Guild Wars 2

it seems like more and more elementalist are getting good at handling their class,

my condition spec thief is left hanging and struggling against good elems,

should I revert back to s/d or d/d spec burst thief?

I wouldn’t say this is more ele getting good, more like more ele all playing the exact same spec.

In my view no one build should be effective against all other builds in the game. The thief condition build vs the ele d/d bunker build is simply not a good match up for us, but so what?

As tough as it is for my condition build to fight a defensive build ele, they cannot kill me either. Typically the fight lasts so long we either get adds on one side or the other, or eventually they simply disengage from the fight.

Speaking only vs good d/d eles (there are plenty of bad ones that are easy) as P/D condition I can usually get them to run but it’s very very hard to finish. They can reset a fight as easy as we can. The only way to have a chance is to be able to save shadowstep to chase them at the end, but even with that they can get just out of range. Swapping to short-bow to catch them we can’t dps enough to kill them. If you use d/d to chase you won’t have the time to build init or swap back before they are off to the races again. The only way to down them is with a thieves guild and a lucky scorp wire pulls but they always should have outs. They can just bail as soon as you pop TG and come back later or just kill them with AoE pretty quickly.

“Beating” them which is stomping or just getting them to run is fairly simple. Just dodge any attacks that charge at you like the very end of ride the lightning (they almost always follow up with the KD) or the fire charge. Watch for the lightning stun shield. Always use 3 auto attacks on their arcane shield. When they do their big Earth AoE just dps them and learn the timing. Even if you get out of range, you want to evade just before it pops because they will port to wherever you are. Always stunbreak the root or if you get hit with a KD, their lighting whip spam hurts.

The thing about a D/D ele is we have a shot at beating them if they are dps geared and all their bunker comes from cooldowns. If they also have bunker stats with vit/tough just forget about it. It’s an endless stalemate. Lucky, most of these guys run a lot of dps equipment because they can get away with it so we have a chance.

Stiv.1820:

Swapping to short-bow to catch them we can’t dps enough to kill them. If you use d/d to chase you won’t have the time to build init or swap back before they are off to the races again. The only way to down them is with a thieves guild and a lucky scorp wire pulls but they always should have outs.

I’ve had good success chasing D/D elementalists with Infiltrator’s Strike, especially if you can follow it with a cripple.

My tip for fighting a bunker ele……run away, no really, just run, they can’t catch you and you can’t kill them lol.

Tulisin.6945:

Stiv.1820:

Swapping to short-bow to catch them we can’t dps enough to kill them. If you use d/d to chase you won’t have the time to build init or swap back before they are off to the races again. The only way to down them is with a thieves guild and a lucky scorp wire pulls but they always should have outs.

I’ve had good success chasing D/D elementalists with Infiltrator’s Strike, especially if you can follow it with a cripple.

That wouldn’t be a condition build unless you use that on swap just for chasing?

edit: I guess the OP didn’t specifically ask for condition build help so this could work. I would still think the ele would have an out but that depends on cooldowns and whatnot. btw I really wish you could cancel the “return” part of inf strike.

I don’t have a conditional build so I can’t speak much in regards to that. I have a D/D thief built with power/precision/crit damage with Scorpion Wire and Shadow Step. I don’t have much of a problem bringing D/D ele’s down. Evade their AoE’s and line of sight charges.

If I’m close enough to killing them, I attempt to finish them off. Possibly making use of Scorpion Wire after they’ve used their escape ability. But, I don’t chase them too far. If they are still far from dead, then I just let them run away.

Ele’s tend to either eventually come back to you or stick to groups for diverted attention.

The best way to battle them is to go to their forum section and ask for nerfs.

Jefzor.7145:

The best way to battle them is to go to their forum section and ask for nerfs.

yep, a properly bunker can’t be beaten by 2 or even 3 guys in the same time !

I’ve already said this in another topic.
S/D with boon removals is the best counter to boon reliant bunkers. D/D eles are heavy boon reliant bunkers, so…
You have also many tools to don’t let Ele escape, such Infiltrator’s Strike, Dancing Dagger and the stolen chill.

Build 0/30/30/10/0 (0/30/20/0/20 or 0/20/30/0/20 if you want extra boon removal with Bountiful Theft) with berserker amulet (if in PvP) or a mixture of Ruby, Emerald and Beryl if in PvE.

Of course, you are not going to insta-kill your enemy, the fight will last for a quite long time but, if you are good enough, the bunker ele will sure go down. Just make sure to strip the right boons at the right time with Flanking Strike (like might stacks, protection and long-duration fury).