Best (?) solo PVE Open World class/specs

[Waffles.5632]

10 hours ago, Dixa.6017 said:

I think people are sleeping on the power of untamed atm. 

I've seen some beast untamed builds pull in work recently yeah. Dunno what exactly they are running but it's pretty crazy. That and Virtu.

With Virtu I assume it's condi or some cele variant.

[draxynnic.3719]

On 2/17/2023 at 10:46 AM, Warlock.2461 said:

Has anyone played Open World Herald or Scrapper recently--care to share a build? I've been looking for an open world quickness provider for playing with a duo partner. If not for the quickness requirement, I'd probably go Tempest for Open World---feels really good. I have been trying Firebrand, but it feels a bit squishy (this may be user error), so that's why I'm looking at other options. I know Lord Hizen listed Herald as D tier for Open World and Scrapper as C tier--along with Firebrand. But that video is a few months old, so I'm not sure if that's still accurate. If that's true, there's no good Quickness Provider Open World spec. Boo. Anyway, thanks!

Hizen's yardstick is soloing group content. If you're playing duo, his ranking is...still relevant, but not the be-all-and-end-all. Having quickness and alacrity between you and being able to safely res each other is probably more important. From memory, his tier list also predated herald getting Quickness.

You could, however, consider running a celestial build: Glint/Mallyx, torment runes if you can afford them but it's probably not a big deal if you pack something else suitable (firebrand runes, perhaps). Corruption has the option to bring traits that substantially boost your sustain, so consider taking those if you need to. It's not what it was before Torment runes were nerfed, but if you're not expecting to solo group events and you're not afraid to pack a shield, it should be serviceable enough.

Mind you, keeping in mind the 'being able to safely res each other' part, quickness scrapper might be the winner there thanks to function gyro.

Edited February 18, 2023 by draxynnic.3719

[MarzAttakz.9608]

On 2/14/2023 at 3:49 PM, Gibson.4036 said:

On condi mirage, you don’t need to choose between s/s and axe/pistol. You can run staff and axe/pistol. This means you can get in close for the extra damage of axe, then juke away if you need some breathing room on a tough opponent. Having pistol helps with breakbars.

It feels great to play, being able to choose range or melee on the fly, and the mobility to choose where you want to be at any given moment. In spite of being condi, it feels very bursty.

Its the only spec I run no defensive stats because it’s so good at avoiding damage. I started off with a mix of trailblazers and vipers, but quickly went full vipers because the tough and vit just weren’t necessary.

 

Agreed. For most things I'm running full Viper's (just a Cele staff because of 2 x required for the tough build and I can't be arsed to make another).

It's only when there's a really tough encounter that I'm planning to solo or a meta event I've never done that I switch to full Celestial Staff + Staff + Undead Runes.

I need to experiment a little more with full Viper's as trash clearing can sometimes be frustrating. Perhaps Tormenting runes and drop a few defensive traits to go as much DPS as possible.

The only other complaint I have are fights that you don't know upfront you're going to need heavy break bar damage for. Staff 5 + Pistol 4 + F3 often isn't enough and if I don't have Signet or Moa (if I know upfront I'll slot them) it can frustrating.

Edited February 18, 2023 by MarzAttakz.9608
Clarification

[Surelia.2651]

Have been running full vipers, staxe Mirage for ages.  Even with the recent changes/nerfs it is still amazing.  Have had literally zero issues with it in open world, or any other content.

[Obtena.7952]

Just going to put this out there ... generally, the optimal build for moving quickly between groups of trash mobs to destroy them is not the same optimal build for soloing Champs/Bounties.

The optimal strategy there is likely to swap between two builds that do each of those things the best. The second you want a build that does it all, it's not optimal for either. 

Edited February 27, 2023 by Obtena.7952

[Buran.3796]

^ Mounts cover part of that issue. Being said that, celestial Vindicator can use the mobility from Alliance skills + Mallyx and have greatsword as side weapon (its chills can proc torment when traited) to have goot mobility in combat without giving up much damage nor losing a single bit of self sustain.

[Jtoon.6907]

I am surprised no one said warrior. I can usually just face tank stuff on core warrior in PVE. 

[Stx.4857]

Bladesworn I think is a solid #1.  It deals insane damage even while solo and it’s power damage too so it can deal with trash mobs easier than most solo builds.  
 

Other than Bladesworn, Condi mirage and Condi untamed are both incredible, and it kind of falls off from there.  Condi weaver has insane burst and damage.  Necro is overall strong and easy to use.  Mechanist also deserves a mention, as well as Condi vindicator due to how immortal it is.  

