Air Magic Builds

Ghael

Ghael

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2006

England

[Rose] Lost Knights Of The Rose

E/

Hiya Guys,

I was just wondering what everyones view on air magic is.

I was also wondering if anyone has any decent air magic builds.

Please post your builds and comments for air magic in this thread.

Thank You

Cebe

Cebe

The 5th Celestial Boss

Join Date: Jul 2006

Inverness, Scotland

The Cult of Scaro [WHO]

E/

Air, although technically maybe not the best element for damage, is my favourite. Many people will say the only good thing about air magic is the Blinding and the Knockdowns.

Are you looking for a build for PvE or PvP?

A reasonable starter build for PvE would maybe be:
[skill]Elemental Attunement[/skill][skill]Air Attunement[/skill][skill]Aura of Restoration[/skill]...then whatever damage/utility skills take your fancy.
Dual Attunements pretty much let you keep casting and casting and casting providing they aren't stripped. Aura of Restoration is mainly there for protection.

Personally I use Air Attunement and Glyph of Lesser Energy because I just LOVE the elite [wiki]Invoke Lightning[/wiki].

ss1986v2

ss1986v2

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

Mo/

[skill]Elemental Attunement[/skill][skill]Air Attunement[/skill][skill]Lightning Hammer[/skill][skill]Lightning Orb[/skill][skill]Lightning Strike[/skill]

last three slots are your choice. this is probably the core of most any air ele. havent played enough with invoke yet to say much on it, but its also a viable option.

Dr Strangelove

Dr Strangelove

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Dec 2005

Wasting away again in Margaritaville

[HOTR]

Dual attuned guy don't need any attack spells except hammer and orb, can can spam them back to back all day long. Invoke lightning is more of a group spiking spell, it's not really that interesting unless you have 4 eles casting it at the same time. The recharge is a tad too long to be used for DPS. I tend to run this when I do air:

[skill]lightning hammer[/skill][skill]lightning orb[/skill][skill]gale[/skill][skill]blinding flash[/skill][skill]mystic regeneration[/skill][skill]air attunement[/skill][skill]elemental attunement[/skill][skill]resurrection signet[skill]

Gale isn't as sexy as it used to be, so you can throw [skill]enervating charge[/skill] in there or go /me for [skill]epidemic[/skill] which is pretty sexy in PvE for blinding an entire mob.

bhavv

bhavv

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Sep 2006

Better with invoke lightning for PVE. Take it on Zhed and Sosuke too and cast it at the same time.

This is my hero air spike, it works wonders in most areas of the game



I normally take Herta, Sogolon and the 2 monks for hench.

BTW WTB 7 usable elly heroes please, that would be sooooo much fun for us elementalist lovers.

Ghael

Ghael

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2006

England

[Rose] Lost Knights Of The Rose

E/

Thanks for the advice guys,

My guild does alot of 3v3, 5v5 kind of battles as an inter-guild war.

I came up with this air/water build that I found quite effective.

Tell me what you think and how it could be improved:

12+1+3 Air Magic 9+1 Water Magic 9+1 Energy Storage

Ice Prison
Tenai's Prison
Chilling Winds
Arc Lightning
Lightning Surge {E}
Blinding Flash
Air Attunement
Water Attunement

Basically this build works by doing alot of damage, whilst slowing down and blinding the close-combat orientated players in the opponents party.
Keep air and water attunement up at all times for good energy management.

Start off with Chilling Winds and then cast one of the Prisons, mainly on assassins/dervishes/warriors to slow them down. Continue spamming arc lightning to do lots of damage due to the water magic hexes being suffered by the opponent.
Arc Lightning and Lightning Surge are mainly used to cause damage and knock the opponent down if they are getting too close for comfort.
If the close-combatants to get in close with our players, or if one of our warriors/dervishes/assassins, attacks them, you can quickly apply blinding flash.

When one of the prisons runs out, cast the other one to keep up the water magic hexes on the opponents.

