Guild Wars 2

Hey guys, I picked up ele again after 2 years of gathering dust, and am just wondering.

Can you play a condi ele in raids?

Cause I want to play a condi damage oriented raid build, and I would love to see my ele fit that role. Otherwise I think I’ll just hop on my thief again.

Also, if yes, what weapons, skills, builds, etc… would a condi ele be using?

Thanks in advance,
Master Mage Ahrim

It could probably work somewhat, but the damage would be subpar. All you have is burning, and while that is a nice damaging condition in itself, condi builds get their damage from a mix of bleeds, poison and burn (and chill if you’re a reaper).

If you want to play condi in raids, try Engineer or Reaper, that’s what people bring for condi. Otherwise stick to Thief I guess.

Condi tempest is an interesting build. While you can do respectable damage with dagger/focus, it’s not as optimal as other condi builds like Reaper and Engineer.

However, it does have a unique build where you substitute the dagger for a scepter in order to gain access to the 2 blast combinations. If you also run warhorn in the offhand (its fire field does comparable damage to the focus, but has a much higher cooldown), you can make use of heat sync to maintain might and fury on the group.

you don’t need a mix of conditions for pve
you only have burning. so what? a 20k burn tick is just as good as 12k burn + 4k bleed + 4k poison
In fact, getting all your damage from one condition is better, since it’s easier to optimize.

yes, condi ele for raids and pve is a thing
It’s only bad against players

Sure, and how do you consistently stack those insane amounts of burning? And what do you do when your burning skills are on CD? Hit with power attacks that do little damage because of lack of Precision and Ferocity?

Condi Ele in PvE is possible but outclassed by proper condi classes and physical damage builds so what gives.

Burn Ele Build Video

Burn Ele Build (note: varies from the video, as it’s just what threw I together in the editor)

Sure, and how do you consistently stack those insane amounts of burning? And what do you do when your burning skills are on CD? Hit with power attacks that do little damage because of lack of Precision and Ferocity?

Watch the video, but basically anything you do will apply burning stacks. The longest relevant CD with D/F is 13s on Flamewall. Additionally the gear is mostly Sinister, so Power and Precision are your secondary stats.

Condi Ele in PvE is possible but outclassed by proper condi classes and physical damage builds so what gives.

My knowledge my not be totally up to date, but burn ele damage is at the very least comparable to other condi classes and slightly behind power ele damage on large targets (both are dependent on the boss being stationary).

SALT: I have not played this build

dukevonart.2691:

Burn Ele Build Video

Burn Ele Build (note: varies from the video, as it’s just what threw I together in the editor)

Sure, and how do you consistently stack those insane amounts of burning? And what do you do when your burning skills are on CD? Hit with power attacks that do little damage because of lack of Precision and Ferocity?

Watch the video, but basically anything you do will apply burning stacks. The longest relevant CD with D/F is 13s on Flamewall. Additionally the gear is mostly Sinister, so Power and Precision are your secondary stats.

Condi Ele in PvE is possible but outclassed by proper condi classes and physical damage builds so what gives.

My knowledge my not be totally up to date, but burn ele damage is at the very least comparable to other condi classes and slightly behind power ele damage on large targets (both are dependent on the boss being stationary).

SALT: I have not played this build

21k DPS with an almost full array of party buffs is okayish, yes, but still widely outclassed by power Elementalists. Though I admit the damage is higher than I thought. Still, I think it comes down to ‘you can but why would you’, as other condi classes (Engi and Reaper) do comparable damage but add a lot more utility.

Yes condi ele is viable but not even close to optimal. Necro and engi out class it in condi dps. Necro condi is also easier to play

I think some of the burn based stuff has potential to be more viable at really high level fractals due to the mistlocks intended to bunish zerker builds and the toughness scaling (Though toughness scaling might not be an issue after latest patches? Haven’t done high level fractals to check it out).

But even if we said it’s viable in PvE now due to burn stacking, like why you would take it over three condi grenade engineers or a venomshare thief and two engis? Those two classes have just insane condi power, because they can use viper gear to build huge stacks of condis in a prolonged fight.

And keep in mind, no matter what condi build you roll in what class, you are still going to be at disadvantage outside of raids and high level fractals. Trash, vets and elites just die too fast to power builds in comparison to condi builds which require time to build up condi stacks. Even if you achieve higher dps on champs, that is the majority of what you are going to be fighting in open world and low fractal bosses die too fast anyways to care.

Changes in HoT have gone some way to create incentive for players to go condi or support in PvE, but they are still niche roles and are heavily punished by the price tag on the optimal gear for those builds.

actually, you can hit 6k burn ticks instantly. I have no issues burning things down as fast as I can zerk them down in general pve. ele has the advantage over other condi classes in that regard, since it’s all burning, which is short duration high intensity

typical scenario running through a HoT map: I come across a mordrem punisher or something. burning speed through it, turn around and backpedal while casting drake’s breath, and then continue on my way as it dies a second or two later. Does require pact commander mastery maxed for maximum effectiveness though.

as for toughness in high fractals, scale 4 harpies seem to take 35% more damage than scale 91 harpies, last I checked.

reikken.4961:

actually, you can hit 6k burn ticks instantly. I have no issues burning things down as fast as I can zerk them down in general pve. ele has the advantage over other condi classes in that regard, since it’s all burning, which is short duration high intensity

typical scenario running through a HoT map: I come across a mordrem punisher or something. burning speed through it, turn around and backpedal while casting drake’s breath, and then continue on my way as it dies a second or two later. Does require pact commander mastery maxed for maximum effectiveness though.

as for toughness in high fractals, scale 4 harpies seem to take 35% more damage than scale 91 harpies, last I checked.

That’s fair. I didn’t really consider that, since I don’t play condi ele.

Yeah if that’s still the case with fractals, then burning burst has an edge over power, but you still have to deal with a heavy price tag on sinister and viper gear that just doesn’t exist with gearing for zerker. That alone makes it hard for me to recommend it as your first spec.

Even with my thief, I went power as first set of gear and built a condi set slowly as a secondary.

I’d actually recommend carrion over either viper or sinister for high level fractals. You’ll appreciate the health bonus, and the precision isn’t that important. And burning duration is easy and very inexpensive (like 50 silver) to max without viper. I use sinister trinkets and carrion other stuff

reikken.4961:

I’d actually recommend carrion over either viper or sinister for high level fractals. You’ll appreciate the health bonus, and the precision isn’t that important. And burning duration is easy and very inexpensive (like 50 silver) to max without viper. I use sinister trinkets and carrion other stuff

That’s also a really good point that I didn’t think about with a single condi focused build. You are right. Viper’s is only needed when you are running condi builds that focus on multiple conditions like poison and bleeds in venomshare.

When running without a PS Warrior or Hammer DH, I’ll often use a scepter/warhorn condi build that rotates between fire and earth. The dps is mediocre but it provides might, fury, and protection to the rest of the group. I think a better comparison for this build is to PS Warrior since they fill the same role.

PS Ele. I like the sound of that

I wish ele had some unique party buffs though. has soothing mist, if that counts, but that’s it

Raven.1793:

When running without a PS Warrior or Hammer DH, I’ll often use a scepter/warhorn condi build that rotates between fire and earth. The dps is mediocre but it provides might, fury, and protection to the rest of the group. I think a better comparison for this build is to PS Warrior since they fill the same role.

While this build does supply a decent amount of group support, it doesn’t even come close to PS war once you factor in EA and banners.