Guild Wars 2

Are they not as popular? I’ve been tinkering with different builds for staff myself and often reading forums but don’t really see people talk about them.

Because of long range staff elementalist can sacrifice some survivability and add more dps to the buid. Right now I’m running 25/0/25/10/10. Good damage/survivability with some support. I would like to see what others use for staff build so I have more to play around with.

think most people use staff for support in all situations or use in WvW as long range aoe nuker. most stuff end up being focused into pvp and staff really isnt suited for any 1v1 kind of pvp

Staff can be used situationally well in sPvP and tPvP, but not as a primary build really. In Wv3 Staff builds rule the roost mostly because of the Keep/Tower humping that is what everyone spends 90% of their time doing.

boozer.7815:

Staff can be used situationally well in sPvP and tPvP, but not as a primary build really. In Wv3 Staff builds rule the roost mostly because of the Keep/Tower humping that is what everyone spends 90% of their time doing.

I am not informed enough to disagree, but I submit that my (former) guild loves using staff elementals in small group zerg disruption. 2 5-man teams can easily disrupt 30-40 people if the geography is used correctly. 1 Ele and 1 Engi can hold a bridge for a long time when spec’d correctly. A chokepoint can be held indefinitely against disorganized rushes with a skilled 5 man team backed by an arrow cart and ballista. Staff eles are instrumental in this because of the importance of ice fields and chilling combined with big hits from long range aoe.

Again, situational.

actually you cant since AoE has 5 man hit limit… ele and engi will just get stomped by stampede…

back on topic… im using 20/10/0/20/20 with valkyrie armor and knight trinkets… so i’m a little bit of everything… support/dmg/survivability, you name it I have it… and its been good so far for dungeons and WvW…. i’m not playing sPVP…

I’ve been primarily a staff build since the beginning and I run a glasscannon-ish build.

10 in Fire for 10% boost in fire attunement
30 in Air for crit + crit damage and I trait into Quick Glyphs, Inscription, and Lightning Aura proc when hit by a stun
10 in Water for condition removal
20 in Arcane for Vigor on Crit (rolling and dodging a lot adds a lot to survivability) and Blasting Staff

I pvp and I run Superior Runes of Eagle and with Knight Ammy + Zerker Jewel. I have like 20k HP and crit about 1.5k-2k.

For utility, I have Mist Form, Armor of Earth, and Arcane Shield for maximum defense. I hit like a truck from 1200 range and I do well in 1v1 (most of the time). If people let me stand back and rain hell, I kill a lot of people and usually end up getting 200-300 glory in pvp.

crusnx.3725:

actually you cant since AoE has 5 man hit limit… ele and engi will just get stomped by stampede…

Per application, yes. That does not stop groups from doing some pretty amazing things. What you do is stop the lead, which stops their precious blue arrow, which confuses the heck out of people. Buying a 30-60 seconds as a zerg regains its momentum can be the difference between having enough resources to hold a fortress and break the opponent’s momentum or being unable to help.

To indefinitely hold a gap and not just stall it, you need more than a few people tossing chills, you need arrow carts and ballista and some frontliners. But I’ve been part of 10-man groups that have stalled unorganized zergs because unorganized zergs are, by and large, populated by under-leveled, under-geared, and under-organized groups.

Sorry for the off-topic. I am just pointing out there is more to staff elementalists and post-nerf grenade engineers than tower loitering.

In WvWvW you can also lead charges, for that I use a bit more survival gear (around 15khp). Use air 4/5 and earths 3 to start advancing then switch to fire to dmg and fire 4 to escape when need to replenish life, repeat. I only really die in WvWvW when I over extend during a charge and my cds arent up.

The more I play the more I keep going back to full DPS builds in WvW. My current build is 20/30/0/0/20 with berserker armor/weapon, valk trinkets, teleport/arcane power/mist form and switching to d/d if I’m solo or in a small group. It’s harder to play than other specs, but way more fun and rewarding imo. Doing 2-3k hits with meteor in safer builds just seems pointless in many situations.

hellfish.6740:

The more I play the more I keep going back to full DPS builds in WvW. My current build is 20/30/0/0/20 with berserker armor/weapon, valk trinkets, teleport/arcane power/mist form and switching to d/d if I’m solo or in a small group. It’s harder to play than other specs, but way more fun and rewarding imo. Doing 2-3k hits with meteor in safer builds just seems pointless in many situations.

30 Air alone makes me want to try this lol

I went full glass cannon on my ele. Normally I don’t do crap except auto attack in the back of the zerg. When it comes to defending towers, however, I can basically wipe siege and teams with 5k meteors.

For a versatile WvW build, I personally use Glyph of Elemental Power. It’ll add some cripple or chill to your attacks, making duelling a lot easier imho.