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Guide to choosing secondary profession
Godliest
Member Posts: 3,486
in Guild Wars
Now you've picked your main profession, but as you quickly realize: you can choose a secondary one! But which one should you pick? I'll do my best to cover that in this guide, and hopefully you will after reading this be a bit more confident about what profession to pick as secondary.
The guide is designed keeping PvE in mind, for PvE see my upcoming Guide about designing builds.
As always there is no best option for which secondary to choose, the game is very balanced in this aspect too. When picking secondary later on into the game you will mostly be doing so depending on your builds. What I'm covering here is aimed to cover the basics for picking secondary the first time and not later on into the game. I've ignored some of the skill combinations that can be acquired later on into the game as taking those into account would be stupid considering that you by the time you can acquire those you can change secondary profession. So here we go.
Warrior
- Ranger
- Offers some defensive stances as well as a few ways of applying conditions.
- Monk
- Warriors with Monk secondary are usually called Wammos, which is a harassment rather than just a statement. The reason why W/Mo has became declared worthless or equal is because of some players to pick bad skills for their Warrior.
- Picking a Monk secondary is mostly for the healing skills they offer, this can be good to pick as a beginner as it can greatly aid you in battles by allowing you to keep yourself alive.
- Necromancer
- Not a good option to pick. The Necromancer skills tend to be quite energy heavy for a Warrior resulting in that you either don't pick any skills from this line or that you run out of energy quickly.
- Mesmer
- Won't render much usefulness until you can acquire some of the defensive stances that Mesmers got access too.
- Elementalist
- Snares and damage boosters can be acquired if you pick Elementalist secondary, however keep in mind that it takes quite some time before you can actually get these skills.
- Assassin
- Features a few decent self heals some snares, interruptions and some skills to increase your running speed. May be viable option.
- Ritualist
- The Weapon spells Ritualist secondary offer can increase your damage quite a lot, however that's the only thing a Ritualist secondary will offer.
- Paragon
- Allows you to use a spear instead of an axe, hammer or sword. A few other shouts and chants can also prove good.
- Dervish
- Due to some Scythe Mastery attacks not being Scythe attacks only you can use this attacks with other primary weapons, making this a good choice. A few other skills for better survivability are also accessible.
Ranger
- Warrior
- The most commonly picked secondary if you want to play as a "thumper", but that's mainly useful and possible at higher levels.
- Monk
- Allows for good condition removal, healing and reusable resurrection skills.
- Necromancer
- Usually not a very good due to the energy heavy skills in necromancer line. Can't truly take advantage of the skills until later into the game.
- Mesmer
- Some ways for condition spreading otherwise not much offered here.
- Elementalist
- Wards may be used for some party wide support, a few damage boosting skills however it takes some time to acquire these skills.
- Assassin
- Allows for reduction of the energy cost of assassin's attack skills, making them more spammable.
- Ritualist
- Good reusable resurrects and some weapon spells for more damage.
- Paragon
- Some skills for more damage otherwise not very much offered here.
- Dervish
- Offers much more effective ways of spreading conditions. Also offers some defensive skills.
Monk
- Warrior
- Defensive stances allows for more survivability.
- Ranger
- Defensive stances allows for more survivability, although not as useful as some Warrior ones.
- Necromancer
- For some offense. Not much use.
- Mesmer
- Combined with some interruption skills that give back energy upon successful interruption the monk got much better energy management.
- Elementalist
- Some defensive skills, energy management ones and snares can be used should you choose this as your secondary.
- Ritualist
- More healing.
- Assassin
- Allows for much more survivability thanks to skills from the Shadow Magic attribute.
- Paragon
- May be used for some extra party support.
- Dervish
- Allows for more survivability.
Necromancer
- Warrior
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Ranger
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Monk
- Good option to act as a secondary healer for your party, especially thanks to the energy gain Necromancers can maintain (thanks to Soul Reaping).
- Mesmer
- Both are hex heavy classes. Tend to be a common combination to punish the foe.
- Elementalist
- Energy management.
- Assassin
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Ritualist
- Allows for good healing thanks to energy (Soul Reaping) and heals from Restoration Magic attribute.
- Paragon
- Some shouts affect minions.
- Dervish
- Allows for more survivability and health regeneration allowing for more spamming of some skills that requires sacrificing health.
Mesmer
- Warrior
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Ranger
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Monk
- Allows for support through healing(even if you'd be better off with a monk). Can also provide some spammable signets from Smiting Prayers.
