So I'm thinking of coming back to check out some of the new content, how often do you guys run stuff?
Depends what you mean by "stuff." We run "things" very frequently. Guild missions 4 times a week, fractals, dungeons, and world events scattered inbetween.
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Kai_SanCommonly known as Klineshrike!Registered Userregular
Does anyone ever run Arah? I am going to try and level my Ele and someday plan on hitting 80. When I do I kind of want the armor set. But I think the only place I would ever be able to find anyone to do it would be here.
This prolly wouldnt be for a long time anyway.
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BrodyThe WatchThe First ShoreRegistered Userregular
I actually want some arah gear. Do you have an 80 of any persuasion?
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
Hi. I've been running in a small guild of friends for a while and wanted to join the PA guild for some larger guild events. Can I get an invite? My account is sycrim.1076. Thanks!
Hi. I've been running in a small guild of friends for a while and wanted to join the PA guild for some larger guild events. Can I get an invite? My account is sycrim.1076. Thanks!
Invite sent.
I need to do Arah exploreables too at some point for the title.
Hi. I've been running in a small guild of friends for a while and wanted to join the PA guild for some larger guild events. Can I get an invite? My account is sycrim.1076. Thanks!
Invite sent.
I need to do Arah exploreables too at some point for the title.
I am about to ask a stupid question for rhetorical purposes.
Suppose that I want to play as a support character, one who acts as a force multiplier by passing positive status effects to allies most of the time; it can also heal allies, though that takes a backseat to buffing. When attacking, the character fights with a short sword, dagger, or magical implement used to cast light or flame spells. Defensively, the character makes up for weaker armor by evading and counterattacking when damaged.
What class should I play?
My favorite musical instrument is the air-raid siren.
I am about to ask a stupid question for rhetorical purposes.
Suppose that I want to play as a support character, one who acts as a force multiplier by passing positive status effects to allies most of the time; it can also heal allies, though that takes a backseat to buffing. When attacking, the character fights with a short sword, dagger, or magical implement used to cast light or flame spells. Defensively, the character makes up for weaker armor by evading and counterattacking when damaged.
What class should I play?
Elementalist fits your bill pretty well. I'm sure the ele experts here can tell you all about it.
A guardian also does most of the stuff you're looking for (my little asura above with the flaming magical implements is a guardian), except for the last sentence.
Want to find me on a gaming service? I'm SwashbucklerXX everywhere.
I am about to ask a stupid question for rhetorical purposes.
Suppose that I want to play as a support character, one who acts as a force multiplier by passing positive status effects to allies most of the time; it can also heal allies, though that takes a backseat to buffing. When attacking, the character fights with a short sword, dagger, or magical implement used to cast light or flame spells. Defensively, the character makes up for weaker armor by evading and counterattacking when damaged.
What class should I play?
Elementalist fits your bill pretty well. I'm sure the ele experts here can tell you all about it.
A guardian also does most of the stuff you're looking for (my little asura above with the flaming magical implements is a guardian), except for the last sentence.
Yup, this is pretty much how I play my Ele, and have played her since the beginning (more or less). Here is just a sample of what I do, and things I aim to achieve.
Looking now, I wrote a fair amount. Sorry!
With soothing mist I can more or less keep a constan 80+regen up on my party at any given time (which is separate from the regular regen, and in turn stacks with it). In addition to that, whenever I swap atunments, which I do as much as possible (my average if I'm on my A game is a swap every 3-5 seconds, even quicker then that if I'm able to) I buff allies. If I'm really concentrating, I can keep both soothing mist and regular regen on allies constantly, or at least close to. This for reference is a total base healing of 210 HP a second. (More with healing power). The regen for this, if my party is at full helath can be replaced with a might stack, swiftness or protection stack (15s duration for the might, 5s duration for the later two)
Every 10 seconds when I dodge, I do an effect. I use this ability ALOT, as having played the ele so much I've developed an internal timer and can at any time know if I am "ready" to dodge again. Giving allies a burst heal of 1k, plus cleansing conditions every 10 seconds, or doing some damage, or crippling or blinding is super helpful.
