Guild Wars Forums - GW Guru
 
 

Go Back   Guild Wars Forums - GW Guru > The Hall of Knowledge > The Campfire

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old Jun 26, 2006, 04:54 PM // 16:54   #1
Wilds Pathfinder
 
Lordhelmos's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Guild: Sentients of Shadow (noir)
Profession: Me/E
Advertisement

Disable Ads
Default Helmos' Guide: Shockwave Ele-tanking


Introduction:

A shockwave ele-tank is a build I came up with tinkering with the ritualist secondary (E/Rt). For a long time us Elementalists have been at the mercy of blood thirsty warriors that live only to prey on our innate squishiness. However, a shockwave ele-tank welcomes these brainless fools and shows that eles can indeed hold their own on the front lines.

Functions of the Ele-tank

As a Shockwave Ele-tank your will have a number of options at your disposal. With this setup you will be able to devastate enemy warriors that attempt to mow you down with melee attacks. However, like many other builds you are enchantment dependant. In the scenario where you are shattered, you will be forced to retreat to the back row and take up a secondary function that will be explained later. Shockwave also allows you to clear up ritualist spirit nests and enemy minion hordes. Ele-tanks do have their weakness though and as a caster you are still at the mercy of backfire and enchantment strips.

Attributes and Equipment

Earth: 16 (Headgear + superior rune)
E-Storage: 9 (Minor rune)
Restoration: 10

The ideal equipment for this build would be:

-A +5 Energy Sword/Axe of Enchanting
-An Earth Scroll offhand that halves the casting and recharge times of earth spells.


A +5 Energy Sword/Axe of enchanting can be found:
-For a rediculous amount of money from someone in LA dist 1.
-A +5 energy katana can be forged at divine path for 6 steel, 40 Irons, and 10plat.
-For the lowest cost solution, a Totem Axe can be used for this build. They are way overfarmed and relatively cheap. Chances are you already have one

The Earth Scroll can be found:
-Forge one at Vasburg Armory for 10 parchment and 30 planks of wood from the weapon crafter there. There is a 5plat cost.
-The collecter all they way down mineral springs and south of the IDS cave will trade you one for 5 alpine seeds. She stands outside of the second rez shrine in the springs. Be warned... it is quite the walk.

You MUST have the +20 enchantment mod. in order to extend the renewal period for kinetic armor. Without this mod, the build is almost impossible to manage. With all the required components you will have 455 HP and 74 energy. 74 energy is way more than enough to manage your low cost skills. The bonus drops to 72 if you are using a staff. You may substitute Galigord's Stone Staff for the equipment, but using a melee weapon to lock on to enemies and move into close range allows shockwave to be used more effectively.

The Skills Ver. II

1.) Obsidian Flame
This is your high damage finisher and the only skill that you have that causes exhaustion. You will be primarily using this attack to finish off fleeing enemies that feel sorry after mistaking you for a soft target. At 16 earth obsidian flame deals 118 armor ignorant damage. The only thing that will stop this black fire is protective spirit, shelter, or a bond. Do NOT overspam obsidian flame or you will find yourself reeling for energy. Use this attack only when the enemy falls below 1/3 health.

2.) Shockwave {E}
This is your elite skill and one of your primary damage dealing attacks. Shockwave hits for a massive AOE and deals 159 damage at adjacent range, 106 damage at nearby range, and 53 damage at area range at 16 earth. This damage is not armor ignorant, it will deal substantially less damage to warriors and rangers. Shockwave is best used for clear out thumper pets that continue to pester you, minions, or spirits. You will want to use shockwave adjacent to a caster. On soft targets shockwave will deal an insane amount of damage up close. The 20 second recharge isn't too bad, but if you luck out and get the time cut to 10 you can follow up your attack with a second wave shortly after to deal even more damage. Shockwave is also great against rits, it can ruin minutes worth of work in spirits in seconds. This is great for cleaning out wanderlust walls and things of the sort. Just watch out for spirit of disenchantments, you will want to obsidian flame those from a safe distance or let someone else kill them.

