Any solo roamers out here?

im looking to learn ele/weaver, everytime i watch a video, they just seem to have alot of fun playing with many variant of skills they have at their disposal.. i haven't played gw2 in a long time, so i dont really know what the community thinks of roaming with this prof currently is... can anyone guide me to the right path on building as a solo roamer

ty!

Let's start with the builds I know of, and that I also have tried.

1) Core:

A. D/D Elementalist: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vFAQJAoYhcMoyhFOwzB8RMQAY1aIJWGiCQAIISZhjQUA-jFCEABwv/AAnAg+VVRQlgJqWxDPAA31DolyvAAIA3sNDghO0hO0hO0K0EaC9m3MpAycoF-w . To not make this a long comment, I would recommend you to watch Seven, a great core ele player.

2) Weaver:

A. Sw/D Weaver (sustain): http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vFEQJAsYncMAdOgF5C+4C8RgFWAjIBcACAFJx8XF4eLHmLzA-j1SBQBA4ACMxTAwoUDQrq+sv9HIrSsso0oRKBxoyAN8gAgqeiAAHAn38g5nn1Xf91Xf9+e91Xf91Xf91Xf9SBs1MN-w .To watch as much videos of this build, Cellofrag has done a lot of them on this build for both PvP and WvW, also got 2 guides for Sw/D weaver.

B. Sw/F Weaver (Fire Weaver, more damage, less sustain): I believe the gear on this build are personal. You can run the same gear as Sw/D, but here is what I'm running. This build relies on cleansing through gaining Fire aura, but it heals just like Sw/D in terms of combos, so it's a bit tricky to know when to cleanse and when to heal, but the damage potential is really high... however less mobility.

C. D/D Weaver: You run full celestial stats on this build . I found core D/D to be more fun to play with, but this build doesn't differ that much except that you will need Unravel to feel like core D/D temporarily as some crucial skills are hidden behind the dual attacks.

3) Tempest: I am not much of a fan of Tempest as I see it lacking on the dueling side compared to other variants, so I am not the one to give you advice as I haven't tested anything beside Full Minstrel support.

Tips for building/theory crafting on elementalist. You need to watch out for some key stats and lines:

1- Healing Power, your only way to get good heals is through healing power... around 500+ to be in the safe spot, as the class doesn't heal as much as other do without this stat.

2- Toughness and Vitality, to survive against burst and conditions, around 15k HP is good and 1300+ toughness is great.

3- Boon duration: this should be covered by durability/pack runes, but having longer Protection uptime is perfect.

4- Power/Condi balance, try to no less than 1800 power, and you will need some condition damage, 400+, to hit on both sides and force cooldowns.

5- Precision: Don't go below 30-35% crit chance.

6- Trait lines: Arcane should 100% be in your builds as a roamer as it's your only source of boons, faster attunement swapping, all round buff. You can then run Fire weaver, Water (most used line after Arcane) for sustain or Air line if you're playing Sc/F Fresh Air Core/Weaver.

Match-ups:

1- Ranger - Difficulty: Easy. When playing against Core or Soulbeast, you always need to stay as close as possible to them to prevent them from using their Longbow, once you're done with this point, you've already won, but care for Maul as it hits really hard which allows them to pewpew you as you heal. When against a tank Druid, none can kill the other unless a mistake is done... and for Condition Ranger, all I can say is... really?

2- Engineer - Difficulty: Somehow Easy-Mid. Against a Holo, you need to always watch out for their Photon Forge mode, they will hit really hard and CC quite a lot (care for skill #5 bait as they can stow weapon and burn your cooldowns)... when they are either under cooldown while in Photon Forge, or when they are out of it, they are an easy kill, however, if facing a bunker Holo, none will kill the other. Against a scrapper, the first to get bored is the loser.

3- Thief - Difficulty: Easy to survive, but you may struggle killing them as of the mobility. When against core thief... I just laugh as an elementalist as they can't really make use of Bountiful Theft/Steal vs a class that barely generates boons, let alone long duration boons. When against D/P daredevil, you need to care for the constant dazes, try saving your stun breaks for them only if the thief started bursting after the daze. Chill is quite strong against thief, so use it as much as possible and force them to cleanse and burn cooldowns. Against a deadeye, like Soulbeast, don't give them any distance.

4- Warrior - Difficulty: Very Hard. You can't win against a good warrior, they can burst you, they can CC more than your stun breaks could withstand sometimes, they have lots of immunity skills and they heal quite a lot with respect to your damage. You just can't win it unless they make a stupid mistake.

5- Guardian - Difficulty: Easy. You should be able to win any Dragonhunter/Core duel, just watch out for their bursting potential as it can easily oneshot or force many cooldowns. Against a support Firebrand, good luck killing that.

6- Revenant - Difficulty: Mid. This match-up (Herald) relies on your ability to dodge their burst, that is Sword #3 mainly... and Staff #5 can screw you if all the impacts got you, also care for Chilled condition. You will need to use your evades when they burst, and then punish them when they have used these skills as they also carry survivability potential with these skills. It's almost a 50/50, the better wins.

