Guild Wars 2

I Intro
II The Build
III Strategy
IV Final Thoughts
V Q&A

Intro

Hello fellow Elementalists! MightyMicah/Calculatorix here! I do believe I have finally crafted a build that you’ll want to mess around with at the very least, and perhaps even take to ranked PvP at the most. Before I go posting the links to these builds, however, I want to mention a few things.

First of all, I originally planned to share this build with some video footage to back it up with. Unfortunately, however, I don’t have any recording software and I will be moving soon, and encountering other irl issues which will most likely cause me to no longer be able to play Gw2. (I know…sad face ) So I decided that, in light of these issues, I would go ahead and let others see what it is I’ve come up with.

I also want to clarify that I am by no means new to Elementalist or Gw2. I started playing Gw2 a couple weeks after launch (since it had sold out even digitally…remember that? Haha) and my first class to touch was Elementalist. I didn’t get into sPvP right away though. But I won’t go into all of that. All I will say is that I’ve been fine tuning this build now since around February of 2014. Certainly a lot has changed since then and the recent Nerf to might has actually increased the viability of my own build on the entire ele spectrum.

Finally I want to clarify that I am no pro either. I’m only rank 61 at the moment, and just recently completed over 1,000 matches total (60% ish win rate. Mostly solo queue and unranked.) Although it should be noted that about 2/3 of these games were played on Elementalist using various builds ranging from condi signet, fresh air, meta, and other crap I’ve tested out.

I say all of this not to flex my muscles or anything, but just so that you guys know just exactly where I stand. Of course, even if I was a total noob, that wouldn’t mean that my build sucked, necessarily. I would highly encourage you to try the build out for yourself first before mocking me. Though, of course, constructive criticism is very much so welcomed!

The Build

Ok, so here’s the build for WvW: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJAodhcM6cW3wnBf0APAGxZwNYcH4D0BFGAeAA-TVSFABAcAB6TJ4kq/EwDAoKlfcohAP9ABv/ACnIgAAHA87v/+7v/WGAztA-w

If you wish, you can swap out the runes, the earth trait X, or the water trait VII to fit your personal preference. I wouldn’t recommend swapping utility skills, however, except perhaps signet of speed. Another viable option in group roaming is to use D/D rather than D/F just for the insane burst ability this build can offer.

(FYI, I chose perplexity because I hated getting ganked by thieves. This did the trick and I was able to manage killing two-three thieves at once due to the good aoe burst+condition damage in this build. Wish I’d caught it on camera.)

And here’s the build for sPvP: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJAodhcM6cW9wnBf0APAGxZwNYcH4D0BFGAeAA-TJhFwAAeAAw3f4wJAwZZAA

Now, I NORMALLY run the exact same build as the WvW version, only with scholar/ogre runes, but I wanted to show this build for those of you who PVP on TS or with a dedicated team/guild. The frost bow is an excellent aoe damage source especially for a build that does as much damage as this one. I’ve had it turn the tide of a group fight on a regular basis. The same variations as with the WvW build also apply here, though I’d mention that earth trait VIII is probably the most viable change since it can secure stomps more frequently for yourself and your team.

OK. If I haven’t put you to sleep yet, I want to briefly explain the way this build works and why it deals so much damage. (Again, if you don’t believe the damage, go and try it out in Hotm on some npc’s. You’ll be surprised.)

General Strategy

Take note first of all of your power, precision, and condition damage. On the surface, the three seem to be very lackluster. But that’s before you factor in all of the damage modifiers we have. On the air trait line we gain 20% when the enemy drops below 33% hp. On earth we gain 10% just for being in 600 range (which we almost always are.) On the water trait line we gain 10% while above the threshold, 10% damage with full endurance, and our runes give an extra 4% flat, 10% above 90% hp threshold, or perhaps none if we run frostbow. (But frost bow will compensate the loss of the damage modifier.) If that confused you, let me put it this way: We can potentially have up to 60% extra damage on our opening strike. This is no small benefit. Especially when you have the Fire sigil plus decent fury uptime from auras (air I) and condi pressure brought on by decent amounts of burning, poison, chill, and bleeding.

