Guild Wars 2

Our dps can be foresaw so easily and dodged and requires too much conditions to be effective compared to other class who can insta gib you at 5k-10k permanently .

I won’t deny our survability is good but we have no way to kill someone decent at this game.

Good Bye my beloved class.

Only time I’ve been instagibbed is when I was jumped by multiple people. That said, we make better wingmen than point men. Imagine how hard that HB Warrior or HS Thief is going to hit when you’ve pumped 10 stacks of might on them and 15 stacks of vulnerability on your target, not counting all the CC and defensive stuff you can throw down to make sure your side gets the kill.

If you want some tips you are going to have to give us something to go on. what type of build are you running? How do you play your ele? How do you want to play your ele?

I currently run a 0/0/20/20/30 and Primarily use D/D and I can tell you that there is absolutely no class I fear in Wv3. It doesn’t mean I win every single battle because I don’t. But it does mean that there is never a point where I feel I cannot compete and never a point where any 1 class can kill me without a good fight. And if they do beat me it usually is a very good fight.

Let us know what you are running and trying to accomplish and maybe we can help you out.

PinCushion.7390:

Only time I’ve been instagibbed is when I was jumped by multiple people. That said, we make better wingmen than point men. Imagine how hard that HB Warrior or HS Thief is going to hit when you’ve pumped 10 stacks of might on them and 15 stacks of vulnerability on your target, not counting all the CC and defensive stuff you can throw down to make sure your side gets the kill.

I agree,

In a team environment running an ele seems best if they are mostly used with a staff as a support class. If you really want to try a not bad DPS type build with some good conditions, try a scepter/dagger build.

I run 0/10/0/30/30 -d/d -mix invader/berserker set. Let’s say I’m against a decent engineer on the same level : I can’t do a kitten thing because I have to get close to him due to my range attack and if I do I get usually facerolled by all those bombs and I can be insta killed by big ol’ bomb and grenade barrage in 1 sec with a bad timing and if I don’t pay attention (which rarely happen but could happen still).
On the other hand how I’m supposed to dps him. Let’s take a look 3-4-5 from earth attunement is usually a good combo to start (but if I want to be sure to do that I will need teleport and stability and I will still get owned by its dps and I will certainly die if he does Big Ol bomb and grenade barrage at the same time due to the casting coming from 4-5 in earth attunement) yet it will most probably won’t work at all. Then I have some decent dps skill in fire but once again I have to be rather close which means risky to me against engineer with bomb/grenade and their elite (not to mention the fact It’s really hard to manage to get 3-5 in fire at their fullest extent against your opponent). Air and Water are decent but nothing tremendous when we take a look at the dps compared to other class.
Against a decent thief, needless to say steal-cloack and dagger-backstab in 1,5 seconds (if I don’t pay attention but still there is no way you could do that with an ele)=> dead
Otherwise I get punched by heartseeker at 5k permanently (with around 17k hp, do the maths).
Against a guardian, well I won’t say it’s hard compared to the other two classes but still it takes so much time to kill it, it just leaves an open window for an add and you are pretty much dead.
If we talk about other classes I guess it’s fine but engineer/thief dps is really broken mostly (big ol bomb/grenade barrage and the steal-cloak and dagger-backstab).

I actually prefer D/D for how good it is at chasing people down. RTL, Burning Speed, and Magnetic Grasp gives you a HUGE range of engagement. The fact that Magnetic Grasp is on the same attune as a AoE Cripple AND an AoE Knockdown is amazing (and if you don’t need Magnetic Grasp to reach your target you get a bonus of extra Cripple on attune swap).

I’ve been trying to think of a way to incorporate the Earth Shield conjure into my build for even more Gonna Getcha Sucka awesomeness, but I can’t decide what I want to lose.

chase people with 10 guys behind you is sure a pretty interresting thing I guess

yup if you want to play elem you’re pretty much stuck in playing a defensive one. For me, I really enjoy playing my defensive elem than playing my GC Thief. Playing GC thief is just too boring for me. You just have to stealth then backstab people then HS if they are still alive. While playing my defensive elementalist I get to help push back zergs and is somewhat more challenging because you have to time your condition damage so they won’t get healed.

