Build:Mechanist - Explosive Rifle Mecha

Part of the current metagame

Our curator decided this build is in the current metagame regardless of rating. The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Support and Utility

Designed for: PvP Conquest

Difficulty:

TBD

This build was last updated on February 01, 2023 and is up to date for the March 19, 2024 patch.

Overview

This PvP support Tempest build uses its excellent damage mitigation, condition cleansing, direct healing, projectile denial, CC and auras to keep alies alive in teamfights.

Skill Bar

Dagger/Focus

Utility

Skill Bar Variants

Utility

For the optional slot:

• "Aftershock!" - AoE healing, damage mitigation and projectile denial. Great at shutting down specs such as Deadeyes or elite skills like Lich Form.

• Mist Form - can't go wrong with another invulnerability. Could even be used to secure a rez or stomp as entering Mist Form doesn't interrupt channeling.

• Lightning Flash - used to be popular before the mobilitycreep introduced by EoD which made it easier for enemies to chase down Tempests using it. Might still be useful against less mobile comps, serving as a panic button which could even take you to the safety of the highground to resustain. Makes it easier to navigate maps in general and reach people who need emergency healing.

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Specializations

Variants

• Rock Solid is also a viable option.

Variants

• Stop, Drop, and Roll adds more cleansing to the build.

Specialization Changes

Earth works best against power damage builds while against comps with heavy condition pressure you might want to trade it for Fire for better cleansing:

Equipment

Dagger

Focus

Sigil

Sigil

Rune

Amulet

Equipment Variants

Runes

• Rune of Radiance - better aura durations.

• Rune of Monk - boost to your group healing.

• Rune of Svanir - Chill messes with attunement cooldowns which can really screw Elementalists over. This rune combined with Earthen Blessing makes you all but immune to it. It's worth considering especially against Necromancers, and the 6th proc is useful in general while under pressure.

Sigils

• Sigil of Energy

• Sigil of Purging

• Sigil of Escape

Usage

General

• Under General Options / User Interface enable "Thick party health bars" and "Always show health bars". These will make it much easier to keep track of who needs your support.

• Mist Form is your main panic button, should mainly be used if you'd die otherwise. Lightning Flash is panic button #2 but can be used more freely, even as a mobility skill between capture points.

• When playing with Powerful Aura, every aura applied to you is also granted to nearby allies. This isn't restricted to elementalist auras only - using Magnetic Leap in a Chaos Storm for example will share Chaos Armor with allies. Auras can't be applied to downed players.

• Auras in the build:

• Shocking Aura from Overload Air and dagger #3 in air.
• Frost Aura from Overload Water plus the trait procs from Elemental Bastion and Soothing Ice.
• Fire Shield from Overload Fire, Fire Shield on Focus, and combos suchs as Flamewall + Magnetic Leap.
• Magnetic Aura from Overload Earth and Magnetic Surge (an Earth Shield skill).

• Tornado is useful in just about any situation. Whether you have to run away from a fight, peel for your allies, or interrupt an enemy stomp/rez attempt, can't go wrong with Tornado!

• Avoid getting locked into 1v1s, always be in team fights. You depend on your allies just as much as they depend on you! Tempest's job is to keep party members alive through support, and these allies must peel for you in return (if the enemy team gets to focus you without allies counterpressuring them you'll probably end up dead).

Overloads

• These skills become available after having spent at least 6 seconds in the same attunement. Switching to another attunement while overloading will interrupt the skill, yet still puts the attunement on the increased CD of 20 seconds.

• Beginning an overload procs Stability, Protection and Swiftness on top of breaking stuns.

• Overloads have some of the longest cast times in the entire game, which means they can be easily interrupted. Of course there are ways to reduce the chance of that happening:

• Overload Fire is without a doubt the least important overload in the build and can be used more freely, even as a mobility tool between capture points or simply as a stun break in combat.
• Overload Air can be shielded through Swirling Winds from projectile-based interrupts such as Headshot and the stun from dagger's Shocking Aura can win a couple of seconds of freecasting vs melee specs. Even on a Mender build this overload pumps out a considerable amount of AoE damage, use it to help your team get kills and to cleave downed targets.
• Overload Earth is the hardest to mess up because it comes with Stability, but if you're afraid that won't do the trick then Magnetic Wave could at least shield you from projectiles while channeling.
• Overload Water is the only overload which doesn't do damage, thus won't break Stealth. The build itself doesn't provide any access to stealth, but in an organized team you can coordinate this with an Engineer for instance and ask him to throw a Toss Elixir S at you. This should make it significantly easier to get this channel off, but you'll still be vulnerable to PBAoE like Jade Winds. Hold on to this as long as you can, Water Overload has extremely powerful cleansing /healing but it does lock your out of an important attunement.

• Fire is arguably the least important attunement of the build, although you could still use the Overload to break stun or share auras, and it has another aura on skill #5 plus a short evade frame on Burning Speed.

