183 replies to this topic

[jx1590]

Wow good job making this easy-to-read and still detailed guide about elementalist.

Thank you =D

[FrancisCrawford]

Great work, man. I'm just trying to pitch in in my usual brusque way. Use my comments in any way that are helpful; that's why they're there.

[FrancisCrawford]

And now on to the Healing part.

Anlyon Spellrage, on 09 August 2012 - 05:37 PM, said:

- Glyph of Elemental Harmony 20 sec ^{| | ///}

• This is the gold standard of healing for most Elementalists. Short CD, decent heal, and some nice boons. I don't find myself wanting the 'Power' generally, because if Im healing, I want something to help enhance the heal, such as regen, or protection.
  However, because of the short CD, you should be using this AS SOON as you lose more than ~5k health. This will give you the best chance of having it off CD again, maximising its use. At that stage it could be useful to get 20 sec of power.

That's the base case. Or you might wait until you're in the right attunement for the boon of your choice.
One tough choice is whether to heal in Water for the most impact, or whether to heal outside of Water so that you can always run to Water for lesser heals inbetween.

Influential Traits

• Quick Glyphs - CD reduced by 20 % [16 sec]
  
• Inscription - Effectively doubles the boons stacks/duration.
  
• Cleansing Water! Adds condition removal when you heal while in Water.
  
• Also influenced by anything that extends boon duration (gear, or points in the Arcane trait line).

- Signet of Restoration 40 sec ^|

• A solid choice in some builds. Only builds with Written in Stone.

Influential Traits

• Written in Stone - Makes the passive work, even when its on CD. WOOT! Pretty powerful, hence why its 30 in Earth.
  
• Fires Embrace - Casts Fire Shield on yourself. Short amount of burning... but it is an aura, and this will trigger the traits Zephyr's Boon, Elemental Shielding and Powerful Aura
  
• Arcane Energy - Restores 25% Endurance when used.

[Anlyon Spellrage]

Lulous, on 10 August 2012 - 07:57 PM, said:

This should be a sticky. It's not perfect and not the end all be all guide, but it is well put together and very informative.

I've already been in contact with the mods. It'll get sticked when its more complete. Im working on it now!

controls, on 10 August 2012 - 08:23 PM, said:

2 more questions Anlyon
1. do you think I should change anything in my build for tournament PvP
2. do you think staff is better for tournament or is it situational

Tournament PvP is a very different beast to sPvP.

You can make it with that build, but you'd want to play it very differently.

Going full out offence in tournaments is kinda silly, because you'll just make yourself out to be a CC target, and dropped.

Id consider dropping some offence for some more defence. Getting some more Toughness, either with your traits or necklace would be good. Id also look at going for Signet of Earth instead of Signet of Water, the immobilize is too strong to pass up, especially with a well oiled team at your back, and the toughness is nice too.

Without making a full blown essay, those few things above are what i'd suggest at a glance. Even then you'll probably be more of a burst role, which might not work, depending on your team.

Personally, i like the staff more for tournaments, because you have so many more Combo Fields you team can use, and its damage is still nice.

You might like D/D more if you are roaming, or going solo, but if you're running with mates, especially if you're in a group of 3 most of the time, you''ll love the staff.


Also, experience is key here. You'll learn what you like from doing it!

FrancisCrawford, on 10 August 2012 - 08:23 PM, said:

And now Focus, although mainly I disgress into general Scepter/Focus philosophy.




The question is -- why are you in Air? You may well start a fight in Air, in that you arrived with the benefit of speed. In that case, Gale + Blinding Flash means your opponent gets to start a couple of seconds later than you do. Lightning Strike -- why not? (I'm assuming Scepter/Focus.)

Or are you passing through mid-fight? Again, that give you some nice damage -- two Lightning Strikes, perhaps, if you're traited into Air. And it takes your opponent out of play for a few seconds. Better yet, the snare of Gale can increase the chance of landing one of the big hits from Fire ... but if you're heading to Fire, what attunement are you coming FROM?

This line of reasoning illustrates that scepter/focus is for condition builds, in which case being in Earth is also viable, and you can pass through Air and Water as suits you. Even if you're specced for condition damage, Lightning Strike, Dragon's Tooth, and Phoenix are worth hitting with ...

