Curse

Kenji Akatsuki · Aug 06, 2006, 01:16 AM // 01:16

Nowadays mostly every1 plays Fire as an elementalist. I dont blame them, when u think elements fire is typically the first to come to mind. Some may argue but the general public will agree to this statement. The runner up in popularity to fire is air, followed by earth. Wait a minute, last i checked water was an element too. I wonder y people dont use water as much as the other elements, as it (in my opinion) clearly dominates them in most to all aspects. Maybe its because the element is like it's name and is too submerged and complicated for people to find the secrets to. Maybe its because they think its like fire and should be spammed until the energy bar hits zero with about half the bar gone with exhaustion. The worst case of clueless hydromancy is the use of Maelstrom, which is all around a completely useless attack than can be easily evaded. Well I am here to give all of you my build on how to create an ocean master capable of numbing your enemy's senses blind and drowning them in a frustration that can only be compared to a tsunami. I give you my approach to the complicated element of water, named after my elementalist-The Aquaman

Build Name: The Aquaman
E/ME-For power and excessive damage
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Stats:
Water Magic: Lv16
Energy Storage: Lv12
(For E/Me, spare points can go into inspiration magic for higher energy drain)
(For E/R, spare points can go into Beast Mastery for pets or Wilderness Survival for Troll Unguent and/or running skills)
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Basic Equipment:
Armor: Aeromancer and a backup Pyromancer, Geomancer as well if you've got money to spare (I went with 15k Aeromancer tho i walk around in broad daylight in Shing Jea Armor Dyed Orange and Green)

Weapon: Flints Fleshcleaver or Kaolin Water Staff with Elemental Attunement
+5 Energy Wand w/ 20% HCR + 20/% HCR Focus w/o Elemental Attunement

(offhand and wands can be used as well and is probably more perfered by typical players, but I wanted to go with an ocean theme and not an iceman theme.)<---(this does not mean that people shouldnt use offhands/wands, its just my personal pref)
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l
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A comment to this is that generally people look for +15 energy staffs for elementalists, where as perfer +1 or +60life staffs for the reason that elementalists already have a high energy capability and 5 extra energy isnt going to make a difference in a build that surrounds itself with high energy consuming attacks.

Runes: Superior Water Magic and Minor Energy Storage
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Skill Setup:
General Carry;

E/Me
1) Ice Spear
2) Vapor Blade
3) Ice Spikes
4) Arcane Echo
5) Blurred Vision
6) Elemental Attunement [E]
7) Water Attunement
8) Res Sig

This is the standard carry set for the E/Me Aquaman. It is an all around debuff build that can keep your energy high for about...forever. Ice spikes is perfered over Shard Storm for the reason that it affects multiple targets at once and is an autohit attack. Vapor Blade is the hard hitter attack that is usually Echoed to have a 1-2 hit. Blurred Vision is used to blind warriors so that you can either stand and Ice Spear them in the face or finish off your target. Blurred Vision at level 16 will last 21 seconds and the skill itself recharges is 20, making for a permablind that only hex removals can eliminate. Be aware that some warriors enter battle with holy veil. Since it is an enchantment, Vapor blade's damage is cut in half, but if Ice Spikes (which is a hex) is cast on first, the typical warrior will remove his holy veil, thus leaving himself open to an array of vapor blades. Because of Elemental Attunement and Water Attunement, your energy should always be near max after each spell. A serious killer to this build is an enchantment stripper, but all elementalists must take that chance in battle when trying to manage energy.

AB/Aspenwood E/Me Aquaman
1) Ice Spear
2) Vapor Blade
3) Ice Spikes
4) Deep Freeze
5) Arcane Echo/Reveal Enchantment
6) Blurred Vision
7) Elemental Attunement [E]
8) Water Attunement

Basically res sig is removed for deep freeze, which is a multi-affecting, high damage slow down. Combined with ice spikes it can cause a really bad day and create an extremely angry enemy. Deep Freeze slows the enemy down for 10 seconds and ice spikes slows for 6. Both skills recharge in 15 seconds, meaning it can be chained endlessly and cause the opponent death before he can even arrive at you (unless he is really close, then he will die at your feet). If the enemy isnt dead, then an application of endless ice spears should do the trick.

