A couple have mentioned scepter/dagger above – I leveled up with that. A nice bit of range and you can get the slow hitters off to initiate (looking at you d tooth). I found Glyph of Elementals useful too as popping that can take a bit of heat off you.
Good suggestions above – in/out of water, combos. I learned about combos/finishers with s/d and then moved to d/d. I am not a fan of ground targeting, I am a bit slow with it, so tend to stick d/d now but do go to staff in larger groups (e.g. WvW). That said, I always have a scepter and a focus in my inventory as well… just in case…
And evade – look out for that red ring around you and evade like mad.
I’m still learning it at lvl 80… be ready review your traits end of this month though… trait changes in coming… no telling what will open up for us/do to us (depending on your viewpoint…). Good luck