7- Mesmer - Difficulty: Somehow Easy-Mid. Facing a power Chrono/Mirage, you should always watch out for their shatters and weapon skills... you will 100% die, this is the only class that can get you a literal 100-0 if you don't watch out, if you dodged this burst, you're free to take them down. When fighting a Condition Mirage, no longer a big deal after the nerfs, easier to take down than all other mesmer builds. Against a Chrono bunker, none will kill the other unless mistakes are made.

8- Necro - Difficulty: Easy-Low Mid. Against a Reaper, you want to watch out for their CC as it's always followed by Shroud mode, and in shroud mode they hit really hard (dodge their burst, also care that they can inflict you with Chilled which is broken when facing Elementalist, as it also affects attunement swapping beside skills... once out of shroud mode, CC them to oblivion and hit them as hard as possible (necro lacks stun breaks). Fighting a Scourge, watch out for shade bombs as the corruption and the many conditions are not fun to play with, other than that, you're good to go, easier than Reaper actually.

9- Elementalist - Difficulty: Better wins. If an Ele is running the same build as you, neither will be able to kill the other as of the sustain and low damage. When against a Fresh Air weaver, dodge their burst, easy kill.

Now keep in mind that these match-ups consist of what should be done when played against every class. Difficulty level can change based on skill level, but nothing will go out of what you have to look out for, so for you to stay safe.

Tips:

1- You need to learn Blast finishers, Leap finishers and the fields you can use these finishers inside. It's extremely important to learn this as it's one of the few sources that generate you Might, heal you, reduce enemy's burst.

2- You need to be fast, but wise with the skills.

3- The class takes a fair amount of time to master, let alone weaver that requires muscle memory as well, so be patient and try to grasp as much info from videos before playing and be ready to learn as you play. I practiced weaver in unranked pvp, you can surely try it with small roaming groups.

4- I would recommend you watch Cellofrag's guides and focus on the tips and match-ups, as they will allow you to understand many of class's basics.

As of what the community thinks of the profession. The class is considered the lowest among all of the existing 9 as it needs to invest in almost every stat, pick defensive trait lines, and still not be enough + outshined by those that can fill in the same role as well as needs mastery before you can even reach what I have just said. It needs buffs, many polls have been made with Ele rated the worst. However, as of my way of playing a game, I couldn't find anything fun beside Elementalist and I am sad to see it in a bad state, however, whatever... screw the meta.

@"Jay.3409" said:im looking to learn ele/weaver, everytime i watch a video, they just seem to have alot of fun playing with many variant of skills they have at their disposal.. i haven't played gw2 in a long time, so i dont really know what the community thinks of roaming with this prof currently is... can anyone guide me to the right path on building as a solo roamer

ty!

Always build yourself up to outsustain from 1 to multiple opponents, that's what you are and will ever be good at if you choose ele , get this mindset in your head...if you go out there thinking of running a mesmer or else...you will be quickly disappointed. "Bunker for life" that's the ele call to arms , never forget that and you will be fine

so i've been practicing heavily on weaver after posting this thread in pvp.. and hoenstly idk why i havent played this class sooner! so much fun, so much variety to use mid fight! i gave sw/d the most time to practice and honestly i really like the style... i fiddle with sw/f today and the dmg is insane compared to sw/d, tho i didnt like the mobility so i might stick with sw/d for now... going to try d/d tmrw, tho i cant find any newbie guides on it.. specifically combos, and how to utilize skills properly...

anyways thanks for the help!

@Jay.3409 said:so i've been practicing heavily on weaver after posting this thread in pvp.. and hoenstly idk why i havent played this class sooner! so much fun, so much variety to use mid fight! i gave sw/d the most time to practice and honestly i really like the style... i fiddle with sw/f today and the dmg is insane compared to sw/d, tho i didnt like the mobility so i might stick with sw/d for now... going to try d/d tmrw, tho i cant find any newbie guides on it.. specifically combos, and how to utilize skills properly...

anyways thanks for the help!

Oh ho, well your lucky i decided to check this thread my friend.

The D/D Weaver build Auburner mentioned was originally of my design & I have a little bit of material you can do your homework on before taking a crack @ D/D Weaver.

I won't go into details here within this thread unless you have specific questions after going over the links provided below. One thing I will say, is DON'T blow unravel all willy nilly, you get 2 charges each on a 20 second cooldown, and its easy to accidentally use unravel to lock yourself into an attunement with a full row of cooldowns, D/D weaver has to manage more cooldowns in their heads than any other class in the game. it won't come to you overnight, but once you get it down there's very little that can trade blows with you, let alone beat you.

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/66433/d-d-weaver-prepare-to-be-refuted-you-naysayers#latest

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/66568/d-d-weaver-video-that-you-guys-wanted#latest

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/68557/jenzi-follow-up-d-d-weaver-gameplay#latest

Hey Jay... were you in a guild called RUN years ago?

I play FA and Sword weaver solo in wvw.It's not too tier, but it's definitely viable and a lot of fun!

Sword weaver is definitely the more forgiving spec, and can 1vX fairly well, just look up Cellofrag's excellent guide on YouTube.

The drawback is that it requires some more tricky to manufacture stats (Marshal and Celestial).

Fresh Air weaver is win big or die, the burst damage is truly monstrous but your defense is very limited and if you misplay, you're probably dead

On the upside the gear (marauder and Berserker) is much more readily available.

If you can get the gear together, I'd recommend starting with Sword weaver.