E/Me Adjusted:
Aquaman: Angry Seaking

1) Ice Spear
2) Vapor Bade
3) Shard Storm
4) Mind Freeze [E]
5) Blurred Vision
6) Energy Tap/Reveal Enchantment
7) Water Attunement
8) Res Sig

By eliminating elemental attunement, Aquaman now is not an infinite stormer (a term I developed and use for the balance between spiking and nuking [i consider spiking rapid damage in a short amount of time and nuking slow but hard and heavy damage]) This does not mean he is weaker, it only means he will send out massive damage but must take a few moments of rest in between. In this build, concentration on one target is key. Spamming is not advised as it will have a large backlash on your energy that you do not want. To pull this off, start by Mind freezing the target with full energy. The enemy will be slowed considerably and when the slow is off, shard storm to put the slow back on, Vapor Blade and then approch for ice spear spamming (which is the only skill that should be spammed). Blurred Vision will keep the enemy off you if they are a close range attacker and energy tap will give energy to continue your assault. When the enemy reaches 30% health he/she will typically back off, seeing as your life is nearly untouched and theirs is so low. When they run, apply a mind freeze for large damage and a long slow and end it with vapor blade. The essence here is to only need mind freeze only once or twice. Three times is acceptable but highly unneccessary unless they heal.
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Backup Skills: (arsenal that can be used to adjust the build to any preferences)

(Shard Storm): low cost, single target version of Ice Spikes
(Deep Freeze): strong damage, long slow, decend recharge in place of res sig
(Armor of Mist): for tanking magic based teams, replace for Blurred Vision
(Shatterstone): for multi-element users, can also cause anti-hex monks to kill their own teammate as the damage is applied even tho the hex is removed. In place of Elemental Attunement
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Words of Advise and Wisdom:

I encourge users of this build to experiment with other skills and how they chain with other skills. The key to water is the reaction of the enemy, meaning that damage isnt always what wins the fight.

Water is not fire, air, or earth. Meaning it should not enclude a tray full of exhaustion causing skills, low energy small spikes of attacks, or over protective attacks. Water is the debuff of enemies and the cause of death in that way. Water should not be used as aggressivly as air or fire but also not as defensive as earth. Find a balance between those play styles and water can be mastered.

Do not buy Hydromancer armors, as they provide no protection against the more popular elements. I am not trying to spread the popularity of Water Magic, I am just showing people how to use it my way if they choose to use it. Water is not underpowered watsoever and should not be degraded for not having "seemingly" straightforward skills. Get to know the element and you'll see how deadly it can be.

Location based attacks are a complete offset to the Aquaman build, as the build attempts to immitate the Sea-king in his natural home, the ocean, where he has absolute mastery of his surroundings. Carry autolock attacks and projectiles only.

When Elemental Attunement is not in the skill bar, attempt to use substitution attacks that do nearly the same thing as the skills being replaced with only less energy. Water is very energy straining and forces it's users to take their energy for granted.

The Great Al · Aug 06, 2006, 05:11 AM // 05:11

well before I even finish reading, unless I am mistaken, wands and offhands are > staves

if you are going to go /me, you may as well just take a strip enchant if you can, and then do the vapor blade

Kenji Akatsuki · Aug 06, 2006, 08:26 AM // 08:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Great Al

well before I even finish reading, unless I am mistaken, wands and offhands are > staves

if you are going to go /me, you may as well just take a strip enchant if you can, and then do the vapor blade

generally, they are. I went with a Flints for the 5/30 and a 30/30 Life staff. Energy management isnt really a problem for Aquaman and offhand/wand is only better because it has a greater chance of recharging skills and gives 2 extra energy (if your using a +5 energy wand). This build doesnt call for that because all the skills are time linked together perfectly. One skill calls for the next and the cycle repeats.

Bringing enchantment strip is a sound idea, not a perfect one. You're thinking too literal when u think vapor blade. Only casters r enchantment users and against them its best to just not use vaporblade. Remember that the essence of slow is wat makes this build work and in that essense allows u to spam ice spears at the caster. Vapor blade is only intended to be used on warriors, assassins, necros, and such. Try it out and ull see.

o yea, i think i also added reasons to why i made such choices, so i advise future readers to read first, comment later

H2BH · Aug 06, 2006, 01:44 PM // 13:44

The only time that a staff is better than a wand/off hand is if you are going for an enchantment based build, IE using mist form, breeze, armor of whatever, then id rather have the +20% than a few xtra points of energy.

