Professions: did beta change your opinions about professions, and if so, how?

[Alaris]

From this weekend's beta

Note that neither thief or warrior were in my lineup before the beta. I tried them to see what I was missing, and to get a better understanding of all professions.

Warrior was more fun than I thought. The weapons provide a lot of diversity, and with weapon swap there is a lot of gameplay potential. I especially liked longbow + axes, though I can see liking another melee set with more experimentation. The hammer was pretty cool too, and so was the greatsword. Still, with ranger and guardian already making the lineup, warrior is not making the lineup due to too much overlap in gameplay.

Thief is as meh as I thought it would be, but I was disappointed about the initiative as it uses the same initiative across both weapon sets, therefore weapon swapping is not as useful as on other professions. I have never cared much for rogues either... I prefer the mesmer for confusing the enemy, and I prefer the ranger for squirmishing.

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From the press beta:

Guardian is more tough than I thought, and the skills do require some good gameplay. Staff is not intuitive as a ranged weapon, but I did enjoy the scepter. I am still wishing for longbow.

I am liking the mesmer more than I thought I would. Casting and destroying illusions is a lot of fun, especially if you manage to confuse your opponent.

Engineer is fun, but complicated. I would like to be able to swap optional skill and toolbelt skill, in particular, it would be nice if kits were on the toolbelt because to switch to the grenade kit I need to press 7 instead of f2. Otherwise, it was a lot of fun.

Necro summons are more fun than I thought, less passive than most summons I know of.

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I have yet to try the elementalist.

[RD]

My expectation of Ranger changed. I didn't think I'd like it that much, but it's easily creeping up to my #2.

Warrior was even more fun than I thought it would be. And I loved using weapons that I thought I would avoid (Hammer, Rifle).

I didn't spend a ton of time on Mesmer, but the time I spent was okay. It was more fun than I thought, but it was as non-Mesmery as I thought it would. Illusions and Shatters just aren't that useful in much of the game; most mobs died way faster than I could shatter.

Guardian was a bit less fun than I thought it would be, but I barely gave it a shot, so I am holding off reservation.

Ele was cool, about what I expected. Need to give Engineer a shot next time.

[Ringsgold]

squirmishing

lol.

I didn't like guardian as much as I expected, but I'll have to try it again now that I understand the game a bit better. Thief on the other hand was more fun than I'd expected and I'll probably be rolling one for PvE/WvW at launch. I'll have to try each profession with a good build next time I get to play to see which ones I like. (this weekend was mostly a lot of figuring out the game, and I missed lots of stuff).

[Alaris]

Illusions and Shatters just aren't that useful in much of the game; most mobs died way faster than I could shatter.

That made me laugh.

How is that different from playing mesmer in tutorial GW1 areas, where most mobs die before you can put 2 hexes on them?

I had the same problem, to be honest, but I realize it's a problem of PvE and probably only early PvE. It was not a problem in PvP.

Guardian was a bit less fun than I thought it would be, but I barely gave it a shot, so I am holding off reservation.

I am holding off judgment of ranger, because I didn't play it enough either. It seemed like it was as I expected...

[teina]

My expectation of Ranger changed. I didn't think I'd like it that much, but it's easily creeping up to my #2.

Agreed. I wasn't planning on playing a ranger in my first 5, but that's changed. The pacing of GW2 ranger is better than GW1, and I really enjoyed it. Downside: pet is awfully soft. My pet spent most of its time in the downed state if I'm fighting more than a couple of enemies.

Warrior was even more fun than I thought it would be. And I loved using weapons that I thought I would avoid (Hammer, Rifle).

Again, I agree. It was the heavy hitter and I certainly had fun with it. However, given that I only have 5 slots to start with, I'll likely still pick the varied guardian gameplay over the heavy-hitting warrior.

I didn't spend a ton of time on Mesmer, but the time I spent was okay. It was more fun than I thought, but it was as non-Mesmery as I thought it would. Illusions and Shatters just aren't that useful in much of the game; most mobs died way faster than I could shatter.

I agree, the GW1 mesmer is gone. With regards to shatter, if you time it right, you can get a shatter in to finish them off, but overall it just feels gimmicky. Also, many ranged mobs will kite, like the centaur archers. It makes timing the shatter less than precise.

Guardian was a bit less fun than I thought it would be, but I barely gave it a shot, so I am holding off reservation.

Well, that I disagree with. Guardian is still one of my top 5, easily.

Ele was cool, about what I expected. Need to give Engineer a shot next time.

Elementalist skills unlocking is a pita. You have weapons and 4 elements to unlock per weapon. I spent most of my time on the ele unlocking skills rather than experimenting with them. I hope Anet gives us a better (faster) way to unlock skills after the first set or two. Otherwise it's really grindy if you want to unlock everything for some professions.

Engineers are ok, probably still in my top 5, but I found damage to be rather meh. Tried the grenade and the mines, neither of which floated my boat. Next time I'll probably try a different kit, maybe go heal.

Other early impresions: thief will stay off my first 5, I just didn't a huge thrill from playing it. Necro also will likely fall off my first 5 to make room for the ranger. It was ok, but I enjoyed the ranger more.

So at present, my first 5 professions will likely be, in no particular order: guardian, ranger, mesmer, elementalist, and engineer.

-T

[Alaris]

Engineer isn't really about damage, but if that's your thing, you should go with grenades and/or flamethrower. Guns work decently too. But engineers are more about versatile play.

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It was grindy to unlock skills on warrior, especially in WvW. Nice that you can easily see what needs to be unlocked in the hero panel, but still bad that it takes so long. Professions with more weapons should be able to unlock faster. I would not make professions like engineer unlock slower though.

Also, underwater should unlock faster because that one unlocks last most of the time, by which time you already know how to use multiple skills... it feels like a drag.

[Смерть]

The 6% Life Gain was taken off of the Necromancer's Grasping Dead -- as well as the bug that gave you full Life Force - lulz. Was hoping to benefit from that 6% because I used the skill a lot, will see how it shapes up in next beta. I did start using the dagger's immobilize skills though a lot this time around. I really do like the scepter and main-hand dagger--liking the off-hand dagger, but still not sold on one off-hand completely yet--need more experimentation time.

I didn't feel too much of a difference with the Necromancer though--DS was still a beast--It felt balanced though (PvE; didn't play PvP).

[Alaris]

Ray of judgment isn't a Jeebus beam anymore. Sad.

[bearsfwd]

Well, before this weekend, I hadn't planned on really playing some of the professions, mainly guardian, warrior, thief, and mesmer. However, after trying all the professions, I've found that now, I have an even tougher decisions to make. Guardian felt a little strange, so next BWE, I'll have to give it a little bit more time. But the other three I listed. OMG, they are fantastic.

Aside from having my first character being an elementalist for sure, I went from choosing between 3 others to choosing between 6-7 other professions (depending on if I find I like guardian or not).

[Sir Jack]

Thief was a bit of a letdown, mostly because I didn't have a lot of skills and could only try Dual Pistols and Dual Daggers most of the time, though Shortbow was amazingly fun, and I heard the Sword/Dagger combo is a lot better.

Ranger shot up a lot. Even with pets in their currently still very poor state. Great speed and versatily, I hope they don't tweak too much of the class though. GW1 Ranger right now is probably the best balanced class there is, and as a result probably one of the worst since the rest is OP.

Guardian is still in the top 5.