Guild Wars 2

P Fun Daddy.1208:

It’s pretty much only good for arcane power. Everything else ends up being really lackluster (who really cares about the small burn or chill? the blind is okay, but the immobilize duration is atrocious), but with arcane power you can easily stack 15 seconds of chill, 25 burn, and five seconds of immobilize.
Even then, its on a 36 second at minimum cooldown.

!

I had no idea it did this! That’s incredible. I’m going to have to give this a shot. Thanks!

[Edit] For theorycrafting: If that’s true… Do you suppose this might work with it:

Start in Earth.
Drop Ice Bow.
Arcane wave (for initial immobilize)
Arcane Power
Ice Storm (still earth attuned).

Each bolt falling (first 5) will cause AoE immobilize with the already-ludacrous damage and guaranteed crit…
That would be pretty lol.

[Edit Edit] If this becomes a ‘thing’ i’m going to dub it the ‘Go-go gadget Icebow’. You all witnessed it. It’s official.

SlayerUK.5029:

Really interesting build, I see where I went wrong when trying fire axe now :P, I just don’t like being up close and personal, esp with zerk.

Atm I’m running a zerker 30/10/0/0/30 but with persisting flames (for longer lava font and fury for me/team) but the most important difference is Elemental surge which I carried over from the S/F build.

Maybe it’s gimmicky but it’s hilarious putting down a lava font then switching to earth and using both arcane abilities + shockwave to lock them inside it plus deal so much damage, sometimes I’ll cast meteor shower before this combo for even more madness. The immobilise can also guarantee shockwave to land if used the opposite way.

Elemental surge is also good for being defensive and offensive at the same time with blinds and immobilises, the burning is ok and chill is not used much unless it’s a melee class I wanna troll with no condi removal or perhaps runners. The reduced cooldown has them up all the time and arcane briliance also applies the condi (I just wish they would merge the 25% energy gain at last or add condi removal to their use as someone mentioned). You can also blind people for stomps in air attunement

One with air is also neat as I can switch to air while burning retreat for insane distance or use it with FGS for roaming, (but also helps to gain a little distance while crippled/chilled) I used to use tornado for the meteor shower combo, but I just find FGS too useful plus you can then call down a firestorm, fiery rush then fiery whirl, after the meteor, for probably the same damage, and is epic for disengage.

I too have trouble with thieves, so look forward to seeing your next video. Just posting this for a different playstyle that can still support but is a bit more offensively defensive. Atm I use sigil of fire for more AoE dmg but perhaps energy will help me survive that bit longer against thieves.

I really wanted Elemental Surge to work for me. But it’s really hard to give up a blast finisher (equates to a heal with staff) and a rolling heal. I also found it difficult to use my arcane abilities in Earth (for immobilize) since you don’t get any fields in earth. Like you said though, you could drop a lava font then switch into earth for the immobilize, but it’s really risky since the lava font field is so small.

I may have to revisit it if I decide to go more glassy. Having a few ranged immobilizes could make the ranged bombs more worthwhile.

cheese.4739:

Biomanz.9302:

If your water roll EA is on cooldown and need another heal, can still switch to Earth and roll within a geyser for a water blast while staying inside it. Of course, will need blasting staff.

Actually, a dodge from one edge of an untraited Geyser’s field (along its diameter) will stay within it. Dodges are 300 units* and the diameter of Geyser is 360 units.
I’ve not been running blasting staff in a while, mostly so I can play with the Arcane blasts Brilliance and Wave on shorter cooldowns – enjoying it so far!

*this is what wiki says, and I just tested to make sure – it’s definitely completely possible to dodge within a Geyser field and get the full benefit of its own heals, without blasting staff.

Slightly related: you can Burning Retreat from one edge of the Graveyard capture point in Foefire, and still stay within the point – just make sure you’re facing outwards, perpendicular to the tangent of the circle. Great distance from a foe, and you can get off a couple of CC skills or a heal before they close the gap.

I’ve been playing with the idea of dropping blasting staff as well. As great as the large fields are, most of the combos presented don’t actually require the range to be increased since its largely about controlling your opponent anyways. I may have to give that a try.

I personally love fighting in graveyard, so I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. There’s lots of places for staff eles to freecast up on the high ground and lay down some great DPS. Thanks for the suggestion

P Fun Daddy.1208:

LightningBlaze.4913:

By the way KFC have you considered using fgs instead of tornado in conjunction with the meteor shower combo.

Tornado triples your power, FGS gives 260ish. Not much competition there.

Pretty much this. FGS is great for getting out in WvW, but I haven’t really tested it much in sPvP. I’m certain there are a handful of combos one could come up with that will make it more interesting (I think it has a leap and a firefield at least).

But I don’t think there’s any comparing to Meteor + Tornado. Tornado also gives huge precision which causes those meteors to crit like crazy

Biomanz.9302:

If your water roll EA is on cooldown and need another heal, can still switch to Earth and roll within a geyser for a water blast while staying inside it. Of course, will need blasting staff.

You don’t even need blasting staff. You just need to make sure you cast the guyser in front of you, so your roll finishes inside it. You’ll miss the initial tick, but you’ll get the blast finish (which is far more valuable)

cheese.4739:

Okay I’ve still not gotten round to watching your video, but I’m loving this thread – positive chat about the staff, and good advice/tips too!

I’ve not yet played with the Flame Axe conjure… at all, really. Still sticking with glyphs and trying to live without cantrips – it works, for the most part, since staff has Burning Retreat and all that CC should I need to disengage. And I love my glyphs.

Water fields are not unique to our class. Our ability to freely utilize them is.