Kenji Akatsuki · Aug 06, 2006, 06:19 PM // 18:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by H2BH

The only time that a staff is better than a wand/off hand is if you are going for an enchantment based build, IE using mist form, breeze, armor of whatever, then id rather have the +20% than a few xtra points of energy.

i agree with u on this statement. But still i choose to have life over a few points of unneeded energy

H2BH · Aug 06, 2006, 07:45 PM // 19:45

Staves are nice for many reasons you jsut have to think harder and have a more complicated build to get anything out of it. Earth Eles gaining the xtra 7 armor will put them in a higher armor bracket and reduce a full point of damage out of every hit. E/Mo's can use staves + boon to have never ending enchants etc...or at least as close to never ending as u can get.

If you're just a basic player and all you're gunna do is run up and try to spam someone with spells to death then a wand/off hand will always be better b/c you can reduce casting times by 40% and recharge times by 40% 1 or the other and still gain some mana.

It isnt until you start timing your enchants to the second or a more support oriented build healing breeze for example becomes alot better with a 20% duration addition.

I dunno it dpeends on what your doing. I always say there are 2 kinds of ele's

Emo and Eme 1 is offense/harrasment the other is offence/support.

I mean your either running a air/eco or a fire/eco or your running earth/prot or ice/heals

those are pretty much the best and more versitle ele combos and they have thier own sets of advatages and disadvantages

Saraphim · Aug 07, 2006, 01:35 AM // 01:35

Kenji,

Had to come in and thank you for posting the Aquaman build. I've been a commited nuker / echo-nuker pretty much the whole way through and never tried any other element. But after getting a butt kicking in Hell's Precipice four times I decided to try something new and found your thread. So I nipped over to Cantha, bought Vapour Blade, stuck some water runes on my spare Pyro armour and ran this build:

Quote:

Skill Setup:
General Carry;

E/Me
1) Ice Spear
2) Vapor Blade
3) Ice Spikes
4) Arcane Echo
5) Blurred Vision
6) Elemental Attunement [E]
7) Water Attunement
8) Res Sig

Had 15 on Water, 14 on E Storage.

Finished Hell's Precipice without dying once and with a 10% morale boost.

Many thanks from an inexperienced Water Ele. You rock!

unholy guardian · Aug 07, 2006, 04:03 AM // 04:03

nice build, water is awesome, hopfully in nightfall we see some pretty cool new water spells

Kenji Akatsuki · Aug 07, 2006, 04:36 AM // 04:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by H2BH

Staves are nice for many reasons you jsut have to think harder and have a more complicated build to get anything out of it. Earth Eles gaining the xtra 7 armor will put them in a higher armor bracket and reduce a full point of damage out of every hit. E/Mo's can use staves + boon to have never ending enchants etc...or at least as close to never ending as u can get.

If you're just a basic player and all you're gunna do is run up and try to spam someone with spells to death then a wand/off hand will always be better b/c you can reduce casting times by 40% and recharge times by 40% 1 or the other and still gain some mana.

It isnt until you start timing your enchants to the second or a more support oriented build healing breeze for example becomes alot better with a 20% duration addition.

I dunno it dpeends on what your doing. I always say there are 2 kinds of ele's

Emo and Eme 1 is offense/harrasment the other is offence/support.

I mean your either running a air/eco or a fire/eco or your running earth/prot or ice/heals

those are pretty much the best and more versitle ele combos and they have thier own sets of advatages and disadvantages

i sorta understood everything u typed, and i only question the reason why u stuck water and heals together. Water is a debuffer and having a self buff in there is a complete U turn from the purpose. There is no room for heals or prots and even if there is it will weaken water is one way or the other. for example, a heal will either decrease damage output, lower/eliminate blind, and/or reduce slow time. If it works for u, great. For me, not really.

