Guild Wars 2

I’ve had this game since(before) release day and I remember when I first started playing I tried out every single profession and tried most weapon combinations for the first couple of days. Nothing seemed to click with me until I tried out this “weird” dual dagger elementalist and absolutely loved it. Back then every elementalist you ran into used scepter or staff. I remember never seeing other elementalists with dual daggers.

After playing for a bit I took a long break from this game and just came back a few weeks ago. Now it seems like d/d elementalist is one of the most popular builds in the game. What happened when I was gone?!

One word: @daphoenix

Ah so it was mostly about one popular player doing it and then a lot of people followed? Makes sense seeing as how stuff like that happens a lot in all games. I just find it interesting how popular it became seeing as how unpopular it was right off the bat.

Nothing happened, people just took their heads out of their rear ends. No major buffs have happened, if somtehing they´ve done slight nerfs as time´s gone by. And still people who used to go lololo ele is UP, now go lololo d/d ele is OP.

Also might have to do with the fact that d/d is just plain fun to play.

Strang.8170:

the fact that d/d is just plain fun to play.

Such truth in this statement. I really didn’t have much fun with any other profession and weapon combo but when I tried dual daggers out of curiosity when this game came out it just instantly got me hooked.

it became little popular after daphoenix.

What made it extremely popular was the knee jerk nerf to staff actually

Almost every ele players started to use D/D …

Ya know i think that D/D is so popular because its very rare ti have a close Combat Glass Cannon. personally i am a major fan of melee combat so when i found out a long distance magic class could be close combat i just had to…..Guardians don’t count i haven’t played that yet.

+1 to daphoenix.showed me the potential of dd ele in one thread

Funny thing is I just happened to select 0/10/0/30/30 like hours before visiting this forum and seeing the big d/d thread with everyone talking about it as the thing.

Was like “Okay I want 30 arcane cuz I definitely want the lowest attunement speed. Really like all the water traits and I can switch back and forth between the 30 one. Last 10 for air so I can be swift all the time, this looks really good”

Then I come to the forums almost immediately and see everyone talking about it as the big thing. Was funny at the time. Though I hadn’t decided on runes yet before visiting. Soon as I heard boon duration runes mentioned I didn’t need to hear any more discussion, it was obvious that was perfect.

I keep wanting to go to 20 in air but I don’t want to have 11 second attunement recharges (Funny that, I could go without evasive arcana, it’s the stupid base stats from the traitline) and I don’t want to lose the condition removal from regen in 30 water.

Still pushing for 12 second base attunement recharge time, reduced to 9 with 30 in arcane, so we can get away from that.

golantrevize.2394:

One word: @daphoenix

Actually two words, bug fixes. D/D had bad bugs since beta that made people stay away from it. Especially the rtl, fire grab and magnetic grasp bugs. The day that they claimed they fixed these bugs I ran into a lot of d/d ele’s in spvp. They were gone in a few days after they realised that anet only half fixed the bugs. But the second time they fixed them people stuck with it.

LordByron’s got a good point. The “op” d/d spec’s you see people complaining is pretty much the staff build everyone used since bwe3 just with daggers. Staff got nerfed and people replaced them with daggers and noticed the same builds only need a slight tweak to work with the new weapon set.

It is le convergence to the 0/10/0/30/30

I’ve enjoyed running my Scepter GC build in WvW because of it. Everyone expects Elementalists to take forever to kill and hit like wet noodles, so the good players tend to avoid me so long as I don’t use a staff.

Then I burst off 3/4 of their health bar from 900 range >:)

It ain’t OP, because I die to a strong breeze and the damage is fairly weak outside of occasional spikes, but it makes me happy.

I think the fact that a well put together guide specifically for D/D elementalist play is the large factor, since it allowed people to skip a fair chunk of the learning curve.

When staff got nerfed i.e. evasive arcana was fixed, everyone else went for d/d.

