Curse

Thom Bangalter · May 15, 2007, 11:22 PM // 23:22

searing flames is the best elementalist pve skill.

Ishtar Serket · May 16, 2007, 01:19 AM // 01:19

I rarely use FireStorm at all anymore. It just lost some of its shine when NF came out. It does have its limited use though as a utility skill, especially considering Meteor Shower's long cast time. Also, SF isn't always the best. Using that on Shiro isn't advisable since Impossible Odds will spread the burning condition back to the party. As for becoming a pro elementalist, just experiment with builds until you find skills that work together well.

AquarianMoon · May 18, 2007, 01:31 PM // 13:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by aapo

- Difference between pro gamers and average gamers is that average gamer play mostly randomly. In GvG he snares random targets and does not coordinate with team to get something killed. Kills come either through faults in other team's builds or lucky pressure.

Professionals read skill descriptions and understand that to warrant the use of Deep Freeze (instead of Ice Prison) the spell must hit more than one enemies who are meaningful targets of the spell. While pieces of advice like these may seem common sense, you can go and see for yourself what makes top guilds win games in observe mode.

Nevermind...I got it.

AquarianMoon · May 18, 2007, 01:41 PM // 13:41

I guess I have the same question, what's a good PvP /RA build for an Ele? There are sooooooooooooo many SF eles now...it's ridiculous!

I'm not a "pro" player by any means. I'm not a noob either. I'm an average player that wants to get more competent at not just mob rushing then wondering wtf happened when I die! (in PvP)

I've been a warrior more than anything and just switched to an Ele....
Who do I cast on first? What do I cast first? (Elemental attunement, I know that part) what happens when I start getting my butt wooped by a warrior? What should I do if a mesmer starts draining my energy? I know what to do if I'm a warrior, kill the SOB that is casting on me!

I've seen good eles out there that really know what they're doing, and I'm just an ele noob and want to be an asset to my team, not a hindrance or a dead body they have to resurrect in the heat of battle.

I've been using the SF build, but that's so overused now... I almost want to do something different that counteracts the SF build. is there such a build?

Darkpower Alchemist · May 19, 2007, 12:40 PM // 12:40

Your focus should be to get used to playing the role, and not playing the build. Builds can be changed, but knowing the role of the ele is paramount.

SF maybe overused, but one must realize that the fire line was stagnant until SF. I have just recently ran into an ele that beat me, not by brute strength, but with skill. I learned from the encounter. That is the mark of a professional. Can you do something and learn from it? Can you become better from you confrontations/experiences?

Lord Nibiru · May 19, 2007, 01:13 PM // 13:13

You are very good ele when you stop casting while under the Backfire....

redstarx · May 27, 2007, 06:45 PM // 18:45

I couldn't help but notice this post, lol. I don't consider myself a pro ele but at least a "seasoned" elementalist. It's my favorite class to play in any RPG that I try. My best advice is this: know and be comfortable with your skills bar (in terms of what order to cast your spells - ie. biggest example would be to carry glyph of sacrifice and end up using that glyph on a minor spell like Searing Flames instead of meteor shower!), watch your energy, prioritize your targets, and act fast (I think this would apply to all classes). If your monks or the back row is getting pummeled, it would be a good idea to switch targets and protect your monks or run away. You can't do much if you're dead, or if you're out of energy =).

red orc · May 28, 2007, 12:18 PM // 12:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by AquarianMoon

I guess I have the same question, what's a good PvP /RA build for an Ele? There are sooooooooooooo many SF eles now...it's ridiculous!

I'm not a "pro" player by any means. I'm not a noob either. I'm an average player that wants to get more competent at not just mob rushing then wondering wtf happened when I die! (in PvP)

I've been a warrior more than anything and just switched to an Ele....
Who do I cast on first? What do I cast first? (Elemental attunement, I know that part) what happens when I start getting my butt wooped by a warrior? What should I do if a mesmer starts draining my energy? I know what to do if I'm a warrior, kill the SOB that is casting on me!