Edited March 7, 2023 by Stx.4857

[Terian.8359]

Condi Vindicator is immortal in this patch for solo pve content)  see on youtube "lord Hizen".

Also good for solo mirage and mechanist.

[Dreams.3128]

On 2/6/2023 at 7:13 AM, taara.3217 said:

Reaper is fun to play on trash but unfortunately far away of being the best choice for bosses soloing (in a certain sense it's not suitable option at all for such kind of content).

There's a build on Reaper that has clocked to not only solo legend bosses, but fill in the niche that the OP mentioned. Have you heard of our open world lord and savior, Lord Hizen? I believe with some math (though it can be off just a tad), it has mentioned to do more damage than full zerk reaper while also being far more survivable. He shows a comparison between the two and then shows examples of legendaries you can solo. Obviously not ALL legendaries because some strictly just have mechanics you can't bypass, but a good portion of them can be solo'd with this build.
 

@LaHuguu.9561 Have fun OP

[Nephalem.8921]

The best open world build by far is the standard raid quick fb build but with litany as a heal.

31k hp, full heal with litany, quickness for 5 in case you do meta events while having perma quickness for himself even without alacrity solo. Could even take soj for vuln. For might just take golden dumplings.

This thing has a 37k bench btw. While offering perma quick, while having 31k hp with means to refill that pool. With insane cleave potential. 

[Gaiawolf.8261]

5 hours ago, Nephalem.8921 said:

The best open world build by far is the standard raid quick fb build but with litany as a heal.

31k hp, full heal with litany, quickness for 5 in case you do meta events while having perma quickness for himself even without alacrity solo. Could even take soj for vuln. For might just take golden dumplings.

This thing has a 37k bench btw. While offering perma quick, while having 31k hp with means to refill that pool. With insane cleave potential. 

A qFB with 31k health? I never heard of such a build. Can you link it? Most qFB builds are far lower and even the celebrand (generally considered the best OW set for FB) is closer to 21k health. They are still excellent for OW with LoW.

EDIT: I heard ritualist gear can get you to 28k health, but you lose a lot of toughness and healing power, also precision if your build needs it for procs. I don't know how many people would use it for OW.

Edited March 10, 2023 by Gaiawolf.8261

[Nephalem.8921]

1 hour ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

A qFB with 31k health? I never heard of such a build. Can you link it? Most qFB builds are far lower and even the celebrand (generally considered the best OW set for FB) is closer to 21k health. They are still excellent for OW with LoW.

EDIT: I heard ritualist gear can get you to 28k health, but you lose a lot of toughness and healing power, also precision if your build needs it for procs. I don't know how many people would use it for OW.

it has 31k. You get 250 vitality while having quickness which puts you at 29.5k and then another 1.5k with jadebot buffs. It has FAR more dps than celebrand. Cele generally considered best by who? Lord Hizen and his followers? Cele is a hybrid heal set. Not a dps set.

The build has 8.8% crit base. +25% from fury + 10% vs burning = 43.8% critchance.

Its that build but with litany.

Edited March 10, 2023 by Nephalem.8921

[Gaiawolf.8261]

6 minutes ago, Nephalem.8921 said:

it has 31k. You get 250 vitality while having quickness which puts you at 29.5k and then another 1.5k with jadebot buffs. It has FAR more dps than celebrand. Cele generally considered best by who? Lord Hizen and his followers? Cele is a hybrid heal set. Not a dps set.

The build has 8.8% crit base. +25% from fury + 10% vs burning = 43.8% critchance.

Its that build but with litany.

Yeah, that's the build I was thinking of. Only showing 27.7K with quickness and T10 jade bot core there, but not Balthy runes. I guess that's the difference.

I've been meaning to try a ritualist or trailblazer set in OW for a while now, just wasn't sure if it's worth the gold. I'm leaning more toward dropping the coin to try the ritualist variant, maybe TB or a mix.

[Stx.4857]

24 minutes ago, Nephalem.8921 said:

it has 31k. You get 250 vitality while having quickness which puts you at 29.5k and then another 1.5k with jadebot buffs. It has FAR more dps than celebrand. Cele generally considered best by who? Lord Hizen and his followers? Cele is a hybrid heal set. Not a dps set.

The build has 8.8% crit base. +25% from fury + 10% vs burning = 43.8% critchance.

Its that build but with litany.

That looks like it might be a good build to run in open world group content like metas.  But for solo you would want to alter it and I doubt it’s better than mirage/untamed and some others.  

