Roleplaying character creation

Choose Primary Profession
The most important decision you make will be what your primary profession is. You cannot change this later. More information on each profession, including attributes, skills, and miscellany, can be found on the Professions page.

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 well, and they're fairly good at dishing it out. Most of their skills focus on causing damage, though some can cause some Conditions, particularily Knockdown and Bleeding.

Pros:
 * Strongest armor in the game.
 * Every party needs a couple warriors.
 * Armor crafting material is fairly easy to come by.
 * Easy to play successfully.

Cons:
 * Very vulnerable to status effects.
 * Very common -- warriors are plentiful.
 * Very little tactical diversity.
 * Very equipment dependent.

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

The Ranger is a great debilitator. While they don't do as much damage as Warriors or Elementalists, they cause a variety of conditions. Rangers can stop casters from casting and the injured from running away, among other things. They can also set devastating traps that enemies can trigger, as well as cast nature rituals that affect everyone -- friend or foe.

Pros:
 * Long range attack keeps you out of harm's way.
 * Skills that debilitate others are immensely valuable, especially in PvP.
 * The Ranger is one of two professions that can have minions, but the only one who's minions last permanently.

Cons:
 * In maps that are mostly uphill, rangers are usless.
 * Very skill dependent; you'll have to spend time questing and looking for skills for your ranger to be useful.
 * Very equipment dependent.

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

Monks are great. Monks are great. Monks are great.

This is not writer bias; it's merely that everyone needs a healer around, and the Monk is just that.

Despite the obvious greatness of Monk healing, they're also rather effective at offense. Smiting monks can do serious damage, especially against the undead (of which there are plenty!).

Pros:
 * Healing.
 * You will find a party instantly, wherever you are.
 * Good vs. undead.
 * Equipment is pretty irrelevant.

Cons:
 * Your role in the party is more passive than an offensive class. You'll be busy, but you'll spend most of your time watching Health gauges.
 * Armor material is somewhat more difficult to come by.
 * You'll be expected to have certain skills, so Monks must quest more than other classes.
 * Pressure; if you are the only Monk in a party everyone is going to want you to heal them

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 undead minions can be raised from nearly any corpse and can be rather powerful (they degenerate naturally, but there are always enough corpses to make more).

They also have the second-best hexes in the game, allowing you to create all sorts of nasty effects on the enemy.

Pros:
 * Best solo class in the game: you can heal yourself while damaging the enemy, and you can raise minions to help you.
 * Hexes allow you to cause damage to the enemy over time.

Cons:
 * Their appearance is a bit... off. You may or may not like it.
 * Difficult to play effectively.
 * Many groups don't recognize the value of a necromancer in the party (though this may be changing)

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 are a class fairly unique to Guild Wars. They are the masters of the hex -- a spell which lasts a long time, either causing damage over time or damage whenever a condition is met. Their hexes cover all sorts of conditions, so the Mesmer has the potential to be the ultimate anti-Anybody, if they are so configured.

Mesmers also have a unique ability to cast their spells faster than others. Only primary Mesmers get this ability. That said, Mesmer is probably the rarest primary profession in Guild Wars, though they are a common secondary.

Pros:
 * Hexes are amazingly powerful if used correctly.
 * Mesmers are crucial in PvP.
 * Great costumes!

Cons:
 * Very few area-of-effect spells. They are best against single targets.
 * Very difficult to play effectively.
 * Must specialize against certain builds to be effective -- general Mesmers are pretty average.

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 are your typical nuker. Their abilities are very powerful. Each element tends to focus on a certain style of play -- fire for direct damage, water for area-of-effect conditions, air for single-target conditions, and earth for support.

Elementalists get the largest pool of energy in the game.

Pros:
 * A lot of options with this profession.
 * Relatively straightforward to play.
 * Flashy abilities look cool -- it's fun to watch your enemies burn!
 * Largest energy pool in the game.

Cons:
 * Elementalists are pretty common, both as primary and secondary.
 * Weakest armor in the game.
 * Certain enemies are strong against certain elements. If your elementalist is ill-prepared, she/he can be useless.

Choosing Appearance
The appearance of your character has no statistical influence on the game; however, a memorable-looking character can cement your exploits in the minds of other players, raising you from "some guy that fills out the party instead of a henchman" to a celebrity. Keep in mind that you cannot change your appearance once you've finished character creation. If you're interested in how your character looks in some of the different armors available to your profession, you can check out the PvP Character Creation and experiment a bit.

Choosing a Name
Names in Guild Wars must be at least two words. Players who create characters with obscene names (as defined by the EULA and decided on by the game's administrators) often find their characters deleted, or have their accounts simply banned for a time. Names cannot be changed and so you should be pretty happy with whatever you choose. If you're having trouble, there are many fantasy name generators easilly accessible with a google search.