Raptured.9307:

+1 to daphoenix.showed me the potential of dd ele in one thread

To think it was like 4 months ago maybe 5. I admit I started ele dd before daphoenix and quit. Saw him solo a champ and 2 vets and made a new one. That was 4 months ago. I love DD eles playstyle and don’t really care if its popular. i think most of us are 30 in arcane but beside that I think the builds are starting to vary (slightly).

That being said in PvE I rarely run into other DD eles especially in dungeons.

Raptured.9307:

It is le convergence to the 0/10/0/30/30

30 arcane is almost necessary the rest is up for debate imho. Personally after months I found myself most comfortable on 0 15 10 15 30. If they ever improve the fire trait line, reduce attunement base recharge, remove the charges from conjured weapons, or improved airs later traits I think we would wee more build diversity.

Graybes.8251:

When did d/d become so popular?

…When people found those sacred d\d attunement\skill rotations to rule them all?

Winds.3087:

Graybes.8251:

When did d/d become so popular?

…When people found those sacred d\d attunement\skill rotations to rule them all?

not for sure…
Before they destroyed staff removing finishers and stuff, rotations and combos were used even more than with D/D.

Rotations are the backbone of the elementalist….
It was clear from the trait lines that you couldn t just rely on 1-2 attunement but needed all.

Mostly because they made sure to place some underpowered or situational skills in most traits paired with the worst autoattacks in the Whole game.

traits in fact are a drawback system preventing you to have the skill you need when you need it.

Not an advantage like some uninformed players thinks

“destroyed staff”

You write some truly silly things, LordByron.

Intigo.1653:

“destroyed staff”

You write some truly silly things, LordByron.

Destroyed solo staff and i can agree, but yea, silly little byron.

Because you have some short memory.

Some times ago Staff bunker ele was FOTM build next to guardians and thieves…

In 2 weeks the class disappeared almost completely from pvp……

So yes…destroyed…i m sure you can find even some “silly” glass cannon D/D ele but they are commonly considered uneffective by most PvP teams.

That is not even MY opinion…..just open PvP forum and look for some feedback from known players.

LordByron.8369:

Because you have some short memory.

Some times ago Staff bunker ele was FOTM build next to guardians and thieves…

In 2 weeks the class disappeared almost completely from pvp……

So yes…destroyed…i m sure you can find even some “silly” glass cannon D/D ele but they are commonly considered uneffective by most PvP teams.

That is not even MY opinion…..just open PvP forum and look for some feedback from known players.

Like i said, destroyed solo staff, spvp is nothing but a solo game.

d/d was popular as soon as people started playing it, partly due to frustration with other ele builds, and it was fun then it really took off with the healing builds. I stopped reading this forum long ago because almost every post has been about them for many months.

Anet hasn’t changed staff at all, just EA.

released many changes that impacted staff build….
If i remember correctly its not only EA.

Glyph of renewal for sure but also some blast finishers (outside EA) and many other things…

I Always disliked staff bunker….was sooooo boring.

Staff bunker was fairly popular until 15th Nov.

D/D ele seemed a little weird to me, my guild mate suggested a new build for me to try out and I love it.
I used to run with a staff because it seemed like the way to go when I was in WvWvW, the daggers felt dangerous for a squishy.

I agree that it was the bug fixes. Remember, we had two unbreakable 3s self stuns, three cone AoEs hitting nothing and ~5 patches that “finally” fixed those problems. Bottom Line: since D/D is working as intended.

Because people realized the other weapons aren’t worth using. D/D is popular by default of being the least bad weapon set.

gandlethorpe.2641:

Because people realized the other weapons aren’t worth using. D/D is popular by default of being the least bad weapon set.

More like the easiest to use, ground targeting takes effort.

Many eles been running D/D since beta, me included. Its delusion to think a person made a spec popular by themselves. The Nov. 15th patch killed Staff bunker spec and people flocked the next bunker spec which was D/D. This is because Bunker is the only viable spec for eles at high level tPvP.

