New Guild Wars 2 players often ask, “What’s the best class?” This question often starts a big argument in guild or map chat, but the only true answer is, “The class you enjoy playing the most.”
Every profession is best at something, and some classes appeal to some players more than other. The question is, how do you decide which profession to try first?
What Do You Plan to Play?
If you are mainly interested in PVE, then truly, any class will do. PVE is the least-demanding form of content in Guild Wars 2.
PVE content includes:
- Personal Story
- Living World
- Dungeons
- Map completion and map events
- Map-specific meta events like The Silverwastes, Triple Trouble, Chak Gerent, and Dragon Stand.
Even so, you may find yourself struggling in PVE with certain combinations of profession, gear, and build.
If you are having trouble with your current class, I recommend trying a few different PVE-focused builds from Metabattle. It’s amazing the difference a few tweaks can make.
The best class (also called the “meta”) for each of the other game modes (PVP, WVW, and raids) changes month by month. As a general rule, the question is, “What’s hot now?” Browse Metabattle and look for the highest-rated builds.
Because the meta changes so often, if you are a new player, I don’t recommend trying to chase the meta. Get familiar with the game first, choose a class that appeals to you, and start from there.
How Do You Like to Play?
Each player has different interests. Someone who loves playing Mesmer might hate playing Guardian, and vice versa.
- If you like things complicated, try Engineer, Elementalist, or Revenant.
- If you like dodging and using stealth, try Thief or Mesmer.
- If you prefer to keep things simple, try Guardian, Ranger, Necromancer, or Warrior.
- If you like to play a healer, start with Ranger (and plan to expand to Druid after you hit level 80) or Revenant.
- If you like melee attacks, choose Guardian, Warrior, or Revenant.
- Prefer to keep your distance from the enemy? Try longbow Ranger.
For other recommendations, see our guide Which Class Should I Play?
How to Choose a Class
The best way to pick a profession in Guild Wars 2 is to try it. If you hate it, delete that character and start over.
Another approach is, don’t choose a class! Keep the character, and either buy a new character slot (for a paid account) or set up a new free account. Many experienced players have at least one character of each profession.
If you are interested in the meta, or you want to play different game modes, it’s worthwhile to have a “stable” of at least one level 80 character in each profession. This makes it easy to start playing a different class when the meta changes, as it does every 3-6 months.