Best way to solo HoT?

Best way to solo HoT?

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Posted by: Swag.5483

Swag.5483

Hey guys,

I am a returning player, I’ve done one full play through (map competition and getting skill points) at launch of HoT with my necro but now I am trying with my ele and struggling a bit. I am only 55% unlocked on my tempest so I’m not using it and instead I’m playing fire/lightning and water with a dagger/focus. I am having a hard time with survivability which maybe is a l2p issue but I was curious if there was a spec or tip I could follow to help make the pve Hot experience easier, and keep me alive longer (I am in full exotic berserker gear).

P.S. I really enjoy the fantasy of daggers, so if at all possible can I keep using a dagger? I’m willing to try other weapons to make my life easier, but would prefer to use a dagger.

Thanks.

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Posted by: Wraistlin.6072

Wraistlin.6072

I would suggest taking the arcane trait line, instead of either fire or lightning. The boons on attunement switch go a long way to help your survivability, plus additional vigor application on crits if I remember correctly.

The thing about elementalist is there is a spec and combination of weapons that can handle just about anything, so I wouldn’t necessarily get stuck on JUST using the dagger.

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Posted by: Swag.5483

Swag.5483

I would suggest taking the arcane trait line, instead of either fire or lightning. The boons on attunement switch go a long way to help your survivability, plus additional vigor application on crits if I remember correctly.

The thing about elementalist is there is a spec and combination of weapons that can handle just about anything, so I wouldn’t necessarily get stuck on JUST using the dagger.

Thanks for the reply.

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Posted by: Swag.5483

Swag.5483

Is it ever worth to use tempest spec even though I only have access to half the skills? Then maybe go dagger/war horn?

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Posted by: MarzAttakz.9608

MarzAttakz.9608

I’m in a similar situation having come back from a 3 year break.

Been running HOT first zones chasing events and hero points using scepter/dagger (I’m mostly a D/D boy since beta) with earth/water/arcane – basically the old bunker build adjusted for condi negation and regeneration uptime. Swapping to staff for the big boss fights. Swapping in a stacking weapon helps too.

I’m still in my old wvw gear so a mix of Soldiers and Berserkers so far it’s handling okay. DPS isn’t interstellar but I prefer more resilience than burst due to most encounters involving adds > 3.

YOU KNOW THERE AIN’T NO REST FOR THE WICKED, TILL WE CLOSE OUR EYES FOR GOOD.

Once proud member of Extraordinary Gentlemen [EXG]{DESO4LIFE}

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Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

I do a keyfarm most weeks and do the HoT story upto tangled depths with core staff ele.

Fire: top, top, top
Air: bottom, top, top
Arcane: middle, bottom, top

I find most mobs die insanely quick in full zerk but you need to make sure you don’t aggro too many all the time. I also use glyph of elemental harmony as it’s permenant swiftness and a 16s CD extremely strong heal, glyph of storms for a blind in earth if needed, signet of fire and lightening flash for blinking past mobs I CBA to fight.

I’ve tried using old D/F fresh air and while I didn’t have too many issues I just don’t think it’s as good as staff for kiting and doesn’t really compete in AoE damage but burning speed can hit like a truck.

If you run out of cool downs or have taken a hit and no heal back off, switch to water, dodge to get a cleansing wave, throw up healing rain, ice spike, switch to earth and dodge again in the water field, it’s about a 4.5k heal altogether and cleanses 3 conditions.

Arcane > water.

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Posted by: Feanor.2358

Feanor.2358

Hey guys,

I am a returning player, I’ve done one full play through (map competition and getting skill points) at launch of HoT with my necro but now I am trying with my ele and struggling a bit. I am only 55% unlocked on my tempest so I’m not using it and instead I’m playing fire/lightning and water with a dagger/focus. I am having a hard time with survivability which maybe is a l2p issue but I was curious if there was a spec or tip I could follow to help make the pve Hot experience easier, and keep me alive longer (I am in full exotic berserker gear).

P.S. I really enjoy the fantasy of daggers, so if at all possible can I keep using a dagger? I’m willing to try other weapons to make my life easier, but would prefer to use a dagger.

Thanks.

Ultimately it’s L2P. The tankier you get, the more survivable you’ll be, but also the more time it would take you to kill enemies, so the more damage you’ll need to soak. You’ll have to learn the enemies and their attacks, otherwise you will be dying a lot, no matter what build and gear you run. Of course, while you’re learning you might feel more comfortable with a bit higher defences. However, nobody can tell you what will be the good balance for you. Experiment. I have a friend who runs full cele d/d core ele in HoT and is fine. I run full glass staff. So… “find your way and have fun” is the best advice I can give.

