Guild Wars 2

The staff has quite a few skills that help kiting. Frozen Ground and Unsteady Ground are the straightforward ones, but Air can also help by giving you a speed boost, pushing foes away or stunning them.

If that isn’t enough for you, then I recommend looking into Signet of Earth/Water and see if those help you.

The boon given by ‘Arcane Fury’ is unaffected by ‘Lingering Elements’ and the boon duration buff granted by Arcana.

Note: I haven’t tested wheter the Earth Magic trait ‘Rock Solid’ is lengthened or not, but it may be worth taking a look at as well.

According to the tooltip, Armor of Earth should benefit from points in Arcana. However, the duration remains unaffected in practice (at least for me it does). Is that intentional design or a bug? Because I did notice an 8 second timer in the skill description that doesn’t change even when the boon duration indicators do…

Part of it may be that less inventory space means they’ll need fewer servers for data storage.

Or it may just be a fortunate side effect.

Yak’s Bend is more or less the same. The old bridge leading out’s still there. Some of the terrain shifted a bit though.

There are more little places like that. It’s possible I supposed, with the dragons being to natural disasters what natural disasters are to normal weather conditions.

There are also trophies listed in the personal story history. I’m thinking these are precursors to features that are yet to be implemented. just have patience.

At the same time, even though I dislike their attitudes, I must admit the ‘pros’ were right. Only after mastering equipment/trait selection, dodging, attunement switching AND combo fields did I finally manage to play the Elementalist in a way that I found enjoyable. Now, I don’t die as often anymore, I contribute to my team and I can solo several enemies at the same time.

But it took me the equivalent of about 100 levels before I finally managed that, some of which were due to playing other classes.

If anything, the best tip to new players is the one given in the original post. Start off with defensive gear until you know how to play the class. It gives you the breathing room needed to actually learn the class properly.

Toughness
Weapon Damage
Power
Precision
Vitality
Healing Power

One of the key ingredients to having fun the first 40 levels or so is making sure you don’t die whenever somebody looks at you funny. The extra health and defense allows you to practice your dodging, attunement switching, combo fields, etc. without dying instantly if you make a mistake. After you’re feeling confident about your abilities as a player, you can start to focus more on offensive power to boost your damage.

As an extra tip, I greatly recommend bringing either or both of the elemental summons. The earth elemental especially makes for a great tank. There’s a trait available at 10 Air Magic that reduces its recharge by 20%, making it almost always available.

The only real issue I have with the Elementalist is that even when you stack defense, you still get two-shot by thieves. If they changed it so the glass cannons would be two-shot, and the defensive builds were 3-4 shot, then everything’d be fine.

Actually, there’s a group of Dredge that feels the same way and they’re starting a new revolution. Apparently, they feel the current Dredge leaders are slavemasters themselves.

This may be a stupid question, but I’d rather be sure. So here goes:

The Elementalist’s skill Signet of Fire tends to linger a bit after activating it. However, with the Earth trait Written in Stone, the signet doesn’t end when used. The combination of the both results in a few seconds of ‘double Signet of Fire’.

Is it considered an exploit? And if so, will I get banned if I keep using the signet (I don’t play the signet for the exploit and I’d continue to play this build after this gets fixed)?

As a near-permanent staff wielder, I’ll admit that it can be tough to use a staff in non-group play.

The real trick behind it though, is to make use of the staff’s strenghts. And those are attunment switching and combo fields. When I finally got that trick (and it took me a while, I’ll admit), I suddenly got a lot better at beating foes.

For example, when opening combat, I cast an Eruption at my target’s feet while I run towards it. I then switch to Fire and cast a Lava Burst. This creates a combo field that gives me a stack of Might, and it deals a bucketload of damage to my target.

There are other examples, like Burning Retreat->Shockwave, or Frozen Ground->Stoning, but I think you get the picture.

The staff is all about combo fields and while it’s much easier to make such combo’s in group play, you can still pull off quite a few by yourself.

Steve Olson.5613:

it seems like I’m always the focus of enemy attack and get killed too quickly despite running and dodging like crazy. Sure, I take aggro off other people, but why is it always me?

I had that problem too, but I solved it by switching to defensive gear. While you deal less damage, you’re also less likely to pull aggro, and if you do, you can handle it better.

Another solution is Glyph of (Lesser) Elemental. The Earth version creates a pretty decent tank.

Also, they’re bugged. When you have a trait that says: "Reduce the recharge of all your **** weapon skills by 20%. ", it should affect your conjure weapons as well.

After all, an earth shield is much more of an ‘earth weapon’ than your staff actually is.

Is there a way to get the Elementalist starter headgear back after you’ve deleted/sold it?

Unlike the torch, which is doused when worn on the hip, the fiery dragon sword actually remains burning. It’s look a lot less painful if the sword ‘turned off’ when worn on the hip. In the novel, that’s what Rytlock’s sword does too.

