Guild Wars 2

jubskie.3152:

Can you do the same test with just SotH?

Mmhm. I mean you guys are gonna’ have to wait like 13 hours (I have work) but I can do it! I don’t think it’ll make a big difference at all. The only reason to take SotH over the trait, I think, would be the +25% speed bonus you get.

Also, I’m going to do:
*Moving targets with Pet’s Prowess and 30 points in BM.
*Moving targets with Pet’s Prowess, Agility Training, and 20 points in BM. (The build I was going to switch to.)
*Jaguar on moving targets with Pet’s Prowess, Agility Training, Rending Attacks, and 20 points in BM.
*How long a pet can stay up without Natural Healing.
*How long a pet can stay up with Natural Healing.

“Agility Training” – Pets move 30% faster.

This is a trait that I notice is not included in many Ranger builds at all. We all know that pets spend a lot of their time running around, just trying to attack their moving target. Can +30% movement speed help solve this issue? I instantly thought, “yea, duh” but was unsure of myself due to the fact that nobody seems to be using the trait. I decided to do some testing!

First, I created a “control.” I timed how long it took a raven, a jaguar, and a wolf to kill a stationary Heavy Target Golem. I then repeated the method a few times. {For the record: Throughout this entire process, I had 200 points in BM, no traits, and I never used an F2 skill.}

Raven Jaguar Wolf
1) 25.50 15.50 23.50
2) 23.00 15.00 23.50
3) 28.00 15.50 23.00
4) 26.00 14.00 24.00
5) 26.00 16.00 24.00
AVG 25.70 15.20 23.60

The results were pretty stable. The jaguar was the clear winner, followed by the wolf, then the raven. The results of this test closely match the results of other tests I’ve done concerning these same species, so I’d say it’s reliable data.

Second, I timed how long it took each species to kill a moving Heavy Target Golem without the Agility Training trait.

Raven Jaguar Wolf
1) 48.50 59.00 33.50
2) 58.50 52.00 33.00
3) 51.00 74.00 35.50
4) 56.50 75.00 35.00
5) 44.50 65.00 35.50
AVG 51.80 65.00 34.50

After testing the raven and the jaguar, I was a bit surprised. I didn’t expect there to be such a range between minimum and maximum times. When I tested the wolf, though, it gave me some hope. The wolf can keep its target close with cripples and knockdowns, which is why it got the job done quicker. That’s also why the times were much more stable. You’d think that Agility Training would have a similar effect, right?

Finally, I timed how long it took each species to kill a moving Heavy Target Golem with the Agility Training trait.

Raven Jaguar Wolf
1) 38.50 27.50 31.50
2) 37.50 32.00 31.00
3) 41.00 29.50 29.50
4) 44.00 29.50 31.50
5) 39.00 28.00 31.50
AVG 40.00 29.30 31.00

Now, I expected something positive, but not something as drastic as this. It surprised me a lot. As you can clearly tell, the times are much more stable. The range isn’t crazy! In addition, the pets obviously got a lot more damage in than before. The wolf not so much, because before, it was already pretty close to its target most of the time. The jaguar, though, had a huge increase in effectiveness.

MY THOUGHTS:
This trait is just great. I’d say it would shine in WvW roaming situations, especially.

What do you guys think? Is it worth it? I’m thinking of sacrificing 10 points in Beastmastery for an extra 10 points in Skirmishing just to pick it up.

Am I crazy, or not? I can’t really tell. I guess you could say it looks better on paper than it does in practice, but when I PvP’d with it, it was great. I noticed that my pet wasn’t struggling to attack nearly as much.

rchu.8945:

Dabilahro.8094:

This build is exactly what ive been rolling since i first got GW2; The only question i have is what other pets would you consider using Valroth? Keeping the feline and canine set up of course :P

yea,

I would like to know what pet combinations are good for this build, both on land and in water.

thanks.

This is just my personal preference:
*PvE – Raven and Wolf
*WvW – Raven/Jaguar and Wolf
*sPvP – Jaguar and Wolf
*Shark and an Armor Fish as my underwater pets, in all modes of play.

