Guild Wars 2

As an elementalist i find myself constantly healing and curing my conditions due to the excessive condition build spammers and dps. Thus the question arises: at what point can an elementalist actually fight back? Are we predestined to be sitting ducks just for the amusement of the attackers? Are we simply target practice? can we actually fight back or just stand there curing our conditions and healing every 2 seconds?

If we are build for team support why do we have such a low health that with 2-3 hits you can be brought down?

Team support tends to imply that your team is keeping you safe so you can keep supporting them :p

Either way, staff does a lot of damage if you and your team can keep the target in place.

For small scale fights staff has the lowest defense. It is the best overall dps if you can still back in range, in spvp that does not happen. Try main hand dagger if you want to be the best tank/support. Scepter is the best for burst.

Well it depends on your weapon set and traits. A cleric water/arcane elementalist can heal a team for upto 45k with perm regen on nearby allies every 60s. Might stack elementalist can get nearby allies upto 12 stacks of might. Auramancers can get a steady amount of protection to allies. For survival you need 15 water or 30 arcane otherwise you will die to easily in pvp setting. in pve it is just about knowing when to dodge.

emikochan.8504:

Team support tends to imply that your team is keeping you safe so you can keep supporting them :p

Either way, staff does a lot of damage if you and your team can keep the target in place.

incorrect! staff does very little damage. Look at the skills they are for survival only!

• Fire attunement: (100% damage, but very little dps)
• Water attunement: (very little damage possibly in the range of 5%, the rest 95% is survival).
• Air Attunement: (Damage possibly in the range of 10%, the rest is 90% pushing, speeding, stunt.)
• Earth attunement: (damage possibly in the 15% rage, the rest is 85% reflecting projectiles, stunt, immobilize.

The staff elemetalist needs a total make over. I am literally tired of constantly curing my conditions and keeping my HP above 50% without doing any damage to the attacker.

If that was not enough, the elementalist AOE attacks are the most obvious and take the longest to cast anyone can predict them and dodge them.

right now… my opinion is that staff elementalist is too much like the original GW1 mesmer was in PvE: it’s defense is totally managed around denying your attacker.

the GW1 mesmer was about denying your attacker through interrupts, hexes that punished the attacker for attacking, draining the attacker’s energy to prevent them from casting spells or attacks. but in PvE, all the mesmer could do was stop one or two foes from attacking. while the rest of the foes still ran free doing all the damage they wanted.

the staff elementalist is designed pretty much the same way: keep the attacker at range using pushbacks to prevent melee attacks (yeah right! gap closers are far more effective than gust) chill or immobilize the attacker to slow down their assault, blind the attacker, stun the attacker. but the problem is… blindning / stunning / chilling / immobilizing the attacker isn’t killing the attacker. it’s only temporarily preventing the attacker from killing the staff elementalist. and that’s not a fun way to play.

of all the conditions out there, staff elementalist has too many “anti-mobility” conditions that don’t damage the other characters’ HP.

my opinion again: (and my apologies for repeating myself)

add some poison to staff earth 1, poision field to staff earth 4, make staff earth 5 piercing. earth 2 should have the damage spread out among 3 pulses with the blast finisher (and bleeding) at the end.

add vulnerability to staff air 1, 2, and 3.

both earth 3 and air 4 should give retaliation in addition to their current effects

water 2 should be a blast finisher

edit: actually, i take back offering vulnerability to Gust… i think torment would be a better fit as anti-mobility condition on an anti-mobility skill.

With Healing Build and Staff i rarely die (if ficused i can run, drop stuns, and heal me), but my purpose is help my team in Team fights. Stack might to do some damage, hide and drop some Meteor then heal your team.

Staff elementalist only viable for WvW raids. You have to position yourself not to die fast.

I can’t even believe you’re saying staff eles deal low damage.

Are you aware of the fact that a properly geared and traited staff ele has some of the absolute highest potential DPS in the game?

6/4/2/0/2 if you don’t need vuln, 6/6/0/0/3 if you do.

