Guild Wars 2

hey everyone. i’m about to hit level 80 with my elementalist and so far i can’t find a build that i enjoy playing. i want to focus on being a staff-based glasscannon with aoe damage and decent criticals but when i run dungeons or play wvw, i don’t seem to be very effective.

right now i’m trying out 20/30/0/10/10 and i’m dying a lot more than i’d like. granted, i’m still in level 65 gear (i’m waiting till 80 to buy new stuff. i’m thinking knights gear), it’s a bit ridiculous how squishy i am. even though all of my utilities are cantrips like mistform.

i’m looking for any suggestions that involve a staff or s/d playstyle. i see a lot of d/d builds but i don’t find that interesting at all. i chose elementalist because i wanted to be a ranged caster.

My best suggestion is to try and get at least 12k health. That will help immensely with your survivability in dungeons and will be the difference between getting killed instantly and being killed in 2 hits.

As for your armor, the elementalist can’t really afford to not wear the best possible armor. try the trading post for better stuff, there’s usually some things for sale at 1 copper above the vendor price. Which means you can get update gear for just 1 copper.

skinnyb.5920:

hey everyone. i’m about to hit level 80 with my elementalist and so far i can’t find a build that i enjoy playing. i want to focus on being a staff-based glasscannon with aoe damage and decent criticals but when i run dungeons or play wvw, i don’t seem to be very effective.

right now i’m trying out 20/30/0/10/10 and i’m dying a lot more than i’d like. granted, i’m still in level 65 gear (i’m waiting till 80 to buy new stuff. i’m thinking knights gear), it’s a bit ridiculous how squishy i am. even though all of my utilities are cantrips like mistform.

i’m looking for any suggestions that involve a staff or s/d playstyle. i see a lot of d/d builds but i don’t find that interesting at all. i chose elementalist because i wanted to be a ranged caster.

OP I am going to level with you. Glass cannon and ele really don’t mix. Staff and glass cannon don’t mix (maybe in PvE but in higher level ares you’ll be eating dirt often in PvP forget it no one will sit in your aoes). Your going to get at lot farther with a balanced build or a bunker build. Even if you went dps s/d you may survive but glass is glass and we sit with some of the lowest base defensive stats. I am sorry but this is the really of ele glass doesn’t really work well with up.

ThiBash.5634:

My best suggestion is to try and get at least 12k health. That will help immensely with your survivability in dungeons and will be the difference between getting killed instantly and being killed in 2 hits.

As for your armor, the elementalist can’t really afford to not wear the best possible armor. try the trading post for better stuff, there’s usually some things for sale at 1 copper above the vendor price. Which means you can get update gear for just 1 copper.

i’m not sure the exact number but i think i do have 12k of health or well near it.

and as for gear, i’m planning on buying rares for now until i can farm/afford exotics. i’m buying knights gear as soon as i hit 80.

OP I am going to level with you. Glass cannon and ele really don’t mix. Staff and glass cannon don’t mix (maybe in PvE but in higher level ares you’ll be eating dirt often in PvP forget it no one will sit in your aoes). Your going to get at lot farther with a balanced build or a bunker build. Even if you went dps s/d you may survive but glass is glass and we sit with some of the lowest base defensive stats. I am sorry but this is the really of ele glass doesn’t really work well with up.

what benefits does a balanced build offer? it seems like it’d be useless since it’s not leaning in any direction. i tried an aura-based build but didn’t see any real difference. and it was annoying to have to constantly monitor 4 signets.
a bunker build sounds fun in pvp, being able to outlast most foes, but it seems so lame that you can’t do any real damage. like, what’s the point?