Guild Wars 2

I searched in guild wars 2 for what could be the best possible instant burst build in sPvP that could possibly 1 shot any target it hits. After extended search and trial / error with innumerable builds, I found that this build, which I call arcane lightning, on the elementalist does just this. It has an instantaneous output of 31.7k damage to a target, while CC-ing them and teleporting to them.

Tl;Dr: Must try this build. It one-shots most players.

Let me know what you think!!

The Brief Video Guide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9V1qwMsUr0

Looked awesome. Have you tried in actual PvP? What happens if RtL misbehaves and you mess up the burst?

an interesting build, proves there is hope for our burst…

too bad that its strapped onto something that can only be done once per 30 seconds (at least) and has the consistency of tissue paper

but if you ever do manage to pull it off… it will be LEGENDARY!!!

Looks like fun!

Crimifa.2361:

an interesting build, proves there is hope for our burst…

too bad that its strapped onto something that can only be done once per 30 seconds (at least) and has the consistency of tissue paper

but if you ever do manage to pull it off… it will be LEGENDARY!!!

All this would require to be consistent would be a bug fix for RTL.

This build looks cool! I’m gonna give it a go. Question, though; you’re already the squishiest class in the game (lowest base hp, lowest base toughness) and you don’t have the benefit of stealth like certain other classes that we won’t speak of… How would you rate being able to survive since RTL will undoubtedly miss 90% of the time, preventing you from even dropping the insane burst?

On a side note, since you’re relying on Arcane Power to guarantee crits, and arcane wave/blast always crit anyhow, would it be more prudent to use a Valkyrie’s amulet? Same crit bonus, same power bonus, but 500~ toughness instead of 500~ precision? Granted your base HP will be even lower, but the increase in toughness might make it worth it…

Also, Runes of the Air are definitely worth investigating. With that much power/crit, the lightning proc (at 20% chance every 10 seconds) will MELT stuff. I’ve seen it crit for 3-4k. It also boosts swiftness duration and gives the same bonus to Crit Damage as the Rock Dog runes.

Edit: Also, I see this not working against any class that grants stealth on CC effects, like Rangers and Engineers. Just a heads up.

Grounded doesn’t work with updraft. I’ve personally tested with steady weapons.

Yeah, I just tested this build in a few sPVP matches. While the damage is good, it doesn’t one-shot anything; and I’m not seeing numbers anywhere near the 30.6k you claimed it would produce. Maybe against a dummy, which is stationary and doesn’t have annoying things like stability, but in actual combat the damage is too low and you sacrifice too much to make it work reasonably… I personally won’t run an Ele in any form of PVP (or PVE for that matter) without Mist Form equipped, and having most of your damage come from your 3 very valuable utility slots is too great a sacrifice for mediocre results… A thief can do this same concept, but still have all his utilities how he wants.

This build needs tweaking, but it does show off the fact that arcane skills are great for burst damage. I’ve enjoyed the sheer toughness of a signet build, but I could definitely tell I was doing a LOT more damage with arcane. Arcane shield is a potential replacement for arcane power which gives us both offensive and defensive capability.

I’ll have to check out a few more things regarding some ways to amplify our damage. For example, the arcane trait which causes attunement benefits to linger for 5 seconds would allow us to take advantage of the 20% increased damage from water attunement with our other attunements (provided the enemy is vulnerable).

Just throwing these ideas out there to stimulate creativity. I don’t have anything in mind just yet.

First of all, this build is pointless untill Anet will fix RtL stuck bug.
Second – no stun breaker.
Third – no CC skill. People will not stand still like golem.
Fourth – build with 45 second cooldown damage ability (can’t do good damage untill at least 1 ability on CD) is not one of most effective things =).
But yes, it’s not standart air-fire-arcane combo. And that’s good.

How creative.
This seems like fun, but in the current metagame where everyone is tanky it won’t 1 shot anything except other glass cannons. And of course all your damage is in one chain with a 45 second CD…
It’s not viable for efficient competitive gameplay but it does look like a fun gimmick.

I’m still working on my timing with the combo, but I’ve worked out a decent S/F burst using arcane.

The combo works as follows, starting from either earth or water. Arcane Blast on 7, Arcane Power on 8.

Lightning attunement, 5, 7, 8, 2, 3, Fire attunement, 2, 3.

Fire 30 (VI, VII, XII), Air 30 (VI, IX, XII), Arcane 10 (I), Berserker Amulet (could work with Valkyrie)

You can put Arcane Wave into your utilities, but then you have no escape skill, and you have to be close-quarters for it to work.

I’ve been trying to work up speed with this on the training npcs. Man does this ever require quick fingers… so many fast-casting skills.

Well it shouldnt be a surprise that arcane spells do more damage than those 3 cantrip ‘glass cannons’.

Also 3 arcane spells = no stunbreaker..and then not even a single point in arcana? How could you give up insane chilling and burns and 20% less cd on all utility skills over a chance to get a chance to burn and lava tomb.. Grounded doesnt even work..

What i tried was getting the grandmaster arcana trait. Try using those arcane spells when in water. Also sick damage, but far highest survive due to the amazing (aoe)chills. I found it a pretty amazing duel build as well. Valkyrie amulet for sweet survivability while still buffing your arcane spells (100%crit) up nicely. It seems to give just the right amount of +healing to pretty much heal myself back up by going water once and nicely boosts your long duration regens. Also vulnerability on arcane trait then switch to water for an extra 20% dmg when target is vulnerable. Start with Arcane Blast maybe and get +20% dmg on your next arcane spells.

Also this game has Downed so..after that burst you still have to go and stomp them. If YOU get downed after your burst, as you’re an ele, you will die immediatly and enemy will rally. Thus you did absolutely nothing. For this you would need Mist Form which you dont have. People will also catch on an pop defensive cooldowns during your long kitten RTL (or just ignore it as it will likely fail anyway).

Nicomachiavelli.3046:

I’ll have to check out a few more things regarding some ways to amplify our damage. For example, the arcane trait which causes attunement benefits to linger for 5 seconds would allow us to take advantage of the 20% increased damage from water attunement with our other attunements (provided the enemy is vulnerable).

Just throwing these ideas out there to stimulate creativity. I don’t have anything in mind just yet.

That perticular combination of traits used to be bugged, probably still is, sorry : (
I’d tried to use it before starting the Air burst chain (along with 20% more dmg when <25%hp) but alas.

Build for stomping bads or pugs, will never work in competitive spvp.

My spec

Works great and hits like a FREIGHT TRAIN in the right situations. Grab a buddy and the high ground. If your buddy has skill that pulls people to him, that will help you avoid a thief ganking you from behind.

I put together a 9-skill-long combo that you can pull off in all of 3 seconds. As I said above, but I’ll repeat it here:

Lightning attunement, 5, 7, 8, 2, 3, Fire attunement, 2, 3

I mapped this to the numpad so that I can hit 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 4, 5. It’s like BAM dead. Problem with the build is that you have to be able to pull it off.