Guild Wars 2

Hey guys wanted to make a video to show the burst potential of the Scepter/Dagger weapon set well still having some survivability. This is not a 1vX showcase as this build is not designed for that. Build info in the description.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD1S_sP90Ao

Video quality is a bit low but hope you enjoy the footage.

Tips on skill usage:
—Do not enter combat in Air Attunement whenever possible, put yourself in combat then swap to Air. The reasoning for this is you want your Arcane Fury to be active for your lightning burst as well as activating Electric Discharge.
—The three main reason I like to open with Earthquake if the opponent is in range is 1) It will force the opponent to use a dodge (2) if they get hit by it they will have to use a utility skill to get out (3) if they do not take option 1 or 2 they will eat the opening burst. Either way they are set behind in some way.
—Map your stow weapons key to an easily accessible key so if you ever need to cancel your Arc Lightning (and you will). If you keep channeling Arc Lightning with multiple stacks of Confusion you will kill yourself very fast.
—Make sure to place Phoenix right behind your opponent(s) when possible as this will allow Phoenix to hit them 3 times. Also best to cast at a closer range since the travel time of the animation is slow.
—If low on endurance and trying to survive you can cast Phoenix right in front of you to proc the Vigor.
—If trying to create distance remember you can cast Phoenix, Lighting Strike, Blinding Flash and Arcane Blast behind you to keep pressure on your opponent as you kite.
—You can also cast Lighting Strike, Blinding Flash and Arcane Blast as you are healing.
—If the situation allows and it is off cool down you can use Blinding Flash to secure stomps.

Updates:
4/1/13- Updated the video description to include changes to make for full burst
4/7/13-Add some tips on skill usage

Very nice to see some non-D/D footage. Well done.

Nice vid, I’ve seen you around in WvW a few times. I used to run a similar build, maybe I’ll try it out once again!

Very nice vid, and great choice in the music! I’ll have to give this a shoot again on my charr!

I do not understand how you do always 3500/4000 damage with lighting strike.
I tried to replicate your build but do not pass the 1000 damage with lighting strike although inflict critical hits.

I apologize for the terrible english but is not my idiom

DAT BURST!!!

Very nice play style, love it!

wow ur burst is like crit dmg of bacsktab but thieves needs to stealth get close and hit backstab well. and they still nerfing thieves. 4secs stealth immunity. and u can easily owned glass canon built on your vid. especially thieves with just pressing 2 3 1

Principe I.1492:

I do not understand how you do always 3500/4000 damage with lighting strike.
I tried to replicate your build but do not pass the 1000 damage with lighting strike although inflict critical hits.

I apologize for the terrible english but is not my idiom

No need for apologies. I can not even speak another language so kudos to you!

I have updated my response in the youtube chat.

Glad you guys enjoyed the footage and let us know how it goes if you try the build.

Thanks

Great job! Can I please get a link to the build/gear? Trying to try something aside from d/d on wvw for my ele.

It’s impressive, and I love that it’s not D/D. But really, 1v1 fights in WvW? It’s a nice display of what the build is capable of, but if you’re going to show off solo ability, then lets see some 1vGroup.

Nice to see a Sceptor/Dagger video

I play a 0/20/30/10/10 S/D.
Air Vl, X
Earth ll, Vl, Xll
Water V
Arcane V

Fairly new to game and thus all blue equipment.. Someday I hope to upgrade:
Soldier Armor – Rune of the Warrior -1 sec weapon swap
Knight Jewels – Magi
Weapons – Beserker – Sigil of Energy and Leeching

Jarek.2430:

Nice to see a Sceptor/Dagger video

I play a 0/20/30/10/10 S/D.
Air Vl, X
Earth ll, Vl, Xll
Water V
Arcane V

Fairly new to game and thus all blue equipment.. Someday I hope to upgrade:
Soldier Armor – Rune of the Warrior -1 sec weapon swap
Knight Jewels – Magi
Weapons – Beserker – Sigil of Energy and Leeching

Does the -1 weapon swap work with elementalist attunements?

Ljiona.9142:

Does the -1 weapon swap work with elementalist attunements?

No, it does not work.

Eliteseraph.4970:

It’s impressive, and I love that it’s not D/D. But really, 1v1 fights in WvW? It’s a nice display of what the build is capable of, but if you’re going to show off solo ability, then lets see some 1vGroup.

I don’t think it’s really much of a 1vx sorta build.

Israel.7056:

Eliteseraph.4970:

It’s impressive, and I love that it’s not D/D. But really, 1v1 fights in WvW? It’s a nice display of what the build is capable of, but if you’re going to show off solo ability, then lets see some 1vGroup.

