Curse

terminus123 · Oct 04, 2007, 02:54 AM // 02:54

Anyone know of a good build for a balanced fire ele?
"balanced" for me is like atleast 1 cheap spammer dmge spell, 2 aoe spell, 1 heal skill, 1 defensive skill, and maybe some sort of energy conserve skill.

I'm thinking along the lines of:
Flare (the spammer)
Double Dragon (good dmge aoe, and easy to cap)
Aura of resotration (the ele main heal skill)
Rez (just in case)
well that leaves alot of space left,

so any suggestions on a good balanced fire ele build? one with decent survivablilty and good dps?

Dr Strangelove · Oct 04, 2007, 03:17 AM // 03:17

Well.... 3 of the 4 skills you mention there are really bad.

There's no need for a spammy spell in any build. Most spells that actually do something have a short enough recharge that you can spend all your time on them, instead of wasting time with junk like flare.

Double dragon is terrible. It has an insanely long recharge, small AoE, long aftercast, and requires you to be in meleee range - which is a bad plan. Compare [skill]double dragon[/skill], an elite, to [skill]flame burst[/skill] a non elite. Flame burst isn't very good, and it vastly outclasses double dragon in every way.

Aura of restoration is sort of a self-defeating skill. If you're taking significant damage, you should be kiting. If you're kiting, you're not casting. If you're not casting, AoR does nothing. See the problem?

If you post which campaigns you have, I can be a little more helpful build-wise.

kahmal_oakenshield · Oct 04, 2007, 05:45 PM // 17:45

I have on my fire ele (for PvE): fire attune, aura of resto, fireball (my spam skill), mark of rodgort, rodgort's invocation (my 1 aoe), searing heat (2nd aoe), glowing gaze (energy management after setting something on fire) & liquid flame.

Works great, except against destroyers since they're fire immune. I'd swap Searing for Savannah if I had it.

schaapie · Oct 04, 2007, 06:04 PM // 18:04

As ele you should not concern about an heal skill (my opninion) if you take some good hero monks or hench monks with you. I play ele really the builds that work great and that are fire are searing flames and savannah heat builds.

Stormlord Alex · Oct 04, 2007, 06:05 PM // 18:05

The most 'balanced' Fire ele you could ever possibly run is a Mind Blaster.
You can pump out good damage with Rodgort's Invocation, Mind Blast and Fireball, and do... well... just about anything with Mind Blast and whatever support spells you want - Wards, Aegis, Convert Hexes, Heal Party, Blinding Flash... etc, etc.

[skill]mind blast[/skill][skill]rodgort's invocation[/skill][skill]fireball[/skill]--some PvE skill, possibly Breath of the Great Dwarf--[skill]ward against foes[/skill][skill]ward against melee[/skill][skill]fire attunement[/skill][skill]death pact signet[/skill]
... was what I was running, last I checked.

Tab · Oct 04, 2007, 06:11 PM // 18:11

Alex speaks the truth.

Sir Pandra Pierva · Oct 04, 2007, 07:20 PM // 19:20

I would disagree with people not using aura of resto.

I have had many time where that has saved me more than anything else. But my thing is it shouldn't be the thing you rely on to live then you got a problem.

kahmal_oakenshield · Oct 04, 2007, 07:32 PM // 19:32

I rarely use aura with heros or hench. I do use it often with PUG groups because I can't rely on the healers and they're usually busy healing the tank. It has a long enchantment time and is quick to cast which is nice. Even if I have good monks with me, having aura on means they don't have to worry about healing me if I catch the attention of a ranger or similar ranged attacker. And it covers the attune.

I could ditch mark but with attune on, mark/gaze brings my energy up from very low to decent in a couple shots. Then I can cast fireball and hit anything with gaze and gain energy as needed. Tada, practically full energy by the end of the fight. Plus, lighting everything on fire is just fun to do.

Also, I don't use wards because typically in a decent party of 8, mobs just dont last long enough to be really affected by conditions

Dr Strangelove · Oct 04, 2007, 08:27 PM // 20:27

Alex's build is pretty much the best general build for a PvE ele. It's got infinite energy, more damage than SF, and a ton of space for utility. Use it.

As for Kahmal's build, it needs to be more like alex's.

As for aura, if it saved your life, you should have been running the hell away. If you really need a self heal, as in AB or somesuch, mystic regen is better than anything else you could put there.

