Starting to notice a pattern. The most popular specs usually have a pretty straight forward rotation. Looks like not many people like to have a 20 button rotation when chilling in a video game.
its better to be 30k dps with simple rotation than 40k dps playing the keyboard like a piano and being glued to skill the bar. these first 15 seconds during raid/strike when difficult rotation boys can shine dont matter that much in the context of the entire fight.
As in the video mention. Who would have fun spending attention on a dozen of buttons and pay attention to boss mechanics. One fail in rotation or get smacked by a boss mechanic and all the dps you would be ahead when you play optimal is gone.
thats arenanet failure on balancing part, when their poster child class has easy and forgivin gameplay and does even more damage than other skill heavy class
I play video games for fun not adding my level of stress and anxiety with complex rotation. So i chose the simplest easy to play elite spec like Scourge, Harbringer, Virtuoso or Herald
to be fair, the more mechanically invested you are in thief, overall the better you do. (in general) if I had to pick a single profession that required the most focus it would 100% be thief
I think that the reason for virtuoso dominating mesmer specs is simple - it removes your dependability on clones staying alive. Not only can enemy attacks kill them, meaning you have to play a rather nasty game of trying to sync up your skill cast order to skill animations to get three clones for every shatter, going out of combat kills the clones too. Virtuoso has... none of that, the blades stay on you until you use them.
Coming from me as a mesmer, I think virtuoso is the least fun spec since it essentially erases mesmers design and playstyle in favor of it just being another "press f1 off cooldown" spec. My favorite is chronomancer, it feels like it emphasizes the core specs phantasm and shattering style but speeds it up dramatically and allows you to create a massive army of clones and phantasms the entire time you play. It feels really great to be able to give yourself perma quickness+alacrity OR double your phantasm summons by the click of a button on the grandmaster traits too.
Same take on Virt. Ironic because i started playing mesmer because of it and got dissappointed. My fav is Mirage and i agree with your take on Chrono. For me Chorno is to power Mesmer what Mirage is for condi Mesmer, a very cool upgrade that emphazises an aspect we love about the class.
Many mesmers jumped ship with Virt. Plus Virt is braindead simple compared to mirage and Chrono while doing more damage. Mirage is still nerfed and other supports surpassed chrono as well. Thus the class becomes lopesided towards Virt even if it isnt fun. Ive always hated playing petless rangers in MMOs and virt is a style change from what core mesmer promised.
@@DoamBot I am one of those mesmers who immediately jumped ships to Virtuoso. I am on the other end of spectrum that is having a hard time to maximize DPS on either chronomancer or mirage. I think I can decently play condition mirage, but I can't just properly execute continuum split of the chronomancer in a DPS rotation.
@@DoamBot By a metric ton. Chrono can come close, but Mirage is laughable right now. But hey, you can have the excitement of soloing Legendary bounties on Mirage! The excitement coming from whether or not the timer runs out on your unkillable 10k dps ass.
What i can see on this list is that people don't like complicated / complex builds that require phd to play. I love holosmith visually but it requres 1 set of weapond grenade kit bomb kit and flamethrower for opltimal dps rotation while my mechanist to achieve 80% od holos dps needs to spam 3 buttons. Scourge dps needs twice apms of reaper so instead of spamming my keys like mad lad i can just chill ald use maybe 7 buttons. Arena net needs to take dmg from some of skills and put them into others so rotations can be simplified and skills that lost dmg can be used for utility.
Of course that's the case, because everyone wants to turn on the game, have fun, and not learn 30-step rotation It is enough to think logically and that makes sense
Well if you want to do benchmark reaper is quite spammy too and compared to scourge also hard to play because of its strict rotation and the possebility to be kicked out of shroud which makes you lose almost all your dps. In comparsion scourge has a few buttons more to press but is way more forgiving if you make mistakes and doesnt even has a rotation but a priority/ some combos. So I agree the low intensity reaper build has stupid dmg for what the player has to do just like any other low intensity build but I wanna point out that Reaper isnt that brainless noob spec that everyone makes fun of.
I feel this way on my weaver. I could run the 'weave self' rotation for an extra 4k dps, or I could just swap back and forth between air and fire and drop 39k.
@@petergabbelPLayDude... Scourge is waaaaaay harder than Reaper by a far margin. When u enter shroud, ALL It do is give u another repeatable abilities in the same five keys u already know. With scourge u have five new buttons, every one of them for a totally different purpose, and u have to be very aware of positioning and timing with the sand shades. And scourge also don't have the shroud extra health that even core necros have. Reaper actually is the easiest of Necros specs.
@@boutch1993 if you think so thats fine. No need to feel attacked by what I said or making a competition on what is harder to play... I think it matters more what you enjoy and suits you the best. But I wanna add smth to your points: Scourge had traits where you get dmg modifiers for each shade on the field which made it really spammy to upkeep 3 shades. In addition the f... abbilities from scourge are also used off cd, exspecially in the dps build and also in the heal build to upkeep boons. with one exception being the old healscourge where you would hold on the fear to teleport dead bodies to you. I dont really see the point of shade placement since most bosses doesnt move that much and adds usually walk towards it in a straight line. I think you missunderstood me because I didnt start a competition whatsoever. I was just pointing out that Reaper isnt as easy as it seems when it comes to endgame content compared to open world. If you feel/think scourge is harder for you then thats reasonable and true but at the same time what I say can also be true because its an subjective choice to make
Chrono is still a bit better when the boss likes to move around or has a lot of anti-melee mechanics. It also has Aegis, something that Herald can only dream of.
@@sanguin3 I'm really referring to Herald spec as it relates to Revenant. Herald is overwhelmingly the elite spec chosen due to the reasons I originally stated. As for popularity of the class, I would say Revenant is on the lower end due to it being the class that was added in a later expansion. I agree, Chrono has things revenant doesn't, specifically aegis but Herald is the king of boons so very few class can really compete in this area.
@@regwattfunkylist Also to note I dont find the Herald as "Easy" as he says it is. For example: The rotation for QDPS is rather fast and takes some getting used to. There is also quite some depth to be pulled from what each skill does. Granted professions like elementalist can go way beyond this, but I dont feel he Herald justice.
@@NilsPeters-e8w Eh idk I agree with his assessment of Herald. It is very easy to play. The skills are all aura based abilities that you leave on for a bit, then you click them off. The deactivating effects aren't complex and generally just buff the Herald even more. The rotation is easy to grasp and is honestly just muscle memory, which isn't a display of skill or complexity, just how much practice you put in.
To me personally weaver is ascended elementalist. I'm a huge sucker for magic blade users and the idea of combining various elements into multihitting attacks is just top of the game. I also like that weaver feels the most arcane out of all elementalist builds.
@@KokoKrunchsBattlemages are my favorite way to play Mages. dont mind the classic big damage glass cannon, but slinging the elements in enemies faces is awesome. Wish we could wear heavy armor!
I wish Ele got Necros Shroud for one of it's elites. Tempest is close I guess with the Overloads, but being able to go into a Shroud of an element, get 5 new abilities and just basically become an Avatar of that Element would be so epic.
still think the staff mirage is the best. aside from some specific boss mechanics, it basically can't be beaten w/ nearly infinite evades + clones + dots.
I'm still very new to the game, so going through the phase of which class to main like every other good nooby. One thing I noticed watching your video is, that there seems to be a theme for all popular professions. They are streamlined (feels like you are steamrolling via button mashing), not too complicated, do damage, are mobile. In the first halve of the video I almost got the feeling that the shown professions play the same, just with a different kind of color as their primary skill effect. As an ArenaNet profession designer, I would take a very hard and long look at your video. Or maybe they succeeded with what they intended to do? Is the profession/elite spec diversity just the primary means for player retention? Most players seem to think alike, so the popular professions aren't too surprising, and in the end, you end up playing almost the same way, no matter which profession you chose, gameplay mechanically speaking. I think the mechanist was most badass in your video, so I'll keep leveling my engineer! Thanks for sharing!