I don’t think it’s really much of a 1vx sorta build.

Well, then I have to wonder really what the point of making a build for 1v1 is when going into WvW where most of your fights are NOT going to be 1v1. Sure, you can find those kinds of fights if you go out of your way to look for them, especially if you troll around in the JPs. But even then you’re going to often run across small groups of 2 or 3. What then?

Like I said, it’s a very good showcase of what the build can do, but anyone can make a highlight reel if they spend enough time and cut enough footage. Vids like this give a very misleading view of what actually goes on in WvW.

I’m also having trouble trying to replicate these numbers – maybe getting 1/3-1/2 of your damage output. Are these mostly fully geared people you were killing in your video? Also, could you show us a shot of your stats and damage log – not really sure if i’m pressing the buttons correctly and trying to get my burst damage from the right spells.

@Flipside Thanks! The build info is in the description and tips on how to customize to your needs in the comments below video.

Eliteseraph.4970:

Israel.7056:

Eliteseraph.4970:

It’s impressive, and I love that it’s not D/D. But really, 1v1 fights in WvW? It’s a nice display of what the build is capable of, but if you’re going to show off solo ability, then lets see some 1vGroup.

I don’t think it’s really much of a 1vx sorta build.

Well, then I have to wonder really what the point of making a build for 1v1 is when going into WvW where most of your fights are NOT going to be 1v1. Sure, you can find those kinds of fights if you go out of your way to look for them, especially if you troll around in the JPs. But even then you’re going to often run across small groups of 2 or 3. What then?

Like I said, it’s a very good showcase of what the build can do, but anyone can make a highlight reel if they spend enough time and cut enough footage. Vids like this give a very misleading view of what actually goes on in WvW.

First of thanks for taking the time to watch and providing feedback. Second, this build is NOT designed for 1v1’s as there are a hand full of builds that if played well could easily counter this one.

It also appears that you have answered your own question. You ask why the majority of the footage was just against a single target, and that’s because as you say " It’s a nice display of what the build is capable of" That was the main point of the first video to show the potential burst of the build. It would be difficult for the viewer to see this if there were multiple people attacking the same target (as would happen in any group fight).

Also from the video description: . This is NOT 1vX showcase as this build is not designed for that (I am finishing up a hybrid build that will work better in those situations). This build excels in small skirmish with good teammates, which I hope to have more footage of these fights in the future.

So stay tuned for more videos

Eliteseraph.4970:

Israel.7056:

Eliteseraph.4970:

It’s impressive, and I love that it’s not D/D. But really, 1v1 fights in WvW? It’s a nice display of what the build is capable of, but if you’re going to show off solo ability, then lets see some 1vGroup.

I don’t think it’s really much of a 1vx sorta build.

Well, then I have to wonder really what the point of making a build for 1v1 is when going into WvW where most of your fights are NOT going to be 1v1. Sure, you can find those kinds of fights if you go out of your way to look for them, especially if you troll around in the JPs. But even then you’re going to often run across small groups of 2 or 3. What then?

Like I said, it’s a very good showcase of what the build can do, but anyone can make a highlight reel if they spend enough time and cut enough footage. Vids like this give a very misleading view of what actually goes on in WvW.

It’s not just good in 1v1s though it’s also really strong in group fights.

The video just showcases the spike damage potential of the build.

I very much look forward to seeing some footage of group vs group fights using this build. It seems like a great build for skirmishing, but I wonder how it performs in large scale zerg on zerg.

I avoid zergs like the plague unless no friends are on. We hunt for other skilled small groups that roam. Im in T1 and yes we zerg the best but there are some good roamers.

After watching this it makes scepter look more viable. Atm i kind of hate scepter buy figured it was an aquired taste and would need to change the build and gear not just gear.

Id like to see a link or vid of full gear, traits food and stat breakdown. Some of those crits were very nice!!

Eliteseraph.4970:

I very much look forward to seeing some footage of group vs group fights using this build. It seems like a great build for skirmishing, but I wonder how it performs in large scale zerg on zerg.

anything preforms well in the zerg. it takes very little to be effective. thus the reason for 1 spam.

Very nice video.

I noticed you never pop your elemental in the vid, perhaps some fiery greatsword action would be good?

How much damage does the Sigil of Fire do?

@KuidProKuo and Pizzel I will update the video description some point to better clarify what changes I make to the build for full burst as well as updating the original post with some tips on opening rotation.

