Guild Wars 2

I just played bunker Elementalist for 1 hour and it was the first time I played an Elementalist, won every game. It was such a different experience compared to my offensive characters, it was awesome. I did 8 1v1 against a Thief and he killed me 6 times with his backstab combo, I could survive him for around 10 sec but couldn’t win the fight. Two times I dodged and mistformed his damage and survived him and made him run. Besides him I didn’t lose a singel 1v1. Also had some team fights against Thieves and it was a lot easier to win against them in group fights.

I also held a point for 1 min against 3 people, as I got downed a team mate showed up killed one of them and I rezzed and we killed the enemy group off. Elementalist was a lot more fun than I expected, not only could I bunker but also support my Team with healing and a lot of AoE’s are very good in group fights. Another game I teamed up with an offensive Elementalist and together we killed of 3 people at the same time while keeping the same node the entire game as people kept coming and dying haha.

Last match was raid on the capricorn, I went to ruins without even knowing what my abilities did and just spammed them with my bunker utilities and I killed off 3 people alone thanks to sharks xD some abilities put me out of the node because I didn’t know what they did lol.

I am going to learn to play bunker Elementalist and get real good at it!

Any good bunker Elementalists that read this thread, please drop some tips and tricks, thanks!

This is the build I use in tournaments when running staff bunker ele:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQFAWhImmbyR4gjDAkHn4CLjChUeMzO2A;TkAgzCmouxcj4G7Nubk3M+A

Get the armour of earth utility and trait for 10 in earth, this stability time is invaluable to holding points against professions with annoying knock backs and disables.

Take evasive arcana for 30 in arcane to make use of blast finishers when rolling in the healing rain field for 2 AoE heals every 10 seconds, since you get 1 from the cleansing wave proc and one from the combo field.

The runes, heal, and utility skills all have great synergy in cleansing conditions, since every time you give someone regeneration, you can cleanse 1 condition.

Rolling in the chill field gives AoE frost armour, awesome in team fights.

Learn to chain your CCs to give teammates opportunities to get easy kills in tough fights. For example in air, use the static field into gale to knock them into it, switch to earth, use 5th skill to immobilize, drop the 4th skill, unsteady ground to cripple, switch to water and drop a chill field, then switch to fire to do some damage.

The elementalist is all about chaining your abilities together effectively to give the most synergy and deal the most damage to your opponent, so it is important to not get stuck in a “rotation” and learn to use the skills when the time is right, while adapting to the situation (this comes with lots of practice).

Even if you are in bunker spec, you cannot stand in 100 blades or pistol whip spam and expect to live, backstab can still make your life hell as you have learned. You need to dodge these high damage skill combos with utilities, rolls, or by CCing the enemy. This will extend your life drastically since when they fail their haste, they become an easy glass cannon that even you can whittle down with your mediocre damage.

Final thing, do not get discouraged with ele, if you find yourself getting frustrated or bored or what not, I would gladly give you advice, or you could always switch up the weapons for a more aggressive damage dealing build.

This is exactly more of the kind of posts we need on this board.

aydenunited.5729:

This is exactly more of the kind of posts we need on this board.

I agree. :P

Please continue……..MindlessRuff.

I was like WTH!?
But then…

…Last match was raid on the capricorn

Oh. Hotjoin 8v8. Right. Moving right along…

Zatria.5783:

aydenunited.5729:

This is exactly more of the kind of posts we need on this board.

I agree. :P

Please continue……..MindlessRuff.

Added some stuff to my other post.

this kinda posts are better than nerf this and bring back guildwars 1 posts

MindlessRuff.1948:

This is the build I use in tournaments when running staff bunker ele:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQFAWhImmbyR4gjDAkHn4CLjChUeMzO2A;TkAgzCmouxcj4G7Nubk3M+A

Get the armour of earth utility and trait for 10 in earth, this stability time is invaluable to holding points against professions with annoying knock backs and disables.

Take evasive arcana for 30 in arcane to make use of blast finishers when rolling in the healing rain field for 2 AoE heals every 10 seconds, since you get 1 from the cleansing wave proc and one from the combo field.

The runes, heal, and utility skills all have great synergy in cleansing conditions, since every time you give someone regeneration, you can cleanse 1 condition.

Rolling in the chill field gives AoE frost armour, awesome in team fights.

Learn to chain your CCs to give teammates opportunities to get easy kills in tough fights. For example in air, use the static field into gale to knock them into it, switch to earth, use 5th skill to immobilize, drop the 4th skill, unsteady ground to cripple, switch to water and drop a chill field, then switch to fire to do some damage.

