Solo open world profession for a returning player

[Rorie.4987]

Hello, guys. I hope everyone is doing well.

 

So, as the name of the topic says - I'am looking for an advice on what profession to choose. 

 

Mainly I do open world, try to solo champs, and other pve stuff, where I can get some challenge. I know that fun is subjective, but by saying "fun" I mean semi-hard rotation, having some utility, and being mobile.

 

Since classic GW2, my mains were an elementalist, and a guardian. I've tried new ele elite specs , and found them boring, and on the other hand I still enjoy DH, despite being a bit slow imo.

I've bought "The end of dragons" recently, and tried Virtuoso and Spectre, which turned out to be very fast and engaging, although I don't really like Mesmer, but Virtuoso is very fun. 

 

So which professions or elite specs can you advise to solo some hard stuff, and have fun?

[AliamRationem.5172]

You found weaver boring?  Blasphemy! 🙃

I'd recommend mirage, but you don't like mesmer either.  I'd say there's no help for you.

[Rorie.4987]

Well, weaver might not be easy for sure, but I didn't like it 😞

[Logos.3042]

In no particular order

• Condi Fire Weaver
• Trailblazer Staff Mirage
• Necro focused on self healing
• Condi Shortbow Soulbeast
• Condi Herald
• Scrapper with healing

[AliamRationem.5172]

10 hours ago, Rorie.4987 said:

Well, weaver might not be easy for sure, but I didn't like it 😞

It takes most people a little bit before they can make sense of weaver.  It has 26 weapon skills and a uniquely restrictive rotation that isn't similar to any other specialization.  So, that could be part of the problem if the reason you didn't like it is that it hasn't really "clicked" with you yet.

Fun being subjective, maybe weaver just isn't your thing.   But for me it doesn't get much better.  Doesn't this just look fun to play? . Condi weaver is also one of the stronger picks for solo play with great damage and sustain.  You can even solo tough champs in full glass stats once you get the hang of it! 

[SeTect.5918]

Well there are lots of good open world builds. I ll list them by rotation:

Easy rota: 

Cele n condi mechanist, cele n condi herald, cele n condi mirage, power bladesworn (if its still up to date), condi scourge, condi n cele harbinger

Normal rota:

Cele tempest, cele willbender, cele n condi berserker, cele n condi renegade, cele vindicator, cele firebrand, condi specter (if still up to date), cele n condi soulbeast, untamed

Difficult rota:

Condi n cele weaver, condi n cele Catalyst, condi n cele Holosmith 

 

My Personal favs: 

Condi weaver, cele Catalyst, cele herald and maybe one day cele berserker

[Fueki.4753]

Play whatever you feel is fun to you.

Noone can advise you on what's fun to you, since noone else feels the way you do.

[Rorie.4987]

2 hours ago, AliamRationem.5172 said:

It takes most people a little bit before they can make sense of weaver.  It has 26 weapon skills and a uniquely restrictive rotation that isn't similar to any other specialization.  So, that could be part of the problem if the reason you didn't like it is that it hasn't really "clicked" with you yet.

Fun being subjective, maybe weaver just isn't your thing.   But for me it doesn't get much better.  Doesn't this just look fun to play? . Condi weaver is also one of the stronger picks for solo play with great damage and sustain.  You can even solo tough champs in full glass stats once you get the hang of it! 

Looks really nice indeed. Thanks a lot for such feedback, I'll give it a try 🙂

Appreciate it! 

[RadiantWolf.2058]

Elementalist is that profession I always want to try but I worry my smooth brain can't handle the piano playstyle. How hard is it to play outside Weaver? How often do you need to switch elements/use F keys?

 

I'm a returning player too, mostly on Mesmer and Necromancer. I have more time in on Necro, it's very simple to use and stay alive but I admit I wonder about more complicated classes sometimes.

 

High skill ceilings don't bother me as long as there is a reasonable skill floor. If I can get into a profession, understand its basics, and aspire to executing it at a crazy level I'm in.

Edited July 8, 2022 by RadiantWolf.2058

[AliamRationem.5172]

2 hours ago, RadiantWolf.2058 said:

Elementalist is that profession I always want to try but I worry my smooth brain can't handle the piano playstyle. How hard is it to play outside Weaver? How often do you need to switch elements/use F keys?

 

I'm a returning player too, mostly on Mesmer and Necromancer. I have more time in on Necro, it's very simple to use and stay alive but I admit I wonder about more complicated classes sometimes.

 

High skill ceilings don't bother me as long as there is a reasonable skill floor. If I can get into a profession, understand its basics, and aspire to executing it at a crazy level I'm in.

You might try Tempest.  The overload mechanic adds long channels and double attunement cooldowns for a slower ele play style.

[Stx.4857]

After reading your post, I'm still not sure what you're looking for but I will list some of the top tier Solo specs.

