Guild Wars 2

I just got back after a year long hiatus.

Im surprised to see the elementalists became viable dps build. A year ago, elems are stuck to being toughness vit build because of their squishyness when going full berserk. And going vit / toughness still makes you a good dpser.

Ive been reading other elementalist topics and guides and found out that people wanted dps elems in dungeons more than any kind of elems. I even saw a post saying that if youre an elem and not in zerk gear gtfo of my dungeon party run.
Ive also read that playing a zerk build elem is very very difficult and that you have to have very fast reflex. Or else you will die from bosses in a few hits.

Since i stopped playing a year ago, i am once again a noob (i was average a year ago xD). And was asking for opinions of those who knows the class very well.

Is my build still viable

6 in arcana (arcane evasion) for water cleans every dodge extra heal is helpful
6 in water for vit and heal power + condition removals
2 in earth for that stone armor

Equips are full zerk accessories and weapons.
PVT armor
I mainly use D/D for this build and staff for range

Or this build will only hinder me from joining groups? (Last time i check groups in gw2 arent choosy, but now it seems people have adapted the WoW group mentality where everyone is an elitist and only wants generic zerk dps build in their party)

Also, if i go full zerk, what traits should i invest in? Did they boost the survivability of elems in full zerk gears? If yes, how so?

I mainly d/d or d/f and staff. I dont like scepters.

First of all, PTV is a poor choice for PvE unless you’re doing open world bosses like Tequatl that can’t be crit. In open world roaming there’s hardly anything threatening so there’s really no point in using anything besides all-out DPS. In a group setting (like dungeons) you want to contribute as much as possible by providing might, fury and as much damage as you can.

Sometimes blinds/projectile blocks are needed and you’re able to apply that with LH autoattack chain (blind on the final hit), sandstorm (glyph of storms utility with earth attunement), swirling winds (air attunement focus #4), and your elite for summoning an elemental (use earth attunement elemental, as it will survive longer and bodyblock/absorb more projectiles).

Basically, you can utilize all of the support that a dungeon party will ever need regardless of what build you’re using. So if you are in full berserker, you are optimizing your potential contribution. It’s true that eles are the squishiest and will get absolutely destroyed on many occasions, but with practice and well-timed use of defensive skills and utilities you can survive. For dungeons, use focus as it has wonderful utility and offers better potential for stacking might (extra blast finisher) than dagger offhand does.

Scepter in PvE is truly terrible damage and the only use for it is for stacking might, typically before engaging in a fight (called “prestacking”). If you’re doing dungeons and use scepter, it’s supposed to be because you’re relying on your conjured weapons for DPS. The scepter is only there to stack might, as it offers superior might-stacking potential to that of a dagger (not by much, but it has decent burst). The problem is that if you’re with pugs, they often loot your LH and when that happens… you’re stuck with awful DPS.

So with that in mind, you should basically always be using either D/F or Staff in dungeons. S/F+LH is superior DPS, but trust me it just doesn’t work in pugs most of the time. You want people to loot your ice bows/firey greatswords most of the time, but not your LH— that’s yours!

The typical trait point allocation is 6/6/2/0/0 or 6/4/2/2/0 or 6/6/0/0/2 or 6/2/2/2/2 depending on what weapons you’re using, what dungeon/fractal you’re doing, how many other eles are in the group and what is needed of you.

For detailed information on builds, I really really suggest you check out DeKeyz’s guides and the extremely detailed elementalist class guide made by haviz & zelyhn on dulfy. They’re the best ele guides you’ll ever find for PvE!

Here’s a short description of the current PvE meta builds:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Elementalist-Build-PvP-WvW-and-PvE/first#post4279535
Note: You can also play the Fresh Air build with Conjure Lighting Hammer, it’s a little weaker than Scepter/x but you don’t lose as much damage when you get downed.

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For a far more detailed explanation of the current meta builds:
http://www.dtguilds.com/forum/m/6563292/viewthread/12515254-dnt-elementalist-builds

A lot seems to go for dagger/focus fresh air buikd with full zerk

With 6fire6air2earth

Is this average player friendly? Or i have to 100% play perfect to avoid getting downed?

Every zerk ele is risky to play in pugs, but imho D/F 6/6/2/0/0 is the easiest to play. Good might stacks, the best vuls. stacks, many utilities reflects, CC, obsidian flesh etc, good sustain, 1 free utility slot if you aren’t using LH, decent dps but not the best. Works for me.

