Guild Wars 2

Hello there.

I’ve been away from the game since September or so, and just got back into it. I’ve been playing with a Ranger but decided to get back to my Elementalist, which I had then leveled up to 80 right before I took a break from the game. I’m mostly looking forward to doing dungeons and world pve, but I have no idea on how the profession is at the moment, what build and gear should I go for, and so, I need some help.

I really enjoy the playstyle of both D/D in melee and the Staff, so I was preferably looking for a balanced build that would allow me to easily switch between the two (with just some trait tweaking) and still be effective. I also want some useful group support for dungeons, but not so much about healing and more about boons and such.

To be clear, I don’t want anything like a Glass Canon build; I’d rather do reasonable damage but have great survivability and nice group support. I also don’t want a full support build with mediocre damage.

So, can anyone help me out with this? I’d very much appreciate it.

I’m looking for same answer too. Bump here.

Well here is a build for traits that I saw that can be changed to D/D or Staff
0
10 – 6
0
30 – 5, 6, 11
30 – 5, 8, 11
for staff then
0
10-1
0
30 – 5, 3, 11 or 12
30 – 5, 4, 11
for D/D

I figured the gear was like power/vit/tough…. beyond that I have no idea…
Hope it helps

DaRKJaGGeReD.5630:

Well here is a build for traits that I saw that can be changed to D/D or Staff
0
10 – 6
0
30 – 5, 6, 11
30 – 5, 8, 11
for staff then
0
10-1
0
30 – 5, 3, 11 or 12
30 – 5, 4, 11
for D/D

I figured the gear was like power/vit/tough…. beyond that I have no idea…
Hope it helps

Indeed, the 0-10-0-30-30 seems to be the build that fits what I was looking for. I found two great guides right here in the forums that explain it more extensively, both for the Staff and the D/D playstyles:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Guide-Mastering-the-Staff-Ele-1-18-13/first
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Guide-Mastering-the-D-D-ele-12-20-12/first

However, I’m still a little bit confused about gear and stats priorities, so if someone could explain it a little bit more, it would be great.

Some people also recommended me that I should start by doing world pve and running dungeons while also having magic find sigils and gems on both the armor and accessories, as well as the sigil of luck for one of the weapons (also using the omnomberries bars whenever possible). I understand the logic behind this – to find better loot (especially to farm Globs of Ectoplasm) – but how far would it cripple my build’s performance, especially in dungeons? Is stacking magic find really that great?

Once again, thanks for taking the time to answer me.

The above builds are fine, but there’s one thing missing: Renewing Stamina > Final Shielding.

Perma-Vigor is far superior to a tiny Arcane Shield proc. I might even use it over Elemental Attunement in the Staff build, depending on how much I expect to need to dodge.

As for gear:

I would only use MF when farming Orr events, nowhere else.

Grab the full (5/6) Karma Power/Tough/Vit set ( http://dulfy.net/2012/09/08/gw2-templegod-karma-armor-sets/ ) or a stat-equivalent dungeon set. Then pick up the Jewelry that you want (I use Invader’s with Berserker Jewels inside, except for 2 Ascended pieces) to go with it. Knight’s is also good, some like Sapphire/Cleric (Healing Power), but I am not a fan of that and the Signet itself.

Here’s some reading for Crit Damage that you should know: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/12dmi5/tip_stat_optimization_with_crit_damage/

Don’t be a Signet user.

This spreadsheet helps immensely when weighing up the pro’s and con’s of various combinations: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/7zd1ptsylrtknxi/SatireV%20Minmax%20sheet%20v2.1.xlsx?dl=1

Like Intigo said grabbing power/vitality/toughness armour is a solid foundation allowing you to further customise your build via jewellery, runes and what you decide to slot in them.

Here are some complete builds along with stats from the spreadsheet that I posted a while back in another thread, perhaps it can give you some pointers: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/New-Ele-NEEDS-HELP/first#post1218504

Thanks a bunch! That was really helpful.

Just another quick question.

Since gear with power/vit/tough only exists in karma and dungeon sets, in the meantime, what gear should I be using? Berserker’s ? Or maybe a mix of power/tough/healing + power/vit/precis ?

I’m playing D/D and Staff for PvE too and I’m currently using:
20 (Internal Fire, Pyromancer’s Alacrity)
20 (Glyph Mastery, Bolt to the Heart or Aeromancer’s Alacrity)
0
20 (Aquamancer’s Alacrity, Cantrip Mastery)
10 (Elemental Attunement, sometimes Arcane mastery for Blast Combos)

I try to avoid spending too much in Arcane because I think the loss of bonus attribute points not worth it, even though attunement swapping is sorta slow.

20 in Fire for obvious damage reasons, it’s the attunement I stay most of the time when everything else’s on CD.
20 in Air also for damage, Glyph Mastery for more heals, boons and elementals, but sometimes I pick Aeromancer’s Alacrity for traveling around with the Staff. For damaging, I don’t think this trait is worth compared to the others, so I pick Bolt to the Heart and Glyph Mastery usually.
20 in Water I picked mostly for the master minor trait, getting a heal when switching plus regeneration from Arcane has really saved me a bunch of times. I wish there were a better Major for damage, but since there isn’t (Vital Striking is not worth it) I pick Cantrip Mastery (when I’m using Mist Form and Lighting Flash) or Cleansing Wave.
10 in Arcane for Elemental Attunement, since I switch alot, but sometimes I pick Arcane Mastery (mostly when I’m playing S/D for more Might).

I only regret not having 20 in Earth for Geomancer’s Alacrity, because both dagger offhand earth skills are awesome, but I don’t find any Adept Major interesting enough to be worth losing somewhere else.

For gear I’m using Valkyrie Armor/Weapon and Berserk Trinkets, but since neither of these give toughness, I get hit by a TON everytime. I’m still working on getting PVT armor from dungeons (I’d be trading a 16% crit damage for 224 toughness).

Galogon.4590:

Just another quick question.

Since gear with power/vit/tough only exists in karma and dungeon sets, in the meantime, what gear should I be using? Berserker’s ? Or maybe a mix of power/tough/healing + power/vit/precis ?

Just use some MF gear while farming the Karma. The Karma needed for the PowerToughVit gear comes very quickly.