Guild Wars 2

Hey, this might be a bit vague but I’m looking for a current Elementalist PVP build for spvp. I realise that although S/D gives a bit more burst damage, it also has less survivability than D/D, ideally I’d like a build which uses S/D as it is the setup I am more comfortable. Preferably the build should have decent survivability which I know is hard to come by with elementalists, it should also have decent burst damage. Anything else I’m flexible with, thanks a lot!

S/D isn’t really viable, b/c you still just get rekt by thieves and mesmers as you lack any strong defense if you build for burst. If you build tanky (high water/arcana) you do absolutely no damage as sustained damage on scepter is pathetic.

Your best bet for a burst scepter build that has some survivability is s/f fresh-air. It has the advantage of staying completely at range and has great active defenses to handle many situations (projectile hate, invuln that you can still cast during, daze and KD from range). I would suggest this build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJArdhcM6ZW5wzBf0AOAGxiQMQcEIA0BLeFWCA-TJBFwAOeAAl2foaZAAnAAA

You can swap out arcane shield to take arcane wave if there isn’t a thief on enemy team. You need to be a bit better about choosing where to be as you don’t have much mobility outside of FGS. You play this build much like a thief in that you want to +1 fights and just burst people down, but you stay at range.

If you try to play S/D you are gonna have a bad time.

Try this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJArYhcM6cW4wxBfEBGACpoBTEY0tyn3GG-TJRHwAFOBAc2fAwDA4YZAA

In my opinion it’s the best you can get with survivable/non-fresh air S/D build , which still has enough damage to kill.

If you want a more survivable S/x build just take cele over zerk with the 06044 build. But it’s sort of pointless. If you want burst you’re going to have to accept you can’t facetank stuff.

As of now there is no place for S/D vs. curret meta matchups…
You can try something insane like 06206 or 56001 Tempest Defense with Berserker’s and Pack/Strength Runes which can make it work to a degree… but you are also going to run Double Arcane Lightning Flash to attempt to one-shot anything with no Stability so you are probably going to be the squishiest glass cannon there is.

S/F is matching a burst weapon with an entirely defensive off-hand and is much more viable (though still not doing very well compared to D/D). 06044 is still glassy but you don’t lack in active defense.