- Necromancer
- Many hexes combine very well allowing for more punishing.
- Elementalist
- Energy management and reduced casting time of otherwise long time casting spells (Fast Casting).
- Assassin
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Ritualist
- Allows for offensive and defensive support.
- Paragon
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Dervish
- Allows for more survivability.
Elementalist
- Warrior
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Ranger
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Monk
- Allows for Elementalists to work as hybrids; i.e. deal a bit of damage while still providing your team with healing mainly thanks to their large energy pool and good energy management.
- Necromancer
- Due to Elementalists energy management skills and large energy pool they can spam hexes that otherwise would be too energy heavy for other classes.
- Mesmer
- Allows for some more energy management.
- Assassin
- Shadowsteps may prove useful to quickly get close to targets and unleash skills that have short range.
- Ritualist
- Due to Elementalists energy management skills and large energy pool they can provide the team with lots of healing and spam out energy heavy spirits without trouble.
- Paragon
- Condition removal can be accessed, otherwise not much synergy,
- Dervish
- Allows for more survivability.
Assassin
- Warrior
- Allows for an IAS (Increased Attack Speed), which can greatly boost your damage output.
- Ranger
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Monk
- Allows for more survivability.
- Necromancer
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Mesmer
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Elementalist
- Conjures can be acquired, however keep in mind that these takes some time to acquire.
- Ritualist
- Weapons spells can boost the Assassin's damage output.
- Paragon
- Due to Paragons being located in the Nightfall campaign these aren't possible to choose as a secondary profession until later into the game
- Dervish
- Due to Dervishes being located in the Nightfall campaign these aren't possible to choose as a secondary profession until later into the game
Ritualist
- Warrior
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Ranger
- Spawning Power affects Nature Rituals as well, although that is hardly any help.
- Monk
- Allows you to play as a good healer.
- Necromancer
- Spawning Power affects minions you animate, making them get more health and armor.
- Mesmer
- Allows for hex removal, something that Ritualists otherwise lack.
- Elementalist
- Energy management.
- Assassin
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Paragon
- Due to Paragons being located in the Nightfall campaign these aren't possible to choose as a secondary profession until later into the game
- Dervish
- Due to Dervishes being located in the Nightfall campaign these aren't possible to choose as a secondary profession until later into the game
Paragon
- Warrior
- Due to both professions using adrenaline skills this combination tends to be a good one due to a "natural" synergy.
- Ranger
- A pet allows for more energy gain from their main attribute (Leadership).
- Monk
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Necromancer
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Mesmer
- Due to Paragons role of being a support class that relieves allies of pressure Mesmers are sometimes picked due to their hex removal.
- Elementalist
- Conjures can be acquired, however keep in mind that these takes some time to acquire.
- Assassin
- Due to Assassins being located in the Factions campaign these aren't possible to choose as a secondary profession until later into the game
- Ritualist
- Due to Ritualists being located in the Factions campaign these aren't possible to choose as a secondary profession until later into the game
Dervish
- Warrior
- Many adrenaline skills can be spammed more due to Scythes quicker building of adrenaline as well as lack of other adrenaline skills.
- As both professions are mêlée ones they tend to combine fairly well.
- Ranger
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Monk
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy. Dervishes can survive well enough using only their own attribute lines.
- Necromancer
- Not a good choice, lack of synergy.
- Mesmer
- Won't render much usefulness until you can acquire some of the defensive stances that Mesmers got access too.
- Elementalist
- Conjures can be acquired, however keep in mind that these takes some time to acquire.
- Assassin
- Due to Assassins being located in the Factions campaign these aren't possible to choose as a secondary profession until later into the game
- Ritualist
- Due to Ritualists being located in the Factions campaign these aren't possible to choose as a secondary profession until later into the game
Comments
Great guide.
Sticky would be nice so it does not get lost.
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Awesome stuff Godliest, all your posts I've seen are helpful. Thanks for taking the time to do this. I toss my vote in as well to sticky this for the new players. Might also be worth adding a link to PvX so people can see how various builds can compliment each other and be adapted to custom situations. Also, for all the new players that think their secondary is forever and that's why they're going crazy with reaseach, if you find yourself ever hating your build, don't sweat it: after Ascension you can mix it up however you like, you just have to work to that point in the game.
~~~~~
"Big surprise... there was no protection by this urban light..."
