Guild Wars 2

Hi, I just got my elementalist to 80 and I’m not using the optimal gear for a condition elementalist so I was wondering if any experienced users here can comment on whether I am in a bad position. I only stay in fire attunement and I use a dagger + warhorn / focus.

Armor: Carrion with Balthazar runes
Weapon: Carrion (not sure what runes to use)

Trinkets: All Celestial except backpiece
Traits: Fire / Earth / Tempest

Reasons:
1) I can obtain carrion from WvW merchants
2) I had the trinkets before I quit several years ago with the agony infusions so I’m not looking forward to gearing up all over again.
3) Earth because I wanted the trait that gives me 40% protection for 3 seconds when under an aura. Seems nice when I can have auras from Overload + skill no. 4 of focus + Feel the burn + traits.

So I know vipers are the best gear for a condi elementalist but will I be lagging behind by a lot ? I love doing dungeons and fractals but have yet to try a raid. I am not a hardcore / min-maxer but will probably only do raids when I have the proper viper setup so I don’t slow down the team.

Here’s a quick link to my skills + trait http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vFAQBdSfJ0fJ23AY2AwhJWEAsgAQB4B42ajt52hgwOoIA

Please criticize kindly

Why only in fire? Otherwise you can always try out a build in PvP although it isn’t exactly the same, it’ll help get a feeling if the build is okay or not. I don’t know much about condi ele, but it seems like it may not work if you just stay in fire all the time with the current meta since you wont have access to other condis as much. I’m interested in learning to play a condi ele as well, hope you get a more helpful response than this lol

You can always try testing yourself on the golems in the raiding area of Lions Arch. I think raid-viable dps is still around the 25k mark. You should also consider swapping Earth for Arcane and bringing Arcane Power as that’s a significant damage increase for you and your party over Earth. What you have already will be fine in dungeons and low-tier fractals though.

The build you have will most likely suffice for dungeons and low~mid level fractals. However, to be quite honest, there will most likely be a fairly large dmg gap between your build and a proper meta viper build. Condi ele, like most condi classes/specs, are really more hybrid builds than true condi builds- in other words, while condi dmg will be the major source of dps, the physical power dmg will also play a relatively important role in determining your total outgoing dps. You get no precision from carrion gear, so your crit rate will be very low. Furthermore, by using balthazar runes instead of berserker runes, you automatically lose out on +5% condi and power dmg. IMO you are better off not taking signet of earth, as condi tempest is a strictly burn-only build. Use glyph of elemental power instead as it is one of the bread and butter utility skills of condi tempests. Also, while the earth treeline may give you a bit more survivability, it really doesn’t contribute much in terms of boosting your dps. If you’re looking for better dmg, then go with arcane, as the arcane precision trait allows you to inflict burns on crits, which will work very well with the burning precision trait in the fire tree which also lets you inflict burns on crits. With carrion gear, your crit will be so low that you will not be able to get much mileage out of these traits. If you want to do a bit of min maxing and end up taking arcane instead of earth, then definitely go with elemental surge trait and take arcane power instead of feel the burn. Taking flaming greatsword instead of rebound is another option you can consider if you want to boost your damage even more. Flaming greatsword #2 and 5 are pretty good burn based skills. Lastly, you should be using smoldering and bursting sigils on your weapons. You might also want to consider using rare veggie pizzas and toxic focusing crystals to add an additional 30% condi duration and 170 condi dmg (but they are expensive!).

Daedraz.1650:

