Guild Wars 1-Skill Review Project: Elementalist 

Tenais wind is actually pretty meta! You can proc it very easily with glyph of immolation and a great many hero skills!

Oh glyph of immolation with steam as well! Actually lots of little combos like that work out super cleanly.

0:00 Overview 21:42 Air Magic 1:32:54 Earth Magic 2:50:42 Energy Storage 3:16:20 Fire Magic 4:07:12 Water Magic 4:50:53 PvE & No Attribute Skills

To add to what you said around 13:40 , it seems like Ele was given this massive energy pool then gimped with giant energy costs. The only point I can see to this is to make it harder for other classes to use the high cost ele skills.

~ 2:00 So, the cracked armour condition could be quite helpful to increase elemental damage. However, if I understand it correctly, it doesn't do anything when the target has an armour rating of

After some time and further consideration, thought I'd create some new builds based on this series to break out of almost always using some slight variant of the same set of skills. Limitations are no PvE skills (so heroes can also use): ~1:06:07 Mind Shock, Burn & Rupt: Bed of Coals, Mind Shock, Arc Lightning, Glowing Gaze, Shell Shock, Shock Arrow, Teinai's Wind, Glyph of Immolation Hard mode makes use questionable, due to being unreliable vs. opposing eles and only with knockdown possible. ~1:08:50 Ride the Burning Lightning: Glyph of Immolation, Glowing Gaze, Lave Arrows, Shell Shock, Shock Arrow, Ride the Lightning, Whirlwind, Lava Font ~1:16:53 Observation: The Shock Arrow et. al. series of skills are not core. One is Factions, Two are Nightfall, and one EotN. Given so much enchantment hate, these four can be crucial for e-management. The developers should have changed some existing core skills to these functions when they introduced this mechanic. ~1:30:11 Tested Windborne Speed to see if it countered the slow down effects of stances. Tested on Flail (movement speed up to normal) and Dolyak Signet (no noticeable effect). If I'm correct, this skill should allow a warrior to constantly maintain Flail with no movement costs. Would need to see if heroes will use properly. [Tested with Vekk and he maintained this speed buff on me using Flail whether he was set on guard or passive.] ~1:37:05 Did some testing on Armor of Earth and how it works with both Storm Djinn's Haste and Windborne Speed. Both individually counter the slow down to a degree and the speed boost is cumulative when all three are active. The order cast may matter and not sure if a hero will cast on a caster. [During combat Vekk would keep WS on Koss using Flail but ignored me even though I had the slowdown from AoE. Outside of combat, Vekk maintained on me and ignored Koss.] ~1:42:46 As stated in an earlier comment, Churning Earth really shines in hard mode since the PvE foes move faster so they will be knocked down (if not snared). This knock down really makes Bed of Coals [Fire Magic] look very attractive when looking for a follow-up skill for the burning. I don't think either of us have noted that enemy scatter helps to counter "Stand Your Ground!". Since a foe isn't moving if KD'd, they would still get the armor buff. ~1:51:15 Earthquake Nuker: Earth Attunement, Elemental Attunement, Lava Arrows, Glyph of Concentration, Earthquake, Bed of Coals, Glyph of Sacrifice, Dragon's Stomp ~1:53:50 Earthen Shackles vs. Binding Chains. Same cost, cast time, recharge and duration. One inflicts weakness at end, the other damage while moving. ~2:01:45 Grasping Flailer: Grasping Earth, Warrior's Endurance, Cyclone Axe, Power Attack, Flail, Penetrating Blow, Penetrating Chop, Body Blow Grasping Derv: Earthen Shackles, Vivtorious Sweep, Zealous Renewal, Eremite's Zeal, Pious Renewal, Pious Assault, Heart of Fury, Radiant Scythe [Replace ES with Kinetic Armor for perma +60 armor.] ~2:21:12 Shockwave Shadow: Death's Charge, Obsidian Flame, Stone Daggers, Glowstone, Shock Arrow, Shockwave, Whirlwind, Heart of Shadow ~2:35:27 Stone Daggers... One of the benefits of this skill that I think I've observed is that it will burn through reversal skills (e.g. Reversal of Fortune) and enchantments like Spirit Bond allowing more damaging skills to get through. This is because the damage is in two smaller packets. ~2:57:44 Tried to make a build with Energy Boon and just can't find a