I used to think that some spells did too little for too long a cooldown.

Then I learned that not only do conditions stack, but they also get a huge boost from all the combos that are made with it. When teamed up with a longbow-wielding ranger for example, that very same Frozen Ground combined with Rapid Fire can create a chill effect that lasts for a minute or more. And you can repeat that every 40 seconds.

The thing with the staff is, it’s a combo weapon. It’s meant to be used for comboing not only with other players, but with yourself as well. If you play it that way, then you’ll realize the staff wielding elementalist isn’t that bad.

Not saying it’s great, just saying that it helped my game a lot.

Keep in mind that the Personal Story isn’t exactly a walk in the park either (for cloth classes at least).

The dungeons are about the same difficulty. One thing that could make it more managable is something like: “Instead of 2 mobs with a 100 health each, we place 4 mobs with 50 health.” That way, getting some down and thus getting at least some progress would be make things less tedious to go through on the first runs.

leftharted.7102:

I have no idea how hard this would be to code in

World of Kittencraft has shamans. Shamans have totems. These totems vary in looks based on the Shaman’s race. So yes, it should be possible because it’s been done before. However, in World of Kittencraft, it took quite a while before this change was implemented.

That being said, I do agree that for Asura, the turrets look a bit too low-tech. While an Asura engineer makes sense lorewise, in practice it almost feels as if they took a step backwards. Turning a crank to fire rocks? That’s just not right.

My main issue with cultural armor is that the level 80 versions of it don’t have max stats. For such a price, and given the way things were handled in GW1, I’d have expected them to at least have max stats.

Why do I post here?

Yes, it’s just you. I like the elemental a lot, and it’s very useful too. It may not feel elite to you, but when my Earth Elemental tanks a champion mob, it sure feels elite to me.

Aye, I was thinking of Gandalf in Moira…such a thing would be cool to do…

That’s a good tip, thanks. I’ll go check it out.

Judging the effects on individual heals is nice but one should also take into consideration how often one can make use of a stat.

On each attack that deals damage, Power does something. On each hit you take, Toughness works. But on the same note, if you cannot land a hit, Power is worthless and if you dodge very well, so is Toughness.

My point in this is that measuring Healing Power on individual skills is pointless. For example, on an Elementalist that uses Signet of Rejuvenation (gain health each time you cast a spell), Healing Power has a lot more ‘active time’ than on somebody who only switches to Water Magic once a day because they’re bored. And in such a scenario, while the heal may be weak per cast, over time, it really adds up. Especially when considering the fact that gear set also comes with a bucket of toughness.

I hope some sort of gala outfit comes out soon. My human noble looks too much like a commoner in the regular set.

I was severely disappointed that none of the Cultural sets were actually max armor.

For non-max armor, I find the level 80 versions to be grossly overpriced.

How about the Hall of Monuments PoI?

Or any of the dungeon PoI’s?

Jeffrey Vaughn.1793:

I can’t make any promises, but the home instance is something that we plan on developing over time.

Oh, please DO make promises! The home district expanded is actually on my top 3 wishlist…

Right between ‘Guild Hall’ and ‘More Townsclothes’.

Hi. I’m looking for a staff that also works as a light source (like how the torch has a glow that helps you ‘see better in dark place’).

Does anyone know if such a staff exists and if so, where I can find one?

First of all, I’d like to say that I really see the use of this feature. It’s a very cool idea and at some point, the extra frames per second become moot anyway. I thought it’d be a great option for me to use because my laptop does tend to get hot at times. And at any rate, conserving some energy in this day and age is a boon too.

However, the only limits available at this point are 30 fps and 60 fps. I’ve tried both, and 30 fps is too low for me, as I can still see some shocks in the movement. 60 fps on the other hand, is close to my upper limit and hence does little.

So may I suggest an intermediate setting of 45 fps? Or is there some technical reason why that’s not an option?

we need “I’ve hit 37 out of 100 dragontooths.”

Using numbers for things like that suggests an accuracy that doesn’t exist. The player could be very poor at aiming, or excellent and we wouldn’t know. Besides, I’d say that having to write down wheter your skills hit or not will greatly affect your playing effectiveness as a whole.

You may value numbers more but ‘our skills are to difficult to hit stuff with’ is actually valid feedback.

It’s not whining when it’s true. It’s giving feedback.

If I wear +toughness armor, and spec 30 points into Earth, and a shark still does 80% of my health in damage with each of his attacks, then I don’t see how it cannot be that the Elementalist has issues.

Try dodging something with range and no telegraph. You wouldn’t be able to, even if you knew it was coming.

Bogartan.2756:

I had a very frustrating time with Sabotage as a warrior. I’m sure that some of it is my lack of skill, but I died sooo many times before finally completing it. I think maybe the personal story instances are a little too finely tuned.

