Solo roaming meta

[merga.6709]

I haven't played in a few years and decided to come back and check out the game. I'm mostly interested in WvW. What does the solo roaming meta currently look like?

[Mikhael.2391]

@merga.6709 said:I haven't played in a few years and decided to come back and check out the game. I'm mostly interested in WvW. What does the solo roaming meta currently look like?

Like since launch. Go thief

[Infusion.7149]

Basically whatever is hot in PVP with some mobility is typically the roaming meta. Keep in mind some skills and traits are split between PVP and WVW.Classes such as holosmith, d/p or s/p daredevil, burn DH guardians, power heralds, mallyx condi heralds, power soulbeast, power reaper (usually speed runes for mobility or something akin to that), strength spellbreaker, etc.

Of those classes unless you want to never play in groups I think you want to play holosmith (swap to DPS or heal scrapper in groups) , burn DH (swap to firebrand in groups), power herald (bring a hammer), power reaper, or strength spellbreaker (make sure you have Greatsword or double axes for better cleave).

[whoknocks.4935]

For pure solo roaming if you wanna die the least amount possible of times, easy escapes and choosing your fights, go thief.But unless you are good at knowing all class mechanics you won't kill decent/good players in 1vs1s and you will get rekt even by noob ranger.

If you want easy noob mode with 1 braincell required: longbow/greatsword soulbeast or boonbeast.

If wanna faceroll anything in smallscale then go condi herald and mashing buttons off cd and demon F2 when loaded with condi will do the trick, at the cost of losing braincells.

If you are too unskilled to time and press many buttons for oneshot/high burst combo, then roll an holo or scrapper with granades and after a bit of aim spam practice you are good to go.

This is pretty much the roaming meta nowadays.

Rest are all off-meta builds which are ok to run,but doesn't "shine", like warriors, dhs, reapers, weavers etc.

[Dawdler.8521]

@"whoknocks.4935" said:Rest are all off-meta builds which are ok to run,but doesn't "shine", like warriors, dhs, reapers, weavers etc.None of which are off meta and often as common.

Some days I see more core necro superbunkers than I see thieves.

Lately a metric ton of melee weavers litter the field and for some reason they rage whisper more thieves when they die because they are nearly immortal 1v1.

Sometimes these so called "roamers" are the eqvivalent of King Tiger tanks raging that 5 Shermans could eventually take them out.

[anduriell.6280]

@Mikhael.2391 said:

@"merga.6709" said:I haven't played in a few years and decided to come back and check out the game. I'm mostly interested in WvW. What does the solo roaming meta currently look like?

Like since launch. Go thief

That is true, but to be fair the nerfs to burst and mobility makes the one shot more difficult to pull off. You can't jump on an enemy player and do a 100-0 like before.Mobility is "nerfed" on the shortbow you will have to make use of utilities to teleport if you fail. The class is still the best roaming but now you don't have so much wiggle room if you mess up.

Condi revenant is king you can win easy 1v3 and it has no counter, there is no effective build which can fight the condi spam that class has. Condi druid is in the same train although less 1vX potential.

I'd like to recommend ranger as well although the class has more +1 potential than dueller.

[kamikharzeeh.8016]

the solo roaming meta is basically: getting ganked by 2-3 other roamers on thieves, rangers, revs etc

lol i really want to be on dawdlers server, no thieves would be a bless. casual roaming is full dead anyways.

[K THEN.5162]

The roaming meta is the play cheese or get cheesed.We got perma invis deadeyes, dodge and teleport spamming thieves/daredevils, unkillable boon beasts and core necros, 25k damage bursts from stealth mesmers and condi revs dishing out more torment than anyone's childhood trauma...welcome to WvW, pick your cancer

[kash.9213]

Whatever works well with other classes in squads is what will work well floating around a map in different scale fights and groups. People will say thief but what are you trying to do out there? Are you trying to giggle to yourself over very few gimmicky kills or are you trying to fill your bags for materials and rewards?

[Za Shaloc.3908]

@K THEN.5162 said:The roaming meta is the play cheese or get cheesed.

Honestly this.

@kamikharzeeh.8016 said:the solo roaming meta is basically: getting ganked by 2-3 other roamers on thieves, rangers, revs etc

And this.

