Guild Wars 2

I have been using a staff for almost the entire game now but I hear D/D is a lot more fun and I want to switch to it. The problem is that I cannot even imagine going into melee range with mobs with how squishy I am right now. I have enough mats and gold to make a full set of exotic gear and I was wondering what stats I should get on it to be the most effective? Should I I stack toughness and some vit? Also is it more effective for a d/d ele to go with condition damage or crit damage?

I would go to Heart of the Mists and experiment with different builds (ok so PvP gear doesn’t have every single stat combination) . You don’t need to do PvP, there are golems and NPCs to fight, get an idea how different weapon skills work before you spend your hard earned resources.

I do not suggest it. I’ve tried running a pow/vit/tuf(exotics) D/D in explorable arah and.. it’s just not wise. Even geared defensively we’re still far squishier than a warrior or a guardian and the off-attacks/aoe’s from mobs will destroy you up in melee range.

Not to mention you end up at something like giganticius lupicus (spelling?) where melee isn’t an option for anyone..

D/D in explore mode just doesn’t work well. It is one of those things that seems like it should work in theory but in practice it is just not worth the headache. You will spend far more time downed that can possibily be justified.

For explore mode dungeons staff support is really by far the most viable ele spec. Mainly because it’s the only one that offers something another class can’t do better and more easily.

=/ that is disappointing I don’t really want to spend all my ecto on making a support set because then I wont be able to use it to solo but it sounds like that’s all I can do unless I reroll.

Supernewb.5428:

=/ that is disappointing I don’t really want to spend all my ecto on making a support set because then I wont be able to use it to solo but it sounds like that’s all I can do unless I reroll.

Nah, you can go pow/pre with a staff in a dungeon and be just fine. The support staff offers comes in a large part from it’s control skills, which don’t need specific gear.

I have not the same experience with D/D in exp dungeon, for me it’s going fine. Feel i maybe have a bit low damage, but that’s mainly because my gear is not optimized yet. ( have not gone for much crit damage or condition damage yet, still try to deside what’s best)

The way I am going D/D is with cleric gear (healing, power, toughness) and some crit chance. I go with a spec that focus on attunment switching.

They way i do it, is going at least 15 points in water, so you get healing when entering water attunment.

I use at least 10 points in air, to get zephy’rs boon, that gives me fury and swiftness when using a aura. And with D/D we have 2 aura’s so that’s quite nice.

I also have at least 20 points in arcane, so I can get vigor on crit and getting buffed when shifting through the different attuments.
This way, am able to be in melee range, get many different helpful buffs and heal my self when needed.

Currently I use 30 arcane traits, to get Evasive Arcana, a trait that gives me a combo blast every time I dodge in the different attunments. (10 sec cooldown, but seperat cooldown for each attunment!)
This helps a both for damage and survivability. I can dodge in water fields for extra healing, or dodge in fire fields for a aoe might buff.

This build gives 15 traits left, to put where you want
http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#MVszz9comxvkomxvo0a0fxzVoVq

Utilitys:
-Arcane wave; This is very nice to get more combo blast effects for extra healing or might buffs.
-Mist form; This makes you able to revive people even if they stand in a dangerous position, just activate mist form after you have started to revive and your immune to all damage
Arcane shield; Useble when ressing and when mobs are going for you.
Lightning flash: This ability makes churning earth safer to use, since you can use it in the end of the channeling to place churning earth where you want it.

I run a build that looks like this (gear is similar but not spot on, I have more health and less precision but I might move that around).

http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fEAQJAoYhMmYbuR5gjEAkCmEUIACjCiUeMDP2A;ToAAzCoo+y8l4L7XuvkfNEYSA

The idea is to be too mobile to get hit most the time, and when you are hit you have an aura on and protection up. You’ll still have to switch to water and step back every now and then but the down time isn’t bad.

In an ideal world, I usually open with Ride the Lightning into Updraft and while Updraft is going off I put on my Shocking Aura. Then, depending on the situation I would go to fire and Burning Speed into the other side of the enemy, followed by a roll for an instant fire grab, Dragon’s Breath to light them up and use Signet of Air during the channel to gain another aura and my endurance filled up. Fire Grab using your skill, throw down a Ring of Fire and switch to earth and Magnetic Grasp to get another fire aura. Dodge roll and get a minor churning earth, then kite and apply bleeds until you’re ready to use Earthquake followed by Churning Earth. While Churning Earth is being channeled you switch to water to cleanse your conditions and apply Frost Aura (still during the channel). Afterwards dodge for a free cleansing wave then play defensively as you fill your HP pool back up, throwing out Vapor Blades to apply some vulnerability stacks. If burning comes off at any time or if you need more endurance, cast Signet of Fire.

Of course that’s all an ideal circumstance, no elementalist using D/D can play with a formula of skill usage, it has to be on the spot decisions. It’s not an easy build and requires a lot of skill. Look as you might you won’t find an easy D/D build since it’s such a high risk type of play style.

Just an overview of why I chose what I chose. Since I don’t have a lot of healing and depend on protection for a lot of damage reduction with my auras, I put toughness into my gear. This leads to me needing condition cleansing or else certain mobs would drop me fast, but water has that all covered with 10 easy points.
I try to put a lot of condition damage in since currently that’s where a lot of D/D’s long term damage lies right now and allows you to switch attunements without losing much damage output.
There’s three signets available to both fill up your endurance for more rolling which gives you more damage and survivability and more auras to show up to give you protection. Mistform is great for D/D as it gets you out of those “Oh kitten” moments. The Glyph of Elementals is just the best elite available, as much as I like the other two. I tried Tornado and it does have its good parts but usually it takes away too much maneuverability to be viable.
The 30% burning chance on crit can be changed if you’d like, but I personally found it was a good way to justify getting some extra precision. I tried getting Zephyr’s Boon from 10 points in air, but you just really can’t sacrifice the points from anywhere else without losing your survivability or losing the amazing Evasive Arcana.

tldr;
http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fEAQJAoYhMmYbuR5gjEAkCmEUIACjCiUeMDP2A;ToAAzCoo+y8l4L7XuvkfNEYSA
Apply auras for protection.
Apply conditions for damage.
Roll to stay mobile, alive, and deal damage.
Use signets to give auras and endurance.

Just to test out a bit, I where trying to go full earth and fire, but other ways going with the same gear and setup. ( except losing 10 pints in water)
To my big suprice I had very low survivability without the arcane trait line. Tried scepter/ dagger, dagger/dagger and staff, but my survivability where quite low compared to the arcane spec.
So in other words do NOT underestimate the sustainability you can get from the arcane trait line! Even if the trait line it self don’t look so defensive out