I'm stuck, guys...need some advice on my next character.

[GW Noob.6038]

I currently have a Ranger/Soulbeast (Boon Berserker LB variant); a p/p/R-SB Deadeye/Thief; a Scrapper/Holo Engineer; a Reaper Necromancer; and a Mirage/Mesmer...I have a sixth slot that I bought a long time ago, and I'm looking to fill it with a numnum-awesome invincible death-machine! The two characters that I play the most are the Ranger and the Thief...with the Scrapper being my third favorite character to play. I would describe my playstyle with the Ranger and the Thief as being more hit-N-run, whilst the Scrapper stands his ground - solid as a rock - squirting naplam up the enemies' wazoo! I prefer the 'hit and run' playstyle and that's what I want my next character to be also...with a slight twist: instead of attacking from range I want this character to be able to quickly move in, dish out a horrific amount of melee/condition damage, and then quickly disengage and reposition for another attack. I've been thinking about making a Weaver but I don't know if that's the right fit for me at my skill level (I've been playing off and on for a little over a year...about 2,200 hrs total). My main impediment is that a have really big hands/fingers, plus I'm not very dexterous...so, when I go to execute a dodge-roll, for example, I'm only successful about 60% of the time; the other 40% of the time I only succeed at summoning the WvW or the guild interface...then I panic! :anguished: =)

 

Anyways, I'd like to get some suggestions as to whether or not the Weaver/Elementalist class is doable or whether I should consider something else. It's worth noting that I am willing to practice to improve my performance with a given class...I spent several weeks doing nothing but dodge-roll/attacks with my Ranger and my Thief on the robots in the PvP lobby; and I continue to improve, albeit much more slowly than most of my contemporaries.

 

Edit: I forgot to mention the types of content that I'll be doing. Generally, I like farming resources, doing world-boss events, and the HoT map metas. I never do story content, nor PvP/WvW, unless I'm crafting a legendary.

 

Thanks in advance, guys!

 

Edit #2: I created my Elementalist! Her name is 'Marid The Zawba'. Thanks for all your help, guy's!

 

 

 

 

[Randulf.7614]

Weaver is really good fun and in open world you can get away with being clunky (I do), but it does require knowledge of a lot of skills because you have attunements and combined attunements as well. And that requires some deft switching at times through the attunements for a given situation (less so for the content you tend towards mind you.)

 

I was put off of switching from Tempest to Weaver for a long while because I thought it was too complex for me. And whilst I have no mastery of it and it is outside of my comfort zone, with a lot of skills that I am less familiar with on some detail, I have a lot of fun with it. I do die a lot more than I;d like mind you.

 

 

[Danikat.8537]

Weaver is exactly what I was thinking of suggesting while reading what you're looking for. It's not the easiest profession to pick up, and you can't really get a feel for it until after you've gotten to level 80 and gotten the weaver spec fully unlocked, but it's a lot of fun and ideal for what you described. Especially if you use daggers, which are melee weapons and have skills that let you move in and out of range quickly.

 

You do need to be prepared for a lot of attunement swapping though, and remembering what all the skills do so you know what's available when you need it.

[GW Noob.6038]

> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> Weaver is really good fun and in open world you can get away with being clunky (I do), but it does require knowledge of a lot of skills because you have attunements and combined attunements as well. And that requires some deft switching at times through the attunements for a given situation (less so for the content you tend towards mind you.)

>

> I was put off of switching from Tempest to Weaver for a long while because I thought it was too complex for me. And whilst I have no mastery of it and it is outside of my comfort zone, with a lot of skills that I am less familiar with on some detail, I have a lot of fun with it. I do die a lot more than I;d like mind you.

>

 

What weapons do you use on your Weaver? I'd like to go with either dual swords, or dual daggers...the sword dagger combo would be Ok, too. And I think I might like to use a staff as my off weapon...that would give me the excuse to craft the Nevermore legendary! :p

 

The buttons would be an issue - no doubt about that - but maybe starting from lvl 1, which I will be with this character, will help to ease me into those extra requirements. I'm getting excited about the Weaver now...thanks for your input, my friend!

