Guild Wars 2

The new specialization system looks like it will make the leveling process a lot more rewarding since you’re constantly gaining traits and abilities from one level to the next. It also means that your choices feel more permanent & weighty, particularly the selection of your specializations.

You unlock your specializations at certain level breaks:

• First specialization at level 21
• Second specialization at level 45
• Third specialization at level 71

An Elementalist’s playstyle is determined largely by the weapon that they choose, so the best specializations to use while leveling will probably depend on the weapons you choose to use. Each specialization takes 60 Hero Points to fully max out (assuming you want the 2nd and 3rd grandmaster traits and aren’t okay settling on the first).

For Staff, these are my first instincts:

• Start with Fire to boost your damage. Fire attunement with a Staff is very high damage, especially with the Fire specialization’s boosts.
• Next, add Water. This will improve your survivability as well as increase your damage while at high health (which is most of the time while leveling).
• Finally, add either Air or Arcane for increased damage in the grandmaster traits and some extra survivability or utility in the other slots.

What about Dagger/X or Scepter/X? I’d imagine you’d naturally camp Air more than Fire (not just for damage, but also for mobility), but with the buffs to burning, that may no longer be the case. Would you opt to start with Air as your first specialization or Fire? What about Arcane?

All the primary weapons feel chunkier. Dagger, staff, and scepter have their uses but I still think that Dagger will remain a primary choice for me, liberally sprinkled with conjures.

As for what line I would level on? I think that portion of the game is quite possibly the smallest part of the elementalist experience, but I do believe its the first impressions we cut our teeth on. I’ve leveled fire staff, air dagger, and earth scepter. As for my latest ele levelling experience (ive made a fourth one now) the jury is still out. I cannot untrain my need to stick to a single element as I go on. There’s too much benefit to swapping attunement.

I’d imagine fire would be the best starter one. Weapon is up to you, but once you get a 33% reduction to fire abilities, you can go to town. Air is not bad, but you can replace air with signet of air for movement speed, and arcane is not bad once you get elemental attunement. If you can’t stay alive, go water.

You’ll be switching attunes often regardless, but on my d/d, I can slaughter npcs by just camping fire, and switching to something else to stack might or move with rtl in air. Just be sure to slot either glyph of storms or frostbow for leveling, group up the npcs, and smash them to bits. I use both for pve. (usually air storm along with 4 in frostbow in water due to the 20% damage increase from the water line, but that is not relevant to leveling so nevermind.)

Loboling.5293:

Air is not bad, but you can replace air with signet of air for movement speed

Actually, since your traits and skills are both on the same budget now, unless you plan on using the other signets (not counting Signet of Restoration, which is free), then choosing Air might be more efficient overall if you are willing to spend most of your traveling time in Air attunement. Air signet is two levels deep (5 hero points total) and by level 21, you have 32 points from leveling and whatever other points you gained from hero challenges.

However, if you don’t really want what Air has to offer, then 5 points for the signet will just be a drop in the bucket a few more levels down the road.

Loboling.5293:

You’ll be switching attunes often regardless, but on my d/d, I can slaughter npcs by just camping fire, and switching to something else to stack might or move with rtl in air.

Personally, I can’t spend much time in a single attunement or I feel like I’m wasting cooldowns, so I’m with you there. This is why I’m not sure what specialization would be best. Attunement dancing would imply that Arcane is the best, but the majority of the high damage traits are outside of Arcane.

Loboling.5293:

Just be sure to slot either glyph of storms or frostbow for leveling, group up the npcs, and smash them to bits. I use both for pve. (usually air storm along with 4 in frostbow in water due to the 20% damage increase from the water line, but that is not relevant to leveling so nevermind.)

Glyph of Storms is two levels deep (4 hero points total) into Glyphs and Frostbow is four levels deep in Conjuring (13 hero points total). With them on the same budget as traits, I feel like it’d be better to go deeper into traits (a minimum of 44 hero points per specialization to get the first grandmaster trait) before going deep into Conjuring. I can’t say for certain, though.

The best way to level used to be grabbing a lightning hammer and rocking the auto attack.
I don’t see where this has changed. Go fire, pick conjurer, grab a hammer and go nuts.

When I first started my Elementalist, I remember being told that Lightning Hammer was the way to go. I always found it awkward trying to stay nearby my other hammer while fighting so I got the full cooldown’s duration of hammers and eventually abandoned the idea completely when I started fighting Dredge.

Pick anything and go nuts…PVE is such a joke, esp while leveling that it doesn’t really matter…fastest is obv fire

For staff I’d go fire because you’ll spend most of your DPS time in fire. Dagger on the other hand I’d go arcane first because with daggers you’ll need to attune-dance a lot so you’ll get a lot of fury and later elemental attunement for swiftness. And like others said, lightning hammer should probably be one of your first utilities.

And I’m still of the opinion that getting around faster is the best boost to leveling speed.

And I’m still of the opinion that getting around faster is the best boost to leveling speed.

Thats why the first thing i took was sigil of air not even knowing GW2 well after the first days.
Take staff, use fire (+10% damage -33% cooldown trait!) run fast and burn all down. Ad arcane for more damage and its fine.

Koviko.3248:

When I first started my Elementalist, I remember being told that Lightning Hammer was the way to go. I always found it awkward trying to stay nearby my other hammer while fighting so I got the full cooldown’s duration of hammers and eventually abandoned the idea completely when I started fighting Dredge.

Try the earth shield instead. Lots of damage once you factor in the bleeds and good AoE potential on the auto-attacks.