So I think your decision to switch class is a good idea if you want to play dps role more often in Wv3 because as of now there’s really no way we can beat the dps of any other classes in game except of necromancers not to mention their survivability as well

merrydamn.9423:

Let’s say I’m against a decent engineer on the same level

D/D won’t win that fight. S/D or S/F will fare much better. Depends on what you expect to run into. Maybe take Frost Bow and make his comfy turret haven a living hell?

I find Ele to be (along with Engineer) very bad at adjusting to changing circumstances during combat. If you brought daggers and find out you needed to bring a staff you’re pretty well out of luck. Such is life.

I just think elems skills need to be reviewed especially their casting time.

lol
30/30/10/0/0 for me. full berserker set with rubys and same on accessory (54% base crit chance, 103 crit dmg, attack at 3.3kish) the might be off by 1 or 2 since its from memory but its there. superior sigil of fire in wpn. average hit on fireball is 1-1.5k,2-3k crit. meteor shower is 2-3k normal 4k-6k crit, max i ever got was 7k+ without triple orb buff nor ever more than 15stacks of might. arcane shield, lighting flash, arcane blast for slot skills.
use a staff for WvW. hide in the zerg group if ur zerging, or on seige pop up, then drop down.
i can usually burst another DD from 100% hp to under 50% in 1ish sec at 1.2k range assuming they werent dodging. chuck a fireball and while the projectile is traveling, lavafont then flame burst and arcane blast with that my sigil of fire almost always procs and there goes half their hp over that short burst)
i play the ele as a mix of what u might call seige weapon and sniper. i pop in to drop the meteor shower or drop the burst combo on a 50% player then fall back to 1.2k-1.4k range and chuck fireballs while waiting for CDs. with fireball’s projectile curve and aoe splash on landing, u can hit people from outside the 1.2k range easily even on flat ground.
survivability of ur ele of course is purely on u knowing whos around u, whats around u, whos planning on hitting u, and who IS hitting u, and react accordingly to dodge out. let other people take the hits while u deal the damage.

with this build ur solo ability are pretty down to who fires 1st and who burst faster. but its WvW, Soloing people are the 1 out of 100 chance and if its 2 often it means ur playing WvW wrong. everything should be done in big groups or small tactical squads.

i feel people expect 2 much single target damage and are losing the bigger view. i have dealt close or over 100k damage in a group within 20-30 seconds. let the other class take care of single targeting down people. ill drop them all to 50% hp for my team instead.

if ur chasing people, lighting flash and swaping through earth→air→ is usally easily enough to trap/stop most enemies while chasing.

I’d be happy if Churning Earth had it’s damage reduced a tad AND the cast speed/cooldown reduced to match. At the moment, it’s nearly unusable. People are even starting to expect the blink when you start casting and run further. I suppose that makes it handy for making people get out of melee, but that’s about all.

Elementalist is fine in WvW. Not sure what you’re on about.

merrydamn.9423:

I run 0/10/0/30/30 -d/d -mix invader/berserker set.

Sounds like a great build let me help you out a little.

#1 Range. Dagger Dagger is the only pure Melee build in the game this is true but do not for a second forget that we have not 1 not 2 but 3 gap closers. There is just no reason it should take more than a second to get into melee range. Try burning your RTL or Magnetic grasp to start the fight off with. That should get you right in any range character’s face immediately. and with very short cooldowns on all three skills 2 chills and a cripple you shouldn’t have any more trouble staying in Melee.

#2 If you are having trouble with DPS bombs then I would say get yourself some more toughness or health. It sounds like you are good there actually by your gear. But I find 1800 health to be a good place and at least 2000 total armor. The first thing that comes to my mind after gear is interrupt the damage bomb. There are 2 ways to do this. In PvP you pretty much need to have a defensive utility. The best 2 for this are arcane shield and mist form. A lot of ele’s in PvP run both. So one way to counter the bomb is to simply be immune to it by popping one of those right as you start to get hit with the HS spam, the Backstab, or the grenade blasts. the second way is to use your CC. We have a lot in Dagger Dagger. My personal fave is from fire 4-> F4-> 4-> F3-> 5-> 4-> 2-> sometimes I toss an air 3 in there for more CC. However I love to use this as a "where you going?" end to my combos and watch them die as they cant fight back. so often I don’t CC to get away but its available to you.

