Primary profession guide

Warrior
"The mightiest of mighty, the bravest of the brave, the Warrior is the master of melee combat and heavy armor."

Warriors are the tanks of Guild Wars. They can take damage very well, and they're fairly good at dishing it out. Most Warrior skills focus on dealing damage, and some inflict conditions, particularily deep wounds and bleeding.

Pros:
 * Highest base AL in the game (unconditional), and highest defense against Physical attacks.
 * Popular and are necessary in parties, with many high level areas requiring at least 2 Warriors.
 * Simple to play, and a good choice for new players.
 * Generally highest damage per normal attack, higher than other classes.
 * Many skills do not require energy, but Adrenaline, which can be gained by just hitting enemies.
 * A variety of weapons to choose from, to fit your playing style.
 * Possess a variety of defensive skills.
 * Warriors have Shouts, an uninterruptable, non-removable skill that can benefit all party members.

Cons:
 * Are quite vulnerable to status effects and hexes, as Warriors lack the energy to remove those themselves.
 * Hard to find parties in a number areas of the game.
 * Little tactical diversity. Warriors generally just hit things until they stop moving.
 * Require melee range to deal sufficient damage.
 * Lowest base Energy and Energy Regeneration of all classes.
 * Compared to the other classes, there are only a few ways to use Primary Warriors effectively with another secondary profession.

Ranger
"An agile and wily survivor, the Ranger specializes in archery, beast mastery, and attunement to nature."

Rangers are great debilitators. They usually don't inflict as much damage as Warriors or Elementalists, but impart a wide variety of conditions on enemies. Rangers interrupt enemy plans, prevent enemies from fleeing, set devastating traps, and summon spirits that affect everyone, friend and foe.

Pros:
 * Can attack from the furthest range than any other classes, providing you are on equal ground, or higher ground than the enemy.
 * Highest armor against elemental attacks, and second highest base AL of the 8 classes.
 * Valuable debilitating/interrupting skills, especially in PvP.
 * Can tame Pets, which are permanent and very versatile.
 * Have many nature ritual skills, creating Spirits that provide a variety of effects to all creatures in its range.
 * Traps allow for Rangers to play a greater supporting role, while usually not needing to put the party in great danger.
 * Increased arrow range and damage when attacking targets from a higher elevation. (the amount of additional damage varies, however you must be substantially higher than your target)
 * Their Primary Attribute allows for a greatly reduced energy cost on all non-spell skills.
 * Many speed-enchancing and defensive skills to choose from.

Cons:
 * Sometimes require more pre-combat setup than other classes, such as from Preparations or Traps.
 * Are not in great demand in many PvE areas.
 * Reduced arrow range when attacking targets from a lower elevation.
 * Attacks are projectiles, and therefore require Line of Sight in order to strike the enemy.
 * Arrows can be dodged easily if not under a speed-boosting skill (for the arrows).
 * Have a small energy pool and only 3 pips of energy regeneration, so cannot use many skills effectively with low Expertise, or if the skills are spells.
 * Slow natural attacking speed with Bows.

Monk
"The servant of divine spirits, the Monk uses prayer to protect, preserve, and restore the well-being of companions."

Monks are always needed, and rarely wait long to get into parties.

Despite the supremacy of Monk healing, Monks can be effective offensively. Smiting monks do serious damage, especially against undead.

Pros:
 * Provide exceptional healing abilities.
 * Have many skills which remove conditions and hexes.
 * Monks are required and in-demand with Parties, so finding a group is easy to do.
 * Possess many skills that deal or add Holy Damage, which deals double damage against Undead Creatures.
 * Primary Attribute allows for all monk spells targetting allies to heal for an additional amount.
 * Provide the highest amount of defensive and damage-reduction skills of all the classes.
 * Are party-friendly. Most Monk skills are directed towards aiding your party rather than damaging the enemy.

Cons:
 * Weak armor, with base AL the same as other casters.
 * Relatively passive during combat. Monks are always busy, but spend more time watching Health bars than enemies.
 * Armor material is somewhat difficult to obtain.
 * Possess very few Energy-mangement skills, so a secondary profession is often required to maintain a satisfactory Energy level.
 * Monks are expected to have certain skills, making questing more mandatory than other classes.
 * As a monk, players expect you to heal. Playing up your secondary class or playing as a Smiting Monk requires frequently informing other players that you are not a healer.
 * Usually more prone to skills that remove enchantments.
 * Many difficulties in PvP, where monks are usually the main target.
 * Weapon and Offhand attribute requirements are very restrictive, almost always requiring you to have points in Divine Favor if you're not a Smiting Monk.
 * Difficult and awkward to play as a healer with henchmen, as you monitor both health bars and enemies to direct the henchmen at.

