep condition manipulation capabilities make necro a complex profession. Sure there is minion master just as there is bearbow for ranger. But past that there is some real depth to explore.

 

As for druid - he may not be as complex as soulbeast, but he is more challenging then classing dpsers, since as a healer he is faced with challenge of not only providing required healing, but also maximizing own and party's dps while at it, if he waants to be a good druid.

[Psycoprophet.8107]

Wether a class is more complex than another is a completely personal thing I think because although ranger had more damage types I find guard more complex due to having imo a more complex defensive mechanics,having low hp and relying on block thru Aegis,retaliations,reflects etc. I find managing fb tomes and timing their skills if solo to be more complex than Druid avatar. Although I really like soulbeast the gs skills are just as basic,utilities if running meta builds are just boon applications and damage modifiers. Both have easy rotations.other than core Engi, ele and weaver no classes are that complex. Guard skills are just more enjoyable to look at in my opinion lol

[Yannir.4132]

> @"ZeftheWicked.3076" said:

> > @"Yannir.4132" said:

> > > @"ZeftheWicked.3076" said:

> > > Go ranger - you clearly took liking to more complex classes (engi/ele), and if that's the case ranger has more on offer then guardian. Guard has one complex spec - firebrand. Ranger two - druid and soulbeast.

> >

> > Druid is not complex. That's like saying Necromancer is complex. It has more tools than a core ranger but Avatar is basically Shroud with a different skill set. Don't get me wrong I like druid but complex is just the wrong word for it.

> >

> > Personally I'm a fan of binary if that's what Guardian is. The class has this straight-forward zealous ruthlessness, that you're probably unused to seeing from this profession archetype, mixed in with the more traditional Paladin-ish ways to play. It's also more like a Cleric from D&D than a Priest from WoW.

>

> Joke''s on you - necro **is** complex. It may not require "playing the piano", but his insane variety of builds, non godmode defenses that need you to know really well what you're doing and when, along with very deep condition manipulation capabilities make necro a complex profession. Sure there is minion master just as there is bearbow for ranger. But past that there is some real depth to explore.

>

> As for druid - he may not be as complex as soulbeast, but he is more challenging then classing dpsers, since as a healer he is faced with challenge of not only providing required healing, but also maximizing own and party's dps while at it, if he waants to be a good druid.

 

Well, if we assign a number between 1 to 10 for it, I'd say a raid healer Druid is maybe a 7. On the other hand, if you go with a sidenoding PvP druid, then it's like a 4 or 5 at best. Funnily with Soulbeast it's the other way around. You have a lot of buttons but you only use about half of them on a PvE DPS build.

A PvP Bunkerbrand is around 7 or 8 maybe but a Quickbrand rotation is pretty much just a DPS rotation with some more button presses which I'd rate like 4. A Radiant hammer guard for PvP is around 5 or 6, as you do need to know something about rotations, and predict spawn timers.

I've played every build you can possibly imagine. As long as it's an established build.

[Caelthar.7513]

Thank you all for your input.

I might add that I'm not interested in playing "That one number 1 build", but something I'd enjoy. Nothing kills profession enjoyment for me as using all my skills in crazy burst and then waiting for cooldowns (see my revenant commentary).

 

Based on ZeftheWicked's description, I'm leaning towards Ranger because of that fluidity and complexity he describes. That's the main reason I like Engineer so much. Plus I've played ranged classes in most games, sword Holosmith being my first "main" melee character across multiple games.

Thank you very much :)

[Psycoprophet.8107]

> @"Caelthar.7513" said:

> Thank you all for your input.

> I might add that I'm not interested in playing "That one number 1 build", but something I'd enjoy. Nothing kills profession enjoyment for me as using all my skills in crazy burst and then waiting for cooldowns (see my revenant commentary).

>

> Based on ZeftheWicked's description, I'm leaning towards Ranger because of that fluidity and complexity he describes. That's the main reason I like Engineer so much. Plus I've played ranged classes in most games, sword Holosmith being my first "main" melee character across multiple games.

> Thank you very much :)

 

Cant go wrong with ranger!

[DrLuigi.3764]

> @"Caelthar.7513" said:

> Thank you all for your input.

> I might add that I'm not interested in playing "That one number 1 build", but something I'd enjoy. Nothing kills profession enjoyment for me as using all my skills in crazy burst and then waiting for cooldowns (see my revenant commentary).

>

> Based on ZeftheWicked's description, I'm leaning towards Ranger because of that fluidity and complexity he describes. That's the main reason I like Engineer so much. Plus I've played ranged classes in most games, sword Holosmith being my first "main" melee character across multiple games.

> Thank you very much :)

 

If you don't like waiting for CDs, then Guard probably isn't for you. You have your burst which kills most basic things but if stuff is still alive you turn into AA and active dodging while waiting for CDs to come back up.

 

Your engineer and elemental isn't are basically the two most complex classes, everything else should be a bit "easier" for you