#3 fire damage. really most of your damage from drakes is the burning so if you cant hit with all of it or don’t have the time don’t worry about it. Just get the burning on them then pop fire grab

#4 don’t waste your earth quake / churning earth without having a combo field out. for you, fire. 3->4->5 in earth looks nice but you are wasting so much potential there toss a ring of fire out there before hand and get yourself 6 might for your time. also you don’t need stability to get off churning earth. Next time you get attacked by a thief pop Arcane shield -> ring of fire -> earthquake -> churning earth and see how fast he gets the heck away from you. or gets some serious hurting.

#5 Lastly the most important thing ever imho heal when you are missing HP not when you need HP. you have 300healing this isn’t nothing to sneeze at. Your roll heals you, swapping to water attunement heals you and you have 2 heals in water before you pop your slot skill heal. When you are missing 1000 hp. Heal yourself. don’t waste your healing of course. don’t pop glyph of harmony for 1000 health but do swap to water, roll then swap to another attunement. Or use cone of cold. Or anything. If you heal when you are missing hp instead of when you need hp you will find yourself living a lot longer

Now it seems you are afraid to be in melee and that’s the wrong stance to take as a dagger dagger. With the exception of a thieves opening attack no class is more scary in melee. we have a lot of CC a lot of damage and a lot of survivability once we get up in someone’s face. Don’t be timid about it or afraid to get up in there. That’s where you belong.

I have 30 in the Arcana slot and use the Churning earth at the end of a dodge trait and find it effective. also use arcan shelid while casting to prevent intruption and if your quick you can get two busts of churing earth off no problem. oh and up draft at the end is also fun.

its fun to watch the drop very quick. I love playing ele in WvW

D/D is incredible for dueling / small group fights.

Staff is great for zerg, keep, siege battles.

Focus is good for extra surviving / defense.

Scepter is okay , but needs some buffs imo.

Two days in WvW and you expect to know the the in’s and out’s of the most complex class in the game? Good luck with that. I’m a pretty good player, but it took me longer than two days to fully memorize and get used to all the skills and all the combos etc.

Good luck I guess, elementalist is one of the most versatile classes in WvW, but it’s also the highest skill cap.

the trait XI in arcana seems rather bugged (doesn’t dmg as expected) to me and is not effective due to the fact you are mostly dodging to save your life or an incoming burst and not as a way to dps which makes me wonder I should go until 20 in arcana

concerning the guy who seems to argue full berserker set with staff is the way to go….you are incredibly wrong and right at the same time : following permanently the zerg isn’t funny at all for some players. Besides, you will get insta killed by any thief/warrior/engineer with your set even in a zerg.

which is why i said ur suppose to know whats around u.
1. if someone is attacking another target, chances are they wont change to u even if u jump in.
2. if u are NOT the closest target to the enemy, the chances of them going for u are low at best.
3. if somehow a thief/warrior/engi can insta kill me at 1.2k range then there are either issues with how blind the ele player is, or u just got haxed.
4. if ur are stupid enough to be on that build and LET someone get that close without putting down to under 50% hp at the minimum, u should reroll the class.(and if they are truely tanky, u shouldnt be there and should be gone when they are where u are)
5. if ur on that build and u cant at least have a 50/50 chance of soloing an enemy at under 50% hp with lightning flash, arcane shield available on full dmg build then u might want to refine how u play an ele.

the ONLY time i ever had trouble with any class is when i got snucked up on by thiefs when they are using terrain as cover to move. warrior coming up to me u should see them 3k distance away and if ur alone, u should be falling back and away. hell, if u arent confident in ur skill, u should not be getting picked off solo at any point. i can easily stay in a zerg and if a thief wants to come suicide in, let him. he will get killed ill get downed at most if even that before he dies., ill mist form back and someone will res me. a warrior charge in, dodge back, flame retreat back, dodge back more, lightning flash away, u got plenty of evades.