[fuzzyp.6295]

Its harder to roam nowadays as builds have changed a lot from when the game first launched. Back in those days, it was much easier to fight outnumbered if you knew what you were doing and had a strong build. But recent nerfs and balance changes have made the roaming meta more or less into a 1 v 1 meta with a couple of classes able to fight 2 or 3 to 1 depending. I still solo roam nearly 100% of the time and really enjoy it, but its changed a lot. People here complaining about cheese or gankers are not wrong, but its also not a completely accurate representation of roaming. Its just no longer about being able to successful defeat large groups of people and changed to more being able to who can hit and run the best.

What to look for in the Roaming Meta? Mobility and Sustain are key to stay alive. Classes with access to Stealth will always have a leg up on those that do not. Thief, Mesmer, Ranger and Engineer are considered top tier roaming classes since they have both the Mobility and Stealth checked down. If I had to make a tier list of how the roaming meta looks I'd put it something like this:

S Tier: Thief (Deadeye, Daredevil, Core), Ranger (Soulbeast)A Tier: Engineer (Scrapper, Holosmith)B Tier: Mesmer (Core, Mirage), Revenant(Condi focused Herald/Renagade)C Tier: Elementalist (Weaver), Warrior (Spellbreaker, sometimes Core), Necro (Core, Reaper), Guardian (Core and DH)

thats just a really rough list. Obviously, different builds could land you better or worse success and skill level of the player is highly dependent on how well a class does. You will still lose to a Elemenatlist who has thousands of hours on their character if you fight them with a Thief you've only spent 10 hours on. This might actually be a hot take, but I think the roaming scene is actually one of the most balance it's been in a long while if you consider just 1v1s... outside of the immortal necro bs haha.

EDIT: It seems others are adding their own tier lists. That's great, the more input the better defined a meta can become. Just know my list isnt just considering specific builds, but how effective the class can roam overall in this current meta. I hope that helps.

[Shroud.2307]

@whoknocks.4935 said:For pure solo roaming if you wanna die the least amount possible of times, easy escapes and choosing your fights, go thief.But unless you are good at knowing all class mechanics you won't kill decent/good players in 1vs1s and you will get rekt even by noob ranger.

If you want easy noob mode with 1 braincell required: longbow/greatsword soulbeast or boonbeast.

If wanna faceroll anything in smallscale then go condi herald and mashing buttons off cd and demon F2 when loaded with condi will do the trick, at the cost of losing braincells.

If you are too unskilled to time and press many buttons for oneshot/high burst combo, then roll an holo or scrapper with granades and after a bit of aim spam practice you are good to go.

This is pretty much the roaming meta nowadays.

I think this is the most accurate statement in the thread you're going to find, OP.

Besides that, what some others have said is also true about being ganked Xv1. Very, very few players actually solo roam anymore, and in case anyone knows who I am, I'm not saying I'm any different. The vast majority of roamers play in small groups now (and always have really, it's just that it's more common now than ever) and will rarely attempt to do anything alone. If they're truly a solo roamer that play alone more often than with friends, they're very likely to be playing some kind of cookie cutter build similar to what has been said above.

There are still avid solo roamers out there, but they are a dying breed.I venture out on my own quite often, but it's almost exclusively in EBG, and I'm not usually very ballsy about what I do. It's just flipping camps and looking for fights in areas I'm less likely to get zerged because most times I get jumped by a 10 man roaming guild within 5 minutes of going anywhere alone.In other words, I solo roam but I'm not a solo roamer.

[Yasai.3549]

Thief if yu are skilled.MM Necro if yu are a noob just trying to do dailies.

The meta has shifted so much that even full MM Scourges can kill 80% of the roaming builds solo.

[Voltekka.2375]

Condi herald. Theyre everywhere and can easily 1v3

[anduriell.6280]

@Voltekka.2375 said:Condi herald. Theyre everywhere and can easily 1v3

it seems the previous list is a bit biased so i will fix it with my bias.

S Tier: Thief (Deadeye, Daredevil, Core),Revenant(Condi focused Herald/Renegade)A Tier: Engineer ( Holosmith), Ranger (Soulbeast) ,Guardian (Core and DH)B Tier: Mesmer (Core, Mirage), Warrior (Spellbreaker, sometimes Core), ScrapperC Tier: Elementalist (Weaver), Necro (Core, Reaper),

[phokus.8934]

@Voltekka.2375 said:Condi herald. Theyre everywhere and can easily 1v3They only kill bad players.

