There are a total of eight professions in Guild Wars 2 and picking the right one can be a daunting task for new players. There are tons of players out there that are fretting over picking the wrong profession and being stuck either underpowered or with a profession that they don’t care about. This stems from the fact that conventional MMOGs will force you to pick a class and play it for extended periods before you even start unlocking the core gameplay mechanics. Thankfully, GW2 works a bit differently.

First, you can unlock the core mechanics of each of the professions (think classes from other games) within the first day of casual play. This includes a few weapon skill bars, the unique mechanic for each profession, and even a utility skill slot or two. After that, the profession pretty much plays exactly that way from level one to level eighty without much of a difference. So there is no long grind to discover that a profession isn’t what you want it to be – it’s just a gameplay session or two. Let’s not forget that you also get an instant 80 by hoping into the mists (GW2’s PvP lobby).

So, when you sit down to pick a profession (or class) to play, don’t worry too hard about it. You can “try before you buy” and keep yourself from dedicating time to a playstyle that you might like. So let’s first talk about how to try a profession out and take it on a test run before we help fit you with the profession of your dreams.
Try Before You Buy

GW2 Into the Mists

In conventional MMOS, you’ll pick a class and have to play it for a few days before you get enough skills/abilities to actually find out what that class is about. By then you’ve wasted a large portion of your gameplay time and will have to decide to either remake (putting you behind your friends, doing the same content over again, etc.) or just deal with it. In GW2, you don’t have to go too long before having access to all of the skills and abilities that a profession offers.

Your level isn’t hyper critical in GW2 and is only used for PvE content. You can be dynamically adjusted to level 80 by entering the mists, after a short tutorial at the start of the game. There you’re level 80 with all of your skills and traits (think talents) unlocked and access to every type of endgame gear. You can effectively test run any profession by entering the mists (press [H] or open your hero panel and then choose the PvP tab) and fighting in either PvP matches or trying your abilities against one of the many practice dummies available in the lobby.

So after you pick your profession, feel free to give it a test run. Even if you skip the mists, you’ll unlock your entire profession mechanic, a utility skill slot, and most of the abilities on a few weapons by level ten, which gives you access to about 80% of how a profession plays. So you’ll have a great idea of what a profession is about in no time.

The Right Profession

Picking the right profession comes in two parts. First you’ll want to pick your category and then you’ll want to pick your profession. Let’s first talk about the different profession categories and then move on to each profession. Professions are broken down into three categories: soldiers, adventurers, and scholars. Each category wears one specific type of armor and has an overarching playstyle (melee, midline, and caster). The first step to picking the perfect profession is discovering which category fits you best.