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Posted by: Wolfric.9380

Wolfric.9380

If you have fun with D/D then play it. I would go with celestial setup and start to exchange more and more pieces with viper. I personally enjoy my Viper/Cele mix for PvE and WvW regardless of weapons used (I use S/F most of the time but i think my gear is good for all except staff [i have a power based staff in my inventory annyway i needed]). From playfeeling arcane line is top.

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Posted by: mulzi.8273

mulzi.8273

I soloed everything in HoT on dagger/wh. I too am a d/d disciple, and while the mobility is nice, there just isnt enough defense on there for some of the champ/elites mobs.

I play mostly fresh air, air/stone/tempest. Stone for the protect on auras. I sometimes switch out stone for water, but mostly run that. equip is zerk+scholar runes. Although i do have a zerk+durability runes set which i swap to for soloing champs like the stupid mush queen..

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Posted by: atreyu.9624

atreyu.9624

btw it doesn’t have to be black or white.

Full zerk in solo works, I don’t run it tho. Just throw in a couple of Marauder or Valk pieces.
Just so u can run around with like 15k HP, maybe a little more if you want, instead of 11K where even a fart can down you in the case u fail a dodge or something.

little big wizard – Eu

(edited by atreyu.9624)

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Posted by: MikeL.8260

MikeL.8260

I was strugling to survive too when I played my Ele, even in the main storyline (too used to the mesmer playstyle).
I found that by using Sc/D i was faring much better, Scepter gave me range and the water attument heals are extremely useful. I was using serk gears with Water/Lighting/Arcane trait lines.

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Posted by: mygamingid.5816

mygamingid.5816

I’m working on a D/D Fresh Air Auramancer build for general gameplay. It might be a good option for you.

It uses Air/Water/Tempest for auras and boons, Zealot’s gear, Leadership runes, and Accuracy & Concentration sigils. With Fresh Air, you’re constantly generating auras from Overload Air, granting you healing, regen, and boons.

It’s definitely not a raid meta spec, but it’s safe for soloists without completely sacrificing damage. Swap Soothing Power for Powerful Aura and you’ve got a great team support spec, so it’s versatile. I’m likely to work on this set after I get my condi gear settled.

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Posted by: AliamRationem.5172

AliamRationem.5172

I’m working on a D/D Fresh Air Auramancer build for general gameplay. It might be a good option for you.

It uses Air/Water/Tempest for auras and boons, Zealot’s gear, Leadership runes, and Accuracy & Concentration sigils. With Fresh Air, you’re constantly generating auras from Overload Air, granting you healing, regen, and boons.

It’s definitely not a raid meta spec, but it’s safe for soloists without completely sacrificing damage. Swap Soothing Power for Powerful Aura and you’ve got a great team support spec, so it’s versatile. I’m likely to work on this set after I get my condi gear settled.

I’ll second this. My favorite build for open world is water/air/tempest. It’s fun solo or in groups with enough damage to get the job done, enough healing/support to make a noticeable difference to allies, and great personal survivability.

You can use several sets (mix and match). Zealot, celestial, valkyrie, marauder. Zealot trinkets and weapons with a mix of valkyrie and marauder armor can get you 2700 power, 46% crit (84% with signet, fury, and Aeromancer’s Training), 175-180% crit damage, as well as over 15k health and 650 healing power.

Not raid-worthy, of course, but more than enough damage to smoke trash enemies in open world and with enough healing and vitality to take a hit and heal it back against tough champions. If you run powerful auras you can provide a ton of healing and support to allies when you run in groups, too.

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Posted by: Feanor.2358

Feanor.2358

I’m working on a D/D Fresh Air Auramancer build for general gameplay. It might be a good option for you.

It uses Air/Water/Tempest for auras and boons, Zealot’s gear, Leadership runes, and Accuracy & Concentration sigils. With Fresh Air, you’re constantly generating auras from Overload Air, granting you healing, regen, and boons.

It’s definitely not a raid meta spec, but it’s safe for soloists without completely sacrificing damage. Swap Soothing Power for Powerful Aura and you’ve got a great team support spec, so it’s versatile. I’m likely to work on this set after I get my condi gear settled.

Eh… I really wanted to make a Leadership rune build work, but it just felt like I’m gimping myself on purpose for no good reason. I ended up switching to the standard zerk/scholar fire/air/tempest Fresh Air. D/D has enough built-in heals and control to let you survive. I tried it solo against many champs in the open world and it generally fared really well.

