Alright. Looking at the various classes, I'm trying to decide what to play.

I'm wondering what perks do the classes have and what they bring to the table for PVP mostly.

Below are the classes I'm tossing up with.

Likely: Guardian, Thief and Ranger.

Maybes: Engineer and Warrior.

Not making at all: Mesmer, Elemental and Necromancer. (I'm a terrible caster and hated casting as an Elemental in Guild Wars)

Some questions I have is, does thief only have a limited stealth function? What's its perk/role?

Guardian is just bubbles and healing?

Ranger is quite obvious.

Warrior is obvious.

Engineer is mostly for defensive turrets?

Originally posted by AzurePrower

Alright. Looking at the various classes, I'm trying to decide what to play.

I'm wondering what perks do the classes have and what they bring to the table for PVP mostly.

Below are the classes I'm tossing up with.

Likely: Guardian, Thief and Ranger.

Maybes: Engineer and Warrior.

Not making at all: Mesmer, Elemental and Necromancer. (I'm a terrible caster and hated casting as an Elemental in Guild Wars)

 

Some questions I have is, does thief only have a limited stealth function? What's its perk/role?

It's crazy limited stealth, I couldn't get into it.

Guardian is just bubbles and healing?

They have the same amount of heals as most classes, only bubble i use is 5 on SnS only lasts a couple seconds. Its fun for trowing people off bridges and castle walls thou.

Ranger is quite obvious.

Warrior is obvious.

Engineer is mostly for defensive turrets?

At lvl 11 I was able to pull out healing, flame, and rifle torrent. However Ive seen alot of enginers go grenade pouch or healing pouch.

Seriously It's going to be one of those things where your going to have to test every class to see the one you get into the most. I like rangers longbow, but am unsure about which wep to use a secondary. I like the rifle Engineer w/ torrents. Really like guardian. My armor types favor Cecil from ff2 thou so im thinking of rolling a warrior and customizing him with abyss dyed armor I find specifacaly and add together to create a perfect black knight suit. 

Trail and Error. Sorry I can't be more help.

The biggest issue in WvW is control - burst isn't as important because you will very rarely find a 1vs1 fight - so being able to burst someone down is not viable.

You have to have defenses so you don't get focused down in a second by 2-3 players, and you have to have control to CC and harrass and move the battlefield - direct it to your advantage.

There is very little room for glass cannons in WvW.

If you are concerned mostly with "blowing people up" i.e. getting the quick kill, you are probably not going to do well in WvW except for a few very specific circumstances.

Even the PvE aspects of WvW - the mobs hit HARD and they swarm you - you cannot out burst damage the damage they'll be dealing to you.

The party/group/zerg with more control and more support will win 99% of the time.

Yesterday in Stress test we had a probably 8 vs 20 in WvW and the 8 of us held a tunnel, killed many of the 20, and forced their retreat using superior support/control and focused fire.

Totally a mini-300 moment. Was so much fun.

So yeah, pick whatever Profession you WANT to play that is good for control/support and you will greatly enjoy WvW.

My 2 cents...

These are just my random thoughts and opinions...

For Engineer, I didn't care much for having to micro-manage turrets so I ignored them totally (except med turret occasionally).  I had a lot more fun and was more effective using kits and elixirs.

For Guardian, I know a lot of people excel with Guardian in PvP but I just can't get past not having an effective ranged attack option.  I can only imagine how tough that would be in WvWvW.

Ranger seems the most well rounded profession (ranged damage, melee damage, support builds, condition builds, direct damage builds, etc).

Warrior and Thief I don't like because they have yet another resource to worry about (Adrenaline/Initiative).

Guardian is awesome. they got tankiness, CC, great melee damage that rivals warrior, awesome group support skills. I dont know how good their ranged is though.