3.) Sliver Armor (Yes I know Anet doesn't know how to spell)
This is your main warrior killing spell. Probably one of the best factions skills for eles created. With 16 earth you will gain 52% evasion for 11 seconds and anytime you are attacked silver armor strikes a nearby for 37 earth damage. This skill is downright devastating to warriors and will one of your main offensive and defensive skills. A good thing about silver armor is that your 20% enchantment mod will allow it to last much longer. More silver armor means more warrior hate. Silver Armor is a trippy skill though. Be aware that the damage it causes is concentrated on one target. Most of the time silver armor will deal damage to the foe that you have currently selected as a target. Although there is a randomness factor with this spell, it is always a good idea to switch targets to weaker casters if they are nearby before casting the spell. The target concentration of this spell makes it a massive damage stacker. Silver armor can even drain fully armored warrior or a Leeroy assassin in seconds.

4.) Kinetic Armor
Kinetic armor is the lifeblood of this build. At 16 earth kinetic armor grants a +83 armor bonus with no penalty. When you think about that, 83 armor + and ele's base 60 AL gives your 123 armor. With this on, you can face tanks one on one and spells like meteor shower will deal a piddly 35ish damage to you. However Kinetic Armor is a very high maintainence spell and to keep it running you will need to cast a spell every 8 seconds to renew it. Having a +20 enchantment mod ups this leeway time to 11ish seconds. It is important to keep kinetic armor running at ALL times. The absolute worst part of this build is the 60 seconds kinetic armor needs in order to recharge. This leaves little room for error so be aware of kinetic armor at all times. One major downside to kinetic armor is that once it is renewed it will count as the last enchantment cast. This means that if you are shattered or rended, kinetic armor will be the FIRST enchantment removed. Do not stay in the combat zone without this on. Always be aware of necromancers and mesmers nearby. If you are shattered you will need to act fast.

5.) Vengeful Weapon
Ahh... here it is... your key skill. At a cost of 5 and a 3/4 second cast time, Vengeful Weapon absorbs 45 dmg from the attacker and gives it to you at 10 restoration. This is what you will be using to upkeep kinetic armor. It has a 8 second duration and recharges in 3, meaning you can spam it to keep up Kinetic Armor FOREVER. By the time you use it again to upkeep Kinetic armor, you will have already gained 5 energy. It's a sick skill BUT do not forget you can use it on allies as well. By linking Kinetic Armor and Vengeful weapon in a systematic process you will be a 123 AL tank that steals 45 life every 3 seconds. Enemies will not be doing enough damage to offset what you gain with vengeful weapon. When both of these skills are paired up with silver armor, the effects are devastating. 45 HP of lifesteal every three seconds, 37 damage each time your are attacked, and you can tank it all with 123 AL! This is the secret of the ele-tank. Careful balance between these three skills is what makes this build work. However it is important to know that Vengeful Weapon steals life AFTER you are damaged. This means if you have 34 life and you think vengeful weapon will save you with the life steal, chances are you will die first. Be aware of this and know when to kite out of the heat.

6.) Resilent was Xiko
Resilent was Xiko is Melandru's Resilence in a bottle. At 10 restoration you hold the ashes for 15 seconds and gain +2 health regeneration for any hexes or conditions on you. This spell is great for tanking warrior conditions and with a 1 second cast time and 5 cost it is very energy effecient as well. Also when the ashes are dropped you lose 3 conditions. I general drop the ashes after a warrior gets me with apply poison, bleeding, and cripple to avoid the gash attack coming up. A warning about item spells is that when used they disable the energy bonus given to you by your weapon and offhand. While carrying the ashes your max energy drops by 17. If you have less than 17 energy this can be dangerous to your since your energy will be locked at 0 with no regen until you drop the ashes. Just be sure you drop the ashes in time to renew your vengeful weapon and upkeep your armor. This gimmick can also be used to your advantage against an E degen mesmer. You can bust the ashes out put 17 of your energy on layaway if you are under the effects of E drain, a energy spiking, or even Edrain or wither. The ashes can also be used and dropped instantly for a quick condition cleanse. You will want to kite away before using any item spells, to prevent interruption from hammer blows of savage slash.

