Build:Weaver - Condi Weaver

The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Condition damage

Designed for: Open World and Open World General

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Hard

This build was last updated on August 26, 2023 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

A very powerful condition-based weaver build for open world. This build offers very high DPS and defense with an active, skill-based playstyle. Condition Weaver can be very difficult to master, but is one of the strongest options for solo play.

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Skill Bar

Scepter/Warhorn

Staff

Utility

Weapon Variants

• Sword - more evades, but melee-only.
• Mainhand Dagger - very good cleave DPS, but melee-only

Heals

• Glyph of Elemental Harmony - burst healing

Utilities

Replace Glyph of Elemental Power or Primordial Stance.

• Signet of Earth - very high DPS that also provides additional defense and functions well at range; this is a strong replacement for Primordial Stance if playing purely at range.
• Stone Resonance - stability and huge barrier.
• Twist of Fate - stunbreak with 2 charges and extra evasion.
• Glyph of Storms - AoE burst damage from Firestorm (Glyph of Storms) or pulsing blind with Sandstorm and a replacement for Primordial Stance if playing purely at range.
• Glyph of Lesser Elementals - summons elementals, use Fire Attunement for DPS or Earth Attunement for tanks. These die when you mount up, and are best used against strong bossses.
• Lightning Flash - mobility.
• Cleansing Fire - condition cleanse

Elites

• Glyph of Elementals - sacrifices the very large burst damage increase from Weave Self in exchange for a pet. The Flame elemental provides high DPS (be sure to use the command skill on CD where possible) while Water and Earth give you a reliable front line.

Equipment

Ascended gear is not required for Open world, Exotic is fine

Standard Equipment

This option uses gear similar to that of Build:Weaver_-_Condi_DPS. This makes it a great option for general PVE.

Head
Viper

Shoulders
Viper

Chest
Viper

Hands
Viper

Legs
Viper

Feet
Viper

Backpiece
Viper

Accessory
Viper

Accessory
Viper

Amulet
Viper

Ring
Viper

Ring
Viper

Scepter
Viper

Warhorn
Viper

Sigil

Sigil

Staff
Viper

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Relic

Budget Equipment

This set is incredibly cheap and provides very high HP, but is lower DPS. If using this variant, place much heavier priority on Fire Attunement

Head
Carrion

Shoulders
Carrion

Chest
Carrion

Hands
Carrion

Legs
Carrion

Feet
Carrion

Backpiece
Carrion

Accessory
Carrion

Accessory
Carrion

Amulet
Carrion

Ring
Carrion

Ring
Carrion

Scepter
Carrion

Warhorn
Carrion

Sigil

Sigil

Staff
Carrion

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Relic

Variant Equipment

• Various setups exist with this build that combine Grieving and 24px Sinsiter with Viper.

Relics

There are many good relics for general play in open world and others that may be specific to this build. Swap based on preference.

• Relic of the Cavalier - dps/defense; use with Skyscale's Fire Field for stacking boons.
• Relic of Speed - mobility
• Relic of the Adventurer - defense

Defense

• Invest in a Jade Core for additional HP and access to Jade Protocols.
• Trailblazer - luxury set: very large boost to defense at a relatively small damage loss.
• Celestial - luxury set / booster gear: very large boost to defense at a relatively small damage loss - pairs well with Rune of Rune of the Traveler as a budget option.
• Sigil of Superior Sigil of Energy - additional evades

Budget

• Carrion - this build has a budget carrion variant, see above.
• Sigil of Superior Sigil of Corruption - budget replacement for Sigil of Bursting; this sigil requires stacking, and it must be included on all of your underwater weapons to prevent losing stacks when entering the water.

Consumables

Budget consumables are acceptable for use in open world.

DPS

• Prioritize Flatbread Ascended food.
• /
• /

Farming

• Prioritize Flatbread Ascended food.
• /
• (and variants)

Usage

This build primarily relies on Fire Attunement and Earth Attunement. It is not particularly difficult to play, but has a lot of options to respond to different situations and requires a bit of game knowledge to take advantage of.

Damage

• Generally for DPS you should be rotating through the following Attunement loop:

1. Fire Attunement
2. Fire Attunement
3. Earth Attunement

• Spam all of your fire and earth skills as they are available.
• You can combine Lava Skin, Glyph of Elemental Power, and Primordial Stance with Obsidian Flesh for a large burst of damage while you are invulnerable.
• For a more detailed rotation breakdown, see the similar endgame build guide: Build:Weaver_-_Condi_DPS

Utilities

Primordial Stance and Glyph of Elemental Power change drastically depending on your current attunement, and its important to consider what attunement is best to use them in

• Primordial Stance considers the element on your mainhand and the element on your offhand to determine what condition to pulse, and updates every second. As such, for the highest damage, use it right before double attuning to Earth for high Bleeding damage, or in Air for Vulnerability.
• Glyph of Elemental Power changes its effect depending on your mainhand attunement, and is best used in Air for Vulnerability or in Fire for high Burning damage.
• Signet of Fire is your highest damage skill, spam it off cooldown, even when not using Written in Stone.

Defense

Mitigation

• Magnetic Wave, Swirling Winds - projectile hate.
• Obsidian Flesh - invulnerability.
• Using a Dual Attack gives Vigor, and dodging gives barrier, thanks to Invigorating Strikes.
• (Sword only) Riptide and Earthen Vortex both make you evade for 1 second.

Sustain

• Signet of Restoration heals you for every single skill you cast.
• (Sword only) Riptide creates a water field where you can use your combo finishers to heal, such as Polaric Leap, Magnetic Wave, Earthen Vortex, Flame Uprising.

Crowd Control

• Gale
• Polaric Leap (Sword)
• Gale Strike
• Weave Self ⇒ Tailored Victory

Video Examples

• Video guide by renowned elementalist player Roul: Gw2: Elementalist Build Guide for Open World, Fractals and Dungeons

The following examples were provided courtesy of Hardcore Casual on Youtube. Videos are listed with permission.

• Fire Weaver vs Champion Forged Lieutenant Bounty
  • This is a great example of how powerful Sigil of Superior Sigil of Energy can be, and demonstrates the full kit of condi weaver.
• Fire Weaver vs Champion Avatar of Balthazar
  • This is one of the hardest hero points in the game due to the insane incoming damage and one-shot mechanic. In this video, they use a variant similar to the heal variant listed above along with to reach 100% burn duration.
• Fire Weaver Positioning
  • A good example of how to abuse weaver's many evades and positioning for proper blast and field usage.
• Fire Weaver vs VB Boss Trio
  • Super impressive clip that demonstrates how much of a difference a few trait and skill swaps can make. This variant uses the power of weaver stances to avoid damage and CC.
• Condi Weaver vs Champion Avatar of Balthazer 2: No dodges!
  • This is a super impressive example of the type of DPS that condi weaver can output.
• Bounty Solo: Cele Weaver vs Forged Maverick