As of now, i believe thief is a bit gimped compared to other classes. they seem to be way to squishy for my tastes. however, arenanet is VERY diligent about balancing classes, so it will be balanced pretty quickly.

warrior is a strong choice at the moment in terms of pvp in general(ranged and melee combo is pretty good), maybe slightly too strong, might get toned down a bit.

ranger is a pretty safe bet I would say, but obviously in order to get the maximum out of this class you need to micromanage your pet during PVP and figure out which one works the best for you.

as a personal choice, i absolutely LOVE engineer because of its awesome utility. they can do whatever they want in the battlefield and do really well at it (CC, damage, support). they are also pretty good at blocking damage and escaping. compared to other classes, a drastic amount of their power comes from their utility slot skills and figuring out how to micromanage them (ex. turrets not only do damage, they can be powered up every so often to do CC moves, you can explode them to damage near the enemy. toolbelts not only give you a new set of skills but an extra skill you can use when you are using the toolbelt with your regular weapon)

just my 2 cents after playing most of these classes and reading some stuff on the class forums. however, keep in mind that this is just personal opinion on BWE and is most probably going to see change at launch or within the first few weeks.

Guardian is pretty much the best profession in WvWvW and SPvP right now.  Rangers are a bit overpowered too, but not nearly as much as a Guardian.

Yes, you lack some solid ranged options, but no other class can run in and knock people off siege like a Guardian can.  A few Guardians and you can zone an entire team out of siege, while simulatenously providing fantastic support and healing and being very hard to kill, even with loads of people focus firing you.  Expect some nerfs coming to various Guardian abilities like the Spirit Hammer.

Ranged is not as important as people make it out to be in WvWvW.  Melee rushes are much more powerful than using ranged weapons.  Siege is for ranged damage, mainly Ballista and Arrow Carts on infantry.  Proper placement of siege leaves you uneffected by ranged weapons (other than siege) anyway.

As for your other picks:

Ranger - Best 1v1 class for SPvP right now.  Great sustained damage from ranged (only weaker than a Warrior pounding on a static target in melee), support, and healing.  Can kite well, keeping brute force classes like Warrior at bay.  Their also quite tanky from just base stats, making them good candidates to maintain vulnerable siege equipment.

Thief - In WvWvW they can serve as scouts (not really due to stealth, but due to their fantastic escape).  They lack defense to be pure skirmishers though and aren't quite as useful in larger scale WvWvW battles.  In SPvP they can do pretty well as a quick roamer.

Engineer - Engineers provide great support and can hunker down really well in WvWvW making them one of the best professions to manage siege equipment.  They are a very well rounded class in SPvP and hard to kill too.

Warrior - Shock troopers.   Adding Warriors to straight up rushes is great.  They can skirmish really well too.  Their ranged options aren't bad either.  Lots of control.  Some of the highest sustained (and burst) damage in the game.  Fantastic all around.  Great in a 3 man point capturing team in SPvP.

I love all the classes. Every time I play a new one I fall in love with it and think its the best, until I play the next class, then, same thing all over.

The Guardian really does well. Ranged weapons are a bit on the shy side, but the sceptor/shield combo works well.

Originally posted by AzurePrower

Alright. Looking at the various classes, I'm trying to decide what to play.

I'm wondering what perks do the classes have and what they bring to the table for PVP mostly.

Below are the classes I'm tossing up with.

Likely: Guardian, Thief and Ranger.

Maybes: Engineer and Warrior.

Not making at all: Mesmer, Elemental and Necromancer. (I'm a terrible caster and hated casting as an Elemental in Guild Wars)

 

Some questions I have is, does thief only have a limited stealth function? What's its perk/role?

Yes, very limited stealth, thank god. Perma stealth is so overrated as a mechanic

Guardian is just bubbles and healing?

Guardian is about as close as you are going to get to a tank. With the correct skills and perks, a Guardian can hold a capture point against 2 or 3 opponents until backup arrives. A Guardian Spec'ed this way wont be able to do much damage though, so whilst you can hold the point, you wont be getting many PKs

Ranger is quite obvious.

Indeed it is, however take a look at some of the melee ranger vids, esp greatsword ranger. You will be surprised!

Warrior is obvious.

Indeed it is, however take some look at some of the rifle warrior vids, you will be surprised. I intent to play a rifle warrior at launch

Engineer is mostly for defensive turrets?

Engineer has a massive amount of tricks and gadgets at their disposal. I think it will turn out to be one of the most versatile classes once people figure out its potential. Just take a look at this vid. Its crazy the amount of different things an engi can do 

No mention of the elementalist in WvW?

Wield a staff and aoe the masses from just behind the front lines ftw!

I'm not a huge fan of sPvP, so most of my impressions are from WvW. I played 3 classes in WvW thief, warrior and necromancer.