D/F is the easiest, but ele overall is the hardest class to play in dungeons, even more in pugs. If you’re struggling at first, change some offensive utilites like signet of fire to anything boosting your survivability. To make things clear, you can use any build you want in pve ( play how you want blabla), it’s just that every point in toughness or vitality helps you and is detrimental to your team since the group dps is lower. Basically, berserker/sin with meta traits is a “support” build, and ptv 6water 6arcana is a training wheel to boost your own survivability. That doesn’t apply to WwW and pvp.

My advice is, find a group of friends you can train with, and they don’t mind ressing you a bit when you’re practising, and when you’re more confident get in pugs run. The noob guild provides great services related to teaching, check those in the dungeon subforum. IF you’re eu, i can give you some tips on how to survive as a berserker ele in dungeons. Have fun.

nacario.9417:

A lot seems to go for dagger/focus fresh air buikd with full zerk

With 6fire6air2earth

Is this average player friendly? Or i have to 100% play perfect to avoid getting downed?

You can try 6/6/0/0/2 for Renewing Stamina (Arcane Power II) to be able to dodge more. Against Alpha in CoE it’s very helpful.
Overall I would suggest 6/6/2 though, in most dungeons you only need to dodge 2-3 times aside from skipping.

You also have to learn when it’s not your fault that you’ve been downed; e.g. against the first boss in CoF path 1, if your team deals only mediocre damage and the boss targets a zerker he will almost certainly go down.

As an Ele I use the following build most of the time:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJAoNhMMaZY3gPaABALcAYAcAGdDEnCyA1QA-e
You rarely need a 30s stun break but most of the time I’m just to lazy to switch more than one skill during a dungeon run.
The last utility skill is either Conjure Frost Bow, Armor of Earth or Conjure Lighting Hammer.

I won’t claim to be a Pro, I enjoy playing my Ele though. I didn’t go for a full Beserker, I subbed in some Cavalier, with a little Vitality from Ascended trinkets instead. a 0/6/0/4/4 D/F build that I use, I pug most of my dungeons so the little boost in survivability for when things go south, while still having pretty good damage suits me.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFUQJAodhMMKb2ywnBf0AOAGxfQMQcEIA0BLeFWCA-TRSBABlqqyV7PKDuRtCsU61xDAYClgooHABTQAcCAEEQsA-e

Thank you for the infos and tips.

I decided to try dagger focus elem.

@Karode

I will definitely try that if i see myself having a hard time with a full zerk. Thanks!

Karode, that’s even less DPS than what I take on my ele when I WvW roam with it :|

The #1 reason why elementalists are so sought after in PvE group content (dungeons and fractals) is because they are the absolute best source of might and fury in the game, period. This is only achieved with a proper rotation and with persisting flames, which is a grandmaster trait in fire magic. You have 0 in fire magic.

Survivabilty as an ele can be challenging. However always keep in mind that currently you are expected to run a dps oriented build in most dungeon runs. At most, if you dont feel confident in full beserker gear, you can consider investing in knights gear (while you get the hang of things, try to wear zerk as much as possible. Another option that gives you a bit more survivability and is optimal for critical damage based builds is assasin gear.

Also keep in kind that in many situations you can get downed even if you have a lot fo toughness of vitality. Many of the defensive stats in PvE are a waste of time and resources.

I would recommend checking out Nike’s Q&A episode 2, which has some ideas to practice to ensure you can stay alive in beserker builds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJODnlDOivc) and DeKeyz videos can be quite useful at getting a good idea on the current elementalist meta builds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wVNHgbTzGQ&list=PLwQtsq8Rv5LXQs8gHpDLu-zzl8IdTEWLG).

Hope this helps!

Ive decided to go with berserker dagger/focus and staff build since it looks like everybody’s favorite

Ive read sir dekeyz guide and i somehow cant make my comet hit my firefield (i tried the camera upward thing and move then hit the comet skill) i still cant aim it properly xD

Dagger focus gains one more adept! Welcome to the creed my friend

That’s the spirit Nacario, just learn the correct rotations, I find Zelyhns rotations the best.

And DesertRose, you don’t need renewing stamina for Alpha, just time your fiery whirl with fgs (extra evade), if you don’t have fgs, with d/f you can also evade with burning speed or use obsidian flesh.

