Help Understanding Elementalists (Solo PvE)

Help Understanding Elementalists (Solo PvE)

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Posted by: JackOfAllGames.2409

JackOfAllGames.2409

Hello all. I know this is kind of a broad topic here…but I’m having trouble understanding elementalists. I have quite a few classes up to 80 now. Most of ‘em make sense and have several interesting builds I’m toying with…but when it comes to the elementalist, I just don’t get it. (…which kind of stinks. The “wizard” is usually my favorite option in any given RPG and this class seems like the one I should like most.) I guess what I’m having trouble understanding is what makes ELEMENTALISTS good? Why them over another class?

To narrow things down a bit, here are some things I’m having trouble with:

1. How do you handle the lack of weapon swapping? All the builds I’m looking at focus on very short range attacks, almost always using main-hand dagger, but a lot of fights are A LOT easier with ranged attacks. Do I just need to “get gud” at melee? Am I missing something great about the ranged weapon options? (I’d much prefer a ranged build, but scepter seems to have trouble with AoE situations and staff seems poor against single targets.) I’d try using conjured weapons…but unlike the engineer, the weapons disappear within a time limit or number of uses. =/

2. What are some of the standard methods of breaking the defiance bar? I don’t see a lot of options offhand. Is there some standard rotation or something obvious I’m missing?

3. Is Tempest spec worthwhile for solo PvE? The overcharges seem really nice, but A LOT of the traits seem underwhelming. I finally had to give up the notion of using the druid specialization to make a hunter build that I could enjoy (condi axe/torch + shortbow). Perhaps this is a similar situation.

4. How do you normally handle survivability? As a cloth class, I’m having far more trouble surviving combat than with my necromancer or mesmer. Again, being in melee doesn’t help.

5. I’m having trouble deciding on a build. Nothing seems to “click” with me. What kind of build do you normally run in solo PvE? Condition or power? What specializations do you choose (and which trait synergies should I watch for)? Which weapons and utility skills do you utilize? The closest I’ve come to liking a build so far is Fresh Air. Any other good ones?

Thank you!

(edited by JackOfAllGames.2409)

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Posted by: hornswroggle.8023

hornswroggle.8023

Hi there fellow Elementalist. I hope I can answer your questions

1. What is weapon swap for other classes is Attunement swap for Ele (quite literally). How ever due to it still being the same weapon type a lot of the skills are similar across all 4 attunements.
Usually the ranged weapon the Ele has is the staff. Maybe it just requires you getting used to it, because I feel it being useful against single and multiple targets alike.

2. While not being as strong as Daredevil and Revenant at destroying defiance, Ele is very much up there for CC-Bars. Especially Focus and offhand Dagger have quite a few options with strong knockdowns, but also chills cripples and immobilizes in Air Water and Earth. Also The Frostbow 5 is a very strong stun. Usually Eles rotate once across all attunements to tag all CCs they have and then return to their main damage attunement, in most cases Air, because Fresh Air has killed the CD by then.

3. While missing a definitive direction for PvE (as elaborately described by Wooden Potatoes) Tempest is very useful at least for the overloads alone. Usually Tempests run a Zerker Set with Harmonious Conduit for the extra damage. But also a few bunker/healer builds have risen yet they are mostly used for group content or PvP.

4. As you already noticed Cloth armor makes ele fragile. In fact: being Light Armor, Low Vitality it is the squishiest class in the game. Usually Eles rely on Dodges and positioning alone to survive. But on top they have a handful of utilities and traits that get them through hairy situations. Arcane Shield, Flash and Mistform come to mind. Again getting used to the staff as ranged weapon might help as well.

5. The usual Damage build runs Fire/Air/Tempest and goes full ham damage. However there are condition builds, but they require a lot more from the player to execute. I’d say for solo open PvE run whatever you feel like. Experiment with stats and Traits, how they synergize and interact.

Cheers

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Posted by: Feanor.2358

Feanor.2358

1. Getting gut at melee will certainly help, as this is how you deal most of your damage, regardless of the weapon choice. That being said, feel free to just pick a different weapon. Personally I prefer scepter/warhorn, but staff is also a viable option.

2. You don’t get a lot of breakbar capability. You should know your options, but in general don’t expect to successfully break it on your own. The ones I’d recommend knowing:

Warhorn:

  • Air 4
  • Water 4
  • Earth 5 if desperate

Dagger:

  • Earth 3

Staff:

  • Air 3
  • Air 5 (with correct placement)

Conjures:

  • Icebow 5
  • Lightning Hammer 3
  • Lightning Hammer 5 (with correct placement)

3. Definitely. Overloading Air (and Fire, depending on the build) is a major contributor to your damage output.

4. Don’t get hit. There are two sides to this. First, you learn the monsters and their attacks. Second, I know I can kill most mobs before they can take me down. The ones that are tough enough to survive my burst usually have slow attacks which are easily evaded. That being said, it takes practice to solo group event champs, so don’t start rushing into these.