So those are some of the particulars, but you can discover that for yourself. The question is what is our role? Since we don’t have too much healing, blast finishers, or boons, what are we even doing on the team? Well, I typically find our role very similar to that of the thief. Due to our constant 25% speed, and excellent gimmicky damage, we can rotate and drop enemies like flies. However, the build is heavily optimized for 1v1 or even 1v2 scenarios so it also makes for a very excellent soft bunker, whether for far or home.

Due to the use of focus, as well, we have lots of utility to catch the enemy off guard. #5 on water, #4 on air, and #4&5 on earth can all be excellent ways to accomplish various things which a typical D/D ele could not.

Finally, let me mention probably the biggest thing in this build that obviously can’t go unnoticed. We have diamond skin!!! I cannot stress enough how much I love this trait. Back a year ago when I first discovered it, I was determined to create a working build with it. And I certainly have, if I may be so bold as to say it. This trait will save your butt so many times. I can’t tell you how easy it is to beat rabid builds, and even just predominantly condi builds in general. With diamond skin, focus #4, and water VII, condi builds will not be a problem. You simply have too much utility, damage, and damage mitigation to allow condi builds to get the better of you. (If you’re playing up of course)

Final Thoughts

In the end, I don’t think I could say that this build is “better” than the meta build. However, I would say that it certainly shouldn’t be knocked to the side. Personally, I’ve been much more content with the results from this build than from the meta build.

I’ll let you guys decide for yourselves what you think! And as I said before, I welcome any constructive criticism. I would merely ask that you actually try the build before telling me how bad it is because of no arcana.

Also, one more thing. Apparently there are some people who think diamond skin is cheese? Please. The trait is passively applied but that doesn’t mean you can play passive and win. You MUST watch your hp like a hawk if you want to effectively mitigate your opponent’s condi.

Finally, I’ll post the pros and cons of my build and then create a Q&A for you guys to ask some questions if you’re at all curious. (The pros/cons may seem a bit biased but honestly poor healing is no small issue and it’s the bane of this build’s existence.)

Pros/Cons:
Excellent damage
Excellent utility
Decent mobility
Decent condi pressure
Decent sustain
Decent condi removal
Poor healing

Well, that’s it! To end this thread I’ll just say that above all I hope you appreciate my build and that you enjoy playing it!

Play what you love, love what you play, but always remember…

Q&A

I’ll edit this Q&A for if anyone has a question.

Example:
Q: How do you manage with no vigor? Lack of dodges seems a bit weak.
A: One method I’ve used is swapping the fire/doom sigil for energy to serve that very purpose. However, I find that with reflects, invuln, stuns, etc., dodges aren’t needed as much. Just be sure and only dodge when you need to! Remember, we don’t have evasive arcana and we gain 10% extra damage for 5 in earth so use each dodge only when necessary.

Hmm, don’t know , would have to try this build to see what it actually represents, since you didn’t provide a sPvP video to back it up, but as far as i can see, that you run Focus in your off-hand, really limits the opening burst you can leash out on people, because you would have to open with Buning speed, which is never a great idea. unless you can time a good gale out of air first.

A lot of your build, seems like very situational, i might be wrong but, here let me point out why i think so:

1. Your fury generation is very limited, you skipped Arcane 1, which is a large chunk of fury generation in builds that require high amount of attunement hopping , like the dagger weapon.
You only have 2 fury generation bubbles (3 with magnetic pull combo) which generate only 5 seconds of fury each, and have high cooldown, so in total you would probably get 15 seconds of in a 40 second cd rotation, more or less.
You can’t maintain fury at all times, like the more popular builds.

