I have been using this build for a long time now, about a year. I may have posted it before, but I been considering tweaking and though I’d share it again. As the title says, this is a casual build, not meant for any one thing besides playing the elementalist and not limiting myself. I use it for general exploring, wvw, dungeons, world bosses, and most other parts of pve and I never had a problem with it.
Now I am not claiming that this is an amazing build, because there are probably better builds for certain tasks (e.g. one focused on dungeons). But this one suits me and when looking over the traits I realized there was none I really wanted to change. So, here it is.
Build:
Traits:
My traits are 20/20/10/10/10. I like the variety that it gives me. I focus more on damage than defense, but I realize I still need some defense or I’ll be too weak for the build to be all around. When I am not doing anything too intense, I tend to stay on Fire Attunement and drop lots of AoEs (usually do this for general pve and world bosses, swap a lot in dungeons an wvw).
In Fire Magic, I have Internal Fire (VI) for the 10% more damage. For the master, I have Pyromancer’s Alacrity (VII) for the quicker recharge, mainly for Lava Font. In Air Magic, I use Quick Glyphs (III) are my Adept. I did have Inscription (VIII) as my Master, but I recently changed it to Bolt to the Heart (VI) instead.
In Earth, I have Earth’s Embrace (III) to help with some defense. In Water, I have Cleansing Wave (V) to help with condition removal. In Arcana, I have Elemental Attunement (V) to help with swapping. I don’t really care for the Arcana line much and don’t see it being worth it to invest in it for Blasting Staff or Evasive Arcana.
The only change I have considered is dropping Earth to take Fire up to 30 for Pyromancer’s Puissance (XII), but for the moment I decided against it.
Skills:
As I said in the title, I use a Staff. I do have daggers, but I rarely use them because I prefer the staff and it works for me. As you probably picked up from Quick Glyphs, I use a few Glyphs. I have Glyph of Elemental Harmony as my heal, Glyph of Storms for extra AoE, and Glyph of Elementals as my elites. My other utility are Arcane Shield for extra defense and Arcane Wave for the blast finisher.
I usually just stick to them, but sometimes I will swap out one, usually Glyph of Storms, for another skill like Signet of Air for the passive speed or Conjure Frost Bow for the AoE. I haven’t use Fiery Greatsword in a while, since before it was buffed, but I did like that so I may swap to that as my elite sometimes. I also will consider Glyph of Elemental Power, mainly for stun break, and Cleansing Fire for condition remove.
Gear:
As for my weapons, armor, and trinkets, I have a couple sets and am considering a new one.
My weapon is a Berserker Staff with a Superior Sigil of Fire for extra AoE on Crit, although I did consider a Soldier’s Staff with a Sigil of Battle as well.
I have a set of Berserker Trinkets, some ascended, which I use most of the time. I usually pair them with my Soldier Armor, which uses Crest of the Soldier instead of runes. I like the balance the two sets give between crit and defense and it has become my main pairing.
I also have a Berserker armor set with Runes of the Balefire, but I planned to replace then with Ruby Orbs and never did. I swap to that when I want to focus more on damage, usually in places where I take no to little damage. I do also have a set of Emerald trinkets, but I planned to replace them with Soldier Trinkets, but rarely use them.
I also have been considering going for full Celestial since I have a Celestial Staff and Ring lying around. I think the Elementalist is one of the few professions that can really pull off Celestial, especially with a build like mine. Still debating it, a celestial is very hard to get, but it may be a better alternative to having two sets and offer a better balance. And if I remember right, in total celestial does give more stats, although my defense would probably end up lower than if I did full solider, same for my crit.
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Well that is my build for the moment. It has worked well enough for me for nearly a year once I learned how to combo with the staff and move around in combat. If you are looking for a casual build, maybe this, or parts of it, will work for you.
If you have any suggestions for trait changes, feel free to post them. However, I do prefer stay 10 in arcana and have a nice balance of the rest. Also, let me know if you think a Celestial Set would be worth perusing.