You’ll want to look at staff builds as Staff has a lot of built in support as a weapon (lots of field generation, CC) and can still kick out some damage when needed as well.
If you’re interested in the various maximum DPS builds they should be easy to find over at metabattle.com
What other elements of game play do you do? WvW at all? Solo WvW or large scale? Boss farming or regular just champ farming?
i need it youst for pve .. i made an ele whit cleric armor , superior rune of water and the accessory is cleric-.. traids : air 2 points : V….. water 6 points : V, X, XIII and arcana 6 points : V, VIII, XIII
Its that good
As we were discussing in another thread the amount of Healing you end up getting generally isn’t worth the amount of other stats that you lose. Like you’ll only notice a couple 100 more healing on most skills when players will be getting hit for 1000s. Unfortunately the healing just isn’t powerful enough magnitude to really constitute putting points into healing. The biggest coefficient heal is 100% with Evasive Arcana’s Water roll and even with 1500 healing power it’ll heal for around 2800 I believe.
If you already put all the gear together I would give it a try in a dungeon or two and see if you like it and if it’s working for the group and/or PUG you try to run with. If you haven’t put the gear together I would try an easy dungeon like an Ascalon Catacombs P1 or P3 or something and just try playing without the gear and see if that’s enough support for what you’re looking for. If you think the healing is a bit low, imagine if it was (at best) doubled and would that really make a difference? If not then you know going that route isn’t going to be what you want to do and if it would be okay then give it a shot.
Something you might like at Metabattle is the WvW Zerg Staff Support Elementalist build. It has a mix of a little bit of Offense but still has it’s points in defensive/support healing style traits so it has a little bit of both.
To be honest, you’re probably not going to heal people enough to keep them alive in PvE content, especially if you’re trying to pursue higher level fractals.
The typical Cele Ele 0/0/2/6/6 build that people like to run is pretty good support in PvP formats though.
One thing, though. If you are in some fight where you need more healing, why not use the Elite Water Elemental? The activated heal will heal a ton. And the best part is you can use it no matter your build, just slot it in!
Biggest thing I hate about that Elemental and one of the biggest reasons I gave up on trying to use it that way is it runs into melee to do that. If the group isn’t stacked up melee on the boss then it’s generally going to not hit it. Most PUG groups I do almost no one ever stacks ever except on a very few encounters.
Really wish that active was non-combat and PBAOE around the Elemental as I’d get waaaaaaaay more mileage out of it.
If you care about support and doing damage, I would suggest taking a scepter-focus fresh-air build that has at least 4 in arcana, 2 in water, and the last 2 in water or arcana.
This gives you a couple projectile blocks/reflects, some heals and cleanse in water, good might-stacking for your team, and an invuln to secure resses without dying. I usually also take mistform (for resses) and sometimes glyph of renewal (for mai trin to pick up people who die during the cannon phase). You can also still do good damage (with ice bow added in).
Its much better to consider some select ways you can provide support while still doing damage, as opposed to building 100% for support.
If you care about support and doing damage, I would suggest taking a scepter-focus fresh-air build that has at least 4 in arcana, 2 in water, and the last 2 in water or arcana.
This gives you a couple projectile blocks/reflects, some heals and cleanse in water, good might-stacking for your team, and an invuln to secure resses without dying. I usually also take mistform (for resses) and sometimes glyph of renewal (for mai trin to pick up people who die during the cannon phase). You can also still do good damage (with ice bow added in).
Its much better to consider some select ways you can provide support while still doing damage, as opposed to building 100% for support.
hmm never thought about that … whats the armor for that build full zerk or ??
If you care about support and doing damage, I would suggest taking a scepter-focus fresh-air build that has at least 4 in arcana, 2 in water, and the last 2 in water or arcana.
This gives you a couple projectile blocks/reflects, some heals and cleanse in water, good might-stacking for your team, and an invuln to secure resses without dying. I usually also take mistform (for resses) and sometimes glyph of renewal (for mai trin to pick up people who die during the cannon phase). You can also still do good damage (with ice bow added in).
