Guild Wars 2

Okay, so I’m rather into PvP, and have played pretty much exclusively as a Staff Elementalist, with my builds changing over time. I’m not too hot on going full Zerker and nuking points then running far away, since I prefer to fight on-point and like being able to survive on my own. Right now, I’m using this, and both enjoying and succeeding with it – but I’m interested in feedback from other Staff users, particularly if you’ve found your own useful builds for PvP.

Primary things I’m not entirely certain about, and am particularly interested in getting advice on:
- Arcane Mastery trait
- Rune set – especially with that unimpressive #6
- Amulet – I’ve considered chucking a Zerker jewel in there, or moving to primary Valkyrie, but not yet gotten round to testing them

Aims of the build: work for Diamond Skin, and be functional in smaller group fights – obviously can’t stay alive in a node with 4-5 foes on it, but I’d like to be reliable in 2v2s or be able to last through a thief’s burst. It’s ended up low on cleanse (no instant cleanse, and only Windborne Speed can quickly clear immobilise) but I can get 100% protection uptime, high regeneration uptime, and 15+ might stacks to still dish out some damage.

The most powerful tool in the build is probably the lava axe – it gives a blast finisher for general utility, a second Burning Retreat for great mobility, and a leap finisher for a dazing strike – or to gain a fire/frost aura and some protection. Lightning Hammer has a similar set of skills, but its autoattack finisher isn’t reliable enough for blasting most fields, and I’ve settled on the axe.

Arcane Shield and stability-on-attune make stomping pretty reliable, and the blocks also help out on Silent Storm or (…) Spirit Watch/Skyhammer for gaining objectives. The main places where this build shines, though:

- Against full-condi Necromancers. They just can’t break through the skin, especially with Protection up (and often an extra 10% from Frost Auras). As long as Arcane Shield isn’t wasted, their Flesh Golem’s charge shouldn’t let them offload enough conditions to do serious damage before you can heal back up and kill the minion.
- Against decap Engineers. Regular stability and an immunity to immobilise makes it hard for this nuisance set of builds to decap against me, and pistol/shield ones will do zero damage with their conditions so I tend to win by whittling down their health before they can get the full cap. (they’re also the folks least likely to PM abuse at me for using Diamond Skin, since most of them run Automated Response ;p )
- Decapping against home point defenders, like Spirit Rangers. It’s easy to decap with a point-blank Gust then Static Field or Unsteady Ground, and if they pop stability there’s always pressure with Meteor Shower and other AoE, then a quick Tornado to push them out.
- Small group fights. There’s a lot of might to share, and quick access to bursts of healing if necessary. An ally to stay in-point while I quickly Burning Retreat to 1200 range really helps, too.

Skirmishes I try not to get stuck in:

- Most good thieves, especially the S/P lot with their rupts. They tend to appear out of nowhere, and hit hard enough that the Skin is broken after one hit. Activating the shield and running away is often my response to getting caught alone against a thief.
- Condition warriors. They deal enough direct damage that their conditions will reliably get through, and they have that powerful sustain from Healing Signet so that the damage I deal is regenerated while I concentrate on healing up or kiting.
- Fights against a mix of power and pure condi users. I can expect to get focused first, and the power users will easily do the 1180 damage needed for the condi one to unleash their burst.
- Large battles on any node, or fighting alone against 2+ foes – this is not a bunker build, and retreating is almost always the best plan if caught under heavy fire.

So yeah, brief overview of the build there, though I’m sure I’ll’ve missed a couple of points or used words that got kittened by the weird and wonderful filter we have.
Thoughts/comments/suggestions/questions? ^__^

Tried this build and I have been enjoying it. I switched reduced arcane cooldown(with cooldown you still only use arcane shield once in moderate length fights, and long fights you might use it twice, the difference with arcane wave is only 6 seconds, not that usefull imo when using it for water combo field.) with increased staff radius. I also switch between zerker amulet and cleric. Funny but this build actually have decent survivability with the zerker amulet. I don’t feel like clerics benefits it to much due to such a low health pool. (a little under 12k). Against classes that have high damage it doesnt seem very beneficial to run clerics, you simply get bursted much to quick. I am going to try soldiers today. I feel like the toughness would be better suited with vitality for this build instead of healing power; due to the fact you dont get to heal if you die to quick. Especially healing through water fields takes a moment to build up. Was doing some 1v1s with this build, and it doesnt seem like it’s got the killing potential of most builds. At best, a good burst combo can take someones health down to 65 – 50% in a few seconds; making this build pretty nice for groups fights when you have dps to support you. I also decided to take lightning flash instead of conjure fire axe. Much better survival if you have something to get out of immobs/obvious incomming death sentences.

edit: also running ether renewal

…so you’re running a completely different build, with the only similar utility being Wave? xD

I remember now (due to this post) where I first saw the Flame Axe suggested for Staff, though I never did get round to watching that video – giving it a quick look now, I see that I’ve ended up running exactly the same skillbar as KFC showcases.

So yeah, kinda wished I’d actually watched that video and played around with the axe much sooner, and many thanks to KFC for sharing this build with folks in the first place – sorry for not attributing you in OP, I couldn’t remember who had suggested flame axe and had no idea that my setup was so very similar to yours!

Re: my setup, I’ve switched to Valkyrie amulet and Grove runes – I still have the Protection uptime, and good healing power, but another few hundred power and that nice buff to crit damage (with 24% crit chance much of the time due to fury).

I would probably use arcane brilliance with this build, but I lack the skill points. The blast healing is nice. But i’m just not into the flame axe. I do use arcane shield and wave as you do. I also tried 10 in air instead of water just for the extra damage when target is low. I’m not sure which is better at this point. Obviously when you aren’t focused the air is better, but I can’t really see how water 10 is keeping me alive much longer. Will try it some more to see if i notice differences. (note I tried you’re build exactly except arcane brilliance. just letting you know in case you assumed I changed everything without trying it first.)