[Dr Meta.3158]

Scourge, herald, and mirage are your top picks.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

4 minutes ago, Stx.4857 said:

That looks like it might be a good build to run in open world group content like metas.  But for solo you would want to alter it and I doubt it’s better than mirage/untamed and some others.  

That was my initial thought. It looks like it relies a bit too much on group support. For solo, it should be able to melt mobs fast, but for any tough encounter that doesn't go down in under a minute, it might start to struggle. Full heal with LoW is great, except under constant pressure since CD is 25s. So you need other options that don't rely on healing power to scale. I still want to try it for myself before passing any real judgment.

[Nephalem.8921]

4 minutes ago, Stx.4857 said:

That looks like it might be a good build to run in open world group content like metas.  But for solo you would want to alter it and I doubt it’s better than mirage/untamed and some others.  

Mirage is indeed better vs bosses but atrocious vs adds. Untamed comes close but does not have litany and also no range and fervent force does simply not work everywhere which makes that build unusable. Untamed is better if it works and if you want to play a 150 apm build constantly.

The only issue with that build is low vuln and low might. Sword of justice can fix vuln and there are various methods to increase might like golden dumplings or strength sigil. Bladesworn really struggles with vuln solo too. Condi untamed is useless vs trash too btw.

Condi untamed and mirage are amazing vs bosses but have very low/slow cleave. Firebrand even scales with add count because its f1 cleaves. Hit more targets -> more cleaving f1 proccs -> more single target dps on top of high aoe dps.

[Stx.4857]

26 minutes ago, Nephalem.8921 said:

Mirage is indeed better vs bosses but atrocious vs adds. Untamed comes close but does not have litany and also no range and fervent force does simply not work everywhere which makes that build unusable. Untamed is better if it works and if you want to play a 150 apm build constantly.

The only issue with that build is low vuln and low might. Sword of justice can fix vuln and there are various methods to increase might like golden dumplings or strength sigil. Bladesworn really struggles with vuln solo too. Condi untamed is useless vs trash too btw.

Condi untamed and mirage are amazing vs bosses but have very low/slow cleave. Firebrand even scales with add count because its f1 cleaves. Hit more targets -> more cleaving f1 proccs -> more single target dps on top of high aoe dps.

I don’t play guardian often, but it looks like the main challenge of that build would be survival.  Lower armor than celestial builds, Low heal power.  Heal skill has a 25 second cooldown and no other sources of passive sustain (except maybe the third tomb?).  Large health pool and litany being a large heal is good but in between those heals it could be a challenge to survive some solo stuff.  Protection uptime looks low too but again this might come from the third tome I’m not sure. 
 

not every build needs to be able to tank legendary bounties either but I think the idea of a solo build is being able to survive pretty much anything.  

[Nephalem.8921]

Just now, Stx.4857 said:

I don’t play guardian often, but it looks like the main challenge of that build would be survival.  Lower armor than celestial builds, Low heal power.  Heal skill has a 25 second cooldown and no other sources of passive sustain (except maybe the third tomb?).  Large health pool and litany being a large heal is good but in between those heals it could be a challenge to survive some solo stuff.  Protection uptime looks low too but again this might come from the third tome I’m not sure. 
 

not every build needs to be able to tank legendary bounties either but I think the idea of a solo build is being able to survive pretty much anything.  

Your f2 passive ticks. Your f2 skills cause regen and have healing. Your f3 tome causes aegis and prot on entry. Every f3 skill causes prot. Litany lasts 6sec and is basically an instant full heal. You only have to survive 20sec basically while having 31k hp and heavy armor. For a long time a good solo build was just a build that could clear solo fast. At one point it shifted to being able to survive everything half afk.

And as a guardian you have access to some of the most busted utilities in the game like wall of reflection. 50% reflect uptime before alac. Purging flames is your strongest dps skill but also cleanses condis for some reason.

Maybe i play too much ele but 31k hp with a 25sec cd full heal and other defensive options are far from squishy.

[Buran.3796]

On 3/10/2023 at 9:54 AM, Nephalem.8921 said:

The best open world build by far is the standard raid quick fb build but with litany as a heal.

   While I appreciate the explanations about the gameplay of the build, I disagree.

  The thread is about the best  OW  solo specs. Lets see the flaws of raid qFB at that task (even with Litany and other adjust):

1) The 37k dps will fade away instantly, since you're not in a group providing permanently all the boons to reach such numbers. The dps will also be eroded by the need to spent time and resources trying to be alive, since we are talking here about sometimes facing content which be hard to solo.

