Guild Wars 2

I’m leveling an elementalist for PvE (after retiring necro to WvW) and am curious as to the direction I should take. I visit these forums and the class forums regularly to learn.

Generally zerker. There are currently 2 builds I am aware of people are using for dungeon which is a lava font build and a LH build. LH is much more fun, DPS as of Im aware is around the same. But you really just need to know how to rush some kittenes with your FGS.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Zelyhn-s-Advanced-PvE-Build-Direct-Damage/page/3#post2930985

But don’t tell him I recommend his builds or I’ll never hear the end of it

Dolan.3071:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Zelyhn-s-Advanced-PvE-Build-Direct-Damage/page/3#post2930985

But don’t tell him I recommend his builds or I’ll never hear the end of it

I already sent him PM.

Dolan.3071:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Zelyhn-s-Advanced-PvE-Build-Direct-Damage/page/3#post2930985

But don’t tell him I recommend his builds or I’ll never hear the end of it

Buy me a dusk!

Dolan.3071:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Zelyhn-s-Advanced-PvE-Build-Direct-Damage/page/3#post2930985

But don’t tell him I recommend his builds or I’ll never hear the end of it

OOoooooohiioooooooohioooooooo

Zelyhn.8069:

Dolan.3071:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Zelyhn-s-Advanced-PvE-Build-Direct-Damage/page/3#post2930985

But don’t tell him I recommend his builds or I’ll never hear the end of it

OOoooooohiioooooooohioooooooo

bahahahahahaaaaahahaha

Dammit Gnat!

And sure Harra, right after the forge stops being an as/shat and gives me The Legend.

Hey Dolan check my signature

Dolan.3071:

Dammit Gnat!

And sure Harra, right after the forge stops being an as/shat and gives me The Legend.

Ahh wtf, you got the legend??? Wtf am I missing out on!

Zelyhn.8069:

Hey Dolan check my signature

ILY!!! Nugh Said

Funny I was reading that guide actually while waiting for my post to get some attention. Guess I am on the right track

I’m interested in D/F after reading, it seems fun. I’m going from playing exclusively boring Necro to this Ele, and I was considering crafting to level but then as I read some more I figured I should probably play through so I can learn it a bit. I’ll probably still wind up crafting though.

So as far as I understand the D/F guide, I stay in Air unless I’m blasting/defending/cleansing?

What healing skill is recommended for general play?

Also, how is FGS played? is it auto attack and skills on CD or are there skills that are generally avoided?

Turn off auto-targeting in your settings and if a boss or mobs are up against a wall, direct yourself towards it and cast fiery rush, you’ll just melt everything around you.

I’d suggest you to take a look also at Neko’s guide https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Neko-s-Comp-Guide-to-the-Dungeon-Ele/first#post2322308 for additional ideas/builds/infos.

For your questions:

So as far as I understand the D/F guide, I stay in Air unless I’m blasting/defending/cleansing?

If you’re using the Fresh Air build, yes. The reasoning behind Fresh Air is exactely that – being able to get back in the best DaggerMH Autoattack without worring about attunements CDs. So, when you’re not busy doing something else and straight DPS is all you need, Air will always be ready for Lighting Whip.

Gnat.9405:

What healing skill is recommended for general play?

Either Signet (passive healing from the Ele skill spamming) or Ether Renewal (cleanses a TON of conditions).

Gnat.9405:

Also, how is FGS played? is it auto attack and skills on CD or are there skills that are generally avoided?

IMO, depends if you have packed in your build Conjurer (20 pts in Fire). With the extra charges, you can autoattack a bit more.

If you don’t, FGS should be used almost only for Fiery Rush (against wall or with Lighting Flash – remember, no Autotargeting and no target when casting it!) and Whirl. Save your few charges for those: the dmg they do will pay off the downtime when you’re not attacking. 2nd and 5th skills doesn’ have amazing dmg – and auto will burn your charges too fast.

AndrewSX.3794:

Gnat.9405:

What healing skill is recommended for general play?

Either Signet (passive healing from the Ele skill spamming) or Ether Renewal (cleanses a TON of conditions).

Glyph of elemental harmony is also desirable because it is comparatively fast to cast and that saves you some time to put out more damage.

