Guild Wars 2

I was nearly at the verge of crying today. I’m on my lvl 22 Elementalist, and I was trying to do a dynamic event. I was having so much trouble and kept downing and dieing. I call for help in chat, AND A FREAKING WARRIOR COMES AND BASICALLY SOLOS THE THING.

I don’t want to reroll to Warrior. I already tried a Warrior before and I didn’t enjoy it. I’ve tried most of the classes, and Ele is the only that I’m really having fun as. The game shouldn’t be forcing me to play a class I don’t want to play. I though ArenaNet made this game so you could choose to play so that you have fun. Doesn’t seem that way right now.

Now, is there anything I can do to fix this? I’m attempting to use dagger/dagger. Most of my armor is lvl 20, and I don’t know which trait tree is best to spend points in…most things I’ve been seeing say to invest 10 points in Air first for a speed buff, and I did.

What level was the warrior? If they have a green arrow facing downwards next to their level then they could be level 80, exploring to get 100% map completion.

HyTman.2719:

What level was the warrior? If they have a green arrow facing downwards next to their level then they could be level 80, exploring to get 100% map completion.

This may be the issue. I can go to level 22 zones on my 80 elementalist and roll through them with just auto attack, no problem. He might also just be better than you, no offense, and you just have to get better at the game.

Mobott, scaling at lower levels is very bad, so all I can suggest to you is the following:

Level up till you can get lightning hammer conjure.

Base your entire build around that.

Once you hit level 60, switch to cleric gear, and knight gear. Mix and match.

Like hytman said, the warrior was probably much higher level.

You know, I have a level 55ish warrior and an 80 ele. I can tell you that there is no magic warrior sauce. If you make a warrior, you will not just magically start to breeze through everything.

The quality of your gear also matters. You can get good gear from the trading post for coppers over vendor price. If it’s damaged, don’t repair it; just buy more and sell the damaged stuff back to the vendor.

D/D intimidates me because to play it effectively you have to be good at mobility. The same is not as true of scepter mainhand or staff.

At low levels, the stat points from what you do with your traits matter.

If you’re still using Glyph of Elemental Harmony, heal when you’re in Water or maybe Earth. Those are the best healing/defensive buffs.

A lot of utilities can help with defense. Glyph of Lesser Elementals both tanks and does good DPS. Glyph of Storms used in Earth can be great defense as well some damage. Glyph of Elemental Power is awesome defense in single-enemy fights. And that’s even without mention cantrips or Arcane Shield.

That said, Arcane Wave is one offensive utility to take, because of the blast finisher and associated Might stacking, as well as its pure damage.

Just get your hands on lightning hammer! Anything that’s not immune to blind will crumble and you can just grab a bunch of mobs and auto them to their death.

I had a lot of troubles on my elementalist during the 20-35 range. Keep at it, it get’s a little easier with time. Think more appropriate actions per minute and rotations for specific situations. Kill ranged attackers first, always.

slightly off topic: the warrior doesn’t even have to be downscaled that much – or at all. you can just slice through most mobs easily without even going below 90% health with a toughness/prec build (4 sigil ofc), wich makes pve extremely fluid and less annoying, you don’t have to wait for heals etc, you just run from mob to mob. I really liked that playstyle for a change from my ele, though it’s pretty useless in dungeons or wvw ;-)

as for the ele (but pretty much for every class):

1. learn your combos, this is really important
2. upgrade your gear regularly or as soon as the game seems to get harder (~ every 5-10 lvls). use greens from the trading post, they’re dirt-cheap and still effective
3. always use fully slotted equipment. either through runes or the generic upgrades (I’d recommend the latter before you hit 80, after that you’ll know what you want)
4. if you have money trouble: stop porting around all the time, walk for a change and finish your maps – if you still have troubles. go farm a bit with your warrior, once the ele is 80 he can pay it back =)
5. gain exp through other means than combat (exploration, crafting, some DE’s)
6. group up. or if you see another player, just follow them a while, as long as they are going somewhere you haven’t explored yet. being a stalker can pay off ;-)
7. watch videos of other eles: try to emulate their playstyle. maybe you’ll like it, maybe not. if not, move on, otherwise: great, now try to improve upon it =)

and if you make it to 80: find out which stats you want/need and go buy exotics! I’d even say go directly from green to exo. don’t insta-buy if you’re low with money, place a buy order. I got every piece except my staff for around 2.20 – 2.50, though some pieces took a few days. instabuy can cost you up to 4g, depending on the current ecto/fine crafting mats prices (these may differ a lot on NA server, thus the prices could be alot cheaper).

pick up a staff, go for toughness/power build/gear with cantrips.
Pull 10 mobs + bosses

PROFIT

Also, dont forget to use dodge sometimes

Done the whole storyline and 50% of all events (not really a pve person after i did my story) of as elementalist on my own. Never died, bugged out once.
Nothing hard about it

OR… you get a scepter/dagger build, get some +power/healing stats and solo veterans and multiple adds with ease. You can also get a D/D setup and solo champions (melee ones that is, ranged ones are tough cookies for that setup, but then for ranged champs just switch to scepter/focus and totally pwn them without getting a scratch). I would only use staff if you’re in a group or are expecting a lot of regular enemies.

