Elementalist

From Guild Wars Wiki

Elementalists summon the powers of earth, air, fire, and water and command them at will. They can inflict more damage in a single strike than any other profession. Earth Magic summons quakes and eruptions, encases enemies in stone, or protects allies. Air Magic harnesses the power of tempests to strike foes down with lightning or enable allies to run like the wind. Fire Magic manifests flames, fireballs, molten lava, and even meteors to burn enemies to a crisp. Water Magic conjures mist and ice to slow enemy movement and attacks, blur vision, protect allies against magic, and inflict cold damage on enemies. Elementalists have access to Energy regenerating skills, and when chosen as a primary character, they can increase their maximum Energy over time. The wise Elementalist avoids becoming surrounded, but keeps a local area-of-effect spell on hand just in case.
–The Guild Wars Manuscripts

The master of arcane lore and magical aptitude, the Elementalist calls upon the power of fire, earth, air and water to obliterate enemies.

–In-game description

[edit] Attributes

[edit] Energy Storage (Primary)

Energy Storage increases your character's maximum energy, and improves skills that help you regenerate energy.

[edit] Air Magic

Points to Air Magic increases the duration and effectiveness of your air skills, which pierce armor, cause Blindness, and knock down enemies.

[edit] Earth Magic

Build up Earth Magic to increase the duration and effectiveness of your earth skills, which can protect both you and your allies or attack your opponents, ignoring armor level.

[edit] Fire Magic

Improve Fire Magic to increase the duration and effectiveness of your fire skills, which inflict fire damage and can affect large areas.

[edit] Water Magic

Allocate points to Water Magic to increase the duration and effectiveness of your water skills, which slow enemy movement

[edit] Common usage

[edit] Echoing

Due to the slow recharge of some very powerful nuking skills, some Elementalists choose to use the Mesmer skills Arcane Echo and the elite Echo which allows an E/Me to repeat his/her strongest spells upon a target. Using both the echo skills, area of effect spells like Meteor Shower and Rodgort's Invocation can be cast up to three times in seconds. Using this tactic, the Elementalist can potentially triple their damage per second (DPS). The elite Elementalist skill Glyph of Renewal also allows the caster to instantly regain the skill they just cast. Either of these methods delivers high damage output in a very short amount of time, but may also drain the Elementalist's energy in a very short amount of time if proper energy management tactics are not taken.

[edit] Nuking

In PvE game-play, the Elementalist can usually be found filling a heavy damage role called a "nuker". The role of a nuker is to inflict large amounts of damage over a given area in a short period of time weakening or killing whole groups of enemies. This is typically done using Fire Magic, which lends this role its nickname, but other elements are being used with the introduction of some new skills like the elite skill Sandstorm. An efficient nuker will usually remain behind a set of tanks while casting spells from a distance. In PvE, a nuker may effectively take out an entire group at once just by understanding the effects of their skills on the enemy AI.

[edit] Spiking

Spiking is the art of focusing a lot of damage on a single target during a very short period. For example, an Elementalist who uses Air Magic to deal a large amount of damage to a single target concentrates its power inflicting more damage on a specific target with 25% armor penetration against that target. Another example of spiking is the use of Earth Magic skills like Obsidian Flame and Magnetic Surge, which is sometimes used by teams casting it all at the same time at the same target to take it out in just 2 seconds.

[edit] Snaring

Snaring the enemy is a strategy often used by Elementalists in PvP for defense and to immobilize the enemy for spikes. Water magic is extremely effective at slowing the enemies movements with hexes. Skills such as Ice Spikes can apply a speed reduction to multiple foes at the same time. This allows teammates ample time to get out of the way, or to spike the ensnared foes.

[edit] Healing

Due to the Elementalist's high energy reserve and energy management skills like Mind Blast and Glyph of Lesser Energy they have been used in the past as team healers with spells such as Heal Party, which may be too much energy for the monk(s) in a party.

[edit] See also

Professions
Core: Warrior • Ranger • Monk • Necromancer • Mesmer • Elementalist
Factions: Assassin • Ritualist Nightfall: Paragon • Dervish