Class/build suggestion for solo play

[Zei.7893]

hey, everyone!

 

i'm fairly new to the game. i used my boost for a mesmer and played virtuoso for a while in pof story and some fractals. i love it but i want to try something else.

 

i'd like to level a class which is capable of handling every open world content solo, if it's possible. i'm aware that every class can do open world objectives but i always like to feel overpowered and independent in solo content in mmos. i also like to heal/support so it doesn't have to be a pure dps.

 

anyone have any suggestions? thanks a lot!

[mungozen.2379]

The Mirage eSpec for Mesmer is actually one of the most capable at soloing open world content up to legendary bounties.

You could also look at Firebrand Guardian as another ‘easy’ alternative. There are also some Necro, Engineer and Revenant builds that might do the trick. It depends on how easy you want the play to be. 

[AliamRationem.5172]

There's no build that can handle literally all open world content solo.  Some challenges simply require a large number of players.  However, to the extent that it is possible to solo content such as smallscale group events, champions, and even legendary bosses, every class has builds that are capable to varying degrees.

So, it's more a question of the play style you prefer.  If you wanted to stick with mesmer, Mirage is a top pick for boss solos.  Its ability to dodge at any time (even while stunned or performing other actions!) gives it an incredible advantage over any other spec.  It also has one of the easiest play styles to pick up with condi staff mirage capable of taking down many bosses with ease from the safety of range simply by spamming 1 and dodge.  It's really hard to beat!

If you aren't averse to a higher learning curve, weaver is another top pick.  It is no match for staff mirage in terms of ease of play, but the potential sustain and damage output are among the best of any class for solo play.

Here are a couple of video links comparing the two using celestial gear against the same boss (build links in comments):

Celestial Mirage

Celestial Weaver

 

[Jukhy.2431]

For me the best solo build is likely still Condi Renegade. But it also depends on the player and their preferences - for some it might feel too complex.
If you want great low intensity build then I'd suggest Reaper with Minions. The necromancer also has great support/heal specs with the scourge elite.

[mythical.6315]

Celestial harbinger can probably do most open world content. It’ll be hit and miss with regard to which group events that you can do but it can solo quite a lot of things. It also requires very little skill compared to other solo builds. 

Edited May 23, 2022 by mythical.6315

[voodoo.7412]

condi mirage for sure as 9 years mesmer it is the best class at the moment.

Second will be celestial tempest and weaver both condi. but you need to be very active

Third condi trapper sb ranger also lazy play style as condi mirage.

power spellbreaker this require also to be very active and aware.

Power dragonhunter traps /greatsword/longbow

Condi renegade shortbow mace/axe mallyx/jalis both melee and range one of the bests also.

 

This my personal opinion as i did almost everything with these professions including champs solo.

Edited May 23, 2022 by voodoo.7412

[Gibson.4036]

I find bounding dodger Daredevil, condi Mirage, power Holosmith, and condi Renegade all very comfortable for doing almost all open world content. I find all four of them a lot of fun, too, as they all move around a lot, and all but Holosmith can juke back and forth between ranged and melee.

Daredevil note: Shortbow is good for tagging in big events, but I run pistol/pistol as my alternate to staff most of the time. P/P gives you the ability to kite if you need it while still doing signficant damage with pistol 3, and great breakbar damage with pistol 4. Invigorating precision got nerfed, so you don't have nearly as muc healing coming in, but in my experience it's still a very comfortable build in most content. I run Marauder armor, Berserker weapons and trikets, which gives a little more survivability and still does great damage.

Mirage note: Condi Mirage has two different approaches. I linked the melee version. There's also a ranged, staff/staff version. I use the melee build, but with Torch/Pistol and Staff. That way you have the flexibility to move in for melee or out to range as content requires.

Renegade note: Torment runes used to make this build ridiculously unkillable. They were heavily nerfed. The build still does good damage and has good survivablity. Ignore the write-up about Torment runes being hilariously broken, though. They aren't any more.