Lightning hammer is also very nice, as others have said, and later on you get flaming greatsword which just melts stuff… used with #3 which applies a cripple, you can both kite AND melt stuff, always a welcome combination!

Elementalist is VERY versatile and you can use that to your advantage. Warriors don’t even get close – they excel in certain situations, but for everything else, eh not so much.

Okay, thank you guys for all the advice. I’ve been crafting my armor with Tailor, I didn’t know that the best way to get gear was off of TP. I’ve been trying to go with daphoenix’s D/D build and that’s why I put my first 10 trait points into Air. I thought I had an active enough defense, I guess not though. What is a good general skill rotation to use while fighting?

Also, I’ll try out that LH build when I manage to get to lvl 40.

Mobot, you should really think about a Lightening Hammer build for levelling, makes the WHOLE process easier.. Well for me anyway. though i think you have to be around level 30 for the build to start to be affective.

Have a read here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Lightning-hammer-build/first#post810555

Mobott. You’re low level. Lightning hammer will be your best bet. The traits for D/D aren’t even available yet to you until you get till about 50/60.

don’t be fooled by appearances; albeit Warrior might easier to play at lower levels, the ability to change and adapt to any scenario that Elementalist has is unrivaled.
When being at your level I was in the same boat but that was mostly due to that any class should approach the game in the same way: let the warrior grow as warrior, and let the elementalist grow as elementalist.
Warrior will rush his way up to lv80 just diving into hordes of mobs and smashing things here and there, no thinking required. He will stop smiling at Orr, and will avoid Southsun Cove like plague.
Elementalist will slowly climb the ladder up to lv80, learning all skills, combos, strategies and developing formidable reflexes with keen senses always ready even when at merchant (not kidding, really happened xD ), and will keep your smile at Orr and find Southsun Cove very fun to farm.

On a side note: I am currently testing conjured weapons, but I don’t feel like changing traits for just that, so an acceptable compromise is to just adapt the trait lines already choosed to conjured weapons and, given the noticeable boost they received in the last update, I am well surprised at their effectivenes. It is very relaxing in low level areas to gather crowds and just wipe ’em with an hammer

Mobott.5908:

I was nearly at the verge of crying today. I’m on my lvl 22 Elementalist, and I was trying to do a dynamic event. I was having so much trouble and kept downing and dieing. I call for help in chat, AND A FREAKING WARRIOR COMES AND BASICALLY SOLOS THE THING.

I don’t want to reroll to Warrior. I already tried a Warrior before and I didn’t enjoy it. I’ve tried most of the classes, and Ele is the only that I’m really having fun as. The game shouldn’t be forcing me to play a class I don’t want to play. I though ArenaNet made this game so you could choose to play so that you have fun. Doesn’t seem that way right now.

Now, is there anything I can do to fix this? I’m attempting to use dagger/dagger. Most of my armor is lvl 20, and I don’t know which trait tree is best to spend points in…most things I’ve been seeing say to invest 10 points in Air first for a speed buff, and I did.

It gets better as you unlock more skills and learn more about the class. Don’t fret. Equally geared warriors may always be able to take down dumb kitten mobs faster than you, but thankfully the game isn’t only about solo’ing PvE mobs. Ele’s are great.

Also, investing your 1st 10 pts in air is probably a waste. I recommend the first 10 go into arcane for elemental attunement and the buffs it provides. You can get your swiftness buff (for travel) by attuning to air, protection from going into earth (great for when face-tanking mobs), heals in water, and might in fire. Very good use of your first 10 points.

Others say put 10 pts in fire for the +100 power it provides (which is HUGE at low levels). This is also very good advice.

Basically, 10 in arcane for survivability, or 10 in fire for nuking power. 10 in air is a waste though, it barely boosts your damage and only marginally cuts down travel time.

{edited to add: I think when dapheonix says “put your first 10 pts in air” he’s assuming you’re crafting a lvl 80 build, he says “put the next 30 in water,” etc. His tanky D/D build isn’t really a leveling guide as far as I know.}

Mobott.5908:

Okay, thank you guys for all the advice. I’ve been crafting my armor with Tailor, I didn’t know that the best way to get gear was off of TP. I’ve been trying to go with daphoenix’s D/D build and that’s why I put my first 10 trait points into Air. I thought I had an active enough defense, I guess not though. What is a good general skill rotation to use while fighting?

Also, I’ll try out that LH build when I manage to get to lvl 40.

Well, D/D is kind of different than S/D or 2h Staff. There isn’t a “killer combo” since there are hardly any blast finishers with D/D (especially daphoenix’s build).

It’s all situational.

I highly suggest watching all of daphoenix’s videos. That is how I made the switch from S/D to D/D. I learned how he used his skills and in what situation. This was a good foundation to build from.