Hopefully with this build, the close-combatants will not be able to become effective and they wont be able to retreat either, making them prime targets for nukers.


I would appreciate your thoughts on this build: good points, bad points, and what could be improved upon.

I'm welcome to suggestions of skills and secondary proffessions for this build as it, at the moment, uses only elementalist skills.

Thank You

The Great Al

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2005

ALOA

E/Me

If you're going to dual spike with your heroes, maybe give one of them ether prodigy, and take the mesmer skill that lets you copy an elite, and if you're that low on energy, copy that and use it.

Painbringer

Painbringer

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2006

Minnesota

Black Widows of Death

W/Mo

I had good luck with my Mesmer using the dual attunements and 20/20 staff. Fast recharging Air spells matched with the decreased casting time you get from fast casting. You are like a machine gun blasting a target. Unfortunately it was only one at a time. Fun for awhile but got old. The Air Spiker build is on Wiki.

catharsis

Academy Page

Join Date: May 2005

I've been messing with this (PVEwise), using it to drop priority targets while heroes set up to handle AoE duties (Barrage, Triple Chop). It's fun, and it has a lot of longevity.

16 Air
9 Inspiration
Energy Storage for the rest

E/Me

Lightning Surge (E) - might be replaced with Invoke when I cap it.
Lightning Orb
Lightning Hammer
Auspicious Incantation
Enervating Charge / Lightning Bolt / Blinding Flash
Glyph of Elemental Power / Epidemic
Air Attunement
Rez

Use AI on Lightning Hammer preferentially (requires 30 energy), and if attunement's up, it'll pretty much fill up your energy bar. It's fun to watch your little blue bar gun from 30 to 70. If the fight lasts long enough that AI recharges, you might be down too much energy to use AI/LH, but you can also AI/Lightning Orb for a smaller energy spike.

glountz

glountz

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Nov 2005

W/Mo

My Elementalist in PVE is an Air magic build (was sick of fire eles running everywhere)
My build is:
16 Air 13 Energy Storage
Staff with 2* reduce incantation of Air Magic.

For full damage
[skill]Resurrection signet[/skill][skill]Elemental attunement[/skill][skill]Air attunement[/skill][skill]Glyph of elemental power[/skill][skill]Blinding flash[/skill][skill]Chain lightning[/skill][skill]Lightning hammer[/skill][skill]Lightning orb[/skill]

Or, if you need interrupts:
[skill]Resurrection signet[/skill][skill]Air attunement[/skill][skill]Conjure lightning[/skill][skill]Lightning javelin[/skill][skill]Mind shock[/skill][skill]Glyph of lesser energy[/skill][skill]Blinding flash[/skill][skill]Lightning orb[/skill]

bungusmaximus

bungusmaximus

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2006

Guild Of Handicrafted Products [MaSS]

W/Mo

If all of you people only pack damage and zero utility you might wanna throw in mystic regen to keep yourself alive, or reserve 1 slot for something like heal party/aegis (dont kill me celestial, its just 1 slot :P).

glountz

glountz

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Nov 2005

W/Mo

Blinding flash is your main utility.
As for the heal, I assumle in PVE you go to fight along some monks.
I don't think is a thread for "solo farming air magic builds"

bungusmaximus

bungusmaximus

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2006

Guild Of Handicrafted Products [MaSS]

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by glountz
Blinding flash is your main utility.
As for the heal, I assumle in PVE you go to fight along some monks.
I don't think is a thread for "solo farming air magic builds" Dude, I hate farming with a passion ^^. But, say, aegis has a 30 sec recharge and works more or less 10 seconds. If you stick it on 2 monks and an ele you can keep it up forever. I think 50% perma-block chance for the entire team isn't too shabby.

glountz

glountz

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Nov 2005

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by bungusmaximus
Dude, I hate farming with a passion ^^. But, say, aegis has a 30 sec recharge and works more or less 10 seconds. If you stick it on 2 monks and an ele you can keep it up forever. I think 50% perma-block chance for the entire team isn't too shabby. I really fail to see why you should put 10 points in Prot just for Aegis, when you could go Earth and merely completely shutdown melee and ranged attack with wards and Eruption.
As an Air Elementalist, you can spam blinding flash, reducing melee or ranged attacks to nothing. Which is I think a quite fair utility and damage mitigation spell. And you loose nothing in damage.
You're an Elementalist. Play as an elementalist. In addition, Aegis cannot benefit for attunements. And without attunements, 15 energy is quite a lot.

