Guild Wars 2

Hello,

I am interested in WvW roaming with Ele. I have an 80 Ele and some experience, though my main is another profession. I have messed around with several builds of my own devising (of course, inspired by builds of more experienced Eles), but haven’t been too successful yet.

Does anyone had any suggestions or ideas for WvW roaming builds? Meta or unique builds are both are fine, since I’m new-ish to Ele. Getting input from people who are more familiar with all the possible trait/skills synergies would be helpful. Simple or complex builds are fine, I am not averse to high apm or tactical play.

I see that D/D celestial is good right now, though unfortunately I don’t have celestial armor for my Ele right now, and it takes too long to get. I like D/F – is this useful for roaming? Overall, I am simply interested in coming up with a list of builds, synergies, or ideas that others with more Ele experience have found useful, so that I can adapt them to my own playstyle.

Thanks

When i come across a lot of outnumbered fights

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Serane-D-D-Ele-WvW-GvG-Dueling-Build

My favorite and typical build i run with for roaming, 1v1s/duels. Significantly harder to play than the typical d/d ele tho. A lot more fun and satisfying imo. The amount of players i have oneshot with a good Phoenix+lightning flash while simultaneously at tuning to air and using lightning strike is too kitten high. Also, i forgot to put the sigils in the link, but i use air/battle. Air/energy or battle/energy would also be good

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFEQJArdhcMqb25wyBf0AOAGxgQMQcEIA0BLeFWCA-TBBXwAHV/Bw+jyvQ6BeoEkQAmnAA-e

Heh. Carpboy beat me to it. I was going to say a glassy S/F Fresh Air Ele, it IS hilarious, but you have almost no way to disengage from a fight except to use FGS.

Hamster is right… is good if you hit first and bad otherwyse.

other options:
My fave build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFEQJAoYlMMonhVOwzBEsNQDgQc4MhFCUObzpA-TFCFABls/gSKjoU9HAeAAXpE0hTAgVKdSTPQAgDghLcA88zP/8zP3wDP8wDPcpAGVYE-

A build that is good to deal with thieves and mesmers
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFEQJAoYlMMonhVOwzBEsRABgRsKUECHAKABRRXgSrBA-TFCBABapMgU1fOTJIO7PAwDAwjTAgZK9yTPQAgDghLcA88zP/8zP3wDP8wDPcpAGVYE-w

Thanks for the responses everyone. I can see the nice synergy with Cleansing Water, Soothing Disruption, and cantrips (and Elemental Attunement helps too).

As I mentioned, I really like the focus, but I don’t like the scepter, so D/F seems like it would be useful for me. But is it viable? Does D/F lack damage vs. D/D? If so, can I use the focus skills (e.g earth #4, #5, air #4) to make up the defense provided by cantrips, and then take more offense-based traits/utilities? I’ve tried D/F with signets or conjures but haven’t come up with anything reasonable. That said, I am not opposed to D/D +cantrips either. Is D/D signets viable? Or too fragile/slow for roaming?

I also like staff, but I need to be able to roam. Is this impossible for staff? (e.g. if I can’t deal with a thief, then I can’t roam with staff).

I prefer D/D for mobility. I found that D/F was better in some circumstances, but when roaming solo the movement and firepower that D/D brings makes a difference. I"m not running an optimized meta build by any means, but my D/D does decently. Especially if you go for the squishier builds make sure to take escape skills and the Arcane Abatement trait. Being able to mist form over the edge of a cliff and air#4 to get away has been useful more than once. YMMV, as always.

LordByron.8369:

Hamster is right… is good if you hit first and bad otherwyse.

other options:
My fave build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFEQJAoYlMMonhVOwzBEsNQDgQc4MhFCUObzpA-TFCFABls/gSKjoU9HAeAAXpE0hTAgVKdSTPQAgDghLcA88zP/8zP3wDP8wDPcpAGVYE-

A build that is good to deal with thieves and mesmers
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFEQJAoYlMMonhVOwzBEsRABgRsKUECHAKABRRXgSrBA-TFCBABapMgU1fOTJIO7PAwDAwjTAgZK9yTPQAgDghLcA88zP/8zP3wDP8wDPcpAGVYE-w

Um, I hate that build of yours. I don’t think the traits are right and the combination of gears isn’t optimal. What are you trying to achieve with this build? It’s spread too thin across the board in terms of stats. Just curious to what your thought process is with this build, thanks.

fluidmonolith.3584:

Thanks for the responses everyone. I can see the nice synergy with Cleansing Water, Soothing Disruption, and cantrips (and Elemental Attunement helps too).

