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 causing damage, and some inflict conditions, particularily deep wounds and bleeding.

Pros:
 * Strongest armor (against physical damage)
 * Warriors are popular in parties
 * Armor crafting material is fairly easy to come by
 * Easy to play successfully
 * Great for beginners

Cons:
 * Vulnerable to status effects and hexes
 * Common. Warriors are plentiful
 * Little tactical diversity. Warriors generally just hit things until they stop moving
 * Equipment dependent. Shields, axes, swords and hammers can all be used
 * Not as high fashion as some of the other professions

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:
 * Ranged attacks keep you out of harm's way
 * Highest armor against elemental attacks
 * Valuable debilitating skills, especially in PvP
 * Pets &mdash; no other profession has a permanent and versatile minion
 * Spirits such as Winter are highly valued in some areas
 * Trappers make great support characters in any team in both PvP or PvE. A team of trappers can also deal with most PvE situations
 * Increased arrow damage when attacking targets from a higher elevation

Cons:
 * Rangers sometimes require more pre-combat setup than other classes (preparations or traps)
 * Rangers are not in great demand in most PvE areas
 * Reduced arrow damage when attacking targets from a lower elevation
 * Vulnerable to hexes

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:
 * Ability to heal allies.
 * Ability to remove conditions and hexes
 * It's easier to find a party with a monk than any other class.
 * Extra damage vs. undead.
 * Equipment makes little difference overall.

Cons:
 * Weak armor.
 * Relatively passive during combat. Monks are always busy, but spend more time watching Health bars rather than enemies.
 * Armor material is somewhat difficult to obtain.
 * 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.
 * Pressure. Everyone wants healing, all of the time, and healers take the blame for deaths more often than other classes.

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:
 * Arguably the best class for soloing. Necromancers heal while damaging the enemy, and can raise minions to supplement the party.
 * Hexes allow you to cause damage to the enemy over time.
 * Extensive playing variety and flexibility.
 * Minion Masters are quite desirable in PvE, and quite powerful in many PvE areas.

Cons:
 * Weak armor.
 * Complex. Difficult to play effectively as a beginner.

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:
 * Hexes are amazingly powerful if used correctly.
 * Mesmers are crucial in PvP.
 * Best anti-caster class.

Cons:
 * Weak armor.
 * Few spells that affect groups of enemies. Mesmers are best against single targets.
 * Complex. Difficult to play effectively, and not recommended for beginners.
 * Mesmers must specialize to be effective (anti-caster, anti-melee, etc.) Jack-of-all-trade Mesmers are less effective.
 * Need accurate timing for interrupting

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.
 * Largest energy pool in the game.

Cons:
 * Fairly common.
 * Weak armor.
 * Certain enemies are strong against certain elements. Don't try to freeze enemy snowmen.
 * AoE patch has hurt many of the Area of Effect skills' effectiveness