Guild Wars 2

I’m not sure I follow. Persisting Flames clearly has an effect on the increased duration of Lava Font. With it, it lasts long enough that you can drop a Lava Font, and then drop Eruption in Earth Attunement and have it go off for the blast combo before the fire field disappears. Without the trait, it just doesn’t last long at all. Blasting Staff increases the field radius, not the duration.

I use a staff build that is primarily focused on DPS, but it functions secondarily as group support via extensive access to combo fields and blast finishers.

Here is my current build.
Traits: 30/10/0/0/30

With Persisting Flames, I am able to maintain perma-Fury and perma-Might (about 15-20 stacks if no one else uses blast finishers) on myself and nearby allies. I also have near-permanent Vigor, allowing me to dodge frequently. This synergizes with Evasive Arcana: dodge in Earth for a blast finisher + bleed + cripple, Water for condition removal, Air for blind, and Fire for burning. The bonus to group damage via Fury and Might is incredible and should not be underestimated.

I can provide plenty of defensive support in terms of condition removal from Healing Rain and dodging in Water Attunement. If you want more support, you could drop Bolt to the Heart and add 10 points in Water Magic for the Cleansing Wave adept trait. I just use the build for both PvE and WvW, so I like to keep the damage-centric setup.

I play a staff elementalist in WvW. I use a build that is primarily focused on DPS, but it functions secondarily as group support via extensive access to combo fields and blast finishers.

Here is my current build.

With Persisting Flames, I am able to maintain perma-Fury and perma-Might (about 15-20 stacks if no one else uses blast finishers) on myself and nearby allies. I also have near-permanent Vigor, allowing me to dodge frequently. This synergizes with Evasive Arcana: dodge in Earth for a blast finisher + bleed + cripple, Water for condition removal, Air for blind, and Fire for burning. The bonus to group damage via Fury and Might is incredible and should not be underestimated.

My usual strategy in zerg fights is to drop some form of CC (usually Frozen Ground or Static Field, or both) and hover near the combat line between the zergs. This lets me get Fury and Might while still damaging their front line. I back up using Burning Retreat, then throw down Meteor Swarm, then throw down Unsteady Ground to cripple more foes.

I can provide plenty of defensive support in terms of condition removal from Healing Rain and dodging in Water Attunement. If you want more support, you could drop Bolt to the Heart and add 10 points in Water Magic for the Cleansing Wave adept trait. I just use the build for both PvE and WvW, so I like to keep the damage-centric setup.

Don’t forget that besides Dragon’s Tooth from scepter, Meteor Swarm (especially with Blasting Staff to increase AoE size) is arguably one of the best skills in the game for clearing enemies from out-of-reach siege.

I think what I’ve found as an elementalist is that situational factors play a lot into how effective they are.

I use the staff as my weapon of choice across all modes of gameplay, simply because it is the perfect match for my preferred playstyle. I find that I am incrementally stronger the more people there are around me, enemies or allies. I shine in large group battles, whether they are in PvE, sPvP, or (especially) WvW. However, I have a relatively more difficult time in PvE when I am alone unless I am careful, and I do not often win 1v1 battles in sPvP. It’s just not how I’m built.

There are good support builds out there. This is the best I’ve found, although I haven’t personally been using it much yet: http://www.arenajunkies.com/topic/228831-competitive-build-overview-support-elementalist/