Guild Wars 2

ok new here but not new to GW just to GW2

been messing around with a lot of characters and i liked that it was a challenge and all (played the other game and got bored with the face roll to max level) but i hit 24th level the other day and it seems that i am doing nothing but die and fall down all the time now.

was trying to build ice then lightning (have 10 in ice and 5 in the other at the moment at 25th level) but i have become road kill as i have said and i am wondering if this is to be expected if i attempt to solo things like skill challenges and the like or is it the build/class that is incapable of soloing.

i can’t seem stay out of the combat since i am soloing a lot and of course as a cloth wearer i take heavy damage even with damage cantrip bonuses .

looking for help or advise as i often play late in the day or middle of the day when the game is sparsely populated..

thank you for any and all info you can supply

It could be a number of things. Yes, elementalists are squishy if not traited/played properly. At low level you really don’t have much choice yet, so traits are probably not the problem.

It’s most likely one of the following:

1. Your gear is still low-level gear. Take a look at what your armor and weapon’s required levels are. If they are below 20, you might want to upgrade. Armor values at the lower levels can actually play a large role in how tough you are.

2. You’re not dodge rolling effectively. Make sure you dodge roll the big attacks your enemies try to hit you with. When you’re not dodge-rolling, try to stay away from the front of your enemies faces as much as possible (circle around them while hitting them, or just walk backwards). This will also keep you alive.

I can’t help much, but you do need to provide more details for those that could help. Start with what your weapons are (staff, d/d, etc…) and what utility skills you generally use.

Gear upgrades can make a HUGE difference for marginal-to-average player (like myself). If you are running around level 25 content with gear from level 10 you are going to get pounded. Make a visit to the Trading Post and spend a little.

You said you’re traiting into air and water. While fantastic trait lines, your first few points would be better spent in Arcana to get the Elemental Attunement (V) trait which gives you a boon on attunement swap. After that, max out your water line grabbing traits III, V, and XI. You can put your last 30 points pretty much anywhere.
Also, keep in mind that by specing into a trait line that you are not restricting yourself to using only those elements. You must still use fire and earth while fighting even if you are spec’d into air and water.

Best advice I can think of for a brand new player rolling an elementalist as their first character: don’t be too hard on yourself when dying. Elementalist probably has the steepest learning curve of any profession, it’s ok to go down a lot at first.

Try to minimize dying, of course. As others said, learn to time your dodges and stay behind enemies as much as possible, that is the main form of damage mitigation in the game. Make sure your gear is up to date, keep it within 5-7 levels and use masterwork gear if you can afford or craft it. Make sure you use the closest level trinkets you can as well (amulet/rings/accessory) and use the toughness ones if you are feeling squishy.

The boons from Arcana V will do more to keep you alive than the first traits in water and swapping attunements faster will improve your damage more than 5 points in air.

Learn to use staff and scepter and even focus depending on what you fight. There seems to be a common opinion that D/D is the “best” weapon set, but that is not true for leveling. It’s a true melee weapon set, and that puts you a lot closer to a lot of the damage at low levels.

Scepter has a toughness buff on #2 that you can keep up permanently (just don’t use the toggle “hurl” for damage unless the fight is nearly over or the cooldown is up so you can refresh the barrier immediately) and will really improve your damage mitigation. It also has two blinds, which can be timed to avoid big attacks when you don’t have a dodge up. I leveled mostly with scepter, and still feel it is generally the best leveling weapon for the sort of solo/exploring you are doing. It’s weaker than staff for large groups, but you shouldn’t be pulling groups that big till you feel comfortable anyway. The only soloing situation where I’d recommend a different weapon is against dredge (dang blind immunity). Once I got comfortable with dodging and stuff I switched my build to Air/precision (around level 25-30ish, iirc) and found I could “oneshot” groups of mobs with a dragon’s tooth>phoenix combo and if that didn’t totally finish them ring of fire>earthquake>churning earth surely would.

For skill challenges, veterans and such, use your Earth elemental summons to “tank”. You can heal them with your water attunement heals, and if you reset to have the Arcana V trait (resetting is cheap, no need to buy another trait manual, just take the reset option at the trainer npc) your attunement swaps will buff it with regeneration and protection. The elite elemental glyph you get at level 30 is a better “tank” and will ease your soloing a lot.