Its much better to consider some select ways you can provide support while still doing damage, as opposed to building 100% for support.
hmm never thought about that … whats the armor for that build full zerk or ??
Don’t use that build, it’s bad for PvE. Scepter have a high burst, but terrible auto-attack, which equal to a bad dps overall.
That’s why it’s a good PvP build, but not PvE build. If you like the concept of Fresh air in PvE, then D/F would be a better choice. If you like scepter for PvE, then use it so stack might/burst, then take the Lightning Hammer for auto-attack in-between.
I never had a problem or complaint using Scepter in dungeons, as in no one has ever called me out or thrown me out of a group for using a Scepter.
I like Scepter a lot because while I will spend a good portion of my time in melee with it I also have the option to back up as needed. You can play this way with a staff, but then you no longer are capable of stacking that much Might. With Strength Runes, 4 Arcane, and Sigil of Battle I usually can stack up 20-25 stacks of might. However if the group already has someone throwing out Might or everyone is at range kiting (this is the more common occurrence I run into honestly) it’s kinda wasted. You can stack might with Dagger as well, but it’s not for everyone and some people dislike melee with no ranged options (especially, again, when everyone around you is at range).
Usually I prefer /Dagger with it because /Dagger is the more offensive of the two options with more direct attacks but again it really varies on what dungeon you’re doing and what you’re facing for what tool set you want/need. BlackBeard already covered the great options with Focus as well.
I never had a problem or complaint using Scepter in dungeons, as in no one has ever called me out or thrown me out of a group for using a Scepter.
I like Scepter a lot because while I will spend a good portion of my time in melee with it I also have the option to back up as needed. You can play this way with a staff, but then you no longer are capable of stacking that much Might. With Strength Runes, 4 Arcane, and Sigil of Battle I usually can stack up 20-25 stacks of might. However if the group already has someone throwing out Might or everyone is at range kiting (this is the more common occurrence I run into honestly) it’s kinda wasted. You can stack might with Dagger as well, but it’s not for everyone and some people dislike melee with no ranged options (especially, again, when everyone around you is at range).
Usually I prefer /Dagger with it because /Dagger is the more offensive of the two options with more direct attacks but again it really varies on what dungeon you’re doing and what you’re facing for what tool set you want/need. BlackBeard already covered the great options with Focus as well.
All depends on how you want to support the group.
Ok i will try both wepons and see what is more Acceptable for me.
People don’t call you out because it’s not obvious. If you go into a dungeon with a Longbow Ranger and stay at 1500 range, it’s obvious. If you have a couple of minions following you, it’s obvious. But when you play Sceptre with an Elementalist, ppl assume that you play LH build. If you stack might with it, then ppl will be happy and won’t try to check you out further.
But that doesn’t change the fact that spectre auto-attack is one of the worth in the game and that you will do ridiculously low DPS on the character that have the potential to dish out the best DPS of the game. If you prefer to play that way, go ahead, but it won’t make it good. LH compensate for the lackluster auto-attack of the S/X setup and transform it from a bad weapon set to one of the best in PvE.
Funny story: I run a 6/6/02/0 1500m Ranger with Knight Armor and Zerker everything else as well in Dungeons and no one ever calls me out on it either.
Really it’s all about the groups and the people you run with. I mean you look at a thread like this one and you can see despite that person using a high DPS (Zerker) build and clearly comfortable and knowledgeable about the class for some people that’s just not enough for them.
All dungeons I’ve ever run as S/D no one has ever asked me about the absence of a Lightning Hammer. You’d think if it was expected, someone would notice the lack of them run after run. Personally I think this is because there’s a vastly greater focus on simply getting through the content rather than how you get through the content. That doesn’t mean there isn’t groups who do focus on the how you get through it, but for your average PUG run I find most people really mind their own business and long as everything is going okay no one honestly cares.
Some ppl see D/F, which is one of the best build, and freak out because Staff can do more dps.