Thanks guys, very helpful. I’ll probably be unloading tons of questions here throughout the day while I’m at work. It looks like I won’t be in Water Attunement much in D/F. Am I misreading? Also there seemed to be some disagreement on the viability of Lightning Hammer with D/F. Are there any significant circumstances where it will be desired over Lightning Whip?

Both are not incompatible

Thanks everyone, I’m looking forward to this class.

You can use it, and it’ll probably do more then your auto attack on dagger in air, but it will not do as much damage as a “pure” LH build.

Here’s the LH build I use on my ele

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-k;4BJF5-v4kMkY0;9;4TJ99-57A56-5;03;9;9-knF6t

start dragon’s tooth > open ring of fire under it > phoenix > start fire grab and swap to earth while it casts > earthquake, churning earth, and arcane wave > swap to water and auto attack with LH

5 blast finishers in the fire field = 15 stacks of might and 50 seconds of fury.

If you’re playing with an organised group that can keep fury up, 10 points can be taken out of fire and put into water for vital striking (10% more damage).

Most pugs I’m in are decent about having some vuln uptime that just shatterstone is enough if I really need it, but if your worried take the points out of earth and put them in air, that’ll get you weak spot, extra precision/crit damage and an air trait of your choice.

I’ve not played the D/F build, but if I had to guess, I’d say LH build = more damage but less survivability. I’d recommended playing both those two and the staff build and seeing which you like best

Thanks Durdend, I’m planning on trying out all of these builds soon.

Zelyhn, what traits are you using in your 0/30/0/30/10?

Zephyr’s boon, air training, fresh air
Vital striking, cleansing wave, powerful auras
Elemental attunement

It’s a niche build though, with a heavy accent on support, but it is an interesting way to get into D/F

Thanks again!

Hahaha Zelyhn, if only my name held any weight

To extend on what Durend said, with a LH build it’s better to go Fire Grab then change to water before it connects for the the +20% damage with Piercing Shards. It’s not worth using Earthquake because you can fit in two Thunderclaps without it, whilst only one with it, so you’ve got the same amount of blast finishers going off but more damage dealt using the LH. This of course with 30 in Fire for Persisting Flames. Oh and Arcane Wave is a worthwhile utility to add to this might stacking chain (use when in Water attunement for max deeps.) This is assuming Piercing Shards works as it should which I can proudly say I have not tested.

However! If you’re pre stacking might, so there’s no target to hit with Thunderclap/s, then Earthquake is definitely worth using and maybe even Churning Earth also (I’ve noticed the “Area Might” pops up at the start of the cast, need to check when I’m alone to see if that’s actually case.)

Churning earth actually has higher base damage then fire grab, that’s where I’ll go and use earthquake/churning and switch to water during the churning’s channel. Also for churning earth, Area Might does pop up at the start of the cast, but the might stacks don’t go on til the end; however, they still go on even if the field is no longer present.

That said, you’re now making me want to test the dps differances of geting a few LH auto attacks in the ring of fire over using the earth skills (churning earth’s cast time >.>)

durend.6237:

That said, you’re now making me want to test the dps differances of geting a few LH auto attacks in the ring of fire over using the earth skills (churning earth’s cast time >.>)

Let me know what you find please, because I’ve been doing it your way too lol.

Dolan.3071:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Zelyhn-s-Advanced-PvE-Build-Direct-Damage/page/3#post2930985

But don’t tell him I recommend his builds or I’ll never hear the end of it

That build is okay for stacking blast finishers but the damage is only average. You might as well just run something like S/F with LH if you want to use blast finishers that badly.

I honestly don’t use Churning Earth that much, but if it hits harder than a LH auto attack chain (roughly how long the cast time is?) I’ll admit defeat

I recommended his build because it’s so PuG friendly, you can pull your own weight with all the added utility. I run pure LH S/D but only because I run in a group where all the utility I need is provided. Have you tried Pugging with a LH build? I can tell you right now it doesn’t end well.

Tried running Zelyhn’s build in AC last night without Lightning Hammer, and I have to say, I kind of like it. The damage is pretty good, and the fact that you can blast your way to 25 might stacks at the start of a fight anyway makes the lack of the 2 blasts in Fire not even that big of a deal.

