PvE traits/weps?
I went staff til 40 then switched to dagger/dagger. However I also played staff very poorly (never changed attunements, sat in fire with all fire buffing traits).
If I had to do it over again I’d start dagger/dagger and just get better at it by 80 (figure learning how to use it without all the great traits would make you a better player).
I went staff til 40 then switched to dagger/dagger. However I also played staff very poorly (never changed attunements, sat in fire with all fire buffing traits).
If I had to do it over again I’d start dagger/dagger and just get better at it by 80 (figure learning how to use it without all the great traits would make you a better player).
how did you stay alive long enough to win any fights? let alone the next one after having used all your CDs on the first fight?
Are you using all your attunes?
A typical fight might go something like this:
Start in Air, hit 3 (optional if you don’t have the aura traits), then 4 to charge in, 5 to knockback.
Switch to fire, hit 3 (to charge in again and hit hard), 2 to set on fire, 5 to hit really hard on flaming targets, 4 to put down fire field.
Switch to earth, hit 4 (knockdown + might stacks), 2 (for more bleeds)
Switch to water if I need a heal or air if I just need to finish the mob
You might not need all that depending on your level range, but you have a ton of attacks you just did and most of those will be off cooldown for the next mob (the earth knockdown won’t be but you can manage).
I started out as dagger/dagger. Not sure what I did to stay alive since that was back when the game released and I wasn’t that savvy about gear. I think I went with defensive gear with some vitality and healing power. I also used signets for some reason (probably to keep the gameplay simple while I was learning the weapon skills and attunements) which also meant using Signet of Restoration to heal every time I cast something.
I probably would suggest using Vitality if you’re having trouble surviving in the early levels. With it, you have quite a few extra hits in you before you go down.
I asked this question back when I was 23, and I am currently at 30. I used staff until 24 and switched to dagger/dagger at that point. I also added a bit more toughness and healing to my gear, before I was all power. I am specced 10/0/0/0/10, probably not the best, I think 0/0/10/10/0 would be better for survivability. But as I have gotten better at using dagger/dagger, I find I don’t die as often.
The trick is attunement dancing, and using dodge. Air 5 is a good way to keep mobs off of you, if you do Air 4 first, you can get a good chunk of damage in. Switch to earth, do Earth 3 for the quick immobilize, hit Earth 5 and it should get off right about the time the mob gets back to you, knocking them down and doing good damage. Switch to water for some healing or fire for that final burst of damage of Fire 3, 4 and 5.
The nice bit is that almost all of your spells allow you to move, and many of them are point blank aoe so you can deal with adds.
So I need to learn to use my different attunments better. Which brings me to another question. F-keys suck to find.
how have you gotten around searching for them?
http://www.gw2builds.org/create/bwe_1/elementalist#1.0-3.4.10.19.0-5.10.0.0.0-0
Thats what i’m running right now.
(edited by Methal.9045)
You should be able to rebind any key if the function keys are hard for you to hit for some reason. I haven’t had that issue myself, though I will admit it took me a while (40 levels and then a month or two of not playing) to adapt to the elementalist playstyle. Sitting in one attune really hurts your performance and will give you a negative feeling for the class (because it won’t be nearly as strong as using one weapon with any other class).
how did you stay alive long enough to win any fights? let alone the next one after having used all your CDs on the first fight?
D/D eles constantly move around and pbAOE, which can cripple, chill, knock down, knock back, escape, so most melee mobs/boss can never touch you. Even you don’t do rotation/combos, kiting with fire 1 or Earth 1 is good enough to skill most melee mobs because these two spells can hit any direction (fire 1 needs slightly more skill to hit backward) and you can kite with full speed (that being said, rotation is much better). I don’t even need to dodge as much vs melee. But Vs ranged I have to dodge, I also like to use blind from signet of air, so I can avoid at least three attacks. By this time if I still have not killed them, I can still go Water to chill them, or air to weaken or stun them, or things go really dangerous (surrounded by multiple ranged and melee mobs), I go Earth 4, 5, arcane shield, earth 2 (if condition allows cast fire 4 before this combo). If there is a tree, or some kinds building, then all you need to do is circle around the object and pbAOE. Ranged enemies cannot touch you at all.
For cool down, it is not a problem in general. In most situations, I reserve my long cool down spells like Earth 4, 5, fire 5, arcane shield, and air 5 for tough enemies. I know many people like to initial with air 4, 5, or go fire 3, 5. But it is really not needed vs normal melee mobs. I want to reserve air 5 and fire 5 for ranged enemies. Other spells have decent cool down. I feel I can rotate around without any intentional stopping.
Yes, ele has really poor defense, and D/D eles need to close in to do damage, which may sound risky at first. But this is where skills come in and consequently it is what makes D/D eles play more engaging and fun. After playing D/D ele, I found many other playstyles too passive in comparison. Like some rangers, they simply send out the bear to tank, and barrage or repeated shots. They don’t even need to move around.
After playing D/D ele, I found many other playstyles too passive in comparison. Like some rangers, they simply send out the bear to tank, and barrage or repeated shots. They don’t even need to move around.
sometimes thats exactly what I wanna do =)