Curse

Danaus · Jul 05, 2005, 02:44 PM // 14:44

Greetings all,

I recently got Guild Wars (finally) and have been building up a character as well as working on an eventual build for both PVE and PVP. In that respect, one of my first characters in mind is an Ele/Mes character with the build as follows. Any suggestions are very welcome.

Energy Storage: 10
Fire Magic: 10
Earth Magic: 8
Inspiration Magic: 8

Skills:

Aura of Restoration
Glyph of Energy (Elite)
Flare
Fireball
Stoning
Inferno
Kinetic Armor
Energy Tap

The basics of this build would be to fire off the Aura first, then Glyph of Energy + Kinetic Armor as combat begins. That kills 4 seconds of combat already, unfortunately, but it also sets one up for healing via the Aura plus grants the +26 armor against physical attacks. Since this renews each time you cast a spell (and you're entering combat), this means you should keep it going throughout the fight. (Energy used thus far: 15)

Following this would be straight up attacking: Flare, Stoning, Fireball and Energy Tap to build up a little energy (preferably from enemy monks/casters). If you get surrounded, Inferno would make for a nasty surprise.

The major weakness I see in this build is the overall lack of energy regeneration. Though a Mesmer, only one skill is used (Energy Tap). Second, Kinetic Armor would help for warriors/monsters getting close and attacking so that Inferno would be useful, but otherwise those are two skills that would be otherwise not-used.

Suggestions or thoughts on this build? Keep in mind it's going to be for both PVE & PVP, though if a few skills should be switched between the two, please suggest them (swapping out a few depending on if it's PVE or PVP). Thanks in advance guys.

arnansnow · Jul 05, 2005, 02:46 PM // 14:46

It would probably be better if you specialize in one element, instead of spreading your points over many.

Myodato · Jul 05, 2005, 03:25 PM // 15:25

You will end up using 3 attributes. I think almost everybody starts with 4 because they've seen one or two skills in another attribute that they think will help. Eventually though, almost all of them switch to three.

Think about it: What does Flare do for you that Stone Daggers doesn't ? Why choose Inferno over Aftershock or Fireball over Earthquake. Sure there are differences, but differences worth lowering the effects of all your spells ? I doubt it.

Apart from that, just try different spells and see which you like.

Danaus · Jul 05, 2005, 10:43 PM // 22:43

Thanks for the thoughts thus far. I'm still trying to push this character along and unlocking as many of the spells as I can, most of those in my initial build above I'm still lacking anyway.

I've thought of focusing in either Fire or Earth exclusively, then adding in the single Mesmer skill but again I'm unsure of a specific build currently.

At the low levels, what few skills I have currently aren't exactly perfect in regards to PVP that I've seen. Anyone out there have a good Earth/Inspiration build or Earth/Domination one? Scanning over all the builds posted here currently.. Thanks again in advance

Danaus · Jul 06, 2005, 01:43 AM // 01:43

An alternative build I'm considering now I think is the basic 'air spike' build I've seen a lot of people talking about (yet I cannot find a specific build around it):

Air: 11
Energy: 10
Earth: 8
Domination: 6

Aura of Restoration
Air Attunement
Glyph of Lesser Energy
Lightning Strike
Lightning Orb
Lightning Surge (Elite)
Ward vs Melee
Backfire

I figure substituting the Glyph for a Rez Signet would work if required, but overall it's a fairly straight up attack system. The single domination spell used (Backfire) is in there to at least stall casters in PvP and useful against them in PvE. I offhand see a lot of drawbacks and limitations to this build in both PvP and PvE. Given I'm still working on unlocking about half of these skills, I'm shooting blind based on builders I'm finding online to review stats and such. Thoughts on this or the one above?

arnansnow · Jul 06, 2005, 01:46 AM // 01:46

I would rather have Chain Lightning then lightning surge. And you could put enervating charge in instead of lightning strike for weakness. Going into two elemental trees is mostly a bad idea, especially for just one skill.

Dreamsmith · Jul 06, 2005, 02:11 AM // 02:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by arnansnow

Going into two elemental trees is mostly a bad idea, especially for just one skill.

Going with two different attributes for the same purporse is generally a bad idea, e.g. Air Magic for damage and Fire Magic for damage. Going with two different attributes for two different purposes is a good idea, regardless of whether it's something like Swordsmanship for damage and Tactics for defense, or Air Magic for damage and Earth Magic for defense. There's as much good reason for going into two elemental trees as there is for going into any two attributes for non-overlapping purposes.

As for it being just one skill, that does call it into question -- is it worth it for the one skill? But the same could be said for Dominaiton Magic, which you're also apparently taking for just one skill. I'd actually drop the half-powered Backfire, you already have damage skills that are less conditional. Personally, I'd reinvest those points in Earth Magic and take a second defensive skill, such as Armor of Earth. OTOH, for a more PvP focus, drop Earth Magic, pump up Domination and take Diversion or something else from that line.

Danaus · Jul 06, 2005, 02:18 AM // 02:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by arnansnow

I would rather have Chain Lightning then lightning surge. And you could put enervating charge in instead of lightning strike for weakness. Going into two elemental trees is mostly a bad idea, especially for just one skill.

Good call overall I think. I went back through and adjusted it as follows:

Energy Storage - 10
Air Magic - 12
Domination Magic - 8

Skills:

Aura of Restoration
Air Attunement
Glyph of Energy (Elite)
Lightning Strike
Lightning Orb
Enervating Charge
Chain Lightning
Backfire

Again, this only has the single Domination spell in the build, but depending on some situations others could be swapped out as appropriate. The result otherwise is a straight out damage dealer of the Air variety.

The biggest problem here is the high cost of the spells, the cheapest of which being the Lightning Strike at 5, plus it is also tied for the fastest recharge time at 5 (equal with Lightning Orb). The 30% offset thanks to Air Attunement makes this not quite as bad as it could be though, while the Elite Glyph makes the Orb itself not too painful to use every so often at the cost of 5 when pairing those up.

Chain Lightning & Enervating Charge only cost 7 each but do a huge amount of direct damage plus the change for AE damage in the Chain, though it does cause exhaustion.

The slow recharge times is the only thing really killing me on this, though with faster recharge items out there, stacking a couple 20% air ones would make for a good time.

Providing good hits and little to no resists, a good 82 damage in 2 seconds for about 11 power as an opener isn't bad. Toss in the Glyph + Orb for an extra 82 at a cost of only about 5-9 power more (5 for Glyph + I figure 0 or 4 on the Orb depending on when the Air Attunement is factored in) so we're at a grand total of about 7 seconds into a nuking with between 16-20 power used. Tossing off with another Lightning Strike followed by Enervating Charge now makes for an extra 82 damage at 9 seconds into the fight and 27-31 power expended. Providing max damage all around, that's a good 246 damage and likely (depending on gear) around half your power gone.

Add in whatever your allies/henchmen are doing and this is a pretty fair spiking build (I think). Given how Backfire isn't used too much (possibly to neuter for a few seconds a caster or boss, since it does 91 damage if they cast), that could be switched for the Rez signet in PvP perhaps.

Not to mention all the damage values would go up with runes/gear to increase attribute values.