Guild Wars 2: Best Classes For Solo Players, Ranked (2024)

Guild Wars 2 is a widely popular MMO that focuses heavily on player comfort, with plenty of features being account-wide. With that in mind, each of the nine classes is also perfectly usable for solo play, with all of them having ways of dealing damage as well as self-sustain.

Yet not all classes are created equally, with some of them being better at support or at competitive play. While all of them are viable, and you should choose based on what style speaks to you, if you are on the fence between one class or the other, this article will help you make up your mind.

Updated on August 12, 2024, by Alfredo Robelo: As Guild Wars 2 moves from big occasional expansions to annual mini expansions, its balance patches become more frequent. We’ve updated this list to reflect the classes of the game as they are currently balanced.

9 Revenant

Reserved For Experienced Players

The free-to-play experience of Guild Wars 2 does not include the Revenant class, and that is for a reason: it was added to the Hearth of Thorns expansion back in 2015. This makes it a class for experienced players, with its kit working as intended only once the player hits the maximum level.

This means that if you only plan on playing a single class, Revenant shouldn’t be that class. There is little experimentation to be had with its utility skills (since they are dictated by the equipped Legend), and you can’t even access the racial skills that give a lot of flavor to the early levels of the game.

If you are determined to play a Revenant, you should read the limited pool of weapons carefully since they have their own specific matching Legend depending on the damage type you are trying to do. Remember that a perfect Revenant rotation uses not only all weapons equipped but also switches Legends for maximum damage output.

8 Mesmer

A PVP Master

The Mesmer class is similar to the Revenant in that only experienced players should pick this class, although mastering it can be more rewarding than the Revenant, and it is available to all players. The leveling-up experience is certainly better, but you will have access to plenty of mechanics that won’t be necessary early on.

This ends up becoming the weakness of the Mesmer class, since even in late game content, it has too many tools for the threats it faces. When playing the story, exploring the maps or doing events, Mesmers end up bringing too much to the table.

The class truly shines in competitive modes, particularly PVP. There, the temporal illusions, phantasms, and their shatters can catch many opponents off guard, so if you want to see the full extent of what a Mesmer can do, that is the mode for you.

7 Guardian

A Flaming Tank

Guardians are like the Paladins of Guild Wars 2, with great healing powers, heavy armor, and fiery smites. As such, they make great supports or tanks for any party, but when playing solo, their damage can end up lagging behind the other options.

This doesn’t mean that Guardians are exclusively meant to support others, and if you only play this class, you won’t notice the difference between damage output. The best way to use them as damage dealers is to set your enemies on fire, and while that limits build diversity, the different Elite Specializations have their own flavor of fire to play with.

While a big drawback of Guardians is their slow nature, the End of Dragons expansion remedied that with the introduction of the Willbender, a Guardian Elite Specialization. This Spec gives Guardian plenty of movement options, letting them catch up to any enemy and deal fiery retribution.

6 Elementalist

A Fragile Powerhouse

If you want to become the Avatar and control all four elements, then the Elementalist is for you. This spell-casting class lets you change your attuned element on the fly, throwing fireballs at one moment while healing yourself with soothing water the next.

Leveling up an Elementalist, however, can be a little intimidating since you are basically carrying four weapons at any given time, and you need to know what they all do to use them effectively. Beyond that, the class is also very fragile, unable to withstand the same level of punishment that all other classes can.

If you are willing to master the elements, you’ll be rewarded with a class that is both flashy and very powerful. The Weaver Elite Specialization, in particular, adds power in the form of elemental combinations, giving each weapon a new skill based on the fusion of two elements.

5 Thief

Stealth Master

Thieves don’t do a lot of stealing, but they do sneak around a lot. While other classes have access to stealth, the Thief is the master of the craft, letting you solve events and disengage from situations without needing to enter any sort of conflict.

If you do want to enter a fight, Thieves have an initiative mechanic that allows them to overwhelm their opponents by spamming their most damaging abilities. This makes them extremely lethal while also being able to slip away when things don’t go their way.

Unlike other games, Guild Wars 2’s Thieves can’t enter a permanent state of stealth, but that only makes them a more enjoyable class. In the end, they are expert survivalists, which makes them the perfect class to explore the unknown.

4 Engineer

Mechs Everywhere

The Engineer class can be a little complicated to wrap your head around since it has a lot of moving pieces that make up its build. It not only has weapon and utility skills, but it also has tool belt skills that depend on how you build your character, so it is up to you to use your Engineer to its full potential.

You can make your Engineer as complicated or as simple as you want since not all skills have multiple layers. After End of Dragons, however, the Mechanist Elite Spec has simplified all Engineers greatly, since it has become one of the most powerful builds in the game.

A Mechanist Engineer has access to a Jade Mech, a powerful robot that removes a lot of complexity from the class while adding a lot of power. This robot does nearly everything for you, so for the low price of taking an Engineer to level 80, you can get an Engineer build that beats nearly all solo content without breaking a sweat.

3 Ranger

So Many Pets

Few classes delve into their fantasy as the Ranger, since the pet system of Guild Wars 2 goes a bit deeper than in other MMOs. You see, each pet comes with its own set of skills, so exploring the maps and having all possible animals gives Rangers their own exclusive completionist minigame.

Of course, different pets have different uses, and when you look at guides, you’ll see a pet that is recommended for any given build. But you shouldn’t be afraid to try all the animals, since there might be something that speaks to you hidden in the wild.

If, on the other hand, you want to play a Ranger without a pet, the Elite Spec Soulbeast has you covered. Said Spec lets you fuse with your pet, gaining extra animalistic skills depending on the animal while removing the burden of being followed by one.

2 Necromancer

Easy Mode Unlocked

If you want to have the easiest possible time when playing Guild Wars 2, from character creation to the latest content released, then the Necromancer class is for you. While lightly armored classes are usually squishy, Necromancers are incredibly tanky while also being able to summon an army to their side.

They are also very easy to build, especially if you want to focus on summoning minions, since the more creatures you summon, the tougher your character becomes. Even then, Necromancers are tanky even without the minions, since they have access to two separate health pools, meaning they rarely fall in combat.

All that ends up being their own downfall, and why they aren’t the number one class of the game: they are too easy. The necromancer is ideal if you want to experience the game’s story without much issue, but not particularly engaging when you want to explore all the mechanics the game has to offer.

1 Warrior

A Weapon For Every Situation

Warriors might seem like the boring choice in most games, but the version depicted in Guild Wars 2 has them as masters of the battlefield, with access to nearly every weapon the game has, from rifles to greatswords.

The identity of the Warrior is already highly versatile, but each Elite Spec introduced to the game adds a new and fun way to play the class. There is really no way to be bored when playing a Warrior, and with access to so many weapons, you are sure to find one that suits your fancy.

The number of weapons at its disposal also comes into play if you ever want to build a Legendary Weapon. Not all skins resonate with all players, but you can trust in Warriors to, at the very least, have access to a weapon that you would like to spend hours working on.