use where there are better alternatives. With EB, I'm guessing that the initial energy gain for you and ally is kept regardless of a later strip, just losing the health buff. At 12 Energy Storage that's 10e for ally and 16e for you every ~20 seconds. Perhaps when facing lots of degen rather than damage where the health buff would be the most useful. ~3:01:50 I do wonder if you still hold the position that "attunements are just better"? Been watching your current GW playthroughs and I see a lot of party wipes and I'd bet that some are due to over reliance on enchantments when facing lots of stripping, etc. Anyway, took a shot at a build.... Ether Prism E-Denial Counter: Ether Prism, Ether Signet, Lava Arrows, Rodgort's Invocation, Glowing Gaze, Glyph of Lessor Energy, Aura of Restoration, Fire Attunement Fire Magic, adjust for whatever ele line you want. This is designed to specifically counter mass e-denial (e.g. mesmer Domination). As soon as you start to get hit, pop EP and use the signet as needed to get back in the fight. ~03:03:35 Ether Prodigy Healing Support: Ether Prodigy, Fire, Flare, Phoenix, Rodgort's Invocation, Glowing Gaze, Glyph of Lessor Energy, Heal Party, Heal Other Fire Magic, adjust for whatever ele line you want. Overcast from lete buffs Flare and Phoenix (which should heal frontline and minions). ~3:05:06 Etheer Renewal Healing Support: Aura of Restoration, Fire Attunement, Ether Renewal, Lava Arrows, Rodgort's Invocation, Glowing Gaze, Healing Breeze, Heal Party Fire Magic, adjust for whatever ele line you want. ~3:07:45 Again, when attunements aren't reliable, what are your energy management options? Glyph of Energy Cold Front: Glyph of Lessor Energy, Rust, Icy Prism, Glowing Ice, Glyph of Energy, Chilblains, Deep Freeze, Maelstrom ~3:12:54 Master of Magic and Conditions: Weaken Armor, Oppressive Gaze, Rodgart's Invocation, Teinai's Wind, Glowing Gaze, Shock Arrow, Aura of Restoration, Master of Magic 10, 10, 12 pts in Blood, Curses and Energy Storage respectively ~3:19:12 Burning Holy Dervish: Burning Speed, Zealous Sweep, Heart of Holy Flame/Zealous Renewal, Eremite's Zeal, Pious Renewal, Pious Assault, Irresistible Sweep, Heart of Fury Thinking of the undead dervs and warriors in The Desolation, but their Quicksand may require some adrenaline attack skills. ~3:28:46 Flame Bursting Dervish: Flame Burst, Zealous Sweep, Zealous Renewal, Eremite's Zeal, Balthazar's Rage, Irresistible Sweep, Radiant Scythe, Avatar of Lyssa ~4:02:14 Shadow Star Burster: Death's Charge, Lava Arrows, Lighting Touch, Star Burst, Teinai's Wind, Shock Arrow, Flame Burst, Heart of Shadow ~4:39:36 Slippery Ground and Steam Thunderclap Knockdown: Thunderclap, Chain Lighting, Arc Lightning, Shock Arrow, Glowstone, Blinding Flash, Epidemic, Slippery Ground Blinding Flash, Epidemic, Glyph of Immolation, Glowing Gaze, Lava Arrows, Savannah Heat, Bed of Coals, Slippery Ground Adjust attribute points if you will be facing weakness. Burning Trident: Glyph of Immolation, Water Trident, Glowing Gaze, Lava Arrows, Steam, Epidemic, Bed of Coals, Slippery Ground ~4:57:14 Glyph of Renewal takes real attention to skill activation order to work for me. Came up with a build for each ele line. Some require team help for optimal usage, namely the mes Stolen Speed would greatly help the fire version and weakness from a teammate would help the air. These assume no rupts and (as always) facing enchantment hate, so energy intensive but the double nukes should compensate: Double Hammer: Shock Arrow, Chain Lighting, Arc Lighting, Glowstone, Glyph of Lesser Energy, Lighting Orb, Glyph of Renewal, Lighting Hammer Double Eruption: Arc Lighting, Ebon Hawk, Glowstone, Stone Daggers, Glyph of Lessor Energy, Earthquake, Glyph of Renewal, Eruption Double Shower: Rust, Glowing Ice, Flare, Glyph of Lessor Energy, Glyph of Sacrifice, Glyph of Renewal, Meteor Shower, Ice Spikes Double Maelstrom: Arc Lighting, Chilling Winds, Rust, Glowing Ice, Glyph of Lessor Energy, Deep Freeze, Glyph of Renewal, Maelstrom Usually there's enough overcast at the start to last the whole battle. ~4:59:41 Second Wind... This seems to work very contrary to my typical strategy. Took a shot: Second Wind Nuker: Second Wind, Rodgort's Invocation, Glowing Gaze, Flare, Bed of Coals, Glyph of Lessor Energy, Earthquake, Churning Earth