6 (VI VII XI)
4 (VI VII)
2 (VI)
0
2 (V)

6 (VI VII XI)
6 (VI VII XII) Fresh Air is optional but more practical in my opinion
0
0
2 (V)

Strength runes.

You will hit MONSTROUS damage.

@Forgotten Legend: that’s an interesting pov, more so ‘cause I didn’t play GW1, but if that was devs aim, it failed. In small scale fights, even 1vs1, a Staff Ele has simply not enough tools to keep the foe away (mostly because all the skills have an extremely slow casting time). Staff Ele = still food for my thief

On a side note, it’s becoming quite usual to see staff Elementalists in sPvP, and they are quite effective given the proportion of the maps which in certain cases force the foes to stay in the AoE, but in WvW just get out of their AoE when they are casting, then get back and collect the loot.

Staff elementalist is probably one of the hardest to play in spvp as a damage dealing role, when it comes to sustaining dps on a target. Note though that the staff ele playing the dps role is still extremely effective when it comes to team based fights. My guild has been doing spvp tourney matches vs each other for a while and we have found if you leave a zerker staff ele alone while he does his thing, you’re probably going to see your team get wiped. This is because aoes like meteor cover a large portion of a point you want to keep caped. While their aoes are strong, I definitely would love to see a little bit better single target dmg sustain on staff my self.

Staff eles can be scary, for example if enemy gets in mele:
fire 5, 2, 3, 4
earth 2, 5, 4, 3
air push back + stun field
water frozen ground + ice bolt and heals if required
the go back fire and fire ball him/her.
Myself using arcane that I blast on fire 2 and enemy. Using signet of air for possible stunbreak. Frost bow him/her 5,4,3,2. Summon elemental in fire or earth. Since arcane always crit I use poison on crit sigil and attunement change counts as weapon swap so havinh sigil activates on weapon swap. Hope this helps.. Also use the aoes that have duration maybe not where your enemy are now but on where he gonna be most of the time when the field is active. And if possible stand in yor aoes. That make it more likely your opponent gonna be there to. Also plan your stuns, freeze and immobilise so it makes the enemys time in your fields be as long as possible. You can change sihnet of air for athe arcane shot for some more crit hit and dmg or signet of earth to add more immobolise. Do this and your enemy gonna regret he underestimated you only becauze you was an elementalis staff. Best so far is solo 3

Purple Miku.7032:

You will hit MONSTROUS damage.

In PvE, yes. In PvP, not a chance.

This is a joke thread, right? Staff damage is comprised of slow, avoidable AOEs precisely because it’d be way too overpowered if you couldn’t avoid it. Imagine if you could get a guaranteed full-damage Lava Font on anyone you wanted, at 1200 range, without any CCs. There would literally be no reason to run anything other than staff ele, or bunkers specifically built to avoid being one-shot by staff eles.

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

This is a joke thread, right? Staff damage is comprised of slow, avoidable AOEs precisely because it’d be way too overpowered if you couldn’t avoid it. Imagine if you could get a guaranteed full-damage Lava Font on anyone you wanted, at 1200 range, without any CCs. There would literally be no reason to run anything other than staff ele, or bunkers specifically built to avoid being one-shot by staff eles.

So much of this…. Run a raw damage staff ele + a “tank” (heavy CC, like Mace/Shield + Hammer) warrior and laugh maniacally as you slaughter everything because that warrior keeps them sitting pretty in all your death fields and keeps them off your kitten all at the same time.

Staff ele lacks own single target damage. You could see me using staff ele in the quarter finals of the ToL. I had to use pirate runes and keep my parrot alive with heals and protection in order to create counter pressure cause i dont have own damage sources. Dps classes like engi, warrior, mesmer etc destroy you pretty easy cause you lack counter pressure and they can easily overextend/pve on you. Also bad to get points back vs guards due to lack of damage. You survive better and bring more support than dd ele but a 5v5 is not large scale enough to make staff ele 1st choice so i will probably go to dd ele or play warrior again.