Support and sustain

• Auras and overloads grant ~2 seconds of Protection, which is further empowered by Hardy Conduit resulting in a 40% direct damage reduction instead of the usual 33%. Frost Aura can reduce incoming damage for all affected allies by another 10% (and that's without even factoring in being on Earth for Geomancer's Training).

• Every aura you apply also heals allies via Elemental Bastion.

• Overload Earth is the best source of protection in the build. Not only does it pulse this boon each second, it'll also leave behind an AoE that does the same thing after a successful overload.

• Water Attunement is where most of your non-aura based support comes from:
  • Always try attuning to Water next to an ally to share the healing from Healing Ripple. Don't idle in it too much because you should fit as many Water swaps into a fight as possible.
  • Use Cone of Cold on allies whenever necessary, and make sure that you don't have an enemy targeted otherwise some pulses may go in the wrong direction.
  • Overload Water is a last resort option, only to be used if it singlehandedly saves an ally and you're out of options because sending Water on a longer CD is going to negatively impact your healing output.

• Earth Attunement is associated with self-sustain:
  • Merely just swapping to this attunement can already negate Power based burst damage thanks to Stone Heart.
  • Magnetic Wave can be used to instantly cleanse conditions from yourself, reflect projectiles, or to blast combo fields. Both this and Obsdian Flesh can be used while CC'd.
  • Obsidian Flesh is one of the best defensive skills an ele could have, this skill is basically second Mist Form.

• Air Attunement has various tools to mitigate and prevent damage:
  • Convergence applies AoE Weakness after a small delay, significantly reducing direct damage dealt by enemies.
  • Shocking Aura CCs any target that strikes you in melee. This is one of the strognest defensive tools in your kit! Pressing this at the beginning of an air overload could also make it way easier to get the full channel off and then gain a second Shocking Aura right when the first one expires. Always use Transmute Lightning when this aura is about to run out for yet another AoE CC.
  • Swirling Winds is great versus projectile based attacks but will do nothing against melee.
  • Gale is an unblockable ranged CC that could pin enemies down so allies can burst them down, or it could simply be used to stop enemies from doing damage for a while and chase allies.

• "Wash the Pain Away!" is a very powerful AoE heal for both yourself and the team. Try to coordinate it with your allies so that they receive every pulse of the channel to maximize the healing. The first pulse heals the most but has the smallest radius, while the other two pulses have a lower healing value but larger radius. Lightning Flash can be used to instantly move in and heal up teammates who are far away but need emergency healing.

• Conjure Earth Shield is easily the best survival tool in the build, and one that can be shared with allies as a 2nd one is dropped on the ground for them to pick up.
  • Skill 2 is a block.
  • Skill 3 is a mobility skill with CC and anti-projectile/aura share synergy.
  • Skill 4 is an AoE pull which is great for peeling for allies or just CCing in general. Even has barrier and Protection.
  • Skill 5 is an invulnerability for when you're being heavily focused.

Reviving allies

• Glyph of Renewal is a very potent ranged rez with a secondary effect that can be customized to fit a bunch of different situations. In general you should just focus on getting the rez as soon as possible regardless of attunement, but if you're able to swap to the right element beforehand this glyph becomes even more powerful. Couple of things to note:
  • The attunement bonus depends on which attunement you've started channeling this skill on. Swapping from Air to Fire in the middle of it for example is going to proc the Air bonus.
  • When playing with Rock Solid consider swapping to earth for the Stability while channeling the glyph.
  • Air Attunement teleports the ally to your location. It's great if you're in a safe spot, you may even consider teleporting to the highground beforehand with Lightning Flash.
  • Water Attunement brings them back with max HP, which is probably the best option if you only have to rez one ally and you're not in a safe spot.
  • Earth Attunement is for reviving multiple allies as it is an AoE rez.
  • Fire Attunement is mainly for your personal survivability. Even if you don't have an ally to rez, you could use this glyph on Fire and give yourself a 15 second window of immortaility, as using this skill in Fire revives the caster when they go down!
  • If you're absolutely certain that a teammate is going to die in 2 seconds, you may consider using this skill on their location in advance to bring them up a split second after they go down. This is a bit risky however, as if they don't die (or don't die inside the range of the skill) you're going to have to cancel cast with a weapon stow. While the weapon stow only sends it on a short CD of 5 seconds, that's more than enough for enemies to finish off your ally.

• Mist Form turns the caster invulnerable, allowing you to rez without getting interrupted or killed.
  • Note: Mist Form must be activated AFTER starting to revive an ally, otherwise it won't work.

Swiftness stacking

• Stack Swiftness for your team before the match starts!

• Switch to Air Attunement before the 10 second countdown even begins. The moment the countdown starts cast Overload Air whilst running towards the exit from spawn, this skill will produce a Static field. Use Magnetic Wave then follow up immediately with Frozen Burst (both of these are Blast finishers).

• When you're done switch to Fire Attunement as you don't want to start fights in Water.

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