Wolf: Okay damage, good survivability, great utility. Offers a cripple, a knockdown, and an on-command Fear ability. I always have a wolf with me.
Raven: Okay damage, okay survivability, good utility. Offers a 10 second Swiftness buff and an on-command Blind ability. The raven is small, so players who are being attacked tend to ignore it. In addition, it’s very mobile, and you can’t really tell when it’s going to strike. If you send a raven to attack someone in a cluster of people in WvW, you’ll get good results.
Jaguar: Great damage, okay survivability, okay utility. Offers an on-command stealth skill. The jaguar is the king of raw damage, which is why I always use it in sPvP. Burst is nice!

jubskie.3152:

I think we’re not on the same page. You seem to be focused on just DPS while I’m after utility with a bit of damage.

Wolf is definitely king for utility, but i feel that it lacks the damage that birds/cats bring. Cats on the other hand bring damage and just damage so it’s not as good a utility pet.

Yes, I agree that you don’t have to use 2 of the same type to be effective, but I just prefer birds over cats due to their size. Most people ignore my birds because it just swooping around them and it’s hard to determine when they actually deal their damage, while cats are really noticeable and it’s easier to see when they’re about to swipe at you.

Lastly, I think I derailed your thread :-S sorry bout that XD

On topic: If there’s any buff that will be given for lacerating slash, I’d rather have it more bleed stacks or longer duration. The Arctodus I haven’t used much so I can’t really comment on it.

I understand what you mean. :P

You make a good point. The birds are small and mobile, while the cats are all in your face.

Still, I feel like the eagle/hawk is all messed up. lol. Wouldn’t you agree that if Quickening Screech was an on-command attack, and Lacerating Scratch was a normal attack, that it’d be more effective? It’d be better for utility AND for damage.

Oooh. This is exactly the kind of build I was looking for.

Daemon.4295:

Yeah, 150 points in BM would probably explain it :p

I tested with both 0/0/0/0/0, and 10/0/0/0/30 with pet’s prowess, commanding voice and either mighty swap or rending attacks, can’t remember which. I was just messing around really so I’d trust your results more than mine, it was hardly a scientific approach to testing. I might give it another shot later.

I enjoy data collecting. I record a lot of it on video, and I put everything on an Excel spreadsheet. You can trust my data! xD

Side note: The eagle took 126 seconds to kill five Golems, and the wolf took 129 seconds to kill five Golems. :P

Daemon.4295:

EDIT: I also realized how cool the lynx’s 600 foot leap is. Psychologically it’s gotta grab some players’ aggro when they see your pet fly at their face from 600 away.

Hah, I never thought about that. You’re probably right, it may fluster some people. xD

Daemon.4295:

zTales.4392:

Daemon.4295:

jubskie.3152:

Personally, I like Lacerating Slash. I even trait for faster F2 Cooldowns just for it. Spamming it has gotten me more DPS than using the Raven’s Blind or the Owl’s Chill.

Yeah you can get higher DPS out of Eagle/Hawk than Raven or Owl, but then again, you’ll get higher DPS out of cats so….

Exactly. There’s currently no reason to take an eagle over a cat. I even tested it.

Without the on-command ability, it took my jaguar 85 seconds to take down five Heavy Target Golems.
With the on-command ability, it took my jaguar 64 seconds to take down five Heavy Target Golems.

Without the on-command ability, it took my eagle 126 seconds to take down five Heavy Target Golems.
With the on-command ability, it took my eagle 89 seconds to take down five Heavy Target Golems.

The eagle has has Quickening Screech. Even with that, though, a cat will still be more effective. Especially since Quickening Screech is activated randomly, and can do more harm than good sometimes.

If Quickening Screech was the on-command ability, and Lacerating Slash was a normal ability, it’d make much more sense and the eagle could compete with the cat family.

Wow, I lazily tested this last night on heavy golems and had a much bigger difference between cats (jag and lynx), and hawk. I don’t have the results on me but they killed at least 20% faster, I tested with both 0 traits and full pet traits.

Well, I don’t have the excel spreadsheet with me right now, but this is what I did:

-150 points in BM
-“Commanding Voice” – Pet skills (F2) recharge faster.

That may be why. The results were very solid, too. The time was never more than 2 seconds apart (i.e. for the eagle, the minimum time was 23 seconds per Golem, max time was 25), even when I tested it a second time.

jubskie.3152:

zTales.4392:

Exactly. There’s currently no reason to take an eagle over a cat. I even tested it.