I've seen good eles out there that really know what they're doing, and I'm just an ele noob and want to be an asset to my team, not a hindrance or a dead body they have to resurrect in the heat of battle.

I've been using the SF build, but that's so overused now... I almost want to do something different that counteracts the SF build. is there such a build?

A pro will never be doing only one thing. If you want to run an ele in pvp you have to be able to provide added value to your group aside from dishing damage. This is why SF is a BAD ele build as are the various tanks.
You have to be able to provide defense as well as offense for your team.
Several option exist:
- Bring Bsurge or regular blining and use it to keep up to 2 melee blind.
- Bring wards and provide safe place to your team.
- Bring water slowing hex/ melee mis hex / KD.
- Help in healing, can be aegis / expel hex / sor / draw condition.
In some builds you can add more than one line of support described here.

Aphrodate · Jun 04, 2007, 11:54 AM // 11:54

You asked who do you cast on first. Well in PvE go for the monk first and then anything that can give you allot of damage. I usually go for Rangers, Mesmers and other Ele, while the warriors battle it out. This is very helpful for the warriors too, because it takes unnecessary strain off them and then I target anything that's left.

I used to play SF, Savannah Heat en Mind Burn, but since I discovered Elemental Attunement I only play that. I cast Elemental Attunement and then Fire Attunement, and then I don't have to worry about my energy at all. I use LF, Fireball, Flare and Meteor Shower. That's more than enough to nuke the sh!t out off anything.

When warrior starts attacking me....kite like hell...I sometimes run in the battle and that sometimes distract them and they will start attacking someone(warrior) else. I'm very careful of Mesmers, because I know what they can do. If I know that I'm going to play against Mesmers I take Mark of Rodgort and when they start stealing my energy I cast Mark of Rodgort and just wand them until the hex is off. MoR cause them to burn if you attack them with any fire weapon and burning "steal" 14 health every second plus MoR....their dead!!!

phool · Jun 04, 2007, 05:55 PM // 17:55

denotationally I'd say a pro is someone who makes money as opposed to an amateur who dervies only enjoyment. Anyway semantics aside, there aren't really any skills to an ele that aren't universal to any non-passive or defensive casters. You may also need good understanding of mob AI to get the most out of your aoe, particularly dot.

Francis Crawford · Jun 05, 2007, 12:49 AM // 00:49

As with most (all?) professions, you need to tweak your builds and strategies a bit by environment. I don't tweak them much, but for example:

1. You really need your Attunement for energy. So if Shatter Enchantment is a major issue, keep it covered with Aura of Restoration.

2. If the Attunement DOES get stripped anyway, you need to pace your energy management. Otherwise, you probably can blast away at will.

3. Which part of the enemy mob bunches the most? The back line or the meleers?

It also varies by element. Water doesn't work well in PvE, almost without exception. Air is all about blinding, and it's pretty obvious where to blind. Earth is warding first -- farming aside -- and hence about positioning the wards, plus doing useful damage or disruption between them. And fire is mainly about causing harm to the enemy.

And then there are special cases. Abaddon is chained down, so Savannah Heat and Fire Storm own him. Shiro is destroyed by an echo chain of Celestial Storm; blinding him is also a really good idea. Etc.

Francis Crawford · Jun 05, 2007, 01:08 AM // 01:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thom Bangalter

searing flames is the best elementalist pve skill.

Agreed. There's little I'd rather cast than just another copy of SF. Maybe Meteor Shower, although there the fair comparison is TWO copies of SF (because of casting/recharge time), which makes even its superiority to SF nonobvious.

Yeah, with a Dual Attunement air build you can blind two meleers and do some damage aside, but at PvE mob size the Searing Flames nuking option is usually better. Especially when you take a pair of SF heroes and go Three Nuketeers.

In most PvE zones, the vast majority of my damage is Searing Flames plus minions. (Great synergy between the two). At least, that's in Normal Mode. I haven't figured out yet, in limited tries, how to make the team sufficiently non-squishy.