This is so incredibly true. Geyser even has a quick cast and good healing on its own, so you can run in, lay it down, then EA-earth or Arcane Wave to bring someone well back from the brink – and you’ve still got a second field to do this later in the fight, along with your slot-heal of choice for your own difficult moments.

By the way, Engineers only get their water fields from the Healing Turret’s activated skill or its undeployed tool belt skill – the Supply Crate’s turrets can’t be overcharged – and the tool belt only gives a 1s field so requires a lot of coordination to get allies to land their own blasts in.
Staff Ele really is the only class who has reliable water fields they can freely share, particularly in the less-organised teams you’ll tend to find in soloq.

I’m also impressed by the (relatively) positive response to this post as well. I thought people would read “Staff PvP” and immediately begin the troll war. So far, so good.

And that’s good to know regarding the engineers. Even with the large, ground-targeted healing rain, people don’t seem to notice it and immediately leave the field making it difficult to heal them. Often times, i’ll inform my teammates before-hand to watch out for those fields. I don’t think they actually do

Thanks for watching!

LightningBlaze.4913:

There were 2 eles group roaming with this build (including the fire axe) from my server. Your influence is spreading!

Yes! I can already see the guildmate’s eyes roll when they get split in half by a fire axe. The naysayers will get theirs!

Biomanz.9302:

Yea I’ve seen some staffers burning retreat to chase some people but I usually reserve it for defense since it seems much more valuable that way. But I sometimes use it both defensive and offensive as I’m running from someone and they’re literally just running through the fire then Earth 2, 4 to stop them, then Fire 2 ->go to town on him. Over half the time they run away and I end up chasing lol.

Immobilized and can’t get away? Burning retreat or with axe will save you most of the burst. Also don’t forget Air 4 to escape cripple and chilled too. Can potentially save your teammates around you as well. I’ve never seen a staffer use these defenses which is kinda puzzling.

Burning retreat while immobilized. That has some great potential there. I’m going to have to give that a try.

Neko.9021:

This is a great guide. <3

Thank you! Tell your friends!

deda.8302:

kiding righ “unique to our class”
Engi can do lot more blasts on his won wf and have acess to light smoke and fire fields,not sure if i missed some
ranger have access to wf and blast finishers so wht is so unique?

Back when our guild was young, we tried to use Ranger water fields with our groups. It didn’t work. The reason for that was because the water field is also their personal heal (the same goes for the engineer, but I believe they can also get one with their elite supply-drop ability)

This is not the case for Elementalist, and is what makes it so unique. Both engineers and Rangers both have water fields as part of their personal heal. So the skill is not on-demand like it is for elementalist.

We can literally give our water fields away without hindering ourselves. It’s built right into our skillset! We’re not even using utility slots for it. This is what makes our water fields unique.

I can decide to heal my team whenever I please. I don’t need to alter my build. And I don’t need to sacrifice my heal.

Water fields are not unique to our class. Our ability to freely utilize them is.

Also: who likes rangers anyways? Thanks for watching!

P Fun Daddy.1208:

Thanks for the video!
It gives eles like me who don’t want to hug cantrips some hope.
Some jerk warrior started trying to shame me for not being able to 1v1 him… with zerk staff, in hotjoin.
Not that I was trying to do anything other than run away.

You can 1v1 plenty of players. Zerk warriors are actually one of the easiest classes to beat as a staff elementalist using the combos above.

Watch out for the immobilize. When they immobilize you—drop water and blast away. If you have any defensive utilities (mist form), use this instead.

After that, just keep dropping combos. If you cycle your CC appropriately, they should do very limited damage to you, and they’ll drop faster than a french maid.

But best of all, because of their limited range everything works on them. Shockwave. Gust. Frozen Ground—all of these are much harder to land on other opponents. Furthermore, because they don’t stealth like thieves, they are so much more predictable. You can land your Unsteady Ground, and static fields on them easily every time (but watch out for their stability).

The only real trick is avoiding that initial burst damage (which they love) and know that it’s coming. A good warrior will save their immobilize until you waste your defensive utilities (don’t waste em!)

MarzAttakz.9608:

KFC – “burning retreat” – learn how to use it both offensively and defensively.

Defense is fairly obvious. Offensively it’s a fire field, roll over downed players with no movement skills, 180 burning retreat with swiftness up is a pretty big gap closer too.

Thanks for the tips in your vid, keep ’em coming.

That’s an excellent suggestion. I don’t use burning retreat as often as I could. I’m not sure if I mentioned it in the video—but for me, the prime area of damage is around 600 range. This puts you within striking range of your arcane brilliance, arcane shield (explosion), evasive arcana, and is much more likely to succeed in landing a Gust and Shockwave.

Even if you plan on using meteor shower + tornado, you don’t want to be a full 1200 range from the target because then you take 3+ seconds to get back in there with the tornado. I’m more likely to pop arcane shield and cast meteor from around 600 range, and then jump right back in.

Because of how far Burning speed actually goes, I tend to only use it if I intend to leave the fight—although admittedly it definitely has more applications in duels.

Burning retreat with flame axe definitely provides that extra fire field if you really need it (if they left the fire circle). Thanks for the suggestion!

Arganthium.5638:

The problem with asking for the most common builds is that the vast, vast majority of thieves run extremely different builds, and pinning any one down as one of the three most common would be extremely difficult. There is, however, a different method that you could use which would be much more efficient IMO. Simply break down thief builds into three different types. Personally, I’d break them down as following:

1. D/P and D/D builds (which are, incidentally, the two most common thief weaponsets, but they have absolutely massive build diversity) (very similar weaponsets)

2. S/D builds (very, very different from all other thief builds)

3. S/P and P/D builds (should be the shortest section actually, they’re fairly similar to builds of other classes but IMO inferior)

I’d be delighted to help you with your guide if you wanted. I personally specialize in S/D but am very proficient with D/X builds as well.