Im currently playing a ritualist/necro. These are viable MM's. Heres a quoted build suggestion from a Guild Wars forum where Im basing my build from:
Originally Posted by Artemis Shadowhawk
Explosive Minionmancer
Ritualist/Necromancer
Attributes:
Spawning: 12 [+3+1]=16
Death Magic: 12
Restoration: 6 [+1]=7
Skills:
Animate Bone Minions: Exploit nearest corpse to animate two level 10 Bone Minions. [25/3/5]
Death Nova: For 30 seconds, if target ally dies, Death Nova deals 85 damage and are Poisoned for 15 seconds. [5/2/-]
Blood of the Master: Sacrifice 10% max health. All adjacent undead allies are healed for 99. [10/1/5]
Verata's Sacrifice: Sacrifice 15% max health. For 18 seconds, all undead allies gain 10 health regeneration. All conditions are removed from those allies and transferred to you. [10/2/30]
Boon of Creation: For 63 seconds, whenever you create a creature, you gain 53 Health and 8 Energy. [10/2/45]
Explosive Growth: For 63 seconds, whenever you create a creature, up to 5 foes near that creature are struck for 68 lightning damage. [15/2/45]
Attuned Was Songkai [e]: Hold Songkai's ashes for up to 45 seconds. While you hold her ashes, your spells cost 53% less Energy to cast. [10/2/60]
Flesh of My Flesh: Lose half of your Health. Resurrect target ally with your current Health and 12% Energy. [5/5/-]
Synopsis:
Attuned was Songkai will reduce the cost of Animate Bone Minions to 12 energy. Each of your minions will be animated with 459 hp. This is 19 more hp than a level 18 bone horror. Furthermore, upon casting Animate Bone Minions, you will deal 136 damage to 5 nearby targets from Explosive Growth. Also you'll gain 16 energy and 106 hp from Boon of Creation.
That means that with each casting of Animate Bone Minions, you will gain 4 energy, 106 hp, deal 136 damage to adjacent foes, and if you forgot, animate two minions with more life than a level 18 bone horror
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a robot foot stomping on a human face -- forever."
Nice post, though Rit got lost in the Assassin portion of the first part
Maybe define "pressure" as opposed to "spike" and other jargon...
Would be also worth mentioning the differences between the classes' signature weapons, since e.g. a warrior/dervish can also be efficient with a scythe.
__________
Ever wondered what a hardcore WoW raider looked like?
R.I.P. Laura "Taera" Genender
Editing in Enhanced Editor is truly killing me, but you can't make posts in the Traditional one and then go back to edit them, all coding is pretty much killed then. Also pressure tends to be many people pressuring one target, thus creating a spike. I also included signature weapons and added a note about them for some clarification. Would be nice if someone could go through the signature weapons and their descriptions since I'm not 100% confident that everything is correct.
nice guide, but you left out a whole line of Mes skills, ie, Illusion magic. It's mostly anti-melee, degen hexes.
Editing in Enhanced Editor is truly killing me, but you can't make posts in the Traditional one and then go back to edit them, all coding is pretty much killed then. Also pressure tends to be many people pressuring one target, thus creating a spike. I also included signature weapons and added a note about them for some clarification. Would be nice if someone could go through the signature weapons and their descriptions since I'm not 100% confident that everything is correct.
For basic info I think it would do.One thing though, maybe you should mention: 1-handed for swords, axes, spear, 2-handed for hammer, scythe and bow (kinda), dual wielding for daggers (which I think have the fastest base attack speed). As for scythes doing most damage, it's rather that they have the highest top damage as well as the largest spread (9-41). Hammers rely a lot on knockdowns. Dagger attacks are mostly based on combos. Aside from range and attack speed, different bows also have different arrow flight times and reload speeds.
That's all I can think of before going to deep in details.
Also, yep a sticky would be nice.
__________
Ever wondered what a hardcore WoW raider looked like?
R.I.P. Laura "Taera" Genender
Daggers got the fastest attack speed, when you spend attribute points into Dagger Master, however at the basic speed they are at equal level of Swords and Axes. Also mentioning what Weapons combine with what kind of attacks is going slightly to deep as this tends to become obvious only later into the game.
Godliest: Did you change your orgional post? I remember looking orgionaly looking at it and haveing Each class with recomended secondarys. I dont really see that in your post any more.
This was my "first" post, however I didn't add suggestions for secondary professions to it. After looking through how much text I would need to cover what secondary professions are good for which professions I realized I had to cover this in another post.
Warrior's PvP role:
Warrior's role is actually quite dynamic. This includes pressure, spike, and disruption. A good warrior build contains all 3. You should of mentioned Deep Wound and Knockdown are warrior's strong suit. No warrior can be called good without at least 1 of the 2.
