Guild Wars 2

shOOtstyle.8742:

But for general: Lets pretend I have no idea how to play an Berserker Ele, which build with which playstyle would you recommend? Also what would be a good “training” in your opinion to get more comfortable with this class? Thanks again for your replies

There are two parts of your question: the ‘play style’ and the ‘training wheel’.

1. The Play Style

• Melee DPS is always stronger than Range DPS, which comes at a huge risk of getting downed in one or two shots. The maximum range of each weapons when DPS is relevant:
  Lightning Hammer auto-attack (AA) chain: 150
  Lightning Whip (Dagger MH AA): 300
  Staff AA/ Lava Font: 600
  However, remember that no matter where you are, zerker ele is always high in the aggro list. So positioning yourself in the back doesn’t mean that the boss will not suddenly turn back to attack you. There is no safe spot.

• Cleave is the next big thing to consider when stacking against a blob of mobs is required. Most of the time, failure to cleave trash mobs fast will result in a spike damage fatal to a zerk ele. Of all the weapons, scepter has no cleave and relies solely on conjure weapons such as LH and Ice bow. In this category, LH and dagger MH are inarguably the best.

• Crowd Control is not limited to just knock down and knock back to remove stacks of Defiance. An active use of CC also includes applying chill, blindness, cripple and immobilization. Focus, LH and dagger MH offers more crowd control than the other counterparts. Scepter has two blinds, but they are single target and useless against boss. Staff CC is more effective against large mobs like in Ascalon Fractal, and need Ice bow as a complement DPS when swapping out of fire attunement.

• Support exists with a zerker ele. We support by providing the best DPS boost via conjured weapons, the best ‘tank’ as in Earth Elemental, projectile destroying Swirling Wind and occasionally water field instead of fire field for healing and group wise condition removal.

Sadly, we cannot have all of these qualities in one single build. We have to sacrifice some to gain access to the others. Now, question yourself:

• Can you rely on your group mates’ reflection and aegis when stacking? If yes, go for maximum damage and number of conjure weapons. If no, take in the focus off hand, Arcane Shield and one more active damage mitigation skills such as Glyph of Power or Glyph of Storm.

• Can you rely on your group mates’ condi cleanse when reflection is not necessary? If no, take Dagger OH for cleansing and a mobility burst.

• Can you rely on your group mates’ CC? If yes, take a staff. If no, use dagger/focus or, in some situations, LH.

• Does your group fail at meleeing boss? If yes, don’t use LH.

• Does your group DPS is so high that everything dies fast yet you are still having troubles? Look at the combat log to see what attack kills you and stop using every long casting skills at your disposal or trying to stick in a set rotation. Use both Ice bow and LH, plus Arcane shield.

2. The Training Wheel:

• Build: 0/30/10/20/10 (Dagger/Focus/Fresh Air variation). Use water X for your master trait. Damage will be average, but you have a nice boost of vitality and condi cleanse at your convenience as well as Vigor on Crit (Arcana II). A fair warning, this one might not be accepted in a meta speedrun.
• You can still use LH, just dont expect to camp with LH for damage. LH works better as an AOE blind + cleave.
• Healing skills: Arcane Brilliane when stackings against a lot of mob and Signet of restoration/Glyph against boss
• Utility skills:
  Signet of Fire at all time, swapped out when attacking structures.
  Arcane shields to protect yourself during FGS rush or block against massive pressure. I save it for break stun mostly.
  Mist form for skipping trash and to avoid fatal attack.
  Armor of Earth for short duration stability and protection.
  Glyph of Powers applies condition based on attunement. Best used in Fractals.
  Glyph of Storms: Sandstorm: 10 sec of applying aoe blinds. Lightning storms: massive aoe burst, best used in Fractals
  Signet of Earth: extra immobilization. Spam it on mobile bosses. Best used against Tar (arah p1) and fractal bosses.
  Earth Elemental: the manliest tank ever.
• Sigil of Energy: It’s expensive, but well worth it.
• Position: Always move through your enemy bosses to stay at their back. Keep doing so even when they try to face you. Some bosses have a huge cleave range and angle (like 270 degree or so) like Arch Diviner and Abom. You can also predict Lupi’s kick that way.
• Last note: Never ever chicken out and range a boss at 1200 range while your whole group is meleeing.

