a good aero PvP build

hey guys, i have an e/mo ready for pvp (the only monk spell i use is healing breeze)....is there a good skill setup where i can do a lot of spike damage, but not run out of energy so fast? i seem to run out of energy a lot, so any skill sets and techniques are appreciated!

Common skills:

lightning orb
chain lightning
lightning surge
lightning strike
enervating charge
gale
air attunement
signet of resurrection (only 3 second vs 8 for other crap)


If the arena you go to has long games... I dunno, possibly get elemental attunement. Doing good damage without surge would be harder though

the problem with that is, 3 skills cause exhaustion...i prefer mind shock to lightening surge, as an elem im gunn have more energy than anyone else cept maybe other elems...besides that, everything i have is the same, except breeze for signet, and blinding flash for gale

Mind shock is a bad elite. I'd probably take it over stuff like ether prodigy but still ele attune or surge (excellent misdirection spell btw) are much better calls.

air attunement
chain lightning
lightning orb
lightning strike
conjure lightning
gale
(elite)
extra

Thats a basic air setup. You need a conjure unless you plan to use ele attune and just keep on spamming lightning orb for low cost because you should be saving energy for spikes. Wand+conjure is like nearly a flare anyway for 10 mana per minute.

my elite will probably be the elemental attune, which i will hopefully get today...other than that all of mine are the same...i REALLY like blinding flash, for 10 seconds warriors are out of commission...why dont either of you use it?

Quote:

Blinding flash is rarely used because condition removal is very common in tombs. And it's not like 8 spots for skills is more then plenty

I was unaware that Conjure Lightning works with staffs/wands. I thought it was melee only.

conjure flame definitely works with wands, i think ill start using conjure lightning... its a nice constant dmg mod

anyway, blinding flash never seems to have an affect vs good teams. Any decent team will quickly get rid of it. I don't mind enervating since it does dmg AND does weakness for 21 seconds, causing a monk to divert attention.

All of the Mind elites are pretty much horrible compared to what you could be using. One of the aeromancers biggest flaws if not carefully handeled is poor energy management. Ether Prodigy/Elemental attunment both do the job of helping out very well. Elemental attunement combined with air attunment allows 80% of your energy back every turn. However, as long as it's not 100%, you cannot underestimate the side-effects of exhaustions. Both elite skills allow you to spam energy-skills, however, overusing things such as gale can make it so theres no energy to use on the skills. Here's my current build I use for my aeromancer.

1. Lightning Strike
2. Lightning Javelin
3. Lightning Orb
4. Chain Lightning
5. Free Space (Gale seems to fit occasionally)
6. Air attunement
7. Elemental attunement
8. Aura of Restoration (I may switch off between Ressurect signet)

The main key of my build is spamming low-recharge skills such as lightning strike and javelin. Neither don't have a super strong single-attack, howver at only 5 recharge time, they can eventually become quiet deadly. Chain lightning is for the semi-AOE effect and lightning orb is for that single strong blow. If you use gale for the free slot, you have to becareful how many times you use it. Chain lightning itself causes exhaustion, but it has very long recharge time, so your often FORCED to wait for your exhaustion to wear off. I suggest gale to be best used in a PVP situation whereas your opponent is trying to ressurect or retreat. I hope you do well with your aeromancer and I wish you best of luck.

thanks for your help...another question - what is the best second profession to pair with aero for pvp?

I didn't know that Elemental Attunement and Air Attunement stacked... that's interesting. Also, Lamoi, I noticed that you have Backfire on your skill setup, but no points into Domination Magic. That means the target only takes 35 damage every time they cast. Do you switch between Earth magic (for obsidian flame) and Domination, depending on if you're going anti-caster or anti-warrior?

Al, the most popular second profession for an air ele is Mesmer - for either Domination magic (such as the above Backfire, which takes out monks unless they remove it) or Inspiration magic for energy management. Second popular profession is Monk, for resses, heals, and even smiting prayers to increase your damage output. I've played both and I prefer the Mesmer route because of Arcane Echo and Backfire Nothing beats ~100 damage to a caster every time they cast a spell on top of surge+orb, with only 8 in domination magic But it's up to you.

Ah, one more thing.... Al, here's my reccommendations of what elites to use based upon your goals for your character.

Lightning Surge - My personal favorite, it's used in a popular combo to deal 200-250 burst damage to a single target (with ~16 air magic), plus knockdown. The trick is to hex 'em with this, then start casting Lightning Orb. When the orb hits, thunderclap will go off and they'll be on the ground getting zapped. It's great on runners, too... especially ones with low health ^_^

Thunderclap - I think the reason why this AoE knockdown isn't used very often is because of its hefty energy costs (it costs every time you strike them with lightning damage). Despite this, I find it rather disappointing that skills like Earthquake get such praise for AoE knockdown and Thunderclap does not. Ah well...

Glimmering Mark - Very fun, and it makes any group of warriors who are trying to mob u INSANE. Just hex 'em with this and spam wand attacks. With 16 air magic it has a 17 second duration and a 15 second recharge, making it constantly effective.

Mind Shock - The damage is the same as Lightning Surge, but you have to have a decent amount of energy to use this one effectively. It has a longer recharge than Lightning Surge, still causes Exhaustion, you don't have to wait three seconds, you don't get the knockdown, and casts one second faster. I also noticed that Lightning Surge doesn't have the normal 25% armor penetration, but Mind Shock does. Personally, I don't take it because the damage isn't constant - i want to be able to use big-damage spells even if I am at low energy, but some people find this spell useful anyway.

Ether Prodigy - Never used it, but I plan to capture it today or tomorrow. It seems cool though, especially if you use it in the heat of battle and just spam all your skills, and always stay at low energy so when it ends you don't take too much damage.

Ether Renewal - I used this one for a LONG time, in conjunction with Armor of Earth, Aura of Restoration, and Divine Boon (yes, I'd only reccommend this used if you're E/Mo). Throw up AoEarth and AoR, when you get low on health or energy, use EP and spam Divine Boon for awhile. You'll get tons of health and tons of energy back in no time. You can even replace AoEarth or AoR for Zealot's Fire, and pump smiting prayers, so you can deal PBAoE damage while you heal and re-energize yourself

Elemental Attunement - Haven't capped it yet, but plan to, since I now know it stacks with Air Attunement for nearly free casting O.O Try it out, I've seen lots of positive feedback from it.

All the elite glyphs - IMHO, they're a waste of a skill slot. If you have to bring a glyph, bring Glyph of Concentration or Sacrifice for an uninterruptable or instant res. Othewise, don't bother.

Hope this helps.