Guild Wars 2

Just started an elementalist (25) but aside the attunements and the various weapons skills I unlocked and which I am trying to be confortable with I know nothing. Talking about traits and gear.

Main purpouse is pvp and wvwn (not so much zergs but rather roaming, if possible with this profession). Right now I’m doing exploration in open world to get the feeling.

Any suggestion?

02066 with evasive arcana, zephyr’s boon and D/D for pvp. Once you master that try fresh air ele and staff ele.

If you want to speed-level, equip Staff and go into EotM (Edge of the Mists).

If you want to level in open PvE, go for Power, then Power+Precision, then Power+Precision+Ferocity gear.
Put your trait points into Fire Magic and Air Magic for Power, Precision and Ferocity.
Try Dagger/Dagger, Dagger Air #1 does good damage and has fairly decent range.

I guess I’ll have enough to learn to keep keep me busy for a while

Thank you guys!

you in EU? you can add me if you want a day of tips and tricks in pvp.

Swimsasa Stoon.8936:

you in EU? you can add me if you want a day of tips and tricks in pvp.

yes I am. I will do so, thanks!

I tried 02066, with Soldier amulet (not sure of the choice). Used Signet of resto, Lighting flash, Mist, Cleansing Fire and Glyph of Elementals.
Traits:

I
III, IX, XI
II, VI, XI

Although I have much to learn I already feel quite confortable but my first impression is that it lacks of sustained damage. The burst and cc is ok. There is a form of cc in all attunements which I really like, but I feel that I am doing a lot of… nothing, really. Especially vs certain professions which you cannot facetank and thus melee range should be avoided. So, you unload and move out and often it’s enough to let them recover.

I really like fire, lighting and water but earth (especially #5 which can be good but it’s so situational) is a bit meh. Is there a primary attunement or I am supposed to keep switching according to the situation?

I main a mesmer and don’t recall having problems with d/d eles. But I have been amazed by unkillable elementalists which were able to kite (and eventually stomp 1 or 2) few players around during long fights. Were those players staff eles? Which builds/gear allow such survivability and damaging potentials?

Thanks

Dagger no. 5 in earth is a fun combo with lightning flash, you can teleport while it channels allowing you to hit almost 100% of the time. You can also use it as a threatening mechanism, some people choke up when they see you charging up the churning earth.

Also its good to know how other professions work, what CC’s they have on each weapon and being able to recognize those so you can act accordingly and not mess up mid-fight by channeling churning earth while they still have CC off cooldown.

I run a zerker blind build on my ele and win 1v2 fights from time to time. Small burst of 10k dmg and 1-2k dmg on air auto attack.

Make use of the terrain with your mobility and use timed dodges, CC and blinds to counter your opponents.

But that’s near the latter stages of your training. Right now you should just practice D/D and get a feel for the timing and cooldowns.
That’s that comfortable feel you’re getting.

As for sustained damage; try glyph of elemental power instead of lightning flash, only use churning earth in team fights or after you CC’d your opponent, swap out mistform for armor of earth. Use blast finishers in your firefields.

As for the initial engagement:
RTL-updraft-fire-3-5-4-earth-4-5-interrupt-water-3-air-auto-attack… Also use your auras whenever they’re off cooldown.

Swimsasa Stoon.8936:

Dagger no. 5 in earth is a fun combo with lightning flash, you can teleport while it channels allowing you to hit almost 100% of the time.

You’re funny

It’s fun if you time it well with a chill combo, forced your opponent to use up stamina or in team fights. You also have to make pew pew sounds or you’re doing it completely wrong. Worst case is when you’re fighting veteran eles, it’s almost useless since they will clear it easily. So make louder pew pew sounds next time, Anet confirms that you will get a 0.005% succession rate increase!

well its true that veteran eles can easily time their dodges to churning earth; not that it fits in the chain-attack but you could use earth-3 for a set-up for churning earth, can also grab a fireshield while y’r at it.
I used to pop all my cantrips while doing that with the spell slinger trait on. Its good for the burst but really bad for a sustain fight.