Francis Crawford

Forge Runner

Join Date: Dec 2005

I just went Air for the first time in a long time. To kill Shiro.

I took a very weak set of heroes (wanted to take my new rangers to cap phoenixes) and made masters in hard mode anyway.

Obviously, Arcane Echo/Echo/Celestial Storm had a lot to do with that, but so did Blinding Flash, Enervating Charge, and another damage spell.

makosi

makosi

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Mar 2006

"Pre-nerf" is incorrect. It's pre-buff.

Requirement Begins With R [notQ]

Me/

[skill]Lightning Surge[/skill][skill]Lightning Orb[/skill][skill]Augury of Death[/skill][skill]Lightning hammer[/skill][skill]Glyph of Lesser Energy[/skill][skill]Air Attunement[/skill][skill]Blinding Flash[/skill][skill]Resurrection Signet[/skill]

16 Air Magic
13 Energy Storage
3 Deadly Arts

This is good fun in Randumb Arena. With a 20/20/20 Air Staff, you can take down almost anything pretty quickly.

Use Lightning Surge then Orb so that the opponent is knocked down and doesn't miss. Throw in Augury of Death (which requires close range) then finish them off with Lightning Hammer to finish them off. Use blind where necessary. I understand that it is energy-heavy so Glyph is used for a free Surge + Orb for spike #2.

Aura of Restoration is too crap so I usually leave it out.

Sophitia Leafblade

Sophitia Leafblade

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Nov 2005

Dragon Slayer Guild [DSG]

R/

[skill]Invoke Lightning[/skill] [skill]Enervating Charge[/skill] [skill]Lightning Strike[/skill] [skill]Blinding Flash[/skill] [skill]Glyph of Restoration[/skill] [skill]Glyph of Elemental Power[/skill] [skill]Air Attunement[/skill] [skill]Resurrection signet[/skill]

This is an Air build i like to use, does good damage, has a res for emergencies, had a good self heal, has some good utility (weakness and Blind) and has good energy management.

Air Ball

Air Ball

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jun 2007

The Ligermancers

E/N

I've run this build pretty much through the hardest bonuses in all three games on normal mode and do a lot of grinding for Sunspear/Vanquisher on Hard Mode and it has worked good for me.

16 Air Magic
14 Energy Storage

[card]Air Attunement[/card][card]Conjure Lightning[/card][card]Blinding Flash[/card][card]Lightning Orb[/card][card]Lightning Bolt[/card][card]Enervating Charge[/card][card]Lightning Javelin[/card][card]Invoke Lightning[/card]

I sometimes sub out [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] for other skills, namely [card]Lightning Hammer[/card] It's a good build against melee foes

Dodo The Extinct

Dodo The Extinct

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Dec 2005

Me/Rt

I have been playing this build and having uber amounts of fun

12+1+2 Air
9 Energy Storage
9 Inspiration

Air Attunement
Blinding Surge
Lightning Orb
Lightning Strike
Auspicious Incantation
Lightning Hammer
<Optional>
Res Sig

The Auspicious Incantation works amazingly with Lightning Hammer. 42 Energy every 30 seconds= happy ele


PS: Can somebody please tell me how to make the skills into icons? I don`t know the code

Dr Strangelove

Dr Strangelove

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Dec 2005

Wasting away again in Margaritaville

[HOTR]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Air Ball
I've run this build pretty much through the hardest bonuses in all three games on normal mode and do a lot of grinding for Sunspear/Vanquisher on Hard Mode and it has worked good for me.

