Guild Wars 2

Hey all. I’m getting back into my ele. Been sittin at 80 doing nothing for months

How is S/D??

I lvl to eighty as staff and don’t wanna be another D/D ele you see everywhere and S/D looks fun.

I see team riot has a video..but cmon its team riot..I see them and run..far

Is S/D good pve pvp and wvw?

I realize s/d will be everywhere now riot have a vid out but I really like the look n gameplay

It’s decent, if you spec into it. Main problem is that most people would agree that most things specter can do the MH dagger can do just as or nearly as well, but with better benefits (such as point-blank AOE).

But it’s up to you. It’s very much a matter of playstyle. I like the D/D rushing style, jump in their faces, smack them with AOEs and conditions, jump back out to let yourself recover, then jump right back in. D/D does that better.

I see a few elementalists running around in WvW with scepter, though, so I’m assuming it’s because it’s a far better ranged option since MH dagger, for all intents and purposes, is a melee-range weapon.

I read somewhere that s/d makes a very good bunker…

I enjoy d/d but yeah looking more ranged. Not staff.. gross

In PvE
S/D is horrible
In PvP seems its the current OP post nerf best tanking option.
In PvE the fotm is hammer/GS .____. (aka conjured weapons)

I personally prefer D/D or S/F in pve….(but i will never use a hammer >.>)

Good for bunker builds like the above posters mentioned, but theres also some nice burst capabilities with s/d as displayed here in this vid:

It’s pretty powerful from my experience in PvE. Can stack alot of AoE might from all the Blast Finisher, get in some big hits with Dragon’s Tooth, Pheonix, and Churning Earth.

D/D probably does more damage, as it should since it’s a melee set. Even though you need to play S/D in melee a bit to get the full effects of the might stacking

I like s/d because you can maintain 25 stacks of might and dps from the safety of mid range. You also get good defensive options with earth 2 armor, as well as 2 blinds (air 3 and earth 3). However, i only really use it in PvE, since your biggest hitting moves are the hardest to get off on a moving target.

You also get 2 heals (water 3 and 5), so if you run a bunker build like me you get lots of damage, plus you almost never die.

Finally, water 2 has a very short cd, so when you’re not stacking might you can build up vulnerability stacks on your enemy (4 per hit – max at 16 stacks i think).

in pve you may stack 12-15 might aoe with D/D while doing damage (a thing you can t do in www nor in PvP unless your opponent are afk).

Issue with S/D is that its too hybrid….
You have ranged spells paired with gap closer/short range spells that IMHO don t blend together.
So you find yourself using the scepter part or the dagger part.

Better just switch between D/D and S/F if you need damage or tankiness (think that i already do).

It is good for PvE, you just need to get used to positioning for certain spells. S/D was fun for me during leveling and dungeons.

I am not sure how you spec for a specific weapon with Ele but with traits that gives boons on auras I can use all weapons(fury, protection and speed) . Just bring arcane blast with you.

For PvE I suggest you switch weapons every now and then , it is more fun this way

For WvW it is better to use staff IMO but I think S/D has its uses there.

It’s good because offhand dagger is good.

Scepter on it’s own isn’t compelling.

CallousEye.5018:

It’s good because offhand dagger is good.

Scepter on it’s own isn’t compelling.

Dis.

Unless you wanna bunker, I guess.

dagger/dagger is the flavor of the month, but I love my scepter/dagger because I’m way too squishy to play d/d in melee. I dont like the staff skills either. Scepter/Dagger is a good mix in PvE. But if you’re talking WvW or PvP, then D/D is where the power is.

CallousEye.5018:

It’s good because offhand dagger is good.

Scepter on it’s own isn’t compelling.

With scepter you get:

2 more blast finishers (fire 2 & 3)
2 blinds (earth 3 air 3)
1 defensive sklll (earth 2)
1 vulnerability debuffer (water 2,—4 stacks for each hit)

Personally, i think scepter has a lot to offer as a middle-grounds weapon. It doesn’t have the group support that staff does, but it has more support skills than d/d. It works great offensively when paired with dagger, not quite the offensive power of d/d, but where it lacks in offense it makes it up in defensive utility.

S/D has the largest burst potential, through the air to fire combo. However, the fire 2 spell is extremely difficult to land in pvp without someone else helping you through using crowd control on your target. Really wish they would make that spell ground targeted, and fix water 2 on scepter.

D/D is quite strong as you can invest a lot in defense, and still have good damage output. Also, D/D is great for boon stacking, and its point blank AoEs. Both are good setups, just very different playstyles.

Scrambles.2604:

CallousEye.5018:

It’s good because offhand dagger is good.

Scepter on it’s own isn’t compelling.

With scepter you get:

2 more blast finishers (fire 2 & 3)
2 blinds (earth 3 air 3)
1 defensive sklll (earth 2)
1 vulnerability debuffer (water 2,—4 stacks for each hit)

Personally, i think scepter has a lot to offer as a middle-grounds weapon. It doesn’t have the group support that staff does, but it has more support skills than d/d. It works great offensively when paired with dagger, not quite the offensive power of d/d, but where it lacks in offense it makes it up in defensive utility.

D/d has pretty good support, frequent chill, cripple, water 2 heal does damage, aoe fury with aura share, all while having better auto attacks.

I am however running s/d for the range, because I wvw mostly and dungeon where being out of melee range is more helpful.