The quick answer. Yes. So as you will find playing all the weapons, they each have similar attacks, usually a jump/dash, a snare, and an aoe for most melee weapons. Ranged usually have a condition dmg, a snare, and an escape ability. So just based on the weapons the professions(classes) will play similar if they are using similar weapons. All in all tho the timing of your abilities, profession specific abilities and boons, keep each profession feeling unique enough that it really is just how you feel playing a certain one.
I'd say the Soul beast actually complicates the pet swapping etc. It brings more to the whole flow just like untamed. It's nice to skip the pet but it still adds more to function of the class.
The problem is, going in and out of merge has such a long cooldown it makes the traits not fun to keep up with. Swapping pets while merged is cool, but it would be better if swapping pets while merged un-merged and re-emerged quickly to benefit from those trait lines.
@@CaffeinatedDadit really does! It's basically "Warrior +" and i love it for it! Instead of hitting F1 once in a blue moon, you can hit it off cooldown And you can headbutt people, that's always a fan favorite 😀
I personally think that the Scourge is not only easier to play but is also friendlier than other Necro specs for newbies. Condi Scourge is damn near unkillable in open world
I think Reaper's second health bar is hard to beat. Also condi/hybrid reaper is pretty crazy right now. Its ridiculously strong with dagger/torch for life steal or scepter/torch for some range. Fire, bleed, and freeze all compliment each other really well with reaper. With the aoes from staff secondary, you have options for any fight.
I do not enjoy condi scourge in open world simply by the fact it does not have quickness and feels super sluggish having to face roll through all of its skills.. it feels like I never have time to auto attack without quickness because there is always at least 1 off cooldown. Reaper has self quickness and power damage so it feels a lot more dynamic.
I have been doing the Condi Reaper with Pistol/Dagger and Scepter/Torch and just feel unstoppable. I used to do Scourge but after the reduced Sand Shade Duration I do not like having to cast it like every 4 secs, and I dont like Harbi because of your Reduced HP as you become Stronger, so Reaper it is.
@@mrseebs6148I faced a reaper in spvp and dam it did so much damage to my mechanist. 1900 toughness did almost nothing to keep me alive vs couple of his skills and even though I used blocks and dodges the moment I got hit was pretty much over immediately :D. Like I think axe 2 just 1 shot me from 50% health. Definitely hope we get some all around dmg nerfs soon to pvp. Now its just who press 1-2 buttons first wins unless you manage to block it and throw your 2 buttons through :D
For Herald I think there’s better reasons for it’s popularity. For instance, Glint stance is just really good. Great elite skill, amazing heal skill, and just boons galore without much effort. Addressing what you said about the greatsword, while dps herald is really good right now, quickness herald is the reason it’s so OP at the moment, not the % damage trait, vindicator has % modifiers like that too which are better.
@drios8809 based on his decision or rather his take of the builds and he is being criticized and told how to implement phrases and being judged by a viewer for a opinion not of his own but rather the community that came to this conclusion and I’m just saying that his input wasn’t necessarily needed as if he was rudely implying this information
I wholeheartedly agree with your observation. Shared quickness in open world is a luxury every class appreciates most. And the Herald's ease of providing it, as well as other beneficial boons, while pumping out decent damage and survivability, easily makes it a favorite.
When they changed Berserker's greatsword rage spin skill I utterly just hated the class. It's still fun with other weapons and still nice with greatsword, but the big spin beyblade move was my favorite. And they took it away. Utterly furious.
Personally, I run Mirage with Greatsword//Dagger/focus. It's not a powerhouse, but i enjoy it. I like that the dagger ambush, like the sword ambush hits defiance for a 100 pts, and if traited, your 3 dagger clones will get that ability too. But, unlike the sword, you can do that 400 pt defiance strip from 1200 feet away.
my favorites are thief and revenant cause I feel a lot of other classes often comes down to "keep everything on cooldown, except the stuff that is worth less than your auto attack". I know it's not 100% true, but even though I can play weaver and engineer pretty well, I've always just preferred fewer skills used correctly with a good feel, rather than fast paced piano. Biggest gripe I've always had is probably the hidden cooldowns. Would love an option to show a bar of abilities on cooldown that isn't currently shown, like on weaponswap/kits/legends/elemental stances. I'd honestly like it if they changed it up more, gave more depth to some of the archetypes and more choice in using abilities rather than "can only click one thing at a time and this one is the best available at this time". Maybe I've just gotten jaded on the fastpaced whack-a-mole feeling I get from most builds, I find myself getting no enjoyment from them but just get tired. So am sticking to thief/rev for now.
True, a big problem I have with most builds is spamminess. Spam all the buttons super fast and win. I like the calculated usage of skills for thief and revenant and of course the aestetic of both. It's great fun!
@boutch1993 I can't say for pvp but it is very good in pve content. Your big damage is celestial avatar skill 5, while that is channeling you can use skill 2
DD Condi Deadeye is probably the best open world spec in the game as of the most recent patch. Been maining it for a while. I'm shocked it's not higher up.
Necromancer is my main and has been since 2012, I still absolutely adore Reaper's flavor, the whole becoming death thing. Gameplay wise I love it in fractals where I can Spectral Grasp + "Chilled to the Bone!" + shroud 4 and watch adds absolutely melt.
On mesmer Mirage I think would give Virtuoso a run for it's money when equally balanced. Like this poll a year or two ago might have had mirage at the top. I think it is the most fun spec. The confusion nerf dumpstered the Alac dual staff mirage build that was a nice low intensity defensive build that still did mid range damage. The staff/axe mirage still has 40k+ damage, but a hard rotation to pull off and no longer provides any Alac with Alac moved to specific trait that axe losses DPS to take.
These are without a miss just the lowest effort power dps to run around in open world with. FB is the only condi exception of course, as most people rather play another class than go WB or DH.
As a berserker warrior, I tried getting into the other specs, but they really weren't cutting it for me. I mainly do PvE so Spellbreaker's boon removal feels terrible. And the fact that I can't customize the gunsaber to match my outfit means Bladesworn feels awful also. Berserker is not only simpler, but you also feel more freedom since you aren't forced to play the very specific mechanics of the spec.
I know I’m a year late, video just randomly popped up but Specter is so underrated. Thief is my least played spec in 12 years of playing, but it could be my favorite playstyle in the game.
Once we get a few new weapons per class, and they really get the Weapon Master Training dialed in, we're going to be in a really good place. For the time being... Yeah, these specs are going to keep showing up all over the world.
I have played Mesmer on and off and I like all of the specs that they have. Personally I love Virtuoso (way more than I thought I would when they were announced) and I think it's an absolutely cool take on the Mesmer with the phantasmal blades, and it takes one of the more complicated mechanics and makes it simpler. It also allows a completely ranged Mesmer which I think is something that is pretty desirable from an aesthetic perspective (they are a light armoured mage after all). Mirage is a spec that I adore and I'm always sad to see when their impact is low, and currently their impact is pretty low and you can get everything you need to do on Virtuoso, so why take Mirage, however I love the playstyle it's just complicated. Chronomancer is in my opinion a complete missed opportunity and always has been, and that makes me so sad. When you think of "Chronomancer" you think "Time Mage" however since it's release in HoT it's almost exclusively been relegated to power DPS with S/S which feels essentially opposite to the theme of the time mage, in addition to that it's basically been a 'tank' for the entirety of the game, with a complicated rotation, which I think really hampers its playability in most content. Arenanet really did the concept of a Chronomancer dirty and I'll never forgive them for it. :(
Mirage has kinda fallen off compared to virt for sure. Love the theme of it, I like it when it's in a good spot balance wise, but as is it feels like it's just not as good. I want it to come back and have an excuse to use my Astralaria on it though.
@@mrseebs6148 for harbinger, i use carrion stats most of the time and it helps increasing the hp a lot, so i dont suffer too much with the blight mechanic.
harbinger single target damage is pretty wild in form, pop the swiftness/quickness pot then go in the harbinger form and watch elites melt with just the 1 skill.
I main mesmer and I play actually power mirage unless I'm doing organized content. Power Mirage is enough to burst kill most monsters and tags effortlessly and safely in mass content. It is my favorite open world spec by far.