The elementalist is all about chaining your abilities together effectively to give the most synergy and deal the most damage to your opponent, so it is important to not get stuck in a “rotation” and learn to use the skills when the time is right, while adapting to the situation (this comes with lots of practice).

Even if you are in bunker spec, you cannot stand in 100 blades or pistol whip spam and expect to live, backstab can still make your life hell as you have learned. You need to dodge these high damage skill combos with utilities, rolls, or by CCing the enemy. This will extend your life drastically since when they fail their haste, they become an easy glass cannon that even you can whittle down with your mediocre damage.

Final thing, do not get discouraged with ele, if you find yourself getting frustrated or bored or what not, I would gladly give you advice, or you could always switch up the weapons for a more aggressive damage dealing build.

Thanks mate Don’t think I will go offensive build on Elementalist anytime soon, want a defensive build and couldn’t really do that with the other professions I played.

That dodge blast finisher is really cool, didn’t know that. We almost have the same build. You have sigil of superior energy, does it work on Elementalist? You don’t have any weapons to switch to, do attunements proc it?

Yes it procs when you switch attunements, very good with Evasive Arcana.

MindlessRuff.1948:

Yes it procs when you switch attunements, very good with Evasive Arcana.

Very nice. Why did you go with cantrips giving vigor and regen instead of 20% faster water skills recharge?

MindlessRuff.1948:

The elementalist is all about chaining your abilities together effectively to give the most synergy and deal the most damage to your opponent, so it is important to not get stuck in a “rotation” and learn to use the skills when the time is right, while adapting to the situation (this comes with lots of practice).

^
This. Take this to heart. Also, I highly recommend getting out of spvp and doing tourneys. Even solo queue. Actually ESPECIALLY solo queue since you WILL go against premades and you will get your kitten smashed. However it will absolutely force you to up your game every time. Ignore the scoreboard. Play to win and as if you can win until the game announces that the match is over. Trial by fire so to speak.

Ele and engi as well depending on if you run kits, are amazingly deep classes. They really are how every class should have been modeled imo. The skill curve is a skill cliff once you get into tourney play, but the reward you can get from the two classes is worth it.

Also:
IMO, carry a staff, a scepter and two daggers with you at all times. You don’t need to re-trait to make use of the abilities for various roles on the field. Just a quick weapon swap can give you so much more versatility. Staff for bunkering, aoe support. Scepter dagger or dagger dagger for when you’re roaming to another area/taking someone 1v1 or 1v2.

Learn every ability from every weapon. It’s a lot compared to any other class, but it’ll pay off in the end as each one provides a different setup to deal with certain situations.
If ANet ever let us equip a 2nd weapon like the other classes to swap back and forth too I’d be sooooooo happy.

Blazer Hellsing.9184:

MindlessRuff.1948:

Yes it procs when you switch attunements, very good with Evasive Arcana.

Very nice. Why did you go with cantrips giving vigor and regen instead of 20% faster water skills recharge?

Well the vigor uptime lets you roll even more, and those two boons have synergy with the 25 point minor trait that gives you more damage based on the number of boons you have, and I figure that I won’t really need to cast water spells as often with the extreme survivability of three cantrips.

If you want to only take two cantrips, I might suggest switching out the cooldown reduction on cantrips for the water spells, but the vigor and regen are so good (regen also clears conditions if you have the right 30 point water trait).

It’s good that this thread is positive. However, it also justifies the complaints of the 3 players when they come asking for nerfs to bunker elementalists because holding a node 1v3 for a full minute just shouldn’t happen in a balanced game. Even more so that OP did this with only 1 hour experience playing the build.

MindlessRuff.1948:

Blazer Hellsing.9184:

MindlessRuff.1948:

Yes it procs when you switch attunements, very good with Evasive Arcana.

Very nice. Why did you go with cantrips giving vigor and regen instead of 20% faster water skills recharge?

Well the vigor uptime lets you roll even more, and those two boons have synergy with the 25 point minor trait that gives you more damage based on the number of boons you have, and I figure that I won’t really need to cast water spells as often with the extreme survivability of three cantrips.

If you want to only take two cantrips, I might suggest switching out the cooldown reduction on cantrips for the water spells, but the vigor and regen are so good (regen also clears conditions if you have the right 30 point water trait).

Going to try your build tomorrow and the build I am playing now (20% faster water recharge, conjure earthshield isntead of that lightning teleport) and see which one I prefer.

