I dont think you will ever survive in a zerg busting guild with this build though. (frontline ele that is).
The traits/gear/utilities are all over the place.
I have used this pretty heavily doing front line in groups of 15-20 people with very little issue.
I think full celestial is not the way to go in a zerg. Since the support/burst ele doesnt need any condi damage. its relies more on direct damage. Try to use zerker trinkets/weapons and cele gear. For that extra umppff.
Now with the extra power from your gear you can remove bloodlust en draining and replace it with Energy and hydro. (energy is a life saver and freaking OP, Hydro is a 2k opening burst. Ill explain the rotation below)
You would never survive in the front line with that armor combination and you’re underestimating the burning that this build pumps out as well. I would rather have the extra 250 power than energy and hydro. Draining also has no internal cooldown, so its an extra 1140 damage + 1023 heal every time it procs, if I interrupt 5 people, thats an extra 5700 damage on the field and 5115 heal to myself. That happens very frequently when I use air 3, air 4, air over load or water 4.
I myself prefer focus much more then warhorn simply because it provides way more utility, is way faster and overal has way better skills then the Warhorn.
Focus has literally no group support, it is a very selfish weapon and you lose out on heals as well.
Since you have a focus equipped now we can look at the traits.
You should never ever trait Rock solid. Please let the gaurdians in your group give you stab. the 1 stab for 2,5 sec isnt doing kitten. 33% reduction on the 2 best skills in the game (earth #4 and #5) however is amazing.
Guardians don’t put out perm stability, every front line player should have their own stability to save them from getting caught.
Powerfull aura is pretty good in this setup since you dont need to cleanse a lot of condis. So I would switch cleansing water. The gaurdians in your group cleanse enough with their skills anyway. If you stick tight to your guild driver you wont have any problems with condis ever. (you even got Earth #4 for a panic button to cleanse 3 condis on a 16! sec CD)
I don’t know when the last time you played front line was, but being condi bombed is a big problem in the front line. Aura share is a waste of a trait since they nurfed the durations of the auras as well. You’re much better off with cleansing waters because that is also more condi clear in the field as well.
The tempest line is pretty straight forward. I myself go for Harmonius conduit just for the extra damage. But I can see why people would want to go for the extra boons.
So you’re telling me you’d take 10% damage for a few seconds over permanent regeneration and vigor from Invigorating Torrents??? That means also when you give an aura from a utility that shares by default with allies, they miss out on regen, vigor and a condition clear lol…
The ulities are decent but I would switch aftershock for blink. Blink is a skill you can use both offensively and defensively. Aftershock is clunky and has a huge CD for the little effect it has. (Swirling winds on the bomb will give enough projectile hate anyway. And if you overload earth you give your party reflection as well. That and atleast 1 gaurd in your group has a wall anyway. Or a druid with staff.)
What groups do you play with?? lol.. Aftershock is a blast finisher as well as providing an aoe magnetic aura, which in my build also clears a condition from yourself and allies effected and grants regeneration and vigor to them. The way you want to build is too offensive and would never survive long enough in a front line.
You might even want to change flash freeze for either arcane wave or feel the burn. just because it will make your burst a lot harder since they are instant cast. But I think all 3 of them work fine. (flash freeze gives your party a little more damage reduction)
Give up 10% damage reduction and slowing down allies for a burn or extra crit??? I’m sorry but I am really questioning your ability to build right now.
So you opted for almost no defensive and plan to play front line. This build might be OKAY for roaming, but in a larger group situation, this build would fail you more often than not. You also have protection on aura trait, but only have 2 auras that you will share aside from overloads.
This all said, D/F ele can even double blast smoke in the beginning of the fight. You want to start in water for this. use water 3 and 5 and switch to fire when you smoked.
D/W has water 3 and earth 4 for blasts as well. I also have aftershock. Auras are also the bread and butter of my build, you giving them up is for the utilities you took is baddddd.
Honestly, no offense – but your build is really bad and I’ve been down that road before. I have been theory crafting and actually playing front line ele for almost a year now and my build has probably changed 500 times, this build that I listed for you all here is the end result of a lot of testing for a lot of time while actually playing WvW.
Focus is easier to play with than warhorn, sure – but it isn’t better, any baddie can run in with earth 5 on to just be invuln for awhile to survive. It is not even close to as good as warhorn for the utility and support. Your armor choice will not allow you to survive in the front line, your lack of stability will get you killed, you don’t have enough healing to survive or assist your front line members. You’re barely supporting your team, you’d be better off playing a stance warrior if you think that your build is actually doing anything in the front line. Your whole set up is selfish and would be much better used for roaming than front line, and even for roaming, it isn’t going to be able to beat my ele in a fight because it won’t be able to survive the damage I put out or damage me enough.
What ever group you’re playing with is carrying you and you’re bringing literally nothing but an extra body to the group if you’re playing the build you posted. Front line is about synergy, if you aren’t sharing boons and supporting your fellow front line members, you might as well just be a stance warrior – at least the warrior will do more damage and live longer than what your build is going to.
