Guild Wars 2

I’m liking S/F fresh air ele a lot lately, may be because I’m super bored with playing D/D ele and D/D zerk is not really an option for me to play lols and I have played Staff ele a lot as well so fresh air is quite refreshing for me. Despite a lot of people saying it’s damage is just average and it’s just an ok build, I disagree! May be they are comparing it to what it used to be. I seriously see no issues with its damage outcome in solo q ranked matches. I mean it just works fine, normally I run this build with my brother who uses shoutwarr, our combo is pretty deadly cause I get a lot of DPS boost from him and timely shout heals to survive more, however, this time he decided to play turret engi lol. So Fresh air ele is not used by high level players because d/d cele simply provides more of everything? I know cele is surely more balanced but Fresh Air builds need some love!!! What are your thoughts about standard s/f fresh air build in 2015?

Here is one gameplay video I recorded today if anyone is interested to watch!

Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6UbfqX06WM&feature=youtu.be

I used the standard S/F fresh air build: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJArdhcM6cWywyBd0AOAGxiQMQcEIA0BLeFWCA-TJBFwACOBA12foaZAAPAAA

Also, considering last time feedback I received on my Fresh Air Scepter/ Dagger combos video , I have not changed the speed of the video and no music this time either to bring in more transparency in game play, those were actually fair points. Feel free to give constructive feedback but try not to be rude :P

Personally i don’t think that Scepter Air is really good, its actually probably the worst attunement, so i steer away from using Air on scepter/focus at all, unless everything else is on CD or i need to pop some projectiles, or knock someone down, but the damage it provides is well..bad.
But i mean, whatever you feel like is great for you.

Lawful.5314:

Personally i don’t think that Scepter Air is really good, its actually probably the worst attunement, so i steer away from using Air on scepter/focus at all, unless everything else is on CD or i need to pop some projectiles, or knock someone down, but the damage it provides is well..bad.
But i mean, whatever you feel like is great for you.

Fair enough! But what would you suggest going then for a good DPS ele build now a days? Staff ele is too slow to go offensively, D/D zerk is not easy nor wise to play lol. In context of zerk/ direct damage builds, we are hardly left with any options, right?

Diva.1476:

Lawful.5314:

Personally i don’t think that Scepter Air is really good, its actually probably the worst attunement, so i steer away from using Air on scepter/focus at all, unless everything else is on CD or i need to pop some projectiles, or knock someone down, but the damage it provides is well..bad.
But i mean, whatever you feel like is great for you.

Fair enough! But what would you suggest going then for a good DPS ele build now a days? Staff ele is too slow to go offensively, D/D zerk is not easy nor wise to play lol. In context of zerk/ direct damage builds, we are hardly left with any options, right?

There are actually lots of builds nowadays that you can try.

Theres the popular D/D Celestial build, with 6 water 6 arcane
Might stacking is a must in this build because the raw power isn’t that high, but overall strong build with high sustain.
Probably easiest build to play aswell, because it is very forgiving.

Then theres Celestial Signet builds aswell, with 6 in earth, 4 in fire and the rest whereever you feel like.
You can run D/F , S/F, D/D in those builds aswell, anything is fine as long as you feel comfortable with it.

My personal favorite is S/F Signet build, very solid build, less healing than the meta D/D Cele build, but you take less damage overall.

Anyways, Zerker builds are not very viable in sPvP, or PvP in general for Elementalist because we are way too squishy, and the slightest mistake, will cost you your life, sometimes even if you don’t make mistakes, you will still die to some random burst from a hunter you didn’t notice in time.
Almost all the decent builds run Celestial amulet, so go with that, then run in which direction is more comfortable for you.

Lawful.5314:

Diva.1476:

Lawful.5314:

Personally i don’t think that Scepter Air is really good, its actually probably the worst attunement, so i steer away from using Air on scepter/focus at all, unless everything else is on CD or i need to pop some projectiles, or knock someone down, but the damage it provides is well..bad.
But i mean, whatever you feel like is great for you.

Fair enough! But what would you suggest going then for a good DPS ele build now a days? Staff ele is too slow to go offensively, D/D zerk is not easy nor wise to play lol. In context of zerk/ direct damage builds, we are hardly left with any options, right?

There are actually lots of builds nowadays that you can try.

Theres the popular D/D Celestial build, with 6 water 6 arcane
Might stacking is a must in this build because the raw power isn’t that high, but overall strong build with high sustain.
Probably easiest build to play aswell, because it is very forgiving.

Then theres Celestial Signet builds aswell, with 6 in earth, 4 in fire and the rest whereever you feel like.
You can run D/F , S/F, D/D in those builds aswell, anything is fine as long as you feel comfortable with it.

My personal favorite is S/F Signet build, very solid build, less healing than the meta D/D Cele build, but you take less damage overall.