While waiting for the group to be filled…

^ That’s precisely how Jerem uses it. The only difference is he’s a mesmer, hence the portal. Hurray!!!

I have maybe like 15 recipes for sigil of momentum :|

Lupi has gained a new power (in pugs).

shOOtstyle.8742:

Elestian.6134:

We need a little more info to give any meaningful advice. For example: What game mode is this for (PvE, PvP, WvW)? What build are you running or what have you tried running in the past?

In general I’d say the trick to playing zerker ele is to know your limits. Stick the outskirts of a fight and back out when you must (though this may be easier/more difficult depending on your weapon set—I’d outright not recommend going zerker on d/d). Getting targeted can be tough if you have little survivability.

My question was for general PvE such as Dungeons and Fractals.
Generally I tried the following specs:

Staff (30/10/10/10/10) – Generally a good build, but you camp at fire and it has almost no group support (low might stacking). Also LoSing is difficult with this spec too.

S/D (25/10/10/25/0) – My favorite of all listed builds, but still low survivability, condition remover and when your LH or FB is gone you do like no dmg.

D/D (0/20/0/20/30) – Nice to play with good survivability but very low damage compared to other classes.

D/D (30/30/0/0/10) – Absolutely glassy imo. Great mobility but extremely low survivability.

D/F (30/30/10/0/0) – More defesive than D/D, but still too glassy as you are in melee range.

Maybe you guys good give me some advices for those or similar builds?

• You don’t really need mobility in dungeons. D/D is a poor set of weapons for anything besides tagging mobs for Bloodlust/Precision stacks. Even so, an ice bow would beat it quite easily.

• x/D is not great for skipping trash mobs. Using it to travel over far distance in Arah is fine. Sc/D is easier to stack might during a boss fight and you need to make sure that no one ever steals your LH.

• The problem of your survivability is not at the builds. I personally use them all and even have some of my own variation for duo/solo/pug purpose. If you can be more specific in what encounters make you feel overwhelmed, it will be easier to give you more detailed advices.

D/F (30/30/10/0/0) – More defesive than D/D, but still too glassy as you are in melee range.

A personal favorite. It works great at high level fractals and casual fast dungeon runs, fairly well in a Lupi duo/trio. It can also work as a situational staff build.

My ele was waiting for the group to fill in the magnificent scene of Arah.

ANET PLS!

Read the sign.

I wonder how much inferior the combination of Assassin Head/Coat/Pants and Zerk Shoulder/Glove/Boots compared to the full Zerk?

Well, until I am able to get my old account back, please allow me to present you the next challenge:

3. The Legendary Mark T-B34RC3 in all paths of CoE. This guys is one interesting opponent. Taken off wiki:
- He has 4 turrets, Retaliation, Cleansing, Regeneration, and Protection.
- A one-hit-KO purple projectile
- A stun aoe which looks like Lightning field
- A whirling knock back attack.

How would you deal with him in your regular groups/ pug groups/ groups with and without reflections? Please do share your experience.

Thank you Roxstar and Dekeyz for your very insightful advices. It took me quite long to be able to roll Mai Trin and test out your tactics as well as a new one developed by a friend of mine.

Prior to sharing this new strategy, I have been using a strat similar to what DEKeyz advises, namely D/F (with energy focus and Scarlet’s army slaying potion) and Ethereal Renewal, Arcane Shield, Mist Form, Signet of Earth, and Rock Golem on my utility bar. I also swap out Bolt to the Heart for Zephyr’s Aura to supply myself with occasional swiftness. In my variation,

• Rock Golem, alternating with Flesh Golem from my teammate necro, was used to tank Mai upfront during the first stage of the shield (from 10 to 5).
• Earth Signet and Magnetic Grasp to immobilize, then apply chill and criple to slow down Mai Trin’s normal walking speed. It allows one can back pedaling against her while others focus on damage.