I’m still pretty new to the game. I started with elementalist though, up to 26, with a staff weapon. Beating veteran monsters was a huge pain. But then i tried what it’s like to play a guardian… Melee, tank, healer, short and long range caster wearing heavy armor, i was in love. It does more damage than elementalist ever did, survives most stuff easier, can swap between weapon sets, and basically do everything that i used to do on elementalist aswell but better.

That said, i’ll give this dual dagger spec a go, if it would change anything, but i doubt.

edit: 300-600 max range on skills? Stops autoattack when you’re further than that, is just bs. Sorry, that’s enough elementalist for me. 1 level lower normal wolf do 1 attack at me for 50% hp. Bye bye, and see you on other class forums possibly.

Zaflis.7294:

edit: 300-600 max range on skills? Stops autoattack when you’re further than that, is just bs. Sorry, that’s enough elementalist for me. 1 level lower normal wolf do 1 attack at me for 50% hp. Bye bye, and see you on other class forums possibly.

Should i point out that if you use autoattacks, you´re doing something wrong.

So that means we don’t have 20 skills but 16?

Every D/D auto except for Air is worthless. So, 17 I guess. :p Air is pretty awesome, though.

And Zaflis, feel free to play another class and be sure to tell all your friends how bad Eles are. I hope all the “flavor of the month” players will stick to Mesmer now.

golantrevize.2394:

One word: @daphoenix

LordByron.8369:

it became little popular after daphoenix.

Raptured.9307:

+1 to daphoenix.showed me the potential of dd ele in one thread

: P you guys are giving me too much credit, lol

Intigo.1653:

Every D/D auto except for Air is worthless. So, 17 I guess. :p Air is pretty awesome, though.

I use all the auto attacks, fire1 is pretty awesome as a finishing skill when your still in fire attunement. Also doubles up as a way to break #Block attack skills too. Water1 is one of the best ways to cover condition, and does alot of damage in a hallway where everyone is in a line (usually for PvE purposes). Plus it comes back too, so you can prepare another cover condition in advance. Earth 1 (I usually use this one the least, it is kind of useless most of the time :P) is another good cover condition too, you can use it without facing your enemy too. Its a guaranteed hit unlike the other autoattacks if your enemy is within 300 radial units.

yea air> all other auto attacks.

daphoenix.4283:

golantrevize.2394:

One word: @daphoenix

LordByron.8369:

it became little popular after daphoenix.

Raptured.9307:

+1 to daphoenix.showed me the potential of dd ele in one thread

: P you guys are giving me too much credit, lol

Intigo.1653:

Every D/D auto except for Air is worthless. So, 17 I guess. :p Air is pretty awesome, though.

I use all the auto attacks, fire1 is pretty awesome as a finishing skill when your still in fire attunement. Also doubles up as a way to break #Block attack skills too. Water1 is one of the best ways to cover condition, and does alot of damage in a hallway where everyone is in a line (usually for PvE purposes). Plus it comes back too, so you can prepare another cover condition in advance. Earth 1 (I usually use this one the least, it is kind of useless most of the time :P) is another good cover condition too, you can use it without facing your enemy too. Its a guaranteed hit unlike the other autoattacks if your enemy is within 300 radial units.

yea air> all other auto attacks.

Air AA is pretty garbage in actual PvP against good opponents, just run around the ele and watch his attack “miss” as he tries to hit you.

Puandro.3245:

Air AA is pretty garbage in actual PvP against good opponents, just run around the ele and watch his attack “miss” as he tries to hit you.

Try it when zerg diving in wvw after you´ve unloaded all your other skills in a quickness field.

Ever since beta it was always pretty popular. You saw a lot more variety back then tho with D/F S/D and the odd staff user.

Each time there was a major trait rebalance you could see the shift.
eg: stop drop & roll nerf, EA air finisher change, zephyr’s boon moved to t1 & the addition of tempest’s defense, attunement shift nerfs etc

Well I use d/d in pvp and pve. But staff in dungeons and dragon events.

i think they fixed air AA.
IS ubershort range now but it seems it doesn t miss no more.

