Open World Domination: Fire Weaver

[AliamRationem.5172]

@SoundWave.9154 said:A quick update, it seems that for me sword/dagger works better. Does that change things in any meaningful way that I'm not aware of ? Also, are there any other weapons alternatives that would work, like scepter perhaps or does that drop the dps way too much ?

If you prefer dagger offhand, then go for it! My only issue with dagger on a pure condi build is that its big damage moves are power-based. Focus doesn't deal any damage either, but it has a much stronger defensive kit, particularly for projectile defense.

I'm afraid I don't use anything but sword, so I can't comment on scepter or staff. However, they seem to be power-based weapons as well and, like most ranged weapons, not very strong on defense as it is assumed you'll be at range and thus at less risk.

@Tuco.2419 said:I'm working on building up my ascended gear. I've got one trailblazer ring and need a second ring and don't want another trailblazer since I'm condition duration capped, but you can't get Dire rings for fractal relics. What's a relatively easy Dire ring to get?

You could probably purchase one with laurels. I think? LS3 currencies is another way.

[necromaniac.7629]

@AliamRationem.5172 said:This thread is a continuation of a conversation that started in someone else's thread, which is why I wanted to transfer it over here.

I was asked about energy/corruption sigils...

Why use a sigil that procs on weapon swap when elementalists don't swap weapons? The answer is that attunement swapping functions as a weapon swap for activating these sigils.

Why use corruption? The stacks remain as long as you don't go down or leave the map. So this is actually an excellent boost for open world play as it adds a significant amount of condition damage!why use energy sigils on ele though when the icd in 9 secs anyways, smoldering instead fits better

[AliamRationem.5172]

@necromaniac.7629 said:

@AliamRationem.5172 said:This thread is a continuation of a conversation that started in someone else's thread, which is why I wanted to transfer it over here.

I was asked about energy/corruption sigils...

Why use a sigil that procs on weapon swap when elementalists don't swap weapons? The answer is that attunement swapping functions as a weapon swap for activating these sigils.

Why use corruption? The stacks remain as long as you don't go down or leave the map. So this is actually an excellent boost for open world play as it adds a significant amount of condition damage!why use energy sigils on ele though when the icd in 9 secs anyways, smoldering instead fits better

I'm capped on burn duration via traits and balth runes, so smoldering would be wasted without changing around other things. There's nothing wrong with going that route as capping out burn duration may be achieved in a variety of ways, but this is the way I've chosen. Energy sigil has good synergy with evasive arcana, which as I explained in an earlier reply, I take just for the fun of it. I think you could do better damage and be tankier with fire/earth over fire/arcane, but I just like the playstyle of fire/arcane and energy sigil pairs nicely with that.

Either way, there's a ton of room to try different things with this build. Very little of it is set in stone. Feel free to try different runes, sigils, traits. I think the only things you really need to have for this to work the way it works in my videos are fire and weaver trait lines, strong damage utilities, a sword, and gear with condi stat on it! The rest is whatever feels right!

[Jenny.4831]

I have a question regarding condi-Weaver.

Is there any real value in trying for high bleed duration as well as burn? I was messing around with the build editor the other day (same time as I was messing with the burn Tempest actually) and came up with a build that had 95% burn duration and 65% bleed duration using a mixture of dire and trailblazer.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PGBBwix3lZwkYXsImJOKPmvbA-zRRYcRfjM4woIV6qCnpBEfaA-e

I suppose if you have the laurels to burn, you could socket expertise in the infusion slots and get 100%/70% or add about 60 more condi damage. At least, I think there are +4 expertise infusions, I might be wrong about that.

-Jenny

[DeanBB.4268]

"I suppose if you have the laurels to burn, you could socket expertise in the infusion slots"

Note that you can get "+5 /+1% vs guards" to slot in WvW instead. Visit WvW laurel merchant to check prices.

[zitounae.4803]

@"Jenny.4831" said:I have a question regarding condi-Weaver.

Is there any real value in trying for high bleed duration as well as burn? I was messing around with the build editor the other day (same time as I was messing with the burn Tempest actually) and came up with a build that had 95% burn duration and 65% bleed duration using a mixture of dire and trailblazer.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PGBBwix3lZwkYXsImJOKPmvbA-zRRYcRfjM4woIV6qCnpBEfaA-e

I suppose if you have the laurels to burn, you could socket expertise in the infusion slots and get 100%/70% or add about 60 more condi damage. At least, I think there are +4 expertise infusions, I might be wrong about that.