6.) Generous was Tsungrai
Generous Tsungrai is a mass self heal with item spell properties similar to Xiko. The ash grants you a 151 max hp bonus while held and also grants a 220 HP heal when dropped. The major drawback to this spell is that it calls for a 10% life sacrifice of 40ish HP to be used. If you wait to long it is possible to kill yourself with this spell before getting a heal. Tsungrai can be used as a buffer to build up some tanking power before engaging enemies. Vengeful Weapon will still be active while holding items, which allows you to maintain kinetic armor and hold the ash at the same time. A good rule of thumb is to kite away and use the ash if you fall under 1/2 HP and quickly drop it for a spike heal. When you have mastered the strange gimmicks of this spell, it can be quite effective in keeping you alive.

8.) Resurrection Signet/Flesh of my Flesh
Unless your a rank 10 boon prot, not bringing a rez is like going to disneyland with an empty wallet. Nuff said.

General Ele-Tanking Strategy

You will start by throwing on your attunement and then using kinetic armor. Keep an eye on the armor as the party makes its way to the enemies and use vengeful weapon to upkeep the armor (and get yourself a cool spirit weapon!). When the enemies are in range do not be the first one to charge, always let the real tanks lead and follow behind. Be especially careful and keep extra distance if there are enemy mesmers and necromancers. You DO NOT want to be shattered right off the bat, it would throw a serious wrench in your plans due to Kinetic Armor's long recharge and cast time. When the enemies crowd around the tanks, tag the mob with a shockwave for some serious damage. You will always want to shockwave the lowest armored target or the weakest one and try to get as much of the mob in your blast as you can. Be aware that you spellcasting is renewing your armor and do not waste energy spamming vengeful weapon if you are not underfire and your Kinetic Armor still has like 7 seconds left. Think of the weapon as your counter button against enemy attacks. You will find that vengeful weapon works great against arrow attacks and you can use it to deflect arrow damage (I.e. Barrage) while maintaining your enchantments. Against a high damage mob or party, you can use ashes of tsungrai before charging into the fray to give yourself a nice 220 HP safety net incase things go sour or you are hit with a surprise shatter and you need to get away fast. If you are stacked with hexes or conditions you can use ashes of xiko to protected yourself and kite away to safety until the effects wear of. If you use an ash spell while holding an item you automatically drop what your holding for the new ash. If you are holding Tsungrai and use xiko, you will gain 220 hp when you switch ashes. This is good when you need a buffer or are suffering from something life transfter. However, beware of Tsungrai's sacrifice effect. If you are below 40 health, buffer you tsungrai with a weapon of vengence and quickly get away so that you may recover and use tsungrai without causing a suicide.

Once in awhile a group of warriors or assassins will break through your tanks and see you, this poor fragile ele between your warriors and your monks. This is your golden moment. You will have their asses. When attackers swarm you, throw up silver armor and watch them take over 80 dmg of the first hit (when vengeful weapon triggers along with silver armor). If they are smart they will run, but 90% of the time they will wail on you just because your an ele and take massive damage from silver armor. Cast shockwave to deal more damage and if they run finish them off with obsidian flame. Yes, play this build and I promise warriors will run from you. This will work against bunny thumpers as well, since the pet will always attack and fry its owner with your silver armor. It's priceless

In the event of shatter mesmers and necros be more careful and keep silver armor on stanby unless you are heavily mobbed. In the red alarm that kinetic armor is shattered, immediately throw up silver armor if you can and kite away. Use vengeful weapon to negatate damage and when in safety use xiko if you are stacked with a few hexes and conditions before you move out. If you fall below half life, use tsungrai to quickly recover.

