To say turrets and minnions are useless is either lack of knowing the profs. or just stupidity.
Howmany enemyes I have obliterated with my minnions and turrets... countless.
For the record, I feel that turrets, while not worthless, do not have the staying power I would prefer. They do kill shit though, especially if you have 3 up.
Oh come on guys can you stop talking about OP or UP for a sec? That's not the question here.
It will matter when the OP goes to make a minion necro and then gets told to respec to marks repeatedly when they try to do dungeons.
Or is just generally unwanted as a ranger / engineer.
Hmm I haven't been told to respec as a tanky Engineer when going into dungeons. I can usually get conditions off of group, provide good heals and AoE. DPS is not spectacular but normally there are others in the group who can put it down.
Not saying it doesn't happen, just havent had it happen to me.
The elitism is there, just as the min/max groups are there, but as always it depends on who you run with. Using GW2lfg tends to help (at least a little bit), as most groups will say in the description if they are being ultra picky or not about members. Ultimately, the best thing to do is to find a good guild / group of people to play w/ anyway. In which case you don't have to worry about what Evil's talking about.
Realistically, the elitists in the game mostly overreact about this kinda crap. I've done most of the dungeons with a full group of nakeds just for kicks. Outside of a select few encounters in the game class doesn't really matter. It's really more about whether or not the group members know wtf they are doing.
A lot of people also assume that partying the (assumed) optimal group comps guaruntees a good run, which is absolutely untrue. All classes in this game are viable, but that won't stop ignorance =/.
This is good info I agree with you that some people just need to be stat nerds lol.
I got a guildie who plays a Ranger who is bent on maxing out magic find over all other stats. Youd think he'd be the last guy you would want in your groups. But he gets the job done, he knows the runs inside and out and knows every boss' mechanic and weaknesses and every group we've been in has always gone smoother then when he's not. And yet, I've also PuG'd CoF path 1 with players fully decked out in CoF gear who don't know they have to stand in their own flame cage to open the door to the final boss. (That one, I still can't figure out)
for sure. There is a big skill element to the dungeons. Gear won't compensate for inexperience/bad playing.
If you want a pet class and, as stated, you don't care about WvW or end game power, Ranger is the easy choice.
If you like the style of the Necromancer and don't care that you have no active control over your pets other than triggering, necro is a viable alternative as well. I found Necromancer to be fairly boring to play, but that's just me.
Mesmer. IMO, Mesmers are one of the most frustrating professions for a new player to learn the game playing. Save Mesmer for some future time after you've leveled a few professions to 80 and really know the ins and outs of the game.
As to Ranger, Melee is just as viable as Ranged. I preferred playing my ranger as a totally melee pet profession, much like the White Lion from Warhammer Online. Totally ranged or melee/ranged works fine as well. What ever you have most fun playing. As to pets, they aren't as sturdy as Hunter Pets in WoW or other similar MMOs. It takes some active monitoring and pet management to keep your pet alive. Pet rotation is crucial and you will be using your heal skill as much as any other profession, but almost always to heal your pet, rather than heal yourself.
Welcome to the game. The game is great. The combat can be pretty dynamic and there is a ton of soloable content in a very massive game world. If you are an MMO vet, there can be a bit of a learning curve, or unlearning curve, as you adapt to the things that are different in this game vs. the MMO norm. Stick with it and have fun!
One last newb tip. It's a good idea to make use of a second starting zone for your first 10 levels or so. Many people who stick to one zone hit a couple bumps in the leveling road where they end up a level or two behind the next chunk of content in the zone. This ceases to be an issue once you hit level 15+, where there is actually way too much content. Get the first few levels in your racial starting zone, do your personal story to level 4 as well, then hop over to another race's starting zone to level 6 or 7, then hop back to your race's zone, catch up your story and progress as you desire.
(To get to other racial cities easily, hit P for the PvP tab, select "be in the mists" up near the top of the PVP window. Your first time on an account, there will be a PvP tutorial zone. You can do the tutorial, or just head across to the exit on the opposite end. After that, selecting "Be in the Mists" will always put you in the PvP lobby just across from a portal that leads to the city of Lion's Arch. Once there, behind you there will be Portals to WvW. Don't take those portals, but rather head North across a bridge to the Lion Fountain. SW of the Fountain is an area with portals to all the racial cities. This provides a quick, free transit system to the other cities in the game world. From each city, there is pretty easy acces to that race's starting zone).
Comments
For the record, I feel that turrets, while not worthless, do not have the staying power I would prefer. They do kill shit though, especially if you have 3 up.
Survivor of the great MMORPG Famine of 2011
for sure. There is a big skill element to the dungeons. Gear won't compensate for inexperience/bad playing.
Survivor of the great MMORPG Famine of 2011
Let's keep this simple for a new player.
If you want a pet class and, as stated, you don't care about WvW or end game power, Ranger is the easy choice.
If you like the style of the Necromancer and don't care that you have no active control over your pets other than triggering, necro is a viable alternative as well. I found Necromancer to be fairly boring to play, but that's just me.
Mesmer. IMO, Mesmers are one of the most frustrating professions for a new player to learn the game playing. Save Mesmer for some future time after you've leveled a few professions to 80 and really know the ins and outs of the game.
As to Ranger, Melee is just as viable as Ranged. I preferred playing my ranger as a totally melee pet profession, much like the White Lion from Warhammer Online. Totally ranged or melee/ranged works fine as well. What ever you have most fun playing. As to pets, they aren't as sturdy as Hunter Pets in WoW or other similar MMOs. It takes some active monitoring and pet management to keep your pet alive. Pet rotation is crucial and you will be using your heal skill as much as any other profession, but almost always to heal your pet, rather than heal yourself.
Welcome to the game. The game is great. The combat can be pretty dynamic and there is a ton of soloable content in a very massive game world. If you are an MMO vet, there can be a bit of a learning curve, or unlearning curve, as you adapt to the things that are different in this game vs. the MMO norm. Stick with it and have fun!
One last newb tip. It's a good idea to make use of a second starting zone for your first 10 levels or so. Many people who stick to one zone hit a couple bumps in the leveling road where they end up a level or two behind the next chunk of content in the zone. This ceases to be an issue once you hit level 15+, where there is actually way too much content. Get the first few levels in your racial starting zone, do your personal story to level 4 as well, then hop over to another race's starting zone to level 6 or 7, then hop back to your race's zone, catch up your story and progress as you desire.
(To get to other racial cities easily, hit P for the PvP tab, select "be in the mists" up near the top of the PVP window. Your first time on an account, there will be a PvP tutorial zone. You can do the tutorial, or just head across to the exit on the opposite end. After that, selecting "Be in the Mists" will always put you in the PvP lobby just across from a portal that leads to the city of Lion's Arch. Once there, behind you there will be Portals to WvW. Don't take those portals, but rather head North across a bridge to the Lion Fountain. SW of the Fountain is an area with portals to all the racial cities. This provides a quick, free transit system to the other cities in the game world. From each city, there is pretty easy acces to that race's starting zone).
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