Guide to playing as an elementalist
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Contents |
[edit] Overview
The Elementalist commands the four elemental forces: earth, air, fire, and water. With magic derived from the very foundations of nature itself, Elementalists can inflict more damage in a single strike than any other profession. There are as many types of Elementalists as there are elements and ways to combine them. Some Elementalists choose to study two or more elements to maintain broad discipline, though many prefer to focus on one unique element. Earth magic triggers quakes and volcanoes, envelopes foes in solid rock, and can add to the strength and stamina of allies. Air magic is driven by the power of storms and lightning, granting allies greater speed or targeting specific foes with a focused, high-damage attack. Fire magic is often considered the most purely destructive form, inflicting searing pain and damage on multiple enemies. The magic of Water is highly manipulative. Water magic summons ice and mist to slow enemies down and blur their vision, inflicts freezing cold damage, and even protects allies from other forms of magical attack. The primary Elementalist attribute, Energy Storage, gives the Elementalist the highest maximum Energy in the game. This makes other professions that use a lot of Energy, like the Monk or the Mesmer, natural choices for an Elementalist's secondary class. Elementalists should never be at the fore of melee combat, but when surrounded they can tap into a full staple of handy area-of-effect skills just in case.
[edit] Attributes
[edit] Air Magic
Air Magic includes a number of efficient, spammable (little/no recharge time, easy to cast in mass quantaties) single-target nukes, many of which have 25% armor penetration, however it only has six AoE (Area of Effect) nukes, Lightning Touch, Teinai's Wind and Whirlwind, which have low damage and are PBAoE (Point Blank AoE) skills, Chain Lightning, which can only strike 3 targets and causes exhaustion, Invoke Lightning, which can only strike 3 targets and causes exhaustion if the caster is not enchanted, and Arc Lightning, which can strike a second target if the primary target is under the effect of a Water Magic Hex. Air Magic skills can knock down foes, and inflict Blind, Cracked Armor and Weakness. Air Magic includes a number of skills which synergize with Water Magic Hexes. Air Magic includes a number of movement speed buffs, including Windborne Speed, the only Elementalist movement speed buff which can target other allies.
[edit] Earth Magic
Earth Magic contains a mixture of offensive and defensive skills. Compared to their closest Fire Magic counterparts, Earth Magic nukes are generally more expensive, but many cause knock-down or inflict conditions as well and affect larger areas as well (all Earth nukes have nearby range, while most Fire nukes have adjacent range). Earth Magic also includes a number of defensive Ward Spells, as well as a number of self-targeting defensive Enchantment Spells and a few armor ignoring damage spells. Earth Magic includes a number of snare hexes, and Earth Magic spells can cause knock down and inflict Blind and Weakness. A number of Earth Magic spells synergize with knock down and weakness.
[edit] Energy Storage
Each rank of Energy Storage increases maximum Energy by 3. Most Energy Storage skills involve Energy management and/or self-healing.
[edit] Fire Magic
Fire Magic is the most heavily offense-oriented Elementalist attribute. In addition to offensive skills, the attribute also includes several support skills, including a large number of energy management skills. Several Fire Magic skills inflict or synergize with Burning, and two Fire Magic skills, Meteor and Meteor Shower, can inflict knock down. Fire is the most effective form of elemental power for AoE damage.
[edit] Water Magic
Water Magic's nukes generally inflict less damage and take longer to recharge than their Earth Magic or Fire Magic counterparts, however, in addition to inflicting damage, they are generally also snare Hexes. Water Magic also includes a number defensive and movement speed buff Enchantments, snare Hexes and skills which can inflict Blind and cause knock down, as well as two Energy management spells, Water Attunement and Glowing Ice. Water Magic also includes a few powerful spike skills, such as Shatterstone and Vapor Blade.
[edit] Equipment
[edit] Weapons
- Since Elementalists do not rely on autoattack damage to kill, meeting weapon requirements isn't necessary. All casting bonuses (HCT, HSR etc) trigger even when you do not meet the requirement.
- The three most popular weapon combinations are a staff, a wand and focus item and a martial weapon and focus item.
- Staves can have 20% universal HSR, making them useful for builds which use multiple attributes or PvE spells, staves can have Enchanting upgrades, and can provide more Energy than a wand and focus item combination. Meeting a staff's attribute requirement is only necessary for weapon damage, which is generally unimportant for an Elementalist.
- A wand and a focus item can provide up to 40% HCT and HSR for a single attribute, allowing spells to be spammed quickly. Meeting a wand's requirement is only necessary for weapon damage, however meeting a focus item's requirement is necessary to receive the full Energy bonus.
- Martial weapons can combine an Enchanting upgrade with a +5 Energy or 10% universal HSR inscription, making a one-handed martial weapon and a focus item a viable weapon combination. Meeting a martial weapon's attribute requirement is only necessary for weapon damage.