2. The damage bonus generation of your build is very unstable, you seem to mention 60% somewhere ,but i just can’t seem see where you get those numbers from.
You run 6 earth, which gives you 10% as long as you dont dodge, then 10% from water while being above 90% threshold, and 10% from being closer than 600 range.
So basically, only 10% out of these damage increasers, is stable, because after your initial burst which provides you 20-30% (depending if they didn’t start damageing you before you jumped in and you are over 90% hp).
After you jump in, you will want to dodge, unless you just want to get deleted by focus, so you lose the 10% from earth, and your HP is probably already under 90% , because you said that the problem of your build is healing, so you can’t maintain high health, and you end up with only 10% damage.
We won’t even talk about your 20% extra damage from air when the target is low hp because you won’t even remotely closely get a target to 30% with your initial burst.

So yeah, i don’t know where that 60% comes from, unless its very, VERY sitational that you run into battle against a target with 20% hp while you are fresh out of base.

3. Lack of vigor, you run 5 earth for the extra damage, but you have no vigor generation, you can see yourself where is the flaw in that combination, unless you don’t plan on dodging, ever.

4. Condi clear? Where is it? You have literally no condi clear, and being an elementalist that will wreck you almost every PvP , just earth 4 every 25 seconds is not enough for condi clear.

5. Your overall stats, are very low, 1400 power? With a 20-30% increase which is very situational? Yeah i dont know.

6. Might, your might generation is horrible with this build, celestial builds work, because they compensate with might stacking but you don’t have that there.
You go F4, then W3 and E4, which gives you 6 stacks and thats it, that is your whole might generation combo on a cooldown of 25 seconds, with no might boon duration increasers, so yeah, you can’t get might with this build.

There are probably more flaws i can point in this build, but you should get it by now where i’m coming from.

But i mean, by all means try and get up a un-cropped sPvP video in full lenght, where you show us the ups and downs of your build.

Lawful.5314:

Hmm, don’t know , would have to try this build to see what it actually represents, since you didn’t provide a sPvP video to back it up, but as far as i can see, that you run Focus in your off-hand, really limits the opening burst you can leash out on people, because you would have to open with Buning speed, which is never a great idea. unless you can time a good gale out of air first.

A lot of your build, seems like very situational, i might be wrong but, here let me point out why i think so:

(List of 6 critiques…removed so I can respond)

There are probably more flaws i can point in this build, but you should get it by now where i’m coming from.

But i mean, by all means try and get up a un-cropped sPvP video in full lenght, where you show us the ups and downs of your build.

Try the build out. I appreciate that you’ve taken time to point out the errors in the build, but I believe it reveals that you haven’t played the build for yourself.

1. The fury is limited, sure, but our damage isn’t coming from critical hits. It’s coming from our damage modifiers and our condi.

2. This build may struggle to heal effectively, but that doesn’t mean it can’t sustain. The overall skills which I use allow for me to keep my health above 90% hp for a long time before dropping down. Generally it is long enough to burst the enemy down, especially in a team fight. I’m merely speaking from experience.

3. This is a legitimate problem, but as I mentioned before, we aren’t relying on dodges to sustain ourself. The meta ele doesn’t have focus offhand so he’s suceptable to much more than we are. We have interrupts, chills, reflects, diamond skin, and a decent stun break/blind

4. We have earth on a 20 second cool down, and we have clear chill and burning on dodge roll. Plus, we have diamond skin. Condi clear isn’t needed when you can’t have condi landed on you in the first place. Sure, it’s risky, but I find the condi clear to be plenty sufficient.

5. The stats appear low, yes, but again try it out. You’ll be surprised how hard this build hits. And if your team is calling targets you’ll be dropping them very quickly, especially once they go below 33% hp. (I’ve had lightning whip hit for 2k on a regular basis)

6. This isn’t a might stacking build. Our damage source comes from our modifiers. Again, test the build out. You’ll be surprised how hard it can hit. Just go to heart of the mists and mess around with the npcs. You’ll see what I mean.