Basically, I play my class as similar to what you described (with a bigger focus on healing then buffing). I do a fair amount of healing without focusing on it, buff allies as much as I can but not as much as those full on in support, and while not a glass cannon I can still do some decent damage, and if no one else can then I make sure enemies are constantly burning/bleeding.
With my build and gear (all soldiers) I fancy myself a bit of a tank as well. Its fucking hard, and I'm sure warriors or guardians can do it better but on a number of occasions I've sat there kiting Lupicus while the only other person alive resurrects our whole party. With Lupicus or any other similar boss fight like the last one in the Grawl Fractal, I can sit there as long as possible as I have a great supply of regen/burst healing, vigor for dodges and protection (or straight up Invulnerability) to help mitigate damage.
Up to now this seems like a fairly healing focused build, but worry not! With Aurasharing I give my allies loads of buffs, making them reflect projectiles (Making bosses take their agony back never gets old), burn foes and grant might to themslves, stun foes, or even slow enemies. And every single aura gives fury and swiftness for five seconds a pop.
As a boxer, I actually think of playing an Ele a lot like being in a boxing match. You're constantly juggling things. In the ring, is my guard up, am I moving my weight correctly with each punch, am I showing any tells, can I see if my opponent is letting his guard up? And as an Ele, is my 10 second timer on Evasive Arcana up? Is my number 3 scepter in water atunment off cooldown? Do I need to pop my combined total of 7 seconds of invul to help rez someone? Etc etc. (A lot of this is applicable to other classes, but as someone who has spent hours doing calculations and making theories and guides for personal use, I feel like I do this stuff more as Ele then i do with any other class. I suppose I'm biased).
Playing an Ele is one of the most fun things I've ever done in an MMO to say the least. The class is intense, and as double dagger Elementalist I need to be on my A game or I will get fucked up by a bosses attack. Its dangerous but rewarding. I'm super flexible, as I have at any time a minimum of 20 weapon skills,3 defensive utility skills, an elite which gives me 5 more skills, a dodge which I use basically as an attack and some other shit I'm forgetting I'm sure.
If you did read all that, I hope you did it with a grain of salt. Its not the most well written, and obviously I base my stuff of my experiences. I'm sure Mord/Viv/any other serious Ele's have some stuff they can correct me on, but on the whole I think it shows fairly well how well rounded Ele can be. I have a guide that I'm writing at the moment, and think I may post it soon for folks who are curious, I just want to test a few more theories/build options/crunch a few more numbers first. (Math is hard!) I'll toss a link to my build/gear set up when I do that aswell. Happy Elementalist'ing!
Lagnar on
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citizen059hello my name is citizenI'm from the InternetRegistered Userregular
I put the "Guild Armor" skin on my ranger's magic find set this weekend, just for kicks.
Paired with the headpiece from the "noble" set (single eyepiece with leather straps wrapping around the head), he looks like some sort of supervillain.
I am about to ask a stupid question for rhetorical purposes.
Suppose that I want to play as a support character, one who acts as a force multiplier by passing positive status effects to allies most of the time; it can also heal allies, though that takes a backseat to buffing. When attacking, the character fights with a short sword, dagger, or magical implement used to cast light or flame spells. Defensively, the character makes up for weaker armor by evading and counterattacking when damaged.
What class should I play?
Guardian works pretty well, although isn't 100% what you're looking for. Guardians are boon machines, they just throw around boons like they were nothing, either from shouts, symbols on the ground, their virtues, or from weapon attacks. There's a trait they get 60+ called Altruistic Healing, where they heal themselves and allies anytime they put a boon on them. This means that while throwing around boons, they're also doing little bursts of healing. I'm currently traited in a very high support spec where I have three shouts that do 2-3 boons each, each of my virtues throws about 3 boons each, my symbols (both my weapons do them) add a boon every second, and I have an elite that refreshes my virtues so I can throw those again. In addition, my symbols are larger than normal and heal every second players stand in them, and my dodge roll does a heal as well. I carry a staff which allows me to put a symbol down, as well as throw 12 boons to nearby allies within 3 seconds, and has an orb that heals as it passes through allies on the way to the enemy. ...and in combat I give nearby allies +70 toughness, as well as my passive health regen that stacks with the boon.