Monk's PvP role:
There is no pure healer/protector for monk in PvP. All builds nowadays are hybrid. Healers often place 8 points of prot for aegis, and proter often place 10 points of healing for patient spirit.
Necromancer's PvP role:
General Supporter? You mean Order spammers? That role had been taken over by D/N after Nightfall release.
Mesmer's PvP role:
Mesmer's role is best interpreted as "time mage". Although you're not really stopping time, but you are trying to delay/stop enemy's action.
Elementalist's PvP role:
1) You missed blinder and general spike
2) Again, most elementalist's builds nowadays are hybrid that incorperates 2 or more of those functions.
Assassin's PvP role:
Missed ranged pressure ("assacaster").
Ritualist's PvP role:
Same. Pure healer and damage is a thing of the past. Ritualists nowadays do both.
Paragon's PvP role:
Probably the most "jack of all trades". Paragons nowadays do disruption (through /Me with Mirror of Disenchantment, Cry of Frustration, Power Spike, and (in the past) Power Return), Party Heal (Song of Restoration), spike assist (Spear of Lightning, Harrier's Strike), offensive support (Go for the eyes), defensive support (watch yourself)
Dervish's PvP role:
More precisely a Melee Pressure + Support healer. Dervish's sheer attacking ability is not as good as warrior, it's healing ability is not as good as monk. However, it can do both, and thus relieves pressure off your monks.
This was my "first" post, however I didn't add suggestions for secondary professions to it. After looking through how much text I would need to cover what secondary professions are good for which professions I realized I had to cover this in another post.
Yes, I know you had to make a second post, this one. But I dont see the recomendations for secondary professions, I just see more information that can help make the primary profression choice.
Thanks for pointing it out. I wrote both guides in Word and I happened to copy paste the wrong one, thus both guides were the same. As it's now it's changed back to what it should look like.
Thanks Godliest.
Edit: Just noticed it got stickied, great!
Great job on the guide.
I have played an elementalist since the original BWE's and have played GW (and my Elementalist) regularly the entire time. For secondary Elementalist professions I would like to make a few amendments to your post.
Assassin - Many of the most effective Elementalist farming builds utilize skills such as Shadow Step. Also, flag runners, which Elementalists commonly are in GvG, make great use of many assassin skills.
Dervish - For PvE Mystic Regeneration is common as a defensive tool. Other skills are used but less so.
Mesmer - Echo and Arcane Echo are common among the highest DPS builds available to the Elementalist. And the energy management is a plus. This is the secondary profession that I recommend to all Elementalists.
Monk - You won't be a desired healer, and any time that you are in a group with other players you will be nuking (if they know what they are doing). Having Monk secondary is very useful when you are hero/henching though.
Warrior - Often, for running, such as when getting the explorer title track, you will want to utilize many warrior skills. Also, Elementalist thumpers are still fairly common in random arenas.
Ritualist - Ritualists have some very useful, very powerful spirits that the Elementalist is best capable of using; even moreso than Ritualists are. Plus, they have a fair amount of utility tools such as their item spells.
I know that Elementalists can in some way be paired with every other profession for some reason, however my thread here aims mostly at the beginners and what they will get most out of it in the early parts of the game - before you can change your secondary. Elementalist thumpers is probably one of the worst combinations ever, and RA is not a way to determine if something works or not; I've seen everything from Warrior's use mending and vengeance to Rangers with pretty much only elementalist spells. This thread aims at beginners, and as a beginner being able to run or discover every part of an area isn't of importance.
I was trying to respond in a constructive polite manner. I guess 400 hours of play time trumps my 960 hours on my PvE elementalist and 1500+ total play time (mostly on PvP elementalists). I will make this quick because I don't like pointless debates over such trivial BS...
Just hear me out on this one thing - never tell anybody to take monk secondary because it will allow them to heal their group well. That is simply not true. The only viable application that it has with real players is on a flag-runner in guild PvP. And even then, in my experience it is far inferior to other flag-running builds.
Xfire keeps crashing, don't base anything on it. Additionally it depends on what you've spent your time doing. Apart from playing I spend lots of time theory crafting. Necromancer with Monk secondary in PvE is a strong combination that can, thanks to soul reaping, heal for large amounts and without energy problems. Necromancer with Ritaulist secondary is another common choice for healing, that be found in both PvP and PvE. Picking monk secondary for a Necromancer with such a superior energy management and telling them that it allows them to heal their group is neither wrong nor stupid since it's true.