Thoughts on Water Magic: As always, I like having at least one point blank area damage spell, and for Water Magic that's Frozen Burst. I usually use this to punish nearby melee and to protect my backline while trying to damage the opposing backline. I should consider bringing some shadow steps with Fire to pop in, drop some area fire damage, this Burst, then shadow back. Since it has effects other than damage, better than the comparable skills in the other ele lines. Glowing Ice is likely the most necessary of the ele skills in this series, as Water skills are generally high energy. Also better since when running Water you will almost always be using hexes while the others rely on a condition which may not be desired. Two observations regarding Ice Spear. First, it's really the only non-elite spammable Water skill to counter Wastrel's and to have something to do during long recharges. Second, it's an enchantment, which really is a problem when they are punished or when facing Nature's Renewal. Icy Prism is a bit underrated. I do think it does the double cold if the condition is met, has a decent recharge for Water, and works well with skills like Rust. Also provides some small overcast if you need it. Rust is underrated as well, if not just for the relatively long hex to trigger other skills' conditional benefits. The damage is decent and the effect can really mess with healing/rez signets. May work well vs. mesmer signets as well. Mirror of Ice is underrated in my view and I should probably use it more. Consider that it simultaneously can hit both the opposing front and backlines every ~8 seconds for only 10e a pop. Not sure how well heroes use this though. Think you're missing the boat on Shatterstone, which is my go to Water elite. The end effect triggers whether the hex is removed early or not, which makes a big difference. Can even work well against Destroyers against which hexes are typically avoided. Steam has limited uses when facing smaller mobs and running both Fire and Water. Steam at least also does some damage when Blinding Flash does not and works well with Glyph of Immolation.

glyph of sacrifice can be used with arcane echo and avoid the penaly also in pve you can spam it with powerstones , its the most broken skill , feels like cheating tossing 5-6 meteor showers in less than 3 seconds

Came back recently to the game,went to see your opinions on the common skills from eotn but saw you never got this series past three vids😢