But there is. Birds have the AoE Vigor on swap trait. I consider this more valuable than a “selfish” bleed on crit trait that birds have.

It’s a matter of preference I think. I’ve had more success with birds than with cats and that’s why I’m sticking with them.

You have multiple birds, correct? That’s why. You shouldn’t be required to take two of the same pet to be effective, and you shouldn’t be required to grab a trait to make your pet effective.

Bird + Bird may be nice with the trait, but Cat + Non-Bird is always going to be better than Bird + Non-Bird.

P.S. I did those tests without the cat trait.

Daemon.4295:

jubskie.3152:

Personally, I like Lacerating Slash. I even trait for faster F2 Cooldowns just for it. Spamming it has gotten me more DPS than using the Raven’s Blind or the Owl’s Chill.

Yeah you can get higher DPS out of Eagle/Hawk than Raven or Owl, but then again, you’ll get higher DPS out of cats so….

Exactly. There’s currently no reason to take an eagle over a cat. I even tested it.

Without the on-command ability, it took my jaguar 85 seconds to take down five Heavy Target Golems.
With the on-command ability, it took my jaguar 64 seconds to take down five Heavy Target Golems.

Without the on-command ability, it took my eagle 126 seconds to take down five Heavy Target Golems.
With the on-command ability, it took my eagle 89 seconds to take down five Heavy Target Golems.

The eagle has has Quickening Screech. Even with that, though, a cat will still be more effective. Especially since Quickening Screech is activated randomly, and can do more harm than good sometimes.

If Quickening Screech was the on-command ability, and Lacerating Slash was a normal ability, it’d make much more sense and the eagle could compete with the cat family.

Feel free to express your opinion, comment, etc. I’d like to see feedback on this issue.

What do most on-command pet skills have in common? They’re situational!

Examples:
[Owl] Chilling Slash – Slash your foes and chill them.
[Wolf] Terrifying Howl – Howl at foes to send them running in fear.
[Blue Moa] Protecting Screech – Screech to grant protection to nearby allies.
[Jungle Spider] Paralyzing Venom – Your next attack immoblizes your foe.
[Brown Bear] Shake It Off – Cure a condition on yourself and all nearby allies.
[Armor Fish] Stunning Rush – Rush at a foe and stun them.

Almost every single species’ on-command ability is situational. They apply chill, immobilize, fear, cripple, regeneration, protection, and so forth. The on-command abilities that DO NOT offer that sort of utility are either 1) AoE attacks, 2) high damage attacks, or 3) Bleeding attacks.

AoE attacks can work well. Take, for example, the Drake family. Each species has a very good AoE on-command ability.

High damage attacks and skills that set up for damage bonuses can also work well. In this case, a good example would be the jaguar’s stealth ability. The stealth is great and the damage bonus is great. The other skill I’m thinking of is the shark’s “Feeding Frenzy,” which is nice.

In my opinion, the Bleeding attacks are extremely underpowered. The lynx attack is okay, but it could use a bit more kick. The eagle, the hawk, and the arctodus attacks are way underpowered. They don’t offer very much at all.

Eagle/Hawk
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lacerating_Slash

Arctodus
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Rending_Maul

My Suggestion:
With the eagle/hawk, I constantly need to spam the on-command skill to get the most out of my pet. With the Lacerating Slash skill, it took my eagle an average of 18 seconds to kill a Heavy Target Golem. Without the skill, it took my eagle an average of 25 seconds to kill a Heavy Target Golem. That’s a big deal.

I would definitely say change it to something more like the raven’s Blinding Slash. Either that or make the cooldown longer and make the attack stronger. Basically, instead of making it feel like I have to spam the attack constantly, make it feel like a utility or a powerful attack. Maybe add a cripple and change the cooldown to 10 seconds or so.

As for Rending Maul, it really needs a lot more kick. It’s weaker than the eagle/hawk attack. For a 15-second cooldown with a 1 second+ activation time, it’s just not good at all. It needs to be more powerful than Lacerating Slash, and it’s currently less powerful. I’d also add weakness or cripple to it.

That’s it. Thanks for your time! :P

Hawk/eagle “Lacerating Slash” needs to be nerfed very slightly and then switched with “Quickening Screech,” making “Quickening Screech” the hawk/eagle special on-command ability.

