Guild Wars 2

Everything was going fine for my glass cannon fire spec’d ele up until level 80. Now I feel I’m not really putting out enough damage to solo reliably, nor do I have the survivability. I haven’t been able to find any solid PvE builds for Ele, as all everyone wants to talk about is sPvP. The most I’ve been able to find is something called an “Auramancer” but I can’t even find any builds for that, just talk of it.

I’d appreciate it if anyone would give me some advice in general PvE builds. Traits, preferred stats, whether the build focuses more on Dungeons, solo, WvW, etc. I’ve already decided that I’m going to stick with Staff, it seems like the only real option for WvW and Dungeons.

Any and all tips and build advice would be much appreciated. I know a lot of it boils down to playstyle. I likely won’t follow any one build exactly, but a push in the right direction would be much appreciated.

EDIT: I suppose something I should mention is that I’d like to reliably be able to go through Explorer mode on dungeons, without feeling like I’m not really contributing. I’m not an idiot, and I have a pretty decent grasp of how to play my Ele, it’s just building him properly that I’m having issues with.

How do you feel about support?

I’ve posted a (few) tips for Dungeons as an Elementalist. I’d gladly answer more specific questions if you have any.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Elementalist-tips-Dungeoneering

Ryld.1340:

How do you feel about support?

I have no problems playing a more support like Ele. My only problem is, aside from just not knowing where to start to building one properly, is I’d still like to be able to solo.

Whatever I end up doing I see it most likely being a “kind of good at everything but doesn’t excel in any one area” kinda deal when it comes to solo/dungeons. I’ll WvW occasionally but at the moment that’s not high on my priority list.

Amnon.4769:

I’ve posted a (few) tips for Dungeons as an Elementalist. I’d gladly answer more specific questions if you have any.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Elementalist-tips-Dungeoneering

Yeah, I saw your thread. I’m keeping an eye on it. I haven’t decided what. if anything, I want me ele to specialize in yet though. I’m worried if I build too much for dungeon’s that I won’t be able to solo farm or WvW very well at all. Then again maybe it doesn’t work like that as much as I think it does.

I’m rather new to MMO’s, never been able to get into em until GW2, so all this is pretty new to me.

I wouldn’t recommend using a Staff for solo PvE. For that, I recommend Scepter/Dagger, as they give you good mobility with AoE damage.

I always carry a scepter, dagger, and staff in my inventory. When I enter a dungeon, I use the staff. For PvP, I use Dagger/Dagger.

My support build works very well for solo surviability and dungeon farming. Just AoE things down in packs and you’re solid.

Favorite thing to do: Farming Champion Risen Giant grubs solo.

Weapon : Staff. Dagger and Scepter just don’t feel right to me.

Amnon.4769:

I wouldn’t recommend using a Staff for solo PvE. For that, I recommend Scepter/Dagger, as they give you good mobility with AoE damage.

Yeah, I’ve started to get the feeling that’s what I need to start doing. Doesn’t that screw with whatever build I end up running though? Or is it not as big of a deal as I’m making it out to be? Forgive me, as I said MMO’s aren’t exactly my strong suit.

My biggest problem in my opinion right now is my traits. I can’t decide what I should be going with. I hear support ele is the way to go but I have no idea to build this, and what few builds I can find are wildly different from one another.

I have a good build that is good for Support Healing/Buffing, control, Survivability, and still Solo’s alright if you’d like to hear.

If you’re planning on mixing Solo PvE and dungeons, set your traits to Dungeon mode. When it comes to solo PvE, you honestly can do it without the trait bonuses.

I use a staff for solo game play, no problems at all and I survive situations just fine, but I hated S/D and felt it just wasn’t for me. The staff works for my play style, which while I have played a lot solo I do end up in groups a lot so it is nice to be able to switch between support and damage (random events and dungeons).

I think you have to think about your play style and just because someone says not to do something such as use the staff in solo game play you have to remember that your play style overrides other players rules. So, to me the best way to go about this is to test out S/D, D/D, and Staff, etc, throughout your leveling, to see if you like this. I did use S/D for awhile, but switched back to Staff around level 30. I evaluate my gear and weapon choices often though, so while I may not agree with some people on here saying you must do a, b, c, I do think you should give things a go and just make a decision based on your personal preference.

I’ve been soloing with a fire/air staff build (was intrigued by fire, making it secondary when I have cash). Air based builds with the staff seem to do pretty well with solo pve. Chain lightning hits really** hard when there are 2 mobs and really the CC with the push-back and stun field is great. Fire is a nice additive for the extra power too, I just plan to make it my secondary instead of primary as I was trying to do when I first started.

I wouldn’t agree with Amnon when it comes to using scepter/dagger for soloing instead of staff.

Dragon’s Tooth is a terrible ability to use when soloing and kiting a mob provided it doesn’t die in the burst you can do with it, which it does not in later levels. Phoenix is also a mediocre ability to use when you are soloing (as in you are the target of the mob) and have to move and the mob, admittedly its easier to hit with it than dragon’s tooth but still.

Earth abilities are bad for damage apart from churning earth fair enough, its still more of an opener.

I prefer staff when soloing, gives good enough dps whilst moving as well as good control.

With scepter/dagger you have to make sure to circle the target rather than kite it. The idea is to run and dodge behind it, to keep the enemy more or less standing in place. If you can do that, then hitting with Dragon tooth or Phoenix is simple and easy AoE damage. Not having to run around far also means you’re less likely to unintentionally pull something else.

This is also why I don’t use S/D in PvP, because any half-witted player would know to not stand under the big floating tooth that’s gonna crash down on you any second now.

Obviously Staff can also get you the kill; chill + lava font, enough stuns/blinds/knockbacks to keep you alive for quite a while… I just find it faster to kill NPCs with the scepter. But again, I am me, you are you; if you look at my posts they were all “recommendations”, I tried never to force any decisions.

@Ryld:
I, for one, would like to hear your build.
I intend to max Arcane, but I can’t decide which element to pick up. Air is so tempting just for the movement speed bonus, but there’s always a signet for that, and Earth would let me spam signets while keeping the passive…