Guild Wars 2

Really strong now. It covers the downtime when using Fresh Air S/F 0/30/0/10/30 really well where you were solely dependant on gale landing/not getting stun breaked to do a DT->Phoenix->Air Spike. Now you get 2x Deep Freeze (assuming other frost bow doesn’t get picked up and you put) for an extra opportunity and Deep Freeze being un-stunbreakable is a huge bonus.

Ice Storm also provides some nice spike damage too since it actually hits now and every storm hits around ~8 times (with glassiness this is 1.5k-2.5k per comet hit) if the target stays in the AoE compared to ~2 hits before for when Deep Freeze gets dodged/before Deep Freeze to force a dodge. Would be nice if Meteor Shower channelled faster+dealt it’s damage in a more compressed manner like Ice Storm.

Worth taking over one of the Arcanes.

I actually liked it in spvp environment. Conjures are definitely not meant for 1v1 or 1vX situations though. The fact that ice 2 is a 4 second cooldown is insane. We are better longbow rangers than rangers.

FrownyClown.8402:

I actually liked it in spvp environment. Conjures are definitely not meant for 1v1 or 1vX situations though. The fact that ice 2 is a 4 second cooldown is insane. We are better longbow rangers than rangers.

This is exactly why ele is my second main xD.

Don’t forget about the bleed on ice storm, if you have condi damage it’s dangerous!!

Im actually about to run a 30/10/30/0/0 or soemthing of the sort on my ele, focusing on lava axe and icebow, want to see how power stacking + condition damage + condition duration works, both axe and bow provide burns and bleed, also might stacking and condition duration. Earth into damage 10% more damage if melee, also want to get some fury with fire finishers, which is now viable with axe. I will let you guys know, soldier first, then valkirie

Here are things to consider. When is the best time to use my conjure? Where are my allies? How many enemies are focusing me?

Ice Bow- Good in 1v1 situations where the enemy doesn’t have too much access to blinds. Landing the 5th move at point blank followed by ice volley then the ice 2 skill. It is excellent dps and best used with scepter.

Lava Axe- The damage is decent enough, but it still falls short do to the fact that you need to use auto attack to gain the most might. This would work best for d/d bunkers. Go Full pvt with clerics accessories and then you might be able to get away with a 30 xx xx xx 30 build. Might even work doing 30 0 0 20 20.

Lightning Hammer-Not worth it in pvp situations. You are pretty much a warrior with no armor on. Keep it for pve builds.

Earth Shield- Better used with focus in my opinion. It is primarily a close range weapon but has good damage mitigation capabilities. The new auto attack chain looks nice but just use this conjure for its other skills. Use for kiting, landing a heal etc.

All of the things you listed can be achieved with other utilities that don’t require you to give up 20 skills for 5. IMO you’re crazy.

mjharrison.3209:

All of the things you listed can be achieved with other utilities that don’t require you to give up 20 skills for 5. IMO you’re crazy.

tbh our other utilities are pretty bad and arguably worse than conjures since they all do something another utility does and especially more noteworthy than Arcane Wave/Blast. I’d recommend using one when it suits your build (using more than one becomes too hard to juggle cooldowns/keeping track of when to pick each of them up).

Lava Axe provides more sustained damage with it’s 1.0 coefficient when your bursty skills are on cooldown and it’s might-givingness also fuels more power into your next burst. The extra dodge is also great.

Earth Shield lets you go invulnerable twice every 60 seconds if no-one else picks it up, compared to once every 75 seconds with a stunbreak with Mist Form which is also currently buggy. Stone Sheathe is also a nice block and Magnetic Surge’s daze is also

tldr: Lava Axe covers lack of sustained damage, Ice Bow allows more opportunities to burst, Lightning Hammer provides Banish and Ring of Warding which are great for contesting capture points for bunker eleing. Earth Shield is strong but in a weird spot where I can’t find a use for it.

If you use conjures like utilities (use the skills then insta drop) they can be very nice. Can’t treat them like kits in their current incarnation.

mjharrison.3209:

All of the things you listed can be achieved with other utilities that don’t require you to give up 20 skills for 5. IMO you’re crazy.

You can view Ice Bow as a substitute for Glyph of Storms at a lower cooldown, that also gives you acces to some other skills should you require them. You don’t have to walk around with it for extended periods of time. You can just grab a bow, cast what you need and then drop it and still have great results with it.

ThiBash.5634:

mjharrison.3209:

All of the things you listed can be achieved with other utilities that don’t require you to give up 20 skills for 5. IMO you’re crazy.

You can view Ice Bow as a substitute for Glyph of Storms at a lower cooldown, that also gives you acces to some other skills should you require them. You don’t have to walk around with it for extended periods of time. You can just grab a bow, cast what you need and then drop it and still have great results with it.

That’s how you’re suppose to use them.

Maybe this misconception is why conjurs and tornado are so under utilised in spvp…

I have yet to test it out, but Signet of Earth -> Deep Freeze seems to be a good combo to reliably Deep Freeze someone. Then, as it’s been said, it’s all about using the chill skill at melee range, dropping the bow, and using DT + Phoenix + Air Burst. That’s probably an instant kill every 30-ish seconds, no?