The staff comment is agreed. The aquaman build is not intended to run up to enemies and just pound them with skills, it is more to mess with them while their death is just a bonus. In which case staff is much more appropriate with this build than offhand/wands. But like i said, watever floats your boat

NightShad0w · Aug 07, 2006, 04:28 PM // 16:28

Good job, water magic does rock. But i have to disagree when you say that maelstrom is useless. Many a times i have won RA battles with mind freeze + maelstrom on the monk, they get hit by it at least 4 times before they can walk out of it with with 90% speed reduction, and if there's 2 people attacking the monk (everybody should be, but there are many retards in RA), 4 seconds is easily enough time to take his/her hp to about 1/4 or 0/4.

But it is a useless skills for PvE.

Kenji Akatsuki · Aug 07, 2006, 07:02 PM // 19:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightShad0w

Good job, water magic does rock. But i have to disagree when you say that maelstrom is useless. Many a times i have won RA battles with mind freeze + maelstrom on the monk, they get hit by it at least 4 times before they can walk out of it with with 90% speed reduction, and if there's 2 people attacking the monk (everybody should be, but there are many retards in RA), 4 seconds is easily enough time to take his/her hp to about 1/4 or 0/4.

But it is a useless skills for PvE.

i dont doubt the mind freeze/maelstrom combo, i dislike the backlash of exhaustion u get after using those skills. Without elemental attunement to back up maelstrom, you would lose 5 maximum energy for it and cost u 17.5 energy to cast (single attunement). add that onto mind freeze and thats a maximum 10 of ur energy capped off and an additional -7 energy. I guess i only say that it's useless because the aquaman build can easiliy kill a monk but without the exhaustion and the massive energy usage

Fluffy Butt · Aug 07, 2006, 10:56 PM // 22:56

Uhhhhhh, very nice build! I've seen Earth nukers, Air Spikers and Nukers... why hasnt anyone posted a aquaman... I'll just call it Ice Nuker

Anyways The reason no one has posted a Ice Nuker is because its not super great, all of the elementalists elements has there advantege

Fire - VERY Powerful Damage and Deadly short time degen (Nuker)

Fire rating: Damage 4/4 () Degen Effect 3/4 () Overall rating 7/8

Earth - Deadly Armor Ingoring but causes exhastion also has powerful EoE spells (Earth Nuker)

Earth rating: Damage-3/4 () Armor Effect-3/4 () Overall rating-6/8

Air - Good Damage the 25% penatration is a killer to tanks and almost every spell has 25% (Air Spiker)

Air rating: Damage-1/4 () Armor Effect-4/4 () Overall rating-5/8

Water - More damage than Air (most of the time) but less than Fire, Has powerful slow hex spells but not very helpful when against another spell caster, against tanks yes, useful. (Ice Nuker)

Water rating: Damage-3/4 () Slow Effect-1/4 () Overall rating-4/8

The reason water isn't used much is because its the weakest of the 4, earth and air even beats it.

Sakashi · Aug 07, 2006, 11:45 PM // 23:45

Air armor penetration is even more deadlier to 60AL foes.
Armor ignoring spells such as those from the Earth attribute are more suited to taking out tanks.
Water i really don't use for the damage, but the large aoe of deep freeze and mass snaring. Works wonders in Alliance Battles

Kenji Akatsuki · Aug 08, 2006, 04:05 AM // 04:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fluffy Butt

Uhhhhhh, very nice build! I've seen Earth nukers, Air Spikers and Nukers... why hasnt anyone posted a aquaman... I'll just call it Ice Nuker

Anyways The reason no one has posted a Ice Nuker is because its not super great, all of the elementalists elements has there advantege

Fire - VERY Powerful Damage and Deadly short time degen (Nuker)

Fire rating: Damage 4/4 () Degen Effect 3/4 () Overall rating 7/8

Earth - Deadly Armor Ingoring but causes exhastion also has powerful EoE spells (Earth Nuker)

Earth rating: Damage-3/4 () Armor Effect-3/4 () Overall rating-6/8

Air - Good Damage the 25% penatration is a killer to tanks and almost every spell has 25% (Air Spiker)

Air rating: Damage-1/4 () Armor Effect-4/4 () Overall rating-5/8

Water - More damage than Air (most of the time) but less than Fire, Has powerful slow hex spells but not very helpful when against another spell caster, against tanks yes, useful. (Ice Nuker)

