for your FIRST class i recommend Warrior or Guardian
you can start with any other class too ofc but your life in gw2 will be a lot easier with those classes because for PvE they are
1) easier to play
2) can do well Solo and do better without traits (traits get unlocked at higher levels and the caster classes rely more on those mostly... so they have a harder time for PvE at start)
3) are favored by groups and you will have a better first game experience probably
for PvP any class works if you know how to play it
some are harder to master though ... but can also be more fun
(PvP got some improved rewards too now if you compare it with the time of GW2 release)
i guess you will do more than 1 Class anyway so it doesnt matter too much
but then you should probably start off with Warrior (good selfsustain - dmg buffs for yourself and your group .. also fastest movement with extra leap and rush skills probably which is really nice for PvE and open world)
or Guardian (lower healthpool but better self sustaining skills and support and things like Reflect which is needed especially in harder areas and dungeons)
to help you with your decision maybe:
My personal list for classes from easy to master/play to hard to master/play if you start from zero for PvE (mostly open world)
1) Warrior
2) Guardian
3) Necromancer
4) Ranger
5) Thief
6) Elementalist
7) Mesmer
8) Engineer
this list is not meant to say which class is best in PvE!
If you mastered Elementalist for example it is very strong and far more useful than necromancer in PvE!
this list is just how easy to play the class is when you start new in GW2
my list for most used + favored classes in Dungeons & Fractals:
1) Warrior, Elementalist, Guardian
2) Thief
3) Mesmer
4) Ranger
5) Engineer, Necromancer
- Warrior, ele and guard are just best raw dmg usually and can synergize well and are easier to play .. so if you are a new player people will think you can still do well if you use one of these classes and its more likely that you find groups easily for dungeons...
- Thief is good dmg too but a bit squishy but he is especially useful for some dungeons & fractal parts because of Stealth!
- Mesmer is ok too but mostly used for his utility skills like reflect & Quickness buff (but guard can fill the reflect role better usually thats why mesmer is not used that much anymore)
- Ranger actually can do really good and has some nice group buffs too... if you go melee and use the right build ... but people often just kick rangers because they have no clue and thats why i think you wont have the best game experience if you start with ranger for PvE :/
- Necromancer is just not that good for direct AoE dmg ... he is awesome for Condition overloads but that is barely played in dungeons ....
- Engineer can do vulnerability debuff stacks on the enemy well but is rarely see engis in dungeons...
This post was edited by Kartoffelgratin on Jan 17 2015 11:04am