I don't really miss being a healer anymore. Unfortunately a build like this is only possible after level 60. I was getting frustrated before then due to not knowing what I should spec as. Note that this is a very high support spec, and you can be easily as useful to a group by sacrificing a good chunk of this for other benefits, including being offensive, without completely losing the supportive buff abilities.
The guardian also can wield a sword and torch. Sword has light-based weapons and torch has flame based weapons (including breathing fire that damages enemies and cures allies of conditions). They wear heavy armor though, but you'll still need to use evasions and other defensive abilities.
Been getting back into this, forget how beautiful this game is. And how much I enjoy crafting. My engineer looks like a wasteland wanderer right now. Anyhow, may I be tossed an invite to NICE? Ninjafrizz.1706
@vahkris Guardian does provide good group support with shouts and some traits, but with AH they support themselves better than the rest of the team, which makes them more ideal for stacking toughness and trying to hold mobs in place taking the hits being the "anchor" for an organized run.
@kupi i agree with the above sentiment, elementalist is your ticket. i suggest Scepter/Dagger to accomplish this. can run 0/10/0/30/30 like the D/D or anything else. they stack might really well if you can land the rotation.
After spending the first few weeks of my return whoring around on various alts, I've fallen back to re-leveling a mesmer, my original profession choice. It just clicks I guess. This time around I'm swapping in scepter/focus or sword/focus instead of GS (and focusing primarily on precision with some power and condition). I just can't get back on board with GS. I think it's part of the reason I got bored with the character to begin with; it's super effective but a giant snore of an autoattack.
The tough choice for me now is keeping up clones using sharper image to apply bleeds or blow them up for confusion (or, rather, finding the delicate balance of both). Right now I'm primary in illusions and the precision trait line. I just need to get far enough up precision for clone on dodge, and then maybe I can stack in some power traits. I hate missing out on that free +power.
I have had a slightly better time in the mid levels stacking on some vitality/tougness with jewelry - it's made me a little less squishy without giving up too much power. I'm definitely better at leveling him this time around. He's only about 45 now, and though I'm tempted to just craft him to 80, I think I want to grind out the story and test out all of the playstyles before 80 this time. Maybe it'll inform what I finally settle on a bit better that way.
This also let me finally see the vigil storyline, which I've never done before (hell, I didn't even know field of ruin was a zone).
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MordrothEntrepreNerdNew Republic of AlbertaRegistered Userregular
I am about to ask a stupid question for rhetorical purposes.
Suppose that I want to play as a support character, one who acts as a force multiplier by passing positive status effects to allies most of the time; it can also heal allies, though that takes a backseat to buffing. When attacking, the character fights with a short sword, dagger, or magical implement used to cast light or flame spells. Defensively, the character makes up for weaker armor by evading and counterattacking when damaged.
What class should I play?
You can run a support-based Elementalist with an aura-sharing-boon-duration build (0/10/0/30/30 or 0/0/10/30/30) and cycle attunements to provide buffs to allies. With water attunement, you have abilities that can heal. You don;t have counterattacks specifically (like a mesmer's block abilities) but you can reflect attacks with auras (staff earth 3 or focus earth 4), destroy projectiles with air (focus), and apply flame or frost armor which will cause status affects on hit.
Hello!
Some of you know me already from in-game. I used to be a frequent reader of the PA forums, but I finally buckled and made an account. Figured I would pop in and say "Hello".
0
MordrothEntrepreNerdNew Republic of AlbertaRegistered Userregular
Hello!