Also all targets in the video where lvl 80 except for one.

@Eliteseraph Personally I try my best to actively avoid the zerg fighting as that aspect is not enjoyable for me, so not enough experience to give you accurate feedback. But theoretically I do not think scepter could outperform staff in zerg scenario even with the recent change to scepter auto attack.

@CallousEye Your right I could use the elemental more as I tend to forget when solo most the time, but in team fights I really like the earth elemental.

Sigil of Fire usually hits for 1k give or take some depending on the target.

Updated build info in the video description.

Why fire and not air? it seems like you are going for maximum burst. Also, you have alot of crit dmg and fire sigil that is depending on crit chance would it not be more beneficial to offhand a crit chance sigil?

I did my own testing and found that sigil of airwould not proc at all on any of my auto attacks. however sigil of fire does. Is that why or is there another reason?

A lot of people are in awe over his damage from Arc Lightning, if you watch closely, you will see that he throws in Arcane Blast along with the chain for a larger spike in damage, on several of them it looked like his last hits of Arc Lightning were hitting for 3.5-5k, when it was actually Arcane Blast.

Scepter ele is all about lining up bursts, in the video all his huge bursts begin with a knockdown, this triggers increased damage through his air trait (forgot which number it is). By combining multiple hard hitting spells, he is able to virtually melt people with quick bursts.

I think one of his favorite combos used in this video consists of earth 4, air 1, 2, 3 (sometimes 4) then 5 for the extra kd. From there, depending on their health bars, finish them off in air, or proceed to fire combo them while they are knocked down, a well timed dragons tooth can hit extremely hard, and I’ve been able to one shot people by just starting in air and landing a full fire combo on them.

Impressive vid though, I’d love to see more

was really fun to watch and looks fun to play as well. thanks for sharing

nice video/build and play. We really need more of such videos on forum. The current problem with ele is that one of the most skilled players out there – daphoenix – posted his d/d movie and zerg followed him creating many 0/10/0/30/30 d/d who are nowhere close to the orginal – yet they are assuming that this is THE ONLY option ele has ;D
Now daphenix changed his build, and went 20 in earth but zerg still says that earth is useless traitline. It will take a month or two for the zerg to realize that maybe earth is not that bad as they think… I hope someday zerg realize that ele has also other options.
We need more such movies. If my core i3 could handle recording I would record some nice GC or condi builds movies myself.

I still play 0/10/0/30/30 for d/d and staff just because it’s so tanky. If daphoenix wants to run something else then that’s cool.

Israel.7056:

I still play 0/10/0/30/30 for d/d and staff just because it’s so tanky. I don’t really care what daphoenix thinks.

I think he thinks that there are more tanky options for an ele than 0/10/0/30/30. I also think that there are better ways to tank than going 0 in earth. Actually anyone who is capable of thinking should think same way as we do.

This is what he wrote:

"
_20 Earth -> 50% Armor of earth trait, 33% reduce CC trait
20 Water -> 50% fall damage reduction, Cantrips provide vigor and HP reg
30 arcana -> Evasive arcana, Arcana five and six
Superior sharpening stones, Lemongrass poultry
2x superior rune monk, 2x superior rune water, 2x superior rune melandru

^This is my secret spec I use but I haven’t been on much and I’ve already had my fun with it so I’ll share it with you guys. Its far superior to the 0/10/0/30/30 at its full potential (example in episode 12). Plus its an extremely strong counter to confusion mesmers anyways, and they are kind of OP atm (mesmers are kind of a joke using this setup too :P)._
"

As I said in 2-3 months ppl will QQ how OP earth elems are Ofc there will be like 5-10 ppl who actutaly can play this spec to its fullest potential – same as with current watter/arcana dd – but still there will be no end for QQ and 20 earth will become new THE ONE AND ONLY ele option

I doubt that. I haven’t tried that build yet but from watching the video I don’t really feel inclined to. But I’m not the only ele out there maybe someone else will find that interesting.

I didn’t find it possible to do as close as dealing this much dmg with the gears/traits/sigils etc the op is using. I think the op is hiding the real build/gears he/she being executing haha.

@Dementia Hmm maybe this patch bugged Sigil of Air as you’re not the first person to tell me this. But no that is not the reason I chose Fire over Air. First you are right that Air does more single target damage, but I decided to go for Fire since prior to the March 26 patch scepter Air had no AoE and Fire gave me a small but nice AoE attack well not sacrificing too much single target damage. This is actually more relevant in PvE more than anything. Also I <3 the Sigil of Fire animation.