5. Full zerk Fresh Air scepter/warhorn Fire/Air/Tempest. For heal I most often use “Wash the pain away”, followed by Glyph of Elemental Harmony (better self-heal, some extra boons but can be interrupted due to longer cast time) and Ether Renewal (I only use this in Bitterfrost, because the amount of chill is annoying). Elite is open, but I like running Fiery Greatsword. It’s part of the dps rotation and it has nice mobility. For the remaining 3 slots you absolutely want Signet of Fire for the extra crit and Glyph of Storms, because it’s simply awesome in PvE. In the last slot I pick either “Feel the burn” or Icebow.

It’s the meta build for a reason, but in PvE feel free to experiment.

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Posted by: vesica tempestas.1563

vesica tempestas.1563

4. Sceptre/focus condition/toughness gives a lot of survivability. Also ALWAYS eat utility and food enchants, costs copper, makes a big difference.

5. Any build goes so go for what seems fun, but specialize between condy/power depending on weapon, i.e scepter is condy, staff gets more mileage out of power. protection/toughness helps a lot especially when you are starting out.


“Trying to please everyone would not only be challenging
but would also result in a product that might not satisfy anyone”- Roman Pichler, Strategize

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Posted by: JackOfAllGames.2409

JackOfAllGames.2409

Thank you all for the help! From what I’ve learned:

1. Fire/Air/Tempest (which I have already done some experimenting in) is pretty much the go-to. Within those specs, I’ll experiment.
2. I should give up on condi builds (at least for a while). Power is the way to go. I might not go FULL zerker if I need a bit more survivability…but I’ll try full zerker first.
3. I really need to up my dodging game. The proper way to survive is to avoid ever getting hit.
4. I need to give staff and scepter another look. Especially staff. (Since it should be better with power…and I may have just been confusing slow cast times and animations with low damage. I need to look at the numbers.)
5. I’m not breaking those blue bars alone. Learn where my options are (for groups)…but don’t bother trying to break them unless others are helping.

This has been very helpful! I now know where I can narrow the scope of my experimentation. Hopefully I’ll be able to find something fun that’ll work.

Thanks again! =)

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Posted by: Nitrosiili.5628

Nitrosiili.5628

Thank you all for the help! From what I’ve learned:

1. Fire/Air/Tempest (which I have already done some experimenting in) is pretty much the go-to. Within those specs, I’ll experiment.
2. I should give up on condi builds (at least for a while). Power is the way to go. I might not go FULL zerker if I need a bit more survivability…but I’ll try full zerker first.
3. I really need to up my dodging game. The proper way to survive is to avoid ever getting hit.
4. I need to give staff and scepter another look. Especially staff. (Since it should be better with power…and I may have just been confusing slow cast times and animations with low damage. I need to look at the numbers.)
5. I’m not breaking those blue bars alone. Learn where my options are (for groups)…but don’t bother trying to break them unless others are helping.

This has been very helpful! I now know where I can narrow the scope of my experimentation. Hopefully I’ll be able to find something fun that’ll work.

Thanks again! =)

Great that you have learned something, for my perspective I can say that if you want a littlebit more survivability, try marauder stats and some soldier stats (or something else what you like) so you can have more survivability. When you have practiced more then you can switch to more zerk gear.

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Posted by: FrostDraco.8306

FrostDraco.8306

Thank you all for the help! From what I’ve learned:

1. Fire/Air/Tempest (which I have already done some experimenting in) is pretty much the go-to. Within those specs, I’ll experiment.
2. I should give up on condi builds (at least for a while). Power is the way to go. I might not go FULL zerker if I need a bit more survivability…but I’ll try full zerker first.
3. I really need to up my dodging game. The proper way to survive is to avoid ever getting hit.
4. I need to give staff and scepter another look. Especially staff. (Since it should be better with power…and I may have just been confusing slow cast times and animations with low damage. I need to look at the numbers.)
5. I’m not breaking those blue bars alone. Learn where my options are (for groups)…but don’t bother trying to break them unless others are helping.

This has been very helpful! I now know where I can narrow the scope of my experimentation. Hopefully I’ll be able to find something fun that’ll work.

Thanks again! =)

Great that you have learned something, for my perspective I can say that if you want a littlebit more survivability, try marauder stats and some soldier stats (or something else what you like) so you can have more survivability. When you have practiced more then you can switch to more zerk gear.

I would say its way better to keep zerk and switch out a few peices to valk. You will have more health and slightly less precision, unlike marauder with cuts up all those stats and splits them amongst 4. Resulting in less power, a bit too much precision, and less health than if you had done valk. It’s also easier to replace valk then it is a full set of marauders.

