17 replies to this topic

[sinisterpink]

Hey guys, it would be fantastic if we could pool our thoughts and experience so far about some effective builds/strategies for PVE.

My principle builds behind leveling in any RPG are always 1. Movement speed, 2. DPS. Explanations can be found in the link/build below.


http://en.gw2codex.com/build/5724/show : This is a basic 30pt trait starting point for the core of a PVE build. It has a lot of flexibility for you to customize it further to match your playstyle and role you are aiming for.

http://en.gw2codex.com/build/5760/show : Here's a 60pt trait build of one way to flesh the previous one out more. I've personally chosen to spec further into my niche of speed and DPS.


Let me know what you guys think, and please share your builds too!

Edited by sinisterpink, 12 August 2012 - 12:36 PM.

[Gargamel]

Weapon and utility skills comes first at leveling than traits will be only handy.

Imo, S/D and arcane skills at start will be fastest at first 20-30 lvl

[sinisterpink]

Gargamel, on 12 August 2012 - 12:39 PM, said:

Weapon and utility skills comes first at leveling than traits will be only handy.

Imo, S/D and arcane skills at start will be fastest at first 20-30 lvl

Yup, weapon and utility skills are included in the builds above. They have strong synergy with the traits chosen.

[FrancisCrawford]

For leveling I lean to Glyph of Elemental Power over Signet of Fire. It's a little less deadly than Signet of Fire's active if you use it for burning on an enemy you're not otherwise burning, but that's close. And it can be butt-saving as a snare instead for tougher fights.

People who've run the numbers say that the Arcane Wave/fire field combo's might stacking is very strong at low levels the way numbers scale, so that's probably a good one to use indeed.

[MaximumSquid]

sinisterpink:

You're going to lose tons and tons of damage if you don't put your first 10 points into Fire or Earth lines

At level 20 I had roughly +106 power from gear; being in fire gave me another 100 roughly increasing my damage output 50% before traits

Stacking might is also huge. . .
In a Ele duo setup you and a friend can keep 18-24 stacks of might up which will literally double or triple your damage at level 20

The only way you'd want a traveler build is if you're going to be farming vistas and other points of interest right before warping to 80 to level and farm gear in WvW

[Espritdumort]

MaximumSquid, on 12 August 2012 - 05:26 PM, said:

You're going to lose tons and tons of damage if you don't put your first 10 points into Fire or Earth lines

Where does the extra damage come from in Earth, condition damage?

I like having the Elemental Attunement trait first, from Arcane.  Reducing attunement cool downs and free 5s buffs (Might, Swiftness, Protection, or Regeneration) for 10 points is worth the investment to me.  Then I'll trait into other lines

Edited by Espritdumort, 12 August 2012 - 05:48 PM.

[mightygerm]

Movement buffs don't stack.

[ToyChristopher]

I personally am planning on going down the arcane line (30), air(10), and fire(30). Get reduced cooldowns for arcane and glyphs and then damage from fire.

With the staff and arcane blast utility skill you can combo static field for aoe swiftness. Plus glyph of elemental harmony and Windborne Speed you have perma-swiftness boon for traveling. In combat you can use arcane blast with fire fields to get huge stacks of might.

With full arcane utility skills you have the dps to drop any single foe, and the staff excels at aoe attacks to take out multiple foes. Against tougher foes you do need to shift attunements to keep them away from you.

So far in the BWE this build has worked great for me in pve.

[kalendraf]

From what I've seen in the 3 BWEs and all the stress tests, the speed of any class leveling in PvE is more about what you do rather than your build.  For example...

- DEs give a lot of exp, but you don't need to participate in the entire event to get a reward.  As a result, "tagging" dynamic events by participating in parts of them for brief periods can be very worthwhile.

- Gathering crafting materials and then using them to craft can be worth quite a bit of exp.  Discovering recipes (which eventually become rather obvious) during crafting is very rewarding.

- Reaching waypoints, points of interest, vistas and skill challenges all give good exp.

As a result, specific builds aren't that important for exp gain.  However, having good speed boosts does help by allowing the character to more quickly reach content.  I've even found that in some areas, running past foes seems to be better for exp gain since the combat exp is so low compared to the exp for exploring, etc.

[Cidou]

I think staff is a great weapon for leveling.

1. It has big AE damage/healing witch is pretty good for dynamic events (a lot of mobs, a lot of allies)

2. It gives you perma-swiftness for traveling FOR FREE :
- Windborne Speed (Air - 4)
- Static Field (Air - 5) + Arcane Wave (Utility)
- Glyph of Elemental Harmony (healing)

3. It gives you access to might stacking combo :
- Lava Font (Fire - 2) or Burning Retreat (Fire - 4) + Arcane Wave (Utility)

4. VS single target i liked :
- Start with Static Field (Air - 5) then switch to fire and put Lava Font (Fire - 2) in the Static Field (Air - 5), then use Flame Burst (Fire - 3), Fireball, and Burning Retreat (Fire - 4) when the mob is on you
or
- Start with Ice Pike (Water - 2), Frozen Ground (Water - 4) then switch to fire and put Lava Font (Fire - 2) on the Frozen Ground (Water - 4), then use Flame Burst (Fire - 3), Fireball, and Burning Retreat (Fire - 4) when the mob is on you. You can also switch to Air for Gust (Air - 3) and Lightning Surge (Air - 2)

