Guild Wars 2

So as it says, I hit 80 earlier this week and im looking for some advice on my current build and gear choices.

I was looking to be a support/healing ele for WvW, with some extra survival on the side so I can stay in the mix alittle longer than normal. My current build is as follows:

Fire – 0
Air – 0
Earth – 20 (Obsidian Focus, Earths Embrace)
Water – 30 (Aquamancers Alacrity, Cleansing Water, Cleansing Wave)
Arcana – 20 (Elemental Attunment, Blasting Staff)

Gearwise, im sitting in full Clerics(Power/Healing Power/Toughness) Mastercrafted gear that I bought off the TP once I hit 80.

Im looking to get an exotic set of armor now, and im curious about whether people think Clerics gear is worth it. I find it useful in terms of survival, while also allowing me to put out some damage during sieges. Any ideas for gear setups would be appreciated, but also looking for what Runes would be best. Im thinking Water might be a good choice.

Im also wondering if my build is the most ideal for this type of gameplay. I think Evasive Arcana would be a really nice addition to my build, but I dont want to sacrifice survival by taking points out of earth or the loss of condition removal by losing 10 points in water. Is getting extra blast finishers via Evasive Arcana for higher might stacking/more area healing, or just stick with what ive got?

Lastly, does healing power count towards the healing I do to others? For instance, does healing power increase the amount of healing I do to others with Geyser?

Thanks in advance.

healing power increases ALL healing that you do. anything that heals you is increased via healing power. regeneration, direct heals, healing geyser, etc.

as for gear, i was going to get PVT gear (power/vit/tougness) with cleric accessories and… idk for weapons. probably PVT, maybe carrion (power/cond/healing, iirc).

and, evasive arcane is amazing. get it. if you dodge roll in water, that’s a 2k heal.

Imo berserker gear for zerg vs zerg. Aoe dmg on walls is WAY more valuable than little boost you get from +healing. Try it in mist to see how much healing you get from it (fight one of npcs to see actual healing – tooltip is kitten .

Lose the 10 points in earth and get Evasive Arcana. I also recommend you change to a cantrip build and use the associated traits in water but keep cleansing water. Cantrips will save your kitten on many occasions. Dwayna runes will be better for straight healing because the added regeneration will give you another condition removal(over water runes) but I would consider water/monk/??? for 30% added boon duration. I have fire as a third for mad might stacks(easy to maintain 25 stacks with evasive arcana)

As for gear with +healing I roll shaman so I can deal damage and heal simultaneously. But there are some bad things that come with condition builds so clerics might be better for you,that’s all preference really. Also if you do want shaman or a more balanced build you might consider carrion accessories for added damage but that much customization is def preference.

For a damage build I suggest you ignore the berserker gear everyone seems to lean towards and go rampager for pure damage and rabid/carrion for some balance. seriously don’t get why people would ignore condition damage in a build for a class that uses conditions for a good half of their attacks.

I play WvW mostly and this build is pretty good for it. Also good for dungeons and not bad for PvP bunker builds. Shaman is better in PvP actually because it’s tough over vit meaning healing is worth more. Anyways, hope that helps.

Thanks for the input guys.

I generally tend to shy away from mix and match gear setups. I much prefer being focused in one area opposed to being able to “sorta” help out in all areas. I want to play as support/healing to maximize my WvW teammates abilities since I feel an elementalist is the only class almost built for that role. Helping my team with might stacks, regen or even stealth fields and retaliation fields at the right times can be game changing, and I feel they it is more beneficial than simply stacking power/condition damage and being another DPS.

I like the look of the Dwayna runes, but I just get disheartened when I see such a low % chance for the boon to pop. It seems like it might be a better option than water though, and fairly cheap on the TP, which is a plus.

In terms of cantrips, I only roll with Mist Form on my bar. I prefer Arcane Shielding to Armor of Earth personally, even though im sure it is inferior in WvW sieges. With that in mind, traiting for cantrips just seems like a waste, whereas Aquamancer’s Alacrity directly increases my ability to support my team with healing and snares.

I do know that toughness is a superior stat to vitality in terms of survival, so no matter what gear decision I go with ill be looking for something with toughness on it.

If anyone has anymore input please feel free to contribute. Im looking to get a set of crafted gear, so thats going to have me farming for abit longer.