Some of you know me already from in-game. I used to be a frequent reader of the PA forums, but I finally buckled and made an account. Figured I would pop in and say "Hello".
welcome! I hear you're in to fractals - I'm at lvl 30+ and am (almost always) looking to do more runs. Been trying since they came out to get a Fractal skin of some sort (Staff, focus, or daggers preferred) and still no luck.
Hello!
Some of you know me already from in-game. I used to be a frequent reader of the PA forums, but I finally buckled and made an account. Figured I would pop in and say "Hello".
welcome! I hear you're in to fractals - I'm at lvl 30+ and am (almost always) looking to do more runs. Been trying since they came out to get a Fractal skin of some sort (Staff, focus, or daggers preferred) and still no luck.
I was also looking at getting into fractals, I'm only at PL 7 though. I do like some of those skins.
I'd like to start doing fractals too. Also, if anyone wants to do Arah explorable i'm up for running it again. I recently finished the full set and don't mind walking people through some of the tougher paths.
Now that I'm playing again, Mord, I'm up for fractal runs. Baelon's still locked to 21, but I'll have 25 AR shortly and still want to fully upgrade his fractal capacitor.
Been getting back into this, forget how beautiful this game is. And how much I enjoy crafting. My engineer looks like a wasteland wanderer right now. Anyhow, may I be tossed an invite to NICE? Ninjafrizz.1706
Since this month is slowly coming to an end and I haven't done a lot of the Adventure box cheevos. Would anyone be interested in setting up a time to go through it as a group and do a lot of the achievements? Thinking tonight or tomorrow night (or both) 6pm'ish PST. I mean you can solo it all, but playing with other people could make it less boring. Any ways if you want to reply to me or message Sharkweek in game.
Ugh, I was just looking at my remaining monthly items, and they are all things I don't do or haven't done much of like wuvwuv or fractal running. I may need to spend a night or two hunting down the zerg pack to join; would hate to miss those tasty laurels over one category.
Yep, although I haven't run one in about 6 weeks. I've gotten more weapon skins leveling from 40-49 than I did from 1-30 combined. I'm down to run some if I have time. Unfortunately I'm on call this week.
Hello!
Some of you know me already from in-game. I used to be a frequent reader of the PA forums, but I finally buckled and made an account. Figured I would pop in and say "Hello".
welcome! I hear you're in to fractals - I'm at lvl 30+ and am (almost always) looking to do more runs. Been trying since they came out to get a Fractal skin of some sort (Staff, focus, or daggers preferred) and still no luck.
Thanks for the input, guys! The response has been enlightening... particularly because the consensus went in a direction I totally wasn't expecting.
Some further context: I have a perennial problem with role-playing games. I tend to approach them back to front when it comes to playing well, in the sense that I tend to have a character and a set of abilities for that character in mind before I even see the available options, and then try to optimize for that preconceived notion of what the character should be as opposed to what actually works. Naturally, this tends to wind up with me getting frustrated as I find a corner of a square peg that I can't saw off or grind down enough to get it in the round hole. In this case, given the option, I would choose the Guardian, since its abilities are basically a perfect match for what I want (holy fire attacks, plenty of chances to gain Retaliation, heals allies, has Traits and skills to pass Might to allies). ...except that the character's supposed to wear cloth, as opposed to plate, and there's exactly jack shit for heavy armor that resembles cloth. (The HotW set comes close, but it's still got a conspicuous breastplate, and the Sylvari cultural armor only has two dye slots.)
Unfortunately, this little psychosis of mine basically disqualifies the Elementalist out of hand-- the character is not one who throws lightning bolts, conjures knives out of the earth, or freezes things with mind power. So even if the Elementalist is the best boon factory in the game (and I've no doubt that it is), it wasn't on my short list at the beginning of the exercise.
The nearest viable option is the Mesmer, and they're hardly known for their healing or aggressive boon-layering. But! At this point I'm just ranting. I'll figure out something I like eventually.
My favorite musical instrument is the air-raid siren.