EDIT: I’m saying that you should break down builds into these three types because within each type, all of the builds are extremely similar or are very easy to relate to one another. The exception is S/P and P/D, but those can be compared to warrior builds and necro builds, respectively, quite easily.

That sounds like an excellent idea. I’ll edit my original post to properly reflect this (since the post is still relatively fresh)

XerreX.7196:

a simple rule: in solo Q everything is viable if mastered, vs organised teams in tPvP, well i dont even have to say it: D very unviable

I’ve spent some time doing tPvP yesterday, in fact.

Admittedly, we didn’t do great. We only won 2/5. But one of the rounds we lost, we played against another staff elementalist who also did quite well.

I realize that scoreboard isn’t a good indicator of performance, but in neither case were we at the bottom of the scoreboard (in fact, the other elementalist was at the top).

If you refine your comment, you might change it to say that staff elementalist is not viable at a competitive level of play (top 100 teams). I don’t have a leg to stand on to argue that point, and is very possibly true.

But buried in your comment there is the concession that staff is viable in solo Q. And if that’s all I can prove, then that’s enough

Thanks for your comments!

Hey guys,

I’m putting together a video for another class [elementalists] and they raised some questions asking about how to combat thieves. I want to include commentary from a thief perspective and to do this, I’d like to know what the 3 most common (in your opinion) thief builds are so that I can dissect them for a very general guide. Preferably, one from each weapon set as made by the suggestion below by Arganthium.

Clarify: I am not asking you for the best builds. I am asking you for the 3 most common builds (Featuring one from each weapon set, ignoring the least common weapon sets)

A link to the builds would be most appreciated. If you have any input on how each build is played, and what you think their weaknesses are that would also be helpful as I’m going to spend some time playing each one to gather the specific technical details.

Thanks.

Basedgod.7328:

Azilyi! Great video! So that’s how you were healing to full when I was fighting you XD. Can’t wait to see more. The moment when I first picked up your spare flame axe and was like: Who the kitten is using this? Lol.

I think the only set up you’re really missing is dropping Ice Spike/Eruption, dropping a static at the same spot and then pushing the baddie into the static field where the AoE will land; following up with a Lava font. It’s a good combination to be aware of as you’re using that Air 3 as a surprising offensive tool to counter pressure an advancing baddie.

Have you tried this with a Valkyrie Amulet with celestial/zerker jewel? It’s probably something I’d move towards if using this (haven’t tried myself though).

If only there was a trait that removes conditions when activating an arcane skill somewhere in our trait lines, I’d be completely sold and switch to this.

Hey Hjik!

So in the original post I wrote “Im not even the best elementalist in my guild…” I may have been thinking of you. Hehe…

I took a look at running Valkyrie. That does seem like a really good middle-ground between zerker and celestial. I will definitely give this a try when I get home. Running signet of Earth as well, for that extra toughness might make it more survivable/give you that extra immobilize for a combo.

Very interesting. I will be looking into it for sure.

On the note of the gust combo. You don’t know how badly I wanted to make that work! I thought about trying that one too, but I could never land it. Maybe I just need more practice.

Dropping ice spike/eruption behind them as they approach… risky! You miss that gust and they’re on you like white on rice and you just lost your static field—no eruption hit, and water/air/earth is on cooldown. Eep.

I can’t do it. But then again, I’m not you I’ll have to get you to show me sometime.

Thanks for watching!

At first I was going to make a lengthy post at how wonderful air is.

But then you said ‘PvE’ so nevermind.

I can see your complaint. But its a fine element for the other aspects of the game.

Forzani.2584:

Great stuff KFC. You should make a video vs Thieves as you have suggested. I’m sure many would enjoy it!

Edit: WvW zerg surfing. Playing around at work with some theory craft. Not sure if I can get enough swiftness with the blasts and windborne or if I will need Sig of Air.

Here is my first go at it.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQFAGnEEVZYvBKHGACKIwAhCLgo8ImdsB-j0xAoLACEQCsIaslxioxqYw0nER1e8ioVLFATKjA-w

The thief video will most likely be my next project. I will need to brush up on my thief lingo though to provide proper commentary. But soon!

I like the build. In fact, it is very close to what I run in WvW in terms of gear. I tended heavily towards Knights with a mix of zerker jewelry which makes you one hell of a cannon for zerg fights. [Edit: I actually run Eagle runes instead of Melandru though]

The only place we really differ on is utility slots. There are a lot of great guides out there for WvW and more than enough people with strong opinions on the matter, so I won’t go into extraneous detail on my own build.

The utilities I run (using the sPvP build) for WvW are as follows:

Arcane Brilliance, arcane wave, arcane shield, Lightning flash.

But to be honest, the only reason you would run this build for ZvZ is because you had the intention of being caught alone once in a while (or at the very least with a couple of friends). In a true zerg, the warriors/shortbow thieves will blast your water fields for you.

A guildmate describes an elementalist’s role in ZvZ as ‘An artillery piece’ which is pretty close to the way I play the class as well. There is a huge difference in the way you play elementalist in ZvZ and GvG than you might in sPvP which is probably a big part of the reason many staff elementalists have problem with it when first starting sPvP.

WvW involves very little combo competency. It relies heavily on just dropping all of your cooldowns in quick succession—saving your CC for setting up your zerg instead of your own attacks (like lightning field for pre-engage/earthshakers)

This would be absolutely horrible and exactly opposite of what you’re trying to do in sPvP.

