Hello, readers!

I’m going to give you a guide to my current build that I’m running around PvE and WvWvW with, and the benefits it has.

Read it all after the break!

Currently, I’m running 10/10/20/10/20  (click it to be taken to the skill calculator) which originally started off as 10/10/10/10/20. The extra 10 points in Earth is there for added toughness while I’m still running around in greens and not exotics, and that’s not accounting for my runes either.

Depending on how comfortable you are with your current defence/toughness, feel free to shift those extra 10 points into Fire for more Power, Air for Crit/Precision or Water for a bit more Vitality/Healing. I wouldn’t recommend putting anymore into Arcana though, as you’re already getting a pretty great benefit out of it and it would be more worthwhile collecting other trait bonuses.

Below are my suggestions for traits in the various lines if you’re wanting to place those spare 10 points elsewhere:

10 more into Fire: Trait V -  to add more condition damage on your crits (self explanatory, really) as well as keeping in mind to switch to Fire when in melee range if you can, in order to take advantage of Sunspot (which does Fire damage at your location when you switch to said attunement). The reason for this trait is that no matter what Element you’re in while fighting, your crits will have an even greater benefit – This also works in tandem with the Arcana Trait IV - 

10 more into Air:  Trait VI -   to further increase your damage, and help finish off those nearly dead enemies a tad bit faster.

10 more into Earth: Trait VI –   which is incredibly useful due to the simple fact that, since you’re using dual Daggers, you’re going to be in melee range nearly all the time and this is a flat out 5% damage increase, coupled with the added Toughness and Condition Damage provided through the Earth trait line.

10 more into Water: Trait V -   so you can provide more support to your group and yourself in areas where there’s some condition damage. This one isn’t too bad, honestly, as Water has the longest Dagger attack with a range of 600, meaning you can afford to step back a little and not be entirely useless with no attacks. The other trait you could go with is Trait VII -  this one is purely personal and if you know you’re going to be in areas where there’s a high chance of getting set on flame (I mean, by others, not by yourself!) then this is a great one to swap in to. Getting out of Chilled is pretty useful too in areas such as Honor of the Waves, where it can really be your downfall if you can’t get away fast enough.

Okay! Traits are now done and out of the way. On to gear.

I’m using full Berserker armour as of today, and so far that seems to give the best benefit. The innate stats are Power/Precision/Crit, and all three help out in helping you become the Elementalist that you were born to be. Downside is though, there isn’t a shred of Toughness or Vitality on it, and that can present a huge problem – but wait! – I have a small solution!  These runes here will help you out in the toughness department,  increase the duration of your Protection boon, give you another source of getting it (albeit this one is down to luck), and give you an awesome aura with a full set of these. Brilliant, right? Let me just quickly talk about the 6-set bonus: Gain Magnetic Aura for 5 seconds when you fall below 20% health. (Cooldown: 90s)
Okay, now that cooldown can seem a bit high, but let’s look at the benefit of it. That’s an aura. Magnetic aura. Having a third aura at our disposal will grant us Protection, Fury and Swiftness when it triggers, allowing us to bounce back with a vengeance.. or just run off and get out of line of sight. Either or! Now, Magnetic Aura is also the Staff #3 skill while attuned to Earth,  so if you’ve used your Staff before, you should at least know of it. It reflects all projectiles back. Yeah, that’s right. Everything that looks physical and is flying towards your face can be deflected and send back to whoever it was that tried to take you down. Incredibly useful, even in WvWvW where there are plenty of Rangers, Shortbow Thieves and Longbow Warriors waiting to strike you down with an arrow.

As for the jewellery, I’d say either go with Beryl (Power, Vitality and Crit damage) for a bit more health, Emerald (Power, Precision and Toughness) for more .. well, toughness, or Ruby (Power, Precision, Crit Damage) for more glass cannon-ness. My vote is for Beryl.

For the Daggers, the Mystic Spikes (Power, Vitality, Condition Damage) are fairly decent exotics. as well as those with the crafted Valkyrie inscription (Power, Vitality, Crit Damage). In the end though, it’s up to you what you want out of them. More damage, or some more defence/survivability. The two stat combos I just listed are the ones I prefer though, but it’s entirely up to you in the end. Sigil wise, it’s honestly up to you. Superior Sigil of Might is nice for the 30% chance to gain Might on a crit, Accuracy for the flat 5% crit chance, Corruption for the stacking condition damage, and Bloodlust for the stacking Power. Personally, I’m drawn to the Superior Sigil of Accuracy for the crit, and the second sigil is.. anything, really. It’s all fair game in the end as it’s up to you what added benefit you want.

Moving onto the Boons that you get with each attunement:

Fire: Fury, Might
Water: Fury, Regeneration
Air: Fury, Swiftness
Earth: Fury, Protection

Utilities:
Armor of Earth (Cantrip): Regeneration, Vigor, Might (3 stacks), Protection, Stability
Lightning Flash (Cantrip): Might (3 stacks), Regeneration, Vigor 

Skills:

Water – Skill #4 (Frost Aura) - Protection, Fury, Swiftness
Air – Skill #3 (Shocking Aura) – Protection, Fury, Swiftness

Quite a lot of boons right there, if I do say so myself

Now, I saved the Utilites for last because the way I’ve traited, the ones I’ve chosen work best. The ones I use are:

Now, I use these two Cantrips – Armor of Earth and Lightning Flash – to provide both defence and mobility, as well as more boons. Signet of Earth is there for added survivability, really, and that one can be swapped out for whatever you want. Feel free to switch out the Cantrip traits in Fire and Water if you’d prefer to use something else. You’ll lose out on a few boons by doing so, though. Up to you in the end! That’s the great thing about the trait system and utility skills - Freedom!

Before I forget – Elite skill – I’m not a huge fan of any of them, honestly. The Fiery Greatsword has gotten me killed more times than I’d like to admit, and I just don’t like Tornado – So, that leaves me with one: Glyph of Elementals. This is actually.. pretty good. I usually use it when I’m in Water attunement, since the elemental created heals me and that assists in taking down veterans or out in PvP. The Air elemental stuns instead of heals, so that alone is also pretty useful. Up to you, really. They last about 50s before dying, so it’s not too terrible. If you’re a Human, I highly recommend Hounds of Balthazar if you don’t like Glyph of Elementals – this elite is just pure awesomeness. Same with Misfire Wolf (for those with Digital Deluxe) – not a bad skill!

Thanks for sticking it out to the end and reading all I have written. Hopefully it helps you out if you’re struggling to find a build you like at 80. If you’ve any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!

Good luck in Tyria!

2012 build elementalist guide guild wars 2 pve WvWvW