Guild Wars 2

I really like the elementalist (been playing it since BWE2) and now I’m thinking of trying a glass cannon build on my ele, but I’m a bit of a noob when it comes to more focused builds like glass cannons or tanks, so I’d like to see some examples of builds from some of the experienced ele users out there. It doesn’t matter if it’s for PvP, PvE, or WvW, but if you could specify which one you use your build for that’d be appreciated.

Thanks.

EDIT: Here’s my build that I have right now. I’d like to try and get a good D/D build in addition to this so I can switch between them. If it says “Bad Link”, then just copy and paste the link.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEEQFAWhImOblR5gjDARGEIgkhFNUUkzOA;T0Ag0ynEOJdS9kyJKuMcJ4yyljLJXDLA

EDIT2: Here’s my D/D ele build that I’m gonna use for some PvP, and I’d like to see if somebody could give me a better build (traitwise or utilitywise), or give some advice on some different combos that you can do with a D/D ele.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEEQJAoYhImgblx5gjEAUBBFEIgkhFNUUkzMA;ToAg0Cno4ywlgLLXOukcNsYaB

Atm I got a quite easy to use staff build which has pretty solid sustain at range, there is almost no danger even if you use full berserker gear if you know how to strafe.

I use 30/30/0/0/10, you should be able to fill in the traits yourself. Do not expect huge burst or insane high crits but you ll have solid sustained damage in fire as long as burn is up and you are quite safe if you use you range to your advantage. Combine this with a berserker set with scholar runes for optimal results.

If you want a bit more damage get the 10 points in water for more damage when above 90%, but the utility from arcane (endless vigor or boons on attunement switch) are very useful in some of the fights.

I dps in water atunement all the time. I use Scepter/Focus with 20/30/0/20/0.
In fire I get burning on crit and damage against burning, in air i get glyph boosts. In water get Piercing Shards and Shard of Ice.
Get ful beserker gear and arcane ultilities. Enjoy.

I went and made a test build and here it is:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEEQFAWhImOblR5gjDARGEIgkhFNUUkzOA;T0Ag0ynEOJdS9kyJKuMcJ4yyljLJXDIA

I chose the staff because I like the range on it, especially in PvP. I put 20 in Arcana so I could get the area attack size increase with the staffs. Let me know what you think. This build could probably be switched to a fairly good D/D ele by switching an arcana trait as well.

Im runing a 10/30/0/10/20 Build for sPVP. For runes I use Superior Rune of Devinity
and Berserkers amulet and Jewl.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fEEQFAWhEmKbwR5gjEAkCnEKQg4BGW4QRxM7A;TsAg0CnoqxUjoGbNuak1Ms4QwsAA

Also have a Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJJpOBMRV5A

Zaviel.1245:

I dps in water atunement all the time. I use Scepter/Focus with 20/30/0/20/0.
In fire I get burning on crit and damage against burning, in air i get glyph boosts. In water get Piercing Shards and Shard of Ice.
Get ful beserker gear and arcane ultilities. Enjoy.

I am very interested in your build. Do you spvp tpvp with this? How do you deal with engies thieves?

He’s just talking crap. Staying in water isn’t viable not even in hotjoin.

I’ve tried condition damage build, a healing build with 1400 healing and a glass cannon build and for dungeons I prefer the glass cannon. I use the heal/support build for condition removal and some light healing and water fields in WvW (with 1400 healing or so the splash on staff water 1 does about 500 but it’s mostly kind of meh although you’re really hard to kill with cantrips) but prefer full blown glass cannon for PvE. I kill stuff at least 35% to 40% faster, faster kills means faster clears and less chance of something going wrong. The obvious tradeoff is survival but I find that proper skill choice before the encounter is more beneficial than losing crit/crit damage and power speccing into other lines.

For PvE I use 30/30/0/0/10 like the poster above. Fire is 10% damage, 20% CD reduction and might on fire cast. Air is 20% CD reduction on glyphs, increased damage when target is less then 25% health and 3% increased crit damage for 10 sec when using arcane. I do what said poster does and switch the arcane talent depending on situation, V for group buffs and boon, I for more DPS, VI for vigor.

