Guild Wars 2

Aloha from Hawaii!

So I just got my mesmer to level 80 and, well, I’m bored. It seems what I really like to do most is explore open world and play dungeons (less than open world though) to level characters. So, I’ve decided to get my level 17 ele to 80!

Sooo, what’s a good build for leveling? Right now I’m using D/D, but of course I know I need to do my own experimenting. And I know, open world is “facepalm easy so anything will work”.

What I’m looking for is something strong for solo. I like to solo multiple enemies at the same time. What builds/advice do you have on how to be able to do casual open world explore/events solo and dungeons. I know for dungeons you really should be group-play focused, but for now I’m just looking for the most self-reliant, selfish builds. I want to be able to unleash the elements on multiple foes at the same time and still look good doing it!

So, got some thoughts and advice for me?

Thanks!

You like scrap, Haole?!

Just use D/D or staff with full power gear -> power/precision gear -> power/precision/ferocity gear when the stat combinations become available. Use single minor runes with +10 power until you have access to two stat combinations for armor. Use one bloodlust sigil and one speed sigil to gain even more power and permanent swiftness. Put your trait points into Arcana for faster attunement swapping, Air for Zerphyr’s Boon (1) if using D/D. Ether Renewal if the content has a lot of conditions, Glyph of Elemental Harmony if you don’t need it for more swiftness when used in Air attunement for keeping up swiftness outside of combat. Just update your gear every 10 levels.

For dungeons, it’s more complicated and there are a few guides on these forums.

I’ve recently hit 68.
When I found out about Lightning Hammer, a conjured weapon from the utility skills, everything got real easy. It applies blind on it’s 3rd auto attack, which means CPU opponents never hit you- every third AA you’ve blinded them again.

DD in air for the 3 target AA with 300 range, bloodlust on daggers, Signet of Air for travelling speed and Lightning Hammer to beat everything. Enjoy!

The major D/D combo is as follows (useful for veterans, especially when in groups)

Start in Fire, Fire 3, Fire 2, Fire 4, Switch to Earth, Earth 4, Earth 5(this is a long channel, if its interrupted it will lower dps) Switch to air while channeling, Air 5, Air 4, Air 2, Air 1 till fire is available, switch to fire, fire 2, fire 5, fire 1 till dead or till you can switch back to Air for Air 1.

If you are hurting for life you can switch to Water and cast Water 2 for some heals.

This does good single target and AoE burstness, it will build 6 stacks of might(you can add an arcane skill with a blast finisher for 9 stacks, and if you have the trait for dodge finishers the earth dodge will also add stacks) It will keep the mob on fire, and for the later half off its feet and vulnerable.

If you find you are dying a lot while leveling (I did), go for gear with vitality and at level 40 start adding toughness as well. You can switch to power gear at 80 when you are ready to do more dungeons.

People who are leveling don’t have access to FA, so they have to use more old fashioned rotations.

You can go scepter/hammer and dagger/x in open world and be pretty dang successful. Thorp and Shtos give some excellent advice. Staff is fine, too, once you have your elite skills and can pick up Glyph of Elementals.

While the build advice is out of date, some stuff I wrote up that includes skill, gear, and rotation recommendations is at: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Best-elementalist-LEVELING-build-guide/3816598 (not my topic name)

DEKeyzToChaos.7381:

People who are leveling don’t have access to FA, so they have to use more old fashioned rotations.

Excellent point I will edit my post.

Ho Brah, you want me karang your alahs with my slippah brah?

Awesome, thanks for the advice guys. I’ll get to work on learning D/D. Takes longer to open up traits now so I’ve got lots of time to learn the skills. I want to be able to adapt to battles on the fly (as opposed to being a slave to rotations).