As I mentioned, I really like the focus, but I don’t like the scepter, so D/F seems like it would be useful for me. But is it viable? Does D/F lack damage vs. D/D? If so, can I use the focus skills (e.g earth #4, #5, air #4) to make up the defense provided by cantrips, and then take more offense-based traits/utilities? I’ve tried D/F with signets or conjures but haven’t come up with anything reasonable. That said, I am not opposed to D/D +cantrips either. Is D/D signets viable? Or too fragile/slow for roaming?

I also like staff, but I need to be able to roam. Is this impossible for staff? (e.g. if I can’t deal with a thief, then I can’t roam with staff).

You can use any utilities you want and be “viable”, but theres a reason every single ele build uses triple cantrips or 2 cantrips and arcane bubble. Eles are so squishy you need the defense from cantrips. Even with focus. Same thing with traits. You can trait however you want and be “viable” but any decent ele build is going to have at least 4 in both arcane and water.

As for d/d vs d/f, i would say d/f can definitely be better than d/d, and downright OP in some 1v1s. I would personally build a little glassier with d/f, so you still get the dmg but you still get defense from cantrips and focus. But the only way to know for sure is for you to try it for yourself. Unfortunately staff is useless for roaming. But it can be ok for small groups (d/d aurashare is better) and its really good for zerging. In general just keep one in our inventory as you never know when you’ll come across a keep or tower to defend

The current meta for DnD has not changed. But due to buffs in Signet of earth, its good to have Armour of Earth + SoE + LF

Now not having access to celestial is not as bad as one makes it seem

Infact the best eles out there only run half of their builds on celestial.

Why? Because the other half pushes you to which ever role u want to be more of – DPS or Tanky.

Yes celestial can assist to make it easy to min max stats. But when you are pro, you want to customise.

DnF vs DnD. If both had same skills and both wore almost the same gear but with different traits that benefit their specs, the DnD would wipe the DnF clean from the floor.

I suggest you try DnF first. You will have more fun. DnD when you are going pro.

Lettuce.2945:

LordByron.8369:

Hamster is right… is good if you hit first and bad otherwyse.

other options:
My fave build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFEQJAoYlMMonhVOwzBEsNQDgQc4MhFCUObzpA-TFCFABls/gSKjoU9HAeAAXpE0hTAgVKdSTPQAgDghLcA88zP/8zP3wDP8wDPcpAGVYE-

A build that is good to deal with thieves and mesmers
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFEQJAoYlMMonhVOwzBEsRABgRsKUECHAKABRRXgSrBA-TFCBABapMgU1fOTJIO7PAwDAwjTAgZK9yTPQAgDghLcA88zP/8zP3wDP8wDPcpAGVYE-w

Um, I hate that build of yours. I don’t think the traits are right and the combination of gears isn’t optimal. What are you trying to achieve with this build? It’s spread too thin across the board in terms of stats. Just curious to what your thought process is with this build, thanks.

Took me almost a year of tests before getting to the first build
I also used also 02066 02246 00266 03236 and so on.
I have 3 daggers and 5 armorsets and as many trinkets as i want: i tried really lot of combination

Now how did i get to that build:
1) Its not PvP and the PvP build justs lacks damage and achieve nothing against any decent opponent. (also healing is not as effective given the >30% stats difference from pvp).
2) you have problems infact Killing thieves warriors and mesmers with PvP build (they can flee at will and still be able to have solid chances of Killing you).
3) you have problems at XvsX (example 2vs2 or 3VS3) if focused.
4) you have a favourable matchup against necros.

For point 1 just increasing power/precision/crit damage ratio was mandatory, full celestial lacks power, since the ferocity patch it became a tanky setup.

For point 2 you need Burst.
Using LF, air sigil, air 3 trait and arcane shield (+ the weapon skills) you will really do lot of damage in few seconds preventing opponents to counter burst you.
Just try a air3, LF+updraft, fire 3-2…. arcane shield etc
If that is not sinergy…

For point 3 you really needed something more reliable than a 40 second RTL, having also the aura and updraft traited helps a lot… don t forget that LF+updraft are both traited.
You can disengage in a XvsX fight at least once..if focused wasting some dps of opponent party.
Point 4 dictated what to sacrifice…..since water 5 is awful and water 6 is too much at this point.

Plus: healing, condition and thoughness were balanced swapping gear until they was enough for me.

So giving up one more cond cleanse in Exchange of a strong burst doen t mean lacking sinergy, its simply changing them focusing on burst other than condition cleanse that is already enough.

