Curse

Hanma l · Aug 29, 2008, 09:01 PM // 21:01

Alrite after a 2 month break im back on GW and i like to thank all those that helped me last time to get my 1st monk eva up and running. Now i need help w/ my first ele, i want to design it for pve use only and together with my war those will be the only 2 pve chars i'll have all the other classes i'll play em in pvp.

So to get this started i want to know should i go fire, water, earth, or air?
What weap sets do you guys generally use?
What runes should i use?
Armour wise should i make it a male or female char? (Which of the 2 has the best looking armor in your opinion?

Even though i've been playing for a year or so i only focused on my warrior but i want to change that.

Thank you in advance for all those who will post.

Squishy ftw · Aug 29, 2008, 09:05 PM // 21:05

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10314574
^The ele sticky probably has a lot of answers for you and some additional, and very useful, information.

BrettM · Aug 29, 2008, 10:43 PM // 22:43

You would probably not want to go water, especially if you like to play with H&H, since it's pretty much a support line. Fire for huge amounts of AoE damage. Air for huge amounts of single-target damage, particularly against high armor. Earth is versatile and can easily go AoE, single-target, or party support. (Biased? Little old earth mage me?

)

Gallery of Elementalist Armor Art. There are both great and terrible looking armor sets for both sexes, so look over the gallery and see what suits your tastes. Female ele armor tends to be somewhat, um, skimpy. Some of my female acquaintances are not pleased by this and seek the sets with greater coverage, some of which are quite nice looking. As a guy, I have no particular objection to seeing scantily clad females.

Personally, I have a set of male Elite Stoneforged right now, and look forward to being able to get sets of Asuran and Monument down the road.

For insignia, I use Survivors. For runes, I use a Superior Earth Magic on an earth magic headpiece, having worked my way up from Minor Earth Magic as I leveled the character. Minor Energy Storage on the chest, the best Vitae or Vigor I can afford on the pants, and Attunement on the gloves and boots.

For weapons, my main spellcasting weapon is an earth staff with an Insightful head (energy +5), a wrap of Fortitude (hp +30), and an Aptitude Not Attitude inscription (HCT 20%). Truthfully, given the long casting and recharge times of many earth magic spells, I would probably be better off with a 40/40 wand/offhand set. However, I very rarely use a spellcasting weapon these days. Mostly I use a caster-modded martial weapon (an axe, sword, or spear that has an Enchantments mod and a +5 energy inscription) along with a 20/20 earth magic offhand, because my usual builds are heavy on enchantments. I have a high-energy wand (+15 energy, -1 energy regen) plus offhand set that I can switch to in an energy emergency. And, of course, I carry a longbow for pulling.

At the start, I would suggest looking for the best staff you can find, since good staves are easier to find or make than good wand/offhand sets, and a spellcasting weapon can do useful amounts of damage to lower-level baddies. Upgrade the staff whenever you find a better one. Pick up a longbow from a collector while you're at it. The stats on the bow don't matter at all, since you'll only use it when you need to pull.

HTH.

Rhamia Darigaz · Aug 29, 2008, 11:41 PM // 23:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrettM

Fire for huge amounts of AoE damage that is actually quite small when you really need it because it isn't armor ignoring.

fixed

12 characters

Mouse at Large · Aug 30, 2008, 12:22 AM // 00:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhamia Darigaz

Fire for huge amounts of AoE damage that is actually quite useful when combined with burning because it is armor ignoring.

Fixed

12 characters

Molock · Aug 30, 2008, 12:26 AM // 00:26

Because using degen to kill stuff is efficient.. fire is fine in NM but is quite lame in HM.

draxynnic · Aug 30, 2008, 12:50 AM // 00:50

Personally, the way I look at it is this:

Fire does large amounts of area-of-effect damage, but, as the previous poster pointed out, it's not armour-ignoring. This means it can appear deceptively powerful earlier in the game, but in the later areas of the game when the enemy has higher armour levels, trying to output large amounts of damage as an Elementalist becomes increasingly futile.

This is even somewhat the case for Air, despite the armour penetration effect. Generally, I see Air largely as a component to a condition-spread build - an Air Elementalist can potentially pile Daze, Blind, Weakness and Cracked Armour on a target while still dishing out reasonably decent damage. The conditions are the main effect, though.

