Which Build Out Of These 2 Is The Most Powerful?

whufc89

whufc89

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2007

UK

E/

I've been running Dual Attune Rodgorts (as shown below) for ages now but wanted to try something new, so I went with Searing Flames for a while. I like to cause massive amounts of AoE damage, so was wondering which you guys think would cause the most damage out of the following 2 builds. Just as an example, let's say I'm on my own when using these builds & don't have other SF ele's etc with me to boost the power of the builds.

Oh and I know people's general thesis is MIND BLAST = WIN, and I agree but it doesn't go well with my playing style & feels awkward to use, so I'm just letting you know beforehand that you don't need to say "MB is better than Dual Attune man" etc as I already know . Anyway, here they are:

Quote:

Dual Attune:

[skill]elemental attunement[/skill][skill]fire attunement[/skill][skill]immolate[/skill][skill]searing heat[/skill][skill]teinai's heat[/skill][skill]rodgort's invocation[/skill][skill]fireball[/skill][skill]sunspear rebirth signet[/skill]

Fire Magic - 16
Energy Storage - 12
Quote:

Searing Flames:

[skill]searing flames[/skill][skill]glowing gaze[/skill][skill]glyph of lesser energy[/skill][skill]searing heat[/skill][skill]teinai's heat[/skill][skill]pain inverter[/skill][skill]fire attunement[/skill][skill]sunspear rebirth signet[/skill]

Fire Magic - 16
Energy Storage - 12

PI is for any bosses I come up against.
^^ So there you have it, the 2 builds I can't decide between. The first build is the build I've always ran & the second build is the new build I was trying out.

In your opinions, which would you say is the more powerful/better build as I can't decide between the two. Both builds allow me to spam skills over & over, but I can't work out which would do more damage in the long run & help get rid of enemies quicker. Basically I'm looking to provide a lot of high AoE damage & to kill enemies FAST, which is why the builds don't have skills such as Meteor Shower etc.

If you have any ideas as to how to improve the builds (that still allow me to spam the skills & provide a lot of damage) then by all means, please let me know

Thanks a lot.

Kwan Xi

Kwan Xi

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2007

Writhe in Pain

Mo/

I would put my money on the SF Nuker.

Searing Flames has a two second recharge so you can keep spamming damage out, and you got Glowing Gaze and GoLE so you should last awhile before you are drained of your energy. Plus you can bring another SF Nuker and be more effective.

Rodgort's Invocation has been upped to 8 secs recharge if it was still five I would have chosen that as the better of the two.

ZeAliX

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Sep 2006

Norway

A/

I would go for SF nuker as well.. but one ting you should do is to bring a ele hero (I suppose you already do ) which run the rodgorts build and then you fit arcane mimicry in your build and steal elemental attunement. Ele attunement + SF = win

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

If you're going pure damage, SF.

Dual Attune is really quite bad without support skills. Heck, I quite fancy using Blinding Flash on my Dual Attune bars now.
Ward Against Melee got hit quite hard though. It's still extremely strong in my opinion.

whufc89

whufc89

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2007

UK

E/

Nice one guys, that's much appreciated

SF it is then I guess. Thanks again!

Oh and Zealix, I run Sabway so I don't bring an additional ele hero unfortunately (except for Cynn & Herta as henchies)


What do you guys think about the SF build I have listed though? I'm not too sure about the skills. For exmaple, is PI a decent PvE skill to bring, or could a different skill be more useful in that build? It doesn't have to be PvE only either. Also, I'm not too sure about bringing Searing AND Teinai's Heat, because when I was playing before I hardly ever used BOTH heats, so was thinking maybe I should take out Teinai's & replace it with something else, but with what I'm not sure.

shru

shru

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

SF makes for a very powerful (although abit mindless) fire nuker.
I'd suggest droping tenai's and searing because, at the moment, they're just sucking up energy and causing scatter.
I'd slot in Glyph of Elemental Power (gives your spells a boost inbetween GoLE's and can realy help with glowing gaze's energy return), Mark of Rodgort (super charges SF), Summon Ruby Djinn (because more burning never hurts), or Ebon Battle Standard of Wisdom ( it benefits not just you but other casters in your party).
All those choices allow you to focus on spamming SF with more effectiveness, which is all an SF bar should focus on doing.

