New player seeking build advice (Support/Tank)

Hello fellow Elementalists, recently I had decided to start playing GW2 again (Used to play around launch years ago...don't know why I stopped playing, I love this game.) and after hearing about Tempest, I really wanted to look into a support build with using condition damage instead of power to change things up from when I was a support staff ele in the past. Having found out 2 of my friends are also playing this game they encouraged me to use the lvl.80 boost once I told them this was the class I wanted to main. So after becoming lvl.80 I started preparing for my upcoming build. I'm focusing on Apothecary for gear mostly with a few small exceptions to save gold. My helmet and shoulders are Shaman (it was about 15 more gold each for Apoc) and My Accessories are mostly Settler's (to save gold once again) Weapon wise since I don't have access to Warhorn yet I'm using Apothecary Scepter + Dagger but I do travel around with a Cleric's staff just in case (almost no condition on staff it seems so I tried to keep as much healing power as I could while increasing my damage power) Everything is Exotic.

Weapon Sigils:Scepter: Superior Sigil of Water (I'm assuming these runes scale of healing power as well?)Dagger: Superior Sigil of TransferenceStaff: Superior Sigil of Force, Superior Sigil of Bloodlust (Honestly not sure what type of staff I should use since conditions aren't as prevalent on it, hence the Cleric staff with sigils to try to increase power :/ )

Armor Runes: 6 Superior Rune of the Dolyak (Since it scales of healing power now, plus my high amount of healing power and toughness combined with Signet of Restoration and Diamond Skin it seemed like a decent choice, I don't take a lot of damage and my hp is relatively full most of the time.)

Talent-wise I'm currently running:Earth: Earth's Embrace/Elemental Shielding, Strength of Stone, Diamond SkinWater: Piercing Shards, Aquamancer's Training, Powerful AuraFire: Conjurer, Pyromancer's Training, Pyromancer's Puissance(I currently plan on replacing fire with Tempest when I unlock it)Tempest: Unstable Conduit, Invigorating Torrents, Elemental Bastion

Utility Skills: (I really need some help selecting these for how to best improve my build)Mist Form: Loved this skill from when I first played, although I already have another stun break figured a backup wouldn't hurt...plus I accidentally found out today that I can phase through Legendary Bosses impassible bubbles that bounce you back/away with it so that's a plus ^^;Signet of Air: Pretty much chose this for mobility (No access to gliding/mounts yet)Conjurer Frost Bow: My guilty pleasure skill. Looks pretty, liked the skills, not sure what else to use so I went with it.(I'm always debating about switching one of those out for Glyph of Elemental Power but not sure which one or is it even worth it since I can easily apply bleed and burn with Scepter)

Elite Skill:Since I don't have Rebound yet and nothing really catches my eye (or I'm just blind to how good something may be) I've just been using Sylvan Hound when I remember I have an elite skill :/ (totally not jealous of Engineer's Supply Drop)

So far I can say I'm very happy with what I have so far, haven't had much time to do some further tests yet as I've only just constructed this last night, but after farming some champions/elites in Kessex Hills the durability and support surprised me even more than I was expecting. While the defense and healing are wonderful, the damage seems to be alright. I'm not having difficulty killing things solo but mobs do die at a decent speed so I'm ok with that. Looking to further improve on what I have so far as I really like it but I know there's experts out there who can help me preform better!

Sorry for the long post but I just wanted to make sure I covered everything and hopefully painted a picture of what I'm trying to accomplish. Granted it's not even a rough draft as I don't even have access to Tempest and thus missing a weapon and a 1/3rd of my traits but wanted to get some guidance early on.

[EDIT: I forgot to mention I'll pretty much be doing casual PvE (while I learn about the game to later on move into harder stuff) and on occasion running around in WvW for crits and giggles. PvP isn't a focus of mine]

Check

as support combining settler, shaman, appo should work. I would go for 2500-2600 but not more armor. keeping healing and condi damage on all items.Then it is clearly tempest. I would go for scepter or dagger + focus or warhorn what ever you like more. If you want only tank and support and forfit damage it´s minstrels gear.

Example:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vFAQJArdnUMA9XiVYCOYCcYilPAzdueX/rEjgQwGY4AEAegA-jFyZABNu/AOq/02JAQE9AY+AAAQ5RvKxUWJYAAEgZWmBwP/5P/5P/ZX3n/8n/8n/8n/8n/sUA+tsC-w

Not for Zerg. But should work solo and small group. Damage won´t be top but its OK.

I tried various combinations like this in my early days, but ultimately ended up on Celestial gear because Ele has a really hard time with condi damage on staff. Most of your damage is going to come from Tempest Fire and Earth overloads, which are melee range, and when you are attuned to water to heal allies you will do pretty much zero damage since Ice Spike is a physical damage skill--beware of that.

When you have Warhorn I suspect you will use a Sceptor/Warhorn combo for maximum aura stacking ? That's probably okay, its one that I have played alot. Just beware that this build has a major weakness in that without staff you can't proc the self-ress of Geyser before you go down.

Also its worth noting that by taking Dolyak runes instead of Monk runes will lower your outgoing healing by 10%, and I assume you will use Mango Pie (regenerate health) instead of Delicious Rice Balls further lowering your outgoing healing by another 10%.

EDIT: Some edits to clarify some things.