Necromancer
"One who has learned to draw power from blood sacrifice and communion with death, the Necromancer uses black magic to cast curses and raise undead minions."

Necromancers are a powerful class. Their blood magic allows them to leech health from opponents to keep themselves alive. Their minions can be raised from nearly any corpse and can be quite powerful. They also have hexes, bringing nasty effects to the enemy.

Pros:
 * Ability to summon undead allies to somewhat increase your party size.
 * Many skills allow you to drain health from an enemy and heal yourself for that amount.
 * Extensive playing variety and flexibility.
 * Quite popular in parties.
 * Have the ability to provide the highest Energy Regeneration to allies of all 8 classes.
 * Primary Attribute allows for lots of energy returned to you when any creatures dies around you.

Cons:
 * Weak armor, as with the other caster classes.
 * Some armor makes you comparatively weak against holy-typed attacks.
 * Complex to play, and not recommended for beginners.
 * Many skills require a Health Sacrifice.

Mesmer
"The paragon of illusion, misdirection, and control, the Mesmer subverts the damage-dealing capabilities of others, manipulating their perception to achieve personal goals."

Mesmers have a variety of unusual and unique skills. Mesmers are the masters of hexes, persistent spells that affect enemies for a length of time, damaging them or otherwise generally hindering the enemy. Hexes cover all sorts of situations, allowing Mesmers to be the bane of any other class, with the appropriate skill setup.

Mesmers unique Fast Casting attribute allows faster spellscasting. Mesmer is likely the rarest primary profession in Guild Wars, though it's a common secondary.

Pros:
 * Fastest casting class of all professions, through their primary attribute.
 * Possess skills to counter basically any opponent.
 * Damage is irresistable, making most skills always deal a certain amount of damage.
 * Provide effective shutdown skills.
 * Arguably the best anti-caster class.
 * Uncommon in the game, resulting in very cheap to buy equipment.

Cons:
 * Many skills are consequential, meaning that the enemy must do a specific task in order for a specific skill to be effective.
 * Weak armor, like the other spellcasting professions.
 * Possess very few skills that are area-of-effect, resulting in players having to either stay on one target, or switching targets all the time.
 * Are a relatively complex class. Difficult to play effectively, and not recommended for beginners.
 * Have to play a specialized role in a party, and have many requirements in order to be effective.
 * Interruption skills require fast reflexes and a good internet connection in order to be effective.
 * Skills require the Mesmer to act offensive to be defensive.

Elementalist
"The master of arcane lore and magical aptitude, the Elementalist calls upon the power of fire, earth, air, and water to obliterate enemies."

Elementalists deal damage most effectively of all spellcasters. They are the best nukers and also spike effectively. Each element tends to focus on a certain style of play. Fire deals area damage, water causes area-of-effect conditions, air destroys single targets while earth provides the best Elementalist defense.

Primary Elementalists can easily get the largest energy pool of all classes, since their primary attribute Energy Storage increases maximum energy by 3 for per level. Elementalist energy pools can exceed 100 energy.

Pros:
 * Many available options and play styles.
 * Relatively straightforward to play, and easy for beginners.
 * Largest energy pool in the game, having been known to have over 100 Energy.
 * Can find parties quite easily, almost as easily as monks.
 * Massive damage in PvE.
 * Have many armor-ignoring or armor-penetrating spells.
 * Many skills deal direct, PBAoE damage, making you potent at both long-range as well as close-range.
 * A variety of gear to choose from.

Cons:
 * Weak armor, as with other spellcasters.
 * Certain enemies are strong against certain elements, which restricts you from playing a certain way in certain areas.
 * Damage-over-time skills have reduced effectiveness since a previous patch.
 * Many skills cause Exhaustion, making them only maintainable at constant use by Elementalists. Therefore, it is not wise to use those skills as a Elementalist secondary.
 * Damage is direct, meaning it is quite predicable and easy to prevent. This is especially evident through Protection Prayers.
 * Have some of the longest average casting times of skills than any other class.

Assassin
"The Assassin walks the shadows, a deadly viper ready to strike at the heart when the enemy least expects it, nowhere and everywhere at once."

Assassins are the sneaky deceptors of Guild Wars. They possess the ability to chain attacks together for fast and massive damage dealing. They also are able to Shadow Step, which is similar to teleportation, allowing them to swiftly move from place to place. Assassins are considered to be somewhat of a mix between the Mesmer and the Warrior classes, with heavy Melee damage, and many different Hexes that confuse and wreak havoc upon your enemy.

