Build:Catalyst - Staff Backline

This is a test build. You may comment and rate it.

Focused on: Strike damage, Utility and Crowd control

Designed for: WvW Zerg

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

TBD

This build was last updated on March 12, 2022.

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

• Elemental Celerity

Template Code

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Specializations

Variants

• Staunch Auras only if you can't reach 10 stacks of Elemental Empowerment

Equipment

Head
Marauder

Shoulders
Marauder

Chest
Marauder

Hands
Marauder

Legs
Marauder

Feet
Marauder

Backpiece
Dragon

Accessory
Marauder

Accessory
Marauder

Amulet
Marauder

Ring
Marauder

Ring
Marauder

Staff
Marauder

Sigil

Sigil

Staff
Marauder

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Consumables

• • personal option

Usage

General

• As soon as you get 25 stacks of Sigil of Superior Sigil of Bloodlust and get out of combat, swap back to the Staff without a stacking sigil
• You are much stronger with full stacks of Elemental Empowerment and Empowering Auras, if possible get tempest in your party
• 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:
    • Water Attunement - healing and cleanse
    • Air Attunement - CC, Immobilize clear, single target damage
    • Earth Attunement - CC, projectile reflect

Attunement rotation Fire Attunement Earth Attunement Water Attunement Air Attunement Repeat from step 1

Priorities

High

• Meteor Shower
• Conjure Fiery Greatsword

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 Burning Retreat
  • Avoid using Lightning Flash for mobility unless nessecary to survive
• This builds has moderate active defenses
  • Save Soothing Water for removing Immobilize, Chill or Weakness

Active defense priority Windborne Speed - for Immobilize Magnetic Aura - for projectiles Burning Retreat Lightning Flash Soothing Water

Detailed Explanations

Meteor Shower

• Place Meteor Shower where the enemy group is moving to, not where they are when you begin the cast
• Activate Relentless Fire after casting Meteor Shower
• There are two ways to move during the cast of Meteor Shower:
  • Cast Meteor Shower immediately after casting Burning Retreat and the Meteor Shower will be queued to cast at the target location after the rollback ends
  • Use Lightning Flash after you start casting it

Fiery Greatsword

• Treat Firestorm as a secondary Meteor Shower
  • Try to get three casts of Firestorm per use of Conjure Fiery Greatsword
• Activate Relentless Fire after casting Conjure Fiery Greatsword
• Fiery Whirl is low cooldown and has high damage, use it aggressively but don't move yourself into a bad position
  • Aim through the enemy stack if your group crosses through them and aim across the enemy stack otherwise
• Use Fiery Rush for mobility, on single targets or to set up Fiery Whirl
• Coordinate with a DPS player in your group to pick up the conjure dropped on the ground
  • Make sure to place it in a safe place for them to grab
  • If you don't have anyone reliable to coordinate with, you can pick it up yourself for 30s after casting the skill

Sustained damage

• When using ground AoEs like Lava Font, 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 (Eruption/Ice Spike)/Lightning Surge) have very long delays or cast times
  • Predict the enemies movement, as with Meteor Shower
  • If you rotate quickly enough from Earth Attunement ⇒ Water Attunement ⇒ Air Attunement you can have all three skills land at the same place and time for burst damage. Sync them up as much as possible
• Use Glyph of Storms in Fire Attunement if you expect the fight to last at least 25 seconds
  • Otherwise Air Attunement has more damage but with a much longer cooldown

Skill priority Meteor Shower Conjure Fiery Greatsword Lava Font Glyph of Storms Lightning Surge/Eruption/Ice Spike Autoattacks

CC

• Your three ground CCs are Static Field, Unsteady Ground and Frozen Ground, in order of strength
• Drop your target when casting Shock Wave 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 - Winds of Disenchantment
    • Wells - Well of Corruption+Well of Suffering
    • Shades - Desert Shroud
    • Traps - Procession of Blades+Test of Faith
  • On top of enemy downs (while alive players are on top of them)
  • Enemy groups moving defensively while your group is pushing

Support

• Cast Healing Rain 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 Windborne Speed
• Cast Geyser where your team is regrouping
• Use your Jade Sphere in Air Attunement, on your group, for Quickness