I’m so sick of spamming 1 on Lightning Hammer that the slight drop in DPS doesn’t even matter to me, I think the build is more fun to run.

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

That build is okay for stacking blast finishers but the damage is only average. You might as well just run something like S/F with LH if you want to use blast finishers that badly.

One dimensional thinking.

Dolan.3071:

I honestly don’t use Churning Earth that much, but if it hits harder than a LH auto attack chain (roughly how long the cast time is?) I’ll admit defeat

I recommended his build because it’s so PuG friendly, you can pull your own weight with all the added utility. I run pure LH S/D but only because I run in a group where all the utility I need is provided. Have you tried Pugging with a LH build? I can tell you right now it doesn’t end well.

I pug that build all the time, usually with at least 1 underlevel and 1-2 guildies.

Sometimes it goes really well, and sometimes, it goes hilariously bad. But you know what? It is a fun as kitten build.

Also, I like the churning earth at the end of the rotation (I use s/d lolz) because of the bleeds it procs, which are greatly benefiting from the might stacking. If I don’t have enough natural might stacking from clever puggies running fire fields, I will occasionally pop out my ember powder, and if we are correctly stacked in a corner, this will create lots of fire fields for me to thunderclap.

Or just FGS into corners of things.

FYI – Necros, stop dropping marks over my fire fields, pl0x.

An Ele kept getting mad at me cause I was always dropping Smoke Screen or Blinding Powder on mobs xD

Okay, well, staff ele is pretty much indisputably the best DPS in the game now, regardless of what Zelyhn may or may not have to say about it.

Ok Guang, ok. I didn’t want to make this a “me versus you” kind of debate but if you are going down that road I’ll follow you.

So first of all, let me just say that saying this after a patch that buffed staff dps is quite dishonest. But I can live with this. I mean, I could. I could live with this if it was not after three weeks of you making enormous claims and me proving you wrong every single time from the start.

Let’s take a look at history.

On the 17th of september I wrote:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Staff-s-greatly-underestimated-damage-9-17/first#post2852919

then four days later you posted your guide on guru
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/85568-lh-is-the-new-bearbow-the-real-staff-dps-build-for-manly-men/

I must admit I was astonished the first time I saw your guide, not by the outrageous dps claims you said it can produce but more by your huge misconceptions on the class

Switch to Earth Attune when you aren’t in combat. You can lead with Eruption then switch to Fire and cast Lava Font in the same place for a furyblast. This works even if you cancel the Eruption with the attunement switch; you will still get the spell effect, including the blast finisher.

Emphasis is mine
then when asked “Why Zephyr’s Focus? Does Lava Font count as a channeling skill?” you reply

Fireball and Meteor Shower do.

Emphasis is mine

So I was puzzled … what could I have missed? I mean it’s not like Sabull and I actually tried staff’s dps in game and recorded it with frame counting.
Therefore I asked you a few questions. Apparently at that time you were claiming that staff could output 17k dps with just a combination of fireball and lava font. You kept this claim despite my numerous indications that meteor shower is worth casting too. Fine.
Since your dps figures were obviously wrong for both staff and LH, I asked you to let me know how you calculate your dps rotations.

That’s when you gave me your spreadsheet. Oh boy.
I am not going to start on how many mistakes I found, or how you were using a staff build to calculate LH’s dps. No, what is most interesting is how wrong your rotation calculation was, not just the formula but also the figures for cooldowns, cast times, etc. Well ok, I just showed you this and you sort of took it into account.

Then you finally understood that meteor shower should be included in the rotation. Of course you computed its added damage with mistakes, but I can give you credits for trying.

Then I used your own (corrected) spreadsheet to show you that your LH dps figure was erroneous. This made LH come on top of staff for a speedkill situation.

Then Dub told us about a LH build that would deal even more damage than what we had in mind, so the conclusion couldn’t be clearer.

The patch happened.

You failed to see that lava font was buffed with one more tick despite me writing about this on the elem forum within 10 minutes of the patch release.

And now you come here and say, Zelyhn was/is wrong, staff has the highest possible dps in the game?

After all this history of mistakes and inaccuracies you have the arrogance to come here and say this?

Seriously?