I played Weaver at first, then got addicted to Mesmer, played Chrono and Mirage, and I loved Mirage in most game modes. Then a balance patch came in, killed Mirage by taking it's second dodge as a way to "balance" the class. Oh it certainly balanced it alright, by making it feel awful to play in PvP and I quit because I couldn't deal with it. Then EoD released, bringing Virtuoso, a spec that took me a while to master because you do have to learn how to play without clones, something Mesmer has you relying on constantly to add to your survivability. But damn did Virt flow well. And now im a Virt main, condi virt is my love and was the first class I got full ascended on. Willbender is fun, so I do play that on the side, and mostly in PvP, but its not as comfy as Virt is
Elementalist main here. I guessed every single one of these right EXCEPT for Catalyst 😂 I see more Tempests (myself included) than Catalysts, and I always thought Tempests were the simpler class to learn when it comes to utility. The Jade Sphere always felt really awkward to manage for boon upkeep as opposed to attuning to water but wetter lol. This was really interesting to see!
Hey Caffienated! Just wanted to say thanks for being such a positive member of the GW2 community! Understandable why mainy of the elite specs are popular as they are very strong and relatively simple to play. Having classes that allow more new players to get into the game is a great thing!
Catalyst being top is surprising. Personally, Catalyst feel almost too much like weaver to me especially when using hammer. Very piano smashing playstyle whereas tempest you have overload which offer much needed break from the constant button mashing.
The reason I play Soulbeast is because it's the ONLY way to remove the pet in combat! This is a feature I wanted to see since day one of playing Guild Wars 2, the ability to 'hide' the pet while in combat. I love playing a ranged archer in games, and that is what a Ranger should be! You don't make a 'stealth' character and expect to play as an Archer. With that in mind, I created a Ranger to play at range using bow and arrow. Unfortunately, since release, there have been Z E R O, that's right zero, new ranged projectile weapons for ranger! The Thief can use more projectile weapons than the Ranger, something is up here. Why is Ranger constantly railroaded into melee? It's so disappointing, that I abandoned my Ranger. :( The closest similar playstyle for me is Virtuoso.
Agreed! Ranger isn't your traditional archer nor do I think it was ever intended to. However when I play something with "range" in the name I have a self imposed expectation
Lol! I've been saying the same thing about thief and how it is more ranger than the actual ranger class. All I wanted was to play dual sword or greatsword thief in pve....
yeah... every time I see a thief is a specter and the only times in the past I saw a deadeye it was a rifle only build. Oh right there was this 1 time I saw a quickness deadeye doing the highest DPS in fractal, but of course the devs nerfed that in 1 week.
@@CaffeinatedDad I understand where the contrls are located but don't know how to set em as a combination key like yours or is that not allowed? Might be a special keyboard key or mouse bind
I think for today some other specs got more funs. But ppl just don't like hard rotation specs in general in all mmos so top 1 would be +- same. What made me surprise that Vindi have so low %. It's feels same powerful as if you play berserk and I totally enjoy it. Tempest with hummer make tempest more fun.I recommend ele lowers try it for sure. Also druid is my fav friend if I want to kill hard stuff solo and I don't even need to change gear from group pve dps to do it. Can't wait for next update with new weapon sets.😊
Mechanist is definetly an overloaded spec, it's also the easiest one out of any other spec, so it's sort of not a surprise that people would prefer a simple "mega easy monkey brain class" to play the game
I would like to main one of the heavy armor classes but: Warrior is too swappy between GS and axe/axe. Guardian you need to learn NOT TO burn everything. (im a bit chaotic when I see people on low HP) Revenant is a bit tedious on all specs.
I see mostly spectres in group either for boon or as a heal. And for me I have no main, this changes with the changes, but a fix group of classes i hate to play like guardian, warrior, thief and elementalist which were never my classes and some of them i despise because of the overwhelming unbalanced damage. I from time to time I play the warrior interpretation of the fire elementalist (berserker). But since hscg rework i play nekro as heal (in the end i liked the changes not all but most) and as dps (reaper, harbinger) or qdps (harbinger) and then follows mesmer and ranger. The mesmer is my favorite since Guild Wars. Herold was my most played char before the rework since then never played it again. I dont like the playstyle of the vindicator and the renegade is mostly either my alacheal or alacprovider. A few people i knew that play scrapper or thief in general are not very happy with the scrapper rework and those that play thief are either pvp/wvw players or play it when they do with d/d, staff or p/p and what is the hugh problem like with the ele you need to be able to play it because of lowest health and low armor, need to be able to play the mechanic and be able to know what you are doing. The funny thing is basic engi can still outperform or be on par with the other specs. A guild member shows it quite often on raids and co when he and another guild member do their dps race.
Just starting out GW2 after years and years and years of Wow and ESO. LF discords or guilds to join where a mmo vet/gw2 noob can find some help and support Love the channel keep up the good stuff!!!!
I'm kinda glad ppl haven't realize the tempest sword/warhorn hitting like a truck in pve, but specifically in pvp I've never in my life had such a long victory streak, fresh air / water vulnerability dmg modifier + fireworks relic assassin amulet is a *chef's kiss* singlehandedly bursting catalysts and necromancers at 100% life force, sure catalyst is tanky af but is kinda hard to be tanky when every single class has a oneshot build
As a Necro main since launch, Reaper was my least favorite of the 3. I always preferred Scourge over Reaper and then Harbinger over both. After a break though, I've circled back and am currently enjoying Reaper again. For Ele, Weaver was my favorite. I havent finished unlocking all of Cata though, but I have played it, and put it behind Weaver, above Tempest for me. And for Mesmer, a class I havent spent much time with, but is my 3rd most interested in class (Necro, Ele, Mesmer, I'm just bad at playing alts), Mirage is really the only spec that interested me, and the only one I have unlocked. I havent tried much of the other two outside of some PvP and Beta testing.
I suggest Arena to give us some cosmetic options for the minions,jade droid,… Please Arena,just think about on it🤔I have created full celestial white Asura mechanics and hate those greenish looking droid beside me all the time.All of them are the same in a crowd group😳🤷♂️Don’t anybody think that we could get more cosmetic options for the necro’s minions or elemental ones for example?After years,I got rid of their looking actually 🤷♂️
Just being able to dye the mech would be fine with me. I also hate the constant green. I would dye it in blue and yellow so it looks like an asuran golem
well... mechanist is still the most popular spec of engineer (also my favorite), but now the pvp is flooded with grenade scrappers totally broken build... so I guess the difference is not that much right now. What I like the most about Mechanist is that you feel super interacted with the mech, which is something I wish we would feel with the rangers in general, but not. Curious enough, on the other hand, Virtuoso is the only spec I pretty much don't like in my mesmer. I play condi Mirage in SPVP.
Not surprised by these results! Maybe a bit with Berserker. But I am curious if any of the new weapon combos fit better with some of the classes or if they still work best with the standard? I mean obviously like you said 2h on Herald is good. But does the scepter have a place on the Daredevil? Are people using a sword on the Catalyst? Is pistol Reaper viable like I thought it would possibly be?
Years playing but basically a filthy casual noob whose only dipped my toes in expansion content with only 2 elites. I honestly like Necro's Specter most. Daredevil is awesome for using the staff as a staff, rare weapon in fantasy somehow. Deadeye is "Snipings a good job mate!". But Specter was like a support on caffeinated energy drinks. It's the closest to a priest class with abilities directly targeting allies for shields and buffs. I don't see any other class do this at all. It's just so fun playing the assassin dark magic character who for some reason heals and shields. It's so backwards I love it. I picked Harbinger just cause a necromancer with a gun sounds badass and fun.
I like druid for ranger. I've never clicked with soulbeast and unleashing/ambush is annoying on untamed. I enjoy herald over vindicator. Healquickbrand remains dear to my heart for strikes.
I'm shocked the Reaper won by that much, I find the Scourge to be just the perfect raiding class.. No locking animations/the ability to fuck up and still do amazing dps lol but I guess open world Reaper makes sense, you're durable as fark.
