Tempest - Condi Tempest

The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Condition damage and Defense

Designed for: Open World, [[|]], [[|]] and Open World General

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

TBD

This build was last updated on March 12, 2022 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

A high-DPS, high-Defense Elementalist build that is relatively easy to begin learning. This build relies heavily on its very high Burning output and its personal Might generation. It has considerable amounts of area damage which results in excellent cleave. It has both melee and ranged DPS options, and several viable build variants that allow the build to reach high levels of versatility and offer a multitude of playstyles.

This build is recommended for new players due to its ease of use, though they may struggle with the class's low HP and active playstyle at first.

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Skill Bar

Dagger/Warhorn

Utility

Specializations

Equipment

Ascended gear and stat infusions are not required; you can use exotic gear with the same stats.
This set uses gear similar to this build's instanced PVE counterpart and works well for general PVE. Viper offers the highest damage, but no defense or sustain. Consult the variants below for defensive options.

Head
Viper

Shoulders
Viper

Chest
Viper

Hands
Viper

Legs
Viper

Feet
Viper

Backpiece
Viper

Accessory
Viper

Amulet
Viper

Ring
Viper

Dagger
Viper

Warhorn
Viper

Sigil

scepter
Viper

Sigil

Rune
x6

Consumables

Prioritize ascended food over everything else; steak (power) and flatbread (conditions). Using cheap/budget food is perfectly acceptable in open world. Damage For damage, run and . Budget options are with . Run if running high toughness builds.

Defense Use for more dodges.

Farming Run and (or its other variants) when trying to maximize gold per hour.

Usage

Glyph of Elementals can provide a high damage elemental in Fire or excellent defensive options in Earth or Water.
Use blast finishers like Frozen Burst and Sand Squall over Fire Fields to grant Might.
Use Heat Sync at 15+ might
It can be beneficial to use Glyph of Elemental Power just before leaving Air Attunement for added Vulnerability application.

Damage

Don't interrupt Drake's Breath. Attunement swapping will not interrupt it.
Activate Signet of Fire and "Feel the Burn!" off cooldown.
Your primary damage skills are:
Warhorn
- Wildfire
- Lightning Orb
- Dust Storm (against large targets or groups)
Dagger
- Drake's Breath
- Ring of Earth
- Burning Speed
- Convergence
- Earthen Rush (If using Strength of Stone)
Scepter
- Dragon's Tooth
- Phoenix
- Lightning Strike
- Rock Barrier ⇒ Hurl
- Shatterstone (only if you need to go to water for healing)
Fill gaps in cooldowns with basic attacks.

Zerg Support

It is possible to play this build as an extremely effective boon support in large zergs by casting Heat Sync any time you have 25 might.
See the skill/trait variants listed below for more zerg support options.
Overload Water is a strong AOE cleanse and heal for yourself and allies.

Defense

Constantly spam skills to get the benefit from Signet of Restoration
Water Attunement ⇒ Overload Water is a powerful defensive skill. Combine this with Tidal Surge and Water Globe for additional healing.
- While in Water, you can Frozen Burst on a Fire field for Might or inside your Water Globe for more burst healing.
Sand Squall grants Protection in addition to projectile hate and increasing the duration of your existing boons.
Dust Storm is a useful blind, very strong against groups of trash mobs.
Your overloads break stun.
When taking the Arcane traitline, dodging in Water attunement will cleanse conditions and provide a significant heal. Additionally, it is recommended you attunement swap often to benefit from Arcane Restoration

CC

Overload Air / Overload Earth
Earthen Rush
Frozen Burst
Tidal Surge
Cyclone
Shocking Aura ⇒ Transmute Lightning

Variants

Weapon Variants

Scepter - Ranged alternative to mainhand dagger.
Staff - Use in zergs for ranged AOE damage, CC and healing
Dagger (offhand) - Lower DPS but more mobility than warhorn

Skill Variants

Healing

Glyph of Elemental Harmony - burst heal
Arcane Brilliance - blast finisher
"Wash the Pain Away!" - Group healing/cleanse

Utilities

Glyph of Lesser Elementals - Provides powerful pets that can be buffed by your boons.
"Flash-Freeze!" or "Aftershock!" - More defense and support for nearby allies.
Glyph of Storms - AOE burst damage from Firestorm (Glyph of Storms) or pulsing blind with Sandstorm.
Arcane Shield - Breaks stun and blocks attacks.
Lightning Flash - For mobility.

Elites

Conjure Fiery Greatsword - High AOE damage on a long cooldown, mobility.
"Rebound!" - Strong defensive/support elite

Trait Variants

Pyromancer's Puissance - extra Might generation for self and allies if needed. Be aware that you will lose up to 10 might every time you cast Overload Fire or leave Fire Attunement.
Blinding Ashes - more Blind if having trouble with trash mobs.
Gale Song - passive defensive stunbreak; very valuable in groups
Invigorating Torrents and Elemental Bastion - For more healing oriented variants using stats like Celestial

Arcane

It is possible run Arcane over Earth for an increase to sustain.

Renewing Stamina - More Vigor uptime.
Elemental Lockdown - Extra boons.
Arcane Resurrection - Improved revival power in groups.

Water

Water can be used if running a more supportive oriented build (only recommended if using stat sets with healing power - e.g. Celestial)

Soothing Ice - Passive defense option.
Powerful Aura - Allows you to share your self-only auras with allies.
Stop, Drop, and Roll, Cleansing Wave and Cleansing Water - More Cleanse support if needed.

Gear Variants

Budget

Dire + Rune of Balthazar + Sigil of Smoldering - a cheap gearset that performs well when camping fire
Apothecary/ Shaman/24px Settler mix + Rune of Balthazar + Sigil of Smoldering - Healing oriented version of above and a budget option for celestial.