Guild Wars: Costume Re-appraisal

Okay, having now had a chance to play over a hundred games in the Costume Brawl, I feel much better about making judgments about the classes. So, throw out this post - everything except the basic information, really, as I was making some poor assumptions. Monks are much better than they look at first glance, everyone writes the off, everyone should load in and faces a team with a good Monk and rethinks the preconception. And the real stinker is the Paragon who's a non-splitting character saddled with an awful build.

Here's how I rank them from worst to first.

1. Paragon
2. Necromancer
3. Warrior
4. Assassin
5. Mesmer
6. Ritualist
7. Dervish
8. Elementalist
9. Monk
10. Ranger

Rangers are the hands down best class. They exist on a plane far above everything else. You're only a Mending Touch away from being something you'd run in GvG. Counters for everything, very survivable, and in the right hands you can take down anything and everyone. And in the run and gun environment of the Costume Arena, ranged attacking is better than melee fighting - it's all about spacing and movement and being ranged lets you take the fight to your opponent or escape one easier.

Next, I'd take the Monk. You need to stick with your teammates and use them as a screen but, if you do, you're an annoying little bugger who's going to drag every fight out even if you're outnumbered. You just have to remember that you are not a healer, you are a disruptive character who can heal.

If you want to go pure offense then Elementalist is the way to go. Rangers and Mesmers will eat you alive but if you're smart you can take care of most other threats. And you are probably the most lethal. Just be aware you will crumple when the other team focuses on you and that they will focus on you.

After that, I'd actually go with the Dervish. They do a lot of damage and being immune to conditions half the time stymies Eles and Rangers and even your fellow frontliners. If you want to play melee, this is the way to go.

I'm a bit down on the Ritualist compared to others, I think. I suspect it's a personal preference thing. People seem to really like them. I'd rather have a Monk, when it comes down to it. Because the secondary effect of the Monk's nuking skills are better while the Rit is good if you want to litter the field with crappy spirits. I don't think the spirits are worth much, obviously, beyond fueling MB&S to help against Sins and Rangers although the weapon skills are awesome.

Mesmers, I feel, are underrated. Sure, you don't want to run one if you're a rank newb but in the right hands, you're a bundle of pain for nearly everyone. If you know how to run a Mesmer, this is a good choice. The thing is you lack a run buff and you lack defenses so you're a sitting duck.

Sins, I think, are a bit too vulnerable. There's enough enchantment stripping and interrupts around that you're not going to land your chain against a good opponent and that means you're useless. Against poor opponents - and there are a lot of those - you'll get kills but you can beat those already so why bother if you can't beat the better teams? Good for scrubs, not for people who know what they're doing.

Warriors I put near the bottom because, as a Ranger player, I get all happy inside when a War tries to get after me. Cripples, interrupts and they're dead. Elementalists have similar feelings thanks to Steam. Necros will hex them to all blazes although they really need to kite well. Monks will sig them to death. They're nasty if they can get up close and wail on someone but that's not exactly easy when there are run buffs and snares floating around. Plus the hate you can't do anything about. I'd rather go with a Dervish than a Warrior, if I wanted a melee character, and that means they slide down the list.

Necromancers sink to the bottom here, sadly given how attractive they looked initially, because they just don't have enough. They don't have a speed buff to kite from melee. They merely slow and inhibit attackers, they don't prevent it. And their degen doesn't kill fast enough. In a group, protected by other characters - like A Monk or Ritualist - you can be effective but I'd rather use that slot for something else, if I had the choice because there's a much greater chance they're going to do well.

Paragons are dead last. They suck. Don't play one. Why? Well, Paragons are best when they have a lot of characters around so they benefit from Leadership. That means you want the group to stick together something that's not going to happen in a split-happy random group. They have decent enough damage but they don't have any interrupts or other ways of shutting down an opponent. Half your team has a speed buff so Fall Back is useless. And they lack the chants that would really make them pop, like Anthem of Flame to synergize with the ubiquitous SF Eles.