Guild Wars 2

Want to get my elementalist alt to 80, what’s the best weapons/traits/stats for leveling one? D/D looks like the most fun, but is it most effective/fastest overall?

Also, is there any pre-80 build/gear that allows you to solo champions and tough veterans (like I can on my mesmer and to a lesser extent guardian)?

Just learn the class and veterans are easy unless there´s more than 3-4.
Learn it well and champions are doable, but take kittenload of time, aka. not worth it really other than to boost your kitten, which i do quite often though.

Build isn´t critical, i levelled with 50/50 split between fire and water, using staff.