Guild Wars 2

I’m not sure what I could sacrifice in my traits for more Earth and Toughness, so I’m assuming I’m going to have to get defensive on my gear then.

I thought about mixing gear pieces, since set bonuses come from runes not armor pieces themselves (thinking Major Runes of Strength btw for increased power and might duration).

But I’m not particularly math-y so I don’t know what optimal stats would be.
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Edit: Perhaps 3 Valkyrie/3 Knight with full Major Runes of Strength? Or 3 Berserker/3 Knight (for more precision)?

I’m level 80 and currently running this build for PvE farming of Orr and swapping to Staff but keeping the same traits and armor for WvW -

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#MVbzz9MzMTvmVMTvmVx0aaGokbcVzV

Basic concept is that I open in Fire with Burning Speed > Ring of Fire > Arcane Wave (5 Mights) > Fire Grab > Swap to Earth > Earth Quake (9 Mights) > Churning Earth.

Then into Water for Condition Removal and Regeneration > Frozen Burst > kite away and finish them with either Vapor Blade or back into Fire to start again. Air and Updraft works okay too.

I’ve got two Condition Removals with Cleansing Fire and Cleansing Wave and two Stun Breaks with Cleansing Fire and Mist Form, and I’ve found the Fern Mastiff to be great for tanking mobs while I burn them down.

So what does everyone think? I’ve tried 30 points into Arcana for the increase CD on Attunement swapping to get back to Fire right after Earth but it doesn’t really seem worth it compared to gaining Armor of Earth at 50%hp.

It lacks a little in toughness, but I find you can make up for that by paying attention and always being on your toes and gear can help, which brings me to my next topic -

What gear should I be after for this build (or a very similar one)? Specifically, what stat distribution. Power (main), Precision (second) and Crit Dmg (third) [Berserker set] seem obvious but Power (main), Vitality (second) and Crit Dmg (third) [Valkyrie set] offers similar damage output with more health. Or perhaps Toughness (main), Power (second), Precision (third) [Knight’s set].

Currently I’m leaning towards Berserker or Valkyrie simply because they have the highest power but if anyone has crunched the numbers and could let me know whether Vit or Toughness are worth taking, please let me know.