Power, Condi, or Both? (WvW)

[juno.1840]

I've been experimenting with different builds in WvW after taking a few months off. I was Marauders, then Dire/Trailblazer, and now I'm back to Celestial using either of these two builds:

Solo: gw2skills.net/editor/?vFAQJAodnMMA9XiNYCGOA0RglPAj4CEB2ADHgAQ/zdueX/rA-jxBBABkq+jjKBr4EAAwDAIR9ACu/gZK/IFQe60A-eGroup: gw2skills.net/editor/?vFAQJBIhdSfJ0fJ2gJY4AwhJW2AM396f9wO8ACAFQiPQGoCA-jxBBABCu/gjKBTUPgZK/2/EAQq6PA8AAIFgf70A-e

I'm finding the combination of power + condi the best so far. The high crit rate helps compensate for the lower power and the condi damage sets up added pressure. For example, dagger 2 in fire sets up a 1k burn tick along with 4-5k of damage due to might and crits.

I don't mean for this post to be a build critique, but rather a discussion on condi vs power vs hybrid for elementalist only (not other professions).

[Feanor.2358]

Depends on the intent of the build and the choice of weapon. A backline staff shouldn't bother with condi at all, you won't apply enough condi to make it worthwhile. In contrast, a d/d dueller will probably benefit from both. But in general I would recommend to wait until Friday before starting the topic.

[juno.1840]

Yep, good points. I just bought PoF this morning so I'm a bit pumped to try it out. I like the barrier spam that looks possible (in theory).

[Jski.6180]

Ele still locked into burning only when in fire and bleed only when in earth. You can be in fire and earth more offten with weaver but your still very traped in. The only real way ele as a class can be a real condi dmg class is though having dmg condis in water and air (vanabitly and weakness are not condi dmg for ele and anet needs to stop thinking they are doing ele a good thing by making these 2 atuments aimed for that condi.)

Sadly power dmg realy not there becuse of the lack of unblockables or the abitly to make there attks unblockable. Its raw dmg and its high but it means nothing vs real players most of the time.

Ele is only dmg in pve. Its support in every thing else.

[mygamingid.5816]

Auramancers will still have a place in WvW, Juno. Can mix-and-match within a few sets to get the most out of it:

Power: Harrier, Zealot, and Cleric offer the best options. Zealot is great for Fresh Air auramancers.Condi: Apothecary, Shaman, and Settler offer the best options. Seraph could be in the mix, but the useless Precision hurts it.Boonbot: Minstrel is the clear choice. You won't hurt anything, but you'll be very tanky and supportive.

[juno.1840]

@mygamingid.5816 said:Auramancers will still have a place in WvW, Juno. Can mix-and-match within a few sets to get the most out of it:

Power: Harrier, Zealot, and Cleric offer the best options. Zealot is great for Fresh Air auramancers.Condi: Apothecary, Shaman, and Settler offer the best options. Seraph could be in the mix, but the useless Precision hurts it.Boonbot: Minstrel is the clear choice. You won't hurt anything, but you'll be very tanky and supportive.

Understood, but was wondering if "hybrid" is really a viable option. I agree with other posters that Staff doesn't offer much along the lines of conditions. But there are still conditions from earth/fire overloads as well as the fire shout. I've been running dagger/focus which seems to enjoy a good balance of condition and power.

The new Griever stat set would be interesting for Hybrid if I was comfortable running that glassy in WvW (which I'm not).

[mygamingid.5816]

@juno.1840 said:Understood, but was wondering if "hybrid" is really a viable option. I agree with other posters that Staff doesn't offer much along the lines of conditions. But there are still conditions from earth/fire overloads as well as the fire shout. I've been running dagger/focus which seems to enjoy a good balance of condition and power.

The new Griever stat set would be interesting for Hybrid if I was comfortable running that glassy in WvW (which I'm not).

Hybrid runs the risk of trying to do too much and not getting enough of either power or condi to be worth the effort. Every choice takes away from something else. It'll take a very specific build and rotation to find that happy point where it beats out pure power or pure condi. Hybrid with auramancer is really watered-down, because you're giving up damage traits, too.

I guess if I had to give a clear answer to "can I run hybrid?" it's going to be "yes." It won't be as damaging as a clean condi or power build. It will have a lot more secondary capability than those clean builds would. If you can play it, survive, and contribute, then I'd say enjoy it.

[Sifu.9745]

Celestial staff is still very powerful. Condi dmg is not bad at all, if you have the right traits, sigils with condi procs on crit and poison on weapon (attunement) swap. You can heal, you can power dmg, you can condi dmg, you can tank, you can be a God if you want :) Celestial d/d is also not bad if you are more of a solo player, bud Staff is better for group support, haling.

[Feanor.2358]

The problem with cele staff - or cele anything, really - is that you can do everything... only poorly. You can deal mediocre power damage, apply mediocre condis, you can heal only slightly better than a full zerk and you're still nowhere near as tanky as a minstrel ele. Could be a good choice for roaming, as I think you'd kind of want to be able to do everything there, if at the cost of efficiency. For zerging I'd rather spec into a single thing.

[Sifu.9745]

@Feanor.2358 said:The problem with cele staff - or cele anything, really - is that you can do everything... only poorly. You can deal mediocre power damage, apply mediocre condis, you can heal only slightly better than a full zerk and you're still nowhere near as tanky as a minstrel ele. Could be a good choice for roaming, as I think you'd kind of want to be able to do everything there, if at the cost of efficiency. For zerging I'd rather spec into a single thing.

But that is a purpose of Elementalist: we should be good at everything :) We don't have pure Power nor condi Weapons. We are hybrids. For example: Staf #1, #2 and #5 = Power, #3 and #4 = condi + condi procs on crit, weapon swaping etc.Mediocre condi dmg + mediocre Power dmg = pretty nice dmg overall. Not as high as full zerker or pure condi but thx to our weapons and attunements, with mixture of power and condi skills, not that far behind. Ele is probably the only class who can take celestial gear/weapon and be effective with it. + celestial (or some other hybrid gear) suits ele attunement swaping playstyle a lot more imo. Also a mixture of celestial + some power or condi works even better.

[mygamingid.5816]

@Sifu.9745 said:But that is a purpose of Elementalist: we should be good at everything :) We don't have pure Power nor condi Weapons. We are hybrids. For example: Staf #1, #2 and #5 = Power, #3 and #4 = condi + condi procs on crit, weapon swaping etc.Mediocre condi dmg + mediocre Power dmg = pretty nice dmg overall. Not as high as full zerker or pure condi but thx to our weapons and attunements, with mixture of power and condi skills, not that far behind. Ele is probably the only class who can take celestial gear/weapon and be effective with it. + celestial (or some other hybrid gear) suits ele attunement swaping playstyle a lot more imo. Also a mixture of celestial + some power or condi works even better.

Celestial isn't good at anything, though, which is where Feanor is coming from. If I had to grade the set, it'd be a solid "C-" for it's ability to show up and not be terrible at anything. Whether it's worth playing or not in WvW depends on how well it works for you. Player skill and comfort will be a lot more important than gear choice.

Some players see anything other than a meta build as a de facto burden. That's far more common in raids and high-end fractals, but you'll see it in WvW, too. Be ready for that and take it with a grain of salt. Just do your best to minimize down time for you and your teammates.