Catalyst - Staff Backline

The community gave this build a rating, making it second-tier: Good

Focused on: Strike damageUtility and Crowd control

Designed for: WvW Zerg

Expansions required: Heart of Thorns buildsEnd of Dragons builds

Difficulty:
Normal
This build was last updated on August 28, 2023 and is up to date for the September 12, 2023 game patch.


Overview

A backline zerg WvW DPS build for Elementalist providing damage, CC and field support. Requires a precise usage of skills and positioning to survive.


Skill Bar

Staff
Staff
Utility


Variants

Heal
  • extra combo finisher, if needed for


Template Code

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Copy Template Code


Specializations

Variants
  • if can be maintained
  • only if you can't reach 10 stacks of


Equipment

Head
Marauder
Shoulders
Marauder
Chest
Marauder
Hands
Marauder
Legs
Marauder
Feet
Marauder
Backpiece
Marauder
Accessory
Marauder
Accessory
Marauder
Amulet
Dragon
Ring
Dragon
Ring
Marauder
Staff
Marauder
Sigil
Sigil
Staff
Marauder
Sigil
Sigil
Rune
x6
Infusion
x18
Relic


Equipment Variants

Relics


Consumables

    • personal option


Usage

General

  • As soon as you get 25 stacks of and get out of combat, swap back to the Staff without a stacking sigil
  • You are much stronger with full stacks of and
    • Make sure to use on yourself to help maintain stacks
  • Staff Catalyst uses an attunement rotation for maximum burst damage
    • You are not locked into this rotation, while it is optimal for DPS, change the order based on your needs:
      • - healing and cleanse
      • - CC, Immobilize Immobilize clear, single target damage
      • - CC, projectile reflect
Attunement rotation Toggle
  1. Repeat from step 1


Priorities

High
Moderate
  • Sustained damage
  • CC
Low
  • Support


Surviving

  • This build has low passive defense
  • This build has moderate mobility skill access
    • An About Face keybind can be useful for
    • Avoid using for mobility unless nessecary to survive
  • This builds has moderate active defenses
Active defense priority Toggle


Detailed Explanations

Meteor Shower

  • Place where the enemy group is moving to, not where they are when you begin the cast
  • Activate after casting
  • Use to reset the cooldown of and after your first cast
  • There are two ways to move during the cast of :
    • Cast immediately after casting and the will be queued to cast at the target location after the rollback ends
    • Use after you start casting it


Sustained damage

  • When using ground AoEs like , place them so that one edge is on the enemy group and the other edge is in the direction they are moving to
  • Your 2 skills (/)/) have very long delays or cast times
    • Predict the enemies movement, as with
    • If you rotate quickly enough from you can have all three skills land at the same place and time for burst damage. Sync them up as much as possible
  • Use in if you expect the fight to last at least 25 seconds
    • Otherwise has more damage but with a much longer cooldown
Skill priority Toggle
  • //
  • Autoattacks


CC

  • Your three ground CCs are , and , in order of strength
    • should normally be saved to give yourself and allies instead of being used as a CC
  • Drop your target when casting to make it easier to aim, don't cast it into projectile reflect
  • You shouldn't interrupt your rotation to try and CC, instead just use whichever CC you have available for the attunements you're in
  • Use your CC when:
    • Your group calls a spike:
      • Winds -
      • Wells - +
      • Shades -
      • Traps - +
    • On top of enemy downs (while alive players are on top of them)
    • Enemy groups moving defensively while your group is pushing


Support

  • Focus on using when your group is pushing or disengaging from the enemy
  • Cast on clashes, targeting the ground AoE so that one edge is on your group and the other edge is where they are moving to
  • If a player in your party is going to die because of Immobilize Immobilize, save them with
  • Cast where your team is regrouping
  • Use on your group before pushes to give
  • Use your Jade Sphere in , on your group, for Quickness Quickness


Ratings

This build has a rating of 5 stars based on 2 votes.
Log in or register to rate this build.
5 stars
DEL gave this build 5 stars • July 2023
I play this and variations of it and if you can handle the APM and know where to put your stuff it is pretty much the #1 stat padder build out there.
4 stars
Arete gave this build 4 stars • April 2023
Solid build, has much more control over its attunement access and weapon skills than weaver, but maintaining elemental empowerment can be pretty challenging. With extra auras on staff now it can compete with weaver pretty well.

Comments

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