So, while I am leveling with a mix of scrolls and open world to get the feeling, I have been trying things here and there but somehow I am more attracted by staff. I really like it.

For now I mainly stick to pvp. WvW would be a waste of time since I do not have the gear nor the experinece. Do you have builds/gear/tips and tricks to share? I am trying to get used to the various combos but which attunement do you mainly start off with or it is rather dictated by the situation or the profession you are facing each time?

I do not feel comfortable to go full glass yet, so for now I am on celestial amulet and a build that looks like this

Any improvment that can be made?

trooper.2650:

So, while I am leveling with a mix of scrolls and open world to get the feeling, I have been trying things here and there but somehow I am more attracted by staff. I really like it.

For now I mainly stick to pvp. WvW would be a waste of time since I do not have the gear nor the experinece. Do you have builds/gear/tips and tricks to share? I am trying to get used to the various combos but which attunement do you mainly start off with or it is rather dictated by the situation or the profession you are facing each time?

I do not feel comfortable to go full glass yet, so for now I am on celestial amulet and a build that looks like this

Any improvment that can be made?

First off:
Staff, is completely fine if not better if you like and learn it. In fact the best elementalist players I’ve fought all except for one used Staff. That one was a skilled S/D burst ele all the others were Staff users.

As for the build (http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQFAWnMISjDW4AGNAdEGIEIIv1cNKocd5KA-TJxHwADuAAa2fAwDAoYZAA), I tend to always ask what staff build they run and it has always been like this though the utility glyph of elemental power might be swapped out by lightning flash for extra mobility I presume. Since cantrips give regeneration they also remove one extra condition as does switching to water.

Atunement swapping: I tend to initially start a fight in air because prot, might and regen are all nice to get at the start of the fight due to the ‘Elemental Atunement’ trait that gives those boons when you swap while swiftness which you get for switching to air is pretty much useless in a fight… I think that’s about it.

Ah and evasive arcana; dodging in earth gives an extra blast finisher. Blast finishers are nice to use in water fields to get your team healed back up or in fire field for lots of might or before the game even starts to give decent swiftness to the intire party through the use of blast finishers in the static field.

Thank you Swimsasa, I appreciate your post. And I’m kind of relieved to learn that starting in air is correct. After all I have the feeling that Air is among the weak if not the weakest attunement for a staff ele (aside from skill #5 which makes for a perfect opening). The other skills are ok but not as nice as those from other attunements… or maybe it’s just me which I fail to fit #2 and #3 in any proper combo. I like the bouncing of #1 but the damage is extremely weak.

Anyway, I have another question for you, or whoever feels like answering.
It’s about healing skills. What are the pros and cons of our available heals for a staff elementalist? Why are so many using AB and how does it work properly? The damage seems negligible but I reckon the value of this skill is the extra heal you get when hitting many opponents. But I struggle casting the heal when surrounded by many so… it is kind of weird concept isn’kitten Or maybe I should just cover myself with stability first… but it’s not always possible

I am infact debated between using AB or the signet (better for pve maybe?) or ER.
What’d you say?

People use Arcane Brilliance because it’s a blast finisher, and staff puts down a boatload of fields.

AR = blast finisher, look it up in wiki to get the exact details.
ER = not needed unless you don’t have enough condi removal
Signet is for early mornings or late evenings when y’r tired and lazy.

Grimreaper.5370:

Swimsasa Stoon.8936:

Dagger no. 5 in earth is a fun combo with lightning flash, you can teleport while it channels allowing you to hit almost 100% of the time.

You’re funny

I can vouch, I do this all the time, when they start walking backwards I can just teleport behind them and they never see it coming. You have to make sure you can channel it safely, however. I find that armor of earth gives the stability needed to guarantee the hit. I like to switch to water for the chill condi that makes it harder for them to respond to my burst.