I agree, however, Gale isnt the greatest for setting up a DT → Phoenix combo, because the time it takes for you to swap, cast and wait for the animation, they are up. 2 seconds isnt enough if you're not in Fire attunement.

Good read!

FrancisCrawford, on 10 August 2012 - 09:31 PM, said:

Great work, man. I'm just trying to pitch in in my usual brusque way. Use my comments in any way that are helpful; that's why they're there.

Appreciated!

jx1590, on 10 August 2012 - 09:22 PM, said:

Wow good job making this easy-to-read and still detailed guide about elementalist.

Thank you =D

You are most welcome. Still work to be done though!

[Anlyon Spellrage]

FrancisCrawford, on 10 August 2012 - 09:38 PM, said:

And now on to the Healing part.

Wow totally forgot about cleansing water affecting GoEH. Dur! Thanks! haha

[FrancisCrawford]

Truth be told, I think the number of crucial build elements is in the double digits. Here's just a partial list:

• Staff, AoE on both offense and defense, definitely including the Blasting Staff trait.
  
• Scepter/Focus emphasizing conditions.
  
• Dagger/Dagger emphasizing mobile damage.
  
• Scepter/Dagger emphasizing direct (especially burst) damage.
  
• Proc-on-crit, with gear to match
  
• The boons provided by Glyphs
  
• Combo fields that you trigger yourself (probably including Evasive Arcana trait)
  
• Signets (surely including Written in Stone trait)
  
• Single-target control, probably including Glyph of Elemental Power
  
• Personal defense, which can include some combination of cantrips, the arcane shield skill, the traits that trigger them, a Focus, and more
  
• AoE buffs, which can include those combo fields with blast finishers, Elemental Attunement, the recently renamed Tier 3 Earth trait.
  
• Auras, for your allies or just for yourself.
  
• AoE healing & condition clear, which can includie Elemental Attunement, Water traits, staff Water skills, blasts through them, water elementals, Dwayna runes, and so on
  
• AoE disruption, although I'm not sure about that one as it seems to be splahed into builds more than being central to them -- Glypn of Storms, Comet, etc.

Of course, when one frames it that way each build/play style will have several central aspects. And some collections of build aspects turn out to combine better than others.

Anlyon Spellrage, on 09 August 2012 - 05:38 PM, said:

Until the game is released I wont be placing much effort into the builds section, just because there is likely going to be plenty of changes between now and release. After release however, I will certainly be going through these more extensively and give you guys the run down on the builds that are out there!


Im a huge fan of making your own builds to suit YOUR playstyle. Some certainly are more effective than others, but the best build is the one that you enjoy most, and that suits how you want to play.
In following with this, im not just going to 'serve you a build' and tell you why its the best, because that wont work for everyone.
Im going to show you common 'build elements', or parts of builds, and explain how they contribute to the overall theme of the build.
Im also going to show you combinations of weapons skills and/or traits and/or utilities that really complement each other.
All of this should help to inspire you to create your own builds and try different combinations!

under construction

​under construction

​under construction

​under construction

Edited by FrancisCrawford, 10 August 2012 - 11:51 PM.

[controls]

Anlyon Spellrage, on 10 August 2012 - 09:53 PM, said:

Tournament PvP is a very different beast to sPvP.

You can make it with that build, but you'd want to play it very differently.

Going full out offence in tournaments is kinda silly, because you'll just make yourself out to be a CC target, and dropped.

Id consider dropping some offence for some more defence. Getting some more Toughness, either with your traits or necklace would be good. Id also look at going for Signet of Earth instead of Signet of Water, the immobilize is too strong to pass up, especially with a well oiled team at your back, and the toughness is nice too.

Without making a full blown essay, those few things above are what i'd suggest at a glance. Even then you'll probably be more of a burst role, which might not work, depending on your team.

Personally, i like the staff more for tournaments, because you have so many more Combo Fields you team can use, and its damage is still nice.

You might like D/D more if you are roaming, or going solo, but if you're running with mates, especially if you're in a group of 3 most of the time, you''ll love the staff.


Also, experience is key here. You'll learn what you like from doing it!