Water is mostly about slowing the enemy movement speeds down - just how important this is probably depends on the party and the situation, but it's usually the less favoured option in PvE. It also has a few options for protecting the party in other ways (Ward against Harm, Blurred Vision).

Earth is probably the most versatile line - it has a bit of condition-spreading, a bit of nuking, and a bit of crowd control, often fulfilling multiple roles with a single skill - as well as possibly being the best defensive line.

Myself, I like to have the ability to run a build based on any particular line if the situation calls for it - including having three sets of headgear (fire, air, and earth) each with the appropriate Major or better rune. If you're sticking to one, though... probably earth in the long run, although fire will take you a long way, and I understand there are still plenty of PUGs who prefer elementalists to bring fire even in areas where I would consider it obsolete.

Typically, I prefer Blessed insignias on an Elementalist, as you should generally try to have at least an attunement up at all times. Otherwise, I generally try to have equipment that provides benefits apart from increasing the energy supply (apart from the basic +10 or +12 from a staff or focus respectively) since in my experience Energy Storage provides all the energy well you need if your energy management is functioning properly. An alternate set to achieve a deep well probably would be useful to have in the long run, especially with those builds that DO rely on having a particularly deep well, but I'd be inclined to go with something like a 40/40 set first to help with those long cast times and recharges.

Regarding armour art - that's highly subjective, so you're best browsing the gallery to make your own decision. Personally, I prefer the male options in general, as they actually have enough material to show the different styles while a lot of the female options blend together in one big parade of skimpiness, but that doesn't mean there aren't any good female options, and some might argue the female options are more distinctive because they don't all consist of coat and trousers.

Jenn · Aug 30, 2008, 07:37 AM // 07:37

Air:
Depending on the area in hard mode, I think this could be a great utility character. A lot of enemies, especially in Nightfall and GW:EN are enchanted (yay Dervishes, eles and monks!). This make skills like Blinding Surge orgasmic. It could spare the monks from having to bring a skill like Aegis. In hardmode, it has moderate damage - better than fire. One of the few problems with the air line of skills is that a lot of skills can do one or some of the following: miss, line of sight, good damage, but 2 second cast time, almost no AoE.

In NM there isn't a reason to really go with Air. The enemies in NM are not threatening enough to need a BS utility character, and the aoe from fire will blow up stuff faster than the non-aoe air skills.

Earth:
I do like earth in HM, especially when the party uses celerities (to accelerate casting/recharge time). It can provide weakness, knock down, blind, damage, aoe and still have room for other utility in the party. Hell, I don't even bring Earth Attunement on the bar. Glyph of Lesser Energy is enough to power your spells, and recharge almost perfectly in sync with the other spells. For additional assurance, you can bring something like Air of Superiority (fast recharge) or Mindbender (faster casting), etc. The only problem with this type of ele in hard mode is scatter. Without a way to constantly keep targets on their asses, you risk just making shit run everywhere, kite everywhere, etc. It's a little annoying, but 'tis the life of an elementalist. To combat this problem, ES warriors, water eles, dervish + GDW, among several other possiblities.

In NM, hopefully stuff will be dead before you can cast more than 1-2 spells. That being said, if you're one of the only AoE damagers in a party, people will like having you there. Still lotsa damage, and not the scatter! The only annoying part is that I've noticed I tear through mobs so fast in NM that sometimes my earth skills won't have yet recharged.

Fire:
Even with an elementalist in a "nuking" position, it is still quite often playing the support role, nowadays - at least for hard mode. An example would be the AP Nuker* which does moderate damage in its meteors, but mostly provides consistent knockdowns. Quite honestly, in hard mode, the idea of a true nuking ele is quite laughable. In HM, most enemies have strong elemental resistance, usually geared towards +armor vs. fire.

In normal mode, I see virtually no problem with bringing a fire ele. Normal mode, with possibly DoA as the only exception, is extremely simple and weak compared to the nature of skills that were created to contend with hard mode areas.