Other ppl see a Sc/X Elementalist and don’t ask question.
In the end that doesn’t change anything. Scepter/X build have a terrible auto-attack, that’s just a fact. But like anything, everybody can do what they want and find people to play how they want.
I was merely pointing out that many people don’t assume because you’re using Scepter that they assume you’re LH and I went a step further and said many groups don’t care what you are or whether or not it’s the lowest DPS option or the highest DPS option.
As you say, everybody tends to do what they want and will end up finding people to support playing the way they want.
I wonder how little I could do in a dungeon without getting kicked. Just sorta pondering. Maybe Nomad’s Gear, autoattacking in Water Attunement in Staff. Heck, a lot of people have pretty poor awareness – I wonder if I could just walk into fights without using skills, and still no one would notice I’m doing nothing.
I think you’d be pretty surprised long as you just actively avoid the “Berserker” groups. In my experience they’re really the only ones who really will call people out or ask them what their spec is or why they are doing X instead of Y.
Otherwise long as the content gets done, think you’ll find no one cares what you do or how you do it. At least over here in NA PUG groups, not sure how it is in the Euro PUG groups as attitudes easily change from region to region.
I think you’d be pretty surprised long as you just actively avoid the “Berserker” groups. In my experience they’re really the only ones who really will call people out or ask them what their spec is or why they are doing X instead of Y…
So, basically you are saying the only groups that will notice an under-performing player are the ones that have skilled players in them. I mean, a player that is capable of running zerker gear and an offensive (direct damage) spec with the awareness to detect another player’s performance is always welcome in my group.
I know I am paraphrasing here, but this seems like exactly the kind of group that I would love to join; one with skilled players.
Why do those that know the least know it the loudest?
So, basically you are saying the only groups that will notice an under-performing player are the ones that have skilled players in them. I mean, a player that is capable of running zerker gear and an offensive (direct damage) spec with the awareness to detect another player’s performance is always welcome in my group.
I know I am paraphrasing here, but this seems like exactly the kind of group that I would love to join; one with skilled players.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say that those groups are the only groups that have skilled players but rather they’re the only ones with a vested interest in actually making sure their group goes at a good pace and completes the content quickly. A normal PUG group could have skilled players in it but have no interest or care if players are under performing or not if the content gets done.
Regardless, there’s groups for that kind of play so you should be set!
Just wanted to chime in that the OP was asking about ways to support in dungeon runs and clearly isn’t looking for straight meta zerker builds that are primarily focused on damage. While those dungeon builds can be great, they get MUCH worse when people don’t know all the encounters from farming them constantly, aren’t in an all-zerk group that can burst down bosses and ignore most mechanics, or are doing truly challenging content. I tend to run with pretty casual groups, and even though I don’t run “max dps” builds, I know I am always more than pulling my weight while carrying players who get downed often by using select support capabilities.
Sure, dagger/focus might work even better than scepter, but many dungeon encounters have pretty strong anti-melee features that can be challenging outside speed-running groups if not coordinated. If your group is especially weak, scepter allows you to keep up ranged dps while also positioning in ways to share your support with your allies.
Also, to answer the earlier question, I use mostly zerker armor with a few soldier/knights pieces mixed in so I can roam in wvw (and not get 1-shot by BS thief so my counter-burst kills em). I don’t have dedicated dungeon gear, but its good enough to get the job done.
I think you’d be pretty surprised long as you just actively avoid the “Berserker” groups. In my experience they’re really the only ones who really will call people out or ask them what their spec is or why they are doing X instead of Y…
So, basically you are saying the only groups that will notice an under-performing player are the ones that have skilled players in them. I mean, a player that is capable of running zerker gear and an offensive (direct damage) spec with the awareness to detect another player’s performance is always welcome in my group.
I know I am paraphrasing here, but this seems like exactly the kind of group that I would love to join; one with skilled players.
Send me a word in game. My group would be more than happy to train you.
“Raids are like fortune cookies. You eat the cookie and then read the paper scraps.”
