“Backpack called me bad” – Slaughter Melon
PvE Elementalist(Dungeons/Fractals/Solo)
This guide has just about everything you’re looking for. Written by DEKeyzToChaos and it is stickied on the ele forum
There is no “best” weapon set…Staff, S/D and D/D all work given the right build and skill.
Personally I would recommend sticking with staff, it has incredible sustained from Lava Font + Fireball and nothing can really touch Meteor damage on big targets. Healing is also solid.
But full zerker for fractals can be extremely punishing. I equip some cavalier’s pieces and change slot skills for when times get tough.
The majority of your survivability is going to come from your build and slot skills….if you decide to go with a full-DPS staff build (30/20/10/10/0) then it’s pretty much up to your slot skills and dodging, the rest of your survivability will come from your group setup.
You’re not going to get kicked from any team for not using X weapon or blasting fields, not unless the group is full of idiots. Or we’re are talking very high level fractals, by which point you should know your role in the group. For 95% of dungeons as long as you stay alive, help revive/support and kill stuff, that’s all that matters.
For my full-damage setup I run 30/20/10/10/0 with full zerker, Signet Of Fire + Frost Bow + Arcane Wave + Fiery Greatsword.
For a more defensive setup I run the same traits but with cavaliers armor, zerker trinkets, Signet Of Air + Arcane Shield + Arcane Wave.
Damage is what Ele’s excel at so I’m a bit fan of staying true to a damage-oriented setup as much as possible.
Such a shame, people leveling up without experimenting …
There is no “best” weapon set, but there is a worse one: staff. It is simply underpowered in many aspect, at least until Anet buffs its air attacks.
Anyway you really should check DeKeys’ guide, her work is the reference for PvE elementalists.
Zelyhn.8069 [rT]
Retired elementalist theorycrafter
Retired elementalist theorycrafter
Lies. Staff is strong.
#ELEtism on Eredon Terrace
0/10/0/30/30 with full zerker gear works just fine in upper 40s fractals with my staff. I haven’t tried above 49 yet, though, since I can’t bring myself to spend/grind my way to more AR.
0/10/0/30/30 with full zerker gear works just fine in upper 40s fractals with my staff.
That build works with any weapon though, it’s basically the most “safe” Ele build :p
Hello everyone, I just made an Elementalist yesterday and it’s already level 80 with full zerker gear and trinkets. I have no clue how to play ele as far as what builds to run for what dungeons or traits. I really like staff but I am not opposed to using other weapon sets. Can anyone give me a link or a guide to what to use for each dungeon,etc.
Staff probably isn’t great for solo play, but when fully buffed it can be very powerful in organized dungeon groups. Personally I don’t find it to have the the same harmonious balance of DPS, support, and defense as D/F or the offensive support of scepter+hammer. Staff DPS in fire is great, but as soon as you swap out to heal in water or control in air or earth the DPS is awful. I think someone has already linked my guide, which has a rundown of the builds for each weapon set and some basic rotations for each.
Or what weapon set is considered the best atm? Like I don’t want to get kicked from a team if they see me using “x weapon”
If you’re looking for “zerker only” groups on LFG, they’ll probably expect you to run Scepter/Dagger + Lightning Hammer or Scepter/Focus + Lightning Hammer. If there’s another ele already running scepter+hammer, then you can go full fire staff DPS. Dagger/Focus isn’t necessarily low DPS, but it doesn’t buff groups quite as well as scepter+hammer – not a problem in groups where everyone knows how to prestack might and help keep up might on their own, but possibly problematic when you really are responsible for keeping up half (or more) the might and possibly all the fury for your group. Of course, if your group is wiping every 30 seconds, D/F gives you better access to skills that help you keep alive while keeping damage up (and is what I use for soloing).
… or not blasting “x field” at “x time.” If anyone understands what I’m asking for , please feel free to reply or message me in game. BTW I’m coming from Engineer.
For eles, you put down your fire field and blast it, then continue DPS. If you’re staff, you just stay in fire and spam 1, 2, 5, and possibly 4 if you can use it into a wall and use arcane skills to blast your field. If you’re scepter+hammer, you conjure your hammer and then dps with that. If you’re dagger/focus, you swap to air for a few, swap out for another blast, and then back in – kinda like as if you were swapping in and out of kits on an engi.
Both ele’s and engi’s require very active play (except for DPS staff) in order to maximize their efficacy, so I think you’ll pick up the idea of attunement (and conjure) dancing pretty easily.