Elemenalists can with their large amount of energy and good energy management be able to dish out both damage and heal their group if they pick a monk or ritualist secondary. A monk primary may be better if you aim for being full out healing but then the Ele can act as a hybrid making it good as support.
I don't know how much knowledge you got of the game (playtime does not equal knowledge!) but if you honestly want to tell me what to write or not, when I got experience of such a combination working excellent, you could at least try to argue for your point - not just tell me that I should "trust" you.
Yes, necro with monk secondary can be alright if you have minions or enough readily available weak mobs (e.g. you are not in hard mode). N/Rt is far more effective however (or at least has been for the past year or so).
That said, an elementalist is not a necromancer. All of my comments are in reference to elementalists alone, as I do not consider myself all that knowledgeable about any other class. Frankly though, if you believe an ele/monk can heal well, I would be prone to disregard everything else that you have said based on that because it is a common misconception amongst new players. And as such, that's what I would assume that you are.
It all becomes much easier if we just disregard them as idiots, does it not? I took the example of an Elementalist as an additional one just for the sake of having additional examples. I never said an Ele/Monk can heal well - I said that they work good as hybrids that aid the team with defensive support and offensive support. Please learn to see the difference between hybrid and healer; spamming WoH on your team with an Elementalist primary is not what I meant but rather use a few defensive pre-prots. See this to get a decent understanding of what I mean (and yes I know it's E/Rt, it's just an example).
I'm not a new player. Period. While I sadly lack ranks or play time to prove my knowledge, I got enough knowledge to not charge into HA with a W/Mo using healing hands and neither would I wonder what the point of Hero Battles is. One thing is slightly beyond my understanding, even if I can grasp the major parts of it, and that's GvG. Apart from that I know what works and what doesn't.
Finally: this guide was made with beginners who just start the game kept in mind, not for hard mode. I could make a guide that covered what combinations and skills works good in hard mode, however I would then be forced to after every skill change update it and new additions and ideas come up all the time making it quite worthless. E/Mo with a few healing skills can deal damage and maintain a decent amount of defense for the party, and for that it works good. The same goes for necromancer with ritualist or monk secondary; the mobs drop quick and you gain lots of energy. Upon getting to Hard Mode I trust that the players can figure out what works and what doesn't, and what to run where.
One additional comment: Monk secondary is mainly better if what you aim to do is use pre-prots such as Aegis or equal, while Rit secondary works better when trying to just be a basic healing focusing less on pre-protting.
Yes, it's almost as easy as disregarding actual game experience with BS lines.
"Providing a team with lots of healing," sure makes it sound like they're doing it well. Regardless, I concede the argument. I have wasted too much time here already. And I should know better than to correct people on forums.
Edited because concede is spelled with an "e" not an 'i'.
Now this debate(?) is turning into more of a big personal attack rather than anything else. First off: How am I supposed to know that you've actually played as much as you have? Just because you say something doesn't mean it's true; "it's almost as easy as disregarding actual game experience with BS lines" and how I do know that what you isn't "BS lines"?
I more than welcome constrictive criticism and ways change the thread to the better, but if they aren't obviously correct then I think that an explanation should be made to prove their correctness. After going through my original post I fixed a few phrases to make them more correct. If you find anything else you consider to be wrong or should be changed, then go ahead, but state why it should be changed. Apart from that if you go to forums you can expect arguing if both sides don't agree on one thing, as in this case.
Good post, but I have to defend my build...
Ranger/Mesmer is a very plausible combination. It can be done. Rangers can take the lesser of the energy-sapping skills (like interrupts and low-energy hexes) from the Mesmer and use them in combination with Savage Shot/Distracting Shot and other interrupts to completely pressure and/or disable a Monk or Ele. Yes, the energy costs are high, but that means that you don't use Panic every time it recharges. Also, ranger gear was somewhat designed for players who play caster secondaries, as most of the armor allows quicker energy recharge and gives more base energy in general. There is no lack of synergy, and the build isn't that end-game. Most of the ranger interrupts can be acquired near the beginning of the game, the only thing that matters after that is the gear (which in itself, is end-game).
The build is rare, but it can work and it is just another example of something that works pretty well that isn't generic. All it needs is a skilled player to manage energy and hexes, and you can also cast Read the Wind on yourself to make interrupts almost instant (since Ranger interrupts are arrow-based). You don't have to modify your entire post, but just think about that...