 

 

[Randulf.7614]

I mainly use sword and dagger. It's not optimum, but I like it for the impact it delivers. Plus I have cool skins for them. I am squishy, but I am messing around with some celestial build ideas I've seen and adapting them to my playstyle

 

Now we have a second out of combat set and build templates, I am trying out scepter and focus more

 

FYI, you can't dual swords since it a main hand only weapon. You also can't start a weaver from level 1 - only an ele core. That will give you some basic practice in swapping, but weaver is a lot more involved due to the way you cycle between half and full attunements and then knowing which half an attunement will fit into within the cycle.

 

(eg if you start with fire/fire, then you decide to switch to earth and you end up with Earth/Fire. Press Earth again and go full Earth or press any other attunement and it switches to attunement/Earth and so forth). Your situation will determine your cycle and you can be quick fire switching. o be honest in open world, you are rotating through less, but with the right traits, what you switch to can produce extra conditions or add boons etc.

 

I tend to play hard hitting or defensive heavy type characters (warriors, Barbarians etc) in games and mage styles are not my comfort zone. Weaver has grabbed me though because it is quite a unique design that seems to work really well when you nail it

[GW Noob.6038]

> @"Danikat.8537" said:

> Weaver is exactly what I was thinking of suggesting while reading what you're looking for. It's not the easiest profession to pick up, and you can't really get a feel for it until after you've gotten to level 80 and gotten the weaver spec fully unlocked, but it's a lot of fun and ideal for what you described. Especially if you use daggers, which are melee weapons and have skills that let you move in and out of range quickly.

>

> You do need to be prepared for a lot of attunement swapping though, and remembering what all the skills do so you know what's available when you need it.

 

It took me about 12 days to go from lvl 1 - 80 on my Ranger. So, assuming that holds true for the Ele, I could be practicing my Weaver skills in about 2 weeks! On the button swapping thing: the core Ele has to use those same buttons, right? What I don't know, and maybe you could tell me, is if an Elementalist gets access to the various attunments right away, or do they get them one by one, over time?

[GW Noob.6038]

> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> I mainly use sword and dagger. It's not optimum, but I like it for the impact it delivers. Plus I have cool skins for them. I am squishy, but I am messing around with some celestial build ideas I've seen and adapting them to my playstyle

>

> Now we have a second out of combat set and build templates, I am trying out scepter and focus more

>

> FYI, you can't dual swords since it a main hand only weapon. You also can't start a weaver from level 1 - only an ele core. That will give you some basic practice in swapping, but weaver is a lot more involved due to the way you cycle between half and full attunements and then knowing which half an attunement will fit into within the cycle.

>

> (eg if you start with fire/fire, then you decide to switch to earth and you end up with Earth/Fire. Press Earth again and go full Earth or press any other attunement and it switches to attunement/Earth and so forth). Your situation will determine your cycle and you can be quick fire switching. o be honest in open world, you are rotating through less, but with the right traits, what you switch to can produce extra conditions or add boons etc.

>

> I tend to play hard hitting or defensive heavy type characters (warriors, Barbarians etc) in games and mage styles are not my comfort zone. Weaver has grabbed me though because it is quite a unique design that seems to work really well when you nail it

 

Hmm...I did not know about the half/full attunement thing; that shines a different light on it, to be sure. I'll just have to do like I did with my mains: practice making those swaps a couple thousand times a day, 'til I get it down! That's my fantasy, at any rate. :)

[Randulf.7614]

> @"GW Noob.6038" said:

> > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > Weaver is exactly what I was thinking of suggesting while reading what you're looking for. It's not the easiest profession to pick up, and you can't really get a feel for it until after you've gotten to level 80 and gotten the weaver spec fully unlocked, but it's a lot of fun and ideal for what you described. Especially if you use daggers, which are melee weapons and have skills that let you move in and out of range quickly.

> >

> > You do need to be prepared for a lot of attunement swapping though, and remembering what all the skills do so you know what's available when you need it.