I came up with this: http://www.gw2build....alist-2859.html
I'm also considering taking 10 points out of Arcane Power and putting it into Earth or Water, what do you think?
Edit: I also switched to Rabid Jewel.
I took 10 points out of Earth and put them into water like this:
http://www.gw2build....alist-2859.html
Stress test time

Edited by controls, 10 August 2012 - 11:05 PM.

[Tacticalgrace]

Cheers for the guide. Picked up a few things such as arcane power being affected by elemental surge which is good to know.

[FrancisCrawford]

controls, on 10 August 2012 - 10:49 PM, said:

I came up with this: http://www.gw2build....alist-2859.html
I'm also considering taking 10 points out of Arcane Power and putting it into Earth or Water, what do you think?
Edit: I also switched to Rabid Jewel.

Why Air Training? What fraction of your total damage do you think you'll be doing in Air?

Why Signet of Earth? What do you want them to hold still for?

[FrancisCrawford]

Testing today, I'm not seeing Fireball's casting time affected by distance to target, nor do I remember that being the case in the past.

I'm surprised to see that Chain Lightining's single-target damage is 90% of Fireball's or better.

A single pulse of Lava Font also seems to be in the same range as Fireball. Still, if they stand still for even two pulses it's well worth using, or in any case if they're whaling on you in melee and you'd like them to leave you alone.

[Anlyon Spellrage]

FrancisCrawford, on 11 August 2012 - 12:47 AM, said:

Testing today, I'm not seeing Fireball's casting time affected by distance to target, nor do I remember that being the case in the past.

I'm surprised to see that Chain Lightining's single-target damage is 90% of Fireball's or better.

A single pulse of Lava Font also seems to be in the same range as Fireball. Still, if they stand still for even two pulses it's well worth using, or in any case if they're whaling on you in melee and you'd like them to leave you alone.

Not cast time, travel time. You'll get them off faster if you stand close (its only by a fraction)

Hm. Lavafont must have got nerfed then. Fair enough too. I used to get really big hits with it. Cheers, ill update

[XcmGT]

Great guide!! I was just curious if you would add your thoughts on weapons in PvE, I know you hit sPvP an WvW

[blindude]

If arcane shield  when explodes does anything arcane wave does is then a blast finisher??

[Anlyon Spellrage]

XcmGT, on 12 August 2012 - 01:00 PM, said:

Great guide!! I was just curious if you would add your thoughts on weapons in PvE, I know you hit sPvP an WvW

Im kinda hoping someone will step in and give me some thoughts on that. I've leveled to like 4 or 5 in PvE, and thats about it. I could, but i'd be pulling it out of my Arse, which i dont think is really a good idea in a guide

blindude, on 12 August 2012 - 02:33 PM, said:

If arcane shield  when explodes does anything arcane wave does is then a blast finisher??

Im pretty sure its not actually. Ill need to test that out.
I only saw the animation and the arcane trait effects and the damage (which was slightly less)



Also , sorry in general for not updating yesterday, was WAY too busy. Im so behind on this

Today. More today.

Edited by Anlyon Spellrage, 12 August 2012 - 05:50 PM.

[DeanAdamFry]

Anlyon Spellrage, on 09 August 2012 - 05:37 PM, said:

- Armor of Earth 60 sec ^{| |}

• Breaks Stun. Neat spell, granting Stability and Protection for 6 seconds. The stability will prevent you from being stunned etc, so this spell can be used BEFORE getting stunned. The protection will also slow down the damage you are taking.
  Just like the other Cantrips, can be cast instantly and in the middle of casting anything else.

60 seconds? Is there any information to confirm this?

[blindude]

I thought it was for 90 sec and it gave stability and protection for a base of 8 sec..did they  change that?
Btw stability now can be increased in duration since it is a boon.

[Anlyon Spellrage]

DeanAdamFry, on 12 August 2012 - 08:11 PM, said:

60 seconds? Is there any information to confirm this?

Opps, another copy paste error. My fault!

It was giving 6 sec during the stress test.
But yes, it is now a boon, and can be extended

[FrancisCrawford]

A key difference between PvE and PvP is that you can spend a few seconds preparing for the start of a fight, while the enemies wait politely for you to start.

Similarly, you can try to start with a big hit. In my limited experience, they don't always land, but I'm not sure whether that's enemies moving out of AoE or just them having noticed my presence and hence galloping over to greet me.

