User:Chompie/Profession Choosing Guide
Picking a profession can be tough. How do you know whether you're going to like how its playstyle evolves, or whether it'll have enough options to keep you interested? Well, I guess you could read a guide or something.
How Professions Play in the Early Game[edit]
Every class feels rather different from their final forms when they're stuck with a very small number of skills early-game. Here's an idea of what to expect from each of them.
Warrior[edit]
Warriors early on are quite straightforward. Their armor is very high, and they hit things. You get a fair number of good general-use skills, some small combos that work well together, and the incredibly awesome Watch Yourself! However, Warriors can occasionally come across foes early on who they can't quite do anything useful against- you don't get much in the way of specific, situational skills for a while. Luckily, you have friends along to help with that!
Most early trainers give you skills that help you improve your combinations and general effectiveness. Situational and utility skills will come in later, or from your secondary profession.
Ranger[edit]
The Ranger starts out quite slow. It generally takes a long time to build up to a comprehensive skillset that has everything you want, but at least that gives you time to get used to the projectile mechanics, and figure out which style of bow you prefer. Until you get out of the early game, you'll probably want a pet around to provide some extra damage for you.
Monk[edit]
The Monk is quite simple at the beginning. Each skill you get has a clearly defined purpose, and does it fairly well. Healing Prayers are quite effective early, if sometimes a bit unnecessary, while a number of Protection Prayers are not very useful until enemies get tougher- though keeping something like Shielding Hands along can be a great way to get an idea of just how useful a well-placed enchantment can be. If you want to focus on Smiting Prayers, you won't quite have enough useful skills to truly be a smiter until later, so don't be afraid to bring some supportive skills or something from your Secondary Profession to fill in for a while.
If you're playing with just Heroes and Henchmen, I'd reccommend taking a couple smiting skills even if you want to focus on healing or protecting. Heroes/henchies can be unreliable as your only damage source; something of your own will help speed things up.
Elementalist[edit]
Elementalists are very straightforward, right from the beginning. You get skills that explode things. Sure, that's not the entirety of what the Elementalist has to offer, but that's what you'll start with! A few utility Earth Magic skills will be available to you as well, and since you won't have enough skills of a single element to focus on just one, you might as well give them a shot! Things will be quite simple for a while.
Necromancer[edit]
Early in a character's life, general-use Necromancer skills are hard to come by. From the very beginning, you will find quite a number of skills that you won't see much of a practical use for. Take them in stride and try to make use of whatever you get your clawed hands on. In time, you'll be able to put together all kinds of devastating builds, but your options are rather strange for a while.
If you're looking to summon minions, be aware that at lower levels, their health decays just as quickly as it does at level 20, despite their lower maximum health and other stats. Your precious fleshbags won't die nearly as fast once you get some levels in you, so don't let their fleeting lifespan turn you off!
Mesmer[edit]
Your Mesmer skill bar will be a mess. Nothing in it will quite make sense alongside your other skills, but that's okay! Each individual skill tends to be quite useful (especially Empathy), so you'll do fine until you eventually put together a skill bar that works as one solid kit.
Note that when fighting weak enemies, most of the skills you get will feel pretty weak, especially interrupting/punishing skills. As enemies get more moves to use though, you'll have plenty of opportunity to wreak havoc on things.
Assassin[edit]
Prepare to die. The Assassin is rather fragile without a robust skillset, and needs to get into melee to be useful. If dying occasionally doesn't get you down though, you'll be able to tear apart enemies like some kind of skinny dagger-wielding maniac.
Assassins get plenty of skills early on to give you options in their lead/off-hand/dual attack chains, and do give you a pretty good feel for how the class will play later... minus your self-defenses.
Ritualist[edit]
The Ritualist gets plenty of skills that they need, when they need them! You can summon spirits to attack or protect, cast buffs and debuffs, and generally focus on whatever sounds nice at the time. Trying to figure out where to place your attribute points might be even tougher that with other professions, but don't worry too much over it; there's no big commitment to the points you place, after all.
Paragon[edit]
A Paragon's early options are not too shabby- You'll get a few skills from every kind of strategy a high-level Paragon has at their disposal, and though together your early skills won't be particularly efficient, they work well enough individually that you'll be able to see your impact on a fight just fine.
As you level, outposts and missions will have higher and higher maximum party sizes, which will greatly improve the strength of your empowering Shouts and Chants, as well as let you use your Leadership attribute to greater effect.
Dervish[edit]
Introductory Dervish skills are nothing special- you'll get a few skills that introduce you to the Teardown mechanic, but you won't really be able to focus your skillbar on it for quite a while. Teardown builds can be fairly intense to play, so take this time to learn fundamentals- like getting used to hitting multiple foes in a single scythe swing. Learning to do it without thinking will be a huge boon to you.
