Guild Wars 2

that build is what I run (pve and wvw) with full zerker and it can be really tough for surviving but it’s doable with EA’s condi cleanse. I’ve been experimenting with 0/6/0/4/4 to bring healing ripple and cleansing wave into the mix. The cool down reduction difference from taking only 4 traits in arcane instead of 6 is only 3/4th second, which isnt too hard to adjust to in your rotation. The only thing you give up is the EA earth blast finisher for might stacking (which s/d really must consider), that might be something too valuable to give up, still working on that

anyway, both builds i recommend sigils of air and battle. Every 3 seconds you get a nice hefty hit and 3 stacks of might every 10 sec.

try out runes of strength (S/D loves might) or scholar (esp for the 4pts in water build)

well this is a huge disappointment. thanks for the thorough responses, I remember this being an issue last year too; I’d just hoped they resolved it by now.

I can’t help but feel frustrated. If you don’t want us to have lingering attunements, don’t say we get lingering attunements.

I’m experimenting on my Fresh Air Zerker Ele build, especially when it comes to attunement bonus damage and Lingering Elements.

I’m talking about Internal Fire, Air Training, and Piercing Shards:

If I start fire in my rotation, swap air and burst, am i doing 20% bonus damage (rather than just 10% from air training) since I am attuned to both air and fire for 5 seconds? Does this also work if I start water 1 to crit and proc Weakspot, swap air for quick burst to inflict 30% bonus on my air attacks since i’m “attuned” to water still? What if I am fast enough to have air, water, and fire attunement lingering and active when i burst on a vulnerable foe? Am I really doing 40% bonus damage?

I can’t really tell just killing things in PvE, it happens too fast.

Does this work the way I think it does?

Dahir.4158:

Are we back? Tbh, we never left.

I really appreciate this response. I’m delighted to hear that people kept believing in ele (esp when a lot of people thought ele was “bad.”) I have to admit, I was sucked into the negativity last time I seriously played and maybe my return has really just refreshed my view on the profession. All in all, I’m glad to be back with my ele

I’ve been on a break from guild wars for quite a while (nearly 8 months)

Last summer i ran a full zerker s/d ele when fresh air came out (huuuge buff for my play style, esp with that initual bug, hot kitten )

and boy was i almost useless in wvw. it was almost impossible to solo roam. i dropped like a fly and had to work soooo hard to match dps of other classes. (might stacking like a crazy person) the condi cleanses of having a 10pts (2 pt now?) in water was somewhat survivable but you have to been on top of your stance and cool downs or you are done. and dont get me started on our escape…

but comimg back this summer, running the same build essentially, i am sooooo much stronger and somehow more survivable!! i am loving it, i tell you. i feel like i can stand my ground without an escort.

the forums seem happier too, at a glance.

is ele back? are we viable at last???

still seems like 6 pts in arcane is a prereq which is unforuneate for build diversity, but im glad to see ele is a force to be wary of at last. and our escape might not be great, but im happy to be usefull.

I’m working on my ele’s zerker gear and my crit damage is nearly 100% without fury. I’m wondering if its worth pursuing the rest of my zerker trinkets or if any crit damage over 100% has no effect.

I remember reading that condition duration caps at 100, so im wondering if it’s true for crit damage too.

I’m mostly satisfied with S/D bursts and condition cleanses, and I’m a huge fan of Fresh Air, but our cooldowns overall are discouraging. The 15 second attunement recharge, only reduced to 10 seconds after full investment in arcane, and the 40-45 second CD on most 4 and 5 skills seriously limit our survivability. In a short fight, you have a good shot at coming out on top, but once you are on cooldown you have very little chance of survival relying on auto-attacks.

Since I alt an engineer, I find ele’s cooldowns especially frustrating. With kits and dual pistols, i have access to 3-4 weapons (just like attunements) with a hardly noticeable 2 second recharge on each weapon with no more than 25 second cooldowns on all skills, making versatility and offensive pressure constantly available. There’s nearly always something I can do besides auto-attack or run away.

I wish this were the case with ele. I know we have more burst, utility and healing than a kit engineer, but they have more health, armor, and conditions, so I don’t think it unreasonable to expect comparable cooldowns. We don’t need 2 second attunement recharge or fight resetting RTL, but i do hope we see some cooldown reduction soon.

yep that’s totally it.

had no idea. thanks!

So i’ve been leveling my engi (I main an elementalist) and the other night i noticed something very strange. Whenever i swapped to a weapon kit (elixir gun and flamethrower specifically) right after shooting a target with my pistols, the elementalist mainhand dagger skill “Ring of Earth” would activate around me (a bunch of jagged rocks come out of the ground in a circle).

From what i could tell, it had no effect and caused no damage, but I could see the ring pop up around me with its familiar booming sound effect.

this isn’t really an issue, but I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced anything similar. for all i know if could be some passive ability i don’t know about.

what i’ve been running in wvw lately

0/30/0/10/30

(10 in water because these days, you really need those cleanses)

with a sigil of battle and clever might stacking, you can keep 18-25 stacks going at any given time.

its a squishy build but its bursts really pack a punch, esp with those stacks.

using runes of rage at the moment since i’m not sure what runes this build needs to really take it to the next level, so i’m still experimenting with that.

Raif.9507:

Yes, attunement swapping counts as a weapon swap. Think about it, you are technically swapping weapons as you change your whole bar from 1-5 from each attunement. Think of each attunement as a different weapon (as they really are different). Each time you swap an attunement you are technically swapping weapons.

thanks! very helpful answer. makes a lot of sense.

i had the same issue the other day, i had to reboot and restart the client a few times but after several attempts, I could connect.

I’ve been playing my PvE ele this whole time under the assumption that swap sigils only work with other classes who actually weapon swap (ie from sword to pistol). After reading some forum posts, it sounds like they work with Ele when we switch attunements??

Can anyone clarify this? I think if weapon swap sigils worked with ele, it would be a huge benefit for my attunement dancing build.