Introduction:
A shockwave ele-tank is a build I came up with tinkering with the ritualist secondary (E/Rt). For a long time us Elementalists have been at the mercy of blood thirsty warriors that live only to prey on our innate squishiness. However, a shockwave ele-tank welcomes these brainless fools and shows that eles can indeed hold their own on the front lines.
Functions of the Ele-tank
As a Shockwave Ele-tank your will have a number of options at your disposal. With this setup you will be able to devastate enemy warriors that attempt to mow you down with melee attacks. However, like many other builds you are enchantment dependant. In the scenario where you are shattered, you will be forced to retreat to the back row and take up a secondary function that will be explained later. Shockwave also allows you to clear up ritualist spirit nests and enemy minion hordes. Ele-tanks do have their weakness though and as a caster you are still at the mercy of backfire and enchantment strips.
Attributes and Equipment
Earth: 16 (Headgear + superior rune)
E-Storage: 9 (Minor rune)
Restoration: 10
The ideal equipment for this build would be:
-A +5 Energy Sword/Axe of Enchanting
-An Earth Scroll offhand that halves the casting and recharge times of earth spells.
A +5 Energy Sword/Axe of enchanting can be found:
-For a rediculous amount of money from someone in LA dist 1.
-A +5 energy katana can be forged at divine path for 6 steel, 40 Irons, and 10plat.
-For the lowest cost solution, a Totem Axe can be used for this build. They are way overfarmed and relatively cheap. Chances are you already have one
The Earth Scroll can be found:
-Forge one at Vasburg Armory for 10 parchment and 30 planks of wood from the weapon crafter there. There is a 5plat cost.
-The collecter all they way down mineral springs and south of the IDS cave will trade you one for 5 alpine seeds. She stands outside of the second rez shrine in the springs. Be warned... it is quite the walk.
You MUST have the +20 enchantment mod. in order to extend the renewal period for kinetic armor. Without this mod, the build is almost impossible to manage. With all the required components you will have 455 HP and 74 energy. 74 energy is way more than enough to manage your low cost skills. The bonus drops to 72 if you are using a staff. You may substitute Galigord's Stone Staff for the equipment, but using a melee weapon to lock on to enemies and move into close range allows shockwave to be used more effectively.
The Skills Ver. II
1.) Obsidian Flame
This is your high damage finisher and the only skill that you have that causes exhaustion. You will be primarily using this attack to finish off fleeing enemies that feel sorry after mistaking you for a soft target. At 16 earth obsidian flame deals 118 armor ignorant damage. The only thing that will stop this black fire is protective spirit, shelter, or a bond. Do NOT overspam obsidian flame or you will find yourself reeling for energy. Use this attack only when the enemy falls below 1/3 health.
2.) Shockwave {E}
This is your elite skill and one of your primary damage dealing attacks. Shockwave hits for a massive AOE and deals 159 damage at adjacent range, 106 damage at nearby range, and 53 damage at area range at 16 earth. This damage is not armor ignorant, it will deal substantially less damage to warriors and rangers. Shockwave is best used for clear out thumper pets that continue to pester you, minions, or spirits. You will want to use shockwave adjacent to a caster. On soft targets shockwave will deal an insane amount of damage up close. The 20 second recharge isn't too bad, but if you luck out and get the time cut to 10 you can follow up your attack with a second wave shortly after to deal even more damage. Shockwave is also great against rits, it can ruin minutes worth of work in spirits in seconds. This is great for cleaning out wanderlust walls and things of the sort. Just watch out for spirit of disenchantments, you will want to obsidian flame those from a safe distance or let someone else kill them.
3.) Sliver Armor (Yes I know Anet doesn't know how to spell)
This is your main warrior killing spell. Probably one of the best factions skills for eles created. With 16 earth you will gain 52% evasion for 11 seconds and anytime you are attacked silver armor strikes a nearby for 37 earth damage. This skill is downright devastating to warriors and will one of your main offensive and defensive skills. A good thing about silver armor is that your 20% enchantment mod will allow it to last much longer. More silver armor means more warrior hate. Silver Armor is a trippy skill though. Be aware that the damage it causes is concentrated on one target. Most of the time silver armor will deal damage to the foe that you have currently selected as a target. Although there is a randomness factor with this spell, it is always a good idea to switch targets to weaker casters if they are nearby before casting the spell. The target concentration of this spell makes it a massive damage stacker. Silver armor can even drain fully armored warrior or a Leeroy assassin in seconds.