arcaneshield completely screws over any thiefs attempt at HS spam killing. and any high dmg thief is equally as squishy as me, i have bursted down truely squish build from 100% to down in under 3seconds before because they failed to dodge fast enough. also, most enemies run away when ur 100% hp, and they are under 50%

personally, i am used to the build and can handle myself on most 1v1 situations in WvW, sure i am not the best, nor was i probably fighting the best, but i am confident enough to come out on top most of the time. gimme a partner and we can easily go around taking supply camps if thats what u want more. basically, know what ur enemy is doing, and know what u can do. there are very few skills that can kill u from 1.2k range and all of those can be seen miles away. and as for enemy closing the distance, make them pay for every inch they move, if u arent, u deserve to die.

if u really want small squad engagements or solo fighting imo u should be in sPvP. WvW is for massive zerg battles, seiges or tower/keep defenses. not for close up dueling.

Elementalists in WvW are team support, I’ve seen entire battles won because of a few good eles using their aoes the right way

You can’t expect to destroy a bunch of people on your own, but I know 1st hand we can be the deciding factor on taking keeps/towers/camps or killing a zerg when they work with the team, time aoes right, etc etc

talking big yet going d/d with an ele against an engineer with big ol’ bomb and grenade barrage well time+ their elite and you are as good as instant dead no matter how good you are

same thing goes from thieves, no matter how good u think u re steal+ cloak and dagger + backstab and u re dead if not add another heartseeker and see you

spvp ? the bunker thing offered to us ? No I will pass ty

why are u using D/D in WvW. imo WvW is all about range, the more range u got the better. let the warrior, guardian, thiefs do the melee stay ranged aoe/support. if u just wanna complain how u think ele is underpowered because u insist on using daggers. well u should reroll

I love my Ele in WvW..

I’m confused. I understand that my ele had basically 10k hp vs 20k+ for my mesmer and necro. And both have a ton more survivability tools. But as an Ele, I certainly dont lack damage. And despite the frustration of soloing personal story quests, WvW is where Ele really is king. I had twice the karma of any of my other toons at 80 because I really only did wvw.

Crazy run speed in air. Hit 5 at a choke point, switch to fire and hit 123 until everything melts.

I’ve sure ele is a difficult class in sPvP where glass cannon builds are much less successful. But WvW is about killing a zerg of PvErs trying to collect their 500 badges….and it excels at that role.

because staff is way too dumb ? stupid casting time, stupid timers, awful dps which can be dodged more easily and you won’t be able to catch someone who is trying to flee with a staff not to mention you won’t be able to dodge as well
it’s just stupid to go staff unless you are in a zerg but as I said in my topic, I don’t plan to do that so stop pointing out facts everyone knows like range > all and acting like a pro because you def aren’t, thanks

lol. so basically u just want to complain well enjoy urself

PinCushion.7390:

merrydamn.9423:

Let’s say I’m against a decent engineer on the same level

D/D won’t win that fight. S/D or S/F will fare much better. Depends on what you expect to run into. Maybe take Frost Bow and make his comfy turret haven a living hell?

I find Ele to be (along with Engineer) very bad at adjusting to changing circumstances during combat. If you brought daggers and find out you needed to bring a staff you’re pretty well out of luck. Such is life.

This I disagree with. Ele is the best class for those change in circumstances. If your utilities are defensive or movement in nature your the best class to chase down, lead off targets, or simply run away since no one is going to catch you. Your the healer the cc the dps and from time to time the tank rolled into one your not the best at all these things (may be the best healer actually) but you can be competent at all of them. There is no such thing as an unwinable fight vs a specific class.

Someone talked about the telegraph on earth skills. Churning earth for one is easy to get away from but lightning flash does not kill the cast move to where they rolled to and it will hit all the same.

Fact is you cant win em all but you cant out game someone. I always look at it like this. I am on the fastest class in the game I do decent dps and can heal. Like I said before most fights either I win or I run it may seem cheap but it what I have at my disposal. I do the same thing on my P/D thief high mobility trumps dps because if they cant hit you they cant hurt you.