Don't forget the fire combo


=> Arcane Wave will be my first utility skill, still not sure about the second/third (Glyph of Lesser Elementals, Signet of Fire, Arcane Power, Arcane Blast, …)

=> I like the Arcane line for : Elemental Attunement (10pts), Blasting Staff (20pts), and maybe Elemental Surge (30pts)

=> I like the Water line for : Vital Striking (10pts)

=> I like the Air line for : Bolt to the Hearth (10pts)

=> I like the Fire line for POWER! and : Internal Fire (10pts), Pyromencer's Alacrity / Burning Precision (20pts), Pyromencer's Puissance (30pts)

[sinisterpink]

MaximumSquid, on 12 August 2012 - 05:26 PM, said:

sinisterpink:

You're going to lose tons and tons of damage if you don't put your first 10 points into Fire or Earth lines

At level 20 I had roughly +106 power from gear; being in fire gave me another 100 roughly increasing my damage output 50% before traits

Stacking might is also huge. . .
In a Ele duo setup you and a friend can keep 18-24 stacks of might up which will literally double or triple your damage at level 20

The only way you'd want a traveler build is if you're going to be farming vistas and other points of interest right before warping to 80 to level and farm gear in WvW

Damage is valuable in WvW and if you are trying to fulfill a damage role in a group. However consider that while leveling, you will have multiple ways to gain experience where damage vs speed will have varying levels of influence.

Dynamic Events

• Fetch and Return tasks: Typically involves gathering an item and returning it to a NPC. Speed > Damage
  
• Enemy Moralty/Waves grind: Involves killing a certain number of individual/waves of enemies. Note that you do not have to kill monsters to get credit for contribution, you just need to tag them. Moving quickly to tag more monsters nets you larger contributions to the group. Speed ≈ Damage
  
• Boss/Champion fights: Coordinate a group effort against a single enemy. Damage > Speed
  
• Escort: Escort a NPC and defeat waves of enemies along the convoy's path. Once again, you do not necessarily have to contribute the most damage. The influence of your damage influence will diminish more and more - relative to the number of people participating in the event. Speed ≈ Damage

Exploration

• Map locations - Points of  Interest, Way points, Vistas: Arrive at a specify location on your world map. Speed > Damage
  
• Gathering: Harvest items from specific nodes on your world map. Speed > Damage
  
• Sightseeing: Travel to specific locations to satisfy curiosity or for other general purposes. Speed > Damage

Dungeons

• Play a specific or mixed role in an instanced encounter. Damage/Utility/Support > Speed

​(WvW and Tradeskills are irrelevant. WvW benefits from a variety and combination of niches from players. Tradeskills are independent of character progression/stats/builds.)

Of course, there are various 'situational' experience gathering methods that haven't been included. Not all PVE encounters will follow a set formula where the benefit of speed vs damage can be clearly seen. However for the most part, speed benefits more aspects of PVE, open world leveling compared to damage. A combination of the two is preferable of course, but you should see better results if you balance speed > damage.

kalendraf, on 13 August 2012 - 03:43 AM, said:

From what I've seen in the 3 BWEs and all the stress tests, the speed of any class leveling in PvE is more about what you do rather than your build.  For example...

- DEs give a lot of exp, but you don't need to participate in the entire event to get a reward.  As a result, "tagging" dynamic events by participating in parts of them for brief periods can be very worthwhile.

- Gathering crafting materials and then using them to craft can be worth quite a bit of exp.  Discovering recipes (which eventually become rather obvious) during crafting is very rewarding.

- Reaching waypoints, points of interest, vistas and skill challenges all give good exp.

As a result, specific builds aren't that important for exp gain.  However, having good speed boosts does help by allowing the character to more quickly reach content.  I've even found that in some areas, running past foes seems to be better for exp gain since the combat exp is so low compared to the exp for exploring, etc.

Your points 1 and 3 support the benefit of movement speed (as opposed to just relying on 'what you do) to leveling. Moving quicker to tag faster and reach key locations on the map faster has a direct association to your rate of experience gain.

Edited by sinisterpink, 15 August 2012 - 02:26 AM.

[sinisterpink]

Cidou, on 13 August 2012 - 10:41 AM, said:

I think staff is a great weapon for leveling.