In the case of a mass hex stack you will want to get away and call your conditions to a monk. Burning with max degen, Backfire, and Diversion can all be devastasting. Try not to take on primary hexers, this is a mistake warriors make and you will end up dead like them if you repeat that error. Retreat back and allow your other party members to handle or draw the aggro from enemy shutdown casters before you reset your armor and return to the fight. Do not cast through Backfire, even it means losing your armor. Call Backfire, Migraine, Soul Leech, Life Transfer and Diversion immediately. In the case that vengeful weapon is diversioned by a mesmer use obsidian flame and ash spells to keep up your armor. Kinetic Armor has a 3 second cast time, if it is interrupted you are screwed so never cast it in the heat of battle, fall back on silver armor and kiting and use you weapon of vengence on allies and obsidian flame to assist the party. You are safe to build up a decent amount of exaustion since most of your skills are 5-10 cost. With the skills you are using, you can build up half a bar of exaustion and still be able to function.

Also against touch rangers, immediately shockwave them and begin obsidian flaming them while kiting like mad man. Vamp attacks and shadow skills with eat through your armor, but be aware that vengeful weapon will trigger off attack like shadow strike and dark pact. However, vengeful weapon will not trigger off touch ranger attacks ( Still testing but I dont see it happen). You will want to kill a touch as quickly as possible, even if it means exhaustion.

One last thing to watch out for is a KD attack. If you see the enemy using knockdown skills, immediately cast vengeful weapon at each recharge. The one thing you don't want happening is being KD'ed while neglecting the timer on Kinetic Armor and losing your 80 AL bonus because you can't get fast enough to hit the button. This can be very dangerous. Assassins will also stack conditions on you after a KD so if an assassin approaches immediately throw up the vengeful weapon and then silver armor (try to get it in before they KD you but be careful not to get interrupted). If the assassin shadow steps in, he will probaby go straight for the KD so throwing up vengeful weapon is your best bet. Immediately after getting up and taking some damage throw up silver armor and a shockwave. With an assassin's super fast attack speed he should kill himself pretty quick and get torn to pieces by the wave. Kite back and heal immediately after facing an assassin, they will damage you to an extent.

End

Well that's all I have to say about my Shockwave Ele-tank. I have alot of fun with this build and its pretty cool to be able to stand on the frontline with a spirit weapon and actually beat most wars one on one. The most satisfying thing I find about this build is that it forces enemies to kill themselves. On top of that you have a wide area AOE that can deal good damage and even spike with obsidian flame. Vengeful weapon is a great skill to upkeep your armor and most of the build's other skills offer both offense and defense at the same time. Also most of the skills are low cost and with an attunement, energy problems are almost nil, (the main problem is recharge time, so pray for that 20% to kick in ). This build works great in PvE and also has gotten me a few glads points in random arenas. I hope you all have fun with this and feel free to add comments, suggestions, etc.

~Helmos

Last edited by Lordhelmos; Jun 28, 2006 at 09:34 PM // 21:34..
Lordhelmos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 26, 2006, 05:12 PM // 17:12   #2
Frost Gate Guardian
 
Vincaro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Profession: W/N
Default

You kind of missed one of the earth ELE's best combos... Dragon Stomp, Aftershock. And why Res Sig when you've got the Rit skills to choose from. I use Lively was Naomi and with my build it resses all partymembers in the area at 40% health including yourself if you died holding the urn. I also use Galigords Stone Staff for the increaced enchant duration (Longer armor of earth, and earth atunement.) and +5 energy, and both the recharge and Cast plus it was cheap. Also, what use is the sword if you don't have the req swordsmanship seing as how you're not a Warrior secondary. Galligord's staff would do more damage in that case.

Last edited by Vincaro; Jun 26, 2006 at 05:23 PM // 17:23..
Vincaro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 26, 2006, 05:15 PM // 17:15   #3
Frost Gate Guardian
 
Vincaro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Profession: W/N
Default

And also, the +armor in the spells is total not per piece of armor. But to further enhance any earth build... Use tempest armor.