When I played on my thief I found myself switching to mostly a supporting role. Although I was capable of dishing out decent DPS, I found that in mass PvP, I had some decent support tools to help my side. For example, the enemy server took over a resource point and the only way to get in was through a gate. However, the enemies had a ballista aimed square at the gate and ballistas hurt, man, let me tell you. So anyway, I had an AoE stealth which, while lasting only a few seconds, allowed me and a group of other players to sneak past the killzone and flank the enemies, distracting them long enough for the rest of our guys to steamroll through.

I found that 1v1, certain classes tended to outlast my burst, after which I was useless since I had no innitiative and had to rely on auto attack for DPS. I'm not sure if it's because I sucked as a thief or maybe it was because I joined WvW at level 10 and didn't have any traits. Or maybe it was a combination of those things but I'll tell you one thing though, I am not a huge fan of innitiative and how your character completely defenseless if you don't have any.

As a warrior, I found myself in a mostly DPS oriented role. I was also really good at catching stragglers as not only did I have a cripple skill with rifle but I also had a charge skill with 2h sword and a charge and knockdown utility skill. For general DPS in WvW, warrior is the way to go, in my opinion.

As a necromancer, I was decent at DPS but the class didn't really shine in any way for me. Ranged staff DPS was harder because all of it is AoE and as such displays those AoE circles on the ground so enemies would just avoid them. Axe + horn did put out some very decent DPS but it's shorter range than staff meaning that you can't really defend keeps with it. All-in-all, the class was just decent. It didn't have anything that really stood out for me, except that I'm not a huge fan of AoE only staff skills. With that said, staff is really good in PvE.

Originally posted by BadSpock

The biggest issue in WvW is control - burst isn't as important because you will very rarely find a 1vs1 fight - so being able to burst someone down is not viable.

You have to have defenses so you don't get focused down in a second by 2-3 players, and you have to have control to CC and harrass and move the battlefield - direct it to your advantage.

There is very little room for glass cannons in WvW.

If you are concerned mostly with "blowing people up" i.e. getting the quick kill, you are probably not going to do well in WvW except for a few very specific circumstances.

Even the PvE aspects of WvW - the mobs hit HARD and they swarm you - you cannot out burst damage the damage they'll be dealing to you.

The party/group/zerg with more control and more support will win 99% of the time.

Yesterday in Stress test we had a probably 8 vs 20 in WvW and the 8 of us held a tunnel, killed many of the 20, and forced their retreat using superior support/control and focused fire.

Totally a mini-300 moment. Was so much fun.

So yeah, pick whatever Profession you WANT to play that is good for control/support and you will greatly enjoy WvW.

My 2 cents...

You will also need some burst damage in WvWvW, its all about the damage, If everyone in your group is specialised in CC and support, you will be needed big time with your burst DPS.  WvWvW is all about group ballance, you need it all.

And to the OP, there is no such thing as best class, there even isnt such thing as best builds, there is only good and great builds, and that totally depends on players prefference.

Originally posted by Sixpax

These are just my random thoughts and opinions...

For Engineer, I didn't care much for having to micro-manage turrets so I ignored them totally (except med turret occasionally).  I had a lot more fun and was more effective using kits and elixirs.

For Guardian, I know a lot of people excel with Guardian in PvP but I just can't get past not having an effective ranged attack option.  I can only imagine how tough that would be in WvWvW.

Ranger seems the most well rounded profession (ranged damage, melee damage, support builds, condition builds, direct damage builds, etc).

Warrior and Thief I don't like because they have yet another resource to worry about (Adrenaline/Initiative).

Just wanted to say that for Thieves, Initiative does require resource management, though it refils pretty quickly. (Initiiative is more a way to allow/limit burst skills than a traditional resource pool). For Warriors, however, Adrenaline is just a bonus resource and fuels your F1 Skill only. You don't have to worry about Adrenaline levels for your general skill use.

Warrior will probably be my primary WvWvW profession during the first month. I actually prefer Warrior Longbow and Rifle over the Ranger Longbow/Shortbow for ranged combat.

Staff elementalist in WvW OP.