And the above list isn’t even remotely accurate.

[Grand Marshal.4098]

@anduriell.6280 said:

@Voltekka.2375 said:Condi herald. Theyre everywhere and can easily 1v3

it seems the previous list is a bit biased so i will fix it with my bias.

S Tier: Thief (Deadeye, Daredevil, Core),Revenant(Condi focused Herald/Renegade)A Tier: Engineer ( Holosmith), Ranger (Soulbeast) ,Guardian (Core and DH)B Tier: Mesmer (Core, Mirage), Warrior (Spellbreaker, sometimes Core), ScrapperC Tier: Elementalist (Weaver), Necro (Core, Reaper),

@anduriell.6280 said:

@Voltekka.2375 said:Condi herald. Theyre everywhere and can easily 1v3

it seems the previous list is a bit biased so i will fix it with my bias.

S Tier: Thief (Deadeye, Daredevil, Core),Revenant(Condi focused Herald/Renegade)A Tier: Engineer ( Holosmith), Ranger (Soulbeast) ,Guardian (Core and DH)B Tier: Mesmer (Core, Mirage), Warrior (Spellbreaker, sometimes Core), ScrapperC Tier: Elementalist (Weaver), Necro (Core, Reaper),

I'd argue Necro as a b tier since Core Bunkers and Shout Reapers can be very effective. Scourge however is definitely a C tier since (unless full condi deadzone) with Minions it's a pretty meh build.

Ele is the only profession that visually appeals to me but I can't play. It's difficult tbh. But rn, I believe that Tempests in parties of 3 to 5 are absolute tanks that deal huge damage. So Tempest A tier with a lot of skill. Core I'm not sure.

Druid trapper can be debated A tier. Huge pool of stealth just for spamming traps, a lot of condi and high disengage capability.

Core Rev maybe B tier with skill.

Chronomancer maybe a C tier.

I'd advocate that Core Ranger can pull off Soulbeast numbers.

And now for what we've been waiting for!!!

D Tier: Berserker (power builds are a no, condi Berserker ew, Gunflame meme), Core Engi (suprisingly underutilized, but Scrapper and Holo simply make you a better fighter to not use their Espec), Firebrand (I just can't see FB in a roaming perspective with no allies).

[kamikharzeeh.8016]

@phokus.8934 said:

@Voltekka.2375 said:Condi herald. Theyre everywhere and can easily 1v3They only kill bad players.

And the above list isn’t even remotely accurate.

i mean that's questionable. while as said, i have more issues with the condirenegade. then again, i never run roamerbuilds/smallscale. no space for that. therefore, it's always a bit on a more uneven ground, since all the roamers engage obviously straight away :P

[RangerThings.9810]

The DPS nerf earlier this year made most fights longer and harder to 1vX. While that's generally better balance, combine that with mount and you will get adds unless you're willing to stand in the dueling spots waiting for /bows.

...

Another factor is time, tier, and map.

Primetime on EBG is not good for a solo roamer unless you're playing an ultra-mobile thief or a troll build. Especially a top tier which usually means more population.

Offtime EBG can be quite good solo for many builds. Easy run back to action on all sides.

Offtime BLs on low pop tier is a wasteland. If you like standing around watching Yaks trot, go for it.

[Clownmug.8357]

Not sure of the meta but here are some trends I've observed.

Elementalist

• Usually play condi/hybrid Weaver with sword + focus
• Occasionally play fresh air power Weaver with scepter + focus

Mesmer

• Mostly play condi Mirage with staff / scepter + torch
• Some like to use pistol instead of torch

Necromancer

• Mostly play condi core, power Reaper, or condi Scourge
• Most condi builds use staff / scepter + dagger or scepter + torch for Scourge
• Most power Reapers use axe + focus / greatsword with greatsword just used for pull skill
• Using Lich Form and spamming auto-attacking has become a thing lately for power builds

Engineer

• Usually play power Scrapper with hammer or power Holosmith with sword + shield or rifle
• Most just like to spam grenades lately, main weapons are only used to rotate defensive skills
• Occasionally some will play core condi with dual pistols
• Condi builds might also use nades because of potential attack of 9x poison for 8+ seconds