Blackjack.5621:

Staff ele lacks own single target damage. You could see me using staff ele in the quarter finals of the ToL. I had to use pirate runes and keep my parrot alive with heals and protection in order to create counter pressure cause i dont have own damage sources. Dps classes like engi, warrior, mesmer etc destroy you pretty easy cause you lack counter pressure and they can easily overextend/pve on you. Also bad to get points back vs guards due to lack of damage. You survive better and bring more support than dd ele but a 5v5 is not large scale enough to make staff ele 1st choice so i will probably go to dd ele or play warrior again.

That is exactly my point! Staff Elementalists do not create counter pressure because we do not have own damage sources. So, basically we are sitting ducks for the attackers, and that is what you see on PvP everyone jumping on the elementalist! For those that are skeptical about this fact, please play an elementalist and you will see that everyone jumps on the elementalist first because the elementalist is:

• Low on health pool (light armor easy to kill)
• Deals low damage

Hitman.5829:

So, basically we are sitting ducks for the attackers, and that is what you see on PvP everyone jumping on the elementalist!

This… isn’t why people jump on the Ele. They jump on the Ele because they want to get rid of such a powerful damage dealer – if you don’t jump the Staff nuker, and carry on with your teamfight, you’ll die really very quickly.

If you want to nuke, and deal ridiculous damage, you really have to position yourself well – move about, don’t let foes catch you (remember all that CC?) and place AoE damage sources where your enemies want to be (either on a capture point/at another important objective, or on top of yourself if you expect you’re in danger).

Sure, some people will gank a squishy Ele just because it’s a free kill, but in the vast majority of cases it’s because the Ele is a serious threat, rather than a minor annoyance on the sidelines.

Pretty easy:
high dmg threat(in team fight) + extremely easy to kill

That in combination is the reason why you get focused down very hard.
If you want to cast meteor shower and there is a single enemy thinking he will instantly interrupt and or kill you.

the Ele is a serious threat, rather than a minor annoyance on the sidelines.

LMAO a serious threat? I missed the update that buffed us and give us a ridiculous amount of damage! can you please link me to it I would really much appreciate it.

The ele is a major annoyance that is why they jump on the ele. The reason why is a major annoyance is because 70-80 % of the skills are stunts, chill, push, heal.

Tell me what skill with the staff deals a ridiculous amount of damage? NONE!

When you combine skills that deal no damage + low health pool = useless staff elementalist in PVP.

Hitman.5829:

the Ele is a serious threat, rather than a minor annoyance on the sidelines.

LMAO a serious threat? I missed the update that buffed us and give us a ridiculous amount of damage! can you please link me to it I would really much appreciate it.

The ele is a major annoyance that is why they jump on the ele. The reason why is a major annoyance is because 70-80 % of the skills are stunts, chill, push, heal.

Tell me what skill with the staff deals a ridiculous amount of damage? NONE!

When you combine skills that deal no damage + low health pool = useless staff elementalist in PVP.

Well Meteor Shower can do high damage, but its randomness makes it kinda suck (unless the enemy is bunched up).

Since when is having strong CC not a serious threat?

Atherakhia.4086:

Since when is having strong CC not a serious threat?

Since some classes can just shrug off those CC. *cough warriors *cough

skullmount.1758:

Atherakhia.4086:

Since when is having strong CC not a serious threat?

Since some classes can just shrug off those CC. *cough warriors *cough

If we used that logic then Hammer for Warriors isn’t a serious threat either.

Hitman.5829:

the Ele is a serious threat, rather than a minor annoyance on the sidelines.

LMAO a serious threat? I missed the update that buffed us and give us a ridiculous amount of damage! can you please link me to it I would really much appreciate it.

The ele is a major annoyance that is why they jump on the ele. The reason why is a major annoyance is because 70-80 % of the skills are stunts, chill, push, heal.

Tell me what skill with the staff deals a ridiculous amount of damage? NONE!

When you combine skills that deal no damage + low health pool = useless staff elementalist in PVP.

I’m pretty sure this is a serious l2p issue, if you’re so sure you can’t deal decent damage. Are you running any traits? Are you using dps gear? You’ll not get good numbers as a Staff Ele running 0/0/2/6/6 cleric’s, at any rate.

