So what's your post PoF playstyle and build in Ranked?

As someone who's always messed around with FA S/F core ele in WvW, I'm curious to see what is considered the best ele build at the moment in ranked pvp (having taken a hiatus for nearly 3 seasons).

Despite what Phantaram claims and praises for SF core, I've been having a few doubts on a build that requires very good kiting and cooldown management to be efficient. Fun but has difficult playing curve, can potentially beat almost any class with enough practice.

Menders DF Tempest back in HoT was nice to play but the existence of scourge makes life hell when trying to play this build + Frustrating as hell with forced soloqueue in general.Also they are everywhere.

I've been testing with Avatar's SD it seems Okay as a bruiser and generally decent 1v1 or 2 but it feels abysmal against mesmers and rangers. Also Sword still feels a bit clunky with fairly big tells on your hard hitters.

Your thoughts?

Weaver Sc/F lightning rod or fresh air. Sometimes swap to sword/dagger lightning rod weaver (if they don't have more than 2 necros, or a holo).

Fun and good damage. Healing is for scrubs!

Sc/F Lighning rod is definitly fun.What i like is marshall amulet. I still play tempest but with marshalls. Lost a bit burst resistance but like it.

@"Weo weo.6378" said:As someone who's always messed around with FA S/F core ele in WvW, I'm curious to see what is considered the best ele build at the moment in ranked pvp (having taken a hiatus for nearly 3 seasons).

Despite what Phantaram claims and praises for SF core, I've been having a few doubts on a build that requires very good kiting and cooldown management to be efficient. Fun but has difficult playing curve, can potentially beat almost any class with enough practice.

Menders DF Tempest back in HoT was nice to play but the existence of scourge makes life hell when trying to play this build + Frustrating as hell with forced soloqueue in general.Also they are everywhere.

I've been testing with Avatar's SD it seems Okay as a bruiser and generally decent 1v1 or 2 but it feels abysmal against mesmers and rangers. Also Sword still feels a bit clunky with fairly big tells on your hard hitters.

Your thoughts?

There is nothing you can use on ele that an average player like me can't destroy with min effort:

-s/f core + https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Unstoppable_Union = dead ele as I go through arcane shields, swirling winds, magnetic wave like a hot knife in a chunk of butter..and can go both zerker for faster dead ele or demolisher for unnecessary safery and there are dozen other builds that can down a core s/f ele even faster and safer, do more dmg and don't just run around when the wind blows their way-any weaver ...no comment-tempest?...yeah a little bit to down, but you no dmg anymore and you now melt in teamfights ..within a millisecond appearance

And so far we're talking about average skill...above that there are no eles whatsoever ( well except @Phantaram.1265 but he's a class apart )

@Arheundel.6451 said:

@"Weo weo.6378" said:As someone who's always messed around with FA S/F core ele in WvW, I'm curious to see what is considered the best ele build at the moment in ranked pvp (having taken a hiatus for nearly 3 seasons).

Despite what Phantaram claims and praises for SF core, I've been having a few doubts on a build that requires very good kiting and cooldown management to be efficient. Fun but has difficult playing curve, can potentially beat almost any class with enough practice.

Menders DF Tempest back in HoT was nice to play but the existence of scourge makes life hell when trying to play this build + Frustrating as hell with forced soloqueue in general.Also they are everywhere.

I've been testing with Avatar's SD it seems Okay as a bruiser and generally decent 1v1 or 2 but it feels abysmal against mesmers and rangers. Also Sword still feels a bit clunky with fairly big tells on your hard hitters.

Your thoughts?

Soulbeast op? I would like to face your character just to see how one sided the matchup is :p

I did it to plat. with weaver fresh air simply because i burst targets and let fights quicker end. In higher divisions it wont work like this and sword is undertuned to the metabuilds. Support is replaced by firebrand, as bruiser with sword there are to much bad matchups and most of the time you are not able to hold a 1v2 long enough. I tend to play fresh air, weaver or core. It can be something, so long you gets ignored or your team is also viable and playing not like typicall gold players.

I whould not say weaver is bad in all, the other specs just far to strong. Scrouge is influencing the meta as it best and as a class heavily needing it boons you are in a even worser spot. Druids, holos and mirage makes it not easier. Ele is still playable and adds some fun, but i dont feel unique, speciall or anything else. This xpac added nothing new to ele beside lower attunment cds and dualskills.

I believe time will solve it, if anet shaves other specs into a normal state.

edit Double post here sorry just deleting

@Xibalbar.7459 said:Scrouge is influencing the meta as it best and as a class heavily needing it boons you are in a even worser spot. Druids, holos and mirage makes it not easier. Ele is still playable and adds some fun, but i dont feel unique, speciall or anything else. This xpac added nothing new to ele beside lower attunment cds and dualskills.