The build you have will most likely suffice for dungeons and low~mid level fractals. However, to be quite honest, there will most likely be a fairly large dmg gap between your build and a proper meta viper build. Condi ele, like most condi classes/specs, are really more hybrid builds than true condi builds- in other words, while condi dmg will be the major source of dps, the physical power dmg will also play a relatively important role in determining your total outgoing dps. You get no precision from carrion gear, so your crit rate will be very low. Furthermore, by using balthazar runes instead of berserker runes, you automatically lose out on +5% condi and power dmg. IMO you are better off not taking signet of earth, as condi tempest is a strictly burn-only build. Use glyph of elemental power instead as it is one of the bread and butter utility skills of condi tempests. Also, while the earth treeline may give you a bit more survivability, it really doesn’t contribute much in terms of boosting your dps. If you’re looking for better dmg, then go with arcane, as the arcane precision trait allows you to inflict burns on crits, which will work very well with the burning precision trait in the fire tree which also lets you inflict burns on crits. With carrion gear, your crit will be so low that you will not be able to get much mileage out of these traits. If you want to do a bit of min maxing and end up taking arcane instead of earth, then definitely go with elemental surge trait and take arcane power instead of feel the burn. Taking flaming greatsword instead of rebound is another option you can consider if you want to boost your damage even more. Flaming greatsword #2 and 5 are pretty good burn based skills. Lastly, you should be using smoldering and bursting sigils on your weapons. You might also want to consider using rare veggie pizzas and toxic focusing crystals to add an additional 30% condi duration and 170 condi dmg (but they are expensive!).

im curious what is the interaction of glyph of power? i used to also like it for that burning proct, but i noticed it has an unknown ICD per enemy? i cant remember is it one burn stack or 3 per proct?

currently im using flame axe(2 burning aoes and flame aura with leap finisher(i think the leap burns)), signet of fire, and glyph of storms.

im also using s/w. rotation is basically fire 4, 5, 2, 3, 1, flame axe, fire OL, (still with axe), 4, 5, 2, 3, drop, 2, and 1 until i can restart rotation. I tend to use signet and glyph of storms during the lul, waiting for CD’s. i was getting around 15k burning. im also in terrrrible gear. just carrions and clerics. BUT lets not talk about stats, just curios mostly about glyph of power. you seem non toxic and knowledgable

tl:dr is glyph of power that potent? it felt underwhelming when i used to use it, felt like it rarely every proct’d burning.

thanks

Here’s the Viper build for comparison:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vFAQJBLhFyxgaGW0AzGwHxiAg52ant12iNZT8TGEAKAHAA-Txh0wAQV+F4BAA4EAATPQs9HMrEEo6PkCYRlVA-e

@Roman God of War, It really is just simple math. You take the cooldowns of both skills and find a shared point down the line. In the case of Glyph of Storms and Glyph of Elemental Power, for example, that point would be at 5 mins, in which time you will use GoS 5 times, and GoEP 12 times.

Glyph of Elemental Power DPS: 12 (# of times you use the skill) * 5 (# of procs a single use gives) * 2,356 (damage per proc) = around 141 k total

Glyph of Storms DPS: 5 * 10 * 1,571 + (5 * 10 * 354 this is the power damage portion of GoS) = around 98 k total

Numbers are taken straight from the editor page. There are other perks to using GoEP instead of GoS such as reliability (enemies may wander away from fields), and ease of use (you basically just use GoEP off cd), but mainly it just has better DPS.

Furthermore, I’d recommend adding FGS to your rotation, as the #3 is a rather good Whirl finisher, and the #2 gives you huge burns. Would recommend placing it after the Fire OL to go OL + FGS 3 + FGS 2, and then drop the weapon.

@yannir thanks!!

I did some independent research after reading your last post and saw they changed goep from the last time I played. The ‘charges’ make it very different from what it used to be!

I was not aware fgs 2 had that much burn. I almost always carry fgs for mobile, will use it for DPS in the future. Ty for the clear explanations, much appreciated

Yannir.4132:

[..]
Furthermore, I’d recommend adding FGS to your rotation, as the #3 is a rather good Whirl finisher, and the #2 gives you huge burns. Would recommend placing it after the Fire OL to go OL + FGS 3 + FGS 2, and then drop the weapon.

I think its better to get the FGS before you start the Fire Overload, as you get the FGS buff (condi dmg) while you are overloading. Also, might throw a FGS #2 before and after the overload while you are at it.

lLobo.7960:

Yannir.4132:

[..]
Furthermore, I’d recommend adding FGS to your rotation, as the #3 is a rather good Whirl finisher, and the #2 gives you huge burns. Would recommend placing it after the Fire OL to go OL + FGS 3 + FGS 2, and then drop the weapon.

I think its better to get the FGS before you start the Fire Overload, as you get the FGS buff (condi dmg) while you are overloading. Also, might throw a FGS #2 before and after the overload while you are at it.

That’s a good point. Agreed.