Guild Wars 2

As the title says, is the staff good for sPVP if it is used correctly? Or should i switch to scepter focus/scepter dagger combination

This is more of a loaded question than I think you realize. Staff works for some while it doesn’t work for others. D/D works for some while it doesn’t work for others. Same can be said for all the weapons.

I’ve seen some pretty effective and smart staff ele’s out there. I know this doesn’t answer your question but there’s no simple answer for what you’re asking.

Bunker is good. Glass Cannon is good if you’re ballsy. Condition is good if you also spec for healing. Hardest class to play though with hardest weapon choice.

condition staff elementalist?
but you only have one reliable damage condition move, and it lasts for half as long as its cooldown

Staff can be a good choice if you like to move with the group. S/D, D/D are better choices for lone-man skirmishing. Just keep in mind that staff is not really the ideal 1v1 weapon, and if you find yourself alone you could be in trouble.

guildwars2guru.com/topic/67305-akys-build-compilation/

Staff is great weapon for group fights and can be ok in 1vX assuming the terrain doesn’t pigeon hole you into close quarter fighting. I’m only now starting to play sPvP more so I still lack experience though.

reikken.4961:

condition staff elementalist?
but you only have one reliable damage condition move, and it lasts for half as long as its cooldown

It works. I do 20 earth, 30 water, 20 arcane. Or switch earth and water if you want. You’re very tough due to the high vit and toughness. And just get carrion ammy + condi runes. Good survavibility with option for condi damage. Don’t rely on eruption. Use all your attunements.

Staff sucks at 1v1. If you want to 1v1, DD ele is the best weapon choice.

Actually staff has a pretty high dmg rate, so power/prec is viable…The issue I find is your main atk source is fire…the 1 skill can do upwards to 2k crits on heavy armors…but fire has no CC…and switching out to say earth to snare them, then water to slow them…generally still has a decently long CD before u can switch BACK into fire to dps them…what generally happens is ur either Long cast animations or lack luster CC with the staff gets you killed quickly…Now in large team fights I find staff amazing …everyone wants to fight on the cap point so its fairly easy to catch them in ur 2 ability+5 aoe then switch to ice and aoe cripple/ and earth to aoe cripple+bleed…also its great when u instant gibb all the mesmers clones and necro minions for ur team… but like i said its just really hard with a staff for 1v1 or when ur focused

Actually staff 1vs1 doesn’t seem so bad after I played a bit more sPvP. Air tree is pretty good for burst dps and fire tree is there to back you up when Air skills are on cooldown, so switch between fire and air as much as possible w/o losing efficiency.

When it comes to support and defensive play you will have to use all the attunments throughtout the fight. Since staff got long range you also want to constantly ‘fall back’/kite unless you’re in superior position.

Now when you you can’t gain distance from your opponent fire greatsword is very useful. I usually use it around 50-60% hp if I feel pressured (in combination with mist form if im getting beaten up) and if it doesn’t kill your opponent it could extend your life period.

After trying out the staff a bit more in Spvp I find it’s very good in 1v1 situations and amazing in group fights. However you just have to be smart and tricky with staff in 1 v 1’s. You would be surprised how easy it is to live by just standing in your own AOE’s.

The enemy is usualy “OOOoooOOOoo red circle must stay out!” and thus giving you breathing room. And Magnetic Aura Drools Nothing like reflecting a killshot back to a warrior. But if you’re going to use staff I recemend going full bunker. Sure it takes forever to kill poeple, but at the same time you take forever to die.

Ill have to say as well that staff wasn’t failing me in sPVP against players but I realized that it takes a lot of knowledge on enemy skills, and skill combination to counter it and also plenty of prediction for example for a Mesmer its good to use lightning because of chain attacks eg..

You have no instant heals with staff that you can cast on the run, which also is effective, and your attacks are often very slow. I would say it is the least viable weapon to use in SPvP, because of that. You can go bunker, and bore yourself to death by making most of your offensive spells worthless, sure. You are just too easy to pick apart, compared to alternatives, whether in group or not (not if going heal/condition of course).

There are so many ground targeted skills in staff. I wouldn’t recommend it for sPvP. You’re just making things harder for yourself if you use it for that