Yesterday I have played with another d/f ele in CoE p3 PUG (rare to see d/f eles) and it went super smooth. We even killed experimental subject in one go with only 4 ppl. I mostly outdps scepter/x eles. Maybe they are using funky builds, not full zerk, dodge too much or mess up the rotations….

nacario.9417:

Ive decided to go with berserker dagger/focus and staff build since it looks like everybody’s favorite

Ive read sir dekeyz guide and i somehow cant make my comet hit my firefield (i tried the camera upward thing and move then hit the comet skill) i still cant aim it properly xD

To ensure it lands, move to one side of your firefield, aim in front of you with the camera upward, and it’ll hit between the middle and the side of the firefield depending on your camera. After a bit you’ll just have fun trickshotting your comets into the smallest fire field possible.

The build I bring for most dungeons depends on my percieved confidence in the abilities of my teammates as well as the difficulty of the content. If its a kittenty PUG group I will bring staff if the bosses don’t move around wildy or D/F if they do. I also use D/F when tons of minor cleave spam is needed or for most of arah/fractals. I prefer to use S/F with LH when I can trust my team to not spam guardian symbols and to not pick up the LH that I place several feet away for a reason.

If I’m doing dungeons with guildmates, I’ll usually go S/F or staff depending on other eles in our group or D/F if its arah.

I use Cleric’s gear for PvE, WvW, and PvP. I think it works really well. I have fun with Berserker setups. But I feel it’s just more natural for me to be more defensive. I don’t have problems killing things, it just takes a bit longer. I can get plenty of might, so that helps with my lack in damage. I usually run dual daggers and it works really well for roaming in WvW. A lot of times I find that my allies need healing and I keep them from death a lot. They can’t do damage if they’re dead.

Tom.8029:

I use Cleric’s gear for PvE, WvW, and PvP. I think it works really well. I have fun with Berserker setups. But I feel it’s just more natural for me to be more defensive. I don’t have problems killing things, it just takes a bit longer. I can get plenty of might, so that helps with my lack in damage. I usually run dual daggers and it works really well for roaming in WvW. A lot of times I find that my allies need healing and I keep them from death a lot. They can’t do damage if they’re dead.

http://i.imgur.com/meYgYMX.gif

I can only speak for the WvW dnd ele

02066 or 00266 are both good traits with the former being much more suitable if u are aiming for more DPS and want to be an aura ele

Celestial mixed with other gears are good

No , it’s not good. Cleric is selfish, and traiting for personal survivability is selfish as well. In dungeons, the best support you can bring as an ele is fire fields, might stacks, fury, projectile absorbtion, vuln, and conjures. The small healing from cleric doesn’t help against OHKO, and it’s better to avoid the damage with focus 4 for instance than healing allies after the hit. The dps of a 02066 ele is obviously awful, and you need persisting flames and weak spot if you’re the only elementalist in the group. You can play how you want, but it’s detrimental to your team.

oxtred.7658:

No , it’s not good. Cleric is selfish, and traiting for personal survivability is selfish as well. In dungeons, the best support you can bring as an ele is fire fields, might stacks, fury, projectile absorbtion, vuln, and conjures. The small healing from cleric doesn’t help against OHKO, and it’s better to avoid the damage with focus 4 for instance than healing allies after the hit. The dps of a 02066 ele is obviously awful, and you need persisting flames and weak spot if you’re the only elementalist in the group. You can play how you want, but it’s detrimental to your team.

Playing devil’s advocate, on the flip side, always being down is VERY detrimental to your team in every aspect including DPS (not much DPS from a corpe now is there?). If you can’t play Zerker you are better of with anything else. At least you will do something for the team. Sure it will take a few more seconds to complete encounters, but if someone seriously play a game like it’s a business where every minutes count they have issues IMHO and are themselves super selfish and theefore in no position to point any fingers on the matter.

Sirbeaumerdier.3740:

oxtred.7658:

No , it’s not good. Cleric is selfish, and traiting for personal survivability is selfish as well. In dungeons, the best support you can bring as an ele is fire fields, might stacks, fury, projectile absorbtion, vuln, and conjures. The small healing from cleric doesn’t help against OHKO, and it’s better to avoid the damage with focus 4 for instance than healing allies after the hit. The dps of a 02066 ele is obviously awful, and you need persisting flames and weak spot if you’re the only elementalist in the group. You can play how you want, but it’s detrimental to your team.