Good luck!

Windwalker.2047:

Very nice video,you explain most of the big combos quite well (flame axe stuff is neat but i find cunjures to be way too clunky for pvp,while something like arcana blast is a 1500 range instant nuke that can also chill or burn if you shoot it through a field)
Still don’t like the lack of damage tho-I get the whole ‘Im going to help my team by sitting in the thick of it taking hits then healing through them’ strategy,but as you said yourself at the end of the video-you should not be taking any hits.
A thief will kill a zerker or celestial ele just the same in a 1v1,meaning your only defense against them is your cc and simply avoiding them (example-when you were racing that thief to the point,even with all my cc blown i would have just followed him and meteor shower-ed the point,since no thief no matter how tanky can live through a full storm,meaning he either has to fight me (which is when i would burning retreat and run away) or sit on the point and die to lava font-m shower-arcane wave-arcane blast combo which can insta gib zerkers,either way the point is saved)
The meteor shower + tornado combo is my favorite in WvW.will have to try it in PvP i have been using the glyph mostly for sweet utility.
Celestial would be nice if it wasn’t so lacking in power-your ~1500 compared to my ~2300,meaning you would need about 20 might stacks to even come close to the base damage of zerkers without might (1k damage meteor shower wont really scare anyone)
edit:scrach that pvp celestial is horrible,i just remembered that zerkers also gives you the same vit as it,meaning you are trading most of your damage for 340 of tough,cond and healing.-so bad-go zerker or go home
All in all,very good guide,thanks for making it. #churrnbomb4life

Hey WindWalker – thanks for your well thought-out reply!

Zerkers, in theory, could work. Especially if there is no thief on the other team. And although I have some reservations about being able to handle a thief in celestial gear, I largely agree with you. It won’t make much difference if you have celestial, or Zerkers gear versus a glass thief.

But that doesn’t make you defenseless. And my solution to fighting thieves (although limited) is highly reliant on the toughness you don’t get from Zerkers:

DO NOT pre-engage the thief. Let him come to you (he’s going to anyways). When he appears, immediately drop your water field and blast it. Often times, they will hit you with immobilize. That’s fine. You don’t need to move to heal. Your toughness plays a vital role in this part of the fight because its damage mitigation properties. You can go right back to full health after their initial combo using this technique.

While healing, you’re also dealing damage to the thief. It’s very likely he’ll back off shortly, so make sure you apply condition damage (Also something that Zerkers doesnt get). Wait for him to come back in, and then drop unsteady ground and use it to keep the thief away from you. If he hits it, use that chance to apply direct damage/conditions again if possible.

Right before Unsteady ground is about to go down, drop your AoE (eruption, lava font, ice spike) at your feet. A foolish thief will attempt to hit you, and you’ve got him. If he doesn’t, at least you get might stacks.

A good thief will wait until your AoE is gone. Assume, at this point, he knows what he’s doing and drop healing rain pre-emptively. If you cycle it right, hopefully you’ll have earth up. Drop every available Blast finisher into the healing rain as he comes in for the kill (Eruption/evasive arcana in earth/Arcane wave if its back up.)

Remember that with Arcane Mastery, your heal/arcane wave comes up every 20 seconds. This means that you only need to survive a fight with a thief in 20 second intervals. Every 20 seconds, you can put yourself to full (barring well placed immobilizes). Keep applying condition damage and direct damage. Use your AoEs to area-deny him easy access to deal damage. Do not use your AoEs to try and hurt him.

In short: Fighting a thief works VERY differently than fighting any other class because its really your antithesis. I think I may have to put up a video for this kind of fight specifically, because I feel that this is almost an entirely different game altogether.

Summary:
1. Save CC for defence. Never offense.
2. Blast water fields immediately. Heal early, heal often.
3. Use direct damage/condition damage. Use your AoEs as area-denial and stay in them to slow his attack pattern.

If I get into a game, and I see I’m going up against several thieves, I very often switch out my flame axe for mist form. This is also a great way to avoid their “Heartseeker, Heartseeker, Heartseeker” bullsnot.

Thanks for watching! I’m going to copy this comment to the youtube comments section as well, since a similar question was asked there.

harris.7964:

Hmmm…i ’ve seen the video (which is great,gj there) but i found it tooo “poroffessional” for an ele who has started pvping after 3 months and he used to olay D/D too.What do you think?Do you suggest it?

P.S Proffessional i mean the build and playstyle,not the video

Well I suppose if the only complaint is that its ‘too professional’ then I suppose I can live with that

I don’t recommend staff for people who play casually. This video is only going to help you become a better staff player. It takes a lot of time and effort to learn to do it correctly. But if staff is your thing, then I wish you the best of luck!

virtue.7235:

KrazyFlyinChicken.5936:

+*Burn the Zeitgeist: “Staff Elementalist sPvP Guide” [Video]*

Churn Bomb Video [1 Year Old]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUeSjnQmllA

i remember the churn bomb
was a lot of fun
churn bomb op!

KrazyFlyinChicken.5936:

but sadly every elementalist I know in WvW has gone to staff for lolmeteorstrikes

D/D for life

great guide azi

Hey Serane!

