Guild Wars 2

I play a level 80 Ranger and decided to try out a new class a week ago and created an Elementalist. Currently only level 10 but I have noticed that the class feels
“right” and makes more logical sense in so far as play style and skills then my Ranger.

The only issue I have is that even at level 10 I seem to be dying a lot. I have played casters in other games (EQ2 – Conjuror, WoW – Warlock) so I know how to play a light armor wearer in those other games.

My questions:

1. Does it get better at higher levels in regards to not dying as much.
2. It seems to me that Elementalists are in greater demand for groups in Dungeons at 80. Is this true?
3. I don’t WvW much but how does this class do in WvW? My ranger gets owned usually.

Thanks!

1. That depends on you a little bit. Some people get used to it and do really well. Others never really learn the class much and die over and over.

2. Never really seen any particular class in demand for dungeons except warriors / guardians, because people want someone to “tank” even though you dont need it.

3. Elementist is waaaaay better than ranger for WvW. However, rangers are getting some changes in this new patch that’s coming so things could change.

The thing about elementalist in Guild Wars 2 is they’re far from similar to casters from other games. You don’t sit back and cast spells or tank a mob while casting those spells. You have to be active. You need to dodge. You need to learn your different attunements.

If you’re still having troubles use glyph of lesser elementals in earth form. This gives you a free “tank” pet which can take aggro from you. Once you get to 30 you can use the greater glyph as well. Anytime those are up, you don’t have to be near as active about dodging etc.

Hey!

I mained a wizard (nagafen) and conjuror (Mistmoore) for years in EQ2. Glad to see some other EQ vets Anyway – to your questions.

I think, for leveling that you would be best off using a staff (personal preference, requires less dodging around and killing multiple mobs at the same time). Dual Daggers is also a pretty effective pve weapon-set due to its high damage output. Though I would use the lower levels to learn the 10 billion weapon skills you have, just so you have them for future playing around. In short:

1. Yes; Once you get more traits, you will find yourself a lot more hardy. Play well with the earth (in my opinion, some hate earth) and water traits for survivability.

2. I don’t dungeon grind much, but when I’m wandering around in zones I do see (more often than a lot of other classes) that elementalists are specifically searched for groups. We do offer a metric-crap-load of combo fields, especially with staff. We also have more AE healing than anyone else and a load of CC (again, staff).

3. Yes. Unfortunately, a lot of elementalists run dagger/dagger in wvw which is pretty useless. They might kill effectively but we already have a ton of thieves, warriors, rangers, etc doing killing. Elementalists truly shine with their myriad of AE spells that have 1200 range and the blasting staff trait, which enlarges your AE circles for all staff skills. This ability is absolutely unmatched in terms of siege warfare. I wish we had more on HoD that ran staff, especially now that I"m not playing my ele while I level my alts in wvw >.<

If you have any other questions feel free to post… we have quite a few annoying people in this forum who whine, but there are a lot of helpful folks to who will help you figure stuff out.

You can also feel free to friend list me in-game and chat me up when I’m on.

Good luck!

Kneemin.4235:

Hey!

3. Yes. Unfortunately, a lot of elementalists run dagger/dagger in wvw which is pretty useless. They might kill effectively but we already have a ton of thieves, warriors, rangers, etc doing killing. Elementalists truly shine with their myriad of AE spells that have 1200 range and the blasting staff trait, which enlarges your AE circles for all staff skills. This ability is absolutely unmatched in terms of siege warfare. I wish we had more on HoD that ran staff, especially now that I"m not playing my ele while I level my alts in wvw >.<
!

I would say this is a bit of a stretch. No matter what weapon one chooses to play, being effective as an ele is all about how one play’s the class. My main weapon set is D/D, but I also run Scepter, Focus, and Staff.

The key is knowing when on needs to switch. Hitting a wall with just daggers alone is ineffective and will more than likely get you killed, this would be the time ti switch to staff, when sieging enemy forts. This is still, however, situational. If the group has plenty of aoe, I find myself just as useful guarding the entrance to a keep, and preventing more enemy players from getting in.

When playing an elementalist, one must be able to think critically, accounting for the group you run with, the strength of the enemy, and what role one needs to do play.

OP:
1. Does it get better at higher levels in regards to not dying as much.
Yes
2. It seems to me that Elementalists are in greater demand for groups in Dungeons at 80. Is this true?
Yes and no, however, the aoe always helps
3. I don’t WvW much but how does this class do in WvW? My ranger gets owned usually.
This class is great, but takes quite a bit of skill to master

1. Yes, it gets better, starting at level 20, and I noticed marked survivability improvements around level 40+. If you seem to die a lot, switch up your weapons – what feels “right” to some players will leave others unsatisfied. If Scepter/Focus isn’t your cup of tea (it wasn’t mine), try Scepter/Dagger, Dagger/Dagger, or Dagger/Focus. While staff is my primary, the lack of single-target damage makes it a little harder to level when running around by yourself until you learn your combos. I’ve read (and authored) many posts on these forums about staff combos, but with the impending patch I’m hesitant to type them out again here.

If you still have survivability issues, try using Glyph of Lesser Elementals so you can summon a facetank and give yourself some room.

2. My server’s pop is low enough when I’m on that dungeon groups pretty much take anyone. The staff’s fields are super-useful in group situations, though.

3. Yes. I got a lot of my levels in WvW starting at level 35. Most elementalists run either Staff or D/D (I keep both on me at all times now), though I’m sure any weapon will work well. Since you are squishy, you will not want to venture out on your own, but again, a staff shines when you’re with other people anyway. D/D elementalists can pick off stragglers very will because of their mobility, but you have to have some skill to win more than a 1v1. About the only time when I get frustrated is when defending against a siege and I can’t find a good spot to launch staff AoE, for all other situations, there is something tangibly useful for an elementalist to do.

My first character is also a ranger. I picked ranger as my first character due to my obsession with bows. I took her to lvl 80, gave her full set of exotics and T3 cultural. I was dedicated. I know people complains about ranger being under power and stuff. I didn’t understand why…

Until I made an ele myself. My gawd~ ele is nasty! The early levels can be tough. I wanted to use staff in pve all the time, but there are missions in personal stories very difficult to clear with staff. D/D helped me go through those fairly easily. Then I discovered the lightning hammer build by accident. I’d been using that until level 65. Last nite I finally decided to try the D/D again with proper traits. Holy cow~ what a difference~!! I don’t see how I can die in this build! (unless I fall asleep at keyboard)

Now looking at my ranger, I really don’t know what she’s good at anymore. She has high crit chance and fairly high power. But she can’t burst down foes like ele does because the pets are not doing their job half the time. Compare to the ranger, the D/D ele is more evasive, more powerful and tanky (due to healing / evasion options) at the same time.

11 lvls til 80~ can’t wait~!!