@Thor Rising Your absolutely right Thor in that it is not any one skill but a combination of multiple skills that give that nice burst affect. And good catch on the Arcane blast usage. Most do not even see it coming since it is used most often well casting Arc Lightning.
I actually to do not take the Grounded Trait and the reason for that is twofold. I had watched a video on Youtube at some point were some one was testing it and he found out it does not apply to Updraft only to Earthquake and Gale. And the second is that I prefer the reduced cool downs on my Air skills especially Ride the Lighting and Blinding Flash (using your blinds to mitigate damage is huge as well as securing stomps) which help a great deal in the survivability department. None the less it is definitely an option that could be taken .
The three main reason I like to open with Earthquake if the opponent is in range is 1) It will force the opponent to use a dodge (2) if they get hit by it they will have to use a utility skill to get out (3) if they do not take option 1 or 2 they will eat the opening burst. Either way they are set behind in some way.

Glad you enjoyed the video!

@Sitckybuds and Lavadiel Thanks for your replies and glad you enjoyed the video

LightningBlaze.4913:

I didn’t find it possible to do as close as dealing this much dmg with the gears/traits the op is using. I think the op is hiding the real build/gears he/she is using haha.

Have you checked out the update in the video description were I detail what you need to do to achieve full burst?

Also what environment are you testing this in? WvW/PvE or sPvP?

Israel.7056:

I doubt that. I haven’t tried that build yet but from watching the video I don’t really feel inclined to. But I’m not the only ele out there maybe someone else will find that interesting.

The best ele tank I made (with nice killing abilities via condi damage) was 30 earth, 30 watter, 10 arcana. Depending with whom and VS whom I played with weapon set was S/F, S/D or D/D + summoned axe whre skill 5 hits for 10k+ dot damage. Because of low heath pool, v. high armour, and good healing you could easily maitain 50%+ hp which is quite important vs “less than 50% hp” traits/buffs some OP proffesions ^^ have. The only weaknes this build have is counter necro build (and to some degree all heavy condi damage builds). The strategy is to perm burn(easy) and perm bleed (a bit harder) your enemy while outhealing/avoiding the damage. Ofc this is spvp build where the amount of condis you can get is usually limited to max 2-3 players that can put them on you. For 1vZ, like daphoenix plays you will need better cond removal, and “tank” more via movement/running, los loss, being smart etc – but this is not a tank its more run/heal build – rather useless in spvp where if you run off the node you just lose the node.

We should probably talk about this elsewhere I don’t want to derail Ilthell’s thread.

LightningBlaze.4913:

I didn’t find it possible to do as close as dealing this much dmg with the gears/traits/sigils etc the op is using. I think the op is hiding the real build/gears he/she being executing haha.

I tried back when you first posted this thread before getting your first reply on a wvw and spvp environment. I am looking at your updated description now and try it once again. ty!

LightningBlaze.4913:

LightningBlaze.4913:

I didn’t find it possible to do as close as dealing this much dmg with the gears/traits/sigils etc the op is using. I think the op is hiding the real build/gears he/she being executing haha.

I tried back when you first posted this thread before getting your first reply on a wvw and spvp environment. I am looking at your updated description now and try it once again. ty!

Ok let me know how it goes. Should be able to get similar results in PvE/WvW; but unfortunately the damage cannot be replicated in sPvP even while using Scholar runes

Ilthel.7695:

LightningBlaze.4913:

LightningBlaze.4913:

I didn’t find it possible to do as close as dealing this much dmg with the gears/traits/sigils etc the op is using. I think the op is hiding the real build/gears he/she being executing haha.

I tried back when you first posted this thread before getting your first reply on a wvw and spvp environment. I am looking at your updated description now and try it once again. ty!

Ok let me know how it goes. Should be able to get similar results in PvE/WvW; but unfortunately the damage cannot be replicated in sPvP even while using Scholar runes

omg your build is op in wvw haha so much burst! enjoying it! thanks for sharing!

Hey, nice build! I just made an ele a few days ago and have started to level it (i have an 80 thief and 80 guardian). My main is a thief but anet seems intent on destroying that profession so i started my ele

I use thief as my main and i’ve seen all the d/d carbon copy heal elementalists, and i was always curious if burst was possible with the ele or if people were just too locked into their healing bunkers…glad i read this thread and watched your video!

I was going to use a d/d burst, but it looks like the scepter may be even better mainhand with the lightning bolt deal. Once i hit 80 though i’m planning to go the fiery shield+perma protection+signet route with 25% endurance on signet/arcane use, i’ll let you know how my burst ele turns out when i get there

Nice build and vid, I’m respeccing my staff ele into S/D but am going for more of a power/might stacking build.