-Jenny

theres a build including earth traits discussed on this post comments.

[Tuco.2419]

@"AliamRationem.5172" said:Someone asked me if I had done a solo video of the Legendary Bloodstone-Crazed Wyvern with my build. I hadn't. This boss spawns by RNG and it announces to the entire map with a map marker, making it difficult to get practice attempts. But this was close enough and given that I haven't even seen this boss in weeks or months, I don't think it turned out too badly!

love the vid!Quick note: You might want to start recording ~10 seconds before engaging to give youtube enough time to deliver high resolution video of the start of the encounter to people watching.

Question: How annoying or noticeable is dynamic scaling on these boss fights? In the above vid you engaged and halfway through some chump came in and died. I don't know how dynamic scaling works exactly, but I think when the number of players within a 1800 radius increases, events/mobs change. Do you ever have problems where you can solo an event, but when randos start "helping" it makes it substantially more difficult?

[AliamRationem.5172]

@"Jenny.4831" said:I have a question regarding condi-Weaver.

Is there any real value in trying for high bleed duration as well as burn? I was messing around with the build editor the other day (same time as I was messing with the burn Tempest actually) and came up with a build that had 95% burn duration and 65% bleed duration using a mixture of dire and trailblazer.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PGBBwix3lZwkYXsImJOKPmvbA-zRRYcRfjM4woIV6qCnpBEfaA-e

I suppose if you have the laurels to burn, you could socket expertise in the infusion slots and get 100%/70% or add about 60 more condi damage. At least, I think there are +4 expertise infusions, I might be wrong about that.

-Jenny

Absolutely! The standard condi weaver raid build does this and will produce better damage over time. Also, as mentioned previously earth is better condi damage than arcane.

There are some things to consider in the comparison, though. For instance, in raid you have alacrity and quickness which speeds up your rotation. You also have the expectation of longer burns.

This makes it so if you don't include bleeds in your rotation you end up stuck with cooldowns. This is less of an issue in solo play. Also, burning is burstier and better for short fights.

[AliamRationem.5172]

@Tuco.2419 said:

@"AliamRationem.5172" said:Someone asked me if I had done a solo video of the Legendary Bloodstone-Crazed Wyvern with my build. I hadn't. This boss spawns by RNG and it announces to the entire map with a map marker, making it difficult to get practice attempts. But this was close enough and given that I haven't even seen this boss in weeks or months, I don't think it turned out too badly!

love the vid!Quick note: You might want to start recording ~10 seconds before engaging to give youtube enough time to deliver high resolution video of the start of the encounter to people watching.

Question: How annoying or noticeable is dynamic scaling on these boss fights? In the above vid you engaged and halfway through some chump came in and died. I don't know how dynamic scaling works exactly, but I think when the number of players within a 1800 radius increases, events/mobs change. Do you ever have problems where you can solo an event, but when randos start "helping" it makes it substantially more difficult?

It can be an issue. For instance the legendary bandit executioner spawns more sword drops with more players present and that is rough on a melee build.

Another example is avatar of Balthazar, which has a breakbar that is particularly sensitive to scaling and he also seems to prefer to use ranged attacks and move around more if targets are available.

Oh, and thanks for the tip on videos. I am a bit of a noob when it comes to that stuff. I just throw up unedited videos for discussions like this!

[AliamRationem.5172]

Here's a peek at some solo work on the first of the new Dragon Response Missions. I have 2 of the 3 challenge modes activated here (time challenge and tougher boss challenge).

[Opopanax.1803]

@AliamRationem.5172 said:The goal is to reach 100% increased burn duration. Anything over that is wasted.

I would say that earth is probably better? It increases condition damage and passive defense. I prefer arcane mostly for the boons on demand and dodge effects on evasive arcana, but that could just be a me thing. You should try both and see what you prefer!

I know this is a dumb question, but it has been so long.

On the calculator, on a lot of builds I end up at 99.XX% burn duration (or other condi, depends on class and build).

My understanding is that Condi's were split on ticks a while back so you dont lose anything if you arent right at 100%; IE, you retain the full amount of partial tick. Can anyone validate this? It's been a LONG time since I looked at that. Would love a confirmation; I hate overcapping with a passion.

[steki.1478]

@Opopanax.1803 said:

@AliamRationem.5172 said:The goal is to reach 100% increased burn duration. Anything over that is wasted.