While this build is good as it supplies a substantial defense to a pure zerk ele. The ele can still get downed easily by spike damage from the canon projectiles and conditions when having low HP.

Onto this new strategy I have mentioned, I present you Conjure Earth Shield or Anti-Mai Shield Complete Package. This shield, when summoned, provides 180 Vitality, 180 Toughness plus:

• Stone Sheath (duration 2.25 s, cool down 8 s) a really long block with the shortest CD of all professions in game. Last 60 s of the shield duration.

• Magnetic Surge (cast time 0.75 s, cool down 12 s) and Magnetic Shield (cast time 1.5 s, cool down 25 s) are both spammable cc. I have used them almost off CD to stun lock Mai during the burst phase. Magnetic Surge can be used as Dash during canon phase as well.

• Fortify (duration 3 s, cool down 30 s) to tank Mai Trin in the lightning aoe.

I had a chance to try it in my last 49 run and the result was fantastic. I was able to comfortably take a few hits while still completely blocking all the shadow shots at max melee range. The shield was always off cd after the canon phase. The second shield can be given to a teammate who cannot handle the heat. In fact, a guard in my group has given in to the temptation and enjoyed it very much.

The elite slot is given to FGS for mobility during the canon phase.

Dear OP, what level of fotm are you working on? From my experience, any thing below 30 shouldn’t be an issue to zerker/scholar elementalists given with both melee D/F builds or mid-range staff builds. The zerker ele has a very little room for errors. The only reasons to get wrecked are 1. not understanding the boss mechanics, 2. abusing your defensive utilities and 3. having a bad pug. A successful fotm run depends heavily on a good amount of reflection, cc and line-of-sight bursting. If pugging fotm 40+ is your thing, then I advise you to look for a regular coordinated group instead, or just roll your guardian or a mesmer. That said, a good zerk ele is a great asset to any fotm groups. Ele utility skills truly shines in each and every fractals.
if you’re in EU, I’ll be more than glad to invite you into my fotm daily run.

Edit: Don’t forget to bring your focus to fractals.

Also, this: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Strategy-against-dungeon-and-fractal-bosses/first#content
I’m hoping to bring up a new subject weekly or biweekly.

Lindbur.2537:

Lilith Ajit.6173:

if I had picked a less interesting field to study

Chemistry in a nutshell.

Chemistry is cool. C&EN has many good reads as well.

Lilith Ajit.6173:

IrisTheCasual.3742:

New shiny

http://gw2style.com/look.php?id=546

Woooow congrats ^^

Onto the next one very soon!

For an ele, to switch between Fresh Air and Staff builds in FotM. For dungeons, only min-maxing matters, even with a sub-optimal build, dungeons are still very easy, without the need to retrait.

Another fair example is pugging Arah then realizing that the pug is bad and you end up solo or duo Lupi without Vigor on crit. It can be painful for eles, but still feasible without the need to retrait.

maxinion.8396:

Rentapest.6503:

Airo.3860:

I just started with PvE and after few hours of playing it, I am speechless. In every single dung i met ppl who are just running and ignoring tons of mobs. They dont care if they die, like 30×. They just run and trying to avoid. WTF is dat? there is absolutly no reward for killing them? Its worth to avoid 50% of dung? I am almost sure, killing it would be faster then trying to run like mindless npc.
but fighting with bosses is even better – bug or nothing. I can understand, everybody is trying to use glitchies and bugs in their favor. But this is just wrong.
Pve is about how to not pve.
This game cannot be kittened as this. Nothing can. (except legue of legends)

Do you know why people do this? Because there are no Tanks/Healers in the game! Simple.