Still not going staff, eh? Well this was all for naught. /wrists

Biomanz.9302:

Lava Axe is now my favorite new toy alongside AWave and LF with a tankier 10/0/0/30/30 build with Celestial/Soldier’s amulet. The axe really helped achieve that perfect balance for me to provide water blasts/dodge roll for defense and might for offense. Even the auto attack isnt too bad compared to Fire 1 since it travels much faster. Now I can easily give 7 stacks of might at the start of a match – a coordinated team should easily get over 10! Only bad thing is my pug teammates always pick up my 2nd axe and sling 2 wasting the blast finisher lol ><

I just gotta say Earth 4 is probably the best troll skill in the game. Many times someone would charge at me even with Eruption underneath them, than SLAM, a rock wall comes up at their face sometimes twice as they try to run forward again. Equally hilarious chasing someone and watching them slam face first against it, or using it as a “tripline” for someone stealthed – see the wall erupt? Nuke that area fast. If they walk around it I can still Air 3 towards the wall, too.

Have fun with it! Lava Axe has a lot of combo potential, and there are plenty of other combos you can imagine with it. Good luck!

Earth 4 is a great ability. Possibly your first line of defence against most melee classes. Getting it to land right in front of them takes practice though so that they dont even get a chance to see it. But when you’re good at it, you can make it very frustrating for your opponent.

Gorni.1764:

The only thing that makes staff viable in sPvP is the conquest-mode. People tend to always stay on point (sometimes even when there’s no enemy standing in it ^^) With blasting staff you can cover small points entirely and will blow up squishy enemies that are engaged in group-fights. You will need clever positioning though (places where you can easily disengage from but are not that easily to reach for enemies) and something tanky that keeps enemies standing on the point. Otherwise you’ll be dead pretty fast when focused by more than one player.

Playing GC in Solo-Q I recently gained the impression that staff might even be the most effective weapon. You can’t 1v1, this for sure hasn’t changed. But you’ll win your team many team-fights.

Benefits of staff are:

• 1200 range (easy to disengage from fight and you tend to not be the main focus when standing outside the nodes)
• best mobility with burning retreat and on demand-swiftness (even better than D/D with it’s 40s RTL CD)
• best kiting-ability (with 5 abilities in total that let you slow/root or CC your enemies)
• many combo-fields (2! water-fields – not so reliant on water for defense) -> good support
• stupid longbow-warriors killing themselves because of magnetic aura
• once you learn the combos and how to use CCs staff is easier to play than other weapon-sets because of less high-CD-skillshots (most staff-spells actually have significant lower CDs than comparable spells on other weapons)
• in general good build-variety; only thing you really need is evasive arcana
• funny gameplay

I love using magnetic aura on killshot warriors. A lot of good stuff here. Positioning is definitely very important – but this guide was focused more on the combos and not so much general gameplay like the information provided here. So thanks for that!

Conquest mode really is a huge benefit to staff ele. And the fact that the circles are so small also helps with our relatively small AoE abilities like lava font. But a huge part of this tutorial is really aimed at helping people deal damage without relying on your opponent standing in one spot. The combos were all developed with the intention of giving your opponent as few options to evade your attacks as possible.

But its a fine balance between control and cooldown management to make that possible.

Thanks for your reply!

LightningBlaze.4913:

Excellent video krazyFlyingChicken. It was very educational and skillful of your part to play the staff ele so well. I really liked you initiative on trying something new like the fire axe for your playstyle. Honestly, that’s how I believe great players are born by taking the initiative on trying something new or less used by the masses and making it work great. Finally, I laughed so hard at the part where you get to say “ligenring elements which is great…….mmmm….. whatever.. meh could do without”.

Hahaha, yeah. I have several elementalists in my guild whom I troll with flame axe because they insist its garbage. In part, I made this video for them. But really, flame axe gives you a huge variety of new combos you can try outside the ones I gave you there. (I love using my leap finisher through my static field to daze. There’s a lot of potential for another combo there as well).

Lingering elements is great, but for my build it really only affects me when I switch out of fire. And the fact that it’s there would never change the way I play anyways

I’m glad you enjoyed the video!

GuildWarsPlayer.5608:

I’ve been running D/D in wvw and getting killed. Gonna try some staff builds after seeing this. Good video.

I used to play D/D myself so I can tell you how frustrating it might be to start off.

As I said in my post right above this one – the biggest difference between staff and D/D is learning to think a few steps ahead. The two weapons are worlds apart in terms of playstyle. It’s a lot like playing a whole new class which can be exciting

Thank you for your response!

Vinteros Asteano.1209:

This video has helped me out a ton. I understand a little more why things I do succeed and why sometimes I can have a massive lose streak. I’ve been playing staff mostly intuitively, and I realized my greatest moments is when I’m focused. Thanks for the video, learned a ton!

I know exactly what you mean!

Coming from D/D, it always made sense to just cycle through my elements as fast as I could, and try to lay down all my cooldowns as I thought I might need them. Learning/practicing these combos helped me to think 2-3 steps in advance and slow myself down. Staying in control is possibly the biggest difference between D/D and Staff and that requires huge focus.

Thanks for the high praise and I’m glad the video was of some help.

Ele Lady.6103:

Watched the guide and tried this out in hotjoin. It worked surprisingly well. I main staff ele in PvE and WvW, but never considered it as an option in PvP for some reason. At first I tought this build would lack too much condition removal, as I’m used to cleasing wave, but I survived them pretty well. And the viability of Lava Axe surprised me even more than staff

Thanks! I’m glad you found it of some use to you.

I have found that the cleansing fire trait in the fire tree really helps against condi builds. But what the build seriously lacks is a way to cleanse conditions when you need them to be cleansed. For example, I played a few people today who had me immobilized for 6+ seconds. Without a cleansing fire on cue, I was just bugsquash.

Cleansing fire in place of lava axe is a likely fix to that. But again, all preference. Thanks for watching!