Stand at max range. Put down fire fields for your bros. Try to keep burning up on the target with fire 3 so you do more damage but if someone else is putting up burning then don’t bother because fire 3 and your ticks only do maybe 350 damage and you could be flinging more fireballs instead.

Dungeon survival is more about using the proper skills, range, food, and knowing when to dodge and when to strafe. From my experience glyphs are superior to signets in dungeons, especially traited heal glyph. I use arcane blast whenever it is off CD (it has a 1500 range btw) and usually put arcane shield on the bar for easy fights just for the crit damage increase because you don’t have all that many good single target skills to use at max range (elemental harmony glyph is ok with traits and will help keep up burning). Armor of Earth, arcane shield, mist form and earth elemental are good for running past trash. If boss destroys my elemental I use fiery greatsword.

I wear cof beserker gear with soldier crests, berzerker staff with fire sigil (excellent aoe damage), berserker neck, knights earrings and rings (two with ruby jewels) and a defender backpack with a soldier crest. I use stew for more dodges and might on dodge. My stats:

http://i46.tinypic.com/2ppx892.jpg

3,352 attack (2240 power)
51% crit (1,903 precision) and 69% crit damage.
2,224 armor (1,304 toughness)
11,925 hp (1,028 vitality)

@80 Normal fireball does about 1k damage + splash, ~2.4k on crit, upwards of ~2.8k to ~3k with 3% crit damage boost from arcane, target less than 25% and some vuln (which you contribute a little bit to with 25 in air). Arcane blast does about ~3k when less then 25%. Meteor shower and glyph of storms both hit like a truck, I use them whenever there are more than two mobs (or more than one for glyphs of storms). Last hit of fiery greatsword does about 4.5k-5k + splash, I’ve had it crit for 7k a few times. Sigil of fire adds even more aoe damage.

My personal playstyle, but I prefer this build to other builds and find it the most fun out of all the dungeon builds I’ve tried.

Nonlinear: Thanks for the Dungeon Build idea, I’ll have to try it sometime.

I put up my builds that I have now up in my first post. These are just in PvP right now because my ele isn’t level 80 yet and because I don’t have enough munny’s to get all of the runes and stuff.

WHich sigil is the best in your opinion for staff dps aoe elem??
Battle / BLoodlust / Fire / Strenght ??

Last hit of fiery greatsword does about 4.5k-5k + splash,

It doesnt work that way, its why is sucks btw. Glyoh of Elemental is widely supperior for PvE.

Im not sure with glick glyph it is actually a dps boost to pick arcane skills btw. Lesser elemetals and of Elemental Power might actually be better.

Aba: I use Fire because I like the extra damage. It’s really nice, especially while I’m in the downed state, because it can still activate, and if I’m not being attacked by more than one person it can help my chances of surviving if I get downed.

innocent ouarior.1954:

Last hit of fiery greatsword does about 4.5k-5k + splash,

It doesnt work that way, its why is sucks btw. Glyoh of Elemental is widely supperior for PvE.

Im not sure with glick glyph it is actually a dps boost to pick arcane skills btw. Lesser elemetals and of Elemental Power might actually be better.

I don’t know what you mean by “doesn’t work that way” since I use if all that time I got an 8k crit last night in SE and that is downleved.

I use the elite skill that is best for the encounter. The elementals get one shot on a lot of bosses, e.g. burning effigy in cof 1, esp the lesser, in those cases I use greatsword. You can’t get a dps boost from an elemental if it dies before it can do anything. If elementals are safe I’ll use them, it’s situational.

I usually use glph of elemental power in fire with gs so I can keep up burning without losing the sword. The only damage increase you’ll get from elemental power glyph is from burning and with no condition damage it’s kinds of meh. I put my Arcane trait to I for easy encounter because arcane blast CD is only 16 seconds and for 10 of those you have extra crit damage. On aoe encounters I’ll have glyph of storms on my bar. The skill bar is not static you can change your skills depending on the encounter I do it all the time.