>

> It took me about 12 days to go from lvl 1 - 80 on my Ranger. So, assuming that holds true for the Ele, I could be practicing my Weaver skills in about 2 weeks! On the button swapping thing: the core Ele has to use those same buttons, right? What I don't know, and maybe you could tell me, is if an Elementalist gets access to the various attunments right away, or do they get them one by one, over time?

 

Straight away. It is only traits that unlock over the course of levelling

[GW Noob.6038]

> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > @"GW Noob.6038" said:

> > > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > > Weaver is exactly what I was thinking of suggesting while reading what you're looking for. It's not the easiest profession to pick up, and you can't really get a feel for it until after you've gotten to level 80 and gotten the weaver spec fully unlocked, but it's a lot of fun and ideal for what you described. Especially if you use daggers, which are melee weapons and have skills that let you move in and out of range quickly.

> > >

> > > You do need to be prepared for a lot of attunement swapping though, and remembering what all the skills do so you know what's available when you need it.

> >

> > It took me about 12 days to go from lvl 1 - 80 on my Ranger. So, assuming that holds true for the Ele, I could be practicing my Weaver skills in about 2 weeks! On the button swapping thing: the core Ele has to use those same buttons, right? What I don't know, and maybe you could tell me, is if an Elementalist gets access to the various attunments right away, or do they get them one by one, over time?

>

> Straight away. It is only traits that unlock over the course of levelling

 

Great! That means that I can start practicing right away! I'm going to make her a human female...love when they shout "Lightning bolt!" HA! Adorable!

[Seera.5916]

> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > @"GW Noob.6038" said:

> > > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > > Weaver is exactly what I was thinking of suggesting while reading what you're looking for. It's not the easiest profession to pick up, and you can't really get a feel for it until after you've gotten to level 80 and gotten the weaver spec fully unlocked, but it's a lot of fun and ideal for what you described. Especially if you use daggers, which are melee weapons and have skills that let you move in and out of range quickly.

> > >

> > > You do need to be prepared for a lot of attunement swapping though, and remembering what all the skills do so you know what's available when you need it.

> >

> > It took me about 12 days to go from lvl 1 - 80 on my Ranger. So, assuming that holds true for the Ele, I could be practicing my Weaver skills in about 2 weeks! On the button swapping thing: the core Ele has to use those same buttons, right? What I don't know, and maybe you could tell me, is if an Elementalist gets access to the various attunments right away, or do they get them one by one, over time?

>

> Straight away. It is only traits that unlock over the course of levelling

 

@"GW Noob.6038"

 

Actually, the Attunements are unlocked as you level up. You originally got access to them all right away but that was changed when they did the New Player Experience update a few years ago.

 

You start off with Fire attunement

Water is unlocked at level 5

Air is unlocked at level 11

Earth is unlocked at level 15

[Randulf.7614]

> @"Seera.5916" said:

> > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > @"GW Noob.6038" said:

> > > > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > > > Weaver is exactly what I was thinking of suggesting while reading what you're looking for. It's not the easiest profession to pick up, and you can't really get a feel for it until after you've gotten to level 80 and gotten the weaver spec fully unlocked, but it's a lot of fun and ideal for what you described. Especially if you use daggers, which are melee weapons and have skills that let you move in and out of range quickly.

> > > >

> > > > You do need to be prepared for a lot of attunement swapping though, and remembering what all the skills do so you know what's available when you need it.

> > >

> > > It took me about 12 days to go from lvl 1 - 80 on my Ranger. So, assuming that holds true for the Ele, I could be practicing my Weaver skills in about 2 weeks! On the button swapping thing: the core Ele has to use those same buttons, right? What I don't know, and maybe you could tell me, is if an Elementalist gets access to the various attunments right away, or do they get them one by one, over time?

> >

> > Straight away. It is only traits that unlock over the course of levelling

>

> @"GW Noob.6038"

>

> Actually, the Attunements are unlocked as you level up. You originally got access to them all right away but that was changed when they did the New Player Experience update a few years ago.