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Posted by: Axl.8924

Axl.8924

From what i’ve seen i’m starting to get a grudge playing a ele.Maybe having full condi gear but its beyond frustrating trying to survive and getting downed instantly and then using mist to move a few feet away and still die instantly.

This class just feels so squishy and weak that it becomes a chore to get Hero points.I’m not even sure how people can stand tangled depths with all the billions of adds and low dmg.

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Posted by: mygamingid.5816

mygamingid.5816

From what i’ve seen i’m starting to get a grudge playing a ele.Maybe having full condi gear but its beyond frustrating trying to survive and getting downed instantly and then using mist to move a few feet away and still die instantly.

This class just feels so squishy and weak that it becomes a chore to get Hero points. I’m not even sure how people can stand tangled depths with all the billions of adds and low dmg.

It’s difficult to talk about Eles, because many players think only in terms of raids and the Raid Meta, where damage is avoided mechanically, buffbots take your offensive performance to otherwise-impossible levels, and someone else provides your heals. The Raid Meta is “meta” only to the extent you raid or otherwise run with the buffbot trinity. In raids, a glass cannon Ele is the most efficient build. Outside of raids, it’s heavily dependent on your capabilities and preferences.

I would expect players to get frustrated playing a Raid Meta build in expansion content without Raid Meta support. GW2’s expansion content isn’t anything like raiding. It requires something closer to a WvW-style build. You have to damage your opponents AND sustain. The Raid Meta doesn’t care about any of that, because it isn’t relevant to raid content.

So the problem isn’t that the player is bad or the class is bad, it’s that the build is being used outside of the context it was built for. No buffbots = no Raid Meta. For example, Berserker’s gear and a crit-reliant build (Sigil of Air, Scholar Runes, High Ferocity) is great if you have Spotter, Banner of Discipline, and 100% Fury uptime. If you don’t have those boons, you’ve brutally nerfed yourself. So what do you do?

Ignoring the defensive side of things, a condi build removes reliance on critical hits. You don’t have to worry about Scholar rune uptime, either. Spec the Fire trait line for Might (1-1-2) and you gain a ton of self-sufficiency. I like vanilla Fire/Earth/Arcane, but am considering Fire/Earth/Weaver. Earth and Arcane both have some nice sustain traits that will keep you up longer than a Fire/Air/Tempest, too.

You like to raid on occasion? Good news! Condi Ele is meta there, too. The preferred build is Fire/Arcane/Tempest. It’s just a good choice to make right now.

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Posted by: Axl.8924

Axl.8924

From what i’ve seen i’m starting to get a grudge playing a ele.Maybe having full condi gear but its beyond frustrating trying to survive and getting downed instantly and then using mist to move a few feet away and still die instantly.

This class just feels so squishy and weak that it becomes a chore to get Hero points. I’m not even sure how people can stand tangled depths with all the billions of adds and low dmg.

It’s difficult to talk about Eles, because many players think only in terms of raids and the Raid Meta, where damage is avoided mechanically, buffbots take your offensive performance to otherwise-impossible levels, and someone else provides your heals. The Raid Meta is “meta” only to the extent you raid or otherwise run with the buffbot trinity. In raids, a glass cannon Ele is the most efficient build. Outside of raids, it’s heavily dependent on your capabilities and preferences.

I would expect players to get frustrated playing a Raid Meta build in expansion content without Raid Meta support. GW2’s expansion content isn’t anything like raiding. It requires something closer to a WvW-style build. You have to damage your opponents AND sustain. The Raid Meta doesn’t care about any of that, because it isn’t relevant to raid content.

So the problem isn’t that the player is bad or the class is bad, it’s that the build is being used outside of the context it was built for. No buffbots = no Raid Meta. For example, Berserker’s gear and a crit-reliant build (Sigil of Air, Scholar Runes, High Ferocity) is great if you have Spotter, Banner of Discipline, and 100% Fury uptime. If you don’t have those boons, you’ve brutally nerfed yourself. So what do you do?

Ignoring the defensive side of things, a condi build removes reliance on critical hits. You don’t have to worry about Scholar rune uptime, either. Spec the Fire trait line for Might (1-1-2) and you gain a ton of self-sufficiency. I like vanilla Fire/Earth/Arcane, but am considering Fire/Earth/Weaver. Earth and Arcane both have some nice sustain traits that will keep you up longer than a Fire/Air/Tempest, too.

You like to raid on occasion? Good news! Condi Ele is meta there, too. The preferred build is Fire/Arcane/Tempest. It’s just a good choice to make right now.

