What is the class ratio like at level 80

[zaradann]

There are times when folks do group in gw2 for exploration, story lines etc. At least I see folks asking for more. What are the group makeups like most often? Maybe 5 hunters and a guard? Or maybe 3 hunters and 3 warriors? Is there any, "would like to have this class in group" chars or is gw2 setup so a group of 6 guardians works as well as a balanced group. I have wanted to play an engineer since before the game came out.

A person posted on gw2guru that

Warrior > Ranger > Thief > Guardian > Ele/Engineer > Necro/Mesmer
is what I would guess is closer.

He felt this was a close idea of class dps and I am inclined to agree only because my engineer gets killed very easy compared to my ranger of same level. I guess what I am asking is, does it matter at the top of the game for classes. Are there favored group makeups or is it simply find 6 slobs and lets do this. I really don't want to fight my engineer all the way to 80 and find I could have played an easier class and been just fine.

[MMOJumper]

That seems about right from what I've seen just casually looking at people i see loitering in Lion's Arch and in WvW.

The balance in my guild is a bit different though. The classes we have the most of at 80 are Warriors and Mesmers, followed closely by the rest.

[bokiz333]

A person posted on gw2guru that

Warrior > Ranger > Thief > Guardian > Ele/Engineer > Necro/Mesmer
is what I would guess is closer.

.

Is this for dungeons only? Because for WvW and PvP this list is ridiculous. For PVE there is no point of a list anyway. I dont run dungeons but one would hope that you'd want some synergy so running 6 of one or 3/3 sounds like a really suboptimal way to form a group. Not sayign that people can't or wont do it, but to specifically TRY to form a group like that seems misguided imo.

[zaradann]

Mainly just trying to decide if it's worth trying to force my engineer to 80. The death to leveling ratio is just getting too damn high. That's why I thought engineer would be fun compared to the standard old classes.

[bokiz333]

Mainly just trying to decide if it's worth trying to force my engineer to 80. The death to leveling ratio is just getting too damn high. That's why I thought engineer would be fun compared to the standard old classes.

I know I'm asking alot of questions but where are you dying and why? If it's in PVE, then you might need to l2p. If it's dungeons, are you underlevel, undergeared, maybe running a suboptioinal build/weapon choice? If its WvW, the upleveling will not help that much against true 80's, you will die alot.


Do you enjoy the engineed gameplay? I've tried necro, thief, warrior, mesmer and elementalist. And I only really ENJOY the elementalist play style so I play with that character and love it. If you're lvl 60, and die and hate it, you'll not magically be great at 80. If you're lvl 8, you'll figure it out along the way eventually.

So I would suggest taking a week or two and reading class specific forums while you're making (and deleting if needed) alts, taking them to the mysts and then trying out all their skills and traits and the game play. To really understand a class you need days if not weeks to do it. The only person that can answer "is it worth leveling a particular character" is you.

[zaradann]

Well I am dieing a lot due to low hit points really. The way the game mechanics are, you mentor down automatically whatever area you are in so no amount of up to level gear helps there. I have tried several builds from the top rated ones and I know that the flameo dps build is really bad for leveling since you lose your healing kits. For me its all pve. I hate pvp and will not do it. I have done all the newbie areas and moved into the 15-25 area with my toon at 32.

I feel that the game was aimed at group events in everything. From many of the skill events to heart, escort, spontaneous and others. The mobs health, mitigation and dps are aimed at having 2-6 chars at the same time in the same place. As an engineer I auto atk, use the rest of the skills as soon as they pop up. Use a health potion and decide if I need to try and run instead. Three mobs on me or a veteran combo and theres a good chance I can't survive the hits.

It's different in games like eq2, wow, others where you still have trouble with groups, but the encounters are built for soloing, group encounters built for group. I can handle a group of 3 in other games much better then here. I have read specific forums and they are the same discussions as in any other mmo, same mechanics really. If by mysts you mean the newbie areas, cleared them all. I just see folks saying they are on their 3rd or 4th toon to 80 and I wonder, how in god's name are they screaming through the content so fast they are leveling more?

[Ruse]

You can always put more vitality/toughness on your gear to up your survivability. But no, if you don't enjoy it there's no class in the game where people are like, "GLF engineer" or whatever.

Are you dodging? Moving? While there have been a handful of events that are a bit tough for solo players, you shouldn't be struggling that hard all the time.

[Vayne]

First of all, I have a level 80 Engineer, that I play extensively. There are really 2 questions here.

Engineers should always be welcome in any party, because they're massively useful if played right. They can play support, they can do good damage, and they can do some healing/control. They're a versatile and much in demand profession in many aspects of the game, not just PVe.

I don't die often as an engineer, except in some dungeons, and a lot of that is simply player skill. Mind you I've seen lots of people die in dungeons of all professions. Probably why they're dungeons.

Here are a couple of simple survival tips that I've found help.

The rifle is better for control and better against most single targets. However it moves you around a lot and may not be good in areas with a high density of creatures, because you'll end up aggroing more than you intended. A pistol/shield is more survivable.

The bomb kit on land is a PBAOE skill set that will allow you to stand up against almost all normal mobs and even most veterans even without moving (at least on land). Basically you stand there and hit the 4 skill then the 3 then the 2 than spam 1, until everything you've aggroed is dead. It works quite well, even in Orr.

Underwater, the grenade kit is a must, and unlike on land it allows you to target creatures directly.

Don't depend heavily on turrets if you're going up against champions. They'll often one shot your turrets.

Elixir guns are great support for dungeons or group efforts.

As already suggested by Ruse, put some points in toughness and vitality, don't try to be a glass cannon, You need to survive long enough to do damage.

Seriously though, I can easily kill 5-6 mobs at level with the bomb kit without dying, so you shouldn't have a survivability issue. Make sure your armor and jewelry are both level appropriate though.

I can't think of anything else off hand, but I can say engines are quite useful in group play and quite survivable when played correctly.

The only place I ever have any problem at all is in Orr, if I'm soloing and that's only if I'm not really paying attention.

[zaradann]

The bomb kit on land is a PBAOE skill set that will allow you to stand up against almost all normal mobs and even most veterans even without moving (at least on land). Basically you stand there and hit the 4 skill then the 3 then the 2 than spam 1, until everything you've aggroed is dead. It works quite well, even in Orr.

Do you have a posted build you use? There are so many and all set for lvl 80. I am really unable to "test" builds as there are so many variables it's like me trying to invent the wheel. When others already have. Much easier for me to use what works rather than something a fps expert finds fun to use.

[Vayne]

Do you have a posted build you use? There are so many and all set for lvl 80. I am really unable to "test" builds as there are so many variables it's like me trying to invent the wheel. When others already have. Much easier for me to use what works rather than something a fps expert finds fun to use.

I can't log into GW at the moment, but I can post my build later...but it's no pro build. I just built around what I find fun. For example,. I drop a timed bomb each time I dodge, because I like dodging. Even if I don't have to, I like to. So I drop these explosives all the time.

Generally, in every profession, I look at my play styles and then what minor and major traits fit it. That usually works just fine for me.