Guild Wars 2

Another one of my guide video’s – Tanky dps build which unfortunately won’t work for fractals because of the lack of range damage, but it’s a charm with / without pugs in dungeons / guild missions !

Link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yp5gwfxC3o

Looks very much like THE build I wrote about in my thread :p

Friendly critiques:
- Fractals do not require to be ranged, actually there is virtually no area of PvE where you need to be ranged. D/F is the best weapon setup for fractals.
- Not using full berserker?
- Wrong weapon signets
- Not using full scholar rune set?
- Not mentioning IB3 and IB5 !
- Using internal fire instead of burning precision
- Using FGS in suboptimal attuenement and on target with retaliation

Haha, Zelyhn beats me to it. I agree with him that:
- D/F is the best weapon setup for fractals. The amount of CC we have from both dagger MH and focus OH allows us to kite almost every bosses and whip them in max melee range. The only boss which I find not much use of D/F is Captain Ashym (-.,-)
- I also notice that your group has, maybe, a spotter ranger and a banner warrior, who both boost up your crit chance significantly. I want to point out that your build which lacks self buff in terms of might and fury and missing signet of fire will not have that sexy amount of damage in a sub-optimal (pugging) group. And it’s still be subpar in terms of damage when comparing to one of the meta builds in an optimize group :P
- I smiled when I saw you FGS-blink’d Ginva when his retaliation totem was still up

And Zelyhn,
-I don’t think there is a need for Burning Precision when OP didn’t go deep into the Fire trait line (at least 25 points). Unless there is a synergy with other group members that I do not know of.

That said,
It’s a very nice build that provides some comfort in forms of toughness/vitality and still gives out pretty numbers, especially impressive when you forgo Elemental Attunement and Evasive Arcana.

P.S.: I recommend Arcane Brilliance for the biggest heal possible in melee range and against a lot of mob. It’s also an extra blast finisher that D/F really needs.

With a name like that, I was expecting something at least close to meta or at least using dps gear. This just isn’t what you think it is.

Zelyhn.8069:

Looks very much like THE build I wrote about in my thread :p

Friendly critiques:
- Fractals do not require to be ranged, actually there is virtually no area of PvE where you need to be ranged. D/F is the best weapon setup for fractals.
- Not using full berserker?
- Wrong weapon signets
- Not using full scholar rune set?
- Not mentioning IB3 and IB5 !
- Using internal fire instead of burning precision
- Using FGS in suboptimal attuenement and on target with retaliation

Now that you mention it, it does haha. Credit goes to you, your build looks awesome!

Response to criticism:
-Full berserker set can be used however this means that you can tank better for when you make those mistakes in dungeons and still sustains decent damage (some people like to do dungeons laid back)
-Weapon sigils can be swapped out for more offensive ones i.e. battle, really depends on the playstyle of the user (this build is more of a guide-line and should be adapted as the user sees fit as with most builds especially for elementalist)
-I play laid back hence the fgs y0l0 m0de on the retaliation hehe

Thanks a lot for the feedback everyone!

@Iris
The only spell that can land in fire is burning speed. This 10% boost to its blast damage (most of the trail damage will take place under an other attunement, likely air) is lower than what extra burn could give you. Furthermore, it is quite easy to learn to swap to air during the cast of burning speed (before the blast) so that all the damage lands in air and benefits from air training.

@Nike
Don’t blame the man, his build is so much better than what most pugs would go for. Also there is no use for meta builds if you do not run meta comps.

@ComeAtMe
I like your style
Note that it is likely better to invest in defensive traits rather than defensive gear. Have you tried running 0/30/0/30/10 and more offensive gear? It terms of synergy this should increase your output.

Out of curiosity, what trait would be for 30 Water? And why not 0/30/10/20/10?

My choice would be powerful auras. Then pick zephyr’s boon instead of bolt to the heart in air. This will reduce your damage a little (you still gain fury uptime because arcane fury is not enough), but it will boost your group damage significantly by providing them an estimated fury uptime of 30%. If you consider fury to be a 15% damage increase then you can easily see how this is stronger than the self bonuses of bolt to the heart and stone splinters combined.
Bountiful power is sweet because less optimised groups tend to output many boons. It can be estimated as a 5% bonus to damage on average.
Vitality increases our effective health pool more than toughness, although this does not take heals into account. Anyway, I find that short-term pressure and conditions are the most dangerous threats to eles. Also toughness increases your chances of being targeted.