Guild Wars 2

[Discussion Thread]

With the changes to Sigils/Runes and the introduction of the new Water Grandmaster, is Healer Elementalist viable?

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Fire: 0
Air: 0
Earth: 0
Water: 30 – V, X, XIII
Arcana: 30 – V, VIII, XI

Armor: Clerics
Jewelry: Clerics

Sigil (1): Water (30% chance to heal AoE on hit)
Sigil (2): Benevolence (.5% outgoing healing; max stack size 25)

Runes: 6x Superior Monk

Weapon: Staff

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The combination of 6 Monk Runes (10% outgoing healing) and the new trait Water XIII – Aqua Benevolence (25% outgoing healing) and Benevolence Sigil (25 stacks; 12.5% outgoing healing) gathers what, exactly?:

47.5% outgoing healing increase

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Healing Rain (45s cd): 3,656/3sec healing
(outgoing healing applied) -> 5,392/3sec healing

Geyser (20s cd): 3,471/2sec
(outgoing healing applied) -> 5119.75/2sec

Together only casting Healing Rain once in a 60s time limit and Geyser 3x in the same 60s time limit.

20,751.25 hp in 60s to entire party.

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Staff Water #1 Autoattack (3/4s cd): 721 (AoE)
(outgoing healing applied) -> 1063.475 (AoE)

In a tight clumped formation, Staff Water #1 Autoattack is capable of providing somewhere around (ideal situation):

80,078 hp over 60s (in an ideal situation without lag/delay/skill cast animation/after delay)

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Both of these are not even taking into account:

Evasive Aracana dodge rolls
Regen applied passively
Heals from swapping into Water
Procs from Water Sigil

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Elementalist PvE/Zerg heal build?

Given the fact that having 10 unspent trait points now gives +150 to Healing Power your build is highly viable.

On paper it looks good but getting people to stay in your water fields is easier said than done.

Regarding using it in PvE, the meta is still to do the most damage as possible in order to kill the enemy before they have a chance to kill you.

Regarding using it in zergs there’s no need for max healing power on water fields because there’s usually enough (in organised groups) people to blast it and get back to 100% in my experience.

I’m in no way saying your idea is bad it’s just that the game doesn’t really need max healing power in PvE or Zergs at this moment in time.

Maybe try it in sPvP as a bunker spec by putting the final 10 points into Earth for Earth’s Embrace, make sure your heal is Ether Renewal and take Aquamancer’s Alacrity instead of Cleansing Wave for max heals uptime.

Agreed, Zerker Ele meteors in Zergs, and Zerker Ele in dungeons.

I just find it somewhat interesting that somehow with the latest patch an actual [Healer] role build is entirely viable for once.

The viability was always “just on the verge” because the numbers no matter how you added them up just did not point to a spec being able to heal a single party as much as the party members individually could heal themselves.

What interests me is not the actual usefulness of the build. But the fact that it is indeed possible to support a team of (let us say for example, unskilled/new players) with a [Healer] spec.

There is not an actual need for it. But it is there now, and feasible if someone finds a use for it.

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[Edit]

Perhaps something for a Roaming Party? Especially with a group of glassy players. The Elementalist could sustain the glassier players and allow them to be doubly as effective. (Considering the amount of healing the Elementalist could now output.)

For example: Built properly and played properly, you could heal a Thief to full HP 2/3x over.

Imagine being able to burst a glass Thief dead. But being unable to kill them because a fully [Healer] Bunker Ele was sustaining them near indefinitely?

What about a group of glass Thieves supported by such an Ele?

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Situation:

Thief almost one shots you. You burst Thief to almost dead. Thief stealths. [Healer] Ele burst heals Thief to full. (Almost 10,000 HP burst heal in 3 seconds time.) Thief finishes you off.

You could try killing the Bunker Ele before then, but all it would take is 3-5 seconds to fully heal the Thief and I am almost certain no one has ever bursted a Bunker Ele down in 3 seconds.

It could be outright vicious.

Especially if a single [Healer] Ele could do the same to a party of 4 Thieves/4 other glass cannons. (Assuming good coordination.)

Ashadow.6874:

What interests me is not the actual usefulness of the build. But the fact that it is indeed possible to support a team of (let us say for example, unskilled/new players) with a [Healer] spec.

There is not an actual need for it. But it is there now, and feasible if someone finds a use for it.

Oh! Sorry, I misunderstood.

Yeah absolutely.

Ashadow.6874:

Imagine being able to burst a glass Thief dead. But being unable to kill them because a fully Bunker Ele was sustaining them near indefinitely?

What about a group of glass Thieves supported by such an Ele?

Definitely possible but it would take quite a bit of communication and initiative on the Ele’s part to guess where to put the fields so the thieves movement isn’t restricted by having to stay in the water fields.

You are definitely right about that. It would be better for the Elementalist to keep an eye on the Thief/Thieves and watch for when they are in danger. It would have to be something practiced. (In actual combat situations roaming in WvW.)

Not something I would do often but it could be good for a laugh, just watching people try to kill a Thief friend of mine.