The second is simply a condition+power build..if you look at the most effective roaming builds in WWW they all have an high dps output.
Not as optimal but still viable…and extremely good aginst mesmers and thieves (but has some issues in XvsX and other matchups).

p.S. to roam you need mobility…focus lacks it that is enough of a reason to avoid focus, also lowers you damage a lot without offering anything but a good defence on a long cooldown.
ex:
Water 4 is good, water 5 is meh
Air 4 is situational (better just close the distance and fight), air 5 is a really good cc (but so is dagger5).
Earth 4 is really strong and 5 is also but they have long CDS and do no damage.
Fire 4 and 5 are really weak.

is staff jihad viable while roaming?

LordByron.8369:

Lettuce.2945:

LordByron.8369:

Hamster is right… is good if you hit first and bad otherwyse.

other options:
My fave build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFEQJAoYlMMonhVOwzBEsNQDgQc4MhFCUObzpA-TFCFABls/gSKjoU9HAeAAXpE0hTAgVKdSTPQAgDghLcA88zP/8zP3wDP8wDPcpAGVYE-

A build that is good to deal with thieves and mesmers
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFEQJAoYlMMonhVOwzBEsRABgRsKUECHAKABRRXgSrBA-TFCBABapMgU1fOTJIO7PAwDAwjTAgZK9yTPQAgDghLcA88zP/8zP3wDP8wDPcpAGVYE-w

Um, I hate that build of yours. I don’t think the traits are right and the combination of gears isn’t optimal. What are you trying to achieve with this build? It’s spread too thin across the board in terms of stats. Just curious to what your thought process is with this build, thanks.

Took me almost a year of tests before getting to the first build
I also used also 02066 02246 00266 03236 and so on.
I have 3 daggers and 5 armorsets and as many trinkets as i want: i tried really lot of combination

Now how did i get to that build:
1) Its not PvP and the PvP build justs lacks damage and achieve nothing against any decent opponent. (also healing is not as effective given the >30% stats difference from pvp).
2) you have problems infact Killing thieves warriors and mesmers with PvP build (they can flee at will and still be able to have solid chances of Killing you).
3) you have problems at XvsX (example 2vs2 or 3VS3) if focused.
4) you have a favourable matchup against necros.

For point 1 just increasing power/precision/crit damage ratio was mandatory, full celestial lacks power, since the ferocity patch it became a tanky setup.

For point 2 you need Burst.
Using LF, air sigil, air 3 trait and arcane shield (+ the weapon skills) you will really do lot of damage in few seconds preventing opponents to counter burst you.
Just try a air3, LF+updraft, fire 3-2…. arcane shield etc
If that is not sinergy…

For point 3 you really needed something more reliable than a 40 second RTL, having also the aura and updraft traited helps a lot… don t forget that LF+updraft are both traited.
You can disengage in a XvsX fight at least once..if focused wasting some dps of opponent party.
Point 4 dictated what to sacrifice…..since water 5 is awful and water 6 is too much at this point.

Plus: healing, condition and thoughness were balanced swapping gear until they was enough for me.

So giving up one more cond cleanse in Exchange of a strong burst doen t mean lacking sinergy, its simply changing them focusing on burst other than condition cleanse that is already enough.

The second is simply a condition+power build..if you look at the most effective roaming builds in WWW they all have an high dps output.
Not as optimal but still viable…and extremely good aginst mesmers and thieves (but has some issues in XvsX and other matchups).

p.S. to roam you need mobility…focus lacks it that is enough of a reason to avoid focus, also lowers you damage a lot without offering anything but a good defence on a long cooldown.
ex:
Water 4 is good, water 5 is meh
Air 4 is situational (better just close the distance and fight), air 5 is a really good cc (but so is dagger5).
Earth 4 is really strong and 5 is also but they have long CDS and do no damage.
Fire 4 and 5 are really weak.

I would take another hard look at your build and re think the gears. You can push all the stats up even more than what you have now. Try aiming for 2.2k minimum power, 500+ condi dmg, 700+ healing, 2.6k armor, 20k+ hp. Hopefully that gives you a benchmark to aim for.

Yes i can.
Removing ferocity and precision.
At that point the build won t work anymore…. and you should ve noticed it needs precision to work.

Why should I?
might+guard+ruins bonus push my power high enough

As i said i have lot of equip available for tests, and i already fine tuned it for WWW.

Instead of theorycrafting why don t you simply try to put an air sigil air trait 3 and similar stats?

Soldier builds lacks damage burst(that can be obtained through many fast Attacks).

LordByron.8369:

Yes i can.
Removing ferocity and precision.
At that point the build won t work anymore…. and you should ve noticed it needs precision to work.