I would say that earth is probably better? It increases condition damage and passive defense. I prefer arcane mostly for the boons on demand and dodge effects on evasive arcana, but that could just be a me thing. You should try both and see what you prefer!

I know this is a dumb question, but it has been so long.

On the calculator, on a lot of builds I end up at 99.XX% burn duration (or other condi, depends on class and build).

My understanding is that Condi's were split on ticks a while back so you dont lose anything if you arent right at 100%; IE, you retain the full amount of partial tick. Can anyone validate this? It's been a LONG time since I looked at that. Would love a confirmation; I hate overcapping with a passion.

Just dont bother with that. With same logic, having 102% instead of 99.76% means that you could utilize extra 20 condi damage and 10 precision and achieve better damage or something along those lines. Those minimal differences are completely irrelevant since you'll absolutely never manage to do perfect rotations and achieve the highest numbers you could possibly get. A single auto attack chain cancel will lose you more damage than that minuscule % difference.

Focus on your mechanics, not on contemplating a build that can be built in 7 different ways.

[Opopanax.1803]

@steki.1478 said:...instead of 99.76% means that...

LMAO, it was 99.76 exactly!!!

[Tuco.2419]

@"AliamRationem.5172" said:Here's a peek at some solo work on the first of the new Dragon Response Missions. I have 2 of the 3 challenge modes activated here (time challenge and tougher boss challenge).

Looking good!

It's hard to tell from the vids:

1. How much do you spam your auto attack
2. How do you try to time your abilities around your auto attack?
3. How much do you value using an evasive arcana powered dodge vs auto attack?

I'm getting better but I've been basically been ignoring auto-attack and I think it's making me lose out on a lot of DPS.

[AliamRationem.5172]

@Tuco.2419 said:

@"AliamRationem.5172" said:Here's a peek at some solo work on the first of the new Dragon Response Missions. I have 2 of the 3 challenge modes activated here (time challenge and tougher boss challenge).

Looking good!

It's hard to tell from the vids:

1. How much do you spam your auto attack
2. How do you try to time your abilities around your auto attack?
3. How much do you value using an evasive arcana powered dodge vs auto attack?

I'm getting better but I've been basically been ignoring auto-attack and I think it's making me lose out on a lot of DPS.

Good questions! Unfortunately, I've never practiced a rotation or attempted to calculate the answers to these types of questions. I just picked up weaver and started playing it and this is what developed! The issue for me as a solo player has always been that when you are your own support, there is significant value in considerations beyond just maximizing DPS.

Having said that, it would be beneficial to at least be aware of which of two choices in a comparison will result in better DPS. However, as a result of having different priorities, I have a build that is in no way optimized for maximum damage. It's hard to find discussion out there where people are willing to deep dive into math and simulations on open world solo play! So, I just do the best I can and learn by playing and listening to what others have to say on the mathy stuff.

Edit: I see that I veered off course a bit. In more specific answers to how I prioritize? It's very situational. I suppose I try to squeeze AA chains in when I am forced to wait on cooldowns. For instance, if I delay a second or two for a boss breakbar to become vulnerable to use a CC when I would otherwise rotate attunements. That would usually be a good time to try to fill in with an AA chain.

Or maybe I'm fighting that big chak lobber and he goes to shake blue goo all over the place. I might linger in earth/x to wait on earth 2 evade cooldown rather than rotating attunements and dodging because I can evade more of the damage if I chain the two. Since I'm waiting anyway, might as well AA chain.

Again, it's very situational from my perspective and not knowing the answer to which is strictly more damage in a particular situation, I am more just using AA chain as filler when other choices that are greater priorities to me create the opportunity. If that makes sense?

[Oh My God.8423]

I just came back to GW2 a few weeks ago and have not been playing much on my Ele. I do like your build, Aliam but I have no experience with Sword - I do familiar with Dagger. Would Dagger/Dagger work with your build too?

Thanks!

[AliamRationem.5172]

@Oh My God.8423 said:I just came back to GW2 a few weeks ago and have not been playing much on my Ele. I do like your build, Aliam but I have no experience with Sword - I do familiar with Dagger. Would Dagger/Dagger work with your build too?

Thanks!

I don't really know. I played dagger tempest awhile back, but I've never really given dagger weaver a chance. I picked it up with sword this year and it feels pretty comfortable to me! My sense is that d/d is better as a power set, but with condi utilities + dual attacks you can probably manage decent condition damage regardless.