16 Air Magic
15 Energy Storage

[card]Air Attunement[/card][card]Conjure Lightning[/card][card]Blinding Flash[/card][card]Lightning Orb[/card][card]Lightning Bolt[/card][card]Enervating Charge[/card][card]Lightning Javelin[/card][card]Invoke Lightning[/card]

I sometimes sub out [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] for other skills, namely [card]Lightning Hammer[/card] It's a good build against melee foes Problems:

1. Poor energy management
2. No rez
3. Using Conjure lightning to wand things = failure
4. Superior energy storage = epic failure

Dodo- quote someone's post with the icons to see it.

As a general rule, air builds without blinding flash or surge are doing something very wrong, as without it, air magic is a bunch of semi-crappy single target damage spells.

Ecklipze

Ecklipze

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Feb 2006

R/

[card]Thunderclap[/card][card]Read The Wind[/card] + Shocking Shortbow

Marverick

Marverick

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

R/

[skill]Apply Poison[/skill] + [skill]Brambles[/skill] + [skill]Thunderclap[/skill] is better

xDusT II

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2006

Melbourne

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marverick
[skill]Apply Poison[/skill] + [skill]Brambles[/skill] + [skill]Thunderclap[/skill] is better Don't forget aftershock and bed of coals.

But seriously, Air in PvE is used for it's powerful anti-melee abilities and the number of spells that can be used to effectively spread blind and weakness.
See Blinding Surge, Eervating Charge, Blinding Flash, and if you prefer damage, invoke lightning, for starters.

baz777

baz777

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

South East England

Leader: Lady Hairy Armpits S[mell]

E/

I use this build in RA

[skill]Elemental Attunement[/skill] [skill]Air Attunement[/skill] [skill]Blinding flash[/skill] [skill]Lightning Hammer[/skill] [skill]Lightning orb[/skill] [skill]Lightning bolt[/skill] [skill]Resurrection Signet[/skill] [skill]Mystic Regeneration[/skill]

High damage output with constant +9/10 hp regen.

MithriM

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jun 2007

Order Of Legends [OoL]

E/Me

I use this in pvp
[skill]Aura Of Restoration[/skill] [skill]Arcane Echo[/skill] [skill]Blinding Flash[/skill] [skill]Enervating Charge[/skill] [skill]Invoke Lightning[/skill] [skill]Lightning Orb[/skill] [skill]Glyph of Lesser Energy[/skill] at the last one u can take ress,air attunement for better energy management or [skill]Chain Lightning[/skill] for extra damage .

Air Ball

Air Ball

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jun 2007

The Ligermancers

E/N

I made a mistake about my build in that I run 14 energy storage and not 15. Which I changed in my post. I just remember getting it as high as I could with a major energy storage rune. Yeah I agree, two superior runes would cut the health down too much. My lack of rez is the real weakness. I don't have problems with energy unless I'm in a long fight, but then again, who doesn't. I suppose you're thinking I need [card]elemental attunement[/card] in there to better manage my energy. You'll notice my normal build doesn't have a single skill over 15 energy, as long as [card]air attunement[/card] is running the energy works out fine. I've enjoyed running [card]conjure lightning[/card], it averages about 12 extra dmg a pop at 16 in air that may not sound like much but it adds up quickly and you feel like you still contribute some to the offense even if you are pretty low on energy. This build gets you no exhaustion as long as you cast [card]invoke lightning[/card] with some sort of enchancement on it.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Air Ball
I've enjoyed running [card]conjure lightning[/card], it averages about 12 extra dmg a pop at 16 in air that may not sound like much but it adds up quickly and you feel like you still contribute some to the offense even if you are pretty low on energy. Conjure spells are really pretty pointless on an ele. If you are attacking with it, you will be doing a lot less damage than if you are casting spells. If you are a spell caster, you probably won't be attacking enough to merit the energy spent on the enchantment in the first place. Tbh, just about any ele skill bar with this equipped is better off with either another attack spell, energy management skill, or utility skill (blinding flash, water snare, etc.).