User:Silimaur/elementalist

Elementalist Builds

Introduction

Please note this guide is a work in progress that I will be adding to as and when I have time. If you have any specific questions or suggestions please get in touch!

The below builds assume you have reached level 80 as an elementalist and therefore you have all traits and utility skills unlocked. These builds are designed to work both in the open world and in instanced content such as fractals, raids and strikes.

New Ele Player Builds

Typically when a new player reaches level 80 in GW2 and starts asking about gear they will be directed to buy power DPS gear from the trading post (namely, gear with berserker stats). While there are some good reasons for the recommendation I find that this choice can backfire for new elementalist players who find themselves playing a melee focused build, using a relatively difficult class and complete glass cannon gear without a huge amount of defensive skills available to them.

Therefore I usually advise new elementalists to take a different route and start out as a condition elementalist for the following reasons:

• ranged playstyle that is generally easier for new players (especially solo in the open world)
• very simple build only requiring one attunement to do DPS while pumping out quite serious DPS
• access to a lot of innate defensive skills
• while the condition stat combinations cheaply available are not considered 'optimal' for end game content like berserker stats are for power builds, carrion stats can still be acquired incredibly cheaply and has the benefit of providing a lot of additional vitality increasing the HP of your elementalist to 20k+ which can be much needed padding for a new player
• core condition elementalist can transition quickly and easily into both the Tempest and Weaver elite specs (yes even with carrion gear)

This is not intended to make you completely optimal from a DPS perspective right off the bat but rather to give you access to additional tools and allow you to learn your class while under significantly less pressure than a power dps build using glass cannon stats.

Condition

First you can start out as a core condi ele. Once you have got the hang of the build and progressed through the game to get you elite spec unlocked, you can easily move into either the Newbie Condi Tempest or the Newbie Condi Weaver build.

Once you have become more comfortable using your elite spec, I would recommend reviewing top tier Tempest and Weaver builds on Metabattle and Snowcrow and beginning to develop both the build (traits/skills) you use and your gear.

• Core Condi Ele
• Newbie Condi Tempest
• Newbie Condi Weaver

Power

TBC