Thanks for the input, guys! The response has been enlightening... particularly because the consensus went in a direction I totally wasn't expecting.
Some further context: I have a perennial problem with role-playing games. I tend to approach them back to front when it comes to playing well, in the sense that I tend to have a character and a set of abilities for that character in mind before I even see the available options, and then try to optimize for that preconceived notion of what the character should be as opposed to what actually works. Naturally, this tends to wind up with me getting frustrated as I find a corner of a square peg that I can't saw off or grind down enough to get it in the round hole. In this case, given the option, I would choose the Guardian, since its abilities are basically a perfect match for what I want (holy fire attacks, plenty of chances to gain Retaliation, heals allies, has Traits and skills to pass Might to allies). ...except that the character's supposed to wear cloth, as opposed to plate, and there's exactly jack shit for heavy armor that resembles cloth. (The HotW set comes close, but it's still got a conspicuous breastplate, and the Sylvari cultural armor only has two dye slots.)
Unfortunately, this little psychosis of mine basically disqualifies the Elementalist out of hand-- the character is not one who throws lightning bolts, conjures knives out of the earth, or freezes things with mind power. So even if the Elementalist is the best boon factory in the game (and I've no doubt that it is), it wasn't on my short list at the beginning of the exercise.
The nearest viable option is the Mesmer, and they're hardly known for their healing or aggressive boon-layering. But! At this point I'm just ranting. I'll figure out something I like eventually.
So, got this game finally with the recent sale/price drop, and now trying to figure out what class I want to main... If I was a tank in pretty much every pervious MMO that I played, and still wanted that tank-ish feel (though the visual and equpiment tank-y trappings, i.e. being a big armored guy, is completly optional) what would be the class for me?
Guardian probably fits the classic image, though every class can be build to be tanky just as every class can be built to focus on damage. I'd suggest finding a class which you enjoy playing then build them towards a style you like to play.
That said, I'm not sure there's another class besides guardian which can solo (almost) all champions practically on autoattack when built for it. At low levels, too.
My most indestructible feeling character is Guardian by far. I haven't had another character where I felt comfortable just getting in a champion's face and trading punches until they drop. It plays more like a d&d combat cleric than a heavy bruiser though. As I play it, I'm hard as heck to take down, and everyone around me sustains better, but I don't dish out a lot of deeps on my own.
Warrior and necro have felt pretty survivable too, but neither gave me the "I'm getting punched in the face so you don't have to" vibe that guardian does.
Posts
Depends what you mean by "stuff." We run "things" very frequently. Guild missions 4 times a week, fractals, dungeons, and world events scattered inbetween.
This prolly wouldnt be for a long time anyway.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
It's not path 3, though, which is the faming path
Invite sent.
I need to do Arah exploreables too at some point for the title.
Thanks for the invite, Geod.
GW2: Tavalisk.9463
Thank you!
Sent
I have a level 80 asura now. That means I win the game, right?
The asura is my fourth 80, I'm good at inventing my own grind.
Suppose that I want to play as a support character, one who acts as a force multiplier by passing positive status effects to allies most of the time; it can also heal allies, though that takes a backseat to buffing. When attacking, the character fights with a short sword, dagger, or magical implement used to cast light or flame spells. Defensively, the character makes up for weaker armor by evading and counterattacking when damaged.
What class should I play?
Elementalist fits your bill pretty well. I'm sure the ele experts here can tell you all about it.
A guardian also does most of the stuff you're looking for (my little asura above with the flaming magical implements is a guardian), except for the last sentence.
I finished my Dungeon Master title tonight (yay!) but Teldra still needs this path for his. Hit us up some time.
Shark infested zombies are the *worst*.
Yup, this is pretty much how I play my Ele, and have played her since the beginning (more or less). Here is just a sample of what I do, and things I aim to achieve.
Looking now, I wrote a fair amount. Sorry!
Every 10 seconds when I dodge, I do an effect. I use this ability ALOT, as having played the ele so much I've developed an internal timer and can at any time know if I am "ready" to dodge again. Giving allies a burst heal of 1k, plus cleansing conditions every 10 seconds, or doing some damage, or crippling or blinding is super helpful.
