Guild Wars 2

Ok I’ve always admired D/D eles, they look so complex and yet at the same time everything just flows together like a well oiled machine. So I was wondering, what tips do you guys have for practicing the skills necessary to achieve this? I know you can give me combos(which would help as well) but I also know that the flexibility of elementalists means having something for every situation and that would also help immensely.

This is mainly for SPvP and to a lesser extent WvW once I hit 80 so keep that in mind.

Tip #1: watch twitch.tv if there is a (good) d/d ele playing, although most play s/d now. Cmc is your best bet if he isn’t on s/d.

Tip #2: Some Important combos:

Lightning flash + updraft: excellent opener and instant cast so should never be dodged. Sets you up for a burning speed + arcane wave, followed shortly by firegrab (when you feel you can land it) to get a very quick lead in a fight.

Earthquake (from afar) + Lightning flash (when you reach the top of your jump. This is also an excellent opener with even more damage, however there is less burst you can follow it up with.

Burning speed + arcane wave (just behind you, before you land the last burst): This gets a great extra hit, and gives you 3 more might for the final burst. Puts heavy pressure on your opponent, although don’t miss b/c you are blowing 2 important cooldowns

Burning speed (from any distance) + Lightning flash (ontop of your opponent immediately): hits about as hard as the previous combo. Every single trail from the burning speed also damages them, similar to the fiery-rush+burning speed combo frequently seen in PvE

Might-stacking:
Ring of Fire (while backing up)—>dodge roll into opponent + swap to earth mid-dodge (for evasive arcana damage + blast)—>earthquake for 6 might stacks. You can follow this up by churning earth if you feel you can land it, but most opponents will dodge, blind, or even cc you before your churning earth goes off.

Tip #3: Proper Evasive Arcana use (they are all good)
Fire: gets you a burn, sets up a quick Firegrab
Water: heal + cleanse (obvious use)
Air: Blind. Works EXCELLENT against warriors. Can also be used to secure a stomp against any class but ele, theif, and mesmer. What you do is step up, then dodge-roll onto of your downed enemy then start the stomp. When they use their interrupt, it will be blinded still.
Earth: blast finish those fire fields (ring of fire or burning-speed trail. Also fields your team-mates lay down)

Tip #4: use of traits properly

If you have fresh-air, swap to air often, and always while you have a target for the free lightning-strike proc (hits hard)

If you have Air training (10% more damage in the air attunement): Swap to air when you use fire-grab to get 10% more damage (hard to remember to do, however)

If you have Rock Solid (amazing trait btw), swap to earth 0.5s after starting a stomp to secure a stomp. Also, use when you see an incoming cc that you can’t avoid.

Tip #5: proper aura use
You MUST get your aura-use down. Auras are EXCELLENT defense against most enemies. Shocking aura can be a pseudo-stunbreak and used to greatly reduce dps when you get cc’d. If you get basilisk venomed (by a thief from stealth), pop aura immediately. Frost aura, likewise is great against power classes. If you are under heavy pressure, use your dodge-rolls frequently. Frost aura really slows thieves down too. Chill destroys eles (you will find this). You will lean from experience

Tip #6: General notes
- Don’t just spam skills. A large portion of your dps should come from lighting-whip in an area.
- Use the extended-melee range: Most of your attacks are actually ~300 range (like lightning whip). Use this to kite people who only have melee options like many bad warriors do.
- Securing stomps: if you can’t blind, or feel you will get interrupted from somewhere, both arcane shield and mistform are great for securing a stomp. Mistform especially will make you invuln while you try to stomp so there is nothing they can do.
- Against teams that have a lot of power-builds, glyph of elemental power can really shut down their dps. You can get almost perma-weakness on everyone in your range, making them do pathetic damage. If you pop the glyph in air, you can still swap and it will keep proccing.
- Arcane shield is amazing against thieves. If they are in stealth and about to attack, pop arcane shield. Most thieves are stupid and will attack into it, taking massive damage when it bursts. It also protects you during that time.
- Check out daphoenix’s guide for more. Some of it is out-dated, but much is still relevant: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Guide-Mastering-the-D-D-ele-7-15-13

Necrotize.2974:

Ok I’ve always admired D/D eles, they look so complex and yet at the same time everything just flows together like a well oiled machine. So I was wondering, what tips do you guys have for practicing the skills necessary to achieve this? I know you can give me combos(which would help as well) but I also know that the flexibility of elementalists means having something for every situation and that would also help immensely.

This is mainly for SPvP and to a lesser extent WvW once I hit 80 so keep that in mind.

Your assessment of D/D is correct but bear in mind that sPvP is about roles. Do you have a roamer, bunker, etc. D/D can be any of those but the question is there another profession that you can slot in that is better.

I love D/D ele and it is all I pretty much play but just be aware of why it isn’t current meta. WvW is where D/D is the most fun. S/D gets more play in s/tPvP then D/D

Wow, thanks for that list of tips. I knew a few from watching but a lot of them I hadn’t really noticed before.

@oZii- I generally prefer tankier specs so I’d probably enjoy bunker more but I’m unsure if the squishiness of eles would allow for bunkering at this point in time with all the burst thieves and such.

Try something like this for a bunker build. The passive healing + high heal power and toughness helps you get acquainted with the D/D skills and you’re still doing OK damage.

http://intothemists.com/guides/2578-bunker_surprise

You can put 10 points from air into arcane for evasive arcana for even more bunkering but you’re losing a LOT of damage by doing so.

Interesting, I’ll have to give it a go. And I’d imagine this build will get a substantial boost in survivability when they bump up the signet’s heal to that of PvE. Will that change alter the build in any way?

Necrotize.2974:

Interesting, I’ll have to give it a go. And I’d imagine this build will get a substantial boost in survivability when they bump up the signet’s heal to that of PvE. Will that change alter the build in any way?

It’ll make the build better
And maybe allow it to run soldiers or valkyrie instead of cleric amulet.

Good tips. Also remember to use water attunement for no longer then is needed. Same with earth,fire. This is because attunement swapping keeps your boons up,removes conditions,adds damage and so forth. Also learn how to use lightning flash(we call it LF) to get up slopes, edges, escape, to induce extra damage for that last 1k of hitpoints left on the enemy and as a tool to disorient your enemy. Cantri[s, i.e. Mistform,etc are used as crutches if you are a beginner since the nerf.

Fuzzion is correct. Even if you know you can land another ring of fire or whatever by waiting 3 more seconds, it is better to switch attunements and roll through other abilities so you can keep your attunement boons and auras up.

This is the exact build/gear/etc. I use as a fairly recent D/D 80.
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-k;4R0kU0-5sMkY0;9;499-JT3;00;328-17A4o0;0N;0V19cV9fgGBGSF6;1Vb-VAVFWKXP2V3a_-3-0N2s;0aN1;28;18ZJ

It’s focused on movement and using cantrips for boons on-demand. I’ll Lightning Flash to my target for three boons right from the start, then updraft => shocking aura => RTL => switch to earth => etc.
The cantrip focus is really about boon generation and survivability. The rest is just to support the rapid-fire switching and dodging that D/D demands.

The damage is admittedly lackluster. I am putting out numbers that seem to be on-par with my Sw/Sw Phantasm mesmer right now. Once I get better and don’t need the Tough/Vit as much to stay alive, I will move towards more Assassin’s and Beserker.

Not sure if it will help, but this is how my newbie kitten is coping.