Guild Wars 2

I am pre-empting this next “balance” patch to nerf the ranger to hell so i’ve started levelling an ele. Can you guys advise me on the best d/d high crit damage burst build(s)? Like traits, utilities, gear, etc.

Finding it very fun to play so far and i’m only level 15. Berserker high damage builds are the only ones i run because anything else just isn’t fun.

Thanks

Well I hope you like respawning a lot, because if you run full zerker D/D build in WvW, your going to die very fast.

Would be better to look at S/D Burst builds, at least you have some range to help you

i like going 0-30-x-x-30 for grounded and bolt to heart with vital striking in water and scholar runes.

although at the end of the day with dps ele all I can think to myself as others may do, “is that it?”

Bryzy.2719:

I am pre-empting this next “balance” patch to nerf the ranger to hell so i’ve started levelling an ele. Can you guys advise me on the best d/d high crit damage burst build(s)? Like traits, utilities, gear, etc.

Finding it very fun to play so far and i’m only level 15. Berserker high damage builds are the only ones i run because anything else just isn’t fun.

Thanks

as someone whose first 80 was an ele and has since mostly mained a ranger… lol. just lol.

first off, speaking from a viability perspective, rangers have a number of really viable builds (traps, power, condi, regen specs). every single weapon is good in its niche. the nerf bat thats incoming is a minor nerf to BM regen spec (which is OP as balls) because a full bunker ranger probably shouldn’t have a pet putting out crazy dps. Non-BM specs wont even notice the nerf, because their pets are already dead or on passive.

comparitively, ele’s have 1 build thats viable. just 1. you pretty much need 30 in water to compensate for the crap baseline HP ele’s start out with, and either 20 in arcane for blasting staff or 30 for attunement recharge and evasive arcana that dagger and scepter rely on. that leaves only 10-20 points to “think about”, so everyones build is almost identical regardless of weapon set.

its freakin dumb. eles have the lowest HP AND armor and nothing to help them naturally avoid damage, so they have to spec and slot with survival in mind. meanwhile, thieves have leather and stealth, necros have huge HP and DS, mesmers have good HP, stealth, portals, clones, guardians have strong heals without speccing for them and have aegis and heavy armor, and rangers, engies and warriors have all around better stats. so basically every class is more viable for your desired “glass cannon” playstyle than eles.

glass cannon d/d simply doesn’t work. you could go clerics or knights/cavalier for either d/d and s/d, but you will do less damage than a ranger because the ranger doesnt have to spec and gear nearly as hard for survivability. the only glass build ele’s might live for more than 10 seconds in is staff, and fireball casts slower and does less damage than longbow-auto, so use your imagination.

I am interested in this subject. Which is the superior roamer, Eles or Rangers? I am fine with either playstyle, but I am not interested in anyone speaking without experience in both…

Welswift.9813:

I am interested in this subject. Which is the superior roamer, Eles or Rangers? I am fine with either playstyle, but I am not interested in anyone speaking without experience in both…

they’re pretty equal really.

the ranger has more variety in his roaming specs (multiple viable builds). a power build with greatsword is probably the 3rd fastest mover on the field, after shortbow thieves and greatsword warriors. condition removal is very high. you have good choices in heals between sustain, burst, and more condi removal. because condition specs are viable, a ranger can have a much easier time with thieves and mesmers which are probably the most common other roamers you will run into. easy access to poison helps against other bunkers.

the ele is pretty much going to be x/d bunker (power based) or hybrid bunker (powerbased). this pigeonholing can really limit burst, and naturally limits range so ele’s can be kited. the lack of condition based build viability means thieves will get away more often, and the lack of poison will make fighting enemy bunkers a long process. they lack a strong single burst heal. these are minor complaints though, as ele has arguably the best condi removal in the game and is still pretty high up on the mobility scale (use RTL on critters). the lack of burst healing is offset by multiple heals, some of which are completely uninterruptable (shifting to water attunement, evasive arcana). bunker based rangers will probably join them in having limited burst when speccing bunker after the BM nerfs hit.

overall, i enjoy the ranger for the multiple viable builds, the better odds at killing thieves, and the true weapon swapping allowing effective range combat (scepter ele really isnt that effective at range, and d/d is even worse).

Is this for WvW or PvE?

Look to Daphoenix’s guide for a general guide on the Ele: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Guide-Mastering-the-D-D-ele-5-12-12 (Knights+Celestial Tanky DPS build, mainly for PvP formats)

Look to Zoose’s guide for a guide to the Ele in PvP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX1OjClufdk (Valykrie+Berserker Aura Sharing Survivability DPS build, mainly for PvP formats)

Look to my own guide for a guide to the Ele in PvE/Dungeons/Fractals: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Neko-s-Guide-to-the-D-D-Ele-in-Dungeons-1/ (Full Berserker Glass Cannon, mainly for PvE formats)

Why nerf rangers when they can be PWNed 9 out of 10 times ?

Fuzzion.2504:

Why nerf rangers when they can be PWNed 9 out of 10 times ?

People don’t know how to kite pets and then they cry about it. Me’thinks they are all hotfix players.

Go immortal healing build and gear. its great for trolling on ranger.

D/D elementalist has alot of insta-cast abilities that do really good damage when played correctly. I can do 14k burst pbaoe dmg in a matter of seconds with my hybrid build+good consistent damage, healing, CC etc.

Elementalist aren’t great when you try to fully spec into one stat. They work best when you spec ’m in all stats and trait ’m like a bunker boss.

i use 0/20/0/20/30 full zerker or 25/20/0/25/0 (only with guildmate) full zeker with light hammer on utility

Loco.4561:

Well I hope you like respawning a lot, because if you run full zerker D/D build in WvW, your going to die very fast.

Would be better to look at S/D Burst builds, at least you have some range to help you

Where do people get this from? I have excellent survivability even while spec’d as glass cannon.

Razor.6392:

Loco.4561:

Well I hope you like respawning a lot, because if you run full zerker D/D build in WvW, your going to die very fast.

Would be better to look at S/D Burst builds, at least you have some range to help you

Where do people get this from? I have excellent survivability even while spec’d as glass cannon.

Its probably because everyone is used to being a bunker.

I have speced as glass cannon before. You have to play more actively then as 30 water / 30 arcane build as you can be 2 or even 1 shot.

The ele has some nasties up its sleaves, and you can utilise those. Some things work better against some classes but not at all against a different class. I’ve played around with heaps of non mainstream builds and was able to beat certain classes / builds 100% of the time. Changing just the amulet in the build changes everything. I went with the same build but different amulet and was no longer able to beat that class anymore but was able to beat a class I couldn’t before.

I believe the reason people go for the D/D bunker type builds is because of the extra survivability of the build. After all, the ele has the lowest armour and hp of the other classes with no active protection (such as death shroud / invisibility). If you expand from the mainstream you have a much harder fight on your hands and its hard to find a build that will work in most situations (you become more a focused build).

The D/D bunker build utilises all of the defensive elementalist traits that synergise well to make a good build. It’s hard to find this synergy elsewhere amongst the traits without giving up to much survivability, utility and efficiency.