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Could definitely be helpful helping newer players though.

no need for healing in WvW? Wonder what servers that is happening on. Definitely not teir 1.

I made 0/2/0/6/6 build for WWW, with monk runes but life sigil…
in WWW it is quite good support, i don’t do high damage, but my auto attack heals ~1200 in radius.
soothing mist heal 200 per second.
geyzer heal 5K in 2 seconds ( if stand inside area).

but in dungeons, i am not convinced yet,
decent party, can gain more from such build, they can slack more. but they don’t really need me.
i could heal up cohler damage completely in seconds.
but if the party is bad /low level, then the heals wont help.
I got stuck in AC1 on the burrows with a low level party, and couldn’t heal nobody, for several wipes, then i retraited back to damage spec and gear, and finished the burrows.

I like the new trait and there are 2 ways to look at it. You go all out healing clerics as you have outlined in the OP.

You also can just take the trait, some monk runes, the sigil, and dps gear and heal your party pretty good.

Monk runes + Full Zerk 475 healing power.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQFAGC4EBITA-TVBXgAAK/C1BIs/Qv6PPKBBA-w

With Monk Runes, Benevolence Sigil, and Aqua Benevolence Trait This should net you a 4100/2 sec Geyser with FULL ZERKER

How much clerics do you need to get a 4100 Geyser? I don’t know but 1624 healing power in full clerics and life stacks won’t do it. As you can see for yourself. 3642/2sec

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQFAGC4EBITA-TlRDABGqEEOdAXq+TU7PklyPAeAAAA-w

That is the real power imo it is a really strong trait it isn’t selfish but the party support is great.

Magi or cestale armor and trinkets is good for a full healing ele it evens out your ability to stay alive though you lose some healing ability if you go cestale but you get some ability to do dmg and last much longer. I would like to see the calculation for a full cestale ele build with the healing support mind sets.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQFAWhMMqc25wwBr0AhAG5NQHoBOKAUuGUCWBA-T1xGwAAuAAqU/5pyP56AGu/AhHAAUlgkCYUhRA-w

A fast build i put togeater it has about 1110 healing power with good hp and def its power and crit dmg is a bit lacking but it still should hit avg. dmg.

Switching to water rolls and water blast should heal others for about 2506 the reg from switching to water will heal others for 2542. Water 1: 877 Water 3: 4396 Water 5: 5447 and just being in water should give over 10 sec 1829.

The self heal will just be 35% less but it should be high enofe to keep the ele up though most burst the only problem with this build is that it needs to stay in water for a long time so you may lose other cc but once you get your timing worked out i think this will be a good support build that can last and do some level of dmg.

Jski.6180:

Magi or cestale armor and trinkets is good for a full healing ele it evens out your ability to stay alive though you lose some healing ability if you go cestale but you get some ability to do dmg and last much longer. I would like to see the calculation for a full cestale ele build with the healing support mind sets.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQFAWhMMqc25wwBr0AhAG5NQHoBOKAUuGUCWBA-T1xGwAAuAAqU/5pyP56AGu/AhHAAUlgkCYUhRA-w

A fast build i put togeater it has about 1110 healing power with good hp and def its power and crit dmg is a bit lacking but it still should hit avg. dmg.

Switching to water rolls and water blast should heal others for about 2506 the reg from switching to water will heal others for 2542. Water 1: 877 Water 3: 4396 Water 5: 5447 and just being in water should give over 10 sec 1829.

The self heal will just be 35% less but it should be high enofe to keep the ele up though most burst the only problem with this build is that it needs to stay in water for a long time so you may lose other cc but once you get your timing worked out i think this will be a good support build that can last and do some level of dmg.

It’s simple to figure out take your out going heal *1.35

Blast – 3383
Swap to Water – 3431
Water 1 – 1183
Water 3 – 5936
Water 5 – 7354
Staying in water attunement – 2469 over 10 seconds

Nanyetah Elohi.4852:

no need for healing in WvW? Wonder what servers that is happening on. Definitely not teir 1.

A note about this:

I recall reading (but cannot find the source for this) that water blast combos use the blaster’s healing power for the healing amount and not the creator of the water field. A lot of healing burst in zergs comes from blasting the water fields, and so the elementalist’s own healing power is not as relevant as you’d think. The actual healing from the skills will still be stronger, but they will only ever affect five people at once.

SonOfKrypton.4357:

On paper it looks good but getting people to stay in your water fields is easier said than done.

I’ve had many a situation where I drop a healing ability on someone, only for them to casually move just outside it’s boundaries for no apparent reason and stand still right beside it while the ability just heals the empty space. It’s like they’re so adverse to standing in AoE that they even avoid friendly fields.

I’ve been playing around with this for about two weeks now and ultimately I came up with my personal build. It alters some in the water and arcane line from time to time but for the most part it stays this:

I’m Your Huckleberry

Mostly been used for high lvl / difficult PVE stuff so far and some WvW. Still tinkering.

