Team roles

From Guild Wars Wiki

It has been suggested that this article be split into articles entitled PvE roles and PvP roles. (discuss)

[edit] Frontline

A team's frontline usually consists of melee characters (typically Warriors). These are the players who are constantly amidst the enemy, and thus is most often reserved for characters which are there by necessity (such as the range of melee weapons, or the (relative) safety of higher armor).

[edit] Midline

A team's midline usually consists of casters, ranged damage dealers or support. These characters play between the frontline and the backline, although they may sometimes move forward or back as tactical situations require.

Midline characters tend to have less armor than the frontline but often have the same or a little more armor then the backline. The overall goal of a midline character is to inflict as much damage and/or provide as much support without being the target of the opposition's frontline. That being said the midline must be coordinated enough to stay within range of the backline for healing purposes but also stay in range of the enemy in order to attack them.

[edit] Backline

A team's backline is the part of the team which is most protected, usually devoted towards defending the rest of the team. A backline generally consists of healer or protection type characters, typically Monks and occasionally Ritualists or other supportive classes. Being behind the rest of team means that enemies have to go through them to get the defense, which allows for better intrinsic safety of those characters so that they can focus on other members of the team as well.

A backline can vary depending on the build at hand. In some case Paragons can be considered backline due to their roles. For instance a Paragon in Heroes' Ascent playing in a zergway build often has multiple healing skills such as Song and Ballad of Restoration and thus is theoretically considered a backline character.