Last edited by Vincaro; Jun 26, 2006 at 05:18 PM // 17:18..
Vincaro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 26, 2006, 06:06 PM // 18:06   #4
Jungle Guide
 
Amity and Truth's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Profession: W/N
Default

The sword is there for its unconditional +5 Energy with added modability (for example adding an enchantment mod to it). Show me the wand that gives +5 Energy allways and also increases your enchantment duration. Sure a staff does just that, but will have lower energy.


Compare:
10 (inherit mod) +5 (insightful)
versus
12 (inherit mod) +5 (Sword)

As well as several other possible advantages of chosing sword over a wand, that would be quite frankly, too much to list here. The only real downside to this is that you're sacrificing your wands damage. Switch your weapon sets if you really need that wand damage now and then.

The reason why there is a res signet instead of Flesh of my Flesh or another one of the ritualists ressurection spells is quite simple. It is hand down the most powerful res spell in the game. And as this build is obviously geared towards PVP (though i'd say it is more suitable in the Random Arena Environment) bringing a hard res with you is often just not sufficient. Especially with those extremely long casting times on them.

@Lordhelmos
Congrats on the nice gimmick build. I can imagine it being quite some fun at times. I'm going to give it a try one day. Only downside is the quite long recharge on Silver Armor. A funny thing i tried one day was GoR with Silver Armor to keep it up 24/7. Though this would not work in your current build.
There is only one thing i don't like that much with this build and that is to fully develop it's potential the enemies must be targetting you.
It will probably come down to the effect your typical Smiting Monk in RA has. People just switch targets to take other targets out first.
Amity and Truth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 26, 2006, 06:38 PM // 18:38   #5
Forge Runner
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Guild: ALOA
Profession: E/Me
Default

I don't really understand why this is a tanking build. You only have one spell (shockwave) where you would have to actually run into the enemies at all. Also, its gg when your kinetic gets stripped and you're in the middle of 5 tanks. Also, 37 earth damage is not going to be damaging to a tank, even if it is for 11 seconds. I would much rather cast the mesmer skill (argh whats the name...it's like backfire but it's for attacks instead of spells) that hits for 26 (armor ignoring) damage each time something attacks, for like 16 seconds...and let the tank hit someone else
The Great Al is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 26, 2006, 07:08 PM // 19:08   #6
Ascalonian Squire
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Default

Interesting idea, great against those rits that spam non stop spirits. Little fyi Sliver Armor is exactly how it is supposed to be spelt . Since why would Silver Armor hurt someone who hit them, but armor that lets off razor sharp slivers would.
Thermo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 26, 2006, 07:54 PM // 19:54   #7
Forge Runner
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Guild: ALOA
Profession: E/Me
Default

yeah i also don't understand why people think its supposed to be 'silver'...
The Great Al is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 26, 2006, 11:11 PM // 23:11   #8
Frost Gate Guardian
 
Vincaro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Profession: W/N
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Amity and Truth
The sword is there for its unconditional +5 Energy with added modability (for example adding an enchantment mod to it). Show me the wand that gives +5 Energy allways and also increases your enchantment duration. Sure a staff does just that, but will have lower energy.


Compare:
10 (inherit mod) +5 (insightful)
versus
12 (inherit mod) +5 (Sword)

As well as several other possible advantages of chosing sword over a wand, that would be quite frankly, too much to list here. The only real downside to this is that you're sacrificing your wands damage. Switch your weapon sets if you really need that wand damage now and then.

The reason why there is a res signet instead of Flesh of my Flesh or another one of the ritualists ressurection spells is quite simple. It is hand down the most powerful res spell in the game. And as this build is obviously geared towards PVP (though i'd say it is more suitable in the Random Arena Environment) bringing a hard res with you is often just not sufficient. Especially with those extremely long casting times on them.