Why should I?
might+guard+ruins bonus push my power high enough

As i said i have lot of equip available for tests, and i already fine tuned it for WWW.

Instead of theorycrafting why don t you simply try to put an air sigil air trait 3 and similar stats?

Soldier builds lacks damage burst(that can be obtained through many fast Attacks).

Don’t call it theory crafting since I actually run that set up :P. 38% crit chance isn’t bad especially with the 20% crit chance you get from fury. And 188 crit damage. Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m solid in that. Again, take another shot at your build. It needs a lot more fine tuning. I’m solid with my 1 v X. Good luck to you though.

LordByron.8369:

Yes i can.
Removing ferocity and precision.
At that point the build won t work anymore…. and you should ve noticed it needs precision to work.

Why should I?
might+guard+ruins bonus push my power high enough

As i said i have lot of equip available for tests, and i already fine tuned it for WWW.

Instead of theorycrafting why don t you simply try to put an air sigil air trait 3 and similar stats?

Soldier builds lacks damage burst(that can be obtained through many fast Attacks).

I wouldn’t call it fine tuned. You’re full celestial with a little zerk added in. I have this set. I have a lot of other sets as well, though.

I have them in full ascended and I can say the full celestial set will be more effective for the lesser skilled people. But it’s fun for when you are 1vXing.

It’s a dumb set to duel with.

I put one more celestial trinket for mistake (i use only armor, 1 ring and 1 earring, the other celestial is berserker) i have many trinkets i put one more cele instead of zerker in the build for mistake.

For anything else i just readed 1 reason why the build would be wrong, and was clearly wrong not factoring the relation between sigils, traits and stats.

The part about celestial is another void l2p that just suggest (i may be wrong) the usual wrong idea that WWW roaming and PvP have anything in common..

@mbelch Watched your video…
I don t want to offend you.
You say my build is for beginners….and “dumb”

You post a video with a build that deals less than half the dps, against players in zerg builds uncapable of using CCs…..

I stopped to use your builds more than 1 year ago and i explained why (try to 1vs1 a DECENT thief doing that pitiful damage….).

But after 2 years i should ve learned how the forums works.

P.S. oh i saw your post about celestial…now i can be 100% sure you never tried them in WWW and on t ave an idea of the stats difference between pvp and WWW.
30-40% FYI that is why you can t get the DPS problem.

LordByron.8369:

I put one more celestial trinket for mistake (i use only armor, 1 ring and 1 earring, the other celestial is berserker) i have many trinkets i put one more cele instead of zerker in the build for mistake.

For anything else i just readed 1 reason why the build would be wrong, and was clearly wrong not factoring the relation between sigils, traits and stats.

The part about celestial is another void l2p that just suggest (i may be wrong) the usual wrong idea that WWW roaming and PvP have anything in common..

@mbelch Watched your video…
I don t want to offend you.
You say my build is for beginners….and “dumb”

You post a video with a build that deals less than half the dps, against players in zerg builds uncapable of using CCs…..

I stopped to use your builds more than 1 year ago and i explained why (try to 1vs1 a DECENT thief doing that pitiful damage….).

But after 2 years i should ve learned how the forums works.

P.S. oh i saw your post about celestial…now i can be 100% sure you never tried them in WWW and on t ave an idea of the stats difference between pvp and WWW.
30-40% FYI that is why you can t get the DPS problem.

Again, we are talking about the optimal build. My numbers that I roll with absolutely blows yours out of the water. I’m rolling with 2371 power unbuffed (without might stacks but with applied strength + sharpening stone), 2618 armor, 588 condi damage (which goes up as might stacks up), 655 healing power, 38% crit rate, 188% crit damage, 23-24k hp with applied fortitude. That’s why I’m advising you to take another look and rethink the gears. As I’ve told others, I refuse to share my build since I worked hard to figure out this set up and how to round it out evenly while keeping the numbers high across the board. Why should I reward people who don’t want to think for themselves? So I’m trying to help you by giving you a number to aim for.

LordByron.8369:

I put one more celestial trinket for mistake (i use only armor, 1 ring and 1 earring, the other celestial is berserker) i have many trinkets i put one more cele instead of zerker in the build for mistake.

For anything else i just readed 1 reason why the build would be wrong, and was clearly wrong not factoring the relation between sigils, traits and stats.

The part about celestial is another void l2p that just suggest (i may be wrong) the usual wrong idea that WWW roaming and PvP have anything in common..