EDIT: and leave PI in, it's an epic skill versus bosses/AoE enemies

Belonah15

Belonah15

Academy Page

Join Date: Sep 2007

Another SF build you might try when running Sabway:

[build prof=E/Me box][Fire Attunement][GoLE][Immolate][Epidemic][Glowing Gaze][Searing Flames][Glyph of Sacrifice][Meteor Shower][/build]

whufc89

whufc89

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2007

UK

E/

I suppose SF is armor ignoring damage really isn't it? The first hit anyway, because if they're not on fire it sets them on fire for 7 seconds (at 16 Fire Magic). With burning causing 15 health loss per second, that's 105 damage, whether that foe is a ranger (with high armor vs elemental damage) or not.

So am I right in thinking that the first hit will cause 105 damage even if the enemy has extremely high armor or high armor vs elemental damage such as a ranger?

If so, this makes me want to use SF even more

Thanks.

shru

shru

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by whufc89
I suppose SF is armor ignoring damage really isn't it? The first hit anyway, because if they're not on fire it sets them on fire for 7 seconds (at 16 Fire Magic). With burning causing 15 health loss per second, that's 105 damage, whether that foe is a ranger (with high armor vs elemental damage) or not.

So am I right in thinking that the first hit will cause 105 damage even if the enemy has extremely high armor or high armor vs elemental damage such as a ranger?

If so, this makes me want to use SF even more

Thanks.
Yep, the burning preasure is another highly welcomed benefit of running SF (even though your main priority would be to get off as many casts as quick as you can). Burning supplies armor ignoring preasure over time, where as the skill itself can be used to just crap out high numbers (this is less of the case where the AL reduces the effectiveness). Your goal when running SF is basicly to be able to hammer your #1 key as fast as possible. Any other skills in the build are basicly just there to help you achieve that goal.
It's this kind of one-track thought that makes a lot of people hate it so much. There's very little room for versatility and actual thought in the build, but there's no denying its effectiveness.

EDIT: Quote:
Originally Posted by Belonah15
Another SF build you might try when running Sabway:

[build prof=E/Me box][Fire Attunement][GoLE][Immolate][Epidemic][Glowing Gaze][Searing Flames][Glyph of Sacrifice][Meteor Shower][/build] Not quite sure as to the purpose of Immolate and Epidimic in that build, and you might have forgotten a res. Also SF/GG not being in your #1 and #2 slots promotes poor posture.

Age

Age

Hall Hero

Join Date: Jul 2005

California Canada/BC

STG Administrator

Mo/

I would go with the SF version and be kind to your Monks and use minor rune.

zling

zling

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by shru
Yep, the burning preasure is another highly welcomed benefit of running SF (even though your main priority would be to get off as many casts as quick as you can). Burning supplies armor ignoring preasure over time, where as the skill itself can be used to just crap out high numbers (this is less of the case where the AL reduces the effectiveness). Your goal when running SF is basicly to be able to hammer your #1 key as fast as possible. Any other skills in the build are basicly just there to help you achieve that goal.
It's this kind of one-track thought that makes a lot of people hate it so much. There's very little room for versatility and actual thought in the build, but there's no denying its effectiveness.

EDIT: Not quite sure as to the purpose of Immolate and Epidimic in that build, and you might have forgotten a res. Also SF/GG not being in your #1 and #2 slots promotes poor posture. the Immolate and Epidemic are there so SF will just deal damage instead of cause burning.

anyway, why do you ignore Savannah Heat?
Savannah Heat+Searing Heat+Tenai's Heat+Deep Freeze=ownage
add e-management like attunement(duh...) and perhaps GoLE and you're set. the rest goes to overpowered PvE skills like Pain Inverter, you have EotN so you got plenty to choose from... I'd put Mind Bender in there to improve spammability of skills...

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

Immolate and Epidemic are a waste of slots on an SF bar.
And you only get 1 burst of damage via Immolate and Epidemic through SF, and have to use SF again in order to get them burning again.

It's also beneficial to your energy to just spam SF instead.

shru

shru

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by zling
the Immolate and Epidemic are there so SF will just deal damage instead of cause burning. Three flaws to your logic there.
1. SF causes twice the burning duration of Imolate
2. SF is nearby, Epidemic is adjacent
3. Both burning combos cost 15 energy (the epedmic combo actualy costs more because of no return from fire attune), but one takes twice as long to cast and is clearly inferior due to reasons 1 and 2.

Not to mention it eats up your secondary slot and potential for a hard rez.

MasterSasori

MasterSasori

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2007

USA

[Thay]

R/Mo

SF is stronger but Dual Attune is like the easiest thing to play.

