Elementalist Tactics: Solo Skill Combos

I've written before on some basic tactics to get a beginner Elementalist started on the path to getting the most out of their elements but today I want to talk about combos that an Elementalist can do via switching to aid themselves in combat.

The following is a list is combos for each weapon set. This list does not include Utility Skills or Elite Skill combos. For more information on combo effects check out the official wiki.

The first skill listed is the first one that should be cast to perform the combo.

Staff:

• Eruption (Earth) + Geyser (Water) = area healing
• Eruption  (Earth)  + Healing Rain (Water)  = area healing
• Healing Rain (Water) + Stoning  (Earth autoattack) = regeneration
• Geyser (Water) + Stoning  (Earth autoattack) = regeneration
• Healing Rain (Water)  + Shockwave (Earth) = regeneration
• Geyser (Water) + Shockwave (Earth) = regeneration
• Eruption  (Earth) + Static Field (Air) = area swiftness
• Eruption  (Earth)  + Lava Font (Fire)  = area might
• Eruption  (Earth)  + Burning Retreat (Fire) = area might
• Lava Font (Fire) + Stoning  (Earth autoattack)  = applies burning
• Static Field (Air) + Stoning  (Earth autoattack)  = applies vulnerability
• Static Field (Air) + Shockwave (Earth)  = applies vulnerability

Dagger/Dagger:

• Ring of Fire (Fire) + Churning Earth (Earth) = area might
• Ring of Fire (Fire) + Earthquake (Earth) = area might
• Burning Speed (Fire) + Churning Earth (Earth) = area might
• Burning Speed (Fire) + Earthquake (Earth) = area might

Scepter/Dagger:

• Ring of Fire (Fire) + Phoenix (Fire) = area might
• Ring of Fire (Fire) + Earthquake (Earth) = area might
• Ring of Fire (Fire) + Churning Earth (Earth) = area might
• Ring of Fire (Fire)  + Stone Shards (Earth autoattack)  = applies burning
• Ring of Fire (Fire) + Rock Barrier/Hurl (Earth)  = applies burning

(Note: If you time it right you can use Dragon’s Tooth for an Area Might combo as well)

Scepter/Focus:

• Flamewall (Fire)  + Phoenix (Fire) = area might
• Flamewall (Fire) + Stone Shards (Earth autoattack) = applies burning
• Flamewall (Fire) + Rock Barrier/Hurl (Earth) = applies burning
• Flamewall (Fire) + Magnetic Wave (Earth) = area might
• Flamewall (Fire) + Comet (Water) = area might

(Note: If you time it right you can use Dragon’s Tooth for an Area Might combo as well)

Dagger/Focus:

• Burning Speed (Fire) + Magnetic Wave (Earth) = area might
• Burning Speed (Fire) + Comet (Water) = area might
• Flamewall (Fire) + Magnetic Wave (Earth) = area might
• Flamewall (Fire) + Comet (Water) = area might

As you can see there is a lot of combos an Elementalist can perform by themselves. Of all weapons, the staff does have a huge advantage in combo generation with it's wide variety of AOE combo fields to pick from in any element. No matter your playstyle or your preferred weapon, knowing how to combine your attacks can give you a definite edge in PvE, PvP, and WvW.

Yak's Bend: What Makes a Server Home?

I've been looking around at the many servers available in Guild Wars 2 before free transfers finally close, trying to find a good fit for me that Desolation (EU) just didn't seem to be. While I think I've found my new home on Yak's Bend (America), it made me think about what it is that makes a server home to me.

Part of it is definitely the atmosphere. Even though the /map chat in Lion's Arch on Yak's Bend still had it's fair share of Trolls and Nerfers (those complaining about or whining for) it was overall helpful in nature. No one attacked or trolled the random person asking about a Roleplaying guild which can be a big "kick me" sign, much like asking a question like I did where it's clear I'm not from that server originally. In any other game and on certain other servers, these things would invite trolls like vultures on a dead body.

I found that the helpfulness extended well beyond large cities and into /map chats in the world where people talked more and offered to group up for jump puzzles. People called out events more consistently and it just seemed to me that most on Yak's Bend had embraced the community building that GW2 facilitates and it's that atmosphere of community and friendliness that I look for now.

I've been playing MMOs since Everquest 1 and I've played many since. I've been a competitive bitch - stealing nodes, kills, whatever - because if I didn't the other person would. That's the way I was trained to think, that I was against the other players. They were there to hinder and inconvenience me at every turn. Even in raiding with my guild, I wasn't working with them, I was cutting corners and doing all I could to be the best on the parser to prove that I deserved the loot more than the others in line behind me.

I've never acted like that in real life. I was never an overly competitive person, let alone enough to do the things I did for loot that was just going to be replaced in a few months in a never-ending treadmill grind. To be able to step off that treadmill and not be afraid of being screwed over at every turn by other players has been amazing but I still feel the old learned emotions rise up when I see other people coming to the same gathering node I'm at, that knee-jerk territorial reaction and adrenaline that I have to get to it first. It's going to take awhile to unlearn that but with the right game, and the right server, I think I can.

So what's the other part of it? This was a lot harder for me to answer, in fact, I don't think I really know. I have friends on Yak's Bend already, friends from other games, whereas Desolation had been a completely fresh start. I knew no one there but the people I brought with me. While moving to Yak's Bend is also a fresh start in that I have no guild on the server yet, it feels less isolated with others that I know and I think that has played a major factor in my decision to move and to stay on Yak's Bend.