How Professions Play With All Their Toys[edit]
WARNING: from this point onward I just blathered crap out without worrying about it being readable by humans
Warrior[edit]
SO MANY TOYS! Warriors get SO much variety in *how* they want to build their skillbar. Every weapon ends up with tons and tons of different ways to use it! The secondary effects of all the different attack skills have an incredible number of possibilities! You can use skills that make your Energy bar leap up and down, you can weave synergies between tons of different Conditions, and there are TONS of Elite skills that just beg for you to figure out how exactly they can be great.
In addition to that, the Warrior's Strength attribute keeps their damaging attacks strong even against tough foes, and their powerful armor gives you plenty of leeway to do dangerous things in the name of SMASH ENEMY
Ranger[edit]
Past level 20 and with lots of skills, the Ranger is brimming with options! You can pepper huge areas with TONS of damage! You can focus on debilitating enemies with interrupts and cripples and all sorts of annoying things! Rangers are ALSO great at builds focusing on Pressure: you have the ability to spread heavy health degeneration across the field, and keep attacking without ever truly running out of energy!
Also, you're probably the safest class in the game. In any party wipe situation, you're most likely the last person standing.
Monk[edit]
I hope you like running away from tyrannosaurs for the rest of your life.
Monks can fall into several categories once they have a full suite of skills. Twitchy monks who cast split-second powerful heals and protections, calm monks who make sure the party has regeneration and recovery, and angry monks who blow everything up. Basically, monk gets about a hundred ways to be MORE INTENSE at whatever it is they're trying to do.
Elementalist[edit]
Elementalist is pretty cool when you have everything! There are lots of interesting cross-element combos, fun interactions with the Exhaustion mechanic, and also you explode things for the damage and generally make enemies worry about everything. Long-lasting area effects are highly discouraging to enemy AI, and when herded together right, they seem to really love getting obliterated by your area spells. Is pretty cool.
Necromancer[edit]
SO MANY HEXES HOLY CRAP. THERE ARE LOTS. YOU CAN NERF ANY KIND OF NUMBER IN THE GAME IF YOU COME PROPERLY PREPARED. Also Blood Magic is just really fun, cause you're some kind of life-stealing regen-granting people-melting machine. And Death Magic is just great because Necromancer Minions are SUPER GOOD and honestly a giant wall of rotting meat is probably the best tank in the game. And herding your little meatlings is fun and wholesome.
Mesmer[edit]
Mesmer is the expert in Making People Sad. You can run most enemies out of energy if that's what you wanna do. You can have them melt from armor-ignoring damage because they're not picking the skills YOU told them they were suppoed to pick. Mesmer is really everything you expect it to be, if what you expected is "Telling enemies to stop using their skills Or Else"
Assassin[edit]
Best Class. Everything in Assassin is a combo for something else, or a way to deal with things that scare you. The best way to understand new skills you find is to think "Oh cool, I wonder which skills this pairs well with?" You are a mean buzzsaw who is nigh-invulnerable to whatever very specific thing you choose to be invulnerable to. And if you mess up, you still die. An assassin can rarely afford to hold back, because the best way for them to regain Energy is to attack things and get criticals. Yay!
Also most of your dagger attacks are extremely conveniently named.
Ritualist[edit]
Ritualists can either pretend to be monks (and they're quite good at it) by throwing around heals and protective buffs and even rather strong offensive buffs..
OR
Ritualists can traipse about making powerful spirits that sling attacks and debuffs or protect the party! Now, at first this seems like it could get old, because these spirits can't move at all, so you constantly have to resummon them before their duration is even up. But there's a single PvE skill that fixes that and then some. Summon Spirits. Ta-daaa!
I should PROBABLY note that Ritualists are the favorite general-use Solo character. Like, not even heroes or henchmen solo character. Monk and Assassin get some of that action, but Ritualist is most likely to be able to stroll into any situation and handle it.
Did I mention I don't play ritualist? That's probably the first thing that should have come to mind about them. They're the complete Summoning/Spellslinging/Support package
Paragon[edit]
Did you know, this game actually has Bard in it? And they're really awesome??
This is what Paragon teaches you. They have a bit of a shallow skill list, and so there aren't as many exciting combos as most classes.. but boy howdy are there some fascinating and interesting supportive tricks in here! Many Paragons think of themselves as a Battery for the team. Perhaps they're a health battery, or an energy battery, or they absorb incoming enemy damage no matter who it's aimed at. But they can also be a respectable fighter that grants sweet offensive buffs to their team while they fight! Paragon is fun, despite its small skill list.
