Elementalist Staff Build Help
Well, staff isn’t useless but probably the worst solo weapon. Its strength is crowd control and fields, weakness is damage and defense. You will be able to kill three mobs as fast as one, except the word fast is misleading. It’s actually kind of a chore using staff for PvE and this from someone who uses staff exclusively in www. The cast time on everything is just really slow.
Example: during temple farming in Orr with staff I have trouble tagging mobs before they die if there is more than one spin-to-win guy in the group. No trouble whatsoever with dagger or scepter.
If you spec/gear for www kind of toughness you don’t have to kite everything, but you probably wont stick with that setup thu 80. Unless you are the blind-naked-mage type…
edit:grammar
First things first, forums in general and the Ele forums in particular are very much prone to hyperbole. I am specifically referring to the “…staff is useless outside of…” part.
NOTHING is useless in GW2. Those who say otherwise are either too narrow-minded to think about how to make something (skill, weapon, or tactic) useful or severely lack situational awareness.
I personally have 2 Ele’s. My main who I used to get my “Been there. Done that.” title and my second one (because I never should have joined the Priory with the first one).
My main runs the “standard” bunker build made popular by DaPhoenix (D/D 0,10,0,30,30). My new one is working on a Signet-Aura-Condition Damage build that I haven’t yet decided between running Staff or S/D.
For most of my leveling I have been using the Staff and I have to say that the Staff is VERY under-appreciated. Yes, it has strengths with Area CCs and Combo Fields. No, it doesn’t have access to many blast finishers. Most people stop looking at Staff right there and never discover the beauty of it’s design. In a word, I’d call it “Synergy”. I’m not talking about Combo Fields and Finishers. I’m talking about the entire weapon set. With the proper awareness and excellent timing, a Staff Ele can be truly AMAZING.
I don’t have a lot of build advice for you. Sorry. The real “trick” with Staff is you need to think of it more like you are playing a fighting game. Develop a few rotations that flow naturally and provide different buffs/debuffs, then pick and chose the best one for the current situation.
The only build advice I can offer is to go for the most synergy you can get. For example, the build i am working on is 20,X,30,X,X and I am really debating about where I want to throw the last 20 points. The 20 in Fire grants Fire Auras when I use Signets and the 30 in Earth allows me to maintain the passive effects of Signets when they are on cooldown. So, I could put 10 points in Air and give myself Perma Fury & Swiftness. Or I could go 20 in Water to make Signets cause Vulnerability and get a damage buff against Vulnerable targets while attuned to Water. Or I could go 20 into Arcane for faster Attunement swaps (no, I would NOT take Blasting Staff but that is an entirely different argument). Like I said, I have some options.
Regardless I will probably gear up with the Carrion stats (Condition Damage, Power, Vitality) so my Bleeds and Burns will hurt! Not sure about Trinkets yet. I will have to play and see what works and what I need more of before I decide.
TL;DR: A lot of people will tell you all sorts of nonsense and preach it as fact. BE SKEPTICAL!! Experiment yourself to see if their arguments are valid, or if they missed something. The real “trick” to being successful as a Staff wielder is to use the right ability for the right situation.
Happy hunting!!
I’ve been running staff-only on my PvE ele since day one. It’s my favorite class/weapon; however, everything floppypuppy said is true. This weapon allows you to drop a huge range of conditions and fields on a group of enemies all at once. If you don’t know how to set the spells up, in what order, mobs will tear you apart. You’re very squishy. But when you do it right, all the spells go off together and enemies just sort of vaporize. It’s very involved to play, but also very rewarding.
This build, with minor skill changes, is the build I use. I use Signet of Restoration instead of Glyph of Harmony, Glyph of Storms instead of Signet of Earth, and Rune of the Undead instead of Dwayna. I have Cleric’s trinkets and my armor is a mix of Cleric’s and Carrion.
With this setup you can heal and cure two conditions off of a group of people simply by switching to water. Here is my primary combo: I start with air and blind with Lightning Surge as I’m running in. Switch to Earth and drop Eruption followed by Glyph of Storms. You’ll have just enought time to switch to fire and drop Lava Font on top of Eruption, which will pop and make area might. Flame Burst and then Arcane Wave inside the Lava Front to make another area might boom. Then go to water and toss around healing and chill fields. Repeat until enemies have been ground into a paste.
Arcane Wave can be used to set off whatever field combo you want. Use with Healing Rain for area healing, or Frozen Ground for area frost armor. Glyph of Storms (fire) + Meteor Shower is heavy damage, but on earth it spreads bleeding and blindness. Not very useful on water or air. Use the glyphs of elementals when in tight spots or before entering battle. Fire eles are weak but have the highest damage, water can heal and chill, air are ranged and give swiftness, and earth are very, very tough. In a group I use fire eles for damage, but solo I use the earth eles to tank.
When in a jam you have plenty of ways to stop enemies, drop your conditions, pop swiftness and bolt. Remember that we have the smallest health pool of any class and light armor. Have a plan, play defensively, and keep a cool head. Good luck to you.
I posted a build here a couple months ago that is still by far the most balanced and effective experience I’ve had on Ele.
The ONLY thing I can’t do with this is 1v1 another player (show me a staff that can).
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/PvE-Staff-Ele/first#post2056603
Thanks for the great response guys. I will try out some of these builds as soon as I can.