Beginner Ele questions
To what purpose? PvE? PvP? WvW roaming?
PVE for the most part.
I find running general equipment and switching weapons based on the content works best for PvE. Anything really will work, but swapping to appropriate weapons for the situation will give you an easier time / make you more helpful.
S/F could be used as condi setup, though D/F is going to be better.
S/F is great for power, and is even better using fresh air trait to quickly swap in and out of air as skill 2 and 3 are instant cast, while first has burst and futility skills, and earth is your defense with 2-5. Water has a good heal on skill 3 and decent crowd control on 4-5.
Sc/F is very enjoyable and I’ve used it for years, if you need extra help or info you can pm me.
Elementalist Mesmer Ranger
Sea of Sorrows
S/F… great for power… in PvE?
Take Scepter/Dagger instead. And the trait that blinds enemies when burning them. Dagger #4 creates a fire field, then immediately cast Scepter #2 and #3 to gain AoE might stacks. Get a third AoE might stack if you use arcane explosion too while fire field is active. Switch to water when selfheal or healing allies is necessary. At least for me S/D was way better than S/F while leveling.
Scepter/Focus will have damage and utility from both weapons and range to allow you to attack earlier and kite effectively. Healing will be weak. A Scepter/Focus build could go condi (Fire focused) or power (Fire & Air focused).
If building for Condi, your key stats are condition damage and expertise, with secondary attention to power and precision. If building for power, your key stats are power, precision, and ferocity. For Condi, I recommend a Fire/Earth/Arcane or Fire/Arcane/Tempest build. For Power, I recommend Fire/Air/Tempest or Fire/Air/Arcane.
Condi will be easiest. You’ll do your damage from Fire (prioritizing burning damage) and activate utility skills and defenses from the other attunements only as needed. Signet of Fire is your most damaging attack. You’ll use Conjure Fiery Greatsword and your Arcane utilities as available, too. I favor condi at the moment, specifically this build. Just replace the dagger with a scepter and you have what I’d recommend for you.
Normal Power will be next easiest. You’ll do your damage from Fire (prioritizing “normal” damage) and activate utility skills and defenses from the other attunements only as needed. You’ll use Glyph of Storms, Conjure Fiery Greatsword and either Conjure Frost Bow or Conjure Lightning Hammer when your best Fire attacks are on cooldown. Signet of Fire will be left on passive to increase Precision.
Fresh Air is a more active and difficult variant of Power. You’ll do your damage in Air, using Fire to perform single attacks to “reload” Air quickly. When in Air, you’ll do most of your damage with Air Overload and conjured weapons. Conjure Fiery Greatsword and either Conjure Ice Bow or Conjure Lightning Hammer will be used while waiting for Air Overload to become available. Glyph of Storms will also be a good damage source. Again, you’ll leave Signet of Fire on passive.