Anyways, Zerker builds are not very viable in sPvP, or PvP in general for Elementalist because we are way too squishy, and the slightest mistake, will cost you your life, sometimes even if you don’t make mistakes, you will still die to some random burst from a hunter you didn’t notice in time.
Almost all the decent builds run Celestial amulet, so go with that, then run in which direction is more comfortable for you.

aww looks like you didn’t read my 1st post clearly. I’m super bored of all such d/d celestial meta builds and all. Also, if you notice in my signature, you will see my own Scepter/ Focus condi signet build. I wanted to try some zerk builds now for a change. For now, I’m gonna stick to S/F fresh air build only and hoping to get some more variations in upcoming expansions. Thanks for your comment, though

Diva.1476:

aww looks like you didn’t read my 1st post clearly. I’m super bored of all such d/d celestial meta builds and all. Also, if you notice in my signature, you will see my own Scepter/ Focus condi signet build. I wanted to try some zerk builds now for a change. For now, I’m gonna stick to S/F fresh air build only and hoping to get some more variations in upcoming expansions. Thanks for your comment, though

Well, as for Zeker builds, i ran this http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJArYhcMKb25wuBfEBEACpkBDkY0MxXKVB-TJBFwACOBA02foaZAAPAAA
for a while, it was a blast.

But it had no condi clear, so it was mostly a get in and not get out kinda build, but it would put down tons of hurt before kneeling over.

1st off i wanted to say, yay more bursty eles, let alone scepter main hand.
Scepter main hand is actually used/was used in high competitive play and still poses as possible ele build that still is incredibly strong. The burst is there, when done right. Whether it be gusting(Air 5) someone at the right time into Fire 243, Blinking your pheonix, or blinking (when on dagger off hand) Earth 4 into bursties. The only thing S/F lacks is the hard sustain(bunkerish) and over tankiness D/D can bring to the table. Which is why D/D is in competitive play, atm. S/f is far more glassy, but can make up for it with high burst, some sustain and nice utility. I’m Sure down the line, if you haven’t realized it already, fights can swing your way even if an enemy D/D ele is there, simply because while they are focusing on stacking might and possibly supporting, you already focused on bursting a target and viola. Then focus gives you soo much utility you can stomp. It all takes practice but is soooo worth it in the end.
The only thing i could suggest is changing your adept water trait from V to VI,III. The trait V, on zerker gives very little sustain on a high cd. It simply isn’t worth it.

Okay let’s stop comparing scepter ele to d/d else’s, they serve completely different roles for a team. I along with zoose are the only two right now that play scepter focus in the competitive scene and I think it’s one of the most underused weapons in the game. Once you get really good at scepter ele you really start to realize that it is impossible for the enemy to avoid your damage. This is only if you are quick enough to make all of it land at nearly the same time, and patient enough to wait out dodges. Another advantage to an sf ele is that it can win almost any matchup in a 1v1 scenario (shout warriors you won’t kill but won’t die too) except for its hard counter which is d/d ele but if you find yourself 1v1ing a dd ele that’s just a bad rotation. Honestly the key to s/f ele is learning your combos/smooth rotations and learning how to save your valuable CDs. Every skill you use better have a reason for going on cd, because part of the advantage of having so many skills is utilizing every one of those skills to its full potential.

Bitty.1409:

it’s one of the most underused weapons in the game.

No kidding, some people PM me after sPvP and ask me what weapon i killed them with.

Blood Lord.5687:

1st off i wanted to say, yay more bursty eles, let alone scepter main hand.
Scepter main hand is actually used/was used in high competitive play and still poses as possible ele build that still is incredibly strong. The burst is there, when done right. Whether it be gusting(Air 5) someone at the right time into Fire 243, Blinking your pheonix, or blinking (when on dagger off hand) Earth 4 into bursties. The only thing S/F lacks is the hard sustain(bunkerish) and over tankiness D/D can bring to the table. Which is why D/D is in competitive play, atm. S/f is far more glassy, but can make up for it with high burst, some sustain and nice utility. I’m Sure down the line, if you haven’t realized it already, fights can swing your way even if an enemy D/D ele is there, simply because while they are focusing on stacking might and possibly supporting, you already focused on bursting a target and viola. Then focus gives you soo much utility you can stomp. It all takes practice but is soooo worth it in the end.
The only thing i could suggest is changing your adept water trait from V to VI,III. The trait V, on zerker gives very little sustain on a high cd. It simply isn’t worth it.

Agreed to your points! Also, I changed a couple of traits now, changed air trait from X to IX and water from V to III.

I really think cele builds have outshined Scepter burst builds badly lately, otherwise these are not as bad as people think but I will leave the technical discussion to the experts though and enjoy playing what I like more.