I am going to copy your sigil and final arcane trait for dodge combo’s (was using the one that gives a shield).

Thanks for the tips and feedback.

shaolin.9716:

It’s good that this thread is positive. However, it also justifies the complaints of the 3 players when they come asking for nerfs to bunker elementalists because holding a node 1v3 for a full minute just shouldn’t happen in a balanced game. Even more so that OP did this with only 1 hour experience playing the build.

They weren’t that good and I actually did very good mistform and dodges in that fight.

shaolin.9716:

It’s good that this thread is positive. However, it also justifies the complaints of the 3 players when they come asking for nerfs to bunker elementalists because holding a node 1v3 for a full minute just shouldn’t happen in a balanced game. Even more so that OP did this with only 1 hour experience playing the build.

Maybe he did so in a sPvP hotjoin match, if you join a tournament you might survive for 10 seconds maximum 1v3. Even 1v2 good players can make you burn your utilities and then lock you down eventually.

Sure you won’t die against bad players, but think of how nerfing because of that would effect higher levels of play.

You know there’s a problem with balance when you have to talk about how 1v3 or maybe 1v2 (with good players) can take a build down. The moment you allow this to happen in a game is the moment that builds become more important than players and their skills.

So in a game dedicated to small scale PvP that is completely reliant on capturing and defending points, there shouldn’t be any builds that can hold the line against 1 or 2 people or be moderately survivable? Think of all the viable bunker classes, if you nerf the durability of one build, you have to make the others on par and vastly reduce the flexibility of the professions, decreasing the variety of builds.

The problem with bunkers is that they make 2 out of 3 parts of the holy trinity of other games. A bunker is not only a tank but also a healer, so his life doesn’t just drop slowly while holding a point, it doesn’t drop at all since it gets fully restored every few seconds.

The gameplay options should be:

1. Tank: high toughness, low heals, low damage
2. Heal: low toughness, high heal, low damage
3. Damage: low toughness, low heal, high damage

Right now bunkers are both 1 and 2 in a single build leaving 3 at a major disadvantage, that’s the problem.

Sure if you build for all damage you won’t be able to sustain long enough to take down a bunker in 1v1. This is why more balanced builds should become prevalent in the meta, with average damage, survival, and healing. I think balanced builds can be very strong and should start becoming more popular.

Good luck with that though MindlessRuff. I’m running, I guess, one of these bunker builds. All melee hits so kitten hard and rangers shoot so kitten fast. Sure we have a few things we can do that last a few seconds. But they hit and shoot non kittening stop. And don’t even get me started on mesmers. This game is broke kitten. Rangers are getting away with some serious kitten. It’s just thieves and mesmers are overshadowing them.

The problem with bunkers is that they make 2 out of 3 parts of the holy trinity of other games. A bunker is not only a tank but also a healer, so his life doesn’t just drop slowly while holding a point, it doesn’t drop at all since it gets fully restored every few seconds.
The gameplay options should be:
1. Tank: high toughness, low heals, low damage
2. Heal: low toughness, high heal, low damage
3. Damage: low toughness, low heal, high damage
Right now bunkers are both 1 and 2 in a single build leaving 3 at a major disadvantage, that’s the problem.

If you go number 2, there’s nothing to stop people from killing you straight out in this game. It’s why you have to be both 1 AND 2 to be any sort of effective.

1. Tank: high toughness, low heals, low damage
2. Heal: low toughness, high heal, low damage
3. Damage: low toughness, low heal, high damage

Ey look, isnt that the trinity system? OMG GET IT AWAY! OW god its ruining everything!

Guys that 1v3 was becuase the other players were bad, I don’t have much problem against Bunkers on my Necro, Mesmer, Warrior and Thief. Sometimes I can’t down them if they are really good but with 1v2 I can. The fact that I did 1v3 against those guys only shows that they couldn’t coordinate for kitten and I actually mistformed mesmer shatter sand hb from warrior at the same time.

Posts taht talk about other classes doing fun/amazing things other than GS Wars adn BS Thieves one shotting people need to happen more often. Right now its easy to play the wars and thieves cause the hype going around is that its face roll, while the other classes in the game can provide fun and interesting playstyles but unfortunately arent getting the attention they need.

Not everyone needs to be a face roll player. Good team comp can offset “OP” class mechanics. Besides, who wouldnt want to be the guy who found a way to counter the hell out of wars and theives and make htem QQ :]