Man…do you know of any free recording software? Maybe I can put together one video before I leave. This guide would have meant so much more if I had a video to back it up with.

Lawful said almost everything i think.

You should at least do this change:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJAodhcM6cW3wnBfEBWAGxSQKY8DIC8AFFAKdEA-TVSFABAcAB6TJ4kq/EwDAoKlfcohAP9ABv/ACnIgAAHA87v/+7v/WGAztA-w
Swap 2from air into arcana.

I still really dont like your build, but a least this change increase your survivability and i would say your damage too (boon duration for might, and more fury uptime)

Mattmatt.4962:

Lawful said almost everything i think.

You should at least do this change:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJAodhcM6cW3wnBfEBWAGxSQKY8DIC8AFFAKdEA-TVSFABAcAB6TJ4kq/EwDAoKlfcohAP9ABv/ACnIgAAHA87v/+7v/WGAztA-w
Swap 2from air into arcana.

I still really dont like your build, but a least this change increase your survivability and i would say your damage too (boon duration for might, and more fury uptime)

Did you try the build out?

MightyMicah.7451:

Did you try the build out?

With nearly 3 years of pvp experience, most good players can look at a build and tell the strengths and weaknesses.

hybrid.5027:

MightyMicah.7451:

Did you try the build out?

With nearly 3 years of pvp experience, most good players can look at a build and tell the strengths and weaknesses.

I have the same experience with over 1k hours spent on Ele. I was hoping to be shown the courtesy of at least a few minutes testing what I’ve put a year’s time and effort into fine tuning. However, if others wish to scrap the build before trying it, that’s fine with me. Their loss.

I just thought I’d share this for anyone willing to think outside the box.

I tried it out last night for a few hours, the only thing I ended up changing out was arcane shield for armor of earth and eventually went to flame legion runes for the little boost to direct damage. It performed well as posted but I missed the stability and felt that the flame legion fit well with the damage modifier theme. It was an absolute blast too play though, either way.

@OP: You can ask Phataram to try your build. He will certainly not pass the chance to try new things out.

Caelmir.2514:

I tried it out last night for a few hours, the only thing I ended up changing out was arcane shield for armor of earth and eventually went to flame legion runes for the little boost to direct damage. It performed well as posted but I missed the stability and felt that the flame legion fit well with the damage modifier theme. It was an absolute blast too play though, either way.

Well good, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Also, nice catch With the flame legion runes! I didn’t even think to run those, but it certainly fits with the gimmicky style of the build.

MightyMicah.7451:

Man…do you know of any free recording software? Maybe I can put together one video before I leave. This guide would have meant so much more if I had a video to back it up with.

Mmm i used to record with BandiCam, i’m not sure its still free, but you should look it up.

MightyMicah.7451:

I have the same experience with over 1k hours spent on Ele. I was hoping to be shown the courtesy of at least a few minutes testing what I’ve put a year’s time and effort into fine tuning. However, if others wish to scrap the build before trying it, that’s fine with me. Their loss.

I just thought I’d share this for anyone willing to think outside the box.

Well if you go as far as saying that, i’ll check your build out, as soon as i get a bit of PvP time.

Lawful.5314:

MightyMicah.7451:

Man…do you know of any free recording software? Maybe I can put together one video before I leave. This guide would have meant so much more if I had a video to back it up with.

Mmm i used to record with BandiCam, i’m not sure its still free, but you should look it up.

MightyMicah.7451:

I have the same experience with over 1k hours spent on Ele. I was hoping to be shown the courtesy of at least a few minutes testing what I’ve put a year’s time and effort into fine tuning. However, if others wish to scrap the build before trying it, that’s fine with me. Their loss.

I just thought I’d share this for anyone willing to think outside the box.

Well if you go as far as saying that, i’ll check your build out, as soon as i get a bit of PvP time.

I meant no offense bro, but I’m sure you understand how I feel. Sounds good, lemme know how it works!