Thoughts on Fire Magic: As a double enchantment, can't see ever bringing Double Dragon on a melee's skill bar but my eles will cast on them. This works really well with fire weapons on your physicals. Since I generally like to have at least one point blank damage skill, Flame Burst fills that spot and works with DD. [Edit: Untargeted spells do not trigger DD.] The energy demand is not an issue with double attunements. Flame Djinn's Haste is clearly meant for Dervishes, but I find that the 10e demand can be limiting since it's not effected by Mysticism. Too niche to have a high rating. Flare/Lava Arrows are again my always wanted spam skill if not just to counter the Wastel's skills. Usually prefer Lava Arrows with Searing Flames or Necrosis. Glyph of Immolation is underrated in my view. Works real well to fuel Glowing Gaze and pumps up Lava Arrows and other non-elites when Searing Flames not viable but you still want burning. As always, skills that use both hexes and conditions like Incendiary Bonds and Mark of Rodgort are usually a no go for me. Also Winter completely negates the later. Lava Font would be higher rated for my play style, but the problem is getting the overcast in Fire since I don't like most of the overcast causing skills in this line. Maybe with Mind Burn. Meteor Shower is just not a thing for me. The only time I use is with Glyph of Sacrifice and when the area has a high number of bosses for the instant recharge. I might consider using along with Glyph of Concentration, but the 5 second cast is still a major problem and something like Mantra of Resolve may be too energy costly if you get hit by multiple rupts during the cast time. As stated in an earlier post, Mind Burn et. al. skills are far less effective in hard mode due to the conditional bonus damage/effects being harder to meet. Nevertheless, when in an area with few opposing eles or the team is bringing some energy denial, they have their place. Mind Burn is one of the more useful ones in those situations since it provides some small overcast, has short recharge, and fuels Glowing Gaze, etc. Interesting that you have Rodgort's Invocation at a 5, as I never use since the 25e is so high requiring the double attunements and with Searing Flames is so much better. Perhaps I should consider leading with RI for the immediate burning and then going into a SF spam. Savanah Heat is usually my go to Fire elite since at 5e it doesn't require the double attunements and it leaves plenty of energy for a follow-up snare (e.g. Deep Freeze, Ice Spike, Churning Earth). Also not burning reliant for effectiveness. Finally, foe scattering is not always bad, as it will negate "Stand Your Ground!" and perhaps get them out of a ward. A 5 for me. Searing Flames is just boss when it can be effectively used. Due to the high energy demands to spam every 2 seconds, it usually requires double attunements [my version], Glowing Gaze, and sometimes Glyph of Lessor Energy to get energy pumped back up. The burning also fuels Necrosis for serious damage to your target or can also be spammed with Lava Arrows. Counters Wasterl's skills as well. Interesting to note, however, that SF can be much less or even ineffective against a lot of water ele foes due to their anti-burning skills. Will need a lot of enchantment removal there. A 5 rating when used effectively. Teinai's Heat is a really good ward when the opposing mobs have little condition removal and facing a decent amount of melee. Unremovable health degen and slower attacks (when weakened) is just devastating. Can be the only anti-melee you need. What's not to like?

Originally thought I would like playing as an ele, but it turned out to be one of my least favorites. With that said.... Thoughts on Air Magic: The attunements would be a 5 to me except for the relatively large areas with enchantment hate. When enchantments are relatively safe, usually running dual is all the e-management you will need. When enchantments aren't safe, the ele needs to look at the Shock Arrow et. al. series of skills, glyphs, and/or the mesmer Inspiration Magic for energy. Blinding Flash is situational to me. Basically it's useful for smaller mob areas where blinding a single foe makes a bigger difference or when your team can spread that blindness to other foes, leaving your elite slot open for something other than Blinding Surge (which is more appropriate when you will be facing mostly physicals). In complete agreement with your thoughts on Arc, Chain and (assuming as I'm typing) Invoke Lightning. Strong area of affect armor penetration. Chilling Winds isn't that useful to me unless I'm running with a hero who is using Water Magic, so that makes it situational. [Though an 8 second recharge isn't bad for a cold damage skill.] Would never waste a slot on Enervating Charge due to better ways to apply weakness unless I'm facing the same situations described above for Blinding Flash. I've always considered Gale an interrupt for the ele class. I've tried to use Glimmering Mark, but not sure how effective. I suppose it's best use is to pop on one of the mob's frontline and then use your other skills on the backline casters. Another option is to again use on a frontline melee and then use area of effect on the other frontline attackers. Maybe heroes use this better, since they should know which foe has the hex, but I doubt it. Gust is very situational, but great when it applies. The movement speed is irrelevant to me, but area of effect in both the back and frontlines every 10 secs is strong especially against mobs weak to cold damage. Lightning Bolt and Lightning Hammer are both 1 for me. Bolt's bonus damage is unreliable and Hammer's energy demand and cast time fails vs. (e.g.) Lightning Orb. Plus, I'd rather use nec secondary to apply cracked armor before using an ele damage skill. Lightning Javelin is a 5 for me. Low energy, spammable skill that can mass interrupt attackers. Think what this can do to assassin mobs. Lightning Surge is a 1 for me, as I rarely run a team that wants to inflict both hexes and conditions since most PvE mobs have counters to one or the other. I do not like the Mind Shock et. al. series of skills. In hard mode the conditional bonus damage from having more energy is just too unreliable. Rated 1 and never use. [Update: now rarely use.] Have never tried to use Ride the Lightning, so it's an incomplete to me. I can possibly see running an assassin as a secondary, pop into the backline of casters and rangers, cast some point blank area or touch skills, and then shadow step back to my own team. The Shock Arrow et. al. series of skills are all 5 since they are the best e-management options when the attunements are unreliable and they deal some damage. My biggest gripe is that 3 of these skills require a condition for the e-gain when hexes may be better in a given situation. The conditional e-management should be triggered on an and/or basis to make more flexible. Teinai's Wind is situational but is boss when it fits. I use this with Searing Flames for massive 1-2 punch. Thunderclap is another 5 skill when I want to apply conditions. Area damage, conditions, and interrupt, what's not to love? Whirlwind is at least a 3 since it's usable by both casters and melee for only 5e. Consider how often Air eles are using overcast to feed other skills, so the conditional wider area of effect can usually be met.

