Guild Wars 2

Simply, is that 400 higher crit on meteor storm worth losing 5k HP or 400 healing power or tougness?

Cant decide myself and im not too much into getting a set for all possible build especially when i seem to level every class to 80 >_<

Im mainly going to focus ele on wvw and dungeons so would it be best to be the ultimate glass cannon and possibly get 1shotted in wvw and dungeons or do less damage but be kind of a tank? Also im a fan of staff so sceptre/daggers dont really fit me :/

So all opinions are welcome^^

I very rarely, if ever, use my glass cannon gear. Get the 5/6 Karma PVT set and craft some decent jewelry / get Invader’s.

So basically, don’t glass cannon.

That just glass, not cannon~

I’m not quite 80 yet, but this is what I’m thinking.

For WvW when I run with small squads I’ll be mostly defensive with D/D. I plan on mainly using my AOE abilities and being one of the first ones in with RTL and stomp to give my squad time to come in and crush them.

For everything else, Dungeons, WvW zergs, PvE etc, I will most likely be less defensive. I’m thinking staff with mostly offensive stats and a little toughness/vit here and there to help out with staying alive a bit longer.

Again, not 80, so that’s not what I do, just what I think I’m going to do.

I’ve given up on a working cannon build that has more benefit than drawbacks. Way cheaper to stick to defensive.

It can work. Elementalist has some pretty sweet defensive moves that can keep you from getting hit.

There is no cannon part.

idk about you, but I do Tons of Damage™ with my ele

It works pretty okay.

thanks for the replies, quess im gonna do some balance around both offensive and defensive becouse im not too good at switching attunements and timing utilities right >_<

if ur ele is going into dungeons, would lean away from glass cannon. i run glass cannon and i avoid dungeons like a plague, it… sucks.. massively.
in WvW u can avoid being even targeted by sneaking on the side, by using allies as shields. but in dungeons, some boss and mobs aoe dont base on target but simple randomly around the room. dodging can get a pain when 1 mistake = dead.

staff ele is i think the only ele that works as real glass cannon in WvW. u are going to need the range to stay alive long enough to do dmg and considering the amount of hard hitting aoes u got on ele, it works well.

pure glass cannon ele is a seige wpn on legs with no hp basically 8D

Berserkers in a dungeon is really bad. I know first hand. Berserkers in wvw is great, esp as a staff ele.

Elementalists’ best traits are, generally, water’s and arcane’s. So I recommend you to specc mostly into those, and then decide through equipment stats and remaining points to go for defense, damage or inbetween.

But an extreme glass cannon with fire/ air traits is not very good at the moment.

Not worth it, IMO. You can easily become more glassy, but the cannon part is hard to achieve. Lets say you use both offensive arcane skills, then you might take down people in a combo.

The thing is, elementalists can’t pull off the glass cannon very well, due to low damage on many spells, long CDs, and only damage potential if you can pull off quite a long combo. And the combos elementalists use are easy to counter. If countered, you are dead. Sadly we don’t have invisibility as so many other professions have. Unless something radical changes, it isn’t worth it.

I run full berserker gear, but I trait 30 water. It works out just fine in dungeons using staff when I’m focusing on what I’m doing.

I wouldn’t recommend going full glass cannon in both gear and traits, though. That is extremely painful, as the profession just doesn’t support full glass cannon builds.

feel free to do it in PvE though
I’ve been having a blast soloing Orr and doing fractals and whatnot with my 30/20/0/0/20 full berserker’s staff ele

Sorry to bring back an old thread but,

I run a glass cannon as my main. Its fun, I do everything with it.
In dungeons I tend to stay near the rear of the group and dodge a lot when I start to get targeted. I dont die any more than the rest of the group. Some times I go down more often but with mist form I am usually able to get either far enough away from combat for someone to help me back up or far enough away that I can bring myself back without a problem.

In dungeons I run the elementals to help tank (earth), semi heal (water), or damage/distraction (fire). They tend to help a ton. In CoF on Path 1 after the rolling fireballs where you have to lower the gate. In all the times I have run it, I can destroy the controller and free up everyone else faster then just about anyone. Of course my the time the gate is open I have used my heal cast both elementals to keep the mini boss at bay and have cast every large nuke that I have at the controller. But once the gate opens I run back towards the group and they help pull the guy off me.

Is the glass cannon build good, I can say its not for everyone, you do a ton of damage but you cant really take much of a hit. But for me it keeps me on my toes. I also tend to switch up attunements a lot. I mainly run fire, but I switch to water to help heal when the group is taking a pounding or earth if I am trying to tag and hold a boss still for the group to hit it.

my build is 30/0/10/20/10
the 10 extra points in water is mainly for the little extra health and the small bonus I get when my health is above 90% trait. It also helps a bit in dungeons when I need to act as healer. Although its not my best role, healing does in fact help and has kept a group alive long enough to finish the boss fight.

I Use PVT Gear and Weapon with berserker jewels. If you are going full PTV you are wasting your Elementalist. I find myself good with what i am using right now.

Knox.3748:

I Use PVT Gear and Weapon with berserker jewels. If you are going full PTV you are wasting your Elementalist. I find myself good with what i am using right now.

I second that.
With that build you can actually take some hits while still not losing much on the offensive stats.
It’s nice being able to take some hits too when kitten hits the fan and you have to get a downy up instead of lying next to him when you try.
I also run PTV gear with berserker jewels, I rarely die even in the most terrible groups I’m usually the last person standing.

There is no spoo….I mean cannon.

