Guild Wars 2

I use my Staff Ele exclusively in WvW. The idea behind my build is to provide some good support for the group while still maintaining some decent DPS. Still fairly new to Ele so I’m asking for some input from you more experienced folks.

Hear is the build

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQFAWhImibwR5QlDAkHvcCLBFEwQRxM7A-j0yAYLA6DQyTZNNKIW7Cb1NIl3optx0uRW9mUVMgQAiWAA-w

I actually like it. It has the defensive water/arcane core with some nice twist in the fire traits specially for the staff. 2 comments

• I prefer Fiery Greatsword as elite, which is a nice damage boost. You can use 3 and 4 against gates (4 without a target) to deal many damage ticks to them. The whirl (#3) counts also as a long evade. Whirl through an enemy zerg, if you dare :P

• Coordinated zergs will stop to stack might before attacking. With 30 points in Fire (and trait XI: Persisting Flames) your fire fields (lava font) will last longer and you also grant fury in addition to might with a blast finisher in a fire field. If you can afford to lose a cantrip, use Arcane Wave as an additional blast finisher (the other blast finisher is staff-earth-2, eruption). It’s your decision if you want to trade survivability for offensive support.

Thanks, gives me something to think about and experiment with. I was thinking of trading in a cantrip for something esle since I rarely need all the condition removal. Not sure about going 30 in Fire since ,like every staff ele in WvW, our zergs needs our heals and protection when busting down gates and long SM fights. I’ll try the GS for sure, it will probably give me more mobility which I seem to be lacking.

I ran this identical trait setup for a very, very long time in full Berserker gear relying on the heavy survivability from Water. In any kind of siege scenario (attacking or defending) it’s pretty amazing. As necros are very common these days, along with their huge Marks, the condition removal does not end up going to waste and you end up having a lot of damage you can dish outwards while having great recovering power.

In my build I replaced Armor of Earth eventually for Arcane Wave. Arcane Wave was pretty fantastic since you can use it to blow a water field for AOE Heal, a static field for AOE Swiftness, or Fire field for AOE Might. However also over time I ended up replacing Mist Form with Armor of Earth because that source of stability is crucial when running in a Zerg. This is because right before you engage if you run through the enemy you will be running into fear walls, chill fields, static fields, guardian fields etc and Stability will let you pass through them all.

Another critique I’d make is forgoing the “Magi” gear and instead going with Knight gear. Healing Power tends to be an “All or Nothing” proposition where you’re either going to focus on it very heavily (such as with Cleric’s gear) or you don’t worry about it at all. This will also bring your Toughness up towards a more manageable 1456 or so while still having over 15000 HP.

Sigil of Energy is largely a waste as well if you aren’t going Evasive Arcana. I’d consider something like Sigil of Fire or Sigil of Battle instead.

Finally, the Boon Duration from Runes is kinda wasted because you aren’t going to be really putting out that many boons all around. You will have a few sources of Regen and Swiftness but on the whole other than Elemental Attunement you really aren’t sharing Boons like you would on a D/D Aura Share build so the Boon duration is kinda a waste. You’re likely better off going Ruby Orbs for more damage or Scholar Runes if you can afford 6 of them.

This will end you up something along these lines:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQFAWhImKbxR4QlDAkHvcCLBFEwQRxM7A-jUyAYLAyCQyTZNBKI2GKiGr2GT7GZ1bSVxACBIaBA-w

pmnt.4067:

• Coordinated zergs will stop to stack might before attacking. With 30 points in Fire (and trait XI: Persisting Flames) your fire fields (lava font) will last longer and you also grant fury in addition to might with a blast finisher in a fire field. If you can afford to lose a cantrip, use Arcane Wave as an additional blast finisher (the other blast finisher is staff-earth-2, eruption). It’s your decision if you want to trade survivability for offensive support.

The problem is the Fury only works if you actually erupt the field I believe. So at most you’re going to provide Fury from 2 sources (Eruption → Lava Font → Arcane Wave) to 5 people in your massive Zerg. This is compared to a near infinite amount of condition removal and extra hit points, it’s a pretty hard sell.

Puissance could be another matter but the main issue with the Fire Line is since it really only buffs itself outside of Condition play. This is why I eventually abandoned the 30/0/0/30/10 or 20/0/0/30/20 play styles in favor of putting those points from Fire into Air which not only boosted my Crit rating and Crit Damage but also gave me more universal traits (IE: Traits that help all lines) to work with.

Thanks again for the great intput. The idea of the boon duration was more for myself than sharing with others. With it I can get perma swiftness while around the map, I cycle attunements a lot in battle and keeping my regen/protection up longer helps me stay alive and whatever I manage to give to others is a bonus. Now that I know how to use arcane wave maybe I can use it to supply some extra might as well. Maybe once I get more experience and playing Ele becomes more of a reflex I might think of trading them in for something a little more offensive.

Perma Swiftness can be maintained by rotating:

Glyph of Elemental Harmony
Windborne Speed
Static Field + Arcane Wave

Sometimes these can be dangerous to use if you’re near or at an enemy but when you’re just trucking around part of the Zerg they can be used with relative ease.

I prefer just using Glyph and windborne and not risk having my good skills on CD during a surprise attack.