Basically, I play my class as similar to what you described (with a bigger focus on healing then buffing). I do a fair amount of healing without focusing on it, buff allies as much as I can but not as much as those full on in support, and while not a glass cannon I can still do some decent damage, and if no one else can then I make sure enemies are constantly burning/bleeding.
With my build and gear (all soldiers) I fancy myself a bit of a tank as well. Its fucking hard, and I'm sure warriors or guardians can do it better but on a number of occasions I've sat there kiting Lupicus while the only other person alive resurrects our whole party. With Lupicus or any other similar boss fight like the last one in the Grawl Fractal, I can sit there as long as possible as I have a great supply of regen/burst healing, vigor for dodges and protection (or straight up Invulnerability) to help mitigate damage.
Up to now this seems like a fairly healing focused build, but worry not! With Aura sharing I give my allies loads of buffs, making them reflect projectiles (Making bosses take their agony back never gets old), burn foes and grant might to themslves, stun foes, or even slow enemies. And every single aura gives fury and swiftness for five seconds a pop.
As a boxer, I actually think of playing an Ele a lot like being in a boxing match. You're constantly juggling things. In the ring, is my guard up, am I moving my weight correctly with each punch, am I showing any tells, can I see if my opponent is letting his guard up? And as an Ele, is my 10 second timer on Evasive Arcana up? Is my number 3 scepter in water atunment off cooldown? Do I need to pop my combined total of 7 seconds of invul to help rez someone? Etc etc. (A lot of this is applicable to other classes, but as someone who has spent hours doing calculations and making theories and guides for personal use, I feel like I do this stuff more as Ele then i do with any other class. I suppose I'm biased).
Playing an Ele is one of the most fun things I've ever done in an MMO to say the least. The class is intense, and as double dagger Elementalist I need to be on my A game or I will get fucked up by a bosses attack. Its dangerous but rewarding. I'm super flexible, as I have at any time a minimum of 20 weapon skills,3 defensive utility skills, an elite which gives me 5 more skills, a dodge which I use basically as an attack and some other shit I'm forgetting I'm sure.
If you did read all that, I hope you did it with a grain of salt. Its not the most well written, and obviously I base my stuff of my experiences. I'm sure Mord/Viv/any other serious Ele's have some stuff they can correct me on, but on the whole I think it shows fairly well how well rounded Ele can be. I have a guide that I'm writing at the moment, and think I may post it soon for folks who are curious, I just want to test a few more theories/build options/crunch a few more numbers first. (Math is hard!) I'll toss a link to my build/gear set up when I do that aswell. Happy Elementalist'ing!
Paired with the headpiece from the "noble" set (single eyepiece with leather straps wrapping around the head), he looks like some sort of supervillain.
I find this highly entertaining.
Guardian works pretty well, although isn't 100% what you're looking for. Guardians are boon machines, they just throw around boons like they were nothing, either from shouts, symbols on the ground, their virtues, or from weapon attacks. There's a trait they get 60+ called Altruistic Healing, where they heal themselves and allies anytime they put a boon on them. This means that while throwing around boons, they're also doing little bursts of healing. I'm currently traited in a very high support spec where I have three shouts that do 2-3 boons each, each of my virtues throws about 3 boons each, my symbols (both my weapons do them) add a boon every second, and I have an elite that refreshes my virtues so I can throw those again. In addition, my symbols are larger than normal and heal every second players stand in them, and my dodge roll does a heal as well. I carry a staff which allows me to put a symbol down, as well as throw 12 boons to nearby allies within 3 seconds, and has an orb that heals as it passes through allies on the way to the enemy. ...and in combat I give nearby allies +70 toughness, as well as my passive health regen that stacks with the boon.