I had a lot of fun with my L.60 ELE when I entered into WvW for a few hours. Armed with staff I entered our garrison to defend that one rear gate that faces the water cliff from a small invading force. I started laying out earth attacks because they’re not as flashy as the fire. After killing two and started a little panic, I started with the fire and caused them to push back. The defenders basically walked them to the very edge of the cliff where you jump down for that vista. I jumped onto a ENG mortar and launched a #5 to blow them all off the cliff. I only got 4 badges but it was a lot of fun being able to control the enemy by denying them a point of entry and knock them off a cliff.

ele is good in WvWvW

AoE > siege
AoE > people
Range > not range in most fight
Heals + Teammates > most other things
Swiftness > walking pace
Oh and with a bit of luck you can pull people off walls.

yeah so maybe you cant kill people 1 on 1. Run with a group and watch how much better your WvWvW experience is.

I know it’s been said above a few times, but can you seriously think you’ll be successful and have a great time after just 2 days at this ridiculously complicated class?

I play staff and I know for certain I have heavily influenced some fights just because I destroy wall siege like its my job.

There is nothing more devastating in the game than a well-placed meteor storm with arcane staff AE enhancer trait (on walls).

I’ve also dabbled in D/D so I could survive firefights better but I found it to be less universal and less helpful so I went back to signet/staff build.

merrydamn.9423:

talking big yet going d/d with an ele against an engineer with big ol’ bomb and grenade barrage well time+ their elite and you are as good as instant dead no matter how good you are

same thing goes from thieves, no matter how good u think u re steal+ cloak and dagger + backstab and u re dead if not add another heartseeker and see you

spvp ? the bunker thing offered to us ? No I will pass ty

Don’t know what else to tell you. I understand the thief fear because you are not a tanky build. But engineers I really don’t get that one, I have absolutely no trouble with them at all. I think your timidness in melee is really your most detrimental thing. If you are a D/D who is afraid to melee you aren’t going to perform well. Ill suggest S/D you get the best of the ranged damage with some good mobility and some great damage not quite D/D Damage and not quite staff range/aoe but it may be that happy middle ground you are looking for.

Class needs weapon swap.

Areananet pls.

Ukaei.8694:

Class needs weapon swap.

Areananet pls.

No, not so much. Its really not a big deal. Try swapping attunements and slot a weapon swap sigil instead.

hmmm, i think you`re just not experienced enough, or need to review your technique a little. here is a post made by daphoenix, where he post several of his WvW videos as a d/d elementalist https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Tanky-DPS-Elementalist-Videos-included-updated-10-28

i recommend you to watch them, nowmally i don`t watch more pvp videos because i always see the same thing. but i decided to watch his and i saw something i have never saw before and it really shocked me what eles could do (like going on the front lines, jumping in the middle of zerg groups all by yourself, causing havoc and surviving to tell the tale, 3 vs 1, 4 vs 1 and even altmost 8 vs 1 (after first group of 4 died another 4 inmediatly came), 3 vs 1 on sPvP. i really had fun for the first time in a long time after watching his videos. really, must be the most insane ele in the game (not saying the most pro, just certainly the most insane, watch them and u`ll see what i mean)

merrydamn.9423:

because staff is way too dumb ? stupid casting time, stupid timers, awful dps which can be dodged more easily and you won’t be able to catch someone who is trying to flee with a staff not to mention you won’t be able to dodge as well
it’s just stupid to go staff unless you are in a zerg but as I said in my topic, I don’t plan to do that so stop pointing out facts everyone knows like range > all and acting like a pro because you def aren’t, thanks

With that attitude, you will never improve. SuiRyuJin makes some very good points – elementalist is a lot about playstyle, and not purely on just the mechanics which you complain about.

How bout try to find a solution to your thief problem, instead of saying they aleays instagib you. Do you use cantrips like armor of the earth or fire cleanse? Those utility skills are a big kick in the nads for burst dmg, and clears/protects you from conditions and stuns.

I also run a berserker staff ele in wvwvw, and initially I had your issues as well. With experience, you will learn how to effectively position yourself any situation, and avoid being the focus target.

merrydamn.9423:

because staff is way too dumb ? stupid casting time, stupid timers, awful dps which can be dodged more easily and you won’t be able to catch someone who is trying to flee with a staff not to mention you won’t be able to dodge as well
it’s just stupid to go staff unless you are in a zerg but as I said in my topic, I don’t plan to do that so stop pointing out facts everyone knows like range > all and acting like a pro because you def aren’t, thanks

WvW is not about soloing so Staff is great for WvW. You don’t even need a zerg, played right Staff is great in small groups as well. It takes practice though which you need more than 2 days to master. But Staff can’t catch fleers, lol? Staff can quite easily achieve perma swiftness and mix that with our teleport we are the fastest class in the game. Pair that with the 6 CCs Staff has and it is actually pretty good at keeping people where you want them. Not to mention a few well placed AoEs will enable you to corral them where you want them to go, or if they don’t then you win anyway because they are just damaging and debuffing themselves further if they walk through them.