PvP is great without Tanks and Healers because everyone is more balanced, that is how this game seems to be designed.

PvE however, cannot function without Tank, Healer and DPS triangle. It’s just dumb to think you can send 5 players with no survival in to a dungeon and expect them to tank a boss.

As a sollution, for PvE dungeons, players should receive a buff that drastically increases their toughness, vitality and healing. This should make dungeons more playable for those of us that aren’t wanting to use exploits or reroll as Warr/Guard.

lmao

you do realize a full cleric’s team can beat dungeons with literally zero dodging, right? just literally standing there taking damage.

toughness is plenty powerful, but super duper slow— that’s why people don’t use it.

Full clerics team in fractals. No dodge allowed.

I would love to have free re-traiting in fractals.

It just saves everyone the hassle of hopping out and back into dungeons for re-traiting. I don’t see a sane reason for why it should be restricted in instance. Dungeons are already easy as they are currently.

New shiny

http://gw2style.com/look.php?id=546

Late night pugging

When a fractal run was smooth and extremely pleasant, it is only reasonable to be genuinely happy for others’ hefty rewards.

Fractal marathon extravaganza: 19, 9, 38, 49 <3 <3 <3

is it the boss’ meteor shower or the blue fire from the elite/vet mages? Well, I always dodge away from them whenever I feel their intense stare.

Lilith Ajit.6173:

layzoe.6035:

IrisTheCasual.3742:

Guys, stop making hot chicks! XD

Edit: I think I’m partially blamed for promoting sexiness recently. But seriously, what are you gonna do when your chick goes for a swim? Quagganize her, please!

Oh you can see the underwear on Mina if you cam up.. she’s a harlot. And it doesn’t match

ERP.. ahahahaha that’s a word that I didn’t expect from GW2. O.O

ERP all day err day on TC.

Salma district whaaaaat

:3 oooh… I love it.

How’s about a shot every time I mess up and a gulp of water every time I rez someone?

Lol, Mina. What an adventure!!! I should drink and do dungeons next time. Operation: Iris learns to drink.

Hmm, where in the game is this Ascalon mage’s Rain of fire?

Hello, Dub! wave wave

I’m thinking of fractals where Force/Night are often not needed. The fact that Lightning Whip has a very good cleave range and fastest attack rate will make any new on-crit sigils worth considering in situations like Cliffside, Ascalon or Weapon Facility.

God, why is this guy a French? Totally breaking my immersion :’<

Maybe 50 each pls, considering how each of them requires Obsidian shard as well. It would take about 300-400 shards for this gift.

I would love to know if the currently unlocked dyes become account bound, before rushing to the TP to hoard all my favorite dyes.

I support your idea, seeing myself has worked hard enough to attain those required items

Lindbur.2537:

It’s official: I’m not setting foot in the Aetherpath again for the next 3 months – forever.

Here is a Kleenex. Now, let me feast on your suffering know what happened

Does that Lightning Strike requires a targeted enemy?

Guys, stop making hot chicks! XD

Edit: I think I’m partially blamed for promoting sexiness recently. But seriously, what are you gonna do when your chick goes for a swim? Quagganize her, please!

I’ll probably consider it for my D/F setup in Fractals. Need something that accompanies Sigil of Force and proc relatively well at range.

Purple Miku.7032:

I actually got kicked at the end of my Arah P3 solo that I was giving out for free because I was in berserker gear. Two people stalk my stream and wait for any opportunity to arise like that and they threaten to forever kick me from my instances unless I “stop exploiting by running past mobs (they think that if you don’t kill every mob in Arah, you’re cheating) with meta gear and encouraging toxic gameplay.”

Not even kidding lol.

I feel upset for you Stupid leechers don’t deserve your grace. I’m sorry about your experience.

hendo.1940:

the true GW2 endgame:

http://i.imgur.com/U2xlrH3.jpg

snuggling up to charr and scissoring

ERP… hmm…. mmm…

Taku.6352:

Am I the only one who thinks that the zodiac armors are utter garbage?