 

-Condi Mirage

-Condi Weaver

-Condi Renegade

-Condi Willbender

-Condi or Power Mechanist, Condi is still stronger 

-Condi Catalyst

-Condi Scourge

-Condi Spectre

-Condi Untamed 

-Power Bladesworn

 

Notice a trend?  For strong Solo builds that have defense condi is just the way to go especially for killing boss type mobs like champions or bounties.  Note that Celestial builds are very strong and are generally categorized as condi builds.

 

 Power builds CAN be viable but it takes a lot more effort for less results.  Power builds are also better at cleaving down lots of weaker enemies quickly if that is something that is important to you.

 

And also you can make oddball builds work just fine in open world even if they aren't the best.  Right now on my Thief I am playing a power sword spectre with chrono runes because it's super fun.  The dps is kitten for killing bounties but i don't care because if I really need to I can just switch to condi.  Having fun is more important!   I also play holosmith on my engi because I find it 10x more fun than jade mech spec.

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by Stx.4857
For fun!

[Rorie.4987]

On 7/8/2022 at 9:26 PM, Stx.4857 said:

After reading your post, I'm still not sure what you're looking for but I will list some of the top tier Solo specs.

 

-Condi Mirage

-Condi Weaver

-Condi Renegade

-Condi Willbender

-Condi or Power Mechanist, Condi is still stronger 

-Condi Catalyst

-Condi Scourge

-Condi Spectre

-Condi Untamed 

-Power Bladesworn

 

Notice a trend?  For strong Solo builds that have defense condi is just the way to go especially for killing boss type mobs like champions or bounties.  Note that Celestial builds are very strong and are generally categorized as condi builds.

 

 Power builds CAN be viable but it takes a lot more effort for less results.  Power builds are also better at cleaving down lots of weaker enemies quickly if that is something that is important to you.

 

And also you can make oddball builds work just fine in open world even if they aren't the best.  Right now on my Thief I am playing a power sword spectre with chrono runes because it's super fun.  The dps is kitten for killing bounties but i don't care because if I really need to I can just switch to condi.  Having fun is more important!   I also play holosmith on my engi because I find it 10x more fun than jade mech spec.

 

 

 

Thanks, mate! I've decided to try out the weaver and spectre. Right now I'm leveling a spectre and having a blast. To be honest, I also fell in love with p/p + staff daredevil, and was able to solo 90% of HP champs from HoT expansion with it. But, yeah, I get that condi builds are more viable for solo. 

[Voyant.1327]

I run everything as a Mesmer, you've got toolkits for everything you need. Whether you're needing to stealth somewhere, tank, support, or solo it does great.

I run it mainly as a Virtuoso, been playing for 3 months, and have just started solo'ing t4 fractals. Its incredibly versatile when well built. If you're trying to solo content definitely ignore most of the site recommendations as they don't operate from that logic. 

But I'll switch to various builds to get thru areas, using teleports/portal/mimic to cheese multiperson mechanics. Or have a stealth stability build to sneak past Harpy's on Jump Puzzles. Or switch to an unkillable tank when needed.

Just has an answer for any situation imo. 

Edited July 18, 2022 by Voyant.1327

[Valaurus.3842]

On 7/18/2022 at 7:49 AM, Voyant.1327 said:

I run everything as a Mesmer, you've got toolkits for everything you need. Whether you're needing to stealth somewhere, tank, support, or solo it does great.

I run it mainly as a Virtuoso, been playing for 3 months, and have just started solo'ing t4 fractals. Its incredibly versatile when well built. If you're trying to solo content definitely ignore most of the site recommendations as they don't operate from that logic. 

But I'll switch to various builds to get thru areas, using teleports/portal/mimic to cheese multiperson mechanics. Or have a stealth stability build to sneak past Harpy's on Jump Puzzles. Or switch to an unkillable tank when needed.

Just has an answer for any situation imo. 

Sorry for coming back to this so late, but I'm sorta trying to get Mesmer and you make it sound great. Could you talk a little more about these builds, high level?

[Mell.4873]

Another unsung Hero is most is Ranger or Even Warrior Builds.
Generally you play them very bursty and they have lots of ways of turning damage or the rotation into healing.

Untamed for example has Fervent Force which can reset cooldowns very quickly when you stun and yes that does mean the healing skill.

 

If you want to go down the Mesmer route there are a tone of hidden gems in the class. For example on Virtuoso if you slot in Inspiration you can turn yourself into a hybrid healer with roughly 10-15% drop in over all damage and almost no drop in upfront damage (so first 10 seconds).
Now you can heal all Dungeons, Fractals, and Strikes as a backup healer.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Mell.4873

[Stx.4857]

Untamed is so much fun to make builds for lol.  Right now I'm using axe/warhorn with the alacrity spirits and the spirit that has a short cooldown daze.  Between that and the quick draw talent reducing warhorn 5, I can daze so fast and provide permanent 25 might, as well as spam axe 2 and 3 basically with no cooldown.  Nature magic and heal as one also has crazy good synergy for maintaining boons.