For a new player my ranking would be this: 1) Mesmer. GS + Staff, condi build. Insanely safe since does damage at range, has clones to tank/distract and has tons of ways to prevent damage. And once reaches 80 and unlocks Mirage is god mode. 2) Necro (Staff)and Ranger (LB + GS).
/r/GuildWars2 is the primary community for Guild Wars 2 on Reddit. and 2. Its far more stress to play a class that will inevitably be nerfed again in the future
There are a few classes that have ranged options. Specifically if it’s just for open world. if we are talking raids and fractals, the one class that comes to mind is Necro in my opinion. scourge and harbinger are both condi and ranged with scepter and pistol in case of harbinger. Other classes have ranged weapons but swap to a melee quite often. As you Play Guild Wars 2, you find certain things that are amazing to have! little tricks, helpful shortcuts you name it, but that usually takes time. I am g F0mQp0W.