>

> You start off with Fire attunement

> Water is unlocked at level 5

> Air is unlocked at level 11

> Earth is unlocked at level 15

 

Ah I had an inkling but I looked on wiki but didn’t see it listed so I assumed I remembered wrong.

 

At least it’s a small level gap

[GW Noob.6038]

> @"Seera.5916" said:

> > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > @"GW Noob.6038" said:

> > > > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > > > Weaver is exactly what I was thinking of suggesting while reading what you're looking for. It's not the easiest profession to pick up, and you can't really get a feel for it until after you've gotten to level 80 and gotten the weaver spec fully unlocked, but it's a lot of fun and ideal for what you described. Especially if you use daggers, which are melee weapons and have skills that let you move in and out of range quickly.

> > > >

> > > > You do need to be prepared for a lot of attunement swapping though, and remembering what all the skills do so you know what's available when you need it.

> > >

> > > It took me about 12 days to go from lvl 1 - 80 on my Ranger. So, assuming that holds true for the Ele, I could be practicing my Weaver skills in about 2 weeks! On the button swapping thing: the core Ele has to use those same buttons, right? What I don't know, and maybe you could tell me, is if an Elementalist gets access to the various attunments right away, or do they get them one by one, over time?

> >

> > Straight away. It is only traits that unlock over the course of levelling

>

> @"GW Noob.6038"

>

> Actually, the Attunements are unlocked as you level up. You originally got access to them all right away but that was changed when they did the New Player Experience update a few years ago.

>

> You start off with Fire attunement

> Water is unlocked at level 5

> Air is unlocked at level 11

> Earth is unlocked at level 15

 

Can't wait to see how they evolve!

[Seera.5916]

> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > @"Seera.5916" said:

> > > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > > @"GW Noob.6038" said:

> > > > > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > > > > Weaver is exactly what I was thinking of suggesting while reading what you're looking for. It's not the easiest profession to pick up, and you can't really get a feel for it until after you've gotten to level 80 and gotten the weaver spec fully unlocked, but it's a lot of fun and ideal for what you described. Especially if you use daggers, which are melee weapons and have skills that let you move in and out of range quickly.

> > > > >

> > > > > You do need to be prepared for a lot of attunement swapping though, and remembering what all the skills do so you know what's available when you need it.

> > > >

> > > > It took me about 12 days to go from lvl 1 - 80 on my Ranger. So, assuming that holds true for the Ele, I could be practicing my Weaver skills in about 2 weeks! On the button swapping thing: the core Ele has to use those same buttons, right? What I don't know, and maybe you could tell me, is if an Elementalist gets access to the various attunments right away, or do they get them one by one, over time?

> > >

> > > Straight away. It is only traits that unlock over the course of levelling

> >

> > @"GW Noob.6038"

> >

> > Actually, the Attunements are unlocked as you level up. You originally got access to them all right away but that was changed when they did the New Player Experience update a few years ago.

> >

> > You start off with Fire attunement

> > Water is unlocked at level 5

> > Air is unlocked at level 11

> > Earth is unlocked at level 15

>

> Ah I had an inkling but I looked on wiki but didn’t see it listed so I assumed I remembered wrong.

>

> At least it’s a small level gap

 

It's easy to miss, I almost missed it. You have to go to the attunement's page and it's only listed in the top part of the page before the contents of the page are listed.

 

I only happened to know it was level gated because I've used Elementalist sometimes for occasional key runs and I don't tome them up past level 10 since they're just for getting keys. I knew you got water by level 10, but I wasn't sure on Air and Earth, which is why I went to look.

[Danikat.8537]

It was a bit of a problem for my latest tempoary elementalist, Who Elsa. I didn't want to waste tomes so I had to afk through the tutorial boss fight, then do the farm heart entirely by watering corn and dancing for cows before using 3 tomes to get to level 5 so I could start use ice spells.

 

But unless you're doing some weird themed character and being stubborn about it the attunements unlock quickly enough that it shouldn't be a problem. And it gives you a chance to experiment with each attunement and all the different skills, to get a feel for what you like using.