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WvW Roaming Tier List – 2023

Posted on by Jen

GW2. WvW Builds. What is the best class? Best Roaming Builds of 2023. Builds for Guild Wars 2 World vs World.

Disclaimer: This tier list is only based on personal opinion, experience, and playstyle preference. Some specializations will perform better when solo and others when allies are around or in groups.

📣 What is roaming exactly?

We consider “roaming” to be small scale combat in the range of 1 to 5 (party size). While solo roaming is possible, it is not very popular anymore and neither ideal when a few allies can make a huge difference in your potential, so this tier list will consider the potential of solo and party scale. Healers aren’t necessarily considered because they are more for “zerg” compositions, do not bring dedicated supports for roaming because it becomes very boring and you won’t find people to fight you anymore.

Last Update: June 2023

This tier list will get updated after each major balance patch. Check patch notes HERE!

Feel free to disagree and discuss, you are also invited to share your opinion in the comments or Discord.

📣 How roaming builds work?

From my perspective, the best specializations for roaming are the ones who have these three characteristics:

  • Self Sustain
  • Mobility
  • Burst Damage

Keep in mind that roaming doesn’t have a “meta” and anything can be viable as how you play, there are many possible playstyles, even avoiding fights. However, what I personally consider as the best way to roam is playing aggressive to engage in fights when you can get kills and using mobility to avoid disadvantageous situations like bad matchups or being outnumbered. As solo or small party you can scout and capture/defend objectives because that will also create the situations where you find fights.

Naturally this fits the playstyle of a thief, which is why even during times when thief is underpowered it is still one of the best roamers. Likewise, despite healers being strong in large scale combat, they do not play into this opportunistic playstyle of roaming. Healers often are forced to fight to the death and have little chasing power. This also means that classes good at 1v1 aren’t necessarily the best, because you can’t force anyone to fight you in the large WvW maps, you need mobility and “chase potential”.

  • If you enter World vs World it is a war zone, don’t get angry if you get killed.
  • If you are using healers you aren’t roaming, you are zerging.
  • If you are looking for 1v1’s in WvW don’t get angry if turns into outnumbered.

Tier List

I will only rate the elite specializations because they are always the best option, however I will add honorable mentions in the end to some core classes that can still perform pretty well with a bit more effort.

S Tier

As a meme I’m going to call this the “Shame Tier” but only because these specializations are very overpowered and even “broken” compared to the rest. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play them, they are fun and they perform well with very low effort. Blame the game not the player.

I play them myself as well but personally I get bored after a while and I tend to look for something more challenging, so starting by playing these classes is a good start until you want to try something new.

  • Daredevil
    • Thieves are by nature solo roamers and they are good at it, especially this spec because of triple dodge. With the return of Steal to Daredevil there is no more trade-off, so now other builds are viable with it as well, such as Sword/Dagger.
    • Shadow Arts is currently insanely strong due to Shadow Rejuvenation giving so much initiative. Thieves can also bring huge utility to party roaming with smoke fields to help your team disengage outnumbered fights, but also it is the perfect spec to gank enemies because you can burst targets down quickly and chase down enemies low on cooldowns so they can’t escape and reset.
    • Suggested Builds:
  • Soulbeast
    • This spec has incredible sustain, incredible mobility, and insane burst damage. So it has the best of all the three most important characteristics,
    • Ranger is always a good pick because Longbow range and overpowered defensive core traits such as Beastmastery and Wilderness Survival, but this elite spec adds an insane amount of damage modifiers on top. Special mention to “Sic ‘Em” to counter thieves and the insane “get out of jail for free” Dolyak Stance.
    • Suggested Builds:
  • Willbender
    • While it doesn’t have the best sustain, this spec is top tier due to the insane mobility and burst damage power creep.
    • While the celestial build is viable, the most effective variant is the power build.
    • Suggested Builds:
  • Harbinger
    • The new necro spec is really overpowered and shines even more in this “boon era” because the Path of Corruption trait works on every single bolt from Dark Barrage, allowing you to corrupt several boons very often. The sustain from Blight with almost no investment to your animations means you can focus on dishing out damage. While there was an intended tradeoff to this high amount of pressure and sustain, a proper combination of traits and gear removes this vulnerability and makes it broken.
    • Suggested Build:
      • Celestial Harbinger
        • Soul Reaping as Solo and Party oriented
        • Blood Magic as Party oriented
        • Death Magic as mostly Solo oriented
  • Renegade
    • With the recent buffs to Shortbow damage and by how insanely overpowered the Salvation sustain is, Renegade is now the best pick for revenant. No need for energy management anymore.
    • Having high pressure by hybrid ranged damage (Vindication trait free 25 might btw) while still being able to bring huge utility to allies with the Jalis legend or even Ventari for projectile denial is a bit over the top.
    • Suggested Builds:

A Tier

These specs are currently very good and very viable in most situations and with a little bit more effort they are at the same level as the previous tier.

  • Catalyst
    • The best counter to elementalists is CC, and with the high uptime of stability from Catalyst, this weakness can be patched up. The Jade Spheres also give huge boons and a pulsing AoE field which counters Blind and Aegis. There are so many viable builds for this spec that it is obviously good.
    • Suggested Builds:
  • Druid
    • Immobilize is the strongest condition in WvW and druids apply it the most with Ancient Seeds. Combine this with the versatility and survivability of a ranger and you have a very strong class in most situations. However, it isn’t quite as rewarding as a soulbeast due to its more defensive nature, which is the only thing keeping it from the S tier.
    • Suggested Builds:
  • Virtuoso
    • Another great spec that is held back by its more defensive nature, the Virtuoso needs enemies to attack them for the trait to trigger more blades on dodge. This makes it harder to chase down and kill enemies and can feel a bit unrewarding. However, in most situations it will still be one of the better picks because of its ranged burst damage and high survivability with two defensive shatter options.
    • Suggested Builds:
  • Dragonhunter
    • Some of the most powerful cooldowns in the game exist on the Dragonhunter. The Spear of Justice is one of the hardest skills to survive if the tether lands on you, and Shield of Courage can prevent a lot of pressure if timed well. Combine this with the long range burst of the longbow and you have one of the most well-rounded picks. But while it’s survivability and mobility aren’t bad, they are a bit lacking compared to the other S tier specs.
    • Suggested Build:
      • Power Trapper Dragonhunter
        • Radiance as Solo and Party oriented
        • Valor as Solo and Party oriented
        • Radiance Hammer as Party oriented
  • Deadeye
    • By far the most annoying build to play against due to permanent and easy access to stealth, persistent ranged damage, and extreme mobility. This is a good pick for solo roaming because of its ability to go wherever it wants. However, stealth reveals and projectile reflects counter deadeyes too much for them to be a reliable class. When you do go against these counters it feels much worse to play, but when you aren’t against them it’s very easy to play.
    • Suggested Build:
  • Holosmith
    • Although susceptible to CC, holosmiths are extremely fast due to high superspeed uptimes and removal of movement inhibiting conditions. All around it’s a fun and versatile class with rewarding burst damage, but because it can be more difficult to play and managing the heat mechanic while handling the many complex situations of WvW can become overwhelming, it’s just not the best.
    • Suggested Builds:
  • Bladesworn
    • After the buffs, Bladesworn may be the best pick for warriors due to the high sustain and unblockable damage. The projectile reflect from Aegis also allows it to shrug off a lot of damage it would take from range. It does scale up in larger fights, but it does not handle being outnumbered as well due to its susceptibility to CC and conditions.
    • Suggested Build:
  • Vindicator
    • The only reason this isn’t in the S tier is because it’s a full melee build which is countered by immobilize (can’t dodge). Otherwise it’s an extremely high sustained healing and damage class when given the Salvation traits, and due to the Alliance stance mechanics it can swap from defensive to offensive playstyles depending on the situation.
    • Suggested Build:

B Tier

These specs are very good but I consider they lack the full extent of versatility compared to the others above, especially with the three main factors which are necessary for roaming in my opinion.