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by Gibson.4036

[voltaicbore.8012]

I often recommend guardian for this role, with future you-might-get-better-at-the-game in mind. Guardians are welcome in many, many endgame team compositions, so you can eventually retool a built-up guardian into an endgame group content character if you ever find yourself looking to get into that later on.

The solo generalist build I recommend is this. All 5 of your heal/utility/elite skills are signets, which put together offer a great set of completely passive bonuses, on top of the passive bonuses that the virtues (f1/f2/f3) also provide. The signets get even stronger with the signet trait. For the vast majority of stuff you'll probably want to solo in the open world, you can get away with never pressing a single non-weapon button but still enjoy a wide array of passive bonuses a lot of other classes would envy.

I consider the two main weaknesses of this build to be condi clear and hard cc. The condi clear is less of a problem - the heal signet only passively clears 1 condition every 8 seconds, which is not a lot, but it's not zero. However, pressing f2 will clear 3 conditions on a 25.5s cooldown, which helps. The Signet of Judgment also passively reduces condition damage by 12%, further adding a little bit of mitigation. Also even without pressing f2, you'll get a decent amount of healing from the passive heal ticking away from both f2 and your elite signet. If all else fails, you can run off and press your elite signet, which will heal you to full. For a bit more damage + much more condition control, you can swap just 1 trait and 1 utility skill to run the Purging Flames consecration skill, which pulses strike damage, burning stacks, and cleanses over a 7s duration on a 20s cooldown. The resulting build would be this.

The lack of hard cc will be a bit more of an issue. Bane Signet's active skill is a knockdown and the Signet of Wrath's active is an immobilize, so it's not like you have zero cc at all, but even with those the cc of this build isn't stellar.

As for damage, I find this build performs well enough. You won't be hitting super big dps benchmark numbers, but with symbols, faster sword cooldowns, and very passive access to respectable amounts of the burning condition, stuff dies.

Overall this build's lackluster-ness is carried by the strength of the guardian kit in general. Guardian sword 2 is pretty stacked - it teleports you over a short distance to your target, blinds enemies in an area, and drops a symbol that buffs your crit chance while ticking damage in an area. Swapping over to scepter/focus will give you access to a good personal shielding skill on focus 5.

Overall I find you can get a decent amount of safety and respectable level of killing power using this build and being extremely passive in your gameplay. If you're more active with it (doing more than just autoattacks and not being afraid to pop your f1/f2/f3 skills and signet active abilities as needed), both your survival and damage will go up a huge amount.

The only other issue with this build when it comes to beginners is the celestial stat Combination - not the cheapest setup to go for if you're going to buy it all. A decent alternative is the Carrion stat combination, which as +condition damage, power damage, and vitality on it. Carrion is pretty widely available. You do lose a lot of the nice extras from Celestial (in particular the boon duration condition duration), but it still works. For a more damage oriented stat set, I often run Grieving (+power, +condition, precision, and ferocity). Grieving is also harder to come by, but with those stats you can reasonably exceed 10K dps, which is good considering how passively the build plays.

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by voltaicbore.8012

[trunks.5249]

  this is my go to tons of damage high survivability the trapper ranger http://gw2skills.net/editor/?POwAUd/lVwsYTMK2JWeP2JzRMH-zRZYVBzFlMxICKkCqgMDhcTAfGA-e

[Stago.7608]

For Open World, pretty much all classes can solo Legendary Champions if given the right gear + build traits.

Check Lord Hizen's youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/LordHizen/videos), he extensively buildcrafts for every spec specifically for soloing Open World Bosses. 

 

As for the specs that are the "easiest" or simplest to solo bosses, Scourge, Renegade, and Bladesworn come to mind. I would highly recommend checking out a couple of Hizen's solos to see how they perform against bosses such as the HoT Legendary Axemaster, which usually requires 25+ players to kill.