Professions and Positioning

Hey, ok so in this blog i'll start to explain each of the different professions, their role in PvP play and what there main goals are, starting with a brief overview.

Essentially the 8 different positions can be split into 3 different catagories which are Melee professions, Caster professions and Ranged professions, assuming you're not running some wierd build like a monk with a sword =/.

A melee profession is basically close combat, they specialise in doing most of the teams damage through a range of close combat weapons. Warriors, Dervishes and Assassins are all primarily melee professions.

Monks, Elementalists, Mesmers, Ritualists and Necromancers are all Casters, this means they fulfil their roles in the team not by close combat but by casting spells, hence the name "Caster". However in order for the caster to cast a spell on the enemy they have to be within a certain range, it cannot be done from anywhere on the map.

The ranged professions include the Ranger and the Paragon. These professions are neither close combat or spell casters, instead they inflict damage on the opponent from a range similar to that of the caster but through weapons like bows and spears instead of close combat weapons. Spears have a range slightly shorter than that of the caster and bows have varied ranges depending on the type of bow used at the time, I will expand on this in the Ranger section.

If we take a look at the most competitive forms of PvP (teams of 8 vs 8) the professions can be further sub-divided into Frontline, Midline and Backline, this stems from their general position on the map when in combat.

The Frontline professions are essentially the same as the Melee professions, Warriors, Assassins and Dervishes, these 2 traits are dependent on each other, as if the profession was not doing close combat damage, then they would not be in the frontline. Generally speaking the Melee professions will lead the way into the other team and will always be at the frontmost position in order to deal damage to the enemies Mid and Backline.

The midline positions (Paragons, Mesmers, Necromancers, Elementalists, Rangers) are technically speaking the hardest to define as at any point during the match they can also be at the frontline (rare) or the backline (more common) although taking an average they will be found most often somewhere between the front and the back of your team (hence midline). As you can see these characters are mostly a mix between casters and ranged professions and this again influences their positioning. These characters will be doing damage to the enemy mid and backline as well, but because they do not need to be in close range they will not be pushed as far forward as the Frontline.

The backline is then your monks, these should always be furthest away from the enemy team but still in range of your own team. This is because they are your healers, they keep your team alive and will be a priority target for the enemy team, another reason for them not being pushed up as far as the midline is because there is simply no need for them to be. They will not be dealing any damage to other team ( conventionally anyway) and so they do not need to be in range of the other team.

Now those of you who are really paying attention will notice I have not yet included the Ritualist in a frontline/backline or midline position. This is mainly because it can be played as either a backline or midline position and so can't really be put into either category. When played as a full healer it will be backline and if played with an offensive build it will become a midline class.

In the next blog I will start to give some in depth information on each of the individual professions.