Guild Wars 2

If you are using Sword/Pistol you are using the easiest solo pve set. #5 will give you a PBAoE blind field so nothing can hit you for 4 seconds, and #3 will do a rapid attack and dodge during the attack. If you use the healing signet, a #3 against two or more enemys can heal you almost to full.

Easy mode; spam #3 against normal mobs. Use #5 and AutoAttack against veterans. Other weapon combos are fun and you might like them more, but S/P is super easy. The Shortbow is great but takes some getting used to. I carry pistol/pistol for the high single target damage for when I come across group champ attacks.

An elementalist was actually my first 80. Now they were easier to level before the april 15th change in my opinion. If you can master them Elementalists are WAY useful.
With Elementalists you don’t get that second weapon set at level 7, instead what you do get is 4 attunments which gives you 20 skills per weapon set.
The Dagger/Dagger, or Dagger/Focus (D/D or D/F) are the easiest soloing items, with Staff being best(imho) if you are running with a group in open world. Air atunment (f3) gives the best auto attack with Dagger. Plus its a cool animation. Its a lightning whip.
However what really makes leveling with an elementalist easy is when you get the utility skill “conjure lightning hammer”. That should be the first utility skill you work towards getting. The auto attack on it is huge and the third swing does a blind so most things won’t even hurt you. Now early on you will only get 15 attacks per hammer and it takes 60 seconds to be able to conjure again, so it takes some planning. It makes leveling an elementalist so much easier. As for getting more detailed information for when your a higher level (at least 60 or so) here is a GREAT link on elementalist skills
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Guide-DPS-Elementalist-for-PvE/first
Every ten levels upgrade your gear. You can buy new upgrades from the Auction house, for about 1s per item. You will want to get power gear, unless you find yourself dying a lot, and then getting vitality, and then toughness after level 40 will really help with that.

You will want to try all the item combos if for no other reason then to unlock them all to experiment with. No way to make that go faster, you just have to equip and use all the items, in all the attunments. You have to kill the mob while in an attument for it to progress.

For Talents, that don’t start till 30 now, Fire and Air are good. There is also a trait skill with 2 in Arcane that reduces falling damage. Thats a good one with open world exploring, mainly because I like to jump down from mountains.

If you run Dagger/Dagger here is a combo that is decent against a small group that includes a veteran

Start in Fire, Fire 2, Fire 4, Switch to Earth, Earth 4, Earth 5, switch to Air while earth 5 is channeling, Air 5, Air 4, Air 2, Air auto attack till fire is off cool down, Switch to Fire, Fire 2, Fire 5. It should be dead, if not fire auto attack or switch to water for some healing (water 2 heals you and slightly hurts them) mainly though run in Air using the Air Auto attack and Air 2.

If you are running with a focus there are lots more defense abilities.. Earth 5 for example is a 6 second immunity.

Feel free to add me as a friend in game and ask me questions when you get confused.

Welcome to Guild wars.
http://en.gw2skills.net and http://wiki.guildwars2.com have tons of information. Start with the first for an easy to read list of weapon skills and utility abilities.

A thief in Guildwars isn’t like one in WoW or other games. You don’t go around always in stealth, its more of a mid-fight mechanic.

Here is what to do from someone who just finished leveling a thief solo.
Starting around level 7 you can equip two weapon sets and switch between them on the fly with the ~ key. For solo pve leveling the Sword and Pistol (S/P) combo can not be beat. The number 5 key gives you a 4 second blind field around you, so any mobs right there can’t hit you for 4 seconds. The number 2 skill lets you quickly move up to a bad guy but also hitting it again lets you quickly move back. More importantly however, is every time you use the “move back” part you clear a negative condition on you. Bleeding? Just hit 2 twice. Even works out of combat. The number 3 attack will interrupt an attack from a bad guy and then do a fast three swing attack that not only will hit up to 3 guys, but also makes you dodge during it so you can’t be hit. For your utility skills go with the signets. The healing signet plus number 3 attack with s/p will fill your health back up to almost full from really low. Then there are signets for power, and precision, and then I switch between the signet that gives you an extra initiative every 10 seconds and the one that lets you run faster.
For your secondary weapons you can either carry a ShortBow (sb) or Pistol Pistol(p/p). Shortbow is good for groups of 4-5 but takes some learning. P/P is single target but very strong. Use skill 3 and then start it again before it ends to keep the extra damage stacking up. From a full initiative bar you can chain 3, skill 3s. Plus it looks cool.
Every 10 levels go to the Auction house and buy new weapons and armor. Go for items that have +power and +precision. Power makes you hit harder and precision makes you have critical hits (more damage than normal) more.