Belonah15

Belonah15

Academy Page

Join Date: Sep 2007

Why do I need a rez if I run Sabway?
Does [Epidemic] not transfer ALL conditions including Burning and Bleeding?
Does [[email protected]] + [[email protected]] + [Glowing [email protected]] not cause 110 dmg and return me 10 energy ?
Does [[email protected]] + [[email protected]] + [Searing [email protected]] not cause 169 dmg for a cost of 6 energy?

Div

Div

I like yumy food!

Join Date: Jan 2006

Where I can eat yumy food

Dead Alley [dR]

Mo/R

What does your damage output have to do with bringing rezzes?

whufc89

whufc89

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2007

UK

E/

Do you guys think it'd be counter productive to bring Searing or Teinai's Heat into PvE, due to the fact it causes scatter? Things usually scatter all over the place when I play PvE anyway, due to the fact that I don't have a human "tank" to keep them in place while I nuke. I tried using Devona so that she could hold all the enemies in position but they either totally ignore her, or she just runs around like mad without holding aggro.

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

They are both strong AoE skills.
Short and sweet, with a nice after effect.

Melee heroes are bad, and tanking is bad aswell.

I even think hero ele's have the right idea of spamming SF on the biggest mob.

kobey

kobey

GW Retiree

Join Date: Nov 2005

Sg Unknown [KATE]

W/

On a SF bar, you generally want to spam [searing flames] as much as possible. So bringing [meteor shower][teinai's heat][searing heat] will kinda limit your [searing flames] spams.

btw, [meteor shower] is bad, and even more so in a sf bar.

Some skills which complement well would probably be [liquid flame] and some more e-management

and its generally much better to bring SF hero's to complement your SF build. SF usually only works well when there are 2 or 3 of them in the party.

pumpkin pie

pumpkin pie

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jul 2006

behind you

bumble bee

E/

I thought this [glowing gaze] might help in a sf bar. or not.

whufc89

whufc89

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2007

UK

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by pumpkin pie
I thought this [glowing gaze] might help in a sf bar. or not.
I'd say that's one skill you should NEVER leave out in a SF build (even I know that ) so yes you're right.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kobey
On a SF bar, you generally want to spam [searing flames] as much as possible. So bringing [meteor shower][teinai's heat][searing heat] will kinda limit your [searing flames] spams.

btw, [meteor shower] is bad, and even more so in a sf bar.

Some skills which complement well would probably be [liquid flame] and some more e-management

and its generally much better to bring SF hero's to complement your SF build. SF usually only works well when there are 2 or 3 of them in the party. The build I've finally come up with looks like this:

[skill]fire attunement[/skill][skill]searing flames[/skill][skill]glowing gaze[/skill][skill]liquid flame[/skill][skill]glyph of lesser energy[/skill][skill]searing heat[/skill][skill]pain inverter[/skill][skill]sunspear rebirth signet[/skill]

Nothing too complicated or long casting such as MS. Just reasonably low cast time spammable spells, some E-Management, a res & something to deal with bosses. What do you think?

Grammar

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by whufc89
The build I've finally come up with looks like this:

[skill]fire attunement[/skill][skill]searing flames[/skill][skill]glowing gaze[/skill][skill]liquid flame[/skill][skill]glyph of lesser energy[/skill][skill]searing heat[/skill][skill]pain inverter[/skill][skill]sunspear rebirth signet[/skill]

Nothing too complicated or long casting such as MS. Just reasonably low cast time spammable spells, some E-Management, a res & something to deal with bosses. What do you think? Now you've got it. That's pretty much the standard PvE SF bar, with [Pain Inverter] being your optional slot.
I like to use all kinds of stuff with that optional slot, depending on where I'm at, who I'm with, and what I'm trying to do. Stuff like [enfeebling blood], [ward against melee], [Aegis], or any of the Ebon Vanguard Wards would be good examples or other things you can use.

whufc89

whufc89

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2007

UK

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grammar
Now you've got it. That's pretty much the standard PvE SF bar, with [Pain Inverter] being your optional slot.
I like to use all kinds of stuff with that optional slot, depending on where I'm at, who I'm with, and what I'm trying to do. Stuff like [enfeebling blood], [ward against melee], [Aegis], or any of the Ebon Vanguard Wards would be good examples or other things you can use. YES, Finally cracked it! haha, thanks for the approval man

Improvavel

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2007

I hope that u mean you are actually bringing useful stuff for your team instead of bringing crappy damaging skills on a character that is bad at doing damage.

Elemental damage with an useful side effect- SURE. Elemental damage that is damage only, unless u are in early to mid nm, then forget it- its crap.

kobey

kobey

GW Retiree

Join Date: Nov 2005

Sg Unknown [KATE]

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Improvavel
I hope that u mean you are actually bringing useful stuff for your team instead of bringing crappy damaging skills on a character that is bad at doing damage.