Water rating: Damage-3/4 () Slow Effect-1/4 () Overall rating-4/8

The reason water isn't used much is because its the weakest of the 4, earth and air even beats it.

one thing, wat?
r u giving my water build a compliment? or r u insulting water in general? and that comparison/chart/statistics/list thing, very pretty, did u come up with it urself or did some echo nuker for life give it to u? Maybe u saw some half bit water-attempting build that included maelstrom and rust. Maybe u were just observing some ice imps. Uve got it backwards my very confused friend. Fire is all about damage, and the short time degen that is burn is about as strong as 2 flares. Fire doesnt not pride itself on killing targets but instead tenderizing a group at the cost of energy. aeromancy is the focus of one individual and putting relentless pressure on them. earth is more self area cast and knockdown. Tho it is strong its true purpouse is to alter the battle field, some people take it's high damage as its only purpose of use. Earth is also the anti-warrior, not water. Water is the anti-caster, not the other way around. Water draws its power from debuff and foe weaken attacks. The damage is a higher than air and the recharge is lower than fire, making it a middle man for the two.

i dont know who u think u r coming into a thread dedicated to helping people with playing the game and trying to promote elements clearly already popular. rite now im still being polite, but i can guarantee u that if u post this again into some other person's build thread u will get a facefull of hostility much worse than this. and a word of advice, make sure u get your information correct before u decide to use words like deadly, short degen, and watnot. no one cares for your 4 out of 4 rating or 5 out of ten or w/e. remember that and dont repost telling me wat u ment to say, cuz its pretty obvious wat ur saying.

the tru reason y people dont try water is because they think like u and follow the crowd on choices (hence the "wat is the best 2nd prof for my character" questions). they r usually answered with fire because its "strongest".

oh and the build is called Aquaman, not some uncreative, 2 sec thought processed thing like ice nuker. if i wanted to call it ice nuker then i wouldve. and another thing, i used the term stormer, not nuker to discribe my build. another reason why u dont call it ice nuker

Fluffy Butt · Aug 08, 2006, 04:19 AM // 04:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenji Akatsuki

one thing, wat?
r u giving my water build a compliment? or r u insulting water in general? and that comparison/chart/statistics/list thing, very pretty, did u come up with it urself or did some echo nuker for life give it to u? Uve got it backwards my no one cares for your 4 out of 4 rating or 5 out
oh and the build is called Aquaman

Ok,
"ouch" I was only giving my opinion, to tell the truth, I wasnt sure that I was insulting or complimenting either

. also I came up with the chart, the chart was for you, to let you know why it was the least used, I didnt mean to insult you. Also I forgot to add to the chart the less energy AoE spells, other elements has less energy, not sure about recharge time though. Careful what you say in your replys, see my ele/monk build page 3 or something

"The best Healer monk isn't a monk at all"

A hell of a lot of people hated it because it was indiffer, I'm sorry if I made you angry, I didn't mean to.

Kenji Akatsuki · Aug 08, 2006, 04:19 AM // 04:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sakashi

Air armor penetration is even more deadlier to 60AL foes.
Armor ignoring spells such as those from the Earth attribute are more suited to taking out tanks.
Water i really don't use for the damage, but the large aoe of deep freeze and mass snaring. Works wonders in Alliance Battles

agreed. it is the earth element that can take out warriors. Water is the middle man and is versitile enuff to be effective against both.

People like fluffy butt seem to only be looking at the numbers. people like him/her gets very bored of that soon and switch to another element, see how its numbers arnt as high, and create false statistics to sound smart. dont waste ur time on them

Kenji Akatsuki · Aug 08, 2006, 04:23 AM // 04:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fluffy Butt

Ok,
"ouch" I was only giving my opinion, to tell the truth, I wasnt sure that I was insulting or complimenting either

. also I came up with the chart, the chart was for you, to let you know why it was the least used, I didnt mean to insult you. Also I forgot to add to the chart the less energy EoE spells, other elements has less energy, not sure about recharge time though. Careful what you say in your replys, see my ele/monk build page 3 or something

"The best Healer monk isn't a monk at all"

A hell of a lot of people hated it because it was indiffer, I'm sorry if I made you angry, I didn't mean to.

careful wat i say? that advice is for u my friend. i hold no grudges as ur opinion is ur own. with that said my opinion belongs to me as well

i dont need to see ur build. every build that can be remember with fond memories by its users is a good one.

now i almost feel bad about mentioning u in sakashi's reply....almost

Fluffy Butt · Aug 08, 2006, 04:24 AM // 04:24

A good ranger skill for this is Serpents Quickness for those long recharge times.