An example skill that benefits a lot from traits and power investment: Lava Font.
With Blasting Staff, Pyromancer’s Alacrity and Persisting Flames, it can be (very nearly) maintained over most of a capture point, with added dps from Fireball.
It scales 0.9* with your power stat, which isn’t all that high… but ticks 6 times AoE, for a very short cast time. Yes, it can be avoided easily – by someone willing to move away from your allies in the capture point. The Ele applies heavy pressure to a desirable area.

The reason why is a major annoyance is because 70-80 % of the skills are stunts, chill, push, heal.

Um yeah also this – what? Please explain what these 70-80% of skills are. Please.

The reason why is a major annoyance is because 70-80 % of the skills are stunts, chill, push, heal.

Um yeah also this – what? Please explain what these 70-80% of skills are. Please.[/quote]

Sorry, I don’t want to write again the skills and the description. Look it up or search on top of this response or better yet, play one and see for yourself the useless skills (useless in dps and damage, but semi-good in stunts, chill, pushing, and healing).

my zerker staff ele fire aa squishies for 5k…
and bunker staff ele are so hard to kill.
i seriously don’t know what you are talking about.

Hitman.5829:

The reason why is a major annoyance is because 70-80 % of the skills are stunts, chill, push, heal.

Um yeah also this – what? Please explain what these 70-80% of skills are. Please.

Sorry, I don’t want to write again the skills and the description. Look it up or search on top of this response or better yet, play one and see for yourself the useless skills (useless in dps and damage, but semi-good in stunts, chill, pushing, and healing).

You’re making the ridiculous claim; it’s your responsibility to back it up with evidence.

Staff has great CC, both soft (condi) and hard (stun/kb/etc), but no way does it have a lack of damaging skills.

Also would you mind telling me how Lava Font can’t deal damage? I can’t help but notice that you completely ignored the bulk of my reply.

Simon.3794:

my zerker staff ele fire aa squishies for 5k…
and bunker staff ele are so hard to kill.
i seriously don’t know what you are talking about.

My thoughts exactly. My ele is seriously doing awesome in WvW.

I’m pretty sure that 95% of the posters here never properly played staff before in WvW/PvP, based on the comments made….

I remember when people said Elem was lowest damage dealer in the game!! Until some guys did some math and they said otherwise…

Hitman.5829:

Blackjack.5621:

Staff ele lacks own single target damage. You could see me using staff ele in the quarter finals of the ToL. I had to use pirate runes and keep my parrot alive with heals and protection in order to create counter pressure cause i dont have own damage sources. Dps classes like engi, warrior, mesmer etc destroy you pretty easy cause you lack counter pressure and they can easily overextend/pve on you. Also bad to get points back vs guards due to lack of damage. You survive better and bring more support than dd ele but a 5v5 is not large scale enough to make staff ele 1st choice so i will probably go to dd ele or play warrior again.

That is exactly my point! Staff Elementalists do not create counter pressure because we do not have own damage sources. So, basically we are sitting ducks for the attackers, and that is what you see on PvP everyone jumping on the elementalist! For those that are skeptical about this fact, please play an elementalist and you will see that everyone jumps on the elementalist first because the elementalist is:

• Low on health pool (light armor easy to kill)
• Deals low damage

No, everyone jumps on a zerker staff ele first in spvp matches because of low hp and HIGH damage. Staff damage isn’t low, it just lacks sustain. This isn’t a class you can just jump onto and just start tearing people apart, unlike a good majority of the other classes in this game. Play a staff ele for 6months to a year in spvp and you should reach a skill level that makes you feel differently of the class. With staff you’re a team oriented class, not a main damage dealer.

Zerg situations are where staff ele does best, so if that’s all you do, you’re probably likely to think that ele is fine/good. It’s in smaller encounters that staff starts to become a liability due to difficulty in applying damage and lack of mobility/avoidance options as eles have no way to strip stability.

Blackjack.5621:

I had to use pirate runes and keep my parrot alive with heals and protection

WTK are you saying those runes are actually useful?