It pains me to say it but i kinda have a love/hate relationship with daredevil. I love how mobile you are but you basically dont have any burst damage and if you have to dodge all the time you basically dont do any damage. Thats why i personally enjoy d/d on deadeye much more than on daredevil. It has good burst rotation and still can be evasive with the basic thief mobility which is already really good
I love Deadeye. You can just plonk down and spam Deadeye's Mark. Its practically all you need to do, resetting after every kill. Burst of Shadows and Death Nova relic clears out most mobs.
Great video as always! Im kinda surprised you didnt mention the incredible sustain that the tempest has in comparison to the catalyst and the weaver. Also i feel tempest is generally more popular than catalyst (anecdotally speaking) because of its potential as a healer, but your love for catalyst may have something to do with the vote results ;)
Reaper feels good until you get your hands on harbinger. Harbinger is absurdly tanky and does amazing dps without a lot of thingking it’s just a “random bullshit go!” Class where you press everything as it comes off cd
Wait, your "polling" was just "what do you think is most popular"? Thats the same as asking nothing at all. You could ask what do you personally play, ask for people that dont play it not answer... Aniway. The video was fun.
For the Ranger, Druid is very specific, and you don't play ranger willing to become a druid. Not saying Druid can't power dps, or can't make a great adventure, but, it's not what you are watching for when you play a ranger
Well, seems like I just march to my own tune. I guess I'll give my own reasons for my choices on the ones I play. Warrior: Bladesworn. 1 major reason. 6 figure dunks! I am a sucker for big, massive, meaty dunks. Also, I guess it's alacrity support on a class that otherwise has no access to it, but I really don't like that trait unless no one else is stepping up to the plate. Guardian: Vanilla. I... just like the instant, non-disrupting nature of my virtues. I need to block an attack now? Block it! I need to cleanse conditions immediately? Clean it! I want to inflict 30-50 attacks worth of burning passives on a foe right now with my goon squad? Burn it! (I rarely press it in solo play, doing 2 passives worth of damage is not worth turning it off) Thief: Deadeye. I just want to play a cowboy bounty hunter. Also are very capable of defense themselves, though more in the form of elusively via stealth. Lastly the best thief job in terms of big massive meaty dunks, which I always like. Mesmer: Mirage. A dodge roll that gives me a cool super attack, doesn't interrupt whatever I am doing, and doesn't force me to move from my position? Heck ya! My only gripe is that their heal skill does force you to stand your ground, often forcing you to 'dodge roll' while your waiting for the heal to take it's sweat time to pay out. Necro: Harbinger. Mainly because I've played reaper in the past as a teenager/young adult, and scourge has also traumatized me in pvp. (little timmy me would 'stand in the fire' no matter what to hold the point) Elixirs are also just a really cool skill type, giving both a positive to you, and a negative to the enemy at the same time.
DD is king in pvp, mostly was in pve, and wvw i fuess too? I love daredevil because of the dodges, staff, pre nerf fron the selfheal it was an awesome Li build
I'm kind of surprised Catalyst is the most popular. Save for the hammer, I didn't really enjoy Catalyst. Between it and Tempest I much preferred the elemental overload of the Tempest. That said, I'm having so much fun as a Hammer Weaver. The weapon mastery training was such a good addition to the game.
I thought the Mirage would win, massive damage and super easy to play. I guess too easy, and Virtuoso offers just enough complexity. What I like about the Virtuoso is the blades stay with me :) even after mobs die.
bit surprised about Cata, I was expecting Tempest. If you haven't tried it... pistol / torch scourge is just a torment evil monster, especially if paired with celestial or trailblazers gear. Cele being of course celestial gear but trailblazers just makes pistol scourge silly tanky with a terrifying amount of condition applicaiton, especially if you have the relic of Akeem.
I went scrapper on my Engineer just because I hate those huge green things all over the place, turns out I love it! My main is a Mesmer Virtuoso, to me, if you played Mages in WoW, FFXIV, or any other mmo this is the closest to it.
I like Herald just b ecause of the visuals. "Hehe, I get to make big prismatic dragon wing attack" ... I have 1 single braincell and in this case it led me to the right place
Hey CD, thanks for the video! I will say I think what you said about Soulbeast is inaccurate. The Mechanist being the most popular shows that. It's not that people dislike pets, it's that people generally like simplicity. Druid is traditionally known as a support and Untamed feels like playing the piano. Soulbeast feels the most like core.
Starting to notice a pattern. The most popular specs usually have a pretty straight forward rotation. Looks like not many people like to have a 20 button rotation when chilling in a video game.
Especially in a video game that is oriented around being casual!
its better to be 30k dps with simple rotation than 40k dps playing the keyboard like a piano and being glued to skill the bar. these first 15 seconds during raid/strike when difficult rotation boys can shine dont matter that much in the context of the entire fight.
As in the video mention. Who would have fun spending attention on a dozen of buttons and pay attention to boss mechanics. One fail in rotation or get smacked by a boss mechanic and all the dps you would be ahead when you play optimal is gone.
thats arenanet failure on balancing part, when their poster child class has easy and forgivin gameplay and does even more damage than other skill heavy class
I love destroying my keyboard when playing my ele. lol
I play video games for fun not adding my level of stress and anxiety with complex rotation. So i chose the simplest easy to play elite spec like Scourge, Harbringer, Virtuoso or Herald
If pressing buttons in a video game gives you stress and anxiety you need a therapist
Of course you don't see a thief, that's the point!
to be fair, the more mechanically invested you are in thief, overall the better you do. (in general) if I had to pick a single profession that required the most focus it would 100% be thief
I think that the reason for virtuoso dominating mesmer specs is simple - it removes your dependability on clones staying alive. Not only can enemy attacks kill them, meaning you have to play a rather nasty game of trying to sync up your skill cast order to skill animations to get three clones for every shatter, going out of combat kills the clones too. Virtuoso has... none of that, the blades stay on you until you use them.
So what we can get from this video? That people like more simplistic characters with simple rotation then complicated piano class.
Coming from me as a mesmer, I think virtuoso is the least fun spec since it essentially erases mesmers design and playstyle in favor of it just being another "press f1 off cooldown" spec. My favorite is chronomancer, it feels like it emphasizes the core specs phantasm and shattering style but speeds it up dramatically and allows you to create a massive army of clones and phantasms the entire time you play. It feels really great to be able to give yourself perma quickness+alacrity OR double your phantasm summons by the click of a button on the grandmaster traits too.
Same take on Virt. Ironic because i started playing mesmer because of it and got dissappointed. My fav is Mirage and i agree with your take on Chrono. For me Chorno is to power Mesmer what Mirage is for condi Mesmer, a very cool upgrade that emphazises an aspect we love about the class.
Many mesmers jumped ship with Virt. Plus Virt is braindead simple compared to mirage and Chrono while doing more damage. Mirage is still nerfed and other supports surpassed chrono as well. Thus the class becomes lopesided towards Virt even if it isnt fun.
Ive always hated playing petless rangers in MMOs and virt is a style change from what core mesmer promised.
@@DoamBot I am one of those mesmers who immediately jumped ships to Virtuoso. I am on the other end of spectrum that is having a hard time to maximize DPS on either chronomancer or mirage. I think I can decently play condition mirage, but I can't just properly execute continuum split of the chronomancer in a DPS rotation.
@@jephdizon like I said Virtuoso is easier to use and does more damage than the other two.
@@DoamBot By a metric ton. Chrono can come close, but Mirage is laughable right now. But hey, you can have the excitement of soloing Legendary bounties on Mirage! The excitement coming from whether or not the timer runs out on your unkillable 10k dps ass.
What i can see on this list is that people don't like complicated / complex builds that require phd to play. I love holosmith visually but it requres 1 set of weapond grenade kit bomb kit and flamethrower for opltimal dps rotation while my mechanist to achieve 80% od holos dps needs to spam 3 buttons. Scourge dps needs twice apms of reaper so instead of spamming my keys like mad lad i can just chill ald use maybe 7 buttons. Arena net needs to take dmg from some of skills and put them into others so rotations can be simplified and skills that lost dmg can be used for utility.