After a little while, I just didn’t like the scepter as main hand anymore haha but some of the idea behind this build has been transferred to my original build and It is definitely an improvement.

Nice vid! Really liked the idea about not needing to use the fire 2/3 to really hit hard since that’s what woried me about scepter. Was wondering what you use in sPvP to ‘copy’ your WvW build since almost everything is different in sPvP.

I’ve been looking for a more offensive ele build since most eles I encouter are Daphoenix builds, I was hoping to go more offensive and crit damage seems to be the way I want to go, mixed with some more survivability, so looking foward seeing your hybrid build! I guess with your build you can burst pretty well with D/D too?

@avilo: Thanks for the reply glad you enjoyed the video and good luck on your build.

@morrolan: Thanks. Nice I have been playing around with a hybrid build that focuses a little bit on might stacking. The upfront burst is reduced for sure but has a bit more sustain.

@LightningBlaze: Well at least you gave it a try and was able to take something out of it. But ya it is a different playstyle for sure and the full burst variation leaves very little margin for error.

@Adonisis: Thanks! Truth be told I have not given any serious effort to sPvP for many months now as the meta (which has been the same for the past few months) is very boring to me as well as other issues with the system. Therefore I have not put much thought into sPvP builds. But at a glance given the current state of the meta as well as the gear choices a full burst Ele (as seen in the video) is not very viable in high level tourney play. The best you will probably get is going with a hybrid build like the standard 0/20/0/20/30 which has been used since the beta weekends. Picking up Arcane Blast and Wave to make up for the damage loss.
But if you’re just talking about hot joins you could probably just keep the build as is and run zerker amulet with Scholar runes and just go troll people. Just remember the margin for error is low so positioning is very important.

Have you ever tried going full berserker gear instead of soldier? I know you probably go soldier for the survivability right? Were you ever curious how much damage you could be doing with full berserker?

I reprodiced this in tPvP. Ive also basically recorded an exact copy of OP´s 1st Burst in his video. Il put it up on YT tomorrow. I went zerker amulet and schoolars, no survivability issues for me (wtf?). The Build is – as far as my experience goes – 100% sPvP viable. Targets go down just as fast, only bunkers can stand the burst.

A thief looks like a chicken next to this…

@Graybes I have not tried full glass yetin PvE. Defiantly something to try in the future

Blimm.5028:

I reprodiced this in tPvP. Ive also basically recorded an exact copy of OP´s 1st Burst in his video. Il put it up on YT tomorrow. I went zerker amulet and schoolars, no survivability issues for me (wtf?). The Build is – as far as my experience goes – 100% sPvP viable. Targets go down just as fast, only bunkers can stand the burst.

A thief looks like a chicken next to this…

Yup no doubt it is still going to hit hard and usable in hot joins and solo’s, but you can still feel the loss of 30% crit damage and 100 or so power from WvW.

If you have been able to test this with your team vs another premade then that is awesome and glad it is viable!

But if we are still talking hot joins and solo que’s then I am still hesitant on saying this is viable in premade vs premade environment only because I have not personally tested it there yet. So hopefully this thread keeps growing and we can get more teams to test it out.

Ilthel.7695:

@Adonisis: Thanks! Truth be told I have not given any serious effort to sPvP for many months now as the meta (which has been the same for the past few months) is very boring to me as well as other issues with the system. Therefore I have not put much thought into sPvP builds. But at a glance given the current state of the meta as well as the gear choices a full burst Ele (as seen in the video) is not very viable in high level tourney play. The best you will probably get is going with a hybrid build like the standard 0/20/0/20/30 which has been used since the beta weekends. Picking up Arcane Blast and Wave to make up for the damage loss.
But if you’re just talking about hot joins you could probably just keep the build as is and run zerker amulet with Scholar runes and just go troll people. Just remember the margin for error is low so positioning is very important.

Thought so haha! Tried to go glass cannon but didn’t work out as I planned. I’ve gone for a more hybrid build now as you mentioned with the 0/20/0/20/30 and it’s working quite good so far. I’m running it with D/D though since I’m still not fully trusted with the scepter. Don’t know if it’s because I’m so used to D/D or I hate the scepter fire attunement for failing that easily. I had all cantrips as utilities so switching 2 of those for arcane blast and wave felt different, that why I only have arcane blast and kept 2 of my cantrips, or do you recommend taking arcane wave too?

Looking forward to your hybrid build vid, keep up the good work!