Elemental damage with an useful side effect- SURE. Elemental damage that is damage only, unless u are in early to mid nm, then forget it- its crap. [searing flames] is probably one of the better damage dealing skill for an ele. And for damage dealing in mind, its probably one of the superior build.

We know eles nowadays aren't that popular in the dmg dealing department, but do you have to put down his build or the class entirely?

StormDragonZ

StormDragonZ

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2008

New York

W/R

As long as it is better than this, you're good:

[build=OgBCoMzEugwADof2YlR0vgAA]

Yichi

Yichi

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Sep 2005

Guild Hall, Vent, Guesting, PvE, or the occasional HA match...

Dark Alley [dR]

Flare and Breath of fire should never be on a mind blast bar.

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Yichi
Flare, Breath of Fire and Glowing Gaze should never be on a mind blast bar. I think you missed out GGaze, Yichi.

And there's no Rodgorts Invocation...

Plus a Mind Blast bar with no utility is bad, pure damage for an Ele should be SF. No questions.

Improvavel

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by kobey
[searing flames] is probably one of the better damage dealing skill for an ele. And for damage dealing in mind, its probably one of the superior build.

We know eles nowadays aren't that popular in the dmg dealing department, but do you have to put down his build or the class entirely? Dislike seeing all direct attack+e-mag bars and had a bad day at trying to make a guild team work cause of those cute ele bars...

I like eles - and they are good - damage+side effect, energy management to cast nice support skills.

Dealing just and only damage on a squishy character doesn't seem the best use of the profession.

kobey

kobey

GW Retiree

Join Date: Nov 2005

Sg Unknown [KATE]

W/

What I meant was though it isn't the best build for an ele to bring, but what you have mentioned, is kinda .. ..

Quote:
Originally Posted by Improvavel
I hope that u mean you are actually bringing useful stuff for your team instead of bringing crappy damaging skills on a character that is bad at doing damage.
and thus

Quote:
Originally Posted by kobey
We know eles nowadays aren't that popular in the dmg dealing department, but do you have to put down his build or the class entirely?

Belonah15

Belonah15

Academy Page

Join Date: Sep 2007

There was a time when you could not get into a group if you did not have [Arcane Echo] and [Meteor Shower] on your bar. Then for some time you could not get a group if you did have it but did not have [Rodgort's Invocation]. At some stage you could not get a group if you were not a Fire Ele, and another stage if you were one. Eventually people find a build that suits their playstyle and they stop trying to PUG, and go with H/H. A lot of it is flavor of the month stuff. In PvE if people ask me to ping my bar I click the leave button. In PvP the team boss tells me what to wear on my bar and I do it.

Anyway when judging a skill bar look at it in context. PvE or PvP? Campaign? Mission? Area? Team setup? Your role in the team?

Just.nl

Just.nl

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Nov 2007

The Netherlands, Noord-Brabant

Mu-Tants [MU]

Me/

[skill]Searing Flames[/skill][skill]Glowing Gaze[/skill][skill]Liquid Flame[/skill][skill]Glyph Of Sacrifice[/skill][skill]Meteor Shower[/skill][skill]Glyph Of Lesser Energy[/skill][skill]Fire Attunement[/skill][skill]Resurrection Signet[/skill]


This is the build i use as SF-Elementalist

But if you want AoE-dmg than just scroll down i got two sorts of it Earth and Fire


Fire:
[skill]Savannah Heat[/skill][skill]Searing Heat[/skill][skill]Teinai's Heat[/skill][skill]Glyph Of Lesser Energy[/skill][skill]Liquid Flame[/skill][skill]Flame Djinn's Haste[/skill][skill]Fire Attunement[/skill][skill]Rebirth[/skill]

Earth:
[skill]Sandstorm[/skill][skill]Eruption[/skill][skill]Churning Earth[/skill][skill]Stone Daggers[/skill][skill]Ward Against Melee[/skill][skill]Glyph Of Lesser Energy[/skill][skill]Earth Attunement[/skill][skill]Rebirth[/skill]

You can pick a other res if you want

I hope you can do something with his

Proff

Proff

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jun 2007

Searing Flames, dual attunements aren't reliable and shouldn't be used on a fire ele because of the many other, better elites.

MasterSasori

MasterSasori

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2007

USA

[Thay]

R/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by StormDragonZ
As long as it is better than this, you're good:

[build=OgBCoMzEugwADof2YlR0vgAA]
Flare screams of epic fail on any Elementalist bar.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Proff
Searing Flames, dual attunements aren't reliable and shouldn't be used on a fire ele because of the many other, better elites. By better elites, you mean [skill]Mind blast[/skill].

