[Video] FA Scepter Weaver - WvW Small Scale Roaming

[Xunleashed.5271]

Hey guys,this video is a simple showcase of what me and my teammates wanted to test after finding out the great dps burst potential of the scepter Weaver.Build is in the video description.

About Scepter, Weaver and Fresh Air build (not gonna discuss Sword or traits here):Pros:

• best existing ranged burst combo in the game, when starting with Fire/Air and Arcane Blast.
• able to start a burst combo with every attunement mix, excluding Water/X.
• good ranged cc.
• good downed bodies cleave (also considering the Elite skill to fast access the Phoenix).

Cons:

• very squishy if build all-in dps (not my case, I prefer some defensive stats and durability runes, to survive bursts and allow my teammates to help me).
• no condi clear.
• no sustain.
• low mobility.
• hard to play in real fight scenarios.

In conclusion, I'm glad to be back and to bring some new life to my channel!

[Laken.4056]

Been playing some fresh air weaver roaming today myself, if you can get the combos off it's quite fun.

IF... you can get the combos off. If you get caught, and have no mobility skills, you're done. Almost no healing with scepter, and no escape mechanisms. By far the easiest spec to play as well, you really only need to rotate between Fire/air to kill someone in a few seconds. Air/Fire Dual 3 > Switch Lightning, Lightning 2 > Switch Lightning > auto attack, wait for lightning 2.

By then your target should be dead if you manage to not get interrupted or dodged.

[shinta.8906]

im glad you are back too and black thunders doing well! good play and good carry too. your examination is basicly the same experience i had.

for those who dont know who is or forgot. he basicly started cele dd meta alone all those years ago.

[Xunleashed.5271]

@shinta.8906 said:im glad you are back too and black thunders doing well! good play and good carry too. your examination is basicly the same experience i had.

for those who dont know who is or forgot. he basicly started cele dd meta alone all those years ago.

Yeah, good old times... I still remember my rush to get the celestial gear when they introduced it. Then I started roaming, making vids and forum posts, talking with other known roamers. It became the DD meta months later.

@Laken.4056 said:Been playing some fresh air weaver roaming today myself, if you can get the combos off it's quite fun.

IF... you can get the combos off. If you get caught, and have no mobility skills, you're done. Almost no healing with scepter, and no escape mechanisms. By far the easiest spec to play as well, you really only need to rotate between Fire/air to kill someone in a few seconds. Air/Fire Dual 3 > Switch Lightning, Lightning 2 > Switch Lightning > auto attack, wait for lightning 2.

By then your target should be dead if you manage to not get interrupted or dodged.

That's all true with a self-oriented mindset. With a proper team built around this gameplay, you gain a lot of sustain and condition clear provided by your teammates. But because of the investment made by your team, you have to be really really effective or it's a waste. And to be that effective in real fight and outnumbered scenarios, knowing how to rotate a combo is not enough: you have to carry and lead the kills, pick the right target and do a lot of fast switches in a mix of stealthed enemies, illusions, passive procs/invulnerabilities, bunkers, enemies that can burst and outrange you, etc... Then you need good positioning and to know how to use your few defenses wisely or your supports will not be able to save you...

In short my guess is that this build may look weak and easy to play, but in the right hands and with a proper team it becomes very challenging and a big threat on the battlefield.

[caveman.5840]

nice video thanks for posting your build

[Jski.6180]

I think FA core or even tempest may do it a bit better. There are a few duel skills that have a nice def use to them but more then offten you need to be doing all in attks and not waiting for the cast time of duel skills or the goloble cd of atuments out side of air. Have you tryed this build with light rode?

[apharma.3741]

The good:

Nice burst damageNice targeting priorityReally shows that Scepter weaver can put out a steady stream of damage.

The bad:Tailored victory on...nothing, literally not an enemy near you.Carried heavily by your allies.I know Piken players are bad, most of EU knows they can’t fight their way out of a soggy paper bag, would like to see players from other servers, heck duels would be more fun to watch.

All in all you’ve done well making a build that not a single person would ever roam on look good. I’d love to see more stuff when sword becomes even remotely competitive and some duels.

[Avez.4621]

You probably played arcane /air* / weaver which means you really dont have any condi cleanse...

But for solo WvW or Solo SPVP you switch arcane to water and you get a lot of cleanses with dual skills granting swiftness and water skills synergy!

I dont play WvW only SPVP at around 1800 rating and I main FA ele.I tried FA weaver and vs all this condi spac, if you dont go water instead of arcane you are baked potato.

Also having "slow" access to focus 4 and 5 on hurts really bad, but that is overall a weaver problem with dual skill switching, which doesnt allow for best "clutch" plays.

But nice video anyway, don't know you but nice to see more people playing FA in all its forms ;)

**sry for bad english

[Xunleashed.5271]

@Jski.6180 said:I think FA core or even tempest may do it a bit better. There are a few duel skills that have a nice def use to them but more then offten you need to be doing all in attks and not waiting for the cast time of duel skills or the goloble cd of atuments out side of air. Have you tryed this build with light rode?

It depends on what you mean with "do it a bit better": core FA is more solid for sure, providing better sustain and a more fluid rotation with fast access to defensive skills and phoenix... On the other hand, the burst damage of the core FA is not even close to the burst damage of the Weaver FA, both in damage numbers and combo complexity.

For example, a core FA tipical "oneshot" combo is arcane blast+phoenix+lightning flash+Air attunement+Air2, which requires perfect aim, perfect timing, losing positioning and involves long cooldowns. As Weaver you can achieve the same result with arcane blast+Fire/Air 3+Air attunement+Air attunement+Air2 (also considenring all the +% of the Weaver traitline), with shorter cooldowns and remaining ranged. Also the Earth starter is stronger on Weaver: Earth/Air is a fast damage+stun skill.

So, again, it depends on what you do: overall core and tempest may be better, but if your weaknesses can be mitigated with the team composition and your role is downing targets, no other ele spec can match the Weaver. It's more like a classic DPS-Healer/Buffer approach with specialized and dedicated roles.

About the Lightning Rod, it fits better the Sword main hand and is very strong indeed. It's a similar build with a completely different playstyle that I tried and it's very fun, but I plan to go deeper in it after the next balance patch (sword buffs please!).