Nonlinear.9823:

I’ve tried condition damage build, a healing build with 1400 healing and a glass cannon build and for dungeons I prefer the glass cannon. I use the heal/support build for condition removal and some light healing and water fields in WvW (with 1400 healing or so the splash on staff water 1 does about 500 but it’s mostly kind of meh although you’re really hard to kill with cantrips) but prefer full blown glass cannon for PvE. I kill stuff at least 35% to 40% faster, faster kills means faster clears and less chance of something going wrong. The obvious tradeoff is survival but I find that proper skill choice before the encounter is more beneficial than losing crit/crit damage and power speccing into other lines.

For PvE I use 30/30/0/0/10 like the poster above. Fire is 10% damage, 20% CD reduction and might on fire cast. Air is 20% CD reduction on glyphs, increased damage when target is less then 25% health and 3% increased crit damage for 10 sec when using arcane. I do what said poster does and switch the arcane talent depending on situation, V for group buffs and boon, I for more DPS, VI for vigor.

Stand at max range. Put down fire fields for your bros. Try to keep burning up on the target with fire 3 so you do more damage but if someone else is putting up burning then don’t bother because fire 3 and your ticks only do maybe 350 damage and you could be flinging more fireballs instead.

Dungeon survival is more about using the proper skills, range, food, and knowing when to dodge and when to strafe. From my experience glyphs are superior to signets in dungeons, especially traited heal glyph. I use arcane blast whenever it is off CD (it has a 1500 range btw) and usually put arcane shield on the bar for easy fights just for the crit damage increase because you don’t have all that many good single target skills to use at max range (elemental harmony glyph is ok with traits and will help keep up burning). Armor of Earth, arcane shield, mist form and earth elemental are good for running past trash. If boss destroys my elemental I use fiery greatsword.

I wear cof beserker gear with soldier crests, berzerker staff with fire sigil (excellent aoe damage), berserker neck, knights earrings and rings (two with ruby jewels) and a defender backpack with a soldier crest. I use stew for more dodges and might on dodge. My stats:

http://i46.tinypic.com/2ppx892.jpg

3,352 attack (2240 power)
51% crit (1,903 precision) and 69% crit damage.
2,224 armor (1,304 toughness)
11,925 hp (1,028 vitality)

@80 Normal fireball does about 1k damage + splash, ~2.4k on crit, upwards of ~2.8k to ~3k with 3% crit damage boost from arcane, target less than 25% and some vuln (which you contribute a little bit to with 25 in air). Arcane blast does about ~3k when less then 25%. Meteor shower and glyph of storms both hit like a truck, I use them whenever there are more than two mobs (or more than one for glyphs of storms). Last hit of fiery greatsword does about 4.5k-5k + splash, I’ve had it crit for 7k a few times. Sigil of fire adds even more aoe damage.

My personal playstyle, but I prefer this build to other builds and find it the most fun out of all the dungeon builds I’ve tried.

I have made it my mission lately to run full out glass cannon builds with zero arcana in Wv3 lately and I must tell you, the build you are using for PvE works VERY VERY VERY well in Wv3 as well (I trait 10 in Water instead of Arcana sometimes). Give it a shot. I think you might be pleasantly surprised. I find that almost everyone else is running glass cannon out there too! 3-4k fireball crits are fun!

XD i go 30/30/10/0/0 on full zerker gear with accessories. 10 in earth since technically full glass cannon means any dmg u can get, and earth provides condition damage addition XD

fire traits: 10% dmg, 20% cd, might on fire atk
air trait: more dmg on under 25% hp, 20% air cd, shock aura on being disabled.
earth: earth armor at 50% hp

i am almost always on fire simply because no other attunement provides the kind of dmg output u need to actually suit a glass cannon, the fact that everything in fire is an aoe is a bonus XD.

i love glyph of the storm but often time i find i simply cant get into range to cast it without putting myself in 2 much danger. using arcane blast, arcane shield, lightning flash and surprisingly tornado as slot skills. i wish tornado was more useful, but it still got its uses in smallish zerg combat when ur side is pushing up or when ur suicide enemy seige to take it out. if worse comes 2 worse tornado makes a fun way to screw with enemy zerg at a gate as u get through(its always fun flinging half an enemy zerg around and wondering just how angry u made them as they get flung around)