Guild Wars 2

As the topic states, im in the market for a new build. Without EA blast finishers theres no point in continuing with my support build, since I cant really do much supporting anymore.

I strictly do WvW, so im just looking for a build thats gonna let me put out some solid damage, while still being able to survive as well. Ill be sticking with staff, so ill need atleast 20 points in arcana, but im at a loss as to where to put the rest.

Power/Condition Damage?
Power/Precision?
Trait allocations?

Ive never had to build my Ele for anything other than support, and I play D/D in sPvP so any input is appreciated.

You can still play support healer …just like before, only know you need to time your blast finisher( eruption) and equip arcane wave, if you like to play support it is still perfectly possible

The support capacity of the Ele post-EA nerf just doesnt, atleast imo, warrant the sacrifice in potential damage output I can probably bring, especially when it comes to clearing walls during sieges of taking out ram operators.

With the old EA I could actually put out some baller healing, atleast enough that it was decently useful, even if each blast finisher only was 2-3k heal, 3 of em in a row added up. Now at most I can only get is 2, and that requires preperation in earth attunement which might not be possible during a siege for emergency healing.

I also cant really assist my team with high might stacks with only 2 potential blast finishers from myself, and doesnt allow me to assist teammates with their own combo fields in any real capacity anymore.

So really, my only choice would seem to be to move to a damage spec.

I’ve been trying out the signet fire aura spec with a staff (20 in fire to make burning auras plus the 10 point aura ones and 30 in earth for the signets). I’m coming from d/d (I wanted to see if I could make staff do something different) but it seems to work. The only downside is that you have no or few points in arcane so you swap attunements very very carefully.

I have this awesome support build – lots of heals,projectile defense and its very tanky as well,only problem is that you have to roll a Guardian to get it :P
Support ele took an axe (warrior axe with better responsiveness now!) to the face this patch,without the blasts from EA (which you could hit whenever your endurance allowed it) you dont have the healing to matter- i went back to my glass canon,i suggest you do the same

Cidolfas.2731:

As the topic states, im in the market for a new build. Without EA blast finishers theres no point in continuing with my support build, since I cant really do much supporting anymore.

I strictly do WvW, so im just looking for a build thats gonna let me put out some solid damage, while still being able to survive as well. Ill be sticking with staff, so ill need atleast 20 points in arcana, but im at a loss as to where to put the rest.

Power/Condition Damage?
Power/Precision?
Trait allocations?

Ive never had to build my Ele for anything other than support, and I play D/D in sPvP so any input is appreciated.

You said you are strictly sticking with staff, but if you are focusing on wvsw, I highly recommend a d/d 0/20/0/30/20 build using auras to grant swiftness,fury and 2 cantrips/arcane wave as your utilities.

Scepter/Focus. It seriously annoys me seeing these dagger wielding off hand ele’s in WvW; WvW is about teams and the focus gives the best advantage you can get in WvW. Though I usually change to Staff when defending a Tower/Keep.
Set up your damage type/traits based on how YOU like to play.

d/d is good for breaking lines, though. A well played d/d can seriously confuse an unorganized group to the point of breaking their line.

DoomMagick.5963:

Scepter/Focus. It seriously annoys me seeing these dagger wielding off hand ele’s in WvW; WvW is about teams and the focus gives the best advantage you can get in WvW. Though I usually change to Staff when defending a Tower/Keep.
Set up your damage type/traits based on how YOU like to play.

I disagree completely. I was a strict staff user in wvsw but now find d/d so useful for breaking up groups and shifting momentum completely. How about being outmanned and still causing the other team’s zerg to run away because you just downed 2-3 of their frontrunners in mere seconds? Staff is good for keeps and aoe defense/offense, but you help your team with the mental games you can play on opponents in d/d.

I spend most of my time in dungeons.

I still find a 0/10/10/30/20 D/D aura build is good.
I use full set svanir’s power/vit/tough

I’m also using a 20/20/0/10/20 staff build (using some conjures) is good in dungeons.
I go full bezerker’s/ruby and do fine in the back row.

If you’re having trouble in tPvP watch Phantaram play a few rounds and take note of what he does in various situations. He’s one of the most solid Ele players I’ve found and he streams/uploads vods to his twitch account. Now he definitely has very good teammates helping him out, but he also does really well in 1v1s from what I’ve seen. While you’re watching remember that the game is balanced around what high level players like this can do.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

I have 2 daggers in my backpack that I ran with when I was solo/en route to the zerg after a death, but that was basically just for escape/evasion if I happened to run into trouble. My guild likes to have a group called “skirmishers” run out and harass enemy troops during sieges to get them off the gate and potentially on the defensive, so maybe I can fit into that group (its usually just guardians) if I play D/D.

The problem is that the best place to practice new builds is in the Heart of the Mists, but unfortunatly trying out WvW builds there doesnt help much. Things that potentially work well against the NPC enemies there might not translate to WvW that well.

I might consider rolling around in a glass cannon build for awhile, the issue is that im in the process of trying to get my exotic set crafted, so id like to figure out a definative spec to gear for.

Why not look at your traits and decide what to make yourself instead of being a robot and having people tell you what to be. I find it comical….

Honestly, D/D is the best option to go for in the current state of Ele (I hate to admit it, I’m not a huge fan of D/D) but D/D offers the best support now (Focus may offer better in certain situations), yeah you’re down a bit on healing but you can might stack, share auras and break up enemies/mobs and keep them locked down for reasonable time (Which means if they’re down, they aren’t attacking which means no damage taken which is just as good as healing).
I’ve played Ele since 1st Beta, always with the staff, always tried to make it work only other weapon set I liked was S/D but after all the nerfs ect D/D seems to be the only set that feels complete and functioning how it should, the others are awkward they don’t function how you’d think they would and even then don’t function 100%. May be just my way of seeing it, so D/D 10/10/0/30/20 – might through cantrips, aura sharing ect. That to me is the best supportive, tanky build while retaining a source of damage. I ranted on a bit, sorry. :s

D/D, x/x/x/30/20 is the logistically the best support for parties in PvE. Melee party members, the ones most in need of healing and boons, would in range to receive your support as swap attunements and use blast finishers for might. It plays very fluidly since the D/D ele’s support and attacks are often one in the same. There’s also the added bonus of your melee attacks being very flashy so other players will tend to give you more credit than you really deserve, increasing the likelihood that they’ll take you along on subsequent runs.

King Jon.3128:

Why not look at your traits and decide what to make yourself instead of being a robot and having people tell you what to be. I find it comical….

If you actually took the time to read the posts, youd see that I mention that I have tried builds in HotM but that things that work there dont necessarily translate well into WvW.

Instead, I come here asking for opinions from people that have played other builds and to share their experiences with those builds in the hopes that I can find something to try myself. Its sort of like a peer review for a science paper or something.

Blindly wading into trait builds looking for something that might work is time consuming. Why do that when I can just seek knowledge here and have a somewhat directed path to take when I do get to play?

Take your sarcastic ignorance elsewhere please, and leave this thread as constructive as possible.

ya know… cant honestly sa I ever really cared about the blast finishers on EA… i picked up the trait because a nice heal after a dodge was pretty spiffy.. does it break my spec for not having the blast finisher crap?… seriously i never paid enough attention to know it even WAS a blast finisher… so doesnt affect me at all.

I still play support, i still heal my cute little butt off.