Pros:
 * Relatively strong armor (compared to casters).
 * Specializing in Daggers, giving them the highest attack speed of all classes.
 * Possess the ability to Shadow Step.
 * Chaining Attacks for fast and heavy damage.
 * 4 pips of Natural Energy Regen (more than other attacking classes).
 * Receive an excellent self-healing skill, Shadow Refuge, early on.

Cons:
 * Have to move into Melee range to deal damage.
 * Do not have strong AL (of 80-100 like Warriors) for Tanking, which is what you'll often end up being at Melee range.
 * Not hitting one attack in a chain of attacks often screws up your entire chain.
 * Have somewhat of a low energy pool, despite the high natural Regeneration, and usually have to rest in-between chains to recover lost Energy.
 * Hard to find parties, as Assassins are not too effective in most aspects of PvE.
 * Few AoE attacks, which is preferred in PvE.
 * Fewer skills than those classes found in the Prophecies campaign; no duplicate skills either.

Ritualist
"They channel otherworldly energies that summon allies from the void and employ mystic rituals that bend those allies to the Ritualist's will."

Ritualists are the mystics of Guild Wars. They, like Rangers, have the ability to cast Rituals to summon spirits to aid the allies in their fight. These spirits are much more lively than those of the Ranger, however, as they can heal, block attacks, or even attack the enemies themselves. A combination of Necromancers, Rangers, and Monks, Ritualists possess the ability to deal spike damage, summon, and heal allies with their own category of healing spells. Weapon spells by the Ritualists also aid the ally's attacks by boosting the power of the allies' weapons in a specific way.

Pros:
 * Effectively complements the healing monk(s) in the party with non-removable weapon spells and spirits effects.
 * Spirits that boost the allies' stats, like Shelter and Union, have a range almost 3 times the normal aggro circle radius, making it very hard for enemies to reach them or interrupt the ritualist.
 * Attacking spirits, like Pain, have the attacking range that a longbow would have.
 * Summon spirits to do specific tasks without requiring full attention of the player.
 * Summoned creatures and spirits have more health, through the primary attribute, Spawning Power.
 * More Energy than the attacking classes (Rangers, Assassins, Warriors).

Cons:
 * Fewer skills than those classes found in the Prophecies campaign; no duplicate skills either.
 * Weak armor, just like the other spellcasters.
 * All Binding Rituals have long casting times which makes them easy to interrupt.
 * Binding Rituals cannot move so they must be recasted when the battle shifts position. A way around this is Draw Spirit.

Dervish
"A scythe-wielding holy warrior"

Dervishes are fierce mystic warriors. The weapons of a dervish are twofold. Their large, foreboding scythe is capable of hitting multiple opponents and can deal substantial damage to lightly armored foes. An assortment of enchantments are used to deal damage and conditions to nearby foes as well as provide healing and protection for the Dervish. In addition, the Dervish may temporarily take on the form of any of the gods of Tyria to gain extra power in battle. Finally, the Dervish has a number of prayers to heal allies, often at the expense of enchantments.

Pros:
 * Relatively strong armor (compared to casters).
 * Automatic multi-hit for scythe attacks.
 * Dual purpose enchantments that activate on both cast and removal.
 * 4 pips of Natural Energy Regen (more than other some attacking classes).
 * Have the highest maximum weapon damage range (9-41).

Cons:
 * Have to move into Melee range to deal damage.
 * Do not have strong AL (of 80-100 like Warriors) for Tanking, thus requires enchantments for sustaining health.
 * Fewer skills than those classes found in the Prophecies campaign; no duplicate skills either.
 * Relatively low max energy pool.

Paragon
"Guardian angel of the Elonian people"

Paragons are the bards of the game. Numerous chants and shouts give both offensive and defensive bonuses to the entire party. In addition, Paragons are heavily armored distance fighters. Weilding a spear in one hand and a shield in the other, they can deal and take a good deal of damage on the battlefield. The Paragon, as with the Warrior, has numerous skills charged by adrenaline, helping to compensate for the low energy regeneration.

Pros:
 * Numerous skills to provide bonuses to the entire party.
 * High armor combined with distance attacks.
 * Adrenaline based attacks helps to reduce dependence on energy.
 * Works well with Warrior shouts and adrenaline buffs.

Cons:
 * Low energy regeneration.
 * Slightly weaker if no allies are around.
 * Fewer skills than those classes found in the Prophecies campaign; no duplicate skills either.
 * Hexes that disable shouts and chants shut down the energy gain of Leadership