Ranger

• Mostly play condi Druid with shortbow / staff or power Soulbeast with longbow / greatsword
• Some may try gimmicky builds using Quickening Zephyr + Sic Em + One Wolf Pack + Rapid Fire

Thief

• Usually play power core / Daredevil with dagger + pistol / shortbow or power Deadeye with rifle / dagger + pistol
• Occasionally play condi (any spec) with pistol + dagger / shortbow
• Some power builds will play with sword + pistol or sword + dagger rather than dagger + pistol
• If one plays dual daggers it's usually a gimmicky glass cannon build

Warrior

• Mostly play power core or Spellbreaker, both usually use greatsword / axe + shield
• Defiant Stance seems to have gained popularity lately
• Gimmicky glass cannon rifle builds will pop up from time to time

Guardian

• Usually play power core, condi core, power Dragonhunter, or condi Firebrand
• Power builds tend to use greatsword / sword + focus with meditation skills
• Dragonhunters may slot longbow in place of greatsword and run a few trap skills
• Most condi builds mainly use scepter + torch, some may use traited Sword of Justice
• On occasion gimmicky one shot builds with hammer will pop up

Revenant

• Mostly play power Herald, condi Herald, or condi Renegade
• Most power builds use Shiro / Glint and dual swords / staff
• Condi Heralds use Mallyx / Glint and mace + axe / staff or mace + shield
• Condi Renegades tend to use Mallyx / Jallis and might use shortbow instead of mace + axe

[kash.9213]

@Clownmug.8357 said:Not sure of the meta but here are some trends I've observed.

Thief

• Usually play power core / Daredevil with dagger + pistol / shortbow or power Deadeye with rifle / dagger + pistol
• Occasionally play condi (any spec) with pistol + dagger / shortbow
• Some power builds will play with sword + pistol or sword + dagger rather than dagger + pistol
• If one plays dual daggers it's usually a gimmicky glass cannon build

Dagger/dagger is probably going to be a gimmick but sometimes you just want to get back to Cloak and Dagger and some people really can't get into sword MH. D/d feels so good to play but I can be sure some will know I had to make choices on my Utility bar and can probably get pressured down or outran. I know people get tired of seeing some of the same kits out but other people are going to use what they have on you.

[Clownmug.8357]

@kash.9213 said:

@Clownmug.8357 said:Not sure of the meta but here are some trends I've observed.

Thief

• Usually play power core / Daredevil with dagger + pistol / shortbow or power Deadeye with rifle / dagger + pistol
• Occasionally play condi (any spec) with pistol + dagger / shortbow
• Some power builds will play with sword + pistol or sword + dagger rather than dagger + pistol
• If one plays dual daggers it's usually a gimmicky glass cannon build

Dagger/dagger is probably going to be a gimmick but sometimes you just want to get back to Cloak and Dagger and some people really can't get into sword MH. D/d feels so good to play but I can be sure some will know I had to make choices on my Utility bar and can probably get pressured down or outran. I know people get tired of seeing some of the same kits out but other people are going to use what they have on you.

Yeah, people already got tired of seeing dagger/dagger back in 2012 though, lol.

[Spartacus.3192]

i am seeing way less condi heralds in WvW in recent months. And when i say way less i mean like i haven't seen a single one in the last few weeks in T1/T2 NA.Its still a plague of thieves and rangers in wvw roaming scene.

[NuhDah.9812]

@kash.9213 said:Whatever works well with other classes in squads is what will work well floating around a map in different scale fights and groups. People will say thief but what are you trying to do out there? Are you trying to giggle to yourself over very few gimmicky kills or are you trying to fill your bags for materials and rewards?

Surely for the gimmicky kills. If he wanted mats and rewards he would have picked another game mode.

[kash.9213]

@NuhDah.9812 said:

@kash.9213 said:Whatever works well with other classes in squads is what will work well floating around a map in different scale fights and groups. People will say thief but what are you trying to do out there? Are you trying to giggle to yourself over very few gimmicky kills or are you trying to fill your bags for materials and rewards?

Surely for the gimmicky kills. If he wanted mats and rewards he would have picked another game mode.

WvW is nice if you only have like an hour and half after work. I don't know what roaming brings in but floating and reading the maps can land you in most stuff happening and bags can fill up pretty fast. What other game or game mode can you consistently pull or knock people off of cliffs and walls though?