2) Due the build invest so much traits and skills trying to max out dps, the self sustain is rather poor. And yes, you have a loot of tricks in the pocket due Firebrand is like a Swiss knife, but each one of those tools (Valiant Bulkward, Wall of Reflection... ) have a cost of oportunity which translates in more dps loss.

  So: while qFB has amazing AoE dps burst (great vs regular mobs), once you face a solo fight which will last minutes the dichotomy between dps and sustain will fastly surface. And is not only vs legendary bounties with mean unstabilities: try to fight the platoon  of level 84 charr veterans in the Archstone Dominion Camp at Drizzlewood with qFB and tell me how it goes...

[draxynnic.3719]

1 hour ago, Buran.3796 said:

1) The 37k dps will fade away instantly, since you're not in a group providing permanently all the boons to reach such numbers. The dps will also be eroded by the need to spent time and resources trying to be alive, since we are talking here about sometimes facing content which be hard to solo.

 

Plus, doesn't the 37k dps benchmark for quickbrand require having four allies with you to apply Ashes of the Just to? The bench drops to just under 33k if you're alone, even if you are somehow getting all the boons on yourself and all the relevant conditions on the enemy.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

3 hours ago, Buran.3796 said:

2) Due the build invest so much traits and skills trying to max out dps, the self sustain is rather poor. And yes, you have a loot of tricks in the pocket due Firebrand is like a Swiss knife, but each one of those tools (Valiant Bulkward, Wall of Reflection... ) have a cost of oportunity which translates in more dps loss.

This is the crux of firebrand's challenges in OW solo. Most of its best tools require downtime from DPS. If you you are pulling out those tools too often, you're just spinning your wheels and not bringing health bars down. Other professions have more efficient ways to sustain while keeping DPS up. 

Don't get me wrong, FB is still an excellent pick for OW that does very well solo and excels in groups. It just requires some build adjustments for more sustain than the average instance group build will give you. I've made it work with a bit less DPS by using either Honor or Valor for some extra passive and procced sustains. I still haven't tried a ritualist build yet, so I won't comment on that set or build yet.

[Dayra.7405]

On 2/5/2023 at 9:37 PM, LaHuguu.9561 said:

In your mind, what seems to be the best spec to :

• Destroy trash mobs, going fast from one group to the other, for doing map completion, meta-events, collection for endgame rewards (Skyscale, legendaries …) or farming AP in story instances AND
• Survive long enough for soloing Champions/Bounties and other hard bosse AND
• being able to swap from the first situation to the other depending on what fight is next. Like tweak some traits or change gear if you tend to plan on fighting a bounty alone (I think, you can’t be as powerful and as tanky to do both (or is it ? Is there a god emperor build that has endless durability and brutal damage that I don’t know ?)

 

I like my virtuoso/chrono (I prefer power for solo OW, if you prefer condie, viruoso/mirage may be better) for that. Virtuoso mostly, Chrono to have Illusions that help tanking harder mobs.

What also works well is Daredevil/Deadeye. Daredevil mostly, Deadeye to snipe and hide harder mobs.

In both cases, you can easily swap whenever you are ooc.

Edited March 11, 2023 by Dayra.7405

[Nephalem.8921]

 

26 minutes ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

This is the crux of firebrand's challenges in OW solo. Most of its best tools require downtime from DPS. If you you are pulling out those tools too often, you're just spinning your wheels and not bringing health bars down. Other professions have more efficient ways to sustain while keeping DPS up. 

Don't get me wrong, FB is still an excellent pick for OW that does very well solo and excels in groups. It just requires some build adjustments for more sustain than the average instance group build will give you. I've made it work with a bit less DPS by using either Honor or Valor for some extra. I still haven't tried a ritualist build yet, so I won't comment on that set or build yet.

With 25k dps which is very reasonable and even way higher in some cases it puts you at 2k hp every sec. together with regen from tome 2 you can reach 2.3k every second. That is more than your cele vindicator.

Dropping virtues is quite a big dps loss and most importantly costs you your cleaving f1 passive. All for ~200heal every sec. This is the problem with the current Hizen worshipper group. You seriously underestimate 31k hp together with litany on an extremely high dps build or the benefit of a high dps build in the first place.

I tried to solo some bounties and it can do that just fine. had only problems with 2 of them. Was still the opposite of fun thanks to insanely unfun affixes like unable to be hit melee or the nice stop/walk or it perma evades while it dashes all over the place.