Of course that's the case, because everyone wants to turn on the game, have fun, and not learn 30-step rotation It is enough to think logically and that makes sense
Well if you want to do benchmark reaper is quite spammy too and compared to scourge also hard to play because of its strict rotation and the possebility to be kicked out of shroud which makes you lose almost all your dps. In comparsion scourge has a few buttons more to press but is way more forgiving if you make mistakes and doesnt even has a rotation but a priority/ some combos. So I agree the low intensity reaper build has stupid dmg for what the player has to do just like any other low intensity build but I wanna point out that Reaper isnt that brainless noob spec that everyone makes fun of.
I feel this way on my weaver. I could run the 'weave self' rotation for an extra 4k dps, or I could just swap back and forth between air and fire and drop 39k.
@@petergabbelPLayDude... Scourge is waaaaaay harder than Reaper by a far margin. When u enter shroud, ALL It do is give u another repeatable abilities in the same five keys u already know. With scourge u have five new buttons, every one of them for a totally different purpose, and u have to be very aware of positioning and timing with the sand shades. And scourge also don't have the shroud extra health that even core necros have. Reaper actually is the easiest of Necros specs.
@@boutch1993 if you think so thats fine. No need to feel attacked by what I said or making a competition on what is harder to play... I think it matters more what you enjoy and suits you the best. But I wanna add smth to your points: Scourge had traits where you get dmg modifiers for each shade on the field which made it really spammy to upkeep 3 shades. In addition the f... abbilities from scourge are also used off cd, exspecially in the dps build and also in the heal build to upkeep boons. with one exception being the old healscourge where you would hold on the fear to teleport dead bodies to you. I dont really see the point of shade placement since most bosses doesnt move that much and adds usually walk towards it in a straight line. I think you missunderstood me because I didnt start a competition whatsoever. I was just pointing out that Reaper isnt as easy as it seems when it comes to endgame content compared to open world. If you feel/think scourge is harder for you then thats reasonable and true but at the same time what I say can also be true because its an subjective choice to make
Herald is most popular because it is simply better than all other elites in almost every scenario. Its a better healer, offensive support, and dps.
Chrono is still a bit better when the boss likes to move around or has a lot of anti-melee mechanics.
It also has Aegis, something that Herald can only dream of.
@@sanguin3 I'm really referring to Herald spec as it relates to Revenant. Herald is overwhelmingly the elite spec chosen due to the reasons I originally stated.
As for popularity of the class, I would say Revenant is on the lower end due to it being the class that was added in a later expansion. I agree, Chrono has things revenant doesn't, specifically aegis but Herald is the king of boons so very few class can really compete in this area.
@@regwattfunkylist Also to note I dont find the Herald as "Easy" as he says it is. For example: The rotation for QDPS is rather fast and takes some getting used to. There is also quite some depth to be pulled from what each skill does. Granted professions like elementalist can go way beyond this, but I dont feel he Herald justice.
No way firebrand is definitely a better healer
@@NilsPeters-e8w Eh idk I agree with his assessment of Herald. It is very easy to play. The skills are all aura based abilities that you leave on for a bit, then you click them off. The deactivating effects aren't complex and generally just buff the Herald even more. The rotation is easy to grasp and is honestly just muscle memory, which isn't a display of skill or complexity, just how much practice you put in.
Thanks for these tips, however, i'm sad that my spec is not that popular lol
Ha! Actually the mesmer and revenant both surprised me a little bit. I understand why but I would thiught they would have been more popular
To me personally weaver is ascended elementalist. I'm a huge sucker for magic blade users and the idea of combining various elements into multihitting attacks is just top of the game. I also like that weaver feels the most arcane out of all elementalist builds.
Catalyst can use blade too now, and it beats out weaver
I really wish they would make an Arcanist elite spec where you put the elements aside and only use pure arcane magic. That would've been awesome
Elementalist is a battle mage, i regret playing that class tbh
@@KokoKrunchsBattlemages are my favorite way to play Mages. dont mind the classic big damage glass cannon, but slinging the elements in enemies faces is awesome. Wish we could wear heavy armor!
I wish Ele got Necros Shroud for one of it's elites. Tempest is close I guess with the Overloads, but being able to go into a Shroud of an element, get 5 new abilities and just basically become an Avatar of that Element would be so epic.
still think the staff mirage is the best. aside from some specific boss mechanics, it basically can't be beaten w/ nearly infinite evades + clones + dots.
I'm still very new to the game, so going through the phase of which class to main like every other good nooby. One thing I noticed watching your video is, that there seems to be a theme for all popular professions. They are streamlined (feels like you are steamrolling via button mashing), not too complicated, do damage, are mobile. In the first halve of the video I almost got the feeling that the shown professions play the same, just with a different kind of color as their primary skill effect. As an ArenaNet profession designer, I would take a very hard and long look at your video. Or maybe they succeeded with what they intended to do? Is the profession/elite spec diversity just the primary means for player retention? Most players seem to think alike, so the popular professions aren't too surprising, and in the end, you end up playing almost the same way, no matter which profession you chose, gameplay mechanically speaking.
I think the mechanist was most badass in your video, so I'll keep leveling my engineer! Thanks for sharing!
The quick answer. Yes. So as you will find playing all the weapons, they each have similar attacks, usually a jump/dash, a snare, and an aoe for most melee weapons. Ranged usually have a condition dmg, a snare, and an escape ability. So just based on the weapons the professions(classes) will play similar if they are using similar weapons. All in all tho the timing of your abilities, profession specific abilities and boons, keep each profession feeling unique enough that it really is just how you feel playing a certain one.
I'd say the Soul beast actually complicates the pet swapping etc. It brings more to the whole flow just like untamed.
It's nice to skip the pet but it still adds more to function of the class.
The problem is, going in and out of merge has such a long cooldown it makes the traits not fun to keep up with. Swapping pets while merged is cool, but it would be better if swapping pets while merged un-merged and re-emerged quickly to benefit from those trait lines.
i dunno... I think is easier to regroup with the pet using the merge ability
09:01 "Some Players Don't Enjoy Complexity!"
Which is why i main Berserker ever since it came out 😅
Berserker slaps though! Lol
@@CaffeinatedDadit really does!
It's basically "Warrior +" and i love it for it!
Instead of hitting F1 once in a blue moon, you can hit it off cooldown
And you can headbutt people, that's always a fan favorite 😀
I personally think that the Scourge is not only easier to play but is also friendlier than other Necro specs for newbies. Condi Scourge is damn near unkillable in open world
There's a litany of unkillable open world builds, though Scourge surely does the highest dps of the bunch.
I think Reaper's second health bar is hard to beat. Also condi/hybrid reaper is pretty crazy right now. Its ridiculously strong with dagger/torch for life steal or scepter/torch for some range. Fire, bleed, and freeze all compliment each other really well with reaper. With the aoes from staff secondary, you have options for any fight.
I do not enjoy condi scourge in open world simply by the fact it does not have quickness and feels super sluggish having to face roll through all of its skills.. it feels like I never have time to auto attack without quickness because there is always at least 1 off cooldown.
Reaper has self quickness and power damage so it feels a lot more dynamic.
I have been doing the Condi Reaper with Pistol/Dagger and Scepter/Torch and just feel unstoppable.
I used to do Scourge but after the reduced Sand Shade Duration I do not like having to cast it like every 4 secs, and I dont like Harbi because of your Reduced HP as you become Stronger, so Reaper it is.
@@mrseebs6148I faced a reaper in spvp and dam it did so much damage to my mechanist.
1900 toughness did almost nothing to keep me alive vs couple of his skills and even though I used blocks and dodges the moment I got hit was pretty much over immediately :D.
Like I think axe 2 just 1 shot me from 50% health.
Definitely hope we get some all around dmg nerfs soon to pvp.
Now its just who press 1-2 buttons first wins unless you manage to block it and throw your 2 buttons through :D
For Herald I think there’s better reasons for it’s popularity. For instance, Glint stance is just really good. Great elite skill, amazing heal skill, and just boons galore without much effort.
