Any sword/dagger weaver for PvE build advice?

[Hawken.7932]

I'm pretty new to Weaver (and more generally Elementalist). I really love sword/dagger weaver though, and have been running it a while now in open world and fractals. At first I went for the max damage builds on metabattle or snowcrows, but it was pretty squishy, so I've changed to a build with more sustain.

At the moment, I'm running Fire (1,1,1) Earth (3,2,3) Weaver (3,2,1). As far as being able to survive goes, this has been a great improvement over the glass cannon builds. I'm really a min/maxer though, and would love to hear other suggestions for a higher damage build which would still have some sustain.For some background, I also heavily played ranger, thief, and warrior. Way back when I started thief in HoT, it was tough to survive as Daredevil, until I realised just how much dodge worked into that particular spec's gameplay. That's a class where you are expected to be constantly mobile. I kind of wonder if there's a major shift in thought that I have to undergo for Weaver in a similar way, that I haven't discovered myself.

[VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.]

I run fire/air/weaver with marauder+runes of the pack in open world and ran it a few times in fractals. It is fun enough for me.

[steki.1478]

I also use the power version and evades+aoe blind from the glyph are already enough. Condi build has even more defense in its rotation through extra barrier and toughness.

You can take protection trait on aura in earth spec and focus instead of dagger since it's much better condi+defense option. In case you're playing power, just forget that earth exists and use arcane or water instead. They both offer some nice defense/sustain as well as damage.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

I just change a few of the traits and utilities.

For one, I almost never have Arcane Blast on my bar. Mostly because it hurts my hands to constantly mash it, but also because the amount of damage it contributes is pretty low. I keep arcane shield on my bar, which provides a much needed stunbreak and a few blocks for when I need it. The combination of Sand Storm + Arcane Shield is enough to beat anything without a break bar in any number.

Second, the trait Superior Elements is pretty bad, unless in places where you have a teammate that upkeeps a lot of weakness for you. The ICD means that it doesn't work for groups, it doesn't last that long, and it isn't up at the start of the fight if you're following the meta rotation. This means you'll eat a full power alpha strike before your defenses kick in, and often times that's enough to kill you. Master's Fortitude is much better, since the only place where Superior Elements will meaningfully contribute is in raids and fracs with particular teammates.

Third, and I've only had to do this rarely: you can change out Primordial Stance for Stone Resonance. This is good in places where you're going to be under high damage from a lot of sources. That... is the only place where it is good, but keep it in mind. Twist of Fate seems like it might be better in theory, but it is only good in PVP because it avoids key enemy attacks. Stone Resonance allows you to eat an attack, while simultaneously attacking on your own.

Fourth, it helps to change up your rotation a bit. Unless you're going to fight a single target, don't sit in Air/Air. Sit in Earth/Fire. Use lava skin for defense, fire ring, then Earthen Vortex to Blast, then swap to fire and follow up with Flame Uprising -> Earthquake. This will give you upfront might, barrier, a few evaded attacks, and also AoE CC. If things look like they're going to be really dicey, open with Sandstorm from glyph of storms.

And that... is the extent of what I've had to do to stay alive. Haven't reached a point where I needed to switch out of berserker gear.