79% crit chance from the signet of fire with starting gear.

i will keep it for myself now... but... if they wont make any significant weapons/skills changes till release.... there is certain skill combo or rather few builds for "tank" necromancer.... you will see how OP is this class in PVP :P

Originally posted by marganculos

i will keep it for myself now... but... if they wont make any significant weapons/skills changes till release.... there is certain skill combo or rather few builds for tank necromancer.... you will see how OP is this class in PVP :P

yeah necro im sure will get a nurf they are the most OP class in Spvp currently and there was plenty of cry threads about them on the official forums before closing. Taking 4 players to kill one necro in spvp if the necro knew how to play was pretty ridiculous.

To the OP there is no class that excels over the rest right now except like mentioned necros but that is only to really skills players and doubt its going to last.

Ive seen two eles stack lava font and switch to healing and kill 5 players before , Ive seen skill guardians dismantle people with greatswords etc. There is strengths and weaknesses to all the classes.

Originally posted by gessekai332

Guardian is awesome. they got tankiness, CC, great melee damage that rivals warrior, awesome group support skills. I dont know how good their ranged is though.

 

As of now, i believe thief is a bit gimped compared to other classes. they seem to be way to squishy for my tastes. however, arenanet is VERY diligent about balancing classes, so it will be balanced pretty quickly.

 

warrior is a strong choice at the moment in terms of pvp in general(ranged and melee combo is pretty good), maybe slightly too strong, might get toned down a bit.

 

ranger is a pretty safe bet I would say, but obviously in order to get the maximum out of this class you need to micromanage your pet during PVP and figure out which one works the best for you.

 

as a personal choice, i absolutely LOVE engineer because of its awesome utility. they can do whatever they want in the battlefield and do really well at it (CC, damage, support). they are also pretty good at blocking damage and escaping. compared to other classes, a drastic amount of their power comes from their utility slot skills and figuring out how to micromanage them (ex. turrets not only do damage, they can be powered up every so often to do CC moves, you can explode them to damage near the enemy. toolbelts not only give you a new set of skills but an extra skill you can use when you are using the toolbelt with your regular weapon)

 

just my 2 cents after playing most of these classes and reading some stuff on the class forums. however, keep in mind that this is just personal opinion on BWE and is most probably going to see change at launch or within the first few weeks.

I pretty much have to agree with the above.

I found the Ranger awesome with bow and dual weilding sword combo.  The pets need work though.

All of the other classes mentioned above I agree with. You play one class, love it. Go try another class, love it too. Really confuses you which one to play-

Originally posted by AzurePrower

Alright. Looking at the various classes, I'm trying to decide what to play.

I'm wondering what perks do the classes have and what they bring to the table for PVP mostly.

Below are the classes I'm tossing up with.

Likely: Guardian, Thief and Ranger.

Maybes: Engineer and Warrior.

Not making at all: Mesmer, Elemental and Necromancer. (I'm a terrible caster and hated casting as an Elemental in Guild Wars)

 

Some questions I have is, does thief only have a limited stealth function? What's its perk/role?

Guardian is just bubbles and healing?

Ranger is quite obvious.

Warrior is obvious.

Engineer is mostly for defensive turrets?

The thieves stealth function is somewhat limited. In other words, there is no permanant stealth as you would find in other games. There are ways however to spec yourself in order stealth more frequently. it was far more commonly used previously as stealth builds were rather OP in earlier builds of the game. If you knew what you were doing, could 2-3 shot people. People still use steatlh builds, but it isn't as widespread from what I've seen from the beta weekends. It's main role in my opinion was mainly to help close the gap when you're using melee weapons, disorient your opponents, or allow you to use stealth abilities such as backstab.

Currently, in PvE we're fine, though some improvements would be nice on certain abilities. In PvP, we're underpowered when it comes to certain specs. However, I'm not worried about it as ANet is fairly good when it comes to balance. In WvW, I mainly used condition builds. As I'm fairly squishy, I can easily get focused down in mere moments. So instead, I use gorilla warfare. I'd shadowstep in, apply bleeds death blossom along with caltraps, then shadowstep out. While waiting for cooldowns, I use my shortbow. 

Anyways, there is no best class. There is generally a counter of some sorts for whatever build your running. For example, if I'm using a condition based build, I avoid necros like the plaque. Simply choose a class that appeals to you and roll with it.