[edit] Armor
- Like the weapons, you want to stick with headgear matching your build's main attribute, it's generally a good idea to get headgear for several attributes.
- You will need to get better armor later in the game. If you walk around in starter armor, then you will be killed by monsters a lot faster than the rest of your party. See the armorer article and the armor collectors category for details on where to obtain armor upgrades.
- They might get tired of resurrecting you, so be conscientious about this, not to mention the death penalty incurred upon resurrection.
[edit] Understanding the Profession
[edit] PvE
In PvE, Elementalists mostly focus on Area of Effect (AoE) damage to kill as many enemies as possible. Fire magic is the most effective line for AoE damage, and thus "nukers" are quite common.
A few noteworthy "nukes" include:
- Searing Flames - the basic deal-damage-to-target spell, Searing Flames works best with groups of nukers
- Savannah Heat - every bit as powerful as Searing Flames, this spell will cause tremendous damage over time (DoT) to any targets caught in its radius
- Rodgort's Invocation is the epitome of nuking; tremendous damage and a lengthy burning effect, all rather spammable with a fast recharge (if you have good energy management)
- Meteor Shower, a Prophecies-only spell, combines knockdown with powerful AoE damage.
[edit] PvP
In PvP, Elementalists are mostly a utility class - basically, an Elementalist with only damage spells on his bar is ineffective. A few damage skills (preferably with high spike damage or lots of pressure potential) mixed in with more flexible skills (such as condition application, condition removal, wards, or melee buffs) is the way to go.
Some Elementalist builds focus on damage, but still, they don't sacrifice utility. Savannah Heat "nukers" are popular in Heroes' Ascent, because they stack high AoE damage potential with a great run buff.
As is true with most professions in PvP, Elementalists don't bring self-heals.
[edit] Playing in a Party
- Glyph of Lesser Energy can fuel target-other buffs (such as Great Dwarf Weapon).
- Wards can mitigate damage party-wide.
- Make sure to always have a resurrection of some sort in your skills.
[edit] What to Avoid
- Ignoring exhaustion
- Low health
- Considering Energy Storage a form of energy management. Elementalists need energy management skills just as much as other caster classes.
[edit] Play Styles
You have:
- The fire main, Nuker
- Earth Magic- Use armor increasing spells such as Kinetic Armor with Stoneflesh Aura as so that you present a challenge to warriors, while using powerful spells and combos such as Ebon Hawk followed by Stoning, and if warriors are surrounding you, use Aftershock.
- Air Magic- Use armor penetrating skills like Lightning Orb in succession on a single target. Make sure you take out the monk first or keep him distracted, as skills like Word of Healing allow them to heal the target just as quickly as you are decimating him.
- Water Magic- to snare enemies and deal cold damage.
- Playing a secondary monk to use high energy healing skills without compromising as much healing, at the expense of divine favor.
- Playing as a secondary Mesmer to use high energy shutdown skills without taking as much of a blow to your energy pool.
[edit] Choice of Secondary Professions
Monk, Ritualist or Paragon is often used to provide a reusable Resurrection skill.
Warrior
Ranger: Serpent's Quickness can be used to mitigate the long recharge times of many Elementalist skills. However, Ranger bows are two handed, which means that the Elementalist cannot carry a shield if they choose to use a bow. This means that the Elementalist is extremely vulnerable, as they do not have heavy armor. If you choose Ranger as a secondary, keep that in mind if you choose to use a bow as opposed to a wand or staff.
Monk: Glyph of Sacrifice can be used to quickly cast a resurrection spell.The high amount of energy available because of Energy Storage combined with skills like Glyph of Lesser Energy or Ether Prodigy allows casting largely inefficient heal spells like Heal Party. Monk secondaries also have access to reusable resurrection skills.
Necromancer: The Sunspear skill Necrosis can be used in combination with Searing Flames or other skills which inflict burning for a low energy, spammable direct damage skill.
Mesmer: Arcane Echo and Echo are often used to quickly cast multiple copies of powerful spells such as Meteor Shower. Mantra of Earth in conjunction with Stone Striker and Stoneflesh Aura and/or Armor of Earth can be used to effectively mitigate most if not all damage due to high AL.
Assassin: In PvE, Assassin's Promise can be used to spam energy-efficient but slow-recharging ADOT spells. Shadow Form, in conjunction with Death's Charge and High Damage Fire or Earth spells can be used for Solo farming bosses or even certain areas in the Domain of Anguish.
Ritualist: Death Pact Signet can be used in emergencies to quickly resurrect a key party member, such as a Monk, with high Energy.
Paragon
Dervish: Mystic Regeneration is a powerful heal when combined with several Elementalist enchantments (such as Attunements).
| Guides for all Professions |
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Core:  Warrior •  Ranger •  Monk •  Necromancer •  Mesmer •  Elementalist
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Factions:  Assassin •  Ritualist Nightfall:  Paragon •  Dervish
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