Kenji Akatsuki · Aug 08, 2006, 04:28 AM // 04:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fluffy Butt

A good ranger skill for this is Serpents Quickness for those long recharge times.

i think i replied this to some1 before, ill say it again. my build is designed so that each skill can corrispond to each other perfectly whether u decided to chain the entire skill bar or skip around. i havent had a time where i became frustrated with recharge time. but true, serpents quickness can fix any recharge problems

NoFace · Aug 14, 2006, 06:05 PM // 18:05

First of all i must say that you kenji are my hero for today.
I started with a Waterele and i think that water willl allways be my favorite.

To everyone that says that you cant nuke with water, i say you have so wrong. It is only a little bit harder and you have to do it in a little different way and think a little more about how you use your skills.
I also want to say that maelstrom isnt worthless. I have a little tactic tho of using it. It is a good interupt spell. And if you meet a hard spellcasting boss, you will sure be happy if you manage to do what i allways try to do.
If you manage to push them in to a corner they are stuck, cant cast and takes dmg at the same time, verry good and it isnt to hard to push them in to it.

I have 2 builds, or more i have 1 build but change 1 skill for AB and PvP.
I usually get bored of second prof so i change it pretty often, thats why im only gonna go into what skills i use that is water.

I call my first one for "fast kill".
Water Trident - 5 energy, 1 sec activate, 3 sec recharge. 74 dmg
Ice Spear - 5 energy, 1 sec activate, instant recharge. 74 dmg (half range)
Maelstrom - 25 energy, 2 sec activate, 30 sec recharge. 26dmg/sec for 10 secs
Deep Freeze - 25 energy, 3 sec activate, 15 sec recharge. 90 dmg and 66% slowed for 10 secs to all foes at location
Ice Spikes - 15 energy, 2 sec activate, 15 sec recharge. 84 dmg and 66% slowed for 6 secs.
Water Attunament - 10 energy, 2 sec activate, 45 sec recharge. 30% waterskill energy cost for 62 secs.
This is an energysucking tactic.
Allways use Water Attunament befor aggro.
If there is a mob i start up with Maelstrom on the most dangerous caster, follower by deep freeze, that way he is slowed and even tho he tries to get away from the Maelstrom it takes little more time.
The name fast kill comes from this part of the tactic. Spam Water Trident and Ice Spear, fast, kinda good dmg, doesnt cost to much. Spam Spam Spam. hopefully Dead Dead Dead, if you see what i mean.
Tho Ice Spear has half range and thats why i have Ice Spikes if i really need to stay far away.

When i do AB i take mist form (10 energy, 1 sec activate, 30 sec recharge. Holds for 21 secs) insted of water trident and just spam with ice spear, not as fast but if a warrior is comming and is about to kill me, i can use mist form and run.

I can also say that with my build i can take out the 2 NPCs by myself and elementalist shrine in AB most of the time. Start up with maelstrom, deep freeze. IF they havent walked out from the maelstrom start spamming. If they have, go back and do it all over again when you have full energy again and they are not aggroed anymore.

I have the hydromancer armor. That is because i think it looks really nice.
Water Magic 16 - max, headpeace, sup water rune
Energy Storage 15 - max, sup rune
Then i have superior vigor so the other to sup runes just takes away 100 health.
As a Weapon i use Flint's fleshcleaver. thoes +5 energy means one water trident/ice spear, means 74dmg. That is why. So with the sup vigor and the +30 health from the staff i have 410 health. And with 15 energystorage +10 energy from armor and +15 energy from staff i have 90 energy.

Just for fun. one water trident does 74dmg and costs 5 energy. if i empty my energy that means 74x18=..... 1332dmg ^^

So its kinda similar to Kenjis build. Have fun freezing them to death ^.^