Addressing what you said about the greatsword, while dps herald is really good right now, quickness herald is the reason it’s so OP at the moment, not the % damage trait, vindicator has % modifiers like that too which are better.
Not true Common L viewer 😂
@@pinkbunny3209lmao, you're the one having no clue, troll
@drios8809 based on his decision or rather his take of the builds and he is being criticized and told how to implement phrases and being judged by a viewer for a opinion not of his own but rather the community that came to this conclusion and I’m just saying that his input wasn’t necessarily needed as if he was rudely implying this information
@@drios8809bro the Roman Empire lasts longer than u do. What I’m saying is I know he bad TH-camr and can’t doing anything right but like stop hate.
I wholeheartedly agree with your observation. Shared quickness in open world is a luxury every class appreciates most. And the Herald's ease of providing it, as well as other beneficial boons, while pumping out decent damage and survivability, easily makes it a favorite.
When they changed Berserker's greatsword rage spin skill I utterly just hated the class. It's still fun with other weapons and still nice with greatsword, but the big spin beyblade move was my favorite. And they took it away. Utterly furious.
Personally, I run Mirage with Greatsword//Dagger/focus. It's not a powerhouse, but i enjoy it. I like that the dagger ambush, like the sword ambush hits defiance for a 100 pts, and if traited, your 3 dagger clones will get that ability too. But, unlike the sword, you can do that 400 pt defiance strip from 1200 feet away.
I like playing with the different jobs, but I hate having to redo all the content to open things up. With it was an open once and be done.
Mained a power SB until SotO. Now it's condi druid. So much fun.
my favorites are thief and revenant cause I feel a lot of other classes often comes down to "keep everything on cooldown, except the stuff that is worth less than your auto attack".
I know it's not 100% true, but even though I can play weaver and engineer pretty well, I've always just preferred fewer skills used correctly with a good feel, rather than fast paced piano.
Biggest gripe I've always had is probably the hidden cooldowns. Would love an option to show a bar of abilities on cooldown that isn't currently shown, like on weaponswap/kits/legends/elemental stances.
I'd honestly like it if they changed it up more, gave more depth to some of the archetypes and more choice in using abilities rather than "can only click one thing at a time and this one is the best available at this time". Maybe I've just gotten jaded on the fastpaced whack-a-mole feeling I get from most builds, I find myself getting no enjoyment from them but just get tired.
So am sticking to thief/rev for now.
True, a big problem I have with most builds is spamminess. Spam all the buttons super fast and win. I like the calculated usage of skills for thief and revenant and of course the aestetic of both. It's great fun!
Agreed. My dream profession/Elite would be an initiative and energy using character.
No cooldowns, only resource management.
What's fun about the ranger elite specs, especially in open world.
Neither soulbeast or untamed do as much condi damage as the new druid.
well... As a fan of condi builds, maybe I'll give it a try for pvp :).
@boutch1993 I can't say for pvp but it is very good in pve content.
Your big damage is celestial avatar skill 5, while that is channeling you can use skill 2
As a Rev enjoyer I play a lot of Herald these days. I love having quickness on demand as I do whatevers.
I feel like the herald is a great option for most content. The quickness is just a Perk lol
do you lower your damage output to show more of the rotations and stuff ?
Sometimes, In these videos I do to get more out for rotations and such
DD Condi Deadeye is probably the best open world spec in the game as of the most recent patch. Been maining it for a while. I'm shocked it's not higher up.
The Chronomancer in WvW, when your leading and in voice is absolute beast and fun!
Necromancer is my main and has been since 2012, I still absolutely adore Reaper's flavor, the whole becoming death thing. Gameplay wise I love it in fractals where I can Spectral Grasp + "Chilled to the Bone!" + shroud 4 and watch adds absolutely melt.
bbbad to the boneeeeeee
Nerco Really doesn't hit me in 2023 tho! i like ranger or rev or mesmer but good luck to you !
On mesmer Mirage I think would give Virtuoso a run for it's money when equally balanced. Like this poll a year or two ago might have had mirage at the top. I think it is the most fun spec.
The confusion nerf dumpstered the Alac dual staff mirage build that was a nice low intensity defensive build that still did mid range damage.
The staff/axe mirage still has 40k+ damage, but a hard rotation to pull off and no longer provides any Alac with Alac moved to specific trait that axe losses DPS to take.
how about staff/dagger mirage? i think stacking more weakness would add more dps
Mirage sux
15:45 why do the effects of your blades look so different?
These are without a miss just the lowest effort power dps to run around in open world with. FB is the only condi exception of course, as most people rather play another class than go WB or DH.
True, these typically don't require much to do well and that's OK! Sometimes people need ease
As a berserker warrior, I tried getting into the other specs, but they really weren't cutting it for me. I mainly do PvE so Spellbreaker's boon removal feels terrible. And the fact that I can't customize the gunsaber to match my outfit means Bladesworn feels awful also. Berserker is not only simpler, but you also feel more freedom since you aren't forced to play the very specific mechanics of the spec.
I know I’m a year late, video just randomly popped up but Specter is so underrated. Thief is my least played spec in 12 years of playing, but it could be my favorite playstyle in the game.
Once we get a few new weapons per class, and they really get the Weapon Master Training dialed in, we're going to be in a really good place.
For the time being... Yeah, these specs are going to keep showing up all over the world.
I have played Mesmer on and off and I like all of the specs that they have. Personally I love Virtuoso (way more than I thought I would when they were announced) and I think it's an absolutely cool take on the Mesmer with the phantasmal blades, and it takes one of the more complicated mechanics and makes it simpler. It also allows a completely ranged Mesmer which I think is something that is pretty desirable from an aesthetic perspective (they are a light armoured mage after all).
Mirage is a spec that I adore and I'm always sad to see when their impact is low, and currently their impact is pretty low and you can get everything you need to do on Virtuoso, so why take Mirage, however I love the playstyle it's just complicated.
Chronomancer is in my opinion a complete missed opportunity and always has been, and that makes me so sad. When you think of "Chronomancer" you think "Time Mage" however since it's release in HoT it's almost exclusively been relegated to power DPS with S/S which feels essentially opposite to the theme of the time mage, in addition to that it's basically been a 'tank' for the entirety of the game, with a complicated rotation, which I think really hampers its playability in most content. Arenanet really did the concept of a Chronomancer dirty and I'll never forgive them for it. :(
Mirage has kinda fallen off compared to virt for sure. Love the theme of it, I like it when it's in a good spot balance wise, but as is it feels like it's just not as good. I want it to come back and have an excuse to use my Astralaria on it though.
@@austinl8074mirage is boring af tho those dodge spams are such an uninteresting mechanic
Reaper, its loved by all.
Then herald because i think people forgot its a spec and not a core lol
10:32 of course thieves are not often seen.
The
They are hiding in shadows, c' mon!
I dunno know about the theme, but harbinger is very fun. And it give me the vibes of a plague doctor, which fills the fantasy for me also.
I agree! Thats how i feel about it as well with the plague doctor vibe. If i could stay alive, id play harbinger much more.
@@mrseebs6148 for harbinger, i use carrion stats most of the time and it helps increasing the hp a lot, so i dont suffer too much with the blight mechanic.
harbinger single target damage is pretty wild in form, pop the swiftness/quickness pot then go in the harbinger form and watch elites melt with just the 1 skill.
It's my fav necro build too in OW.
I really harbinger too
I main mesmer and I play actually power mirage unless I'm doing organized content. Power Mirage is enough to burst kill most monsters and tags effortlessly and safely in mass content. It is my favorite open world spec by far.
for me, the Mechanist is like ranger with it's pet but has more control over the pet imo
Ranger pet always felt a little wonky imo
I played Weaver at first, then got addicted to Mesmer, played Chrono and Mirage, and I loved Mirage in most game modes. Then a balance patch came in, killed Mirage by taking it's second dodge as a way to "balance" the class. Oh it certainly balanced it alright, by making it feel awful to play in PvP and I quit because I couldn't deal with it.