4.) Kinetic Armor
Kinetic armor is the lifeblood of this build. At 16 earth kinetic armor grants a +83 armor bonus with no penalty. When you think about that, 83 armor + and ele's base 60 AL gives your 123 armor. With this on, you can face tanks one on one and spells like meteor shower will deal a piddly 35ish damage to you. However Kinetic Armor is a very high maintainence spell and to keep it running you will need to cast a spell every 8 seconds to renew it. Having a +20 enchantment mod ups this leeway time to 11ish seconds. It is important to keep kinetic armor running at ALL times. The absolute worst part of this build is the 60 seconds kinetic armor needs in order to recharge. This leaves little room for error so be aware of kinetic armor at all times. One major downside to kinetic armor is that once it is renewed it will count as the last enchantment cast. This means that if you are shattered or rended, kinetic armor will be the FIRST enchantment removed. Do not stay in the combat zone without this on. Always be aware of necromancers and mesmers nearby. If you are shattered you will need to act fast.
5.) Vengeful Weapon
Ahh... here it is... your key skill. At a cost of 5 and a 3/4 second cast time, Vengeful Weapon absorbs 45 dmg from the attacker and gives it to you at 10 restoration. This is what you will be using to upkeep kinetic armor. It has a 8 second duration and recharges in 3, meaning you can spam it to keep up Kinetic Armor FOREVER. By the time you use it again to upkeep Kinetic armor, you will have already gained 5 energy. It's a sick skill BUT do not forget you can use it on allies as well. By linking Kinetic Armor and Vengeful weapon in a systematic process you will be a 123 AL tank that steals 45 life every 3 seconds. Enemies will not be doing enough damage to offset what you gain with vengeful weapon. When both of these skills are paired up with silver armor, the effects are devastating. 45 HP of lifesteal every three seconds, 37 damage each time your are attacked, and you can tank it all with 123 AL! This is the secret of the ele-tank. Careful balance between these three skills is what makes this build work. However it is important to know that Vengeful Weapon steals life AFTER you are damaged. This means if you have 34 life and you think vengeful weapon will save you with the life steal, chances are you will die first. Be aware of this and know when to kite out of the heat.
6.) Resilent was Xiko
Resilent was Xiko is Melandru's Resilence in a bottle. At 10 restoration you hold the ashes for 15 seconds and gain +2 health regeneration for any hexes or conditions on you. This spell is great for tanking warrior conditions and with a 1 second cast time and 5 cost it is very energy effecient as well. Also when the ashes are dropped you lose 3 conditions. I general drop the ashes after a warrior gets me with apply poison, bleeding, and cripple to avoid the gash attack coming up. A warning about item spells is that when used they disable the energy bonus given to you by your weapon and offhand. While carrying the ashes your max energy drops by 17. If you have less than 17 energy this can be dangerous to your since your energy will be locked at 0 with no regen until you drop the ashes. Just be sure you drop the ashes in time to renew your vengeful weapon and upkeep your armor. This gimmick can also be used to your advantage against an E degen mesmer. You can bust the ashes out put 17 of your energy on layaway if you are under the effects of E drain, a energy spiking, or even Edrain or wither. The ashes can also be used and dropped instantly for a quick condition cleanse. You will want to kite away before using any item spells, to prevent interruption from hammer blows of savage slash.
6.) Generous was Tsungrai
Generous Tsungrai is a mass self heal with item spell properties similar to Xiko. The ash grants you a 151 max hp bonus while held and also grants a 220 HP heal when dropped. The major drawback to this spell is that it calls for a 10% life sacrifice of 40ish HP to be used. If you wait to long it is possible to kill yourself with this spell before getting a heal. Tsungrai can be used as a buffer to build up some tanking power before engaging enemies. Vengeful Weapon will still be active while holding items, which allows you to maintain kinetic armor and hold the ash at the same time. A good rule of thumb is to kite away and use the ash if you fall under 1/2 HP and quickly drop it for a spike heal. When you have mastered the strange gimmicks of this spell, it can be quite effective in keeping you alive.
8.) Resurrection Signet/Flesh of my Flesh
Unless your a rank 10 boon prot, not bringing a rez is like going to disneyland with an empty wallet. Nuff said.
General Ele-Tanking Strategy
You will start by throwing on your attunement and then using kinetic armor. Keep an eye on the armor as the party makes its way to the enemies and use vengeful weapon to upkeep the armor (and get yourself a cool spirit weapon!). When the enemies are in range do not be the first one to charge, always let the real tanks lead and follow behind. Be especially careful and keep extra distance if there are enemy mesmers and necromancers. You DO NOT want to be shattered right off the bat, it would throw a serious wrench in your plans due to Kinetic Armor's long recharge and cast time. When the enemies crowd around the tanks, tag the mob with a shockwave for some serious damage. You will always want to shockwave the lowest armored target or the weakest one and try to get as much of the mob in your blast as you can. Be aware that you spellcasting is renewing your armor and do not waste energy spamming vengeful weapon if you are not underfire and your Kinetic Armor still has like 7 seconds left. Think of the weapon as your counter button against enemy attacks. You will find that vengeful weapon works great against arrow attacks and you can use it to deflect arrow damage (I.e. Barrage) while maintaining your enchantments. Against a high damage mob or party, you can use ashes of tsungrai before charging into the fray to give yourself a nice 220 HP safety net incase things go sour or you are hit with a surprise shatter and you need to get away fast. If you are stacked with hexes or conditions you can use ashes of xiko to protected yourself and kite away to safety until the effects wear of. If you use an ash spell while holding an item you automatically drop what your holding for the new ash. If you are holding Tsungrai and use xiko, you will gain 220 hp when you switch ashes. This is good when you need a buffer or are suffering from something life transfter. However, beware of Tsungrai's sacrifice effect. If you are below 40 health, buffer you tsungrai with a weapon of vengence and quickly get away so that you may recover and use tsungrai without causing a suicide.