Water:
Whoever the dummy was that said to not use water needs to get a few things straight. It's a GREAT utility character, with moderate damage. A lot of enemies do not have excessive armor towards cold damage. Hex removal on enemies comes at a steep price to them (AI indiscriminately will remove non-threatening hexes), and the amount a water ele can apply is huge (deep freeze, Blurred Vision, etc.). Not to mention the darling new PvE-only skill "Snow Storm." Tossing that onto a snared mob is pretty fantastic. It has an excellent recharge (compared to its fire counterpart), costs less energy, AND fewer enemies are designed to combat that type of damage. Also, if your party is lacking in other utility, Ward Against Harm is a good choice elite, but there aren't many other water elites that are widely used (unfortunately).

In NM, I'd tend to have a similar opinion to that of earth... most stuff will be dead-ish before you get your spells off, and NM isn't threatening enough to bring defensive/offensive snares. Has decent single-target damage, but again, the AL in NM is so low in most places that you can just toss biiiiig AoE on it while other people kill stuff more.

Good self/party utility skills:
[Splinter Weapon] - great damage if you have frontliners, especially dervish.
[Great Dwarf Weapon] - pretty good damage, sustainable on a few people, and sexy knock downs
[Air of Superiority] - I like this for some ele bars just because in huge mobs, it triggers skill recharge on my aoe spells
[Mindbender] - A common skill in the AP nuker bar, also nice for longer casting spells.
[Heal Party] - It.. heals. Not usually worth the 15e if you aren't an Ether-HP ele, but some choose to bring it. I don't usually.
[Aegis] - Useful with only 9 in prot, especially if you chain it with others in the party. Also, an underrated and overlooked plus: it enchants everyone in the party, and there are lots of great spells with target only enchanted allies.
[Extinguish] - Great in areas with lots of degen, or cripple, etc.

A lot of other skills can be taken from other classes to boost your survivability (i.e. Mystic Regeneration from the dervish line, if you're running a lot of enchantments, or otherwise specialized build), or to increase your effectiveness. Nothing is more annoying than going into a HM dungeon where everything has mesmer interrupts - so I like to sometimes bring Mantra of Resolve.

What it boils down to is that there's a TON you can do with an elementalist, but realize that in HM, the primary focus shouldn't usually be direct damage (unless running a highly specialized build, i.e. VoR nuker). Aim more to focus on maximizing your effectiveness moderate, constant damage, with the provision of buffing party damage, or helping party with damage mitigation/heals.

* I mentioned an "AP Nuker" which is an assassin's promise nuker. It's main (and only, lol) feature is constant, multiple knockdowns.
[Fire Attunement][Assassin's Promise][Mindbender][Meteor Shower] - and a few other choice skills (i.e. [Rodgort's Invocation])

cr00mz · Aug 30, 2008, 12:20 PM // 12:20

what class is damage dealer then in HM if not the elementalist?

-Lotus- · Aug 30, 2008, 03:54 PM // 15:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by cr00mz

what class is damage dealer then in HM if not the elementalist?

the physicals, like they always have been.

Tyla · Aug 30, 2008, 04:06 PM // 16:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrettM

You would probably not want to go water, especially if you like to play with H&H, since it's pretty much a support line. Fire for huge amounts of AoE damage. Air for huge amounts of single-target damage, particularly against high armor. Earth is versatile and can easily go AoE, single-target, or party support. (Biased? Little old earth mage me?

)

Fire does pitiful damage when it comes to Hard Mode, and Water is a fairly decent line which carries a fat snare, heavy interrupts and decent anti-melee.

Quote:

For weapons, my main spellcasting weapon is an earth staff with an Insightful head (energy +5), a wrap of Fortitude (hp +30), and an Aptitude Not Attitude inscription (HCT 20%). Truthfully, given the long casting and recharge times of many earth magic spells, I would probably be better off with a 40/40 wand/offhand set. However, I very rarely use a spellcasting weapon these days. Mostly I use a caster-modded martial weapon (an axe, sword, or spear that has an Enchantments mod and a +5 energy inscription) along with a 20/20 earth magic offhand, because my usual builds are heavy on enchantments. I have a high-energy wand (+15 energy, -1 energy regen) plus offhand set that I can switch to in an energy emergency. And, of course, I carry a longbow for pulling.