It’s viable. Just not needed in PvE. Maybe in PvP with staff it might be useful, but PvE world boss zerg is so easy its a joke and in dungeons, it’s not needed unless your PUG sucks and is unable to take care of themselves with their own healing abilities.

It’s helpful; don’t get me wrong. I run a D/D build in PvE with balanced stats from celestial that focuses on might stacking dps, survivability, boon support, healing and condition removal and with me, a guardian and 3 other dps centric builds, we kick kitten , but I couldn’t imagine making my build and gear solely focused on healing.

I’ve been playing a support Ele for a long time now.

I think you’ll find that in PvE your build will be overkill in the healing department. I run runes of Dwayna instead of Monk and no Sigil of Benevalance, and I feel I have too much healing.

Of course, too much is better than not enough, especially if ur PuGing a lot.

In WvW, with healing as ur primary role it would be a lot of fun to play. I feel it still might be overkill, but you would want more healing then in PvE.

At the moment I am trying to find that sweet spot for healing, so I can put more into DPS and Survivability. I hope you keep posting as you find out more.

healing won’t be viable untill you can heal downed people… With dps you can attleast rally them up or dps the one who’s trying to stomp. Healing doesn’t work then.

The build i posted seems to be working out ok in small wvw fights you take the roll of the tank and healer in these small fights. I find that ppl are so use to going in and out in a fight that they are running away at full hp and missing out on the heals of water 1 or the heals you need to spam on your self.

I am not sure how it works in big fights i should find that out tonight during reset. The ideal behind this build is if your group or guild is low on staff ele the eles you do have tend to stay in water most of the time so i am trying to max out the effectiveness of saying in water. I am calling this build “one staff ele raid build.”

Sorry to necro this 4 month old thread, but I am gonna mess around with something like this and I have been away from the game for quite some time (it’s been about a year or longer since I played my ele).

Someone mentions above that not spending 10 (now 2) trait points somehow boosts the healing by 150? Is this something new? Why not take 2 pts in Air for Soothing Winds?

i don’t really know what you/they are talking about. soothing winds is the way to go if you don’t need the extra stability, since you don’t have much precision anyway. (on a full cleric set, with fury, you get up to 20%, which is nothing.)

i ran this build in small scale wvw fights, it’s fun there and very very viable.
i also ran the build in pvp. it’s annoying and even on d/d, you get an instant burst heal of about 7,5k out to allies (due to lower stats in pvp), about 4,6 k on yourself, just by switching to water + wave. the problem is, you do NO damage at all (a thief can tank your MS or burning speed + lf + fire grab without even flinching). it is therefore more useful if you just play the cele staff build. it’s still fun tho and perfect if you have no guardian. you can even go 00662 for the stability support. but beware: if you are focused by 3+, you are dead. like every other ele

Staff eles in wvw are field bots. Including crowd control and aoe damage.

Again, eles dont scale well with healing so u lose a lot of other important stats in the process

Fuzzion.2504:

Staff eles in wvw are field bots. Including crowd control and aoe damage.

Again, eles dont scale well with healing so u lose a lot of other important stats in the process

Did not answer the Q, but I am guessing it was just a joke in the previous posts that I necroed.

GOSU.9574:

Fuzzion.2504:

Staff eles in wvw are field bots. Including crowd control and aoe damage.

Again, eles dont scale well with healing so u lose a lot of other important stats in the process

Did not answer the Q, but I am guessing it was just a joke in the previous posts that I necroed.

Ele still falls into support control more then a pure healer (support and healing are two different effects just in a lot of games they like to lump the two together) and over all there no real healing class in GW2. Think of GW2 like a pentagram system more then a trendily system. Healing and tank are weaker in this game where the others support control and dmg are much stronger.

Jski.6180:

GOSU.9574:

Fuzzion.2504:

Staff eles in wvw are field bots. Including crowd control and aoe damage.

Again, eles dont scale well with healing so u lose a lot of other important stats in the process

Did not answer the Q, but I am guessing it was just a joke in the previous posts that I necroed.

Ele still falls into support control more then a pure healer (support and healing are two different effects just in a lot of games they like to lump the two together) and over all there no real healing class in GW2. Think of GW2 like a pentagram system more then a trendily system. Healing and tank are weaker in this game where the others support control and dmg are much stronger.

Not really sure why you are replying to me, maybe you meant to simply reply to the thread. I am not questioning it’s potentcy or “viability” in any format, my question was regarding the previously mentioned 10 pt (now 2pt) traits not being spent as increasing healing by +150. I think the poster was just being snarky but having recently returned to the game I wanted to be sure something hadn’t changed with some hidden bonus for not spending trait points or some oddity.

Anyways, I am currently playing such a build in WvW. If I want to be all bursty, I play one of my other bursty characters. If I want to be condi, I play one of my condi characters. If I want……you get the idea. I actually made this new ele just for WvW and since Clerics was FAR cheaper than zerker, I figured I would give it a shot and see if I liked playing the build archtype as is, without being all snobbed up about how powerful it is or isn’t.

Sometimes people play for fun. Not everyone always needs to play the highest burst dps maximally tweaked out for every nuance of potentcy.

Crazy.