You are the only few ;D

R.I.P. My double stacking weapons.

Found a little gem through Nike’s reddit post:

http://gw2style.com/leaderboard.php

Ouch, guys, you’ve got to graduate so I can kick ya!!!

Ouch! Are you able to play anymore?

and,

Long live Her Awesomeness! I’ll buy all the Zodiac Skins when the Skin Locker is enabled.

I won’t be in game in 4 hours. I really appreciate it if anyone can help me send the invites.

Quick question: what is the limit of members a guild can have?

Dalanor.5387:

Question to a few posters above.
Which bosses one-shot you outside of Lupi, Mossman and Archdiviner?

Enrage Grawl Shaman, Brie and Golem’s pink pewpew, Risen Deadeye, Risen Illusionist (Elite), Subject Alpha, Abomination… :P

Technically, all the one-shot can be dodged, block or evaded.

Xae Isareth.1364:

You can have roles quite easily without the trinity. To me, the trinity is good as aspects of a character’s properties, but just like strength/dex/int/vit/etc, forcing a character to just have strength and nothing else makes things rather boring.

There is a point to building defensively, if I just even change the traits around and stay in zerker gear on my Guardian, I find that my surivability goes up by a ton. If I go full bunker, its almost impossible to get killed in PvE.

1. Going more defensive means 1hko attacks often won’t kill you. There’s a huge difference between being left on 1k HP and being dead.
2. Once you stop getting hit by 1hkos, there still a lot of things which you will just get hit by. As a example, on a DPS Guard, since you can’t blind dredge, sometimes you will just take hits because you can’t dodge/reflect everything, at least not in a not-very-organised party, and that extra survivability helps there.

I’m not too sure a boss can possibly defend against CCing without some sort of immunity. That’s not really even something the trinity can solve anyways, every MMO, trinity or not, has some sort of Defiance mechanic. I got no problems with Defiance, but it just isn’t being used properly here.

From what I can see, no, GW2 definitely isn’t there yet, but its making progress. We’re definitely getting more encounters where there are definitive roles, a personal favorite being Subject Six.

Also, I’ve always believed that some stuff just aren’t supposed to have roles. It really depends on the fight, for example, trying to slot roles into the Thermanova Anomaly fight would just end up with a mess, because that fight just wasn’t designed to have any particular roles; but it doesn’t make it a bad fight, quite the opposite in fact.

While I agree with most of what you’ve said, I have something more to add.

• Defiance mechanic is fine. It may need a bit of improvement but it works with the intelligent use of CC in a coordinated group. If people complain about Defiance while pugging is their only experience then they need to step up their game; communicate with your pug or get into a guild run.
• A lot of bosses are trivialized by smart uses of CC such as the Golem boss in all paths of CoE, Subject Six in Thaumanova fractal and Shoggoth (tar boss) in Arah p1. They are bosses that zerker group can just not stack and dps.
• There are soft roles in the Thaumanova Anomaly fight. If everyone is running around like headless chickens, quite a few would fall to their death.

Whenever I see an improper skill is used, I’ll think that person is trying to troll me. I have short temper with pugs. If I was in the group, I wouldn’t kick anyone but rather forfeit that instance.

Dekeyz has a massively excellent guide for Ele, which presents not only many variations of builds but also videos of how to do rotation and how to play ele in a certain dungeon settings.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Guide-DPS-Elementalist-for-PvE/first

When I first got into my ele, what I did is to follow these guides like Dekeyz, get the feel of how I could survive with the new builds and compare it to how I used to perform. Then I started to invest more in expensive runes/sigils as I improved my skills. As Lilith has said, a lot is practice. If reading isn’t your thing, watching videos on youtube, either video guides like Dekeyz’s or Ele’s PoVs in any record speedrun helps tremendously.