@Lordhelmos
Congrats on the nice gimmick build. I can imagine it being quite some fun at times. I'm going to give it a try one day. Only downside is the quite long recharge on Silver Armor. A funny thing i tried one day was GoR with Silver Armor to keep it up 24/7. Though this would not work in your current build.
There is only one thing i don't like that much with this build and that is to fully develop it's potential the enemies must be targetting you.
It will probably come down to the effect your typical Smiting Monk in RA has. People just switch targets to take other targets out first.
First of all 2 energy is not even worth mentioning when you have 81 to begin with. It's not even a spell's worth. Second what other possible advantages could a sword have, you don't have war secondary with this build so no skills that need a sword, and you don't have the req swordsmanship so no damage, there are no advantages.

Armor of earth bairly slows you down at 16 and still gives 63 defence and has a short recharge time. Obsidian Flame causes exhaustion so there goes the tinyest advantage of 2 energy. And as someone already noted, you only have one other attack skill, shockwave a good skill but not enough. As I said before Dragon Stomp and Aftershock are a great combo. Especially for ELE tanking it's about 300 earth damage in 4 seconds to all adjacents. Dragon stomp does cause exhaustion, but the 15 sec (Still shorter than Shockwave) Recharge makes sure you don't over use it as many Ele's tend to do. 5 min downtime anyone?

Last edited by Vincaro; Jun 26, 2006 at 11:15 PM // 23:15..
Vincaro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 27, 2006, 03:56 AM // 03:56   #9
Wilds Pathfinder
 
Lordhelmos's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Guild: Sentients of Shadow (noir)
Profession: Me/E
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vincaro
First of all 2 energy is not even worth mentioning when you have 81 to begin with. It's not even a spell's worth. Second what other possible advantages could a sword have, you don't have war secondary with this build so no skills that need a sword, and you don't have the req swordsmanship so no damage, there are no advantages.

Armor of earth bairly slows you down at 16 and still gives 63 defence and has a short recharge time. Obsidian Flame causes exhaustion so there goes the tinyest advantage of 2 energy. And as someone already noted, you only have one other attack skill, shockwave a good skill but not enough. As I said before Dragon Stomp and Aftershock are a great combo. Especially for ELE tanking it's about 300 earth damage in 4 seconds to all adjacents. Dragon stomp does cause exhaustion, but the 15 sec (Still shorter than Shockwave) Recharge makes sure you don't over use it as many Ele's tend to do. 5 min downtime anyone?
I actually was using the EQ aftershock and armor earth combo before I ported over to using shockwave. The reason I use shockwave is as follows:

-Earthquake is a great spell, however it has quite a high cost and a three second cast time. If your trying to hit with the AS aftershock combo you will have to note that the effective range of AS is very small. It is quite difficult to KD an enemy with earthquake and then get them with aftershock. You saying that you your going to walk to an enemy and attempt to hit them with a three second cast time skill then move into range to hit them with the small adjacent range of AS. In order to hit with EQ + AS you will have to cast EQ quite close to the enemy, which makes you prone to interruption. It is quite easy to kite away from the EQ + AS combo and no player is going to stand still and just let you AS them as soon as they are KD'ed by the quake. With armor of earth you even have a slowing penalty, which makes hitting with AS even harder. The touch spell shock + aftershock is a much better combo but then again there is also the issue of exaustion. Also with armor of earth, although the slow penalties are very low and higher levels, it is more difficult to kite after moving into melee range. Even after hitting with EQ + aftershock, your defensive options will be limited due to being slowed by armor of earth, although sliver armor is an option.

Looking at this cost and effect wise:

Earthquake + Aftershock combo:
25energy + 10energy + exhaustion. Must be used quite close to be effective. 3 second cast time. Sliver armor of armor of earth as a defensive option, casting sliver armor while moving out of the combat zone is 10e cost. You have spent a net total 45 energy attacking the enemy and have become exhausted. Now this isn't even assume you hit with AS. There is also a big chance the enemy can kite away before you are able to get AS in. Plus you have a slow penalty of about 12-19%.