I was told to go power for Ele, hope i wasn’t misinformed.I also get the feeling tempest feels so much more of a support than dps.Every single thing buffs people and or gives them protection.Even the overcharge lightning offers support.The class feels like it has more potential to be a support class than healer druid in some instances, like:Giving everyone protection swiftness etc, and we do it amazingly well if traited.

I also get the feeling i’m probably missing something about some build somewhere because one guy said he could survive d/d or D/f i forget what it was with tempest.

Right now only thing that i’m worried about, is practice.I can’t even prepare for getting gear yet because the new build isn’t out and who knows what stats i will need or how good power will be as weaver, because it isn’t out.

(edited by Axl.8924)

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Posted by: AliamRationem.5172

AliamRationem.5172

From what i’ve seen i’m starting to get a grudge playing a ele.Maybe having full condi gear but its beyond frustrating trying to survive and getting downed instantly and then using mist to move a few feet away and still die instantly.

This class just feels so squishy and weak that it becomes a chore to get Hero points.I’m not even sure how people can stand tangled depths with all the billions of adds and low dmg.

You shouldn’t be suffering from low damage AND low survivability. Glass ele has extremely strong burst that can take out groups of enemies very quickly. Alternatively, tankier ele builds can absorb tons of damage and heal it back quickly, making them anything but squishy.

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Posted by: atreyu.9624

atreyu.9624

It’s difficult to talk about Eles, because many players think only in terms of raids and the Raid Meta

Yep, so many eles running around with the glass cannon 11k HP, no defensive utilities and full glass cannon trait choices.
Getting insta-downed in Open world Events because damage just fly around and u don’t even see it coming.

little big wizard – Eu

(edited by atreyu.9624)

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Posted by: Blood Red Arachnid.2493

Blood Red Arachnid.2493

Using Glyph of Storms in Earth is a quick way to kill everything without a break bar. It creates a blind field which renders most attacks against you useless. Just herd the enemies into one spot, use Glyph of Storms in Earth, then unleash the dogs of war.

Most of the enemies in HoT have one big gimmick. They do a big windup, then unleash a lot of damage. The snipers charge up and leave a large trail. The Stalkers teleport then do a devastating melee cone attack. Etc. and so on. Surviving in HoT is about recognizing the enemy, and know what attack they’re going to do. And yes, the mushrooms are overpowered.

I don’t have opinions. I only have facts I can’t adequately prove.

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Posted by: Feanor.2358

Feanor.2358

From what i’ve seen i’m starting to get a grudge playing a ele.Maybe having full condi gear but its beyond frustrating trying to survive and getting downed instantly and then using mist to move a few feet away and still die instantly.

This class just feels so squishy and weak that it becomes a chore to get Hero points. I’m not even sure how people can stand tangled depths with all the billions of adds and low dmg.

It’s difficult to talk about Eles, because many players think only in terms of raids and the Raid Meta, where damage is avoided mechanically, buffbots take your offensive performance to otherwise-impossible levels, and someone else provides your heals. The Raid Meta is “meta” only to the extent you raid or otherwise run with the buffbot trinity. In raids, a glass cannon Ele is the most efficient build. Outside of raids, it’s heavily dependent on your capabilities and preferences.

I would expect players to get frustrated playing a Raid Meta build in expansion content without Raid Meta support. GW2’s expansion content isn’t anything like raiding. It requires something closer to a WvW-style build. You have to damage your opponents AND sustain. The Raid Meta doesn’t care about any of that, because it isn’t relevant to raid content.

So the problem isn’t that the player is bad or the class is bad, it’s that the build is being used outside of the context it was built for. No buffbots = no Raid Meta. For example, Berserker’s gear and a crit-reliant build (Sigil of Air, Scholar Runes, High Ferocity) is great if you have Spotter, Banner of Discipline, and 100% Fury uptime. If you don’t have those boons, you’ve brutally nerfed yourself. So what do you do?

Ignoring the defensive side of things, a condi build removes reliance on critical hits. You don’t have to worry about Scholar rune uptime, either. Spec the Fire trait line for Might (1-1-2) and you gain a ton of self-sufficiency. I like vanilla Fire/Earth/Arcane, but am considering Fire/Earth/Weaver. Earth and Arcane both have some nice sustain traits that will keep you up longer than a Fire/Air/Tempest, too.

You like to raid on occasion? Good news! Condi Ele is meta there, too. The preferred build is Fire/Arcane/Tempest. It’s just a good choice to make right now.

The condi build is crap outside of raids. It only has single-target dps, and builds without good cleave are PITA to play in open world because it feels sluggish. And honestly, I don’t like it in raids either. Camp Fire, too boring.