I don't really miss being a healer anymore. Unfortunately a build like this is only possible after level 60. I was getting frustrated before then due to not knowing what I should spec as. Note that this is a very high support spec, and you can be easily as useful to a group by sacrificing a good chunk of this for other benefits, including being offensive, without completely losing the supportive buff abilities.
The guardian also can wield a sword and torch. Sword has light-based weapons and torch has flame based weapons (including breathing fire that damages enemies and cures allies of conditions). They wear heavy armor though, but you'll still need to use evasions and other defensive abilities.
Gracias
@kupi i agree with the above sentiment, elementalist is your ticket. i suggest Scepter/Dagger to accomplish this. can run 0/10/0/30/30 like the D/D or anything else. they stack might really well if you can land the rotation.
The tough choice for me now is keeping up clones using sharper image to apply bleeds or blow them up for confusion (or, rather, finding the delicate balance of both). Right now I'm primary in illusions and the precision trait line. I just need to get far enough up precision for clone on dodge, and then maybe I can stack in some power traits. I hate missing out on that free +power.
I have had a slightly better time in the mid levels stacking on some vitality/tougness with jewelry - it's made me a little less squishy without giving up too much power. I'm definitely better at leveling him this time around. He's only about 45 now, and though I'm tempted to just craft him to 80, I think I want to grind out the story and test out all of the playstyles before 80 this time. Maybe it'll inform what I finally settle on a bit better that way.
This also let me finally see the vigil storyline, which I've never done before (hell, I didn't even know field of ruin was a zone).
You can run a support-based Elementalist with an aura-sharing-boon-duration build (0/10/0/30/30 or 0/0/10/30/30) and cycle attunements to provide buffs to allies. With water attunement, you have abilities that can heal. You don;t have counterattacks specifically (like a mesmer's block abilities) but you can reflect attacks with auras (staff earth 3 or focus earth 4), destroy projectiles with air (focus), and apply flame or frost armor which will cause status affects on hit.
Some of you know me already from in-game. I used to be a frequent reader of the PA forums, but I finally buckled and made an account. Figured I would pop in and say "Hello".
welcome! I hear you're in to fractals - I'm at lvl 30+ and am (almost always) looking to do more runs. Been trying since they came out to get a Fractal skin of some sort (Staff, focus, or daggers preferred) and still no luck.
I was also looking at getting into fractals, I'm only at PL 7 though. I do like some of those skins.
3DS FC: 5086-1134-6451
Shiny Code: 3837
I'm Osoe Thunderstep in game.
Invited.
Some further context: I have a perennial problem with role-playing games. I tend to approach them back to front when it comes to playing well, in the sense that I tend to have a character and a set of abilities for that character in mind before I even see the available options, and then try to optimize for that preconceived notion of what the character should be as opposed to what actually works. Naturally, this tends to wind up with me getting frustrated as I find a corner of a square peg that I can't saw off or grind down enough to get it in the round hole. In this case, given the option, I would choose the Guardian, since its abilities are basically a perfect match for what I want (holy fire attacks, plenty of chances to gain Retaliation, heals allies, has Traits and skills to pass Might to allies). ...except that the character's supposed to wear cloth, as opposed to plate, and there's exactly jack shit for heavy armor that resembles cloth. (The HotW set comes close, but it's still got a conspicuous breastplate, and the Sylvari cultural armor only has two dye slots.)
Unfortunately, this little psychosis of mine basically disqualifies the Elementalist out of hand-- the character is not one who throws lightning bolts, conjures knives out of the earth, or freezes things with mind power. So even if the Elementalist is the best boon factory in the game (and I've no doubt that it is), it wasn't on my short list at the beginning of the exercise.
The nearest viable option is the Mesmer, and they're hardly known for their healing or aggressive boon-layering. But! At this point I'm just ranting. I'll figure out something I like eventually.
That said, I'm not sure there's another class besides guardian which can solo (almost) all champions practically on autoattack when built for it. At low levels, too.
Warrior and necro have felt pretty survivable too, but neither gave me the "I'm getting punched in the face so you don't have to" vibe that guardian does.