Maybe instead of Signet of Earth, just go with arcana’s grandmaster trait that gives immobilize to arcane skills in earth attunement. Deals more damage anyways, the cooldown will be shorter or the immobilize will be aoe, although it comes at the cost of a grandmaster trait.

With 10 less points in arcana, you can always invest more in water/ earth, and coupled with signet of earth, it’ll give you more defense. Or even more offense in different ways.

Something like:
30 air (fresh air, bolt to the heart, air training)
20 arcana (elemental attunement, renewing stamina)
10 water (vital striking)
10 earth (stone splinters)

What is better, 280 toughness (+x while in earth), +100 condition damage, single target immobilize (at the cost of 180 toughness) and +10% damage at melee range; or +20% higher attunement recharge rate (not that relevant with fresh air), +10% boon duration, burst damage from arcane and utility from arcanes?

I suppose it also depends on the amulet. Valkyrie amulet has less sustain damage, relies more on burst and has higher natural defense, so it’ll want arcane skills. Berserker builds have better sustain damage, and desperately rely on burst to survive, so taking away arcane wave is probably worth for a more reliable burst and a much needed defense boost.

All I gotta say is as a support built staff ele dat ice bow and/or hammer are great for assaulting points, ice bow makes it so I can trap them in all my bad things that are about to go off (eruption, ice spike etc), and then make the point an even worse place to stand with that ice storm, and then lightning hammer allows me to forcibly throw people off the point, which is awesome!!

Btw, earth shield is AMAZING for keeping yourself going, it has an 8s CD block, a charge + 1s daze, a pull that also grants protection and 30s CD that gives invuln for quite a while, not to mention the boost to vitality and toughness while using it, has saved my jolly asura kitten quite a few times!

PS: I normally only use one conjure at a time in my build, SOMETIMES 2, I did try using 4, which worked, but that was more because it was me and 4 rangers so I used them more to being the rangers to OP potential and dropped it myself unless I needed it.

^Staff with hammer and tornado can effectively decap from ANYTHING.
ilove it ssooo much. Too bad its a bit weak bunker at surviving imho.They need to nerf those condies and s/d thieves

Avead.5760:

^Staff with hammer and tornado can effectively decap from ANYTHING.
ilove it ssooo much. Too bad its a bit weak bunker at surviving imho.They need to nerf those condies and s/d thieves

It’s got decent condi removal, I also run with Ether Renewal though, the amount of times I’ve killed a thief cause they spammed Head Shot trying to interrupt my heal as eruption and ice spike were coming down on their dazed kitten (magnet shield ftw) is ridiculous xD.

But yeah Healing Rain is AMAZING at condi cleanse especially if you go 30 in water, it’s definitely not the best choice though…

I was playing around in hotjoin with glyph of elemental power (fire) and icebow 3 into 5 into 4 and 1500 condi damage. Everyone died….a lot.

Oh and I had 3300 armor while channeling, lol.

I really like the flame axe for some awesome kiting (they can be thrown backwards, so you have superior mobility) while building up might stacks for a burst (don’t forget to keep swapping and hit your earth dodge-roll into the ring of fire to supplement the might stacking from the #2 skill). It also gives excellent mobility if you have to run and regen.

I can definately see the potential for LH to get decaps, although earth shield can do the same (that pull is unblockable), plus it has a short-CD block + a daze + invuln (not great for decapping though).

My skyhammer trolling build is to take:
Lightning hammer (banish, static field), earth shield (pull is awesome + daze + block + fority), + tornado.

Also, if you are using frost bow for a burst, don’t forget to use frost fan point blank (position like you would for firegrab) to get some crazy chill + some dmg for very little time commitment.

DiogoSilva.7089:

Maybe instead of Signet of Earth, just go with arcana’s grandmaster trait that gives immobilize to arcane skills in earth attunement. Deals more damage anyways, the cooldown will be shorter or the immobilize will be aoe, although it comes at the cost of a grandmaster trait.

I’ve tried that gimmick. Arcane Power+Ice Storm in Earth is really fun. Against a single target the immob stacks high enough that you can follow with a Deep Freeze.

But realistically it’s too inefficient.

A simple arcane wave/ blast in earth is enough to reliably hit with deep freeze, if you time it well.

zencow.3651:

mjharrison.3209:

All of the things you listed can be achieved with other utilities that don’t require you to give up 20 skills for 5. IMO you’re crazy.

tbh our other utilities are pretty bad and arguably worse than conjures since they all do something another utility does and especially more noteworthy than Arcane Wave/Blast.

If you think cantrips are bad then you’re beyond help. Cantrips and 0/10/0/30/30 is still the strongest build around.

mjharrison.3209:

If you think cantrips are bad then you’re beyond help. Cantrips and 0/10/0/30/30 is still the strongest build around.

If you think Mist Form and Armor of Earth are the only viable option, you’re living in the past. Cantrips were indisputably the best back when Soothing Disruption had a base Regen and Vigor was 9 seconds instead of 6 seconds and Cleansing Water had no ICD but with the recent buffs their nerfed benefits pretty much even with what Conjures bring to the table, Earth Shields survive and Lightning Hammer’s de-capping ability, the later of which triple cantrip and crappy damage does nothing to help you compete over the node.

But keep running the same build and complain how Ele is 100000% underpowered when it’s only 30% underpowered.