Moloch Vein · Oct 04, 2007, 08:46 PM // 20:46

A couple of things to consider.

Mystic Regeneration requires /D and 8 in Earth.

Of course if you're close to death you should be kiting. Well, at least you should be kiting in 98% of all cases. However what AoR does is add some welcome healing to the ele making him more resilient and postponing the "close-to-death" situation.

I don't agree that AoR is a terrible skill. It's a quick cast, an excellent recharge, an insane duration and let's take a look at what it really does:

Assume that you go into battle by casting AoR and that the battle lasts for one minute.

Assume further that you are not bringing any energy management skills (which is insane and of course skewing the argument against my point. If the elementalist in question is running at least Fire Attunement and GoLE the result will be far, far improved).

Assume that you are, without any energy management skills, spending as much energy as you naturally regenerate.

Finally assume you are running a "pure" focused ele build with 12 <insert elemental attribute> and 12 <energy storage> with a +1 ES rune.

Your natural energy regeneration in one minute is 60*4/3=80

You will heal yourself for 80*3.67~293HP in 60 seconds. That's an extremely conservative calculation. Close to 300HP for 10e is a pretty good deal.

Dr Strangelove · Oct 04, 2007, 09:38 PM // 21:38

On paper, it's awesome. However, in practice, not so much.

1) If you're taking damage, you are not casting, you are running away like a good little squishy

2) LoD already mops up the little bits of damage you take.

3) You are not constantly casting for a minute.

It does have some value as a cover enchantment so your precious attunement won't get stripped. However, there are very few situations where you need your secondary for something other than /D, and need a self heal. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is retard SF heroes who don't kite well. Even then, their bar is too crowded to waste space on something that amounts to around 2 pips of regen.

terminus123 · Oct 04, 2007, 09:48 PM // 21:48

o lol nvr thought you needed to be in melee range to use double dragon, well then I'll probably get mind blast on mind burn then

Moloch Vein · Oct 05, 2007, 02:43 AM // 02:43

I guess it's a matter of preference, but... sure, you're not casting constantly for a minute, but eating up a minute's worth of passive e-regen doesn't exactly require casting constantly

More likely during the course of the fight you'll go through your energy stack, run the glyphs, run the attunements, end up spending loads more than I projected and getting healed for loads more as well.

I never saw a monk crying about not getting to cast LoD as often as he wanted.

Ensign · Oct 05, 2007, 03:10 AM // 03:10

The healing from Aura of Restoration usually doesn't do anything and it rarely matters. If you're not using it to cover enchants it's a complete waste.

Sir Pandra Pierva · Oct 05, 2007, 03:59 AM // 03:59

Meh it's a great cover enchant and also doubles with a little healing, what more could anyone ask for. I say it wins

Moloch Vein · Oct 05, 2007, 04:06 AM // 04:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensign

The healing from Aura of Restoration usually doesn't do anything and it rarely matters. If you're not using it to cover enchants it's a complete waste.

On the other hand I do not see many elementalists using only Aura of Restoration as an enchantment.

Dr Strangelove · Oct 05, 2007, 04:08 AM // 04:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sir Pandra Pierva

what more could anyone ask for. I say it wins

A cover enchant that does something?

[skill]flame djinn's haste[/skill]
[skill]mystic regeneration[/skill]

come to mind off the top of my head.

HawkofStorms · Oct 05, 2007, 04:10 AM // 04:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensign

The healing from Aura of Restoration usually doesn't do anything and it rarely matters. If you're not using it to cover enchants it's a complete waste.

And that is where its value lies. Aura of Restoration is good because its a good cover enchant. It is in energy storage so if you only want to spec in 2 lines, you can. And the healing is minimal, but in certain parts of the game with lots of AoE pressure/degen the healing can help your monks and rts a bit. But mostly, its a good cover enchant that requires no attribute investment to be effective.

Sir Pandra Pierva · Oct 05, 2007, 04:49 AM // 04:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Strangelove

A cover enchant that does something?

[skill]flame djinn's haste[/skill]
[skill]mystic regeneration[/skill]

come to mind off the top of my head.

You win. Still I like to use aura of resto cause that little bit of healing makes me last that much longer, and that much longer can allow me to kill, this is if I am not dervish secondary.

Thom Bangalter · Oct 05, 2007, 05:49 AM // 05:49

If I want to last a little bit longer, I stop letting the monster wail on me instead of standing there like a moron.