Yes, it doesn’t miss when target is stationary. Amazing ability.

haviz.1340:

Yes, it doesn’t miss when target is stationary. Amazing ability.

well better than being useless against anything stationary….

I mean i couldn t even kill the switch at end of cof1 <.< or an Arrow cart etc.

LordByron.8369:

well better than being useless against anything stationary….

I mean i couldn t even kill the switch at end of cof1 <.< or an Arrow cart etc.

Why not use staff on such targets?

it become popular once some very good player started p0wn1ng with a class that was thought weak: everynab came to the conclusion “hey, must be d/d…”.
No one thought about the “good player” part, thus leading to embarassing amounts of poorly played d/d elementalists.
Btw, after the recent hate from devs for my beloved D/D, I switched to staff and am very satisfied (it’s way easier to collect badges this way).
Hipster…? maybe.

D/D has been pretty popular since beta/launch. Wooden potatoes helped popularize the D/D aura build IIRC. But yeah, a large part of the recent increase in D/D ele’s is because of great players showcasing their skill on youtube/streams/forums/reddit.

Well I started as a S/D but I found it difficult as a starter, whole attunement switching, observing the enemy, trying to land my Dragoon Tooth/Phoenix combo’s was too much for a newbie…

Then switch to Staff in PVP when Evasive Arcana without CD and as a Blast finisher was there, after that I lost all my use to my team as a Staff Ele and and an easy bounty to the enemy..

Then I started the D/D, mainly because of we don’t nearly doesn’t have to aim anything (other then fire grab) and concentrate to be Ele, now I think I have a good grasp of the Ele, I will switch back to S/D…

The problem of D/D, as tanky as you want be, we will still die from random AOE, try to fight with an Engineer on a node or Mesmer, if you stay in Melee range at some point you will die from AEO, or play against go Ranger, after you use RTL, LF and Earth 3 gap closer he will kite you all the time with short bow and lead you to traps…..

No, if you got a good a grasp of Ele and now you are not thinking anymore about which combo you have to do, go to S/D, you can still dive into the action but if it is necessary you can keep your distance also.

Off course what I say here is for s/tPVP, D/D is a king in PVE and WvWvW….

Winds.3087:

LordByron.8369:

well better than being useless against anything stationary….

I mean i couldn t even kill the switch at end of cof1 <.< or an Arrow cart etc.

Why not use staff on such targets?

because you cannot change weapon in combat or traits on the fly……

LordByron.8369:

because you cannot change weapon in combat or traits on the fly……

What prohibits you from getting out of combat and then change?

Winds.3087:

LordByron.8369:

because you cannot change weapon in combat or traits on the fly……

What prohibits you from getting out of combat and then change?

the other weaponset maybe?

try jumping out of battle with your staff when opponnent reinforces arrives.

Not to mention in PvE where you have to almost change map to get ooc……

And battles are not so slow if you disengage to change weapon even with dagger you are just half efficient of some other class being able to weapon swap.

Considering recent nerfs and the overall stat of ele, having weaponswap could already be fair……

LordByron.8369:

Winds.3087:

LordByron.8369:

because you cannot change weapon in combat or traits on the fly……

What prohibits you from getting out of combat and then change?

the other weaponset maybe?

try jumping out of battle with your staff when opponnent reinforces arrives.

Not to mention in PvE where you have to almost change map to get ooc……

And battles are not so slow if you disengage to change weapon even with dagger you are just half efficient of some other class being able to weapon swap.

Considering recent nerfs and the overall stat of ele, having weaponswap could already be fair……

There’s reason why you can’t swap them in combat: another 4 bars full of skills for elementalist would be just plain wrong, so before you enter combat, think ahead and use whatever weaponset fits. I’m ok with idea of better ooc swap though.