Guild Wars 2

Hey Guildwars 2 Community!
I’m just posting a topic asking for some clarification and/or tips involving Ele in s/tPvP.
After trying so many professions in sPvP and tPvP, I completely fell in love with the play style of Elementalist. After browsing the fourms I see a lot of people complaining about Eles and how they are “underpowered” as well as posts about their down-state spells.

My Build / Spec(DPS):
Specter / Dagger
Build I found online:
http://www.gw2build.com/builds/balanced-burst-in-depth-guide-specter-dagger-spvp-1025.html

Questions:

I have a hard time 1v1ing almost every class. I figured, and it probably is (at least partially), to do with my lack of experience with the profession and skill level. Could other factors be an issue?

Are Ele’s currently lacking in tPvP?

Does it look like A-Net will be giving them some upgrades, or balancing the other classes?

Is there some tips on countering some of the other common profession/specs (guides or builds you found)?

Should I, as an Ele, be specced more of a support or node defender over a DPS spec?

Thanks for reading and for any clarification!

~ Please ignore any spelling or grammar errors ~

hmm.. well I don’t play an ele but I do know they seem to be lacking in spvp atm. They are probably the most squishy class out there and their downed states leave them completely vulnerable. I’ve fought a few that put out a huge amount of damage in a short time but this isn’t the type of class you will want to engage in 1v1 with ever. I suggest you pick some one your team that looks strong and stick to him whatever path you choose.

First of all, ele’s are (by far) the worst 1v1 class in the game. So whatever gear/build you use, don’t expect anything beyond being mediocre at 1v1.

That out of the way, our problem with 1v1 is that the damage we are capable of doing does not mitigate the extra damage we take compared to other classes. (To begin with, I’m skeptical that we actually do more damage than most classes. But for now we’ll assume we’re glass cannons instead of just glass.)

So if you want to 1v1 at all, you have to put significant points into earth or water. There’s just no way around it. If you spend all your time in fire and air, you are going to take way too much damage to have a chance 1v1.

The builds I’ve had success with are fire/earth builds. I open in earth and stack bleeds. Usually, by the time I have bleeds up I’ll be down to half health. So I use mist form and heal, which has the added bonus of getting free damage from the bleeds while I’m invulnerable. Then I switch to fire and unload all the burst damage I have. That’s not a script, there is a lot that changes depending on what the other person does. But it’s the basic idea that I build off of.

If you try a build like that, you’ll want all the +condition damage you can find. The idea is that your conditions do damage while you focus on staying alive. The only time you’re actively doing damage is when you’re in fire, which you’re just hopping in and out of for burst. The rest of the time you’re focused on healing, evading/kiting, and bleeds.

I don’t have any suggestions deadshade. As an engineer when I see an elementalist I start to drool because of the easy points I see in front of me. They are clearly in dire need of some adjustment :/.

Go dagger/dagger. I am not afraid of anybody 1v1, the worst scenario is to retreat, or “run away!” Use all protection utilities, put points in water so you are hard to be killed. Switch to water often to cleanse and heal even before you are in trouble.

Scepter has no dps but you often find yourself within 400f range anyway, which is dagger range.

I have been playing alot as Ele in SPVP. Hopefully this will change one day, but for now, I dont think Ele is viable in SPVP as a high dps role.
I think its more suited as a support class and focus healing/cc/ condition removal, auras and buffs to groups
And stay away from Theifs – they can take you down extremely fast no whate defense you have up

Comparing thiefs and elementalist is like day and night, even though both are supposed to be high dps classes. Ele takes so much efforts to do mediocre damage, constantly switching attunements, remember when to switch and what spells in that attunement to use, while a thief can spam and then stealth if he cannot kill.

I really don’t understand what developers were thinking!

Like mentioned you probably need 30 pts. in water. Removal of conditions and some regeneration is very nice for 1v1 and for group.
My initial approach was not to use water either, it really changed a lot when I got 30 pts. in water. Some manage with 20 pts. in water as well, so that’s a matter of preference.

Anything less would not be adviceable

That build is from the beta, according to the description. Back then ele’s burst was higher. It is doubtful they will reverse those changes. The signet of earth is there to set up an easy dragon’s tooth, which hit harder in beta. If they were to redo the fire trait tree I think the ele could become a decent pure dps class again but right now it’s better to invest in more defensive traits/stats. S/d is still strong in 1v1’s if you go 20 into water, decent heals and cleanses. Won’t save you in a group fight but works well in 1v1’s. I suggest 20 into arcane as well for elemental attunement (buffs on attunement) and arcane mastery (cd reduction on arcane skills). Then pick up one or two arcane skills. If you go 30 into air you get good +crit damage which make your arcane skills hit pretty strong. Knights and Valkyrie’s amulets both work well for a 1v1 set up imo. I prefer Valk’s because of the +healing and toughness which makes more use of your heals. Unlike thiefs and warriors, ele’s can’t go full damage and do well anymore but that doesn’t mean they are bad 1v1’s.

I don’t know why people like d/d so much. Never posed a challenge when I was s/d or now with s/f. My guildies who play other classes don’t hold high opinions of them either. Maybe its just the awesome animations that people love.

Thanks everyone for you insight! I’ll be exploring some new builds in the mean time, hoping all the while Eles get some love and I can run a more damage based spec.

zilcho.7624:

First of all, ele’s are (by far) the worst 1v1 class in the game. So whatever gear/build you use, don’t expect anything beyond being mediocre at 1v1.

That is far from the truth… Elementalist with the right spec can be prettykittenstrong 1v1.

And @OP:
Elementalist requires lots of training… you have to play him good to be competetive and able to defeat worse playing opponents… but as soon as you reach that level Elementalist is strong and totally viable. Though there are some small things that should be tweaked/changed, but nothing that makes Elementalist unplayable or not competetive.