I particularly liked the bit where my character got scaled to level 68, but the mobs got to be 70. Of course, the impossible possible shark was level 68 so I suppose numbers aren’t everything.

Greyfeld.7104:

I think the problem is that you don’t really have attunement-swapping down yet.

It’s a bit offensive that you assume it must be the player’s fault. Because I can assure you it isn’t. Elementalists have it a lot harder than warriors and whenever they get swarmed, it’s extra tough on them. The only way they can pull through is if they spec heavily for defense (making defensive oriented gear mandatory instead of an alternative).

Some fights are simply imbalanced. For example:

I’ve just completed a personal storyline mission that involved planting explosives on a ship. The ship was guarded by a shark. Now mind you, I’ve taken extra care to ensure that my gear was up to it, and my level was higher than required for the mission. So I got scaled down a bit.

The shark attacked with a lightnig fast attack that removed 80% of my health in 1 go.

That’s right, 80%.

So why don’t you dodge you say? Because the attack was both ranged, and impossibly fast. No telegraph warning that it would come. Not even when I expected it.

So why not use a more defensive build/gear you say? Well, I was already wearing armor that focusses on toughness. And I’m specced 30 points in Earth.

So how did I beat it? Well, eventually it got bugged and didn’t respond anymore, making it possible to take it down. But you cannot convince me that such a fight is balanced.

Fights where npcs can tank for you are great. When they don’t you die. A lot.

There’s something that’s been bugging me about my personal storyline…
After joining the Priory and playing through a few missions, Seiran sacrifieced herself to help others escape. This was a big deal, but your character doesn't seem to mind much. A few random npcs mention her bravery, but after that it's quickly down to business as usual. Later on, Tonn the Demolition Expert sacrifices himself to blow up a ship and suddenly it matters the world to the character, Trahearne, his wife and even to Logan (who sends a letter stating his symphaties).

Somehow, this strikes me as odd. It would have helped if ‘Logan’ had sent a letter the first time too. I know the second time is supposed to be due to yoru character revealing their greatest fear, but I mean come on…it’s already happened!

It seems that every person who claims the Elementalist is overpowered, recommends a dagger build.

That in itself should say something to the more intelligent out there…

It seems that if you want to play an Elementalist, you cannot do so by picking the weapon you like and learn how to play it.

No, you will be forced to play a dagger wielding one.

Pity.

IIFeanorII.8601:

Ele is everything but underpowered…i run a dagger/dagger ele and kill EVERYTHING in no time…

So because the dagger build rocks, it means that the staff build isn’t underpowered either?

Great logic.

Actually, it’s not. It’s mostly about the flavortext…dying versus being defeated. It’s like having an NPC say good day instead of good morning.

But it does impact the feel of the thing quite a bit.

@Pinkerton: I always see you using the dagger/dagger elementalist as the reason that Elementalists are fine.

Have you ever considered that most Elementalist players don’t want to play a melee game, and ranged weapons instead? And that maybe those skills are the ones where the problem lies?

If dagger/dagger is so great, then what’s incentive to also making the other weapons playable?

Small things like making Eruption activate a bit faster (even at lower damage) would be rather useful.

It seems odd to me that this skill has both a channeled casting time AND an activation delay. It seems it would be much easier to use if it were instant cast, then some activation delay.

The weird thing about the channeled effect is that even if you interrupt it midway, it still seems to go off normally. So that really makes me wonder if the channeled part isn’t just a bug.

Any thoughts?

Agreed. I have no issue whatsoever with the location of the skills. It just takes a few hours to get used to it, but you’ll get there, I’m sure.

I’m mostly bummed they’re focussed so much on short range attacks. The only worthwile weapon for me is the bow.

At a Gamescon preview, one of the designers spoke about story immersion and how your character dying all the time affected that negatively. He mentioned that it was the reason behind the downed state, and why when you go down, it’s caleld ‘defeated’ rather than ‘you have died’. I really liked that because to me that was a major issue as well.

Which brings me to the question:

~Why is there a ‘/deaths’ command instead of a ‘/defeats’ command?
~Why does the survivor achievement mention ‘XP without dying’ rather than ‘XP without being defeated’?

I really like Lord Faren…

It is the part of the personal storyline (at around level 50 or so) that takes place in the Pale Tree dream. After the first dialogue in the dream, when they start spawning, I aggroed them and they kept following me even after death and respawn.

You know that small ledge on the side?

The one that’s on the side of wall that would keep you sheltered from the wind?

Well, don’t try that because it won’t protect you from the wind at all, and you’ll just get blown off and die.

Even though you did exactly what the game asked you to do: stay out of the wind.

And don’t bother trying to teleport like Seiran…because when NPCs use an Elementalist skill, it works completely different.

My survival adventure is basically that anything can happen at any time to kill you, no matter how much it’s not your fault as a player.

Worst scenario was leaving the pale tree instance through the door resulting in my character plummeting to her death, because apparently the door wasn’t there after all.