Catalyst - Staff Backline

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

Focused on: Strike damage, Utility and Crowd control

Designed for: WvW Zerg

Expansions required:

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

Utility

Variants

Heal

extra combo finisher, if needed for

Template Code

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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

Amulet
Dragon

Ring
Dragon

Ring
Marauder

Staff
Marauder

Sigil

Staff
Marauder

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 clear, single target damage
  - - CC, projectile reflect

Attunement rotation

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
- Save for removing Immobilize, Chill or Weakness

Active defense priority

- for Immobilize
- for projectiles
Dodge

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

//
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, 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

Catalyst - Staff Backline

Contents

Overview