Playing devil’s advocate, on the flip side, always being down is VERY detrimental to your team in every aspect including DPS (not much DPS from a corpe now is there?). If you can’t play Zerker you are better of with anything else. At least you will do something for the team. Sure it will take a few more seconds to complete encounters, but if someone seriously play a game like it’s a business where every minutes count they have issues IMHO and are themselves super selfish and theefore in no position to point any fingers on the matter.

It’s called dodging and avoiding kittenty groups. Against some bosses, yeah you will go down if your team can’t do enough damage, like the slave driver or god forbid simin in arah.

If you can’t handle zerker gear, then don’t join zerker parties in clerics gear. For casualer runs, if you can’t survive, do valkyrie or knights with zerker trinkets if you can’t handle surviving…

Clerics is honestly kittenty for Pve unless you’re soloing the orb in arah.

Haviz/Zelyhn have beginner builds in their guide on dulfy you should read. Also in general D/F will be most helpful for a beginner maintaining surviability and damage in full zerk. Also icebows are a must for most builds if you didn’t know that.

nearlight.3064:

Sirbeaumerdier.3740:

oxtred.7658:

No , it’s not good. Cleric is selfish, and traiting for personal survivability is selfish as well. In dungeons, the best support you can bring as an ele is fire fields, might stacks, fury, projectile absorbtion, vuln, and conjures. The small healing from cleric doesn’t help against OHKO, and it’s better to avoid the damage with focus 4 for instance than healing allies after the hit. The dps of a 02066 ele is obviously awful, and you need persisting flames and weak spot if you’re the only elementalist in the group. You can play how you want, but it’s detrimental to your team.

Playing devil’s advocate, on the flip side, always being down is VERY detrimental to your team in every aspect including DPS (not much DPS from a corpe now is there?). If you can’t play Zerker you are better of with anything else. At least you will do something for the team. Sure it will take a few more seconds to complete encounters, but if someone seriously play a game like it’s a business where every minutes count they have issues IMHO and are themselves super selfish and theefore in no position to point any fingers on the matter.

It’s called dodging and avoiding kittenty groups. Against some bosses, yeah you will go down if your team can’t do enough damage, like the slave driver or god forbid simin in arah.

If you can’t handle zerker gear, then don’t join zerker parties in clerics gear. For casualer runs, if you can’t survive, do valkyrie or knights with zerker trinkets if you can’t handle surviving…

Clerics is honestly kittenty for Pve unless you’re soloing the orb in arah.

Haviz/Zelyhn have beginner builds in their guide on dulfy you should read. Also in general D/F will be most helpful for a beginner maintaining surviability and damage in full zerk. Also icebows are a must for most builds if you didn’t know that.

I agree that people should avoid LFG that specifically say “speed run, meta zerker only” kind of stuff. Like I said, I’m playing devil’s advocate.

That being said, too often people don’t specify that much in their LFG (they forgot or they just don’t care for a run) and some people accept to join but are kitten when they see they are in a group that just don’t feel like rushing anything. Will a few more minutes really kill them? Apparently for some the answer is yes…

nearlight.3064:

Sirbeaumerdier.3740:

oxtred.7658:

No , it’s not good. Cleric is selfish, and traiting for personal survivability is selfish as well. In dungeons, the best support you can bring as an ele is fire fields, might stacks, fury, projectile absorbtion, vuln, and conjures. The small healing from cleric doesn’t help against OHKO, and it’s better to avoid the damage with focus 4 for instance than healing allies after the hit. The dps of a 02066 ele is obviously awful, and you need persisting flames and weak spot if you’re the only elementalist in the group. You can play how you want, but it’s detrimental to your team.

Playing devil’s advocate, on the flip side, always being down is VERY detrimental to your team in every aspect including DPS (not much DPS from a corpe now is there?). If you can’t play Zerker you are better of with anything else. At least you will do something for the team. Sure it will take a few more seconds to complete encounters, but if someone seriously play a game like it’s a business where every minutes count they have issues IMHO and are themselves super selfish and theefore in no position to point any fingers on the matter.

It’s called exploiting and stacking kittenty groups. Against some bosses, yeah you will go down if your team can’t do enough damage, like the african slave driver or god forbid simin in arah.

If you can’t handle zerker gear, then don’t join zerker parties in clerics gear. For casualer runs, if you can’t survive, do zerk or zerk with zerker trinkets if you can’t handle surviving…

Clerics is honestly kittenty overpowered for Pve unless you’re soloing the orb in arah.

Simin? A party wiper? You high, that kitten is str8 up duo material.

Rip in peace definition of proffesional, you will always be remembered in my heart.