Guild Wars 2

So I’ve been running D/D on my elementalist since I hit level 80 (back in December) and have loved it. But I’ve also been playing me elementalist less and less these days. I figured for a change of pace I might totally rebuild back into a staff setup. I have a few questions for anyone out there who runs staff regularly.

Here is some background information:
- The role I want for my staff ele is mostly damage. I’m willing to go full glass cannon but I’m not sure how viable having < 12k hitpoints and < 1900 armor really is – so any feedback here is nice.
- I will mostly play my staff ele in open world PvE, WvW, and dungeons (with an organized guild group).
- I’m pretty set on staff as my weapon, so please offer advice/answer following questions with that in mind.

My questions:
1. I was considering going full glass cannon and using runes of the scholar for the additional damage. I figure if I’m going to be fragile I’ll probably be near full HP or dead – might as well take advantage of the times I’m at full. Is this at all viable? I’m pretty skilled at dodging in content that I know (which is most).

2. If you do not agree with either my armor type (berserker) or my rune choice above, what would you recommend given my goal of glass cannon high damage?

3. I’ve been toying with builds and have somewhat settled on 30/10/0/10/20 for Puissance, +10% in fire, -20% fire CD, +20% < 33% enemy hp, +10% > 90% self hp, attunement buffs, and +staff AoE size. Any improvements / changes recommended here?

4. Assuming you agree with all I’ve said (or have made alternative suggestions) which utilities do you think would be most useful? I was considering signet of fire as one but can’t decide on the other two (I realize I should swap for content – but I mean in general for open world stuff).

You don’t need to answer / address all of these – every little bit helps!

Thanks!

I like a lot of your choices. Take a look at Glyph of Storms, some people really swear by the blind ability in earth attunement.

Also, look at some of the defensives like Arcane Shield and Mist Form. Your staff skills will provide a lot of damage, and if you rotate attunements, you’re probably not going to need to spam utilities for damage. So use them for survivability. I usually run Shield because it can be popped while channeling Meteor Shower without interrupting your channel.

As a great elementalist once said, “When you’re dead, your DPS is zero.”

If you can survive with <12000 hit points, that’s all that matters, but 12000 is all glass. That’s one-two shot territory lol. There are plenty of players who run with that and claim success, but I don’t think the range of the staff will change the amount of health you need as much as you seem to think. There are plenty of mobs in the dungeons that will be able to close the distance to you easily enough. The other point about agro in dungeons is that mobs will often not target melee, but ranged instead.

I would suggest simply using the hit points you currently carry as a starting point. Of course you could just take your build you have now and carry a staff and see how you do?

Thanks for the skill feedback, Sergo.

And Baladir – that’s actually what I decided to do between posting initially and now. I die occasionally but am usually still up unless several team member go down (and I die ressing or something). WvW is way harder when I’m not with a zerg but I suppose that’s to be expected.

All said I think I might go at least MORE berserker than I have now, maybe keep a few knight’s pieces here or there (especially until I get the guild commendations for two accessories).

Thanks for taking the time to offer feedback!

Another question: I was just thinking it might be worth giving up Elemental Attunement for Renewing Stamina – I know renewing vigor has saved me tons of times (especially before “nerf” but even after as it’s still effective) and at 1200 range I’m not sure how often my allies will benefit from my attunement swap buffs. More importantly, I plan to stay in fire a lot unless the opportunity to drop a couple quick spells in another attunement presents itself, so I’m not sure how often I’ll even get the benefits. This is one I can test out myself, but was just wondering if anyone had any brilliant insights.

For your utilities, you could consider Glyph of Elemental Power and/or Frost Bow. The first will give your nukes either extra burning, or snares (which can both be very useful) and the bow grants you an additional nuke skill (though at slightly shorter range).

The second thing you may want to consider is the elemental summons. The air version could also strengthen your long distance damage quite a bit.

Full Berserker’s is tough in WvW, for me anyways. You have to be so careful. Too careful for my taste. I run full PVT armor (including back) with Berserker staff and accessories. However, I also run boon duration runes and the classic 0/10/0/30/30 build. It creates a good balance of damage and support/survivability for my play style. I’m a firm believer in “your DPS is zero if you’re dead”, and I play in T1 NA where the zerg bull rush meta can be brutal on glass cannon Eles.

So, I think you should try playing with the build and stats you want, as there aren’t any flaws in your plan necessarily. However, if you’re dying too much, consider adding in PVT gear.

azurerogue.9240:

…..Another question: I was just thinking it might be worth giving up Elemental Attunement for Renewing Stamina – I know renewing vigor has saved me tons of times (especially before “nerf” but even after as it’s still effective) and at 1200 range I’m not sure how often my allies will benefit from my attunement swap buffs. More importantly, I plan to stay in fire a lot unless the opportunity to drop a couple quick spells in another attunement presents itself, so I’m not sure how often I’ll even get the benefits. This is one I can test out myself, but was just wondering if anyone had any brilliant insights.

Nothing brilliant probably. I like Renewing Stamina because I dont proc vigor with Cantrips. I like Elemental Attunement too. So I have both. I don’t think I spend any more time in fire than other attunements unless I am targeting tops of walls or a gate during a siege.