Facts for you:
maximum possible dps of staff in a speedkill situation after the patch: 17k1
maximum possible dps of LH in a speedkill situation: 18k
Do I have to take your own spreadsheet again to show you this?
Thank you for having the honesty to recognise your mistakes, stop bragging with your erroneous claims and be a bit humble after all this, because you have been proven wrong every single day from day one.

Now for those who wonder, what are the implications of LH having superior dps compared to staff in a speedkill situation? None. These are just calculations for max dps. In a realistic situation neither of those two builds are actually that good.
Staff is stronger now, so people should use it, and Guang’s build is quite good for this purpose. LH is still boring as hell but it works quite fine for its duration, and my love rests with with D/F.

Zelyhn spitting hot fire up in here

Euro dragon!

Overall it’s still guang. Most do already know a lot, some do even know more (but aren’t allowed to speak).

I have no idea what you’re talking about Zelyhn, I’m pretty sure my numbers have been right from the start. Yours are the ones that are screwy, I still have no idea where this 18k number for LH is coming from.

What’s the Fire Staff DPS build, for reference?

I mean trait spread and choices, haven’t seen it posted fully yet.

AndrewSX.3794:

What’s the Fire Staff DPS build, for reference?

I mean trait spread and choices, haven’t seen it posted fully yet.

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/85568-lh-is-the-new-bearbow-the-real-staff-dps-build-for-manly-men/

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

I have no idea what you’re talking about Zelyhn, I’m pretty sure my numbers have been right from the start. Yours are the ones that are screwy, I still have no idea where this 18k number for LH is coming from.

There are many pages of posts with our discussions, several PMs, and you changed your numbers on a daily basis, wrong every time. Have some dignity.

Zelyhn.8069:

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

I have no idea what you’re talking about Zelyhn, I’m pretty sure my numbers have been right from the start. Yours are the ones that are screwy, I still have no idea where this 18k number for LH is coming from.

There are many pages of posts with our discussions, several PMs, and you changed your numbers on a daily basis, wrong every time. Have some dignity.

Zelyhn, it’s GuangMath. It’s not even SheetWars2, just RandomWars2.

AndrewSX.3794:

What’s the Fire Staff DPS build, for reference?

I mean trait spread and choices, haven’t seen it posted fully yet.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQFAWhEmKbsx0wjEAkCoEeQADFMK0hQhFQA-jgxAYfAyPQyrIasF3ioxqrxUuER1SBMqyI-e

Hilariously strong, hilariously squishy.

Meteor storm is definetly worth it now. The patch increased the range on each meteor by 25%. I tried it with blasting staff too, but i didn’t really like the damage decrease.

Also, 3150+ FGS rush ticks on alpha, stuff’s crazy

I feel as if I should run the numbers myself, but IDC about eles, we all know they will have highest potential DPS no matter what the situation….We should all be arguing to get PVT armour used more in dungeons!

Even when Zelyhn’s mad, he still seems so friendly …

Zelyhn is a well educated frenchie. Well educated frenchies are like canadians if it comes to being polite.
couldyoupleasepleaseifitisnttoomuchtoaskpleasesayingthatcanadiansaretoopolite?yes?ythanksthankthankyouverymuch.jpg

Dub.1273:

Zelyhn is a well educated frenchie. Well educated frenchies are like canadians if it comes to being polite.
couldyoupleasepleaseifitisnttoomuchtoaskpleasesayingthatcanadiansaretoopolite?yes?ythanksthankthankyouverymuch.jpg

I can’t even focus on all of that.

It’s strange being on a server that hates Vizunah Square and then Zelyhn comes along and… well… is like the most helpful guy ever and speaks better english than probably 98% of english people.

colesy.8490:

It’s strange being on a server that hates Vizunah Square and then Zelyhn comes along and… well… is like the most helpful guy ever and speaks better english than probably 98% of english people.

It’s madness.

I always thought that the only spreadsheet/calculations Viz every did were about most efficent AC uses.

:)

I really don’t mean to interrupt the course of this discussion, I think this thread is being very constructive, full of objective remarks and truthful opinions. I have nothing to add, or maybe just that I am not so fond of the Vizunah Squarian community myself (to be read with Canadian rules of politeness in mind)!