Guild Wars 2

Hello guys, I just downloaded the game, and I read… I read a lot.

1) What are elementalist pros and cons? Where do they shine? and when are they underwhelming?

2) So I have found many different builds for pve and pvp, but I dont know which one to focus on to start off my adventure, I know there isn’t really the best one etc, but if you can mention what builds works for you the best in pve AND pvp, with the weapons etc, I would REALLY appreciate it.

3) Unfortunately, I am a very lonely person. Is ele going to be hard to level up solo ? I would like to be able to level and up and play.
Thanks in advance for all your thoughts and efforts. <3

Hello again, you have found my one other enjoyed class.

An elementalist was actually my first 80. Now they were easier to level before the april 15th change in my opinion. They will not be as easy as the thief you were looking at, but if you can master them are WAY more useful.

With Elementalists you don’t get that second weapon set at level 7, instead what you do get is 4 attunments which gives you 20 skills per weapon set.

The Dagger/Dagger, or Dagger/Focus (D/D or D/F) are the easiest soloing items, with Staff being best if you are running with a group. Air atunment (f3) gives the best auto attack with Dagger. Plus its a cool animation. Its a lightning whip.

However what really makes leveling with an elementalist easy is when you get the utility skill “conjure lightning hammer” The auto attack on it is huge and the third swing does a blind so most things won’t even hurt you. Now early on you will only get 15 attacks per hammer and it takes 60 seconds to be able to conjure again, so it takes some planning. It makes leveling an elementalist so much easier. As for getting more detailed information for when your a higher level (at least 60 or so) here is a GREAT link on elementalist skills

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Guide-DPS-Elementalist-for-PvE/first

Again every ten levels upgrade your gear. You will want to get power gear, unless you find yourself dying a lot, and then getting vitality, and then toughness after level 40 will really help with that.

p.s. you forgot to change thief to elementalist in your post on number 3.

you are awesome, thanks so much. Would you say elemantalists are good for Pvp/Wvw ?

They are awesome for everything. You really have to be level 80 but at that point there are setups and ways you can do the most dps in the game. Until that point you have to reallllllllly know the profession to do well.

Oh, one last thing. If you hate the ‘dress’ look of cloth gear, when its time to pick a group to join (part of your story) go with the vigil, they have a nice no dress armor look. Its what I use on my elementalist.

thank you so much, I’ve opened an ele and i’m loving it so far! <3

Btw, for leveling: what should my skills & traits look like? Thats the part I’m having the most difficulty with

I wouldn’t say staff is the downright best in a group. It has the highest potential DPS but the lowest utility out of any elementalist weapon in order to reach a reasonable DPS because the moment you move off fire, your ability to hurt stuff just collapses.

Still looking to get some help with skills and traits while leveling. I find it that Ele is one of the few classes that do not have a leveling guide like others for Open World Farming..

I am too leveling an Elementalist – and enjoying it a lot! I stick with power / precision gear and swap traits/weapons on the fly. I got that idea of keeping every single weapon combination in my inventory from maiming a thief, and I’ve brought that to all other professions – which is something I have yet to regret.

I kind of like the idea behind not having any leveling guide, because if there were one, I would read it… It is way more fun to learn by yourself. By doing so you learn so much more about the profession than you would do by reading someone else’s guide. I always try to stick to learning by myself, and then use these forums to check up on what I have discovered.

That’s just my 2 cents

Open world farming is becoming less and less of a thing these days because Anet consistently nerfs every farming spot to the ground because they don’t like players to grind and/or want you to buy more gems.

MrSimple: I just leveling my ele now (currently 62). It’s a good experience. I was running with Ice Bow, Signet of Air and Armour of Earth till now. Elemental elite.

I put my points into Earth for more condi+toughness and fire for the Conjure. Now I have Soothing Mist too.

Ice Bow is a killer thing. Just don’t use it if you don’t need it! Drop it for a Fire#5 or Earth#5 than re-equip from the floor.

I used D/D for a melee build and I have to say the ele is not squishy at all. If you fight veterans or skill challenges you have the elemental and the Frost Bow… Easy

Learn the burst combos! On the YouTube you can find some, but here they are as a D/D ele:

Ride/Updraft, swap to fire Burning Speed/Drake’s Breath as you run, Fire Grab, swap to Earth, Churning Earth or Earthquake, autoattack.

Scepter has MORE useful combos and more powerful too. I just don’t like the scepter…

As the gear: upgrade it every 5 levels. Pay more attention on Sigils… they are very important I think. A minor sigil of doom or water can make a difference

Tl:Dr: Ele is FUN to level… Stick to it, you won’t regret it…. I didn’t.

I’ve been researching the game for the past few days as well. I’m tempted to come back and I havent played since the whole clockwork event so I’m sure a lot changed. I’ll be making an elementalist too since I havent really tried one before.

I was debating between thief and elementalist too and just the thought of doing a melee style caster thats incredibly fast paced sounds real good to me. That being said I was researching the dagger focus build and it sounds like what I’m looking for. Can I use that in groups and be accepted too or will I be pigeonholed into staff?

I’ll be starting from scratch at level one on Saturday. Hope to have a little more in depth information before then. Currently playing the diablo 3 expansion and hoping the switch back is worth it!