Shockwave + Vengeful Weapon:
10energy. Hits in a massive radius but deals significatly less damage. There is onlt a split second cast time, so getting the full damage bonus is quite easy. While moving awat your protected by 83 armor from kinetic with no slowdown. If you are shattered you can spam vengeful weapon at a cost of 5 to negate 45 damage AND deal damage to the attacker as your move away. Sliver armor is still an option incase your armor is shattered as well and in a 1 second cast time you have 11 seconds to get away while buffed with 50% evasion and damage to attackers. At most you spend 20-25 energy and suffer no exaustion, with shockwave's recharge at 20.

Speaking about the ranges of Shockwave and Aftershock, the following from wiki shows the effective range of both spells. Notice that the range for adjacent is quite small. The enemy has to be pratically touching you after an EQ spell AND KD in order for you to get the huge bonus damage. What im saying is you put yourself at risk with a 3 second cast spell at close range and also after the KD from AS your window of opportunity to hit with aftershock is quite small.

Lordhelmos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 27, 2006, 04:32 AM // 04:32   #10
Forge Runner
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Guild: ALOA
Profession: E/Me
Default

i guess it's alright as a build to try out and have fun with, but considering you only have two real offensive spells, at cost 10 and 5 energy, it just makes more sense to go with a warrior primary...elems really arent meant to tank . I like shockwave, but you basically centered this entire idea around it, and I don't really see how this is any more effective than a pyro with AoE spells.
The Great Al is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 27, 2006, 04:35 AM // 04:35   #11
Desert Nomad
 
Batou of Nine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: California, USA
Guild: Angel Sharks [AS] (RiP [KaiZ] T__T")
Profession: Mo/E
Default

Hehe. My ele tank build...


Blinding Flash.
Batou of Nine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 27, 2006, 08:58 AM // 08:58   #12
Wilds Pathfinder
 
Lordhelmos's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Guild: Sentients of Shadow (noir)
Profession: Me/E
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Batou of Nine
Hehe. My ele tank build...


Blinding Flash.
Which will keep you alive for ten seconds unless you flashbot the warrior every recharge. At 15 cost, your going to deplete yourself then die with no energy if the tank is persistant. I generally use blinding flash only if I have knockdown skill and snares for self protection. Better yet I flashbot warriors attacking monks. A blind warrior still chasing you just buys you some time. You need to this of a better way to stop him if you want to survive. You can always Eprod yourself, but some warriors bring skills like plague touch and purge. I take wards and blurred vision over blinding flash or in conjuction with it.

The problem is elementalists do not have a long life span under pressure. We lack solid defensive options to make up for our low armor class. Yes you can load yourself up with a ton of pyro skills but then you fall under the glass cannon effect. After all your casts your pretty much useless for while, and especially with fire magic your defensive options are almost nothing unless your pulling something from a secondary profession.

Mass hexing and degen are both still major problems. Eles have no hex or condition removal. Only monk and mesmer skills can really save you there. Also aura of restoration is a joke when it comes to self healing.

I'm really just playing around with builds, to see what else an elementalist can do besides being nothing more than a AOE bomber that is left useless after dropping a payload. With all the pyro-nuking and MS builds, its nice to play around with other things just for the hell of it.
Lordhelmos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 27, 2006, 10:31 AM // 10:31   #13
Jungle Guide
 
Amity and Truth's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Profession: W/N
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vincaro
First of all 2 energy is not even worth mentioning when you have 81 to begin with. It's not even a spell's worth. Second what other possible advantages could a sword have, you don't have war secondary with this build so no skills that need a sword, and you don't have the req swordsmanship so no damage, there are no advantages.
Insightful Staff of Defense
11-22 Damage
20 / 20 Mod
10 Energy
+5 Energy
+5 AL

Versus:
Sword of Defense
-- Damage
+5 Energy
+5 AL

and the offhand item
20/20 Recharge
+12 Energy

So uh no big deal hm?
The latter is superior in that it has +2 Energy. If you really need your wand damage (duh) you can STILL switch your weapon set.

Now let's try another configuration.