You’re also wrong in saying open world “requires” WvW style build. It requires nothing of the sort. You can go full glass everywhere if you like, because open world is just that easy. It is designed to be that easy. The jungle can be deadly, sure. But only at your first contact. The attacks that can down you all have long telegraphs and you can easily avoid them.

The raid power meta in fact is extremely good for generic PvE. You have excellent cleave and the enemies have low enough hp so you can clear whole groups very efficiently. It doesn’t matter that you don’t have a chrono and a ps to support you offensively. Your damage is still high enough for the weak enemies you’re facing. It doesn’t matter there is no druid to heal you, you simply don’t get hit by anything big. Usually you don’t even need your heal skill – you simply clear the group and the passive out of combat regen tops you up before you reach the next one.

Of course, if you prefer to run a tankier build, by all means, do so. The thing about open world is, it’s so easy you can make everything work. That’s the intent. But it doesn’t require you to play in any specific way. Just because you see glass eles getting downed regularly it doesn’t mean you can’t play glass ele VERY successfully in the same situation.

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Posted by: Axl.8924

Axl.8924

So wait:Condi Eles are kittened in pve outside raids? So what do you go for for pve solo? dagger focus? I said dagger focus because of onyx skin thing from earth which gives you protection.

(edited by Axl.8924)

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Posted by: Feanor.2358

Feanor.2358

Personally? Staff. Used to run Scepter/Warhorn, but since both OA and Phoenix got rekt it kinda lost it’s selling point (the really high burst). Of course, you can still run it, I just find staff to be a bit more versatile, mostly because of its utility in Water (two water fields, blast, pulsing cleanse and aoe chill). I don’t like Focus. It’s needlessly defensive for PvE. It has a single offensive skill, Flamewall. And it’s not really useful for a power setup, tho it is very strong for the condi one. Provided you can keep the target on it.

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Posted by: redcomyn.4651

redcomyn.4651

I have been using Dagger/Warhorn. It works pretty well and it is pretty fun to use.

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Posted by: atreyu.9624

atreyu.9624

So wait:Condi Eles are kittened in pve outside raids? So what do you go for for pve solo? dagger focus? I said dagger focus because of onyx skin thing from earth which gives you protection.

in the last period I was running Vanilla Fresh Air Scepter, just because it’s fun.
And it’s also decent at tagging things (which is all it really matters in open world anyway).

But it doesn’t really have that great DPS in pve, I wanted to feel like I was doing lots of dmg in boss events. (I still run FA in spvp/WvW tho, it’s my main build)

So I switched to the meta condi build for pve, but with Vanilla ele instead of Tempest (I kittening hate tempest nowadays).

Because I find Fire overload a complete overkill in Open world and if you overload and need to switch to another attunement u are just locked out of fire for sooo long.
Tempest is clearly better in fractals and Raids, but it just doesn’t work for me outside of that. I feel like a cripple running it.

So I run Fire/arcane/water Dagger/focus. (you could switch Water for something more Glassy, I prefer Water).
Full sinister / 2-3 carrion pieces not to have 11k HP / 100% burning condition.

little big wizard – Eu

(edited by atreyu.9624)

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Posted by: AliamRationem.5172

AliamRationem.5172

So wait:Condi Eles are kittened in pve outside raids? So what do you go for for pve solo? dagger focus? I said dagger focus because of onyx skin thing from earth which gives you protection.

Most players don’t like focus for open world because it’s a defensive weapon. No mobility, no damage. But honestly, you can use whatever you like. Literally any weapon set will work for open world because there are no requirements to meet beyond getting what you want out of it.

Having said that, you do want to make some effort to ensure that your build makes sense. If you want to go condi, it means most of your damage is going to come from fire skills that apply burns. So you probably wouldn’t want to use staff, for instance, because it is mostly direct damage.

If survival is an issue, you can try focus. But I think you’d be better off using some more defensive stat sets. As I said before, I really like water/air/tempest paired up with some gear that provides a mix of healing, offense, and maybe some extra vitality to take the edge off. A mix of zealot and valkyrie or marauder might be good because it maintains high power with solid precision, healing, vitality, and ferocity.

The basic idea is that you can take damage and use your strong healing to heal it back, often without having to resort to using your heal active (many players take the heal on skill use signet and rely mostly on the passive effect in open world) or water overload. This way you rarely get into trouble because you keep your biggest heals in reserve. Meanwhile, you still have high damage to take down enemies quickly, making them less of a threat even when facing large groups of enemies.