Biomanz.9302:

Yea I tried 30/30/0/0/10 full zerker but found it too be too frustrating even though I can wreck groups. Even in hotjoin there’s always gonna be a thief who targeted me first. Really, anyone who came at me meant I had to run or start kiting, which means I’m not doing AOE where I need to. And I was hesitant to use any CD’s for fear of someone coming after me. A few times I also became victim of being rez fodder when a thieve instagibbed me and rezzed like 3 guys I meteored Plus necros, guardians, and sometimes warriors can still facetank me long enough to make me run. But when things go my away a little, all those pretty numbers become worth it heh.

Good point at predicting movement better when targeted. I think it’s most important for landing that Static Field if you cast the ring right in front of them.

Haha, this is exactly what I found when running zerkers. Seeing those 5-6k meteor showers makes it worth it…. at least for the 5 seconds just before some thief comes and sticks a knife in your eye

Windwalker.2047:

I only play staff ele in spvp,since maining an ele since launch has made me unable to play any other prof competently while making me a attument swapping monster.
What i do is roll full zerkers (scholar runes) with 30/20/0/10/10 (all the +dmg traits) with ether renewal,arcane blast & wave, sig of fire and glyph of elements.
My playstyle is basically being an extension of my teammates,following one and sitting at 1200 range and just murdering anyone that comes at them (blast + the new wave = ~4k ranged instant damage) then roaming from point to point where my guys are fighting,downing whoever they are dueling (all your aoe on a point means that point is now not safe to be on) and moving on to the next point while running away from any enemy that tries to 1v1 you (on the narrow pvp maps you just cast your aoe cc while running away and they will eat it)
Moral of the story-an epic area denial weapon in a capture the point mode=OP AS ALL KITTEN (if you have someone in front of you that is)
My internet is being an kitten right now will watch the video later to give you my thoughts.

Thank you for your comments! I look forward to reading your review.

I tried running full zerkers once, and I can definitely see where you’re coming from. If you’re not being targeted, you can really provide some great support for your team.

Another point that is worth mentioning – is that if you give yourself enough health/toughness, your character also becomes a key tool in helping you land your combos. Allowing yourself to be targeted will let you predict where your opponent will be moving. If you’re their primary target, like in the video, you can use the defensive combo (Eruption + Unsteady ground) to control him as he approaches.

But if you’re too glassy, you may need to save your CC just to get out of the way. And against some opponents (thieves) there’s just no winning. In full glass gear your life expectancy is about as long as your mist form

Biomanz.9302:

Liked the video and commentary! I tend to try casting Eruption first then immobilize to save Static Field but is more risky to miss the CC. Have you tried Lightning Flash instead of Arcane Shield? I’ve always used LF for the shorter cd and utility to either run away, dodge/cast meteor, chase, or burst down someone.

I hate shockwave for how unreliable it is. Unless your opponent is standing right in front of you, it almost always misses. So if you can land it without static then go for it! Make ’em bleed.

Lightning flash is a great utility, and I certainly can’t speak against it. In fact, I use it instead of arcane shield in WvW because without it, I tend to get rolled over by a pain-train more often than not. But in sPvP, I opted for arcane shield for two reasons: 1. my build is arcane-centric so I’m getting 10% crit damage for using it. And 2. It has an added bonus of helping you stomp players that are downed. Warriors, guardians, rangers, necros cant stop you from stomping them if you have arcane shield on.

Biomanz.9302:

I’ve been kittening around with Ice Bow for the redonculous damage but will try the axe – forgot it has blast/leap finishers and a rolling escape. Fire 4, Axe 3, 2+1 rolls from Energy Sigil, and LF makes for a perfect bail lol.

I totally forgot to mention the burning retreat on lava axe. I’m glad you brought it up. It’s actually a lot of fun to run in WvW as well for that reason. As a staff ele, you can get out of almost any situation with: Fire element: Burning retreat. Lava Axe: Burning Retreat. Lightning flash. GONE.

I tried Ice Bow for a while as well. I didn’t like it. The only useful ability in it is the AoE Ice Storm. After that, it’s completely useless. Flame Axe offers a lot of synergy with staff fields. It’s damage is a little lacking, but it really helps with might building especially since we have 30% boon duration from 30 pts in arcane.

Biomanz.9302:

How do you go against bunkers or kiters? I can’t sustain against a bunker in a node and feel like I have to burst a kiter before they wear me down. Maybe the Celestial Amulet will make me more durable.

Bunkers are my favorite thing to fight. They love to sit inside the circle or risk losing it. This makes it really easy to land all of your combos/AoE damage. You can basically sit in earth and spam-cast eruption on them until they’re forced to leave.

I can’t honestly say I’ve put any thought into kiters. Although admittedly, I am routinely outgunned from range by, say, a ranger. It’s interesting to note that I’ve found my ‘sweet spot’ to stand is about 600 range from my target. Getting into a range-fight further than that is always bad news because you really only have static field at that point to land a combo.

I’ll either just static field (combo 1)/close range to fight. Or I’ll line of sight him until he gets close enough to fight. I don’t ever really find a need to chase them down.

Thanks for your comments!

Da Beetus.1275:

Nice guide! I really appreciate how you focus on what I believe to be the single most important aspect of any build: how it is played. (^.^)d

Thanks! I have to say it’s a relief. I saw all these videos going up that seem to focus mostly on builds and skills explanations which I found, personally, very unhelpful. I made this guide to help someone like me—who knows my class already and is looking for a guide to get better. I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Churn bomb was great, back in the days of mindless zerging. Map blobs has put an unfortunate end to it though There are lots of fun stuff I’d still like to try to make it viable again, but sadly every elementalist I know in WvW has gone to staff for lolmeteorstrikes

Burn the Zeitgeist: “Staff Elementalist sPvP Guide” [Video]

The Zeitgeist

The currently perceived notion is that staff elementalists don’t belong in sPvP. After many internet searches and a couple of youtube videos I decided that this must have been the case. But what’s interesting about the search results that appeared were that many of them were made many months ago, before the recent changes to staff and many of our abilities.