Feel free to add me as a friend in game and ask me questions when you get confused.

oh and here is a great link just filled with tips http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tips I wish I had known some of these when I first started. A couple of the tips are outdated, but mainly its a great amount of info.

Oh, one last thing. If you hate the ‘dress’ look of cloth gear, when its time to pick a group to join (part of your story) go with the vigil, they have a nice no dress armor look. Its what I use on my elementalist.

They are awesome for everything. You really have to be level 80 but at that point there are setups and ways you can do the most dps in the game. Until that point you have to reallllllllly know the profession to do well.

Hello again, you have found my one other enjoyed class.

An elementalist was actually my first 80. Now they were easier to level before the april 15th change in my opinion. They will not be as easy as the thief you were looking at, but if you can master them are WAY more useful.

With Elementalists you don’t get that second weapon set at level 7, instead what you do get is 4 attunments which gives you 20 skills per weapon set.

The Dagger/Dagger, or Dagger/Focus (D/D or D/F) are the easiest soloing items, with Staff being best if you are running with a group. Air atunment (f3) gives the best auto attack with Dagger. Plus its a cool animation. Its a lightning whip.

However what really makes leveling with an elementalist easy is when you get the utility skill “conjure lightning hammer” The auto attack on it is huge and the third swing does a blind so most things won’t even hurt you. Now early on you will only get 15 attacks per hammer and it takes 60 seconds to be able to conjure again, so it takes some planning. It makes leveling an elementalist so much easier. As for getting more detailed information for when your a higher level (at least 60 or so) here is a GREAT link on elementalist skills

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Guide-DPS-Elementalist-for-PvE/first

Again every ten levels upgrade your gear. You will want to get power gear, unless you find yourself dying a lot, and then getting vitality, and then toughness after level 40 will really help with that.

p.s. you forgot to change thief to elementalist in your post on number 3.

Definitely Glyph of Elementals. Since you have two points in fire, you might find it easier to level taking the conjure trait, and running with lighting hammer. I also like to run D/ , but the ease and strength of the hammer can’t be denied. The auto-attack is super effective. Third swing is a blind, its hits 3-5 mobs, and with the trait you get 25 uses per hammer, I like to drop when I start at mobs, and usually have 15-19 uses left, but still switch to the other hammer on the ground. That refills my uses to 25 and my clock to 60 seconds. By the time I am done I almost always can conjure another hammer.

I haven’t done any PVP. From what I understand thief’s are good at roaming around in WvW and using stealth skills to run away instead of dying. All of the major builds though require level 80 to have enough trait points.

Welcome to Guild wars. http://en.gw2skills.net and http://wiki.guildwars2.com have tons of information. Start with the first for an easy to read list of weapon skills and utility abilities.

Now, since a change that was made to the game earlier this year, builds don’t have a huge effect on solo leveling pve.

Here is what to do from someone who just finished leveling a thief solo.

Starting around level 7 you can equip two weapon sets and switch between them on the fly with the ~ key. For solo pve leveling the Sword and Pistol (S/P) combo can not be beat. The number 5 key gives you a 4 second blind field around you, so any mobs right there can’t hit you for 4 seconds. The number 2 skill lets you quickly move up to a bad guy but also hitting it again lets you quickly move back. More importantly however, is every time you use the “move back” part you clear a negative condition on you. Bleeding? Just hit 2 twice. Even works out of combat. The number 3 attack will interrupt an attack from a bad guy and then do a fast three swing attack that not only will hit up to 3 guys, but also makes you dodge during it so you can’t be hit. For your utility skills go with the signets. The healing signet plus number 3 attack with s/p will fill your health back up to almost full from really low. Then there are signets for power, and precision, and then I switch between the signet that gives you an extra initiative every 10 seconds and the one that lets you run faster.

For your secondary weapons you can either carry a ShortBow (sb) or Pistol Pistol(p/p). Shortbow is good for groups of 4-5 but takes some learning. P/P is single target but very strong. Use skill 3 and then start it again before it ends to keep the extra damage stacking up. From a full initiative bar you can chain 3, skill 3s. Plus it looks cool.