Defensive Staff of Defense
11-22 Damage
20/20 Recharge
+5 AL
+5 AL


versus
Sword of Defense
+5 Energy
+5 AL

Offhand Focus
+12 Energy
+5 AL (while enchanted)
+45 Health (while enchanted)

Now the advantage clearly steps into view. You sacrifice the wand damage (which you can STILL switch) and the casting/recharge (something most good players only bring on a spare weapon set - in case you don't know why: When it comes to spiking down a target, a single assisting Lightning Orb hitting a second too early can screw the whole spike in a whole. Even moreso when you're playing in a balanced team).

You however now have:
Same AL
+12/+7 Energy versus +10 Energy. Still telling me that doesn't matter?
+45 Health

And if you're now STILL thinking that a +5 Energy Sword is the choice of "noobs", please tell me why the HOD Sword was so damn popular amongst the better players.
Amity and Truth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 27, 2006, 06:00 PM // 18:00   #14
Wilds Pathfinder
 
Lordhelmos's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Guild: Sentients of Shadow (noir)
Profession: Me/E
Default

I'n some further experimentation with the build I found you can substitute your res for armor of earth and shockwave for glyph of renewal. Maybe you can replace wielder's boon with another attack spell like aftershock, crystals, or stone daggers. This in essence transforms you into a 200+ AL tank and you can renew sliver armor to have it last indefinetly. This can be used to effectively farm the troll cave, hydras, ettins, and any melee based enemies. If you can make it past the avicara you can probably solo the mighty grawls for an Icebreaker in talus as well. I am still experimenting with some of the dynamics of the kinetic armor/weapon of vengence combo. I will post more findings as I play more.
Lordhelmos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 27, 2006, 06:58 PM // 18:58   #15
Forge Runner
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Guild: ALOA
Profession: E/Me
Default

now you're taking shockwave out too? You may as well just make an invincimentalist build
The Great Al is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 27, 2006, 10:29 PM // 22:29   #16
Wilds Pathfinder
 
Lordhelmos's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Guild: Sentients of Shadow (noir)
Profession: Me/E
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Great Al
now you're taking shockwave out too? You may as well just make an invincimentalist build
I was just saying that with a few minor tweaks you can convert this build to a solo farming build. Mist Form does not protect you against spells and added effects like conjure and vamp.

Also shockwave tanking is 100% effective for hydra farming. With the afore mentioned tweaks its 100% effective against trolls in the ice cave. Just tested.
Lordhelmos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 28, 2006, 09:37 PM // 21:37   #17
Wilds Pathfinder
 
Lordhelmos's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Guild: Sentients of Shadow (noir)
Profession: Me/E
Default

Updated the build to use Resilent was Xiko and Generous was Tsungrai for added benefits against conditional attacks/hexes and a larger self heal.
Lordhelmos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jun 29, 2006, 03:39 AM // 03:39   #18
Jungle Guide
 
ubermancer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Guild: ******************* Refuge From Exile [RFE]
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vincaro
And also, the +armor in the spells is total not per piece of armor. But to further enhance any earth build... Use tempest armor.
No, it is applied per piece.
ubermancer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jul 04, 2006, 08:43 AM // 08:43   #19
Krytan Explorer
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Guild: Black Death Knights
Profession: E/
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Great Al
yeah i also don't understand why people think its supposed to be 'silver'...
silver is reflective therefore silver armour reflects damage back at a foe when you are hit. im guessing that was the thinking behind the name here
Lord Cooper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jul 04, 2006, 06:59 PM // 18:59   #20
Forge Runner
 
jesh's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: San Diego, CA
Guild: Penguin Village
Profession: Mo/
Default

Maybe you could try experimenting with Vengeful Was Khanhei as your elite? It might be fun to play with along with Sliver armor. Or maybe I'm just retarded.
jesh is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Share This Forum!  
 
 
           

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 02:20 PM // 14:20.


Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2016, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
jQuery(document).ready(checkAds()); function checkAds(){if (document.getElementById('adsense')!=undefined){document.write("_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'Adblock', 'Unblocked', 'false',,true]);");}else{document.write("