Who I am

I do not profess to be the best elementalist in the game (not even in my guild), but I do consider myself more than competent. Over a year ago, with several others, I pioneered the ‘Churn Bomb’ and created a video which brought it into the mainstream. You can find the video at the end of this post.

Experienced Player Guide

This guide was done with the intention that you’re not an idiot. You should know all of your abilities and what they do before watching this. I do not get into detailed explanations of the abilities themselves, and focus a lot of my time on how they work together to produce a more potent effect.

That being said, since I am catering to a more experienced audience, I must first win your confidence that the weapon works. So I do not start with build information, or gear setups or lengthy explanations. We leap right into a tournament and I will pause the video at key points to explain real-world applications of your abilities.

Near the end of the video, if I still have your attention, I will display each combination of attacks in their entirety on a golem in the mists so that you can practice them yourself before taking your skills into the arena.

At the end of the video if you would really like to know what my build is I will include that as well.

The Flame Axe

The Flame Axe is a conjured weapon which is generally not used in sPvP for a variety of reasons. I realize it might be a huge leap of faith to accept that both staff and flame axe is viable, but I address this throughout the video—and at the end offer several alternatives in case you remain unconvinced. So do not make assumptions on my ability as a player based on this one utility slot.

And remember that to challenge a zeitgeist, means that one must think outside the box.

The Video

Enjoy the video, and please leave your comments on the youtube video or on this forum post and I will happily answer your questions!

sPvP Staff Elementalist Guide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDX7lo1xtak

Churn Bomb Video [1 Year Old]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUeSjnQmllA

deathTouch.9706:

Everytime I see “Min/Max” it makes me cringe a bit.

This!! I have no idea where this phrase came from originally—or why it exists at all.

lunyboy.8672:

Unlike rock, paper, scissors, which is exactly 100% metagaming, or 0% depending on who you believe.

Personally, the Most Effective Tactic Available is going to be my new go-to for why people call things META-builds for each profession.

…

I have no issues in using meta in most of these ways, though, since when you look at the “over-game” you are essentially considering the “meta” implications of certain tactics, tools, etc.

Agreed with all of this. Especially the Rock Paper Scissors, example. Looking at it that way, it really is a bit of a strange game—a game that is purely metagame…?

Kind of Ironic, when you think about it:

A game to which its only strategy exists entirely outside of the game itself. A game, to which, without the metagame, would not be a game at all. It would merely be an exercise in statistics.

… Mind. Blown.

Edit:

No wait, I forgot about Rock. Good ’ol Rock. Nothing beats Rock.

GrandmaFunk.3052:

Ahlen.7591:

D&D invented the metagaming term…

metagaming has been an element of games like chess and go for centuries.

Chess is like…. 90% metagaming

Ahlen.7591:

Like, you’re attacking a golem, your character doesn’t know it’s immune to spells but you as a player do, so you don’t use spells. That’s metagaming.

Agreed.

Thedenofsin.7340:

Referring to golem-zerging as the ‘meta’ in WvW would be incorrect: golem-zerging is a strategy, not meta-gaming.

Exactly! Everything about your post makes perfect sense to me, and I agree with every point.

“Arrow carts are the new meta”
“Condition builds are the new meta”
“You’re running the meta build”

We’ve all heard one, or all of these lines before. I’m just glad there’s at least one person out there who can see what I’m seeing

Ragnar.4257:

The problem you’re having is attaching the definition of “metagame” to the prefix “meta”. Try looking at it the other way round and you’ll find that both uses of “meta” are perfectly sensible and consistent with the definition of the prefix.

I’m not attaching “metagame” to the prefix. I’m pointing out that “Meta”, as it’s currently used, was originally a shortened way of saying ‘Metagame’.

And ‘Meta’ is not consistent with the prefix meta-. ‘Meta’ is closer to the meaning of ‘Zeitgeist’ as pointed out.

I appreciate the well thought out post.

Rackhir Tanelorn.9123:

If you want to “mince words” then there is a difference between “playing the meta” and “playing meta” and in your above example you are trying to use the former as an incorrect use of the latter.

The argument still stands with the original reply. If anything, this only makes it more true (confusing). If I’m understanding your meaning, then this sentence would make complete sense:

“Im playing meta because I hate the meta.”

To interpret it as “I hate playing the zeitgeist, so I’m coming up with a build to counter it.”

That’s just crazy, and anyone who thinks it isn’t has been using this word way too long

Korsbaek.9803:

@ OP. there is one problem with what your trying to do as it does not take into account the evolving of a langues.

This was addressed in a previous reply which I will include below for your reference.
Again, there is no argument here that English does not evolve. Only that some evolutions are sillier than others.

KrazyFlyinChicken.5936:

It would be like someone saying, “That girl is anorexic!” and everyone who doesn’t know what the word ‘anorexic’ means assumes it means ‘really smart’ so the next time some other guy scores an A on his English test everyone goes “Dude, you’re so anorexic.” And then three more of his buddies adds it to urbandictionary.

Thanks guys! (fifteen characters)

Assassin X.8573:

TL:DR

Did the colonies complain that the British were zerging when they fought the revolutionary war? The Brits were defeated by political turmoil at home

The crippling tactics of the small group was a huge factor in the war.