I believe time will solve it, if anet shaves other specs into a normal state.

Very true to this. Although most scourges I've come across have been fairly easy to outplay, you don't have the luxury of too many mistakes vsing them.

I do hope something gets adjusted in future because atm there doesn't feel there is any clear role which ele fit particularly well.

I'll have to admit though, one trick SF weaver is hella fun. How would you deal with condi and sustain though?

@Weo weo.6378 said:

@Xibalbar.7459 said:Scrouge is influencing the meta as it best and as a class heavily needing it boons you are in a even worser spot. Druids, holos and mirage makes it not easier. Ele is still playable and adds some fun, but i dont feel unique, speciall or anything else. This xpac added nothing new to ele beside lower attunment cds and dualskills.

I believe time will solve it, if anet shaves other specs into a normal state.

0 condi removal other than magnetic wave and sigils from my part. It's tough, but scourge shouldn't hit me if I play properly. Mirage is a different story. 1v1 is a bad idea against them.

@Weo weo.6378 said:

@Xibalbar.7459 said:Scrouge is influencing the meta as it best and as a class heavily needing it boons you are in a even worser spot. Druids, holos and mirage makes it not easier. Ele is still playable and adds some fun, but i dont feel unique, speciall or anything else. This xpac added nothing new to ele beside lower attunment cds and dualskills.

I believe time will solve it, if anet shaves other specs into a normal state.

I just set my fullburst and starts to kite out and recover the cooldowns on burst and finish the job after. Its a risky thing, if the yolomancer is not braindead. Most of time i try to hold my earth 4/5 ready. I beat most of scrouges fairly easy, but at some point, if they take the area as protection against my range i need to close the gap and this tends to be lose for me than.

I have now nearly 200 matches with fresh air weaver and its doing great. The problem is most of time you have no cleave, so sometimes if i downstate someone in a 1v2 or while i kite and kill, i cant interr. the rez. Its the high damage people cant deal with. Thiefs melting to it, dragon hunter losing the duel, holosmiths getting crazy by this fishy playstyle. But it wasnt able for me to kill a druid so far. Firebrand also is something you ignore. Against warris its a long fight you will win at end, but its not worth. Its to long and a huge job. Mesmer is your demon, like condithief. I oneshotted both of them at times, but against good ones you are food.

I also tried sword all over again, i dont see any usefull things for a group. In melee and teamfights without support you die or you need to panic around by take all skills to cleanse yourself. Not to say what will happen if you are the target.Fresh Weaver is a devcent bruiser, not more. In my opinion better than the core-fresh air.

Hmm, alright.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Seems I'll be trying a one trick this season lmao

Tbh it's not quite one trick. Sure it has at least 3 different combos that can potentially 100-0 someone, but the skills in between are not too shabby.

Fair disclaimer, I've not played a whole lot this season, but to me core sc/f still seems best. Albeit a little less effective than it was last season (even last season it was a little below top tier).

I prefer fresh air weaver with scepter focus, arcane and berserker amulet. High risk, high reward. Atm my ranking is 1770, so I guess it's kinda viable. (Playing on eu btw :D )

I quicky returend to my tempest (scepter/focus). I also have not too much condi removals (I don´t use water). What i did is change from sage to marhsall and it plays well. Positioning is key to survival. Mirrage is my worst matchup and crono is also not much better. I try to avoid them. Scourge is fightable but mistakes kill me fast. Also i can´t resonable 1:2 a scourge with someone else and i can´t hold a point against scourge so well he basically wins. I can fight most others quite comftable but it also depends on the oposing skill.So yes marshall tempest is fun for me. I get top healing quite easy and i do damage too.

Was testing sword now allover again. And it is the worst thing so far i played on ele. Your damage is there, but you cant use it because you gets easy outbursted by every other pwerspec. You are only blasting riptide, trying to stay alife while everyone is bombing you. And if there is a small chance of doing damage in teamfights you can only swap in and quick out, because you will be cc`d to death.

Even with all of your cleanse you cant melee a scrouge, a mirage makes you feeling like a bot. Against a warri its like he can facetank, you need to be indiana jones. Its fun, but you hit likes a wet noodle, your sustain is useless. You cant hold 1v2 long enough, i dont even understand what the sence behind this build is. You are a sidekick of an sidekick and more or less a dead weight.

Sword is only viable as hybrid (MUST equip primordial stance) and as a fun gimmick with lightning rod (really, really scary downed cleave and decent burst).

If you are playing sword without either of those then you will feel incomplete.