I’m asking this question mainly because of the eagle’s/hawk’s “Lacerating Slash.” I don’t really see why the skill is user-controlled, to be honest. I think it’d make more sense for “Quickening Screech” to be user-controlled, but that’s just me…

Is there any way to make it so that the pet just uses that skill whenever it’s available? I’d just rather not spam it every 6 seconds. Sometimes I forget it’s even there. lol

Bringing this up again because I’m having the issue. Haven’t played for a few months, and this happened to me. I can’t fix it. Changing the resolution does nothing. I can make the UI smaller, but then I can’t read the Trading Post and such.

It didn’t.

0/10/10/30/20
D/D Battle & Force
Berserker’s Amulet w/ Soldier’s Jewel
Divinity Runes

I’m doing fine.

covenn.7165:

Melkiah.2496:

Actually, the RTL cooldown nerf has changed nothing. The real nerf no one seems to see is the one pointed at our auras. “ZOMG what are you talking about, 10% damage reduction, so sweet!!1!one!”. The damage reduction was the last thing d/d eles needed, and what’s the price for it? Internal cooldowns on auras main effects, cutting literally in half theyr usefullness.

I disagree with you about the RTL cool down changing nothing. It changes the entire flow. Not game breaking by any means nor what it a heavy handed nerf, but it most certainly changes things.

It only changes the flow because that’s the flow everyone got used to.

After PvP’n for the past few days, I’ve figured out the new flow, and it’s really not much different. My only issue is not having RTL when I need to run away sometimes.

In fact, I’d argue that I’m doing better now than I was before… though that may be because I didn’t PvP much before the patch.

People just need to adapt.

Edewen.8304:

my ele ive been working on is now 23, I was in that same boat not too long ago.

1. door exploration of all 6 cities. ill gain you a fwe lvls.

2. outfit yourself at lvl 10 and lvl 15 with blues. at 15 you can get green daggers too.

3. learn your kill combos. ride the lightning into a pack, arcane shiel and earth 5, done.

4. speaking of arcane shield. awesome for earth 5, also, arcane blast? the aoe one, great for lvling so far.

5. Cannot stress enough to outfit yourself often from ah. You will likely be every 5-10 lvls re-equiping entire green sets. At least that is my plan

Save yourself some moolah and get blues instead of greens. You’ll be fine. That’s what I did… new blues every 6 levels.

Linguistically Inept.6583:

Punkins.2087:

save yourself all the heartache of getting to 80 THEN realizing its not for you.

how do you get class to 80 before realising you dont like it? >.>

Hey, I did it with the Warrior. ;P

Sometimes things just get boring. I find my Ele, however, super fun to play. PvP is no longer boring, it actually feels great.

Khalic.3561:

zTales.4392:

Edit: “Renewing stamina: You now don’t have vigor when you’re not attacking. That means, when you’re being pressed and have to be defensive, you don’t have the energy to dodge.”

So it’s an issue when running away. Is that it?

You’ve never kited/disengaged an enemy to heal, cleanse, or stall for a CD?

I have, but never for more than… uh…

Ether Renewal + Glyph of Elementals = ~5s
Water Attunement switch & Cantrips are instant, so ignore that.

That’s the longest I’m ever away before I jump back in. 3s is the norm though (Ether Renewal). By the time I hit ‘em, I’ve only been without vigor for a few seconds and have a dodge still up.

Wait, I don’t understand this “Renewing Stamina” issue.

It used to be: “33% chance to gain 5s of Vigor on critical hits.”
Sure, it’d stack, so you could have it for a while. But now…

It is now: “100% chance to gain 5s of Vigor on critical hits. (5s cooldown)”
That’s essentially perma vigor. Even if you can’t land a crit the exact second the cooldown is off, if you have +boon duration, you’ll still have some vigor left over. In my case, when I crit, I gain 8s (6s in PvP) of Vigor. The cooldown is 5s, so I have 3s (1s in PvP) to get another crit to keep perma vigor. If my crit chance is 35% (44% in PvP) without Fury, there’s a high chance that I’ll land a crit.

What’s the issue? Am I missing something?

Edit: “Renewing stamina: You now don’t have vigor when you’re not attacking. That means, when you’re being pressed and have to be defensive, you don’t have the energy to dodge.”

So it’s an issue when running away. Is that it?