Also as others have said, there are other non-Staff builds that work quite well also. Ele is more complicated than the other classes but once you figure it out we can do a lot.

Holy kitten merrydamn you are so fresh. WvW is based around towers/keeps and you want to quit ele because you have a rough time in even ground fights? Well gee probably because you have so much area control when attacking / defending things that actually matter, maybe that’s why. Please re-roll to a thief or something and enjoy your totally irrelevant 1v1 successes. I’ll be making a difference doing 5k+ crits to anyone who stands on a wall / on a ram at my doorway. You’re not using staff which is undoubtedly the best wvw weapon because of meteor shower and you have the cheek to call others “not pro”, the class has lots of ways to secure kills and a hell of a lot of burst if you’re stacking full damage, I have about 63% crit rate and 159% (or 149%, I’m not on right now) crit damage so I can fireball (4k) and arcane blast (5k) at the same time because arcane blast is instant and useable while casting another spell, combine that with signet of earth for an immobilise and put a font underneath someone (font ticks for 2-3k) and you’ve got a kill unless they cleanse fast. You don’t have to run with the zerg to be successful but you DO need a guild / group. Ele is not the problem, it’s your attitude and how you seem to think wvw works.

EDIT – I forgot to add. 2 WHOLE DAYS IN WVW? You must know a hell of a lot more than the rest of us about how to play, I don’t even know why I made this post you clearly outrank me.

merrydamn.9423:

because staff is way too dumb ? stupid casting time, stupid timers, awful dps which can be dodged more easily and you won’t be able to catch someone who is trying to flee with a staff not to mention you won’t be able to dodge as well

In air you can have virtually permanent swiftness, as for casting time what about churning earth, worst casting time of any ability in the game. Meteor shower and eruption have fairly high casting times but you can place them where you want so the trick is to get in space and cast them.

morrolan.9608:

merrydamn.9423:

because staff is way too dumb ? stupid casting time, stupid timers, awful dps which can be dodged more easily and you won’t be able to catch someone who is trying to flee with a staff not to mention you won’t be able to dodge as well

In air you can have virtually permanent swiftness, as for casting time what about churning earth, worst casting time of any ability in the game. Meteor shower and eruption have fairly high casting times but you can place them where you want so the trick is to get in space and cast them.

Churning however has 3 main benefits over meteor shower. You are A. next to your target, B. you have probably just knocked them down and C. it cripples them during the channel. You’d be surprised how often earthquake+churning hits people compared to lava fonts and meteor showers. Especially seeing as you can use lightning flash during it. Knockdown into churning, teleport as they move, it’s almost undodgeable unless they know it’s coming for them (the teleport that is)

Staff is great if you are in a group and are not being focused, otherwise you will not fare well against anyone solo. If you want to solo in WvW use S/F you gain a ton of survivability or D/D for burst. I have solo’d camps, won a couple of 1v3 and killed a target in the middle of a zerg without support or dieing. 20-30-10-0-10 S/F aura build.

“I have solo’d camps”

I wasnt aware this was considered difficult. You can do it as staff too o.o
Run in, get aggro, drop a meteor shower and lava font at your feet. Switch to earth for reflect (needed for the scouts) switch to water to freeze and heal. Air to static field and roll backwards (stuns them, keeps them from damaging you for a short period, and keeps them in the meteor shower) back to fire or earth as you want (either for more damage, or to cripple them as they come at you.

Use armor of earth during the combo so the claimer doesnt K/D you, and you should wipe both veteran guards with the above. Then you simply kite the claimer while killing the scouts, and finally finish her off. As long as she doesnt have the indignant buff (and why are you trying to solo a camp with one on anyway?) you shouldnt have any trouble with a camp, even as staff.