Then EoD released, bringing Virtuoso, a spec that took me a while to master because you do have to learn how to play without clones, something Mesmer has you relying on constantly to add to your survivability. But damn did Virt flow well. And now im a Virt main, condi virt is my love and was the first class I got full ascended on.
Willbender is fun, so I do play that on the side, and mostly in PvP, but its not as comfy as Virt is
I really like playing the shortbow vindicator...
"You don't have to worry about the AI of the clones and the phantasms". You still use phantasms as virtuoso and they can even proc bleeding.
Elementalist main here. I guessed every single one of these right EXCEPT for Catalyst 😂 I see more Tempests (myself included) than Catalysts, and I always thought Tempests were the simpler class to learn when it comes to utility. The Jade Sphere always felt really awkward to manage for boon upkeep as opposed to attuning to water but wetter lol. This was really interesting to see!
where was this voting happening? I totally missed it :(
I'm amazed Deadeye isn't the most liked since it makes Thief into a badass sniper.
Agreed!
True, but daredevil makes thief into a badass ninja/martial artist
I tried most of this spec and my favorite is mechanist, it's incredible easy for me and strong for solo most things in world content.
Your audience must be motly PvP/WvW players because I very rarely see Catalysts, I see both Weavers and Tempests more than I see Catalysts.
Hey Caffienated! Just wanted to say thanks for being such a positive member of the GW2 community! Understandable why mainy of the elite specs are popular as they are very strong and relatively simple to play. Having classes that allow more new players to get into the game is a great thing!
Catalyst being top is surprising. Personally, Catalyst feel almost too much like weaver to me especially when using hammer. Very piano smashing playstyle whereas tempest you have overload which offer much needed break from the constant button mashing.
I’m not sure how it was 11 months ago when this video was released, but as a virtuoso you still have your fantasm😉It’s the clones that become blades
The reason I play Soulbeast is because it's the ONLY way to remove the pet in combat! This is a feature I wanted to see since day one of playing Guild Wars 2, the ability to 'hide' the pet while in combat.
I love playing a ranged archer in games, and that is what a Ranger should be! You don't make a 'stealth' character and expect to play as an Archer. With that in mind, I created a Ranger to play at range using bow and arrow. Unfortunately, since release, there have been Z E R O, that's right zero, new ranged projectile weapons for ranger! The Thief can use more projectile weapons than the Ranger, something is up here. Why is Ranger constantly railroaded into melee? It's so disappointing, that I abandoned my Ranger. :( The closest similar playstyle for me is Virtuoso.
Agreed! Ranger isn't your traditional archer nor do I think it was ever intended to. However when I play something with "range" in the name I have a self imposed expectation
Lol! I've been saying the same thing about thief and how it is more ranger than the actual ranger class. All I wanted was to play dual sword or greatsword thief in pve....
I guess druid has a healer stigma, even though its new condi line is awesome af
Shhh! We might get "balanced"
I'm surprised by the Thief pick, I see WAY more Specters than Daredevils, but I only play PvE.
probobly some open world players voted for this in raids is only spectre
In wvw or pvp you see only Daredevils. This is the main reason.
yeah... every time I see a thief is a specter and the only times in the past I saw a deadeye it was a rifle only build.
Oh right there was this 1 time I saw a quickness deadeye doing the highest DPS in fractal, but of course the devs nerfed that in 1 week.
How do you get the keybinds to S+1 etc...?
It should be under the main menu, options then I believe controls?
@@CaffeinatedDad I understand where the contrls are located but don't know how to set em as a combination key like yours or is that not allowed? Might be a special keyboard key or mouse bind
Hammer soulbeast is really good. Kind of the best of untamed with much simpler mechanics. I use short bow on this also so I get a bit of range as well
I think for today some other specs got more funs. But ppl just don't like hard rotation specs in general in all mmos so top 1 would be +- same.
What made me surprise that Vindi have so low %. It's feels same powerful as if you play berserk and I totally enjoy it.
Tempest with hummer make tempest more fun.I recommend ele lowers try it for sure.
Also druid is my fav friend if I want to kill hard stuff solo and I don't even need to change gear from group pve dps to do it.
Can't wait for next update with new weapon sets.😊
Oh I'm gonna lose it with my ele pistol. Gah it's gonna be so damn fun!
Mechanist is definetly an overloaded spec, it's also the easiest one out of any other spec, so it's sort of not a surprise that people would prefer a simple "mega easy monkey brain class" to play the game
I love GW2 and i love your quality content.
I would like to main one of the heavy armor classes but:
Warrior is too swappy between GS and axe/axe.
Guardian you need to learn NOT TO burn everything. (im a bit chaotic when I see people on low HP)
Revenant is a bit tedious on all specs.
Actually warrior is Very viable with other weapons too, at least in pvp i've tried rifle Warrior and it's super fun.
@@boutch1993 I mostly gonna do PVE killing champions and stuff.
I see mostly spectres in group either for boon or as a heal.
And for me I have no main, this changes with the changes, but a fix group of classes i hate to play like guardian, warrior, thief and elementalist which were never my classes and some of them i despise because of the overwhelming unbalanced damage.
I from time to time I play the warrior interpretation of the fire elementalist (berserker).
But since hscg rework i play nekro as heal (in the end i liked the changes not all but most) and as dps (reaper, harbinger) or qdps (harbinger) and then follows mesmer and ranger.
The mesmer is my favorite since Guild Wars.
Herold was my most played char before the rework since then never played it again. I dont like the playstyle of the vindicator and the renegade is mostly either my alacheal or alacprovider.
A few people i knew that play scrapper or thief in general are not very happy with the scrapper rework and those that play thief are either pvp/wvw players or play it when they do with d/d, staff or p/p and what is the hugh problem like with the ele you need to be able to play it because of lowest health and low armor, need to be able to play the mechanic and be able to know what you are doing.
The funny thing is basic engi can still outperform or be on par with the other specs. A guild member shows it quite often on raids and co when he and another guild member do their dps race.
Honestly I agree that Mirage is peak Mesmer. I’ve been playing it since PoF’s release and I love it a ton. But I see why people prefer virtuoso.
Virt's are flashier and adrenaline-pumping spammy, thus its popularity. However, Mirages are the true embodiement of mesmers as envisioned in GW2 👍
Thanks for the video , Entertainment as always ,
How about a tutorial for WvW for beginners? it will be a blast for sure!
Going to be messing around with that here soon! Thank you!
Just starting out GW2 after years and years and years of Wow and ESO. LF discords or guilds to join where a mmo vet/gw2 noob can find some help and support
Love the channel keep up the good stuff!!!!
I'm kinda glad ppl haven't realize the tempest sword/warhorn hitting like a truck in pve, but specifically in pvp I've never in my life had such a long victory streak, fresh air / water vulnerability dmg modifier + fireworks relic assassin amulet is a *chef's kiss* singlehandedly bursting catalysts and necromancers at 100% life force, sure catalyst is tanky af but is kinda hard to be tanky when every single class has a oneshot build
You got a link to a build?
Shhh! We might get "balanced"
@@kjsupreme1 ARE U AN UNDERCPVER ANET BALANCE TEAM??!!? 😱
Can you do a video on soul beast? I haven5 played since 2015 heart of the thorns.
I'll be honest I'd have to give it more attention. I've only played it here and there
Where do these statistics come from?
As a Necro main since launch, Reaper was my least favorite of the 3. I always preferred Scourge over Reaper and then Harbinger over both. After a break though, I've circled back and am currently enjoying Reaper again. For Ele, Weaver was my favorite. I havent finished unlocking all of Cata though, but I have played it, and put it behind Weaver, above Tempest for me. And for Mesmer, a class I havent spent much time with, but is my 3rd most interested in class (Necro, Ele, Mesmer, I'm just bad at playing alts), Mirage is really the only spec that interested me, and the only one I have unlocked. I havent tried much of the other two outside of some PvP and Beta testing.
What dagger are you using on the mesmer virtuoso?
Isnt it virtuoso default dagger? elite spec equipment?