1. It has big AE damage/healing witch is pretty good for dynamic events (a lot of mobs, a lot of allies)

2. It gives you perma-swiftness for traveling FOR FREE :
- Windborne Speed (Air - 4)
- Static Field (Air - 5) + Arcane Wave (Utility)
- Glyph of Elemental Harmony (healing)

3. It gives you access to might stacking combo :
- Lava Font (Fire - 2) or Burning Retreat (Fire - 4) + Arcane Wave (Utility)

4. VS single target i liked :
- Start with Static Field (Air - 5) then switch to fire and put Lava Font (Fire - 2) in the Static Field (Air - 5), then use Flame Burst (Fire - 3), Fireball, and Burning Retreat (Fire - 4) when the mob is on you
or
- Start with Ice Pike (Water - 2), Frozen Ground (Water - 4) then switch to fire and put Lava Font (Fire - 2) on the Frozen Ground (Water - 4), then use Flame Burst (Fire - 3), Fireball, and Burning Retreat (Fire - 4) when the mob is on you. You can also switch to Air for Gust (Air - 3) and Lightning Surge (Air - 2)

Don't forget the fire combo


=> Arcane Wave will be my first utility skill, still not sure about the second/third (Glyph of Lesser Elementals, Signet of Fire, Arcane Power, Arcane Blast, …)

=> I like the Arcane line for : Elemental Attunement (10pts), Blasting Staff (20pts), and maybe Elemental Surge (30pts)

=> I like the Water line for : Vital Striking (10pts)

=> I like the Air line for : Bolt to the Hearth (10pts)

=> I like the Fire line for POWER! and : Internal Fire (10pts), Pyromencer's Alacrity / Burning Precision (20pts), Pyromencer's Puissance (30pts)

This is also a viable alternative. It sacrifices a couple of speed options in the build I posted for more damage and utility. Bare in mind however if you are relying on a static field/blast finisher combo as your primary method of travel, you are putting two skills on cooldown that  may be required at an encounter should you run into one. I like it though, and it's nice to provide other alternatives.

[kalendraf]

sinisterpink, on 14 August 2012 - 04:00 AM, said:

Your points 1 and 3 support the benefit of movement speed (as opposed to just relying on 'what you do) to leveling. Moving quicker to tag faster and reach key locations on the map faster has a direct association to your rate of experience gain.

My final statements highlighted the benefit of having speed boosts.  My point about "what you do" is that exp gain is going to be more heavily impacted by doing these various things in PvE, rather than any specific build.  In other words, you could have a build that includes all kinds of speed boosts and so forth, but if you simply used it to run from mob-to-mob, or portal-to-portal without bothering to participate in some DEs, or uncover waypoints, POIs, or vistas, then you wouldn't get as much exp as the players that did that stuff.  That's why the "what you do" is more important than the build.

[slam9905]

Does the trait blasting staff increase the area of healing rain and geyser as well or does it just affect dps attacks? Oh and great thread btw...I was just planning out my traits for pve so this helps immensely.

Edited by slam9905, 14 August 2012 - 06:57 PM.

[mith167]

Can anyone take a look at this build for leveling PVE? I'm new to the guild wars realm so be gentle with me as I'm guessing my build is probably terrible.

http://www.gw2db.com...0|2252|0|0|0|0|

[sinisterpink]

kalendraf, on 14 August 2012 - 06:03 PM, said:

My final statements highlighted the benefit of having speed boosts.  My point about "what you do" is that exp gain is going to be more heavily impacted by doing these various things in PvE, rather than any specific build.  In other words, you could have a build that includes all kinds of speed boosts and so forth, but if you simply used it to run from mob-to-mob, or portal-to-portal without bothering to participate in some DEs, or uncover waypoints, POIs, or vistas, then you wouldn't get as much exp as the players that did that stuff.  That's why the "what you do" is more important than the build.

You're right. However you can't discount the fact that having a solid and effective routine and method of leveling is only further improved by having a build that compliments it. To speak in generally, if a particular build alone would yield you only up to 15% increase in exp/hr, that would save you an entire 30 out of 200 hours of leveling.

Hence, it is better to take both methodology and build both equally into consideration if you want to optimize leveling speed/rates.

[Tacticalgrace]

Fire is a big gain early but I prefer not to scythe through things too easily (low level stuff will be easy enough anyway). If I get an encounter that stretches me to be better with movement, positioning and comboing fields then all the more fun. I'll be hitting up arcane 10, air 10, then back to arcane.

[sinisterpink]

mith167, on 14 August 2012 - 08:22 PM, said:

Can anyone take a look at this build for leveling PVE? I'm new to the guild wars realm so be gentle with me as I'm guessing my build is probably terrible.

http://www.gw2db.com...0|2252|0|0|0|0|

Judging from your choices, it appears this build is optimized for a group damage and support role. You have beefed up your survivability too, thus this combination will make you valuable in boss DE, dungeons, and long engagements.

If this is what you are aiming for then the only changes I would suggest is to switch Arcane Blast with Arcane Wave. In addition to a quick burst of damage, Arcane Wave is a Combo Blast finisher; meaning you can use it in conjunction with a Combo Field (such as Lava Font, Burning Retreat, Static Field, Frozen Ground, Geyser, and Healing Rain) for additional affects. Self-triggering combos are one of the main benefits of a staff-user Elementalist, and you should try and take advantage of this as much as possible with Arcane Wave.

Also, while Glyph of Storms is a fun and useful AOE utility on a 60s cooldown its benefit is diminished as a staff user as you already have several great AOE options in all 4 attunements. Consider using Signet of Fire instead, as an improved crit rate would increase the damage potential across all of your abilities, while also giving you access to a quick burn dot on a 20s cooldown.

Edited by sinisterpink, 15 August 2012 - 02:11 AM.