WvW is working as intended.

/thread

Fixed.
Also – my calculations (on the 30 PPT post) were based on relics providing 3 points per spike with 3 relics. This may not be the case.

LostBalloon.6423:

Yes, and there are already plenty of other threads discussing this.

I did a search and found nothing. Do you have a link?
Keywords: relic, ppt, score, war score

According to Patch Notes (Below) it would seem to suggest that you only get a single point for using a finisher on a player—regardless of how many relics owned. Can anyone confirm True/False?

Patch notes:

One stack provides +30 points to power, precision, toughness, vitality, healing power, and condition damage as well as 1 War Score per player killed via a finisher.

Two stacks provides a total of +50 points to power, precision, toughness, vitality, healing power, and condition damage as well as 1 War Score per player killed via a finisher.

Three stacks provides a total of +60 points to power, precision, toughness, vitality, healing power, and condition damage as well as 1 War Score per player killed via a finisher.

I just ran an experiment on this and posted the results. The long-short of it is:

A group of 5-10 player running havoc can make approximately 30 PPT with the relics while roaming on a good day. This does not include camps/sentries/dolyaks, etc

Take from that what you will.

Narsil.6579:

I got lost after poker and starcraft,

To put it into context of GW2:

1. Playing ‘The Meta Build’ in Guild Wars 2 means you’re playing the most effective/efficient/fotm build possible.
2. Playing ‘The Metagame’ implies you’ve taken your opponents into consideration when making your build (IE. Not the meta build)

Therefore, by all accounts, these sentences make sense:

“I am playing the metagame, by using a build that is anti-meta [not meta]”
and
“I am playing the meta build. Because I hate the metagame.”

I’m not saying the sentence is wrong. I’m saying the word ‘meta’, in its current context, is silly

Narsil.6579:

I learned the term meta from children’s card games. In those years of my life, the phrase referred to the current structure and style of the way the games were played. If it was a slow or fast meta, it meant that the strategies were based around fast burst decks, or slow burn decks. A fast meta meant that most strategies revolved around getting your opponent down fast and it meant that the pace of the game was fast. A slow meta was a more slow paced game, usually took longer, but you dealt damage over time, until finally you dealt the final blow.

In other terms meta can refer to the predominant usage of a certain strategy, so in a stun meta, the point is to render your opponent useless. In Gw2 people will use this term for whatever build they run across the most.

Now another thing is meta can refer to the current structure and ruling that is set up, the current meta can be defined by which strategy is most viable atm due to nerfs and buffs. So usually which ever build is most viable and thus played the most, that is how people will play meta. Playing anti-meta, is building around defeating those that use the meta to their favor, exploiting their weakness. Rouge builds are usually builds that most don’t play and can catch others off guard, so they don’t run the ftom build.

Just my 2 cents.

This is a well thought out reply. And the third paragraph outlines why the post was started. If you are referencing a guild’s build as ‘a stun meta’ then the word makes perfect sense. Because this guild would be playing the metagame (as described by Archon in his poker example, quote at end for reference).

Let’s start by taking the starcraft example (Because I don’t fully understand poker):

ArchonWing.9480:

Starcraft is another good example of metagaming developing over so many years so that you wouldn’t be able to intuitively map out strategies just by theorycrafting. In fact most pro strategies involve taking a fast expansion

To take Archon’s Starcraft example:

1. The ‘Meta’ when used in the context of GW2, would then be a ‘Rapid Expansion’.

2. The ‘Metagame’ would be a reference to someone playing a strategy to counter a player using ‘the meta’

3. The ‘Anti-Meta’ is therefore, playing the metagame.

4. Therefore, playing ‘the meta’ would be to avoid playing ‘the metagame.’

To conclude, in the context which people use ‘The Meta’ in Guild Wars 2, is almost the opposite meaning of ‘The Metagame’

Playing ‘The Meta’ would be like always playing the odds in poker, and never minding who you were playing against. Which is, by definition, NOT playing the metagame.

And that’s why I have a problem with the way this word is used There’s nothing wrong with using ‘the meta’ to mean Most Effective Tactic Available. But the fact that it means almost the opposite of its root word would be like making the word ‘hot’ to mean ‘cold’ because a generation didn’t know the meaning of ‘hot’.

(Although hot chicks can be pretty cold)

Poker Reference quote, below:

ArchonWing.9480:

For example, in poker, it’s a fairly standard strategy to raise with weaker hands when you are in position. Playing in position is generally more profitable then not playing in position, plus you get the advantage of the blinds folding and you getting their chips without a fight at times.

Strong arguments, all. But a combination of the replies illustrate my point perfectly:

ArchonWing.9480:

To put in short, standard solid (aka straight up) plays will beat bad players, but against better players you will need this metagame. Bad players will think “meta” counters everything. It does not.

Emissary.3792:

The fact that there’s one build/strategy that counters ‘everything’ doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s still building for what you expect to come up against.

I agree with Archon, a proper Metagame would mean guilds were building compositions to counter one another. But this is not how the word is being used.

“The Current Meta” as its used today, is referring to the currently ‘most effective’ strategy.

Example:

A metagame would be, “I think Guild X is doing a Y Build. Our guild should use Z Build.”

Meta, as it’s currently being used, is used like this: “Y Build is the Meta.”

When a new strategy is being developed, it is being used like this: “Z Build is the new Meta.”

The greatest positive of these changes is that everyone and his brother is trying to run a staff ele in WvW.

And gods are they easy to kill if you catch them alone.

Edit:
Glyph of Renewal = Ground targeted. THANK YOU.

Stupid pugs kept eating my Glyph for someone actually helpful