Nikkle.4013:

0/10/0/30/30 is often called an auramancer build on these forums for a reason I don’t know. It’s usually a cantrip or a arcane burst set-up. Auramancer’s are builds that rely on fire’s embrace and signet’s to gain fury & swiftness and/or protection from traits. With the changes to fire aura these builds might actually make a come back. I hope so, we need some new viable spvp builds. I think i’ll try it out again soon, haven’t played a auramancer build since beta.

I call myself an auramancer ‘cause of aurashare. I don’t really know what makes someone an auramancer otherwise. >.>

Though I don’t use aurashare in sPvP/solo WvW/PvE roaming… I use the condition removal on regen thing… so I dunno’. I’m a hybrid? o_o;

I’m a D/D auramancer, and nothing has changed for me. In a bad way, I mean. Sure, +5 seconds on RTL makes me sad, but I understand why they did it. They corrected Shocking Aura, which also makes me sad, but they buffed other aura stuff so it’s fine. It doesn’t affect my gameplay much, anyway (sPvP, dungeons, WvW).

I run 0/10/10/30/20, and I don’t feel like I have to change anything. I may experiment with 0/20/0/30/20, but that’s all I may change. My gear will remain the same. (Berserker’s in sPvP, similar gear in dungeons and WvW.)

I’m still a very effective Elementalist. I don’t understand all the QQ.

I think the changes are good. The increased RTL cooldown does make me sad, ’cause I love it so much, but I understand why they did it.

In other news, I really want to go back to playing my condition damage Warrior now. Off-hand Sword and Longbow got some nice changes~

GoZero.9708:

Keiran here is building rams because rams, according to Mike Ferguson, do not share the “total siege weapons build” count but have their only exclusive ram counter. He builds at most 5 in two supply camps per map meaning that the number of possible rams drops from 100 to 90. While obviously people repeating his behavior will cause a problem, Keiran alone is not because no map, no matter what wild accusation you make, is going to use up 90 rams at once. It’s absolutely not griefing. Griefing is a deliberate irritation against other players, but for Keiran the irritation is simply a side effect of bad game design that you all have your panties in a knot over.

….oh. Well then if that’s the case, it doesn’t matter.

All this new information, lol. I can definitely understand why people who don’t know that would get upset.

Keiran.1896:

zTales.4392:

Aye.8392:

The problem with your behaviour is that your server is only allowed to have a set number of siege engines on the map.

Hm. I wasn’t aware of that.

If that’s the case… Yea, OP, you really shouldn’t be doing that.

I’ve noticed a limit because when you build 5 flame rames around a supply spot, you can’t build anything more in a determined perimeter. But that perimeter is pretty small, anyone can still build a lot of arrow carts/balistas inside the camp.

Honestly, now this just sounds ridiculous. You seriously don’t understand why you’re being “bullied”?

Also, Darkace is right. If you want a WvW title, play WvW. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Aye.8392:

The problem with your behaviour is that your server is only allowed to have a set number of siege engines on the map.

Hm. I wasn’t aware of that.

If that’s the case… Yea, OP, you really shouldn’t be doing that.

I don’t think you can get in trouble for that. :o

What server are you on? The first thing that came to mind was that, if people on your server start messing with you, and I’m on an opposing team… I could jump out from behind a building and kill them all. :>

I think there’s something wrong with me. lol

Animando.7956:

Isn’t supply required to upgrade camp?

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Camp#Upgrades

Not to mention if someone (or a full guild) comes by and wants to refill his supplies he can’t. Or if a tower is beeing attacked the door cannot be repaired by players.

Now I don’t think you can be reported for that but is this achievement worthwhile?

If supply is full, and he takes 10 supply… then waits for it to refill, takes 10 more supply, etc. it’s not a big deal. I assume that’s what he’s doing. If he’s taking it all, yea, that’d kitten off WvW people a lot.

Filled it out. I’d love to see the results when you’re done with it!

Kodiak.3281:

Your damage certainly isn’t bad either as I’ve seen Lightning Whip easily double crit for 2k total damage on a single in higher end dungeons with all that stacked up together.

Well that’s pretty awesome. Could you tell me what your Power, Precision, and Crit Damage is? :o

Shimond.2478:

There’s a reason speed run groups go with mesmer and either 4 warriors or 2 warriors and 2 thieves. Elementalists cannot do what mesmers do.

