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    Difficulty

    Core Elementalist
    -

    Open World
    Damage

    Armor

    Illustrious Masque icon Superior Rune of the Scholar icon
    Berserker's HelmSuperior Rune of the Scholar
    Illustrious Epaulets icon Superior Rune of the Scholar icon
    Berserker's ShouldersSuperior Rune of the Scholar
    Illustrious Doublet icon Superior Rune of the Scholar icon
    Berserker's ChestSuperior Rune of the Scholar
    Illustrious Wristguards icon Superior Rune of the Scholar icon
    Berserker's GlovesSuperior Rune of the Scholar
    Illustrious Breeches icon Superior Rune of the Scholar icon
    Berserker's LegsSuperior Rune of the Scholar
    Illustrious Footwear icon Superior Rune of the Scholar icon
    Berserker's BootsSuperior Rune of the Scholar

    Weapons & Sigils

    Scepter icon Superior Sigil of Force icon
    Berserker's ScepterSuperior Sigil of Force
    Dagger icon Superior Sigil of Accuracy icon
    Berserker's DaggerSuperior Sigil of Accuracy

    Trinkets

    Quiver of a Thousand Arrows icon
    Berserker's Backpiece
    Black Ice Earring icon
    Berserker's Accessory
    Asgeir's Talisman icon
    Berserker's Accessory
    Asgeir's Amulet icon
    Berserker's Amulet
    Black Ice Band icon
    Berserker's Ring
    Mistborn Band icon
    Berserker's Ring

    Weapon Skills

    Utility Skills

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    Following build is designed to guide you through your first playthrough, or simply offer you a decent and reliable Core build if you are on Free to Play account. Core builds are not advised to use later in game due to superiority of elite specializations.

    As an Elementalist, you have one of the best boon access out of all core classes. Knowing what abilities will grant you key boons will help you survive longer, move faster, and do more damage.

    You’ll be able to keep close to 25 Might stacks due to Arcane Prowess and Elemental Attunement. You also have incredibly high Protection, Vigor, Fury and Swiftness uptime. All boons generated by Elemental Attunement will be shared with your nearby allies too, making it a great build for group content as well.

    Build Fundamentals

    The recommended build makes use of summoned minions via Glyph of Lesser Elementals. You want to use Glyph of Lesser Elementals in Fire Attunement whenever it’s available, allowing you to summon up to 3 elementals to help you in dealing and soaking damage. Many of your skills are ranged, which allows your minions to tank threats while you deal damage to enemies from afar.

    You will want to cycle through Fire, Earth, then Air to dish out damage while generating key boons for yourself. Most of your damage comes from your combos in these three attunements.

    : Dragon's Tooth, Ring of FirePhoenixFire Grab

    While in Fire Attunement – Dragon's Tooth, and Phoenix are blast finishers, and when used in Ring of Fire, the blast finisher skills generate Might for yourself and allies around you while dealing damage to enemies.

    : Rock BarrierHurlEarthquakeChurning Earth

    : Blinding Flash, Lightning Strike, Ride the Lightning, Arc Lightning

    After the Fire AttunementEarth AttunementAir Attunement  loop, if your Fire Attunement is not available, you can auto attack with Arc Lightning in Air Attunement for additional damage.

    Ride the Lightning is also excellent for engaging enemies or retreating from unfavorable fights.

    Switch to Water Attunement if you need healing, but make sure to do this after disengaging enemies, since it’s difficult to out-heal damage while enemies are actively attacking you.

    Utility and elite skills

    Use Glyph of Lesser Elementals in Fire Attunement whenever it’s available. If you use the skill off cooldown you can summon up to 3 elementals, and they can help you immensely in dealing damage and tanking overworld mobs.

    Lightning Flash provides mobility for engaging enemies or retreating. This is the most flexible slot on your utility bar and can be switched out for other utility skills depending on the situation.

    Arcane Shield is a defensive skill that can block 3 instances of damage targeting you, or can be used to Stun Break yourself out of control effects.

    Conjure Fiery Greatsword is a powerful Conjured weapon that allows you to deal immense damage for a short time, and gives you great mobility for engaging or retreating from enemies.

    Alternatives

    Glyph of Elementals can be taken to substitute Conjure Fiery Greatsword for yet another powerful summoned minion.

    Lightning Flash could be replaced with Armor of Earth if you need another Stun Break, Stability, or Protection, or with Signet of Fire for a more Critical Chance, although this skill is not efficient until after level 70 due to how precision scaling works.

    Glyph of Elemental Harmony can be switched to Signet of Restoration if you want more passive sustained healing and less burst healing or Ether Renewal  if you find enemies are inflicting a lot of conditions on you.

    Crowd Control

    Gearing tips

    Since this build is designed to be your entry point to Guild Wars 2 world, let’s start with the basics, if you haven’t checked the guides below, give them a read to make yourself familiar with game basics.

    Don’t try to invest in Runes and Sigils before you acquire proper level-80 Exotic gear with Berserker’s stats as transferring upgrades is not possible without destroying the item, and retrieving them during the process has a small chance with most salvage kits.

    From drops, crafting and level-up rewards pick items with Power, and on later levels supplemented by Precision and Ferocity.

    We recommend working towards full exotic Berserkers gear with Superior Rune of the Scholar, so you can easily transition this to Power Weaver and Power Catalyst once you unlock elite specializations

    Unlocking skills

    If you’re looking up this build as you’re leveling through the wide world of Tyria we recommend unlocking Glyph of Lesser Elementals first. If you use the skill whenever it is available you can summon up to 4 elementals, and they can help you immensely in dealing damage and tanking overworld mobs. Glyph of Lesser Elementals also leads into Glyph of Elemental Power once elite skills are available.

    The first specialization you should take at level 21 should be Fire as it offers the most useful traits in early levels. At level 45 get Arcane and finally at level 71 unlock Air.

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