[Oh My God.8423]

@AliamRationem.5172 said:

@Oh My God.8423 said:I just came back to GW2 a few weeks ago and have not been playing much on my Ele. I do like your build, Aliam but I have no experience with Sword - I do familiar with Dagger. Would Dagger/Dagger work with your build too?

Thanks!

I don't really know. I played dagger tempest awhile back, but I've never really given dagger weaver a chance. I picked it up with sword this year and it feels pretty comfortable to me! My sense is that d/d is better as a power set, but with condi utilities + dual attacks you can probably manage decent condition damage regardless.

Thanks!

Did not realise Sword is a condi weapon...

[AliamRationem.5172]

@Oh My God.8423 said:

@AliamRationem.5172 said:

@Oh My God.8423 said:I just came back to GW2 a few weeks ago and have not been playing much on my Ele. I do like your build, Aliam but I have no experience with Sword - I do familiar with Dagger. Would Dagger/Dagger work with your build too?

Thanks!

I don't really know. I played dagger tempest awhile back, but I've never really given dagger weaver a chance. I picked it up with sword this year and it feels pretty comfortable to me! My sense is that d/d is better as a power set, but with condi utilities + dual attacks you can probably manage decent condition damage regardless.

Thanks!

Did not realise Sword is a condi weapon...

Weaver is capable of going either way. It has the damage multipliers to burst with power in either sword or dagger, but can also stack a lot of burning and bleeding.

[SoundWave.9154]

Could you please advise on a Viper build ? If you were to put it in %, how much DPS would you gain and how much survivability lose ? Are you even able to solo champions the way you do ?

[AliamRationem.5172]

@"SoundWave.9154" said:Could you please advise on a Viper build ? If you were to put it in %, how much DPS would you gain and how much survivability lose ? Are you even able to solo champions the way you do ?

You can slap on viper gear with this build. I don't personally find it worthwhile for solo play as the damage gain is barely noticeable and any challenge which can pressure you in dire/trailblazer is going to be a lot more difficult using viper. I don't have any video of viper, but I do have a couple of videos with low level gear you can get an idea of how much more damage you'll take.

Here's a video of the champion arrowhead challenge using level 55 blue carrion gear and major sigils/runes. With no additional armor and 16k health, this is equivalent to Viper defensively, but due to the level difference and carrion stats, I'm dealing really low damage on this one so the fight takes significantly longer!

[SoundWave.9154]

I actually saw that video but never made the connection :expressionless: I think I will stick to trailblazer. As a side note, how do you think sigil of doom compares to sigil of bursting ? I know the dmg system is a bit complex so I think I'm missing something here cause by my calculations they are similar in the dps benefit.

[AliamRationem.5172]

@SoundWave.9154 said:I actually saw that video but never made the connection :expressionless: I think I will stick to trailblazer. As a side note, how do you think sigil of doom compares to sigil of bursting ? I know the dmg system is a bit complex so I think I'm missing something here cause by my calculations they are similar in the dps benefit.

I'm sure it's a fine choice. In fact, I often don't use bursting but cleansing in open world as otherwise my cleansing is a long-ish cooldown on earth 4 or requires rotating to water. So, yeah. Run whatever you want in that slot.

[AliamRationem.5172]

@"SoundWave.9154" said:Could you please advise on a Viper build ? If you were to put it in %, how much DPS would you gain and how much survivability lose ? Are you even able to solo champions the way you do ?

I went ahead and recorded a new demo using grieving stats for comparison. For my build and playstyle at least, there is virtually no advantage to grieving vs. dire. As you can see, I'm pretty comfortable here. I'm not rotating to water to heal or kiting around to avoid damage. Just as in my Dire video I'm taking it to the boss the entire time. Given that, you'd expect to see at least somewhat better damage than the Dire set, but it just isn't reflected in the output. I deal about the same damage either way.

It feels to me like the quest to get more damage out of power can only come at a cost in condition damage that doesn't really pay off. This is not a hybrid build. It works better if you choose one or the other, as far as I can tell. Edit: To be clear, I'm talking for solo play here. Obviously, you can look at SC and see Viper builds that deal a lot better damage, but I suspect that much of that is from additional condition damage and the power damage contribution is somewhat inflated by support.

[Opopanax.1803]

Bleed damage must be pretty negligible. I'm wondering if you ran trailblazers, if spending more time in earth would be worthwhile. My gut tells me "not even a little".