Dervish[edit]
YO THERE ARE SO MANY POSSIBILITIES IN THAT TEARDOWN LINK I PUT IN EARLIER.
But you don't even HAVE to use any of them! Dervishes can be quite powerful with all kinds of builds that have nothing to do with rapidly casting and destroying enchantments! Dervishes' more long-lasting enchantments (plus their Forms) can make them a deadly powerhouse.. so long as nothing rips their enchantments off and eats them for breakfast. Dervishes walk a strange line between juggernaut and house of cards. I should just call them Achilles. You're Achilles now.
You can even be a melee half-healer sort of, with just Dervish skills! Try it out! It's not the greatest, but it's interesting and fun and rewarding!
How Each Profession Helps as a Secondary[edit]
SPECIAL NOTE: Your choice of a Secondary isn't super important. You can change it later! (a LOT later if you're doing Prophecies, but still changeable)
Warrior[edit]
Warrior's Stances and Shouts can be useful for just about anyone if you have a weakness that needs covering up! Most of these fall under the Tactics attribute, and they're nice to have along!
I would never really jump to recommend Warrior as your first subclass, but it's got some handy skills (if a bit low-key).
Don't let that stop you though! it can be frickin great
Ranger[edit]
If you use a weapon, I would recommend Ranger as a subclass entirely for 
Antidote Signet. If that's not enough, there are also a couple movespeed boosts and blocking stances that can be quite convenient to slap on that last empty slot on your skillbar!
The downside is that most of those useful speed boosts and blocking stances scale with Expertise, their primary attribute that you don't get. 
Dryder's Defenses is a nice one though, and that's Wilderness Survival!
Also you can have a pet if you want. People like pets, right?
Monk[edit]
Monk as your secondary profession is never really the wrong choice. Taking it just to have a re-usable resurrection skill is a commendable thing done by people less selfish than me. 
Rebirth is a favorite for reviving people out of combat, since it even teleports them right to you!
If you're going to take a Monk secondary, let it be for handy supportive effects or a couple Smiting skills that pair well with whatever you're doing, because healing.. well..
Beware that some Monk abilities (almost anything to do with outright healing up HP) are not very good at their job without a lot of skill point investment. And even that might not be enough, because you'll still be without Monk's excellent Divine Favor attribute.
This wiki has an article on the Whammo, a tragic thing that happens if you try to use healing prayers on a Warrior. :(
Elementalist[edit]
Elementalist skills can be REALLY EXPENSIVE in some cases! But don't let that stop you, because they can absolutely be worth it if you can fit them into your skillset. I'm just gonna list a few fan favorites from Secondary Elementalists:
For Warriors: 
Shock
For any weapon-attack users: The Conjure enchantments. (but don't forget to make sure your weapon itself deals the right kind of damage first!)
For... anyone: 
Armor of Mist
Necromancer[edit]
If you're already a spellcaster, Necromancer can provide you with some fantastic niche spells to debilitate your enemies and help cover weak spots in your repetoire.
It can even be a fantastic choice even for melee characters, with a variety of life-draining or condition managing skills!
Plague Touch on its own is enough reason for many fighters to grab Necromancer
Mesmer[edit]
There's really no reason you can't just grab 
Empathy for early in the game. It's great!
One big draw to Mesmer as a secondary profession is that Inspiration Magic is all about energy management. Most classes with energy management get it from their Primary Attribute, but not mesmer! They're willing to share! If you're not a superpowered build-making machine from the first minute you touch the game, it might be handy to hold on to Ether Signet or Channeling in your back pocket!
Assassin[edit]
Assassin provides lots of convenient skills to add to your repetoire!
Need mobility? Add a Shadow Step, or even just grab Dash!
Applying lots of Conditions and want to take advantage of them? Boy are there options for you!
Malicious Strike - Attack harder!
Signet of Malice - Cure your own conditions!
Sadist's Signet - Heal yourself!
Signet of Deadly Corruption - Finish them off!
Assassin might have more things handy than you expect! I'm not being paid to say this!
Ritualist[edit]
If you want to dabble in healing with your subclass, Ritualist might be a better choice than Monk's Healing Prayers! Spirits that aid your whole party can make a huge difference, and the high base healing of many Ritualist spells can be pretty nice in a pinch!
Paragon[edit]
Paragon's supportive Shouts can be a boon on pretty much any character! 
"Fall Back!" in particular is a wonderful skill just for the convenience it brings to your party.
Nothing really earth-shattering though. "Handy" and "Convenient" tend to describe it well.
Dervish[edit]
It's amazing what a single powerful enchantment can do for you. If you want to beef yourself up, Dervish has a healthy number of options for you!
