Guild Wars 2

hi everyone! i feel like earth magic is not helping me alot…anyone got advice on when-and how to use it?

ceg.2587:

hi everyone! i feel like earth magic is not helping me alot…anyone got advice on when-and how to use it?

Earth has armor/crowd control.

Which weapon are you using?

Dagger main hand – (2) AoE cripple with decent damage, (3) gap closer/immobilize. I primarily switch for D/ skills against fleeing opponents.

Scepter – (1) projectile finisher (2) +250 armor buff, (3) AoE blind. I switch to it every time I need to reapply my armor buff. The blind is a nice bonus, but I rarely switch just to use it.

Dagger offhand – (4) AoE knockdown with decent AoE damage (blast finisher), (5)AoE spike damage skill with cripple and bleeding (blast finisher). I primarily switch for /D skills for blast finishers in combo fields, or to use the knockdown to set up a spike.

Staff – (1) projectile finisher (2) decent damage AoE + bleed (blast finisher), (3) projectile reflection aura, (4) cripple field, (5) AoE immobilize. I switch to earth frequently to use 2 and 3. 5 is useful for stopping runners or to help immobilize people for your burst.

Elemental Attunement (arcana V) – Switch to earth when you’re expecting to receive a damage spike to gain protection.

I mostly use it for blast finishers in combo fields and CC. If you have good condition damage it could be used for bleeds.

If I’m not mistaken I do believe he is referring to the trait line, not the weapon skills?

As it stands, any of the trait lines compared to Arcana and Water are baloney. If a signet build were more viable then the final trait Written In Stone would be… INCREDIBLE. But it isn’t, and signets have nothing on cantrips. I put 10 points into Earth to get the Armour of Earth at 50% health (or whenever it actually procs.) That extra stability and protection can be a lifesaver in PvP/WvW situations after taking too many hits and you need to make your escape. In PvE? Not really necessary.

I use 10 earth for the protection on auras (very useful having on demand aoe protection) but never felt compelled to try further :p

Earth is good if you want more armor and protection, also good if you use signets for the trait that gives you the passive effects all the time, even if you use the signet’s active skill.

Dolan.3071:

If a signet build were more viable then the final trait Written In Stone would be… INCREDIBLE. But it isn’t, and signets have nothing on cantrips.

I feel that on scepter/focus, which doesn’t need stunbreakers or condition removal as much, signet builds might be viable.

ThiBash.5634:

Dolan.3071:

If a signet build were more viable then the final trait Written In Stone would be… INCREDIBLE. But it isn’t, and signets have nothing on cantrips.

I feel that on scepter/focus, which doesn’t need stunbreakers or condition removal as much, signet builds might be viable.

I suppose I am just speaking from a D/D or staff point of view. I just find signets have too long of a CD for such a weak active and passive effect. Signet of fire needs to be turned up a notch, lower the CD so they can’t just instantly remove it, or make it pack one hell of a punch so it NEEDS to be removed.

Earth is more of a condition attunment, its really nice for S/D because you can use 4 to knock down, 3 to blind, and then charge 5, this it very nice if you want to pull off some bleeding and damage while not even getting hit. 2 is just a nice little addition I keep on while on other attunments because if anyone gets close they get bleeding which can always add up. I don’t really like the Earth in Staff other than in WvW because 4 is a troll and 2 does a large AOE.

I’m not sure whether you mean the trait line or the skills, but I use both heavily on my D/D.
I have 30 points in Earth magic and I focus a lot on auras and condition damage. Earth is GREAT for stacking bleeding. Churning Earth is absolutely one of my favorite moves. Start casting it, then hit Signet of Air to blind the players around you and make their interrupt fail then BAM! Not fail-proof around thieves since they can interrupt constantly, but a lot of thieves are more likely to move out of the way just to be safe. Earth’s moves 2, 4, & 5 are all AoE and I love them. The auto-attack is a fast way to stack some bleeding.

earth is freaking strong though only 3 skills are useful the number 3 (for immobilizing the enemy) number 4 (knockdown) and number 5 (even without condition, the damage of this skill is just devastating) usually I set up the enemy by using number 3 on em to immobilize them so they wont move out of the way after i finish casting number 5

It’s useful when you need to Tank Arah ^^
I Usually don’t leave without at least 20 in earth …for Dungeons and WvW

You should see how people react when your Ele Laughs at bosses face as Boss does no dmg to me
;)

Yes, I spent a lot on Earth, and use special Utilities, but it’s worth it

Lillian Wandom Hale.7102:

It’s useful when you need to Tank Arah ^^
I Usually don’t leave without at least 20 in earth …for Dungeons and WvW

You should see how people react when your Ele Laughs at bosses face as Boss does no dmg to me
;)

Yes, I spent a lot on Earth, and use special Utilities, but it’s worth it

I’m curious how you accomplish that.

Just curious though. I like playing things other than glasscannon in PvE and it was a nice mix-up to respec my Mesmer as a tank/support (with all the regen, retaliation, some protection, aegis as well as illusions with huge HP bars and Phantasmal Defender splitting my damage ontop of throwing out constant 3k heals ever 3-4sec, I’ve face tanked quite a few things on a class I didn’t know I could). My little Asura Elementalist has gotten a bit dull and the only builds I really tried out on him were heal/support, hybrid, glasscannon burst and glasscannon condition.

I didn’t think it was possible to facetank much on an Elementalist that didn’t also involve dodging around like a fool on crack for the arcana dodge rolls.

Earth 30 :

• Obsidian Focus
• Earth’s Embrace
• Geomancer’s Freedom (or Alacrity)

Water 30 :

• ( Mainly use it for Vit, use whatever Trait’s you’d like, I suggest either Cantrips Traits or all those AoE Regen/Heals/Condition Removals )

Arcana 10

• Final Shielding

Armor :

• Power
• Vitality
• Toughness

Trinkets :

• Power, Vitality, Toughness

Weapons :

• Scepter / Focus
• Power-Vitality-Toughness

Heal :

• Ether Renewal

Utilities :

• Arcane Shield (spamm it whenever useful)
• Mist Form ( For OMG Situations )
• Signet of Earth ( only on Bosses)

Elite :

• Glyph

Gameplay :

• Earth is your main Element
• Blind when possible
• Use Rock Barrier , but DON’T “Hurl” projectiles (Perma upkeep)
• Magnetic Wave for Blast Finisher, Ranged REFLECT and Condition Removal ^^
• Obsidian Flesh after Heal or in OMG situations
• Ether Renewal adds lovely chunk of Toughness, and with 30 in Water, heals for nice numbers and removes 10~15 conditions (this is your main facetanking ability, a HEAL ^^ )

I made few Veteran players sigh when they saw me face-tanking Bosses without moving XD (and surviving OFC)

Lillian Wandom Hale.7102:

Earth 30 :

• Obsidian Focus
• Earth’s Embrace
• Geomancer’s Freedom (or Alacrity)

Water 30 :

• ( Mainly use it for Vit, use whatever Trait’s you’d like, I suggest either Cantrips Traits or all those AoE Regen/Heals/Condition Removals )

Arcana 10

• Final Shielding

• Remove 10 points from Earth.
• Throw Obsidian Focus directly into the waste basket where it belongs.
• Add another 10 points into Arcane.
• Get Elemental Attunement.

And I have just boosted your and your groups survivability significantly.

That’s weird, it’s bleed effect stacks intensity well and deals significant damage for me.

I find Earth to be the strongest, actually, particularly when you have any condition builds. Air is what I typically find to be too weak, especially for the Scepter.