Guild Wars 2

Hey everyone, recently I’ve been leveling an Ele and doing daily dungeons with guildies for the exp boosts, I’m sitting at level 62 at the moment, and i don’t know if it’s because of my level or not, but i get downed an awful lot, I’m used to playing a heavy armor class, so going down this much is new to me and I’m unsure if it’s something I’m doing wrong or if this is just normal for the Elementalist.

I’m also curious as to what people would recommend for utility skills in dungeons, I normally run with Ether Renewal, Ice bow and Arcane shield, but I’m curious if there’s any other better combos, as it seems when i get hit by a stun, I’m pretty much dead if my shield is on cooldown.

1. Which dungeons are you playing? If you’re underleveled, you can get one or two-shot easily.
2. Which build are you using? For dungeoneering, it’s best to follow the guides and advices from: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Guide-DPS-Elementalist-for-PvE/first
3. Lightning Hammer is the saftest way to kill trash and protect you at the same time. D/F is also a build you should play if sustainability is your concern.

Pretty much all those i can enter at the moment, AC, CM & TA.

I was initially using a staff and started running with Scepter/Dagger, found it more fun and i felt like i was putting a bit more into the run with the might stacks, though with this, i started dying more due to being up-close and personal with the mobs.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJArIhMMre4zgPSgBAJYgJlaD is the build I’m currently using, the 1st utility slot is always something different, depending on whether i think I’ll need the extra defense or not, if not, i’ll just slot lightning hammer.

I forgot to mention that with most fights we’re doing the stack and cleave tactic that’s common in speed runs, though i make an effort to try and steer clear of that when i can, I still find myself getting downed just inbetween pulls before i even get a chance to react.

JoshuaRAWR.4653:

Pretty much all those i can enter at the moment, AC, CM & TA.

I was initially using a staff and started running with Scepter/Dagger, found it more fun and i felt like i was putting a bit more into the run with the might stacks, though with this, i started dying more due to being up-close and personal with the mobs.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJArIhMMre4zgPSgBAJYgJlaD is the build I’m currently using, the 1st utility slot is always something different, depending on whether i think I’ll need the extra defense or not, if not, i’ll just slot lightning hammer.

I forgot to mention that with most fights we’re doing the stack and cleave tactic that’s common in speed runs, though i make an effort to try and steer clear of that when i can, I still find myself getting downed just inbetween pulls before i even get a chance to react.

Try this one: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJArYnMISBE20A+MAfEGYAQCFQ0pStB
For trash in TA, AC right after stacking might, pre-cast Glyph of Storm in earth before engagement to start blinding them, then Lightning Hammer.

Again boss, you may want to replace Glyph of Storm with ice bow, cast #5 on boss when he doesn’t have any defiance stacks → #4 → #3. Push him to the corner and use FGS. If the boss in the open, circle around him and use LH behind the boss.

Arcane brilliance deals dmg and heal a lot when you cleave multiple targets.

I shall give that a shot, thank you for the information.

After trying it out I’ll come back and report on how it did for me.

For the majority of dungeon paths today, you are mostly doing one of three things:

1. Skipping trash on a long run
2. Killing gobs of trash stacked on top of each other
3. Killing a boss stacked on top of each other

These things really benefit from a dagger/focus weapon set. You get two blast finishers for might stacking, an 8 second fire field, missile reflect, condition remover, invulnerability, and AOE missile destroy. It’s really strong. Here are your best tips for survival while stacking with a bunch of heavies.

1. Arcane II for very frequent dodging.
2. Blinds (lightning hammer is great source; there are a couple of others based on your setup)
3. Arcane Shield when you are going to channel, or just need to eat a blow.
4. Focus Earth5
5. FGS#3 evades
6. Dagger#3 evades
7. You have two chills, which are really great defensive abilities to reduce dmg to your whole party

Also, start with more vitality in your gear until you can avoid getting downed regularly. Once you get good at using your active defenses listed above, then gear more offensively. A guardian who is good at high Aegis up time makes a huge difference for us. Enjoy! Elementalists are super strong in dungeons.

After giving dungeons another go today, things went much smoother, the only times in AC that i went down were due to human error and running into traps because i was decided to Ride the lightning at the wrong time, so things went much smoother.

Cheers for the advice and feedback guys, i appreciate it!

If you’re in the mood for YOLO, I suggests playing with staff. They are the best DPS for lowbie ele, quite challenging and promote situation awareness given their not-so-great utilities and rotation.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQFAWnMISLD20A+MAfEEgAICGEJqE

• Get Night+ Energy sigil if you need more dodge or Night + Strength sigil for full offense.
• You may want to swap Sandstorm out for Ice Bow.
• There will be little attunement dancing with staff, but learning when to swap for utilities is critical when you’re a lowbie ele:
  - Magnetic Aura is good against Kholer’s pull when you’re out of dodge and Burning speed may cause you to roll off the platform. It’s also awesome when skipping in SE p3.
  - Unsteady Ground is good against the jumpy gravelings. It used to be quite useful for skipping as it did not put you into combat ;(
  - Chain lightning to clear the blossoms.
  - I often use Gust to interrupt the Ascalon Necromancer’s Life steal channeling.
  - Burning speed when turning about face is as good as Ride the Lightning.
  - Ice Spike for a slow and long range aggro. It gives you time to run back into the stack before mobs get aggro. It’s also decent for damage when your Fire Attunement is on CD.
  - Frozen Ground is good against blocking Ascalon Warrior. You won’t get burned and their skill recharge is 3 times longer.
  - Always use Geyser then blast with Arcane Brilliance for a big heal. For a small heal, blast it on Lava Font.

Nice ro read all the advice! :-)

I levelled an elementalist to 80 (after ranger, mesmer, warrior and guardian) and found – and still find – it the hardest to level and most vulnerable class thus far. I still have troubles playing her (usually with staff), it all seems a lot more troublesome than the other classes.

What also makes me wonder is that the elementalist forum is full of PvP threads where threads about other classes are much more mixed. I guess ele shines more in PvP than in PvE?

FINY.4710:

Nice ro read all the advice! :-)

I levelled an elementalist to 80 (after ranger, mesmer, warrior and guardian) and found – and still find – it the hardest to level and most vulnerable class thus far. I still have troubles playing her (usually with staff), it all seems a lot more troublesome than the other classes.

What also makes me wonder is that the elementalist forum is full of PvP threads where threads about other classes are much more mixed. I guess ele shines more in PvP than in PvE?

I don’t know about pvp, but tbh eles are at the top of the food chain in PVE when it comes to group content.

FINY.4710:

What also makes me wonder is that the elementalist forum is full of PvP threads where threads about other classes are much more mixed. I guess ele shines more in PvP than in PvE?

Eles are according to forum mongers, in a much better state in PvP than 6 months ago.

In PvE, since the speed clearers discovered the FGS field stacking, we are essential to any speed clear group. PvE is the area where ele shine the most. You don’t see this in the forums a lot because it’s not a subject of complains, so it is has low exposition time.

PvP is more problatic for us and the meta is not completely written in stone as in PvE hence more threads on the forums. IMO, this is where we shine the least.

WvW : eles are part of the GWEN meta, so it’s not a problem either. The topic I see coming up in the forum on a regular basis is a roaming ele build specced for condition damage. (And the eternal debate on whether or not this is efficient/viable/yolo etc…)