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Posted by: Axl.8924

Axl.8924

I was actually thinking of getting marauder gear for my ele.I was even directed by my guildy towards quantify for a build there, and i was asking around since some of it is directed at raids.I was told my guildy uses berserker and i argued marauder might be slightly better due to combination of vitality power ferocity and precision.

Also:Dagger attack 1 is absolutely terrible.Dragons claw has terrible range and you would be dead if you get that close to a enemy while dpsing.I feel like that first attack needs to be buffed.

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Posted by: AliamRationem.5172

AliamRationem.5172

I was actually thinking of getting marauder gear for my ele.I was even directed by my guildy towards quantify for a build there, and i was asking around since some of it is directed at raids.I was told my guildy uses berserker and i argued marauder might be slightly better due to combination of vitality power ferocity and precision.

Also:Dagger attack 1 is absolutely terrible.Dragons claw has terrible range and you would be dead if you get that close to a enemy while dpsing.I feel like that first attack needs to be buffed.

Marauder is a great set for an offense-oriented open world build. It maintains much of the damage of berserker, but with a significantly higher health pool.

And you’re right, Dragon’s Claw is not a great attack and it hardly gets used in practice. However, there is no reason for d/x ele to stay in fire attunement. Instead, unload your big damage skills in fire quickly and then swap to another attunement.

I highly recommend taking the air traitline and picking up the Fresh Air trait if you’re running dagger. Unlike fire, air is not really a damage attunement. However, its overload is and Fresh Air will let you clear the cooldown when you quick swap to fire, unload your big damage, then swap back. And unlike fire, air does have a very strong auto attack with decent range that you can use to fill in the 5 seconds between swapping back to air and overloading again.

You just need to play around with it and learn what works. Ele is a complicated class and unlike following a raid dps rotation, open world is more fluid and requires you to make decisions depending upon the situation you find yourself in.

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Posted by: Feanor.2358

Feanor.2358

Marauder is fine for soloing, though it definitely isn’t better. It’s a decent stat to give you some hp buffer while you’re learning the class.

The thing about ele is, if you’re not in melee range you’re seriously limiting your dps output. So dagger 1 is fine, tho the 1 you want to use is the Air one, not Fire. In any case, you only use this if you don’t have a better damaging ability at your disposal, namely Overload Air.

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Posted by: Amethyst Lure.5624

Amethyst Lure.5624

Been using Dagger/warhorn on mine, keeping a scepter around for the really unfriendly fights though, or a staff if I ever party up. I’ve got a full Magi set + Staff for fun, so when I want to feel really safe (along with the others) and somebody else is about to also join the tough fight that’s a pretty good way to ensure victory.

Anyway, for solo – been playing Fire/earth/tempest with signets, elemental power and one defensive flex slot, and in a mix of viper and sinister. It’s just fun to me to actually have signets feel usable for actives (written in stone trait), particularly having that extra heal from the heal signet.

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Posted by: Dadnir.5038

Dadnir.5038

Honestly, it’s been a long time since I’ve done hot with my ele but I believe that just using staff, glyphs and full damage traitline make thing easy enough for an ele to do almost everything. That’s what I used at that moment and I had absolutely no issue.

No core profession should be balanced around an optional elite specialization.

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Posted by: killermanjaro.5670

killermanjaro.5670

I solo with staff tempest, and found from a survival point of view having the Arcane trait line with Final Shielding was great, having Arcane Shield pop automatically when you drop below about half health saved my life countless times. Gives you enough time to get away if you’re caught in an AoE, or a trail from a Modrem Sniper shot.

In addition to that I had a Superior Sigil of Energy in one of my weapon slots, as if you get into trouble then switching attunements gets back endurance quite quickly for some extra quick dodges.

When I was new to HoT I was mostly using a mix of soldier’s gear, with a couple of zerker bits, which seemed to give me a good balance to survive. Now I know the content & enemies I’m able to survive in full zerker stuff by just taking down enemies before they take me down. It’s just a case of being more tactical, and being on point with positioning and dodging.

My trusty earth golem is always a useful summon if I engage a large mob and want to take some aggro away from me too.

I don’t use any meta builds, so the way I play might not be seen as ‘optimal’ by some, but these things work for me and how I play. So hopefully something there might help you out with surviving too.

Best way to solo HoT?

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Posted by: Feanor.2358

Feanor.2358

Playing meta isn’t always about being optimal. I mean, nobody cares how optimal they are in the open world. It’s just about being too lazy to swap gear and build every time when you pop in some place where it does matter.