That’s sad, I think. :<

I can do decent damage! I can survive! I can also give you auras, which can give you swiftness, fury, and protection! Why won’t you accept me?!

Kodiak.3281:

snip

Nice write-up. Love it.

I personally prefer the 0/10/10/30/20 Elemental Shielding alternative you mentioned. It makes me feel more supporty! lol

haviz.1340:

Build your ele in similiar fashion. There’s nothing that should stop you from doing that if you pay attention to what happens around you.

The thing is, if Krag wants full glass, what would his traits and utilities look like? That’s mainly what I’m thinking about. Also, what weapon(s) and attunement(s) would be the best in this case?

Krag.6210:

zTales.4392:

Could you tell us more about your Mesmer? Just the really important stats, at least? Power, Precision, Toughness, Vitality, Condition Damage, Critical Damage?

Oh my. I see what you mean. O_O

I honestly don’t think that an Ele could match that without dying constantly, but I have no idea because I haven’t played a glass cannon Ele…

Could you tell us more about your Mesmer? Just the really important stats, at least? Power, Precision, Toughness, Vitality, Condition Damage, Critical Damage?

I can get 50s – 2g from running AC. Each run takes about 30 minutes, so that can amount to a lot of moolah. :P

If I’m doing WvW or world PvE, I generally make 1g – 3g a day without trying.

P.S. If you need certain exotic gear, check to see which dungeon it’s from. Then, if you’re up for it, just run that dungeon till you hit 80. By that time, you’ll have enough tokens to get you most of (ALL of, if you’re running AC, because it’s the first dungeon) your gear for 80. By running AC and some CM, general map roaming, dailies, and personal story quests, I have a full set of exotics (armor, weapons, trinkets, sigils, runes, everything) ready for when I hit 80 (I’m level 77 atm). Anything you can’t get with the tokens by 80, you can get with Karma in Orr.

ZudetGambeous.9573:

OmniPotentes.4817:

Well we can keep speculating all we want, but with the ever shrinking population of active players and the miserable drop rates in this game I doubt this mystery will ever be solved unless it’s by pure chance/ luck. And chances are pritty slim by the looks of it since it has not droped sofar.

*Growing

The game has been growing consistently every week for the last 9 weeks. It was just mentioned in an interview and was posted about by the devs a week or two ago.

I think shadow behemoth is the best bet. He is a rather rare event (i’ve leveled 4 characters through that area and never seen him). And hedrops a very large chest from what i’ve seen, which is also unique.

Actually, it spawns every 2 and a half hours. Considering how many servers there are, it’s probably been finished A LOT. It’s to the point now where I ignore it when it comes up.

Kodiak.3281:

Shimond.2478:

So your argument against fields is that people are morons and won’t use them properly? That’s fairly valid I guess, but I expect more out of people around me (perhaps I get disappointed at times, but not often).

I said 3 stacks of might to everyone in range, not just yourself.

What you say makes perfect since in a solo environment with a staff – which is a terrible idea to begin with.

And there’s some groups that use them to great effect. Such as in WvW most staffers setup the Water fields behind the main engagement area so players back up into the staff heal fields instead of there being every other field possible. It’s simply rare outside of a very organized effort.

You’re again assuming everyone is close enough to get said might. That isn’t always the case. People don’t stack on Troll or Kohler for example. A lot of groups have 1-3 people at range which will miss the Might stack. I know because I drop Lava Font -> Arcane Wave all the time and see people completely miss getting the buff.

zTales.4392:

Well most people would agree with that. I don’t think you’re being very clear, however, if that’s what you’re trying to say.

It’s just confusing. lol

I’ve been saying the same thing for days since you made your post about the guy who was telling you to use Fire/Air. There are specs and trait setups where that works and is viable. You’re the one who seems think that I meant it in another way.

Well yea, ’cause the point of that post was, “You should use other attunements when needed.” and you were arguing with me. lol

Kodiak.3281:

zTales.4392:

… if that’s what you do, why are you arguing against it…?

I’m not arguing against it. What I am saying is that just because that play style works for one weapon set and one trait set doesn’t mean that it works the same way for all weapon sets and trait sets. That there are gasp alternatives in play style that aren’t automatically horrible because they don’t follow the same play style.

Well most people would agree with that. I don’t think you’re being very clear, however, if that’s what you’re trying to say.