Once in awhile a group of warriors or assassins will break through your tanks and see you, this poor fragile ele between your warriors and your monks. This is your golden moment. You will have their asses. When attackers swarm you, throw up silver armor and watch them take over 80 dmg of the first hit (when vengeful weapon triggers along with silver armor). If they are smart they will run, but 90% of the time they will wail on you just because your an ele and take massive damage from silver armor. Cast shockwave to deal more damage and if they run finish them off with obsidian flame. Yes, play this build and I promise warriors will run from you. This will work against bunny thumpers as well, since the pet will always attack and fry its owner with your silver armor. It's priceless
In the event of shatter mesmers and necros be more careful and keep silver armor on stanby unless you are heavily mobbed. In the red alarm that kinetic armor is shattered, immediately throw up silver armor if you can and kite away. Use vengeful weapon to negatate damage and when in safety use xiko if you are stacked with a few hexes and conditions before you move out. If you fall below half life, use tsungrai to quickly recover.
In the case of a mass hex stack you will want to get away and call your conditions to a monk. Burning with max degen, Backfire, and Diversion can all be devastasting. Try not to take on primary hexers, this is a mistake warriors make and you will end up dead like them if you repeat that error. Retreat back and allow your other party members to handle or draw the aggro from enemy shutdown casters before you reset your armor and return to the fight. Do not cast through Backfire, even it means losing your armor. Call Backfire, Migraine, Soul Leech, Life Transfer and Diversion immediately. In the case that vengeful weapon is diversioned by a mesmer use obsidian flame and ash spells to keep up your armor. Kinetic Armor has a 3 second cast time, if it is interrupted you are screwed so never cast it in the heat of battle, fall back on silver armor and kiting and use you weapon of vengence on allies and obsidian flame to assist the party. You are safe to build up a decent amount of exaustion since most of your skills are 5-10 cost. With the skills you are using, you can build up half a bar of exaustion and still be able to function.
Also against touch rangers, immediately shockwave them and begin obsidian flaming them while kiting like mad man. Vamp attacks and shadow skills with eat through your armor, but be aware that vengeful weapon will trigger off attack like shadow strike and dark pact. However, vengeful weapon will not trigger off touch ranger attacks ( Still testing but I dont see it happen). You will want to kill a touch as quickly as possible, even if it means exhaustion.
One last thing to watch out for is a KD attack. If you see the enemy using knockdown skills, immediately cast vengeful weapon at each recharge. The one thing you don't want happening is being KD'ed while neglecting the timer on Kinetic Armor and losing your 80 AL bonus because you can't get fast enough to hit the button. This can be very dangerous. Assassins will also stack conditions on you after a KD so if an assassin approaches immediately throw up the vengeful weapon and then silver armor (try to get it in before they KD you but be careful not to get interrupted). If the assassin shadow steps in, he will probaby go straight for the KD so throwing up vengeful weapon is your best bet. Immediately after getting up and taking some damage throw up silver armor and a shockwave. With an assassin's super fast attack speed he should kill himself pretty quick and get torn to pieces by the wave. Kite back and heal immediately after facing an assassin, they will damage you to an extent.
End
Well that's all I have to say about my Shockwave Ele-tank. I have alot of fun with this build and its pretty cool to be able to stand on the frontline with a spirit weapon and actually beat most wars one on one. The most satisfying thing I find about this build is that it forces enemies to kill themselves. On top of that you have a wide area AOE that can deal good damage and even spike with obsidian flame. Vengeful weapon is a great skill to upkeep your armor and most of the build's other skills offer both offense and defense at the same time. Also most of the skills are low cost and with an attunement, energy problems are almost nil, (the main problem is recharge time, so pray for that 20% to kick in
). This build works great in PvE and also has gotten me a few glads points in random arenas. I hope you all have fun with this and feel free to add comments, suggestions, etc.~Helmos
. I like shockwave, but you basically centered this entire idea around it, and I don't really see how this is any more effective than a pyro with AoE spells.
