Elixir Build?
H, B, S, R
Is what I use.
Taking Cleansing Formula 409 is better than taking Elixir C, imo.
Elixir U’s gamble is too rich for my blood.
And X is pretty garbage. I use supply crate, but it’s not that much better.
I used pistol/shield with Elixir H/Elixir B/Elixir Gun/Elixir U. I could take and dish a decent amount of damage. You could drop plenty of boons on yourself, stack durations of Elixir B’s swiftness with (if you get it instead of regen or prot) Elixir H’s swiftness to where you have almost a constant 45+ second buff of swiftness. Also, you could throw down Elixir B from tool belt to allies to give retaliation and/or yourself, get the retal buff from the actual skill Elixir B and toggle elixir gun (which drops a combo field light if you have the adept trait from Tool: Kit Refinement) out and switch back to pistol shield to use the burst off Magnetic Shield’s combo finisher to give out a decent duration of retaliation to yourself and/or nearby people.
Sorry if that was really long so there was alot more I could think of but it’d take too long.
tl;dr Pistol/Shield Elixir H,Elixir B, Elixir U, Elixir Gun. And supply crate is amazing imo.
Oh also Elixir U’s toolbelt is dicey but you can do some interesting things with it, like stack chaos armor or stealth.
I, personally, use dual pistols and four elixirs. Here are my choices:
Healing: Elixir H – Has a decent heal on a reasonable cooldown. Unfortunately, I never end up using the f1 skill associated with it.
To be completely honest, the Healing Turret set/pick-up trick is vastly superior, and the f1 that comes with it is actually a decent ability healing at around 1k over 8 seconds. Remember, you can also detonate the turret in its own field for an instant AoE burst of around 1.2k.
Utility 1: Elixir U – Grants Quickness for five seconds providing either a burst of DPS or a quick “f” interaction. I find this invaluable in all situations as being able to quickly revive another player at double speed or finishing a downed player can be a battle deciding action. As far as secondary effects go, there’s really only one side-effect that I ever notice: Haste. You lose all stamina regeneration and your bar drains to 0. The others are negligible and never bother me.
Lastly, the thrown Elixir U is one of the most critical skills on my bar. It’s a bit random, but 2 out of 3 times, I can completely nullify my enemy’s ranged damage via a wall that reflects projectiles or one that completely engulfs the attacks as they come. The third spell it creates simply grants 2 second invisibility to anyone who passes through it. One last thing: each spell spawned by this elixir creates a combo field. Great ability overall.
Utility 2: Elixir R – Refills stamina, breaks stun. Essentially gives us two free dodges. The thrown ability cures conditions when it pulses AND heals 20% of downed player health. It pulses 6 times, so you can revive players fairly easily. (If you time it, you can revive yourself.)
Utility 3: Elixir S – Virtual invulnerability for a few seconds. Breaks every condition/effect. Throw it at your friends to grant stability or stealth. No clue why you’d want stealth. I personally replaced this one recently with the Hidden Pistol ability. I just prefer the extra dodge it gives.
Trait however you want. I’ve got enough points in Alchemy for 20% faster elixir cooldowns.
I find it hard to justify a build that doesn’t use 30 elixirs.
H itself isn’t amazing. The throw is awful.
However, with 409 and H.G.H its suddenly pretty good. And the 20% cdr as well gives you more frequent healing. The innate+30% to boon duration, aids in the effectiveness in all the boons.
Elixir B is a go-to as well. While it offers no real utility, it provides amazing buffs. with hgh. 2 stacks of might. Retaliation is op. Fury is strong. Swiftness on call. (and possibly vigor with that)
Elixir R is amazing utility. both self and throw. The ability to throw and res at range, instantly others can not be overlooked. Self rez as well. No other professions, res downed trait/skill is instant like ours. They need to cast it, doing nothing else, and can be interrupted. We can throw R at 1200 range, and keep fighting. (rifle to interrupt stomp while rezing) It also pulse removes conditions innately. self use, it breaks stun, daze, fear, knockdown/back. And refills endurance, allowing 2 more dodge rolls.
S and U have their place. I don’t use them as the afore mentioned are soo good.
S stabilty and stealth both can allow uninterrupted stomps. Both can allow diving through guardian walls, etc. Self use as well, allows diving though damage that would normally kill you. The randomness of the stability vs stealth can be a pain. As they aren’t exactly useful in the same situations usually.
Self use shrink removes active attacks, but thats it. you can stomp, you can use utility skills, you can res.
Toolbelt and elixir gun.
Many traits do not work on these. Its a bit weird. Anything that would conflict with toolbelt traits, do not work for elixirs.
Example, reduced cooldowns. Elixir reduced cooldowns do not effect toolbelt elixirs. Reduced toolbelt skills cooldowns do.
Hgh, and 409 do effect toolbelt elixirs. (+duration effects, all do effect them)
I don think any elixir traits effect elixir gun elixirs.