aye sorry about the above info- I hadn't run ectos in awhile, but you were right- I tried a few different runs on my elem to see if it was still good
looks like since the update, now you have grasps that pop in the hall- so you have to handle it a bit different
the grasps in the starter room are handled the same as before only use drunken and a spiked eggnog or any +5 liquor.. take the quest right away and then liquor up / drunken for the speed boost.. run up the steps on both sides to pop any shadows- wand them to death
now wait till the 2 sets of grasps come together at the top left steps.. this will happen quick so don't mess around with taking out the shadows
pull both sets down for the first nuke- abuse them.. now the last set of grasps will be on the other end- pull them down and abuse after the mana recharge
now reset your drunken stance and follow it with haste- get to the hall and all axes should have lost aggro.. recast stoneflesh with the glyph and grasping earth when the grasps in the middle of the next room are out- this will get you to the smites- you'll run by 2 skeles on the way just keep going
have to learn the patrol routes of the skeles now.. not really difficult.. they are mad dumb too- if you run back and forth, they won't even cast.. group the smite and hopefully the mesmer can do enough damage before they scatter
what's nice about elem is you don't need anything else.. the runs a bit trickier than I remember but it's still pretty fast- I don't like having to go drunk but that looks like the best way.. otherwise it's a tossup on getting there
hope it helps.. these skills probably won't be nerfed- but who knows with the whiners out there nowdays, I'm sure someone will cry.. you can also try heros with a spirit spammer to get to the smite- leave the heros back in the first room when your done