@@coldwind8327 yea! Tnx!
virtuoso doesn't have the ramp up time that mirage or chrono has
I suggest Arena to give us some cosmetic options for the minions,jade droid,… Please Arena,just think about on it🤔I have created full celestial white Asura mechanics and hate those greenish looking droid beside me all the time.All of them are the same in a crowd group😳🤷♂️Don’t anybody think that we could get more cosmetic options for the necro’s minions or elemental ones for example?After years,I got rid of their looking actually 🤷♂️
Yeah… skin for mech is really needed. Or maybe walking with a green lantern is the price to pay for a busted spec
Just being able to dye the mech would be fine with me. I also hate the constant green. I would dye it in blue and yellow so it looks like an asuran golem
well... mechanist is still the most popular spec of engineer (also my favorite), but now the pvp is flooded with grenade scrappers totally broken build... so I guess the difference is not that much right now. What I like the most about Mechanist is that you feel super interacted with the mech, which is something I wish we would feel with the rangers in general, but not. Curious enough, on the other hand, Virtuoso is the only spec I pretty much don't like in my mesmer. I play condi Mirage in SPVP.
spvp is not the most popular so it has little influence on the polls compared to pve
sometimes i feel i'm the last deadeye
This is for PVE right? Because in WvW I see completely different picture of most popular elite specs.
Not surprised by these results! Maybe a bit with Berserker. But I am curious if any of the new weapon combos fit better with some of the classes or if they still work best with the standard? I mean obviously like you said 2h on Herald is good. But does the scepter have a place on the Daredevil? Are people using a sword on the Catalyst? Is pistol Reaper viable like I thought it would possibly be?
Except for Virtuoso, I play different ones... My favorites are Spellbreaker, Dragonhunter, Untamed, Harbinger, Virtuoso (I havent played all classes)
Years playing but basically a filthy casual noob whose only dipped my toes in expansion content with only 2 elites.
I honestly like Necro's Specter most. Daredevil is awesome for using the staff as a staff, rare weapon in fantasy somehow. Deadeye is "Snipings a good job mate!". But Specter was like a support on caffeinated energy drinks. It's the closest to a priest class with abilities directly targeting allies for shields and buffs. I don't see any other class do this at all. It's just so fun playing the assassin dark magic character who for some reason heals and shields. It's so backwards I love it.
I picked Harbinger just cause a necromancer with a gun sounds badass and fun.
I like druid for ranger. I've never clicked with soulbeast and unleashing/ambush is annoying on untamed. I enjoy herald over vindicator. Healquickbrand remains dear to my heart for strikes.
I'm shocked the Reaper won by that much, I find the Scourge to be just the perfect raiding class.. No locking animations/the ability to fuck up and still do amazing dps lol but I guess open world Reaper makes sense, you're durable as fark.
It pains me to say it but i kinda have a love/hate relationship with daredevil. I love how mobile you are but you basically dont have any burst damage and if you have to dodge all the time you basically dont do any damage. Thats why i personally enjoy d/d on deadeye much more than on daredevil. It has good burst rotation and still can be evasive with the basic thief mobility which is already really good
I love Deadeye.
You can just plonk down and spam Deadeye's Mark.
Its practically all you need to do, resetting after every kill.
Burst of Shadows and Death Nova relic clears out most mobs.
Let's be serious the rifle makes deadeye just too damn good
Great video as always! Im kinda surprised you didnt mention the incredible sustain that the tempest has in comparison to the catalyst and the weaver. Also i feel tempest is generally more popular than catalyst (anecdotally speaking) because of its potential as a healer, but your love for catalyst may have something to do with the vote results ;)
Mechanist you can put on auto cast the bot, so is easier for when u are lazy haha
All three of their skills, instead of just the main one, like with the Ranger.
@@BillRoyMcBillyou can put all abilities in autocast with untamed. Just not the ambush ones
Reaper feels good until you get your hands on harbinger. Harbinger is absurdly tanky and does amazing dps without a lot of thingking it’s just a “random bullshit go!” Class where you press everything as it comes off cd
Wait, your "polling" was just "what do you think is most popular"? Thats the same as asking nothing at all. You could ask what do you personally play, ask for people that dont play it not answer... Aniway. The video was fun.
It baffles me why you don't have autoloot turned on 😁
Reaper feels like death itself😅 getting a frkn 2handed sword blew my mind back when the first trailer dropped😮❤
For the Ranger, Druid is very specific, and you don't play ranger willing to become a druid. Not saying Druid can't power dps, or can't make a great adventure, but, it's not what you are watching for when you play a ranger
Well, seems like I just march to my own tune. I guess I'll give my own reasons for my choices on the ones I play.
Warrior: Bladesworn. 1 major reason. 6 figure dunks! I am a sucker for big, massive, meaty dunks. Also, I guess it's alacrity support on a class that otherwise has no access to it, but I really don't like that trait unless no one else is stepping up to the plate.
Guardian: Vanilla. I... just like the instant, non-disrupting nature of my virtues. I need to block an attack now? Block it! I need to cleanse conditions immediately? Clean it! I want to inflict 30-50 attacks worth of burning passives on a foe right now with my goon squad? Burn it! (I rarely press it in solo play, doing 2 passives worth of damage is not worth turning it off)
Thief: Deadeye. I just want to play a cowboy bounty hunter. Also are very capable of defense themselves, though more in the form of elusively via stealth. Lastly the best thief job in terms of big massive meaty dunks, which I always like.
Mesmer: Mirage. A dodge roll that gives me a cool super attack, doesn't interrupt whatever I am doing, and doesn't force me to move from my position? Heck ya! My only gripe is that their heal skill does force you to stand your ground, often forcing you to 'dodge roll' while your waiting for the heal to take it's sweat time to pay out.
Necro: Harbinger. Mainly because I've played reaper in the past as a teenager/young adult, and scourge has also traumatized me in pvp. (little timmy me would 'stand in the fire' no matter what to hold the point) Elixirs are also just a really cool skill type, giving both a positive to you, and a negative to the enemy at the same time.
DD is king in pvp, mostly was in pve, and wvw i fuess too? I love daredevil because of the dodges, staff, pre nerf fron the selfheal it was an awesome Li build
I'm kind of surprised Catalyst is the most popular. Save for the hammer, I didn't really enjoy Catalyst. Between it and Tempest I much preferred the elemental overload of the Tempest.
That said, I'm having so much fun as a Hammer Weaver. The weapon mastery training was such a good addition to the game.
I thought the Mirage would win, massive damage and super easy to play. I guess too easy, and Virtuoso offers just enough complexity. What I like about the Virtuoso is the blades stay with me :) even after mobs die.
Thanks!
Mech got me my ascension haha, awesome pvp season(s) "back then"
In love with Vindicator rn and before it was dragon hunter and beastmaster. I also love my reaper minion master just to create cluster fucks xD
Not me, I play a "wizard" staff/staff Guardian - Firebrand
bit surprised about Cata, I was expecting Tempest. If you haven't tried it... pistol / torch scourge is just a torment evil monster, especially if paired with celestial or trailblazers gear. Cele being of course celestial gear but trailblazers just makes pistol scourge silly tanky with a terrifying amount of condition applicaiton, especially if you have the relic of Akeem.
i feel like i never see other mind blade players XD
I went scrapper on my Engineer just because I hate those huge green things all over the place, turns out I love it! My main is a Mesmer Virtuoso, to me, if you played Mages in WoW, FFXIV, or any other mmo this is the closest to it.
Agree. Virtuoso is basically the traditional mage in every mmo games
I like Herald just b ecause of the visuals. "Hehe, I get to make big prismatic dragon wing attack"
... I have 1 single braincell and in this case it led me to the right place
Hey CD, thanks for the video! I will say I think what you said about Soulbeast is inaccurate. The Mechanist being the most popular shows that. It's not that people dislike pets, it's that people generally like simplicity. Druid is traditionally known as a support and Untamed feels like playing the piano. Soulbeast feels the most like core.
True! I suppose I didn't exactly encapsulate the idea of how the soul beast relates to core ranger.
Thank you for the feedback!