It’s just confusing. lol

Kodiak.3281:

zTales.4392:

I have a couple of realistic situations for ya’. This is what I would do, so tell me if you agree with it. Keep in mind I’m a D/D auramancer.

Let me just stop you there and requote what I already said on that topic:

Kodiak.3281:

I play many specs and use a variety of weapons. When I play as 0/10/0/30/30 D/D build I swap constantly. There’s numerous cross attunement combinations (mostly revolving around Fire and Earth) and useful utilities (Auras in Air and Water) in all 4 trees with this setup that you’d want to use just about in any scenario. This is pretty much the prime example of swapping around like a schizophrenic madman and what most people consider the “core” mechanic of the class

And in fact while playing said spec I do, as you say, “GO CRAZEH. Use everything as soon as it’s off cooldown!” A lot of time my game play revolves around starting in Water:

Frost Aura
Fire -> Breath -> Fire Grab
Ring of Fire -> (backup) Earth -> Dodge Roll -> Arcane Wave -> Knockdown -> Churning
Air -> Aura -> Weaken -> Auto till Arcane Wave back Up
Fire -> Breath -> Ring of Fire -> Earth -> Grasp -> Arcane Wave -> Churning
Air

So on and so forth really basically constantly swapping between all the attunements using cool downs and abilities to maximize damage and game play. I use Fire Grab early to keep an eye on my cool down for Earth 4 (since they both have 40s cool downs). If it’s down too early and I’m in Fire I use the Grasp combo to add in Fire Aura for an additional aura buffs from Zephyr’s Boon. Swap to Water as needed for healing or condition removal for me or allies.

That is because FOR THAT SPEC AND WEAPON that is the way to play. That doesn’t mean it’s that same game play style for every other spec and weapon combination we have.

… if that’s what you do, why are you arguing against it…?

I only have two suggestions…

1. Don’t lose the conjured weapon when you use a utility skill (like Mist Form when holding an Ice Bow… is this just a bug?).
2. Make auto-attacks not count towards the charge count thingy.

Other than that, I dunno’. I haven’t used them enough to give amazing suggestions. XD

Kodiak.3281:

Razor.6392:

etc

This guy is your classic example of setting unrealistic expectations about the class and how it plays. He thinks you’re doing a service to anyone swapping to Water to heal someone even if you have zero points in healing. Or how gaining 3 stacks of Might to do an Eruption -> Lava Font combo is going to contribute more than the 10 seconds or so of significantly higher damage you could have been doing in Fire.

Long story short, you got the people who actually look at the numbers and look at the benefits and then you got people like him who just puke up the same advice they lapped someone else vomited all over them.

I have a couple of realistic situations for ya’. This is what I would do, so tell me if you agree with it. Keep in mind I’m a D/D auramancer.

1. I’m in AC. A scavenger jumps on my teammate. S/he can’t get up, and will die if somebody doesn’t do something.
2. I’m in fire attunement. I then switch to air attunement, RTL to the scavenger, knock it back with Updraft, then use the air aura to give the person a chance to recover (they’d get fury, swiftness and protection, as well as the aura’s normal effect).

1. I’m in AC. A breeder is about to breed, right next to me.
2. I’m in fire attunement. I throw down a fire field, switch to earth attunement, and knock it down. This gives 3 stacks of might, plus the thing is down, giving me a chance to use skill 5 and give more might as well as stack some bleeds and do damage.

(The majority of) people arguing FOR stance dancing are thinking about situations like those. We’re not saying, “GO CRAZEH. Use everything as soon as it’s off cooldown!” We’re saying that you should use the other attunements when the time is right.

Hmmm… Thinking about my supporty playstyle makes me think I’d enjoy a Guardian. I’m constantly looking out for my teammates. >_>
If anyone could direct me to an awesome Ele support build, please post or PM me. lol

YOU POOPYFACE! You stole my build! XD

Just joking. Anyway, I’mma post my experience with auramancing… keep in mind, though, that I’m level 70.