  • Berserker
    • The Rifle Berserker build is a bit underrated because it’s so easy to focus down, but when in the right situation where it’s allowed to freely cast Gunflames it can secure kills like no other build. For more melee oriented berserkers, its 1v1s are good but you are easy to focus in disadvantageous situations.
    • Suggested Builds:
  • Scrapper
    • Although there is plenty of value from gaining barrier the more damage you do, Scrappers struggle with immobilize, boon corrupts, and other conditions. Not the worst class, but it can’t see its full potential often because it does not handle pressure well.
    • Suggested Builds:
  • Mirage
    • With energy sigils, having one dodge isn’t that bad, and Mirages can still be very good due to their thief-like playstyle which is very rewarding. However, they are prey to thieves and as such they aren’t the best at the situations their role puts them in.
    • Suggested Builds:
  • Spellbreaker
    • Although Full Counter is one of the best tools in the game, it’s been nerfed to not be as valuable when it does not hit an enemy. This means spellbreakers will lack sustain when being chased from range, but when fighting up close it is still one of the most powerful classes due to its high amount of CC and boon removal.
    • Suggested Build:
  • Reaper
    • Bad at being focused, good at focusing. The Reaper is very rewarding to play because chill secures kills, but can be frustrating when outnumbered due to its reliance on melee range. If using the stability, Wurm, and Spectral Walk properly, a good reaper can still survive very well so they can live long enough to get kills.
    • Suggested Build:
  • Weaver
    • Naturally hard to play and punishing due to lack of stability compared to other elementalist specs, you won’t see many weavers other than those using Fresh Air which can cheese kills before they can lose to a better build.
    • Suggested Build:
  • Herald
    • It’s fun and can be rewarding due to its aggressive potential, but a bit outdated compared to the other revenant specializations. The weakness to conditions and CC that revenants have is not mitigated in any way as well, meaning it can be very punishing to play.
    • Suggested Builds:

C Tier

These specs can perform fine in roaming but they require extra effort to get results.

  • Mechanist
    • The mech can easily die in larger fights, and being too far from the mech makes it lose stats, which is relevant because you don’t want to be near your mech all the time.
    • Suggested Builds:
  • Tempest
    • Decent for group play, but the overload mechanic is extremely susceptible to interruption in WvW.
    • Suggested Builds:
  • Untamed
    • As any ranger, it is great for solo play, but because Untamed has the least amount of tools to keep the pet alive compared to druid and soulbeast, it is the most punishing to play.
    • Suggested Build:
  • Chronomancer
    • Easy to focus, and reliant on complex combos. Lower mobility than any other mesmer. Generally better for groups but extremely bad solo.
    • Suggested Build:
  • Specter
    • Bad for solo roaming because of its slower playstyle that gets punished by CC more easily, but great for duo roaming. However, if it gets focused it can’t support its teammates and it doesn’t scale well in larger fights anyway so it is very niche.
    • Suggested Builds:
  • Firebrand
    • Great for zergs, and even small scale fights, but the mobility is too low and it’s too easy to focus when outnumbered to feel good in most situations.
    • Suggested Build:

D Tier

These specs are just bad for roaming sadly.

  • Scourge
    • Just stick to a zerg if you want to play Scourge. It does have the benefit of doing ranged damage without being projectile based as the Harbinger is, but otherwise it’s way too easy to focus and the Sand Shade mechanic doesn’t work for WvW where everyone is moving all over the place.
    • Suggested Build:

Honorable Mentions

Core or Base specializations that can perform well under certain situations and with extra effort being able to match the elite specializations.

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