@mbelch Watched your video…
I don t want to offend you.
You say my build is for beginners….and “dumb”

You post a video with a build that deals less than half the dps, against players in zerg builds uncapable of using CCs…..

I stopped to use your builds more than 1 year ago and i explained why (try to 1vs1 a DECENT thief doing that pitiful damage….).

But after 2 years i should ve learned how the forums works.

P.S. oh i saw your post about celestial…now i can be 100% sure you never tried them in WWW and on t ave an idea of the stats difference between pvp and WWW.
30-40% FYI that is why you can t get the DPS problem.

Don’t have to worry about offending me! I have zero respect for what you say after two years of reading the nonsense you post. No offense of course.

The build I use doesn’t have half the DPS. You’re saying my 5k fire grabs are 10k fire grabs in your build? I can guarantee you’re not doing that on anybody but noobs. And I can hit the same on noobs.

I have used celestial. I have used full zerk. In WvW and PvP. I think celestial can be superior for 1VX. But you can’t act like you did some huge amount of work and calculation for your generic celestial build that just goes 20 into air. Every build has been done before, so no build is “special” any longer. Especially since Serane gave away a build which I feel is top tier and secret among the smaller elementalist talking circle.

Best of luck.

LordByron.8369:

Hamster is right… is good if you hit first and bad otherwyse.

other options:
My fave build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFEQJAoYlMMonhVOwzBEsNQDgQc4MhFCUObzpA-TFCFABls/gSKjoU9HAeAAXpE0hTAgVKdSTPQAgDghLcA88zP/8zP3wDP8wDPcpAGVYE-

A build that is good to deal with thieves and mesmers
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFEQJAoYlMMonhVOwzBEsRABgRsKUECHAKABRRXgSrBA-TFCBABapMgU1fOTJIO7PAwDAwjTAgZK9yTPQAgDghLcA88zP/8zP3wDP8wDPcpAGVYE-w

A like this quite a bit! I ran 04046 for a looong time myself, and aeromancers alacrity is truly a magnificent trait.

I’m a 100% certain though that you’d be better off swapping maintenance oil for sharpening stone. Your power is way too low for that amount of crit chance and damage, even factoring in all the might you stack.

It’s really quite funny though to see someone run what i used to run almost exactly. In the end though, i swapped to 02066 because it allowed me to run signet. Took me a long time, but once you learn to truly play with signet, not having to rely on ether, you just become twice the ele. All the extra offensive stats you have over a standard D/D ele go to waste since you have to spend so much time disengaging for ether.

mmmm Popcorn.

I’d thought I would share a build too! (I don’t actually use it though, kitten celestial)
And QQ Anet y u add +10 base stats.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJAoYhMMqc25wwBf0AhAB5tGjCKHfvC-TlSSwA20C8VFBoqCISJ4ElQaVrJjSDKKTopDAw+DBAQAuZbGADdoDdoDdodzbezbO0bOAoF-w

Lotus.9746:

mmmm Popcorn.

I’d thought I would share a build too! (I don’t actually use it though, kitten celestial)
And QQ Anet y u add +10 base stats.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJAoYhMMqc25wwBf0AhAB5tGjCKHfvC-TlSSwA20C8VFBoqCISJ4ElQaVrJjSDKKTopDAw+DBAQAuZbGADdoDdoDdodzbezbO0bOAoF-w

I used this build almost exactly for a long time. Quite a good setup.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fJAQRAne8XnMdQlH25BmCCnIGoKoQeABgybYGSfCddKA-TZBBwAVOIAAeCA9PBAgLDsc/BA

I use this personally, or sometimes i just go 0/2/0/6/6

fluidmonolith.3584:

Thanks for the responses everyone. I can see the nice synergy with Cleansing Water, Soothing Disruption, and cantrips (and Elemental Attunement helps too).

As I mentioned, I really like the focus, but I don’t like the scepter, so D/F seems like it would be useful for me. But is it viable? Does D/F lack damage vs. D/D? If so, can I use the focus skills (e.g earth #4, #5, air #4) to make up the defense provided by cantrips, and then take more offense-based traits/utilities? I’ve tried D/F with signets or conjures but haven’t come up with anything reasonable. That said, I am not opposed to D/D +cantrips either. Is D/D signets viable? Or too fragile/slow for roaming?

I also like staff, but I need to be able to roam. Is this impossible for staff? (e.g. if I can’t deal with a thief, then I can’t roam with staff).

I have a build I’ve been fine tuning for over a year now that is D/F and it works extremely well in SPvP as well as straight up WvW roaming. Would you like me to pm you it? It’s not even close to meta, but I believe it’s easily as competent.