[akrepon]

Hi, good work man. I've made a build myself by using some of your suggestions. This is my dagger/dagger ele :

http://www.gw2build....r-ele-3316.html

This is mainly done for engaging mobs in pve head on. Do you think it's good enough?

[FrancisCrawford]

akrepon, on 12 August 2012 - 10:18 PM, said:

Hi, good work man. I've made a build myself by using some of your suggestions. This is my dagger/dagger ele :

http://www.gw2build....r-ele-3316.html

This is mainly done for engaging mobs in pve head on. Do you think it's good enough?

You have no condition removal except Cleansing Wave. There will surely be areas where that's not enough.

[akrepon]

FrancisCrawford, on 12 August 2012 - 10:34 PM, said:

You have no condition removal except Cleansing Wave. There will surely be areas where that's not enough.

I use dagger water skill for condition removal.

Edited by akrepon, 12 August 2012 - 11:11 PM.

[FrancisCrawford]

akrepon, on 12 August 2012 - 11:11 PM, said:

I use dagger water skill for condition removal.

That's what I said.

[Anlyon Spellrage]

akrepon, on 12 August 2012 - 10:18 PM, said:

Hi, good work man. I've made a build myself by using some of your suggestions. This is my dagger/dagger ele :

http://www.gw2build....r-ele-3316.html

This is mainly done for engaging mobs in pve head on. Do you think it's good enough?

I dont know what the condition removal is like in high end PvE, but you might want to look at at least one other source of condi removal.

Also might prefer Internal Fire to Lava Tomb, but thats just me.

Dont know if you're actually gunna use those necklace/runes in PvE, so cant really comment.

[Sandetsu]

Hello there
I really like your guide to Elementalist profesion and i'm looking forward to see complete version

also i would like to ask if Signet Mastery (trait in first tier of Earth Magic) isn't influential for Signet of Restoration?

[Nabuko Darayon]

I like how you've done the guide

[Anlyon Spellrage]

Sandetsu, on 13 August 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

Hello there
I really like your guide to Elementalist profesion and i'm looking forward to see complete version

also i would like to ask if Signet Mastery (trait in first tier of Earth Magic) isn't influential for Signet of Restoration?

Haha, of course it is. I use this myself, and i totally missed it. Thanks!

Nabuko Darayon, on 13 August 2012 - 01:13 PM, said:

I like how you've done the guide

Cheers. Still work to be done

[MaximumSquid]

Anlyon_Spellrage:

I had a thought. . .

To take some of the pressure off while you're building this thing you can just check out what people are asking about on the forums and fill in the quality bits as other regulars contribute outside the guide

Take this thread for example. . .
People asking about the escape utilities and very clearly say what makes Mist so good
The skill disables your attacks, but you can still move, heal, and if I'm not mistaken, interact with objects (revive / stomp) while invulnerable

You could see if that matches up to what's already available in the guide and update it accordingly

[Anlyon Spellrage]

MaximumSquid, on 13 August 2012 - 05:00 PM, said:

Anlyon_Spellrage:

I had a thought. . .

To take some of the pressure off while you're building this thing you can just check out what people are asking about on the forums and fill in the quality bits as other regulars contribute outside the guide

Take this thread for example. . .
People asking about the escape utilities and very clearly say what makes Mist so good
The skill disables your attacks, but you can still move, heal, and if I'm not mistaken, interact with objects (revive / stomp) while invulnerable

You could see if that matches up to what's already available in the guide and update it accordingly

Great thinking! I will do that.

Since alot of skills are undergoing changes (or i assume they are), Ill put stuff in, but not in as much detail as ill put in post release.

Thanks!

[Wufgar]

Great Guide will help alot when it's finished... Apropos Do you know when you will finish it? =) Thought it would be finished by now =)

[Anlyon Spellrage]

Wufgar, on 15 August 2012 - 12:20 PM, said:

Great Guide will help alot when it's finished... Apropos Do you know when you will finish it? =) Thought it would be finished by now =)

I had hoped so too But real life has a habit of rearing its ugly head too often.

Ill be finishing the weapons and utilities and elites after the stress test today, and some of the other pieces need to wait till release.


Ahh well.