I would also like to know what you mean by "many other, better elites," because I certainly hope you're not referring to [skill]Double Dragon[/skill].

You might also want to mention why SF is "unreliable."

Valaric

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jan 2007

UK

Defenders Of The Lost

E/Mo

I really enjoy playing ele's. But often when I join i PUG, if I'm not using Searing Flames then my build must be rubbish. Too often people are afraid to try new things with there build and as someone mentioned above the community seams to have its flavours and if you dont follow the trend then your called a "noob".

Yes im sure generally what the masses go with, may it be Echo Nukers or SF, are normally in the direction of what i good ele build is like, this does have the effect of limiting your choices how you play your game. There is nothing wrong in exploring new builds and if they work for you then thats all that matters.

zling

zling

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

SH+DF is the best AoE fire bar by far... only problem is the recharge but than it's a problem on many bars.
as for PuGs, usually they rely on flavour of the month because most of those people running "creative" builds tend to suck real bad... I PuG rather often *shame on me* even though I can H&H anytime I want and I usually see PuG players calling other PuG players N00Bs only when they're builds are bad or very very bad.
Warrior with-> Barbrous Slice, Power Attack, Silverwing Slash, Galrath Slash, Savage Slash, Healing Signet, Endure Pain, Healing Breeze
is what I consider a bad bar...
Monk with-> Orison of Healing, Heal Other, Jamei's Gaze, Dwayna's Kiss, Healing Hands, Healing Seed, Healing Breeze, Rebirth
is what I consider a bad bar...
Warrior with-> Cyclone Axe, Penetrating Chop, Penetrating Blow, Mark of Rodgort, Firestorm, Glyph of Lesser Energy, Endure Pain, Healing Signet
is what I consider a very very bad bar...
Necro with-> Ferocious Strike, Bestial Mauling, Poisonous Bite, Distrupting Lunge, Barbs, Enfeebling Blood, Faintheardness, Charm Animal
is what I consider a very very bad bar...

you all know that many PuGs run these builds because they think they're "creative" or whatnot and actually think they're good and when you tell them how to fix their bar they say "stfu dont tell me how to play" than meh... so I hate it when people criticize PuGs for calling people N00Bs because they dont run the flavour of the month, usually they run bad builds and that's why PuGs call these people N00Bs...

Improvavel

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2007

[Savannah heat] and Firestorm are some of the most annoying skills in this game. Mobs get hit by one wave and scatter in every direction.

[Mind Blast] still is the best fire build for high-end and HM, but if you do like to prefer to see numbers instead of playing a build thats more useful for you party, by all means stick to [Searing Flames].

Damian979

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2008

Imo, I have always been a fan of glyph ole,rodgort's,gaze. with ele attune, you actually gain energy while even with the eight sec recharge you might be waiting only for a sec to recast rodgort's. That being said, since capping SF i changed to to fire attune, SF, g.o.l.e., rodgorts, gaze. with attunement up, you can cast rodgort's, gaze, glyph, SF, rodgort's, gaze, etc. with very little down time in between if any. And with maintaining attune and glyph correctly, do so for a while w/out worrying about energy. Coupled with your standard meteor shower+aoe+aoe nuke this makes an effective pwn build for most of the game. Add aura of rest. and you can give the monks a break for all the big energy spells you'll be casting(ex: I solo Abaddon's Mouth bonus w/ this while the rest of the party does the rest of the mish). I know some will disagree, but this works like a charm for me, just my two cents.

Kale Ironfist

Kale Ironfist

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2006

Australia

Venatio Illuminata [VEIL]

W/

Why do you have Rodgort's? Sure, it does ~20% more damage, at 66% higher cost, twice the activation and quadruple the recharge (not to mention half the burning duration). Factoring in Fire Attunement, and it costs 70% more instead. You're better off removing it from your bar.

Damian979

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2008

True, but if you look at the cast/recharge of the skills i suggested,used properly, you have damage output of over 100 for almost every hit,constant burning, nearly bottomless energy coming in, nearly no waiting for a spell to recharge, and significant self healing every 1-2 sec. The point of the big energy cost is to gain from aura of restoration and attunement, which works off the base cost of a spell, not the reduced cost from the glyph. And with SF, you either get 100+ damage OR burning, not both. As with all big energy skills, it requires practice to manage attunements and glyphs. Again, people all have their preferences and that's fine, this is mine.