I haven’t played ranked yet, mainly because I don’t think I’m good enough not to be a burden to my team. But playing s/f fresh air in unranked solo q’s is incredibly fun. d/d cele may be the more solid build and gives you more room for mistakes but its dull as hell.

s/f makes you feel like you are actually a threat and most people really don’t expect the burst from an ele. I haven’t watched your video yet, but which runes/sigils did you go with? from memory I use scholar and air/doom but i’m curious as to what other s/f are running with.

Memories Lost.7634:

I haven’t played ranked yet, mainly because I don’t think I’m good enough not to be a burden to my team. But playing s/f fresh air in unranked solo q’s is incredibly fun. d/d cele may be the more solid build and gives you more room for mistakes but its dull as hell.

s/f makes you feel like you are actually a threat and most people really don’t expect the burst from an ele. I haven’t watched your video yet, but which runes/sigils did you go with? from memory I use scholar and air/doom but i’m curious as to what other s/f are running with.

Indeed! S/F fresh air build is impressively effective and fun to use. You feel like a killing machine unlike that boring D/D cele build. Anyway, I use Pack runes (Fury, might, swiftness in combat for myself and allies also) with Air and Fire sigils. Let me know your views after you have watched my video

Maybe i’ll try a game or two with pack runes instead of scholars. Your trait set up is a bit tankier than mine is. I take vital striking and arcane mastery, swapping between cleansing wave and soothing disruption. I figure since you don’t have much in the way of sustain, especially if your cooldowns are blown anyway that going more offensive works better for me. With the 20% damage at 90%+ life from scholars/vital striking its generally enough to get in and burst people hard enough to force them to go into defensive rotations and are less likely to actually hurt you.

In regards to mist form, the invuln/move speed is nice but personally I like arcane shield, so I can still put some pressure on and spam skills to sustain a bit. That being said I like to play really aggressively.

As fun as this build is, I hope it doesn’t get too popular or ele v ele fights are going to turn into who can combo faster =p and how it stands now, with the level of play i’m at most d/d ele’s are pretty bad and serve for easy picking.

Memories Lost.7634:

Maybe i’ll try a game or two with pack runes instead of scholars. Your trait set up is a bit tankier than mine is. I take vital striking and arcane mastery, swapping between cleansing wave and soothing disruption. I figure since you don’t have much in the way of sustain, especially if your cooldowns are blown anyway that going more offensive works better for me. With the 20% damage at 90%+ life from scholars/vital striking its generally enough to get in and burst people hard enough to force them to go into defensive rotations and are less likely to actually hurt you.

In regards to mist form, the invuln/move speed is nice but personally I like arcane shield, so I can still put some pressure on and spam skills to sustain a bit. That being said I like to play really aggressively.

As fun as this build is, I hope it doesn’t get too popular or ele v ele fights are going to turn into who can combo faster =p and how it stands now, with the level of play i’m at most d/d ele’s are pretty bad and serve for easy picking.

At the end it comes down to preferences for certain traits, yes! However, using scholar runes is not as good as pack tbh, I do Solo Qs and I know how much pack could give to my team mates for overall better dps.

Diva.1476:

At the end it comes down to preferences for certain traits, yes! However, using scholar runes is not as good as pack tbh, I do Solo Qs and I know how much pack could give to my team mates for overall better dps.

You should name the thread, “Pack Mentality: The Elementalist’s Hunt Begins!”

lel

Bitty.1409:

Okay let’s stop comparing scepter ele to d/d else’s, they serve completely different roles for a team. I along with zoose are the only two right now that play scepter focus in the competitive scene and I think it’s one of the most underused weapons in the game. Once you get really good at scepter ele you really start to realize that it is impossible for the enemy to avoid your damage. This is only if you are quick enough to make all of it land at nearly the same time, and patient enough to wait out dodges. Another advantage to an sf ele is that it can win almost any matchup in a 1v1 scenario (shout warriors you won’t kill but won’t die too) except for its hard counter which is d/d ele but if you find yourself 1v1ing a dd ele that’s just a bad rotation. Honestly the key to s/f ele is learning your combos/smooth rotations and learning how to save your valuable CDs. Every skill you use better have a reason for going on cd, because part of the advantage of having so many skills is utilizing every one of those skills to its full potential.

There is no 1vs1 scenario in conquest at high level unless you are a mobile tanky roamer ( engy/ele d/d ) or stealth decapper ( thief ), everything else get caught in team fights where s/f get focused down and easily killed…unless you run away from the fight using FGS at which point your presence becomes pointless.

Radioactive! Radioactive!

Lawful.5314:

Diva.1476:

At the end it comes down to preferences for certain traits, yes! However, using scholar runes is not as good as pack tbh, I do Solo Qs and I know how much pack could give to my team mates for overall better dps.

You should name the thread, “Pack Mentality: The Elementalist’s Hunt Begins!”

lel

lolss yeah why not, it’s quite creative and logical !!