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Posted by: mygamingid.5816

mygamingid.5816

So wait:Condi Eles are kittened in pve outside raids? So what do you go for for pve solo? dagger focus? I said dagger focus because of onyx skin thing from earth which gives you protection.

Nope, they’re amazing everywhere. Feanor just loves power staff Ele. D/F in Fire gives three skills with AOE and you can get more with Arcane Brilliance and Conjure Fiery Greatsword.

Condi does have a much easier rotation. You’ll camp Fire and use CFG unless you need utility from another attunement (and you have a lot of it). So you won’t have to do the Fresh Air attunement dance and you’ll do more damage.

The biggest damage from Condi is Signet of Fire, which is why I tend to recommend Fire/Earth/Arcane (faster recharge on signets, permanent passive signets) over Fire/Arcane/Tempest. It is a single target attack, but it hits crazy hard. If you need more AOE for a fight, then spec Fire/Arcane/Tempest or Fire/Earth/Tempest and use Overloads.

(edited by mygamingid.5816)

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Posted by: Wolfric.9380

Wolfric.9380

i main viper/cele S/F + E/Ar/T and like it .. otherwise i would not main it …. It´s just not raid optimizen but i don´t care..

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Posted by: AnClar.1304

AnClar.1304

I’ve been full ascended gear Zerk staff ele main (Fire, Air, Tempest) almost since GW2 released. I’ve been able to solo pretty much all of the HoT storyline, including the final chapters in each of the LS. About the only things I’ve had trouble soloing are the HPs that spawn Champs and adds. I’ve lived through the changes…both nerf and buff by just learning the class and following a few basic guidelines:

1. I’m a squishy glass cannon, so positioning, aggro control, kiting when necessary and learning the rotations were critical.

2. See #1 above.

Ele is one of the harder profs to master because of the rotations and attunements…but that’s fine w/ me.

I don’t raid either and I mostly play PvE, except sometimes WvW w/my guildies, so that’s where I’ll prolly stay as long as it remains fun to play.

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Posted by: Romio.8516

Romio.8516

I’m running this build for Open World content:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vFAQJBIhdyxA0fJ25A4zAwhJWEAM3WbsN3KsBuA1wgAQosIC-TxRBABUq+De6Be4BAUmyvGVCCwJA4q9HAA-e

D/Wh Fresh Air Fire Auromancer with Berserke’s Armor/Weapons and Celestial trinkets works like a charm, giving you a HUGE utility, mobility, self-sustain and a good distribution of stats.
Permanent Fury, Swiftness, Regeneration and Vigor.
Decent Might stack and uptime (can even sustain 25 stacks with Arcane Wave).
Constant passive solid healing via Auras rolling.
An on-demand access to Fire and Water fields, to Protection and Projectile reflect.
Access to soft CC (Weakness, Crippe), a lot of Blind and huge Vulnerability stacking.
A good solo damage output via Fresh Air and Air Overload, plus decent optional Condi damage.
Overall I found this build perfectly balanced for solo World Roaming.
The downside is a weak CC and lack of Condi cleanse. But in most cases you can just outdps and outheal things. You can pick Frost Bow for breakbar damage and Ether Renewal for cleanse though.
Also, the build requires a good knowledge of your tools, calls for quite an active gameplay and might takes some time to get used to.
Of course, you need Elemental Bastion to make it works, but you can just jump on any Hero Point train frequently going through HoT to get the last HP you need for unlocks.

(edited by Romio.8516)

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Posted by: Aomine.5012

Aomine.5012

i main viper/cele S/F + E/Ar/T and like it .. otherwise i would not main it …. It´s just not raid optimizen but i don´t care..

Don’t worry, Sinister gears are super darn easy to obtain, and condition ele has the most brain-dead easy rotation I’ve ever see in any build, so if you wanna do raid, just get a Sinister set.

It is also the set that’s easiest to hit 100% uptime of their respected condition cuz all you need is burning.

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Posted by: Feanor.2358

Feanor.2358

So wait:Condi Eles are kittened in pve outside raids? So what do you go for for pve solo? dagger focus? I said dagger focus because of onyx skin thing from earth which gives you protection.

Nope, they’re amazing everywhere. Feanor just loves power staff Ele. D/F in Fire gives three skills with AOE and you can get more with Arcane Brilliance and Conjure Fiery Greatsword.

I actually preferred Scepter/Warhorn, but now that its burst is nowhere near what it used to be the versatility of staff wins it for me.