I’m also aiming for a 0/10/10/30/20 build. It’s fun to support a bit, survive, and still do decent damage.
-Fury and Swiftness on auras, Protection on auras, Regen and Vigor on cantrips, +20% cooldown on cantrips, Aura sharing (condition removal on regen for soloing), Might/Swiftness/Regen/Protection on attunement swap, 33% chance to gain vigor on crits
-The one I’m missing is Protection on auras

I have armor sitting in my bank for level 80:
-PVT armor
-PVT weapons (3 daggers)
-Knight’s amulet
-Berserker’s earrings & rings
- +40% boon duration from Sup Monk, Sup Water, and Maj Water runes
- Sigil of Battle , Sigil of Force, Sigil of Bloodlust

I’ve been doing nothing but AC, dailies, personal story and some CM since I hit 40. Since then, I’ve had almost the exact same setup with my armor/trinkets. The only difference is that I currently have full blues instead of full exotics, as well as crests/jewels on my armor/weapons instead of runes and sigils.

It feels great, and I’m not even done with it yet. As time goes on, I may sacrifice some survivablity for some damage, and switch the PVT weapons for Berserker’s weapons, as well as the PVT pants for Knight’s pants. I dunno’, though.

If you have any specific questions (how good is your survivability at your level, damage, etc.) feel free to ask. And if anyone else has auramancer advice, please post here. I am by no means an expert. As I said, I haven’t even hit 80 yet. lol

Kodiak.3281:

zTales.4392:

Ah, gotcha’. Guess I won’t be attempting that for myself anytime soon. XD

It’s largely for bragging rights and because it was shown here on the forums it’ll likely be used as fodder as to show why D/D is op and needs nerfing by other classes. I mean it’s cool and all but “yaaay” another extreme example that will be trotted around as common place.

Haha, I’d just like to know that I could do it. I hope it’s not going to be looked at in a bad way… Honestly, I think some other professions could do it as well. Guardians, Necromancers and Mesmers could (at least I’d think), but I’m not so sure about the others. Regardless, this is PvE. There’s a pattern to the attacks. It’s not like PvP. >.<

Kodiak.3281:

zTales.4392:

Kodiak.3281:

zTales.4392:

-applauds-

Skipped the first half of the video, watched the rest… very cool.

What’s your gear/build like? O.o

Looks like PVT gear with that many hitpoints?

Most likely. But I’m a very curious person, so just “probably” won’t cut it for me. lol I feel the need to know everything, down to what jewels he has on his trinkets. XD

The main reason why I’d think that is because I’m in PVT armor and Knight Jewelry/Weapons and I’m at 4.3k HP in AC Explore and this guy is a whopping 5.5k HP. That means he’s using additional +Vit gear on jewelry/weapons or some other high Vit gear setup.

Ah, gotcha’. Guess I won’t be attempting that for myself anytime soon. XD

Linguistically Inept.6583:

Razor.6392:

I got dem divinity runes today. Best all-around runes you can find for any build.

they were my first thought… but then i realised

no boon duration

which seems to be commonly suggested for D/D eles (and would pair nicely with superior sigil of battle – which i bought a few days ago)

I mean, boon duration isn’t really REQUIRED… It’s just that I’m pretty much addicted to it. LOL

I feel naked without my boons. :P

Gallrvaghn.4921:

zTales.4392:

Gallrvaghn.4921:

Can’t we make a merged thread on these “NERF ELE” topics? It’s getting out of hand IMO. Now, hotjoins are becoming more of d/d ele wars because of bandwagoners. Ugh -_-

D/D Ele wars? XD

What do you mean? Most people are playing them now? (I don’t really sPvP, so I don’t know.)

You have no idea, man. The horrors. o___o

Lol, Everyone is a bunker Ele. Nobody dies. Ever.

That’s just what I’m imagining… XD

Kodiak.3281:

zTales.4392:

-applauds-

Skipped the first half of the video, watched the rest… very cool.

What’s your gear/build like? O.o

Looks like PVT gear with that many hitpoints?

Most likely. But I’m a very curious person, so just “probably” won’t cut it for me. lol I feel the need to know everything, down to what jewels he has on his trinkets. XD

Gallrvaghn.4921:

Can’t we make a merged thread on these “NERF ELE” topics? It’s getting out of hand IMO. Now, hotjoins are becoming more of d/d ele wars because of bandwagoners. Ugh -_-

D/D Ele wars? XD

What do you mean? Most people are playing them now? (I don’t really sPvP, so I don’t know.)

Razor.6392:

I got dem divinity runes today. Best all-around runes you can find for any build.

B-but… no boon duration…? T_T