Thoughts on misc Elemental: Wow, I really disagree with your 1 for Glyph of Concentration. While I prefer Mantra of Resolve, when that's not an option and I have a must cast spell, a 5e investment to make sure I get it off is a good investment.

Thoughts on Energy Storage: Don't understand your position on Aura of Restoration. I don't use for myself, favoring Elemental Lord, but my heroes use along with the applicable attunement for the e-gain rather than the healing (which is just a bonus to me). Would never waste the elite spot on Elemental Attunement. Glyph of Elemental Power is a much better non-elite option to boost your stats. Energy Blast is probably a 3 for me for the armor ignoring damage, especially followed up with something like Obsidian Flame. Obviously most useful at the start of a fight when u have full energy. With the possible exceptions of Glyph of Energy and Master of Magic, the Energy Storage elites are just bad. I'm just not going to use my elite slot on energy management unless the skill has some special benefit. GoE works for some Water Magic builds (e.g. Deep Freeze and Maelstrom) and MoM is interesting to allow an ele to effectively use all four magic lines in the same build. Glyph of Lesser Energy is a 5 since it can effectively be used by any class, is usually essential when the attunements aren't reliable, and is almost always needed for Earth and Water Magic builds.

Thoughts on Earth Magic: If it's not clear yet, with very few exceptions I rarely run both hexes and conditions in PvE. This leaves skills like Ash Blast, Earthen Shackles, etc. usually with a 1 rating. I imagine the strategy for PvP would be different. (Will rarely use Teinai's Crystals in areas where hexes and conditions are more reliable.) Churning Earth is far more effective in hard mode where the foes move faster than normal. Plus no need for a snare is even better, since moving causes the knockdown. Punishes movement stances as well. Easily a 5 rating. I'm guessing that your limited HM experience (as of this post) has biased your position on this skill. Your suggested use of Crystal Wave did get me thinking (especially with Fragility), but still seems too niche and having to reapply conditions seems just too costly in time and energy. I can possibly see working with Shockwave. I never/rarely use Grasping Earth, but perhaps I should reconsider. It's a cheaper alternative to a ward and your melee can snare when cripple is unreliable for your backline nukers. Sandstorm is my go to elite for Earth Magic. What's really nice here is the bonus damage to attackers, which is where you really need it since Warriors and Rangers have such high armor. Really works well in my view with the Glyph of Lessor Energy before and (e.g.) Churning Earth or Deep Freeze after. Unsteady Ground is my second tier go to Earth elite, often bringing when I have a teammate running Sandstorm. The advantages are the lower energy demand and faster recharge. Stone Daggers are another 5 for me. First, I always want a spammable skill for damage and to counter the Wastrel's skills. Second, the bleeding is just a bonus, especially where bleeding has higher value. Third, I almost always want something that I can constantly 1-2 with (e.g.) Necrosis (the best skill in the game for PvE). I never use Stoning since it's essentially an interrupt for the ele class, but the weakness condition isn't all that important vs. casters. The 15e requirement is high as well, requiring the attunements which aren't always viable. A 1 for me. Most of the Earth wards are rated 5 and the reason most of my ele heroes always run Earth Magic as the third attribute. W Against Elements works well with "Stand Your Ground!". If the team scatters, the ward helps, if they don't SYG applies. W Against Foes is always useful vs. melee, while W Against Melee is more situational depending on whether your foes can counter or punish blocking. Obviously W of Stability is only useful when facing knockdown, but KD is rather common and when needed it's invaluable. W of Weakness is the only 1 for me here, since there are better ways to apply weakness in and out of a ward. I differentiate between situational and niche. A situational skill's rating shouldn't be affected too much for that, while a niche skill's rating will.

Shell shock Is a 5 a must have for Any air elementalist