Guild Wars 2

Hi guys, I’m running a staff build for PvE. 30 Fire is a must for Persisting Flames, but I’ve run into a bit of a problem with the rest of the traits and need theorycrafting help. I have to pick between:
> 30 Air (vs 20 Air) – +crit /damage, I love big crits and this build crits very often
> 10 Earth – Stone Splinters, +10 damage when within 600 range of target
> 10 Water – Vital Striking, +10% when health above 90%

The problem is I can’t have all 3 of those things at the same time, so I have to pick 2 of them. Which 2 would result in the most sustained DPS for long fights?

Please also critique my sigil/slot skills setup :S
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQFAWhEmKbnR2gjDAkCoEeQADFIe8gFQA-jgxAEEgkXR0YLuFRjVXjpcJiqt3FRrGA-e

I know a lot of things come down to player choice/playstyle but would love to have some input

Cheers,
Wintel

If you are running a staff then you shouldn’t normally be within 600 range of the target.
As a staff you should be far away from most of the devastation meaning you won’t be taking much damage and your health would usually be over 90%.

This makes Vital Striking the obvious choice.

You’re welcome!
Next?

Mash Hog.5672:

If you are running a staff then you shouldn’t normally be within 600 range of the target.
As a staff you should be far away from most of the devastation meaning you won’t be taking much damage and your health would usually be over 90%.

This makes Vital Striking the obvious choice.

You’re welcome!
Next?

So I take Vital Striking, that still leaves the question of 30 Air vs Stone Splinters. I can pick 2 out of the 3 things I listed, you named 1 :P

It’s really hard to determine whether the +10% crit/damage (all the time) is better or worse than +10% flat damage (within range). The “Real Staff Build For Manly Men” thread here: http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/85568-lh-is-the-new-bearbow-the-real-staff-dps-build-for-manly-men/
^ That guy goes for 20 Air + Stone Splinters + Vital Striking.

My appologies.
I HIGHLY suggest taking 30 in Air.
I thought that this was a given.
Take Bolt to the Heart and Air Training if you haven’t taken it already.

Wintel.4873:

Mash Hog.5672:

If you are running a staff then you shouldn’t normally be within 600 range of the target.
As a staff you should be far away from most of the devastation meaning you won’t be taking much damage and your health would usually be over 90%.

This makes Vital Striking the obvious choice.

You’re welcome!
Next?

So I take Vital Striking, that still leaves the question of 30 Air vs Stone Splinters. I can pick 2 out of the 3 things I listed, you named 1 :P

It’s really hard to determine whether the +10% crit/damage (all the time) is better or worse than +10% flat damage (within range). The “Real Staff Build For Manly Men” thread here: http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/85568-lh-is-the-new-bearbow-the-real-staff-dps-build-for-manly-men/
^ That guy goes for 20 Air + Stone Splinters + Vital Striking.

There is nothing “real” about this thread

Wintel.4873:

Mash Hog.5672:

If you are running a staff then you shouldn’t normally be within 600 range of the target.
As a staff you should be far away from most of the devastation meaning you won’t be taking much damage and your health would usually be over 90%.

This makes Vital Striking the obvious choice.

You’re welcome!
Next?

So I take Vital Striking, that still leaves the question of 30 Air vs Stone Splinters. I can pick 2 out of the 3 things I listed, you named 1 :P

It’s really hard to determine whether the +10% crit/damage (all the time) is better or worse than +10% flat damage (within range). The “Real Staff Build For Manly Men” thread here: http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/85568-lh-is-the-new-bearbow-the-real-staff-dps-build-for-manly-men/
^ That guy goes for 20 Air + Stone Splinters + Vital Striking.

The build is made for Dungeons in which all of the mobs are stacked together and they have a dedicated healer, blocks, ect.
If you are a staff ele and you are within 600 distance of an enemy zerg, you deserve to die.

Ah ok, thank you

Why Air Training over Arcane Lightning btw? I’m slotting Arcane Wave + Shield, the crit buff lasts 15 seconds, so really high uptime on +10 crit damage. Also I’m sitting in Fire almost the entire time (other than opening with Earth blast finisher).

I’m saying take Air Training, Arcane Lightning, and Bolt to the Heart.
You don’t need any of the grandmaster traits.

Oh and you can cast meteor shower and lava font then Switch to Air for the bonus 10% damage.

Mash Hog.5672:

I’m saying take Air Training, Arcane Lightning, and Bolt to the Heart.
You don’t need any of the grandmaster traits.

Ah right, that makes sense.

Mash Hog.5672:

Oh and you can cast meteor shower and lava font then Switch to Air for the bonus 10% damage.

But then I’ll lose the 10% from Internal Fire (Fire VI) won’t I?

If you really want to run staff in dungeons, you really should go with excelmaster Guang’s advice and run 30/20/10/10/0. I tweaked what he had a little bit to optimize for arcane lightning instead of taking zephyr’s focus, but if you need the dodges definitely take zephyr’s focus instead.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQFAWhEmKbsxzwjEAkCoEeQADFMK0hQhFQA-jgxAYfAqAQyrIasF3ioxqrxUuER1A-e

You don’t want to stack in melee if you don’t have to, but you will want to stay within 300 range of the majority of your partymates in order to share boons with them. Also, when it’s appropriate, run in to blast your fire field. If things look hairy when you get up close to your target, use fire 4 to get out quickly after that and reposition yourself.

But really, staff is often a suboptimal weapon for combat in dungeons.

Disregard everything that I have said.
I thought you were asking for a WvW Build.

Mash Hog.5672:

Disregard everything that I have said.
I thought you were asking for a WvW Build.

……..

Cmon Gasmic, how does one get so immersed into PvP that they start reading all PvE posts thinking about WvW :P

DEKeyzToChaos.7381:

If you really want to run staff in dungeons, you really should go with excelmaster Guang’s advice and run 30/20/10/10/0. I tweaked what he had a little bit to optimize for arcane lightning instead of taking zephyr’s focus, but if you need the dodges definitely take zephyr’s focus instead.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQFAWhEmKbsxzwjEAkCoEeQADFMK0hQhFQA-jgxAYfAqAQyrIasF3ioxqrxUuER1A-e

You don’t want to stack in melee if you don’t have to, but you will want to stay within 300 range of the majority of your partymates in order to share boons with them. Also, when it’s appropriate, run in to blast your fire field. If things look hairy when you get up close to your target, use fire 4 to get out quickly after that and reposition yourself.

But really, staff is often a suboptimal weapon for combat in dungeons.

Awesome, thanks for this. Already doing the run in > blast > fire 4 trick, and of course fire 4 into a wall for big damage.

The main reason I went with staff is because the other alternative is S/F + LH…and LH was just getting me killed too often, I’m just not good enough at staying alive in melee range to use LH effectively wearing full berserker gear
Also I got sick of scepter 1 fire/air, the damage is so bad compared to staff 1.

Dec10 is bringing Blasting Staff down to Adept tier which will be interesting, might grab that for big lava fonts and meteors…lots more breathing room :P