You should have a 40/20/20 staff if you're using enchantments other than your attunement, not a martial weapon. +5E/20% enchantment weapons don't compare to the power of weapon swapping.

BrettM · Aug 30, 2008, 04:26 PM // 16:26

I said "not water" and I stick by it under the circumstances. HM and the great utility value of water is irrelevant at the moment. The OP is starting a new PvE char and has never played ele before.

A new ele going water is going to have a harder time getting in lower-level PuGs, and most new eles want to start out as damage dealers in any case. Few people want to play utility support to a party of H&H at the beginning. As the OP learns the profession, all the other options that have been discussed in this thread will open up. But an L1 ele doesn't need to be picking their starting line of magic based on what they will be facing in DoA.

Just MHO.

Winterclaw · Aug 30, 2008, 04:52 PM // 16:52

Water is fine for a starting mage. Els are support characters and not damage dealers. Thus if you are interested in being an el, you should really focus on support at first because it is harder, more useful, and any idiot can run a RI-GG-MB bar.

joshuarodger · Aug 30, 2008, 04:58 PM // 16:58

i've just recently started playing a water ele as opposed to my standard SF/SH "nuker" and earth warder/KD. i think it's much more fun and actually helps kill stuff faster due to the lack of pressure the enemies can use against you.

[shatterstone][ice spikes][maelstrom][water attune][glowing ice][steam][glyph of imm][pain inverter]

if i'm playing with people, i'll take out the steam, glyph of immo combo for [[blurred vision] and a rez. also, it's fun to throw [[icy shackles] in there if you go to pvp. you can use [[deep freeze] for your snare, it has a broader range but there is almost no difference in damage done and the snare is about 4-5 seconds less but the recharge and energy cost on ice spikes is a lot nicer, in my opinion. if you use deep freeze, you may think about [[glyph of lesser] also.

plus with a water ele, your skills aren't on recharge for the whole fight, unlike with some earth and fire builds.

haven't really played with air much but i'm dying to try the new [[thunderclap].

EDIT i knew something was wrong with that build. i usually take maelstrom as opposed to vapor blade.

cr00mz · Aug 30, 2008, 04:59 PM // 16:59

so no one of the caster classes can be used for damage dealing in hard mode?

Tyla · Aug 30, 2008, 05:33 PM // 17:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by cr00mz

so no one of the caster classes can be used for damage dealing in hard mode?

The only decent damage output in HM is the notoriously imbalanced Cry of Pain, apart from that the rest of it is quite weak.

joshuarodger · Aug 30, 2008, 05:41 PM // 17:41

CoP is crazy good damage but discord bombers also put out ridiculous damage, especially if you have a few of them on your team. Eles aren't actually good at damage output. they're crazy good at frustrating the enemy team if used properly, though. although mesmers are still probably better at single target shutdown.

cr00mz · Aug 30, 2008, 05:49 PM // 17:49

i picked elementalist for massive AoE damage, feels like a punch in the face. Oh Well i probably qont get to Hard Mode for months anyway

Tyla · Aug 30, 2008, 05:52 PM // 17:52

[[maelstrom], [[deep freeze], [[blurred vision], [[unsteady ground], [[churning earth], [[eruption], [[blinding surge] and [[ward against melee] are all great skills to use if you're looking for a pure Elementalist. I personally like Shell Shock to take down HM monsters' armour a bit, but Necromancers do that part better. Saying that I prefer to go /Rt and take Splinter Weapon.

When it comes to HM your damage is absolutely terribad. Going with Mind Blast will allow you to fuel almost any skill without shortage of energy at all at the cost of your elite, and allows you to use Rodgorts' Invocation to have a slightly decent damage output. Same goes for Ether Renewal, but I personally hate using high Energy Storage.

Abedeus · Aug 30, 2008, 06:12 PM // 18:12

[Maelstrom]? Are you MAD Tyla? I mean, I know you are, but completely? ;p

In HM the best an Elementalist could do is support. Splinter Weapon, Wards, of course Blinding Surge, Eruption/Unstead Ground rocks too. Deep Freeze + Auspicious Incantation ftw.