Curse

Francis Crawford · Feb 24, 2006, 02:45 PM // 14:45

Where in PvE is elementalist tanking actually realistic?

My problem in figuring this out is that for various situations one seems to need various different secondary professions, and too often one seems to need more than one.

Specifically, all elementalist tanking builds seem to depend on enchantments, usually some combo of Obsidian Flesh (E), Mist Form (E), Armor of Earth, and Kinetic Armor. Having those enchantments stripped or disrupted seems like a Very Bad Thing. And so:

1. Against Chilblains elementalist tanking seems very hard. Ditto Well of the Profane, but I never see that in PvE.

2. Against targeted enchantment stripping, which happens a lot, the only recourse seems to be Permanent Obsidian Flesh, which requires a ranger secondary. Unless you have a friendly Mo/Ra with you casting permanent Spellbreaker, of course.

Actually, there's a second option -- go Ele/Me, use Arcane Echo on Obsidian Flesh, and kill everybody in the 70 seconds or so you're consecutively protected. Not so easy, however.

3. The only ways I see to deal with Disrupting Chop are from the Mesmer line -- Mantra of Concentration/Resolve, or else Sympathetic Visage. The latter, of course, could be cast on you by a helpful mesmer in the party.

4. Against Mesmer disruption (or Meteor Showers and the like), see Point #2.

5. Against Ranger disruption, the only real recourse is Mantra of Concentration/Resolve.

6. Against Giant Stomp and the like, there's little that would help except Balanced Stance.

7. Unlike the case for most elementalist builds, energy management can be a problem. In some cases, the only recourse will be Bathalazar's (which you don't have to cast yourself) or Essence Bond (which you do).

The idea of getting AL over 200 plus being invulnerable to all spells (except proximity-based ones) is really cool. But the fragility of the necessary enchantments is a real puzzler.

LifeInfusion · Feb 26, 2006, 06:02 PM // 18:02

Use wards damit,

Ward Against Elements (Earth Magic)
You create a Ward Against Elements at your current location. For 8..18 seconds, allies in this area gain +24 armor against elemental damage.
Energy:15 Cast:1 Recharge:20

Ward Against Foes (Earth Magic)
You create a Ward Against Foes at your current location. For 8..18 seconds, foes in this area move 50% slower.
Energy:15 Cast:1 Recharge:20

Ward Against Harm [Elite] (Water Magic)
Create a Ward Against Harm at your location. For 8..18 seconds, allies in this area have 12..50 armor against fire damage and 12..22 armor against other damage.
Energy:15 Cast:1 Recharge:20

Ward Against Melee (Earth Magic)
You create a Ward Against Melee at your current location. For 8..18 seconds, allies in this area have a 50% chance to evade melee attacks.
Energy:10 Cast:1 Recharge:20

ALSO:

Swirling Aura (Water Magic)
For 8..18 seconds, Swirling Aura has a 75% chance to "block" arrows and magical projectiles.
Energy:10 Cast:1 Recharge:60

Magnetic Aura (Earth Magic)
For 5..10 seconds, Magnetic Aura has a 75% chance to "block" melee attacks.
Energy:5 Cast:0.25 Recharge:60

Obsidian Flesh [Elite] (Earth Magic)
For 8..18 seconds, you gain +20 armor and cannot be the target of foe Spells, but move 50% slower.
Energy:10 Cast:1 Recharge:30

Kinetic Armor (Earth Magic)
For 8 seconds, you gain +20..68 armor. Whenever you cast a Spell, Kinetic Armor is renewed for 8 seconds.
Energy:15 Cast:3 Recharge:60

Armor of Mist (Water Magic)
For 8..18 seconds, you gain +10..34 armor and move 33% faster.
Energy:10 Cast:2 Recharge:30

Armor of Frost (Water Magic)
For 10..29 seconds, you gain +40 armor against physical damage, but -24 armor against fire damage. Armor of Frost ends if you use any Fire Magic.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:45

Armor of Earth (Earth Magic)
For 30 seconds, you gain 24..53 armor, but move 50..21% slower.
Energy:10 Cast:0.75 Recharge:15

Mist Form [Elite] (Water Magic)
For 8..18 seconds, you cannot take or deal damage from attacks.
Energy:10 Cast:2 Recharge:30

against interrupts you have Glyphs:

Glyph of Sacrifice (Elementalist other)
Your next Spell may be cast instantly, but takes an additional 90 seconds to recharge.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:15

Glyph of Concentration (Elementalist other)
Your next Spell cannot be interrupted and ignores the effects of being Dazed.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:2

Glyph of Renewal [Elite] (Elementalist other)
Your next spell instantly recharges.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:15

Francis Crawford · Feb 27, 2006, 01:16 AM // 01:16

Thanks. Some good points there, but I find skill bar crowding to be a real issue. I want to do defense and damage and energy management, and a bit of self-healing would be nice too. Kinetic Armor, for instance, almost mandates a 5 energy otherwise suboptimal spell or else great energy management because you're shooting of the occasional extra 10 energy spell to keep it up.

Meanwhile, I've never seen why Ward Against Foes is worth the trouble. And I've never seen why any Earth-based build works except against enemies willing to rush up either melee with you or use proximity spells like Inferno.

LifeInfusion · Feb 27, 2006, 01:24 AM // 01:24

Ward against Foes is mainly for W/E but also good if you are pulling off some AOE spells like Eruption or Lava font.