Every 10 levels go to the Auction house and buy new weapons and armor. Go for items that have +power and +precision. Power makes you hit harder and precision makes you have critical hits (more damage than normal) more.

Feel free to add me as a friend in game and ask me questions when you get confused.

oh and here is a great link just filled with tips http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tips I wish I had known some of these when I first started. A couple of the tips are outdated, but mainly its a great amount of info.

Thank you for that information. I will try reaching out tonight when I am online.

It varies, mid-day (EST) on the weekends, weekdays around 7pm-10pm EST

As you are leveling really anything. I like the drop damage reduction because i like to fall a lot. other than that I am just loading power then precision for leveling. I am 75 so its working well. Also make sure that at least every 10 levels you upgrade your armor and weapons to your level, makes a world of difference and only costs about 10-15 silver total even at 70.

Realize this isn’t quite the right forum, but its the only active DR thread I can find.

I’m on DR, have been since I got the game. I went away for a few months and my guild seemed to have disappeared. I am looking for a decent casual guild where I can increase my dungeon abilities and learn some WvW.
I have an 80 elementalist, partially geared in exotics, but old meta (power, tough, bit)
I have an 80 ranger not geared for end at all.
And I have a thief that is 75 and will be 80 probably next time I play that I am really enjoying.

Can you suggest any guilds?

There is a bind for camera look back, but there is also a bind to turn your character 180 degrees.. mine is bound to c

I still need a wood gathering one. I only have an axe and a sickle.

DEKeyzToChaos.7381:

People who are leveling don’t have access to FA, so they have to use more old fashioned rotations.

Excellent point I will edit my post.

The major D/D combo is as follows (useful for veterans, especially when in groups)

Start in Fire, Fire 3, Fire 2, Fire 4, Switch to Earth, Earth 4, Earth 5(this is a long channel, if its interrupted it will lower dps) Switch to air while channeling, Air 5, Air 4, Air 2, Air 1 till fire is available, switch to fire, fire 2, fire 5, fire 1 till dead or till you can switch back to Air for Air 1.

If you are hurting for life you can switch to Water and cast Water 2 for some heals.

This does good single target and AoE burstness, it will build 6 stacks of might(you can add an arcane skill with a blast finisher for 9 stacks, and if you have the trait for dodge finishers the earth dodge will also add stacks) It will keep the mob on fire, and for the later half off its feet and vulnerable.

If you find you are dying a lot while leveling (I did), go for gear with vitality and at level 40 start adding toughness as well. You can switch to power gear at 80 when you are ready to do more dungeons.

I took 5-6 months away from game and came back. I forgot how much the Elementalist talks… Is there a way to make him less chatty during combat?

Tachii.3506:

You also shouldn’t “spam” Pistol Whip. It’s only used if you want to deal damage + evade a heavy attack at the same time..

Isn’t that the whole point of the S/P build? An interrupt, and three decent AoE hits that also include evades?

If you are looking to just level and have fun in solo pve the S/P build is really straight forward. Some people just don’t like spamming 3.

I also like to use D/P. Skill 5 for a blind, then skill 2 for some minor damage and a stealth, move to behind and backstab, then usually a 2 or some auto attacks will finish it off. If its a veteran just keep up the 5+2 combo. It has no AoE so its single target focus only.

Forgive me for not remembering the skill names, but I’ve been away from GW2 a long time. This is the D/D combo I used to use, and when logging in yesterday it still worked ok.

Fire
2
5
4
Earth
4
5
Air (its the toss away then lightning gap closer.. which is 4 and 5 or 5 and 4 I can’t remember right now)
4
5
3
2
AutoAttack
If low on health
Water
5
3
2
Fire
2
5 (if off cool down)

That should give you 6-9 stacks of might and some serious AoE damage. The biggest risk is being interrupted.

When you select a sylvari and the profession of ranger the armor gear is awesome looking. I can’t find them anywhere. Does anyone know where to find them?

probably just taking out halloween and putting normal back

I have found conflicting information on this. Does Cone of Cold self heal as well or not?

I agree that this is a terrific guide. What I would also like to see are more combo attacks based on weapon selection like the one chain you demonstrated for D/D.