I would say avoid the soldiers or toughness gear in general, especially if you plan on raiding, and also, you want to get used to how much damage things actually do. Toughness does not help with this. And when you take it away, you are going to be more jarred than if you had just added extra HP.

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Posted by: Feanor.2358

Feanor.2358

Marauder is actually pretty nice for solo PvE. Unlike group scenarios, the extra precision is not wasted so the dps loss is quite small.

By the way, you may want to consider using Celestial. It is not even close to optimal, but you’ll be more survivable and you can experiment with both power and condi builds without needing to replace your gear.

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Posted by: AliamRationem.5172

AliamRationem.5172

Hello all. I know this is kind of a broad topic here…but I’m having trouble understanding elementalists. I have quite a few classes up to 80 now. Most of ‘em make sense and have several interesting builds I’m toying with…but when it comes to the elementalist, I just don’t get it. (…which kind of stinks. The “wizard” is usually my favorite option in any given RPG and this class seems like the one I should like most.) I guess what I’m having trouble understanding is what makes ELEMENTALISTS good? Why them over another class?

To narrow things down a bit, here are some things I’m having trouble with:

1. How do you handle the lack of weapon swapping? All the builds I’m looking at focus on very short range attacks, almost always using main-hand dagger, but a lot of fights are A LOT easier with ranged attacks. Do I just need to “get gud” at melee? Am I missing something great about the ranged weapon options? (I’d much prefer a ranged build, but scepter seems to have trouble with AoE situations and staff seems poor against single targets.) I’d try using conjured weapons…but unlike the engineer, the weapons disappear within a time limit or number of uses. =/

2. What are some of the standard methods of breaking the defiance bar? I don’t see a lot of options offhand. Is there some standard rotation or something obvious I’m missing?

3. Is Tempest spec worthwhile for solo PvE? The overcharges seem really nice, but A LOT of the traits seem underwhelming. I finally had to give up the notion of using the druid specialization to make a hunter build that I could enjoy (condi axe/torch + shortbow). Perhaps this is a similar situation.

4. How do you normally handle survivability? As a cloth class, I’m having far more trouble surviving combat than with my necromancer or mesmer. Again, being in melee doesn’t help.

5. I’m having trouble deciding on a build. Nothing seems to “click” with me. What kind of build do you normally run in solo PvE? Condition or power? What specializations do you choose (and which trait synergies should I watch for)? Which weapons and utility skills do you utilize? The closest I’ve come to liking a build so far is Fresh Air. Any other good ones?

Thank you!

That’s a lot of questions! I’ll try to answer them.

Weapon Swapping – I haven’t found this to be a huge issue on my elementalist. Our “melee” range is actually significantly longer than standard melee range (300-600 vs. 130), so circle-strafing at maximum distance combined with our mobility and area effect options is quite effective at dealing damage while avoiding damage. But if it really bothers you, there’s no reason you can’t carry another weapon set and swap before entering combat if you anticipate needing the extra range.

Breakbars – As with any other class, you’ll need to learn your CC abilities. For dagger/x builds, most of the CC will come from your off-hand. For example, I use dagger/dagger for solo PvE and my strong CC comes primarily from air 5 and earth 4, with plenty of soft CC available in earth attunement.

Tempest – I think tempest is pretty solid. Besides, you aren’t going to want to give up overloads in PvE so what are you gonna do?

Survival – It’s solo PvE. Do what works for you. So, if full glass isn’t working out, try some other pieces. Maybe throw in some marauder and/or celestial gear. Those are my preferred stats for survivability, and I have solo’d every HP champion in HoT with my dagger/dagger ele including the obnoxious ones like Balthazar and Mushroom Queen. That’s about as survivable as it gets! I prefer more offense for general play, so I just carry some extra pieces and swap depending upon what I’m doing.

Builds – Fresh air is a great option for dagger/x. I basically never switch out of air/tempest for my build. The third trait line I frequently swap between fire and water, depending upon whether I benefit more from the damage output of fire or the strong healing and condi cleanse from water.

Also, I know nobody recommends it, but since this is a solo build you might consider might stacking to boost your damage. I use strength runes and a strength sigil. Paired with might on fire weapon skills, it’s easy to maintain 25 stack might in any combat lasting more than a few seconds and this vastly increases your damage output.

Finally, don’t get too caught up in the “meta”. Remember that those builds are not designed for solo play.

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Posted by: FrostDraco.8306

FrostDraco.8306

Marauder is actually pretty nice for solo PvE. Unlike group scenarios, the extra precision is not wasted so the dps loss is quite small.

By the way, you may want to consider using Celestial. It is not even close to optimal, but you’ll be more survivable and you can experiment with both power and condi builds without needing to replace your gear.

Don’t ever consider celestial. Is bloody terrible.

No need to experiment with bad stats when the leg work has already been done.

My viper ele can clear most HoT champs in 50 sec -3mins depending on how much i need to cc.