I don’t see a reason not to go glass cannon as staff since you so much range/cc that you shouldn’t be hit.

Glass cannon staff? Definitely.

Glass cannon d/d? Weeeeell, expect people to hold your hand.

Seriously though, if you can get people to stick with you, your performance in fights will be phenomenal if you don’t get focused down quickly. I run a super glassy cannon build, with 2.8k power, 2k precision, and arcane spells for additional burst. I wait for someone to initiate, then I’ll get in there, kill everything, then get out. Works amazing so far.

Glass ele would be very effective if you could get condition removal outside of water. Ether renewal is too easy to interrupt, and cleansing fire/signet of water aren’t enough. You need good on demand condition removal or 1 immobilize is a free trip back to your waypoint.

I don’t know where people are coming up with this “no cannon” bit, but it’s just wrong. Ele (not including staff) does some of the highest burst damage in the game. Staff lacks fast casting, no delay abilities but is good sustained DPS because of the relatively low cooldowns on hard hitting abilities.

Compared to a shatter or iSwordsman mesmer, most thieves and simple things like warrior autoattacks our “cannon” part of the equation doesn’t compare, even when we’re traited full GC. Just my opinion.

i think i dont need the glass cannon build because i can crit with staff auto atack for almost 3k and with sd dragon tooth has amazing 6k dmg

in spvp, glass staff can be fun, but you wont be 1v1’ing anyone. Don’t even try “semi-glass” – either bunker or full glass.

Theres no fixed rule.

I do tell mates that you should have atleast 18k hp 25%crit, boon duration, bloodlust,800pt + tuff.

MarzAttakz.9608:

Compared to a shatter or iSwordsman mesmer, most thieves and simple things like warrior autoattacks our “cannon” part of the equation doesn’t compare, even when we’re traited full GC. Just my opinion.

Agreed

The elementalist has some of the best damage avoidance abilities in the game, with a skill cap that lets you run glassier and glassier the better you are. Personally, I run a d/d ele with a full suit of berserker’s armor, beryl/emerald jewelry, and power/prec/con damage weapons. I run standard cantrip traits with more lightning than most. This is sadly unchangeable as arcane is mandatory for eles and cantrips are essential for 1vx fights.

I have a bit over 16k hp and 1.9k armor. I do 1v1, 1vx, and group vs. zerg with this gear. I’m considering switching to full berserker’s jewelry if I feel like spending the gold. The ability to substitute skill for defense is one of the things that makes the ele such an amazing class. The question isn’t, is glass viable on an ele, the question is, are you confident enough in your skill to make it work.

That’s actually true Drez, although I’m running p/v/t gear with boon duration runes I no longer run pure Clerics in my jewellery. Like you stated we’re fairly flexible on how we augment our stats. It really depends on your playstyle.

Full bunker are great training wheels that you remove or add back on depending on the situation but I’ll say again, the return on investment for going full glass cannon is not high enough compared to other dps classes.

EDIT: Case in point – Look at those numbers while being fully mobile and needing no target: http://youtu.be/rjidD-RP7Nk

It really depends on what you are doing. I watch streams now and then, and it seems a lot of high tier tournament eles are going almost entirely glass with a double arcane burst setup. It can also be better for killing zergs to just lay down max dps immediately. If you are in a situation where the things you give up are compensated for by your team, then going glass makes ele an unmatched aoe damage monster.

I won’t say glass is the best way to play and anyone who doesn’t do it is just a bad that can’t handle it or anything like that; there are some very definite drawbacks to it and while you do a ton of aoe damage, you don’t get much in the way of big numbers popping up, at least compared to other dps class’ burst. There isn’t as much obvious return, but as you get more familiar with the ele, you just don’t need the defense to stay alive, and getting squishier forces you to get better.

Honestly, I think bunkers are too tanky and are wasting the ele potential, and I think I am too squishy and am really just doing it because it’s fun and intense. The sweet spot for general use is something like p/v/t gear with beryl/emerald jewelry, or berserker’s gear with tankier jewelry. But if the will to get glassy is there, the ele can make it work.

Glass is fine if you are really good at reacting fast and slot utility for mitigation (Arc Shield / Mist ) Last slot can either be Air/Fire rune or whatever you like. (Can swap other stuff in when fighting trash mobs)

Admittedly I started with a mix of Valk(Beryl) and Bers(Ruby) in order to refine my play.

Leveled as a D/D, and now play Staff (dungeon / fractals). Quite harder to be glass and be in melee range, than full range. D/D works, but honestly is better in world scenarios than bosses etc.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQFAWhEmObpR3QlEAkCoEeQADJIKYRRxM7A;TsAg0CnoyxkjIHbOuck5MI4AxcBA

16s Might buff upon fire cast, 20% quicker fire spells
(with food, Str. rune set)

Hypno.2649:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQFAWhEmObpR3QlEAkCoEeQADJIKYRRxM7A;TsAg0CnoyxkjIHbOuck5MI4AxcBA

16s Might buff upon fire cast, 20% quicker fire spells
(with food, Str. rune set)

That is the exact staff build I settled on for WvW. I decided to run P/V/T for the 6 clothing slots with Zerker staff and full Zerker accessories. I’m willing to give up some damage to gain some breathing room against unexpected burst and splash damage.

Starting to feel like my precision is too low. Trying out a new build today for bosses. Sac’n Arc to max Air. The trade off is def in Air’s favor.

If u follow drez’s advice a good thief using the same theory will drop you.

Good thing they are few and far between.