And please be objective. The AOEs on d/f are nothing to brag about regarding cleave damage. Flamewall is tiny, and so is Burning Speed. Overload Fire is strong, but its radius is the same as your smallest AOE on staff (Lava Font). There’s also Drake’s Breath, but it’s a cone, which makes it less reliable against larger packs of enemies.

Compare this to Overload Air + Lava Font + Meteor Shower on top of each other. You create a larger kill zone in less time and the enemies inside die faster, due to virtually no ramp-up. The only cases where d/f can match its efficiency is when fighting against single strong opponent. To put it short, it lacks good cleave like I already said.

The rotation is irrelevant in the open world, you never actually need it because everything either dies too fast or gets zerged down by players and you can kill it by just pressing ‘1’.

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Posted by: Axl.8924

Axl.8924

I changed to staff and was spamming fireball until enemy stopped then meteor shower then lightning and overcharge lightning then back to fire and cast meteor again.

I don’t know if this is recommended or not.It works on immobile targets, but mobile targets move out of meteors range, leading to zero dps.Also:If you are in a mobility required part of fractals, you cannot do that.

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Posted by: mygamingid.5816

mygamingid.5816

And please be objective. The AOEs on d/f are nothing to brag about regarding cleave damage. Flamewall is tiny, and so is Burning Speed. Overload Fire is strong, but its radius is the same as your smallest AOE on staff (Lava Font). There’s also Drake’s Breath, but it’s a cone, which makes it less reliable against larger packs of enemies.

Compare this to Overload Air + Lava Font + Meteor Shower on top of each other. You create a larger kill zone in less time and the enemies inside die faster, due to virtually no ramp-up. The only cases where d/f can match its efficiency is when fighting against single strong opponent. To put it short, it lacks good cleave like I already said.

AOEs are overrated unless you’re tagging for bags or dealing with immobile mobs. As Axl stated, expansion content enemies move out of the AOE patch. Single-target attacks will burn down opponents faster and result in fewer incoming attacks, allowing you to avoid dodging and repositioning, so you can do more damage, etc.

I’ve been soloing Power Staff for the past week, trying to see if I’m missing something. I’ve been most effective with a Fire/Arcane/Tempest build. I thought Air would be the best (either with Fresh Air or Bolt to the Heart), but the nerfs to Air Overload hurt. I’ve been better off using Air just for CCs.

Pre-expansion content has been easy, but it’s easy regardless of build. Power Staff is frustrating in any content where the mobs won’t sit in my AOEs or I have to move a lot. Cancelling Meteor Shower to dodge or relocate away from damage is really annoying.

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Posted by: Feanor.2358

Feanor.2358

If mobs aren’t sitting in your aoes, you’re doing it wrong.

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Posted by: plushiesoda.8150

plushiesoda.8150

y run the fresh air scepter/warhorn (magi for more crit %) f/a/t build in “open” world with a celestial set and play with the utilities depending on map (usually for more blast finishers)

it lacks a little damage-side (especially with the last overload and scepter fire 3,5 nerf ) but when I run into champions or hero points i just blast some fire fields up to 25might and end up with 2680 power or so (almost the same as zerker ele without might), with 18k of hp, perma fury an almost perma protection/regeneration when overloading

it has decent damage, great survivability, insane support and great group healing (around 600 healing power) and it is fun for me on top of that

it may be not optimal, but I just love celes

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Posted by: Mercurias.1826

Mercurias.1826

When I run HoT solo on my Ele, I go Air/Water/Arcane with full Zerk since I can’t afford Celestial. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vFEQFAWnMICNNg1NAWNA0RgBKArWCJhigMHDAFAaFUCiBA-TBSBwAo0Bgw83N1fKq8LiSQAPAgHXAAi7PQKgIGaB-e

I mostly aim to ensure I can dodge and blast safely.

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Posted by: Ashabhi.1365

Ashabhi.1365

For what it’s worth, I ran a staff ele in full exotic zerker gear until I earned the hero points.

In VB, and the next few zones of HoT (follow the story to unlock them), you can cap hero points at 10 per. There is usually a train running as long as there isn’t a meta event going on, so it didn’t take me long to max out Tempest.

I still play staff Temp in exotic zerker gear and I have to say, I solo pretty much everything. The two exceptions are Mordrem Snipers and those shadow hopper frog things. I finally learned how to deal with snipers, but those frogs are the bane of my existence.

I am finally getting around to making my first set of Ascended armor, so I can say with some degree of accuracy that a zerker staff ele in exotic gear can solo the content. Trait for Tempest, Fire and Air, following a fractal build for simple staff DPS I got from Metabattle and then altered to suit my play style.

Good luck to you!

Level 80 Elementalist