Or you can even just add 
Shield of Force for those times when something wants to crush your face.
Reaching Out for More Variety[edit]
A big theme you'll see in meta builds and endgame builds and just plain weird stuff is: Using the Primary Attribute from your main class in order to enhance a build that is technically just another class entirely.
These are very obviously not the only ways you can make weird builds. Every class can do weird and surprisingly effective things! You just gotta imagine!
Warrior[edit]
A primary Warrior pretty much always plays like a Warrior. The Strength attribute makes any attack skill you use add % Armor Piercing to the basic swing the attack skill is attached to, so you're always able to do a good bit of burst. But there aren't many Warrior builds that are ultra weird. Some are made to be invincible, some are made to dash up to a target and obliterate them, but they all play warrior-y.
Ranger[edit]
Ranger's Expertise attribute opens up quite a number of options. Their powerful defensive and speed-boosting stances combined with Expertise's cost reductions can make some frighteningly effective cross-class builds!
- The "Bunny Thumper", named after the weird hopping animation rangers have when wielding a hammer, is about pummeling foes with hammer skills and harrying with attacks from an animal companion.
- The "Touch Ranger" takes advantage of Expertise's cost reduction to spam touch skills like
Vampiric Touch. Suddenly they drain hundreds of health from someone and it hardly seems fair :D - Some Rangers even bring along Ritualist spirits to help their team while they do other stuff! It's not very exciting though.
Monk[edit]
I'm sorry, Monk's primary attribute Divine Favor only affects Monk spells, so there aren't any cool combinations that use it. However.. that doesn't mean monk doesn't have its own bizarre lategame builds to play with. There are two very strange forms of Tank Monks that abuse a few fun Protection Prayers...
- The 55 Monk Gets their maximum HP all the way down to 55 so that
Protective Spirit will reduce all incoming damage to a mere 5 that is easy to simply regenerate away! Lots of nerve-wracking fun! - The 600 Monk wears as little armor as possible in order to take massive damage.. but that damage is limited by Protective Spirit and then automatically healed away by
Spirit Bond. You constantly take massive damage that is automatically healed away- making damage reflection abilities considerably stronger than normal on you!
Elementalist[edit]
What's better than one enormous nuke? Grabbing 
Arcane Echo from a mesmer subclass and having two of them!
Yeah, that's all I've really got. I apparently don't know much about crazy elementalist things aside from "make more boom" and "spend ludicrous amounts of energy"
Necromancer[edit]
Hello, this is Metagame calling. I hope you're doing well. Soul Reaping's description goes: "If you are in a high-speed farming group, you never ever run out of Energy".
- Need a healer? Get a Necromancer with high Soul Reaping and give them some Healing Prayers or Restoration Magic!
- Need partywide buffs? Get a Necromancer with high Soul Reaping to pump out expensive Protection Prayers or Binding Rituals!
- Need a tank? Get a Necromancer with high Soul Reaping and pump out Minions to act as a fleshwall vanguard for the team! And I dunno, add in skills from one of the above two types for giggles!
Mesmer[edit]
Mesmer has a few weird niche builds, but if you enjoy playing mesmer, it's more fun to just let you figure those out on your own, isn't it? The big Mesmer perk is being able to cast really slow Curses or Elemental magic much faster than normal.
Or, bring together a wildly disparate set of skills using 
Signet of Illusions! Steal enemy spells and use them better! Copy allied spells and use them better! The possibilities to be a weird person are limitless! Grasp them!
Assassin[edit]
Don't know which weapon you want to play? Assassin's got you covered.
The Critical Strikes primary attribute is fantastic with ANY type of weapon. And it gets better- 
Way of the Master pumps up your crit chance even more while wielding a non-assassin weapon!
Want to make an Axe Mastery build around critical hits? Do it! A Spear Mastery build? Of course! Want to repeatedly fire high speed 
Barrage crits everywhere? Critical Marksmanship works quite well! Want to crit with spell staves? Go ahead! (don't do that)
Assassin can play ANY weapon class they want to.
Ritualist[edit]
I actually just don't play Ritualist and there are no weird Rt builds famous enough to have entered my sphere of attention.
I guess it's worth pointing out that some ritualist builds can clear entire areas SOLO. Which is really hard and really impressive!
Paragon[edit]
Paragon is better at the Warrior skill 
"Save Yourselves!" than warriors are. Paragons can get up to some RIDICULOUS Adrenaline generation that in turn generates them energy to generate more adrenaline.
Dervish[edit]
I don't think I've ever seen a dervish who does a lot of non-dervish things. The wierdest dervish builds are the ones that try to be healers, and I suspect I'm the only one who's ever tried that.