Thanks for the replies!@steki.1478Really great vid thanks for the link! Though I can't use Tempest+Warhorn yet it helped a lot to see some what I can expect in the future. Also I will say personally I'll most likely stick with Scepter instead of Dagger main hand due to personal preference (Even if Dagger is better, I enjoy Scepter more ^^;)@Wolfric.9380I might need to change out of the Settler's accessories then once I can as I'm way over that amount of armor :x (3k Armor, 3.2k In earth attunement) I'll switch those to apoc to further increase healing. Curious about that Minstrel's gear though to neigh un-killable but I do like having some damage at least. Gonna file that to attempt later when I start making multiple sets.@Hannelore.8153Yeah I'm most likely am going to carry around a completely different set of armor for when I occasionally use staff, Maybe Cleric's so I can switch from playing Condition to Power and vice versa to keep things fresh in the future. Thanks for the reminder of that Ice Spike!Not having the Geyser self-rez is a bit of a downer (pun-intended) but thankfully Rebound should help a bit with that.I honestly missed the Monk runes when I was crafting this. Didn't see them until I was watching the video posted above. When I start doing dungeons and group content I'll probably switch to those depending on how easy/hard supporting will be. Thanks for letting me know about the Mango Pie food, I'll definitely be using that while soloing! (Rice Balls for group for sure though.)

@Chemistral.7318 said:Thanks for the replies!@steki.1478Really great vid thanks for the link! Though I can't use Tempest+Warhorn yet it helped a lot to see some what I can expect in the future. Also I will say personally I'll most likely stick with Scepter instead of Dagger main hand due to personal preference (Even if Dagger is better, I enjoy Scepter more ^^;)@Wolfric.9380I might need to change out of the Settler's accessories then once I can as I'm way over that amount of armor :x (3k Armor, 3.2k In earth attunement) I'll switch those to apoc to further increase healing. Curious about that Minstrel's gear though to neigh un-killable but I do like having some damage at least. Gonna file that to attempt later when I start making multiple sets.@Hannelore.8153Yeah I'm most likely am going to carry around a completely different set of armor for when I occasionally use staff, Maybe Cleric's so I can switch from playing Condition to Power and vice versa to keep things fresh in the future. Thanks for the reminder of that Ice Spike!Not having the Geyser self-rez is a bit of a downer (pun-intended) but thankfully Rebound should help a bit with that.I honestly missed the Monk runes when I was crafting this. Didn't see them until I was watching the video posted above. When I start doing dungeons and group content I'll probably switch to those depending on how easy/hard supporting will be. Thanks for letting me know about the Mango Pie food, I'll definitely be using that while soloing! (Rice Balls for group for sure though.)

A few more comments:

• Scepter is better than Dagger in open world PvE, where most combat will be ranged combat (Dagger/Water or Ice Bow for range isn't great.)
• Anything under about 3k of armor is fine, that's just the soft cap.
• Elementalist has only 10k of base health and thus benefits more from Vitality than from Toughness., Tempest has 40% reduction from Protection anyway.
• Minstrel works better on Druid than Elementalist, because they don't lose pet damage. Ele has a hard time with full support.
• Water line+Monk runes+Sigil of Transference+Benevolence+Rice Balls+Bountiful Maintenance Oil is up to 166% outgoing healing, depending on gear. This kind of setup is usually used only in fractals and raids, due to its expense (you can get 145% entirely passive with low costs).
• Outgoing healing does not affect yourself (as it sounds), so save it for supportive situations.
• You will definitely want to either keep several gear sets or to use four-stat or six-stat gear if you plan to run multiple different builds.

I only run one gear set but i agree sometims i would like to try a heavy healing loaded one.As for scepter i also prefer that ;-).
And yes settler should be switched for appo :-). I don´t like minstrel.... too low damage.In a shout support build soldier rune is top. Another great one (i currently use it) is durability.If you are on EU we might chat in the eavening. Had a bit absence the last days.

So might look like: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vFAQJArdnUMA9XiVYCOYCcYilPAb4AEAegEjgQwGwdueX/rA-j1xZABooEkD9A4o+DAK/w8BA02JAIz9HWHcA8VvCg1Wbt1WbtGQt1Wbt1Wbt1WbtSB43yK-w

Food changed as you like. Also transference if you want it more self sustaining.

Thanks for the tips @Hannelore.8153 ! The armor tip really helped a lot, I wasn't aware of a soft cap. :x Changing my accessories should bring me just beneath it.

I'm on NA sadly but welcome back! @Wolfric.9380

I used to run a condi/support/tank apothecary+shaman gear, balthazar rune, dagger/warhorn tempest build for almost everything. It was pretty amazingly effective. Glyph of Elemental Power was nerfed into the ground, though. But Signet of Fire and Glyph of Storms has recently been buffed, though, so it should be a good build again.

I just finished testing out Glyph of Storms after you mentioned it and I'm falling in love with it. (Especially Lighting Storm :o)

[update:] Made some changes to my setup

• Replaced Frost Bow with Glyph of Storms
• Replaced Sylvan Hound with Gylph of Elementals (Still hardly use it but the little extra utility is nice)
• Swapped out Dolyak Runes for Dwayna
• Replaced Superior Sigil of Water with Superior Sigil of Life
• Replaced Settler's Accessories with Passiflora Orichalcum

Armor is decreased from 3k to 2.7k (when not in earth attunement)Healing increased by around 350 (don't remember the exact number, this is not including food or the stacking sigil of life)HP decreased 1k

As for why I'm now attempting stacking healing with Dwayna runes and Sigil of Life over using Monk runes and Sigil of Benevolence, I'm still mostly soloing at this point (due to work schedule :/) so I figured at least with healing I could benefit myself as well as others when I occasionally find others to group up with for events. Once I can find a consistent group to run with I'll attempt switching from Healing to Benevolence.

Results from these changes are lovely. Was a worried about losing the HP and armor but having to heal less due to stronger heals and the Regen proc from Dwayna runes vastly increased survivability much more than before.

for PvE glyph of storms is great. I usualy run it on my toolbar there. And no worries about less life. Healing power compensates it. I even run below 14k in PvP (marshalls) and am fine.