Also, gear wise, stick with toughness/vitality/precious gear. Since you most likely don’t have 3-stat gear, go with toughness/vitality, if just 1-stat gear than go with toughness.

Imho best thing for levelling up is staff.

Reson?
You can throw your traits where ever you want, it´s easy and it let´s you aoe a kitten ton of mobs.

Gather mobs, shockwave, glyph of storms, eruption lava font, flame burst, meteor shower, lavafont. Stand in middle of that and profit.

Elementalists are tough to get good at – I reached level 80 last week, and I’m still refining how I fight in PvE and WvW using Staff and D/D. I also have a low-level warrior (hey, I like easy mode sometimes). I have spent far less on rezzing and repairing the warrior than the ele. Also, this warrior plays a lot with a guildmate’s starting D/D elementalist. He has to be a lot more careful than I do when getting into a big fight, but in little ones he pretty much copies my opening combos that I’ve told him and he does alright.

Having used a staff 100% from level 15 – level 65, I can heartily say that a staff is a very risky way to level. If you can kite/tank while your AoE kills everything, then leveling is fast. If not, your death will come faster than the mobs’. D/D or S/D seem safer because you can focus on heavy hitters/ranged mobs and you can tear through single enemies faster.

You’re not going to be able to pull off a Sigil/Aura or a Bunker build for a while (level 70), so don’t try building toward that until your traits get reset at 70. I never used Lightning Hammer, either, so I can’t advise on the use of that utility. As far as starting builds, put your first 10 in pretty much anything but air (I made that mistake). The +Prec and +Crit Dmg is only going to have marginal effects when you have low damage to begin with.

The two utilities you should get and use as soon as you can are Glyph of Lesser Elementals (for something to facetank when you need breathing room) and Arcane Wave (blast finishers). Lightning Flash is also super-fun for D/D, and Mist Form is a “get out of jail free” move.

For movement speed, your goal is to have swiftness all the time, making passive buffs useless.
-For Staff, I use Arcane V trait (Elemental Attunement) and my rotation is attune Air, Air 4, Air 5+Arcane Wave, (party member aoe speed buff or Glyph of Elemental Harmony), attune Earth, …
-For D/D or S/D (I’m a little rusty, ran staff in party almost all weekend), attune Air, Air 4, about face (bind a hotkey to it in game options), Air 5, Glyph of Elemental Harmony, attune Earth, …
-If you can’t manage that combo (too many enemies, rough terrain, etc), slap on a Sigil of Air and call it a day.

Make sure you keep your crafting up with your level. The extra EXP goes a long way. Also, try exploring the main towns of each race (if you don’t mind) for another boost.

While I am a lot fresher on Staff combos right now, here are some decent D/D combos to use when starting combat with a group of mobs in PvE:
- If dispersed but I’m likely to draw aggro from multiple directions: Air 4 to primary target from outside aggro area, Air 5, Air 2, Air 3, Fire 5, Fire 4, Fire 3 to a safer position, then either (a) roll back in or Earth 3 in to fire ring, Arcane Wave, Earth 2, Earth 4, Earth 5, Water 5, Water 4, Water 3, back to Fire or Air.
-If clumped to begin with, start with (Earth 3, Earth 4, Earth 5) or Earth 5 + Lightning Flash, Fire 4, Arcane Wave, Fire 5, Water 3, Water 4, Water 5 (if needed), Water 2 while moving to safer point, Air 5, Air 3, back to Fire or Earth.

For small groups or single targets, I’m less methodical, but I generally make use of Air 4 to initiate, and continue with:
- Air 5, Air 3, Air 2, attune fire, or
- Earth 4, Earth 2, attune fire, and
- Attune to water when HP is below 50%

While it’s fun to stack precision, crit damage, and condition damage, you really need to stack power, and two of toughness, vitality, and healing power. Grab some cheap marks and runes on the auction house to further improve your armor, but don’t invest too much because you’ll want to keep your gear with your level.

If you need any help in-game, look me up!

I leveled with scepter/dagger, I suspect you’ll find that easier. 10 points in earth for armor of earth trait. 10 points in fire and grab the +10% damage trait. That should get you started on the right footing. Glyph of storms, glyph of lesser elementals and mistform for utilities. And learn to ride the lightning out of trouble safely when you get in over your head.

lv 80 builds only work at high levels, so don’t follow lv 80 guides
If you’re lv 20, you should have 10 points earth for the easiest time (or fire if you prefer direct over condition damage by enough to sacrifice the defense for no additional benefit). Traits don’t really matter at low levels. It’s the stats from the traits that matter. Earth > fire > water are statistically the best traits at low levels. Arcana is terrible until you’re lv 40 or so, and air is meh unless you have truckloads of power to go with it.

The rest of what I’d say has already been said. keep your gear up to date, etc.
Except for the part about where scepter earth 2 is OP as heck at low levels. If you use scepter, keep that armor buff up at all times and you will be mad tanky for the low levels.

level with scepter/dagger or scepter/focus til you are a bit higher level. You get more ranged attacks, ranged blocks and an invunerability in earth.