So what is it that makes a server home to you? What do you look for or does it even matter what the server is like? Do you form an attachment or sense of loyalty to the server you play on over time? What are some of your experiences with MMOs or the atmosphere of your server? I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

Elementalist: The Basics of Getting Tactical

Lately I've noticed a lot of people have some misconceptions about how to play an Elementalist. One of the things I've heard the most, and I am hoping against hope that I misunderstood in some way, is people who build for specific elements and never change elements in combat.

So what was it specifically that made me want to write this post? "Fire is overrated. It doesn't have the utility of the other elements." That comment (paraphrased, of course), is one I have seen a few times from different players. So let's go through the basics of the four elements and why they work together.

Before I begin, I am a Staff Elementalist. I prefer the abilities of the staff to almost any other combination so my examples will be based on that.

Fire- This is your damage and dot element. You're going to find yourself in Fire more often than not because it has the most burst damage of any other element. If you invest in Condition Damage you're going to see some great rolling damage from Burning as well. Fire also has a lot of combo capability with other professions.

Water- This element is chill and heal based and is one of the lowest damage autoattacks, regardless what weapon you're using. However, if you're using a staff, your autoattack also has a small heal that affects melee players on impact. If you're using a dagger, it will apply Vulnerability to the mob.

Air- This element has some decent damage and some utility such as blindness and weakness with certain weapons, as well as a stun.

Earth- This element has a lot of utility. You can bleed and cripple enemies, immobilize them, protect yourself from projectiles, and increase your toughness.

Each element has it's own merits but none of them can stand alone. To get the most out of an Elementalist it requires some tactical thinking and a willingness to experiment. Cycling through elements is nearly instantaneous but there is a cooldown. The best piece of advice I can give is not to fear the cooldown but to plan around it.

Let's look at an example of switching elements and working with the cooldown that's pretty basic and happens to me a lot where I find myself facing a pack of mobs. Remember, I'm using a staff for this example.

Most the time I'm in Fire to start so in this situation I'd switch to Earth immediately and lay down Unsteady Ground just in front of the mobs to catch the majority, dropping an Eruption just in front of that adding in a Shockwave for good measure. From there I switch back to Fire now that the cooldown has just about gone away and drop a Lava Font just in front of the Eruption and Flame Burst into the crowd. Chances are, the mobs are just about to me at this point so I will likely use Glyph of Storms at my location and dodge through the pack while switching to Air and dropping a Static Field behind me to slow down the mobs and using Windborne Speed to give me a little more mobility, using Gust to push back one that might be too close. By this time Fire should be cooled down or just about giving me another round of burst damage. Most the mobs should be dead or able to be autoattacked down while strafing. If I had taken some substantial damage before getting behind the mobs again I would've switched out Air for Water, tossed a Frozen Ground patch in front of them and used my personal heal or Geyser before dodging again and switching back to Fire. A lot of times you will run into the back end of your cooldown and it's during this time you'll need to dodge and kite while you switch.

It might sound complicated or like a bit much work but remember, not every fight is going to call for switching but many will. Knowing what each element can do with your chosen weapon and how best to use it to your advantage with your playstyle will keep you alive and your repair costs down.

The Launch of Guild Wars 2

This being a new blog about Guild Wars 2, I thought it would be a good idea to start with the launch of the game and my impressions of it thus far.

While many might disagree with me, this was one of the smoothest launches I've yet seen. Even though there was intermittent outages of the login server, the servers themselves never went down. Once we got through that and into the game, we could play.. with a lot of bugs. Still it was tolerable and didn't impede gameplay too much.

I could forgive them all the bugs based on how much I enjoy the game but what I had the hardest time forgiving and maintaining my patience with, was the utter lack of a Trading Post for weeks following the launch. While the economy is slowly stabilizing it could have already been nearly stable in setting the value of finite resources at the very least. Instead, we're seeing things at or below the vendor price still because people, myself included, saved things to sell while it was down and flooded the market. I give ArenaNet props for their solution to the overstock, though. The incentive to toss the excess into the Mystic Forge for goodies is working to bring down the volume finally.

Hackers and gold sellers are a problem for any MMO but I wasn't quite prepared for the amount of gold sellers that would be in GW2. The logical part of my brain, and admittedly stupid part in this case, thought they wouldn't bother trying. After all, ArenaNet put in an in-game currency exchange that was safe and easy. Why would anyone use a gold seller at all with the risk of losing their account, their personal information, etc all for the sake of saving a few bucks? I underestimated the tenacity of the gold sellers and their strict avoidance of logic.

I give a lot of props to ArenaNet for their handling of hacking attempts and gold sellers but (there's always a but), the email authentication should have been ready immediately when the game pre-launched. Being unable to authenticate my account and then unable to change my password to a more secure one to put my mind at ease really bothered me.

Last but not least, a small rant. One of the things that has gotten under my skin the most since the game launched is the population, especially on my server, that act like spoiled children when the game needs to be patched and/or maintenance done. Every restart patch, every 10-20 minutes of downtime was met with outraged cries of "Are you serious!?" They're trying to fix the game for us as fast as humanly possible and more than that, they're doing most of it live and trying NOT to cut into our game-time. The complaining went on to "it's at a bad time." Really? Midnight PDT is a fine time, regardless of the day it is until the game is fixed. Does no one remember consistent 8 hours or more downtime in WoW every time a new, big patch came out or an expansion released or what we went through at the launch of vanilla WoW? Grow up and learn some fucking patience.