Sign In
Register
Help
Intro:
This is a guide for aspiring elementalists. The most common job for elementalists is known as nuking. Nuking is the process of using strong spells to do a great deal of damage to enemies. Although all attributes are decent for nuking, none excell at dealing massive amounts of damage like fire does. This guide will explain how to best utilize a wide variety of skills to maximize your damage output and make you an invaluable asset to your team. This is an updated version of my previous Nuking Guide. The new content utilizes Prophecies and Nightfall skillsets. No Faction skills are present in this guide, so if you don't own Factions, you can still use it.
Equipment:
There are two different equipments I suggest to have. The first is a Rago's set: Rago's Flame Wand and The Kinderlock (Focus Item). These have a 40% chance of a skill recharging in half the time, and 10% chance of halving the casting time, and a 20% chance of giving you a 17 in Fire, adding to your damage capablilities. The second option is a collecter's Fire Staff equiped with a good Fortitude Mod and either a good Hale or Insightful stall head. Hale will give you even more health, but the insightful will give you more energy. The collector's fire staff offers a 20% chance of halving the casting speed and a 20% chance of halving the recharge time. The collecter can be found right outside of the Ice Caves of Sorrow and requires 5 Frigid Hearts, which are dropped by nearby Ice Imps. Rago's Flame Staff is ok, but the Enchanting bonus isn't as beneficial as a fortitude bonus, in my opintion. I use the Collector's staff, but I'm considering switching over to the Rago's Set.
Attributes:
As stated before, the fire attribute is the strongest one for nuking. There are a wide variety of effective fire spells that do a lot of damage when compared to the other attributes. That being said, maximizing your fire attribute to 16 is a must. To get fire to 16, put in all the attribute points you can into fire until it is at 12. Next get a Flame's Eye (headpiece armor). This will give you an extra point in fire magic, bringing it up for 13. Next buy a Elementalist's Superior Rune of Fire Magic and attatch it to a piece of your armor. Personally, I attatched it to the Flame's Eye. I own all of the different Eyes and have attatched their respective Superior Runes to them. That way, I can switch around the Eyes when I change from Fire to Earth, Air, or Water without having to buy more Superior Runes and constantly replacing them. The Superior Rune adds another 3 points to Fire, bringing it up to 16. Fire Nuking takes a heavy toll on your energy. To lessen the impact of these expensive spells, invest attribute points in Energy Storage until you are at 12. Buy an Elementalist's Rune of Minor Energy Storage to bring that up to 13. If you aren't concerned with your HP, you can take a Major or Superior Energy Storage with you for even more energy. It's even possible for Elementalists to have over 100 energy.
Fire: 16
Energy Storage: 13
Skills:
1. Searing Flames (E)
2. Immolate
3. Glowing Gaze
4. Fireball
5. Meteor
6. Meteor Storm
7. Glyph of Lesser Energy
8. Fire Attunement
Searing Flames (E)
E: 15
T: 1
R: 2
Target foe and all nearby foes are struck with Searing Flames. Foes already on fire when this skill is cast are struck for 7...91 fire damage. Foes not already on fire begin Burning for 1...6 seconds.
This is an absolutely amazing skill. It costs a modest 15 energy, casts quickly and recharges in only 2 seconds. The spell itself either does a lot of damage to a group of enemeies, or it sets them on fire for 6 seconds! With sufficient energy, this elite spell can be spammed often to rack up massive damage.
Immolate
E: 10
T: 1
R: 5
Target foe is struck for 53 fire damage and is set on fire for 3 seconds.
Immolate has decent power and an added bonus of setting the target on fire. The damage is nice, but the fire is even better. Unfortunately, it costs 10 energy and takes 5 seconds to recharge, so alternate between spamming this and the next skill...
Glowing Gaze
E: 5
T: 1
R: 5
Target foe takes 5...41 fire damage. If that foe is on Fire, you gain 1...7 Energy.
This spell is a great improvement over flare. It does slightly lower damage, but if done on an enemy that is on fire, you get back a lot of energy. The only drawback is the reletivey long recharge time that prevents you from spamming this. Alternate between this and Immolate for massive damage at very little energy cost.
Fireball
E: 10
T: 2
R: 7
Send out a ball of fire that strikes target foe and all adjacent foes for 119 fire damage.
Fireball is a wonderful spell. It does a good amount of damage at a distance and to multiple enemies. Fireball has a short casting time and a relatively short recharge time, making it an extremely effective nuke. Unfortunatly, the target may not be obstructed by anything or the nuke will fail.
Meteor
E: 5
T: 3
R: 30
Target foe and all adjacent foes are struck for 119 fire damage and knocked down. This spell causes Exhaustion.
Meteor is very similar to fireball, with the exception that meteor knocks down all foes around where it hits. Meteor is also able to strike foes that are obstructed, and it costs less energy. The only downfalls are that it causes exhaustion and has a long recharge time.
Meteor Shower
E: 25
T: 5
R: 60
Create a Meteor Shower at target foe's location. For 9 seconds, foes adjacent to that location are struck for 119 fire damage and knocked down every 3 seconds. This Spell causes Exhaustion.
Meteor Shower is the God of all Nukes. Although it has a long casting time, high energy cost, exhaustion, and a minute-long recharge, Meteor Shower is still one of the Elementalist's greatest assets. Meteor Shower essentially 3 meteors cast back-to-back-to-back on the same area. Not only does it do massive damage (357), it also knocks down the foes in the area. The knockdown both prevents the enemies from attacking you or healing other enemies, it also prevents them from moving. This makes them extremely vulnerable to other nukes, such as Fireball or Searing Flames. While the enemies are getting trashed by the Meteor Shower, you can cast other nukes. The damage will pile up quickly. Very few monsters can survive a Meteor Shower coupled with other nukes.
Glyph of Lesser Energy
E: 5
T: 1
R: 30
For 15 seconds, your next two spells costs 15 less Energy to cast.
Here's a wonderfull skill that reduces the energy consumed from your next spell by 15. Unfortunately, it costs energy itself and the recharge time is a bit much. It's best used to counter the energy drain of costly spells, like Meteor Shower.
Fire Attunement
E: 10
T: 2
R: 60
For 62 seconds, you are attuned to fire. You gain 30% of the energy cost of the skill each time you use Fire Magic.
You should try and keep Fire Attunement on you at all times. Cast it right before going into battle and you'll save a great deal of energy. This is a must have because nuking will heavily tax your energy supplies. Fire Attunement helps reduce the energy costs by 1/3. That's over 25 energy on a full Elementalist's energy bar. Fire Attunement lasts for 62 seconds and takes 60 seconds to recharge, so you can keep it on you indefinitely.
Using Your Skills:
Energy Conservation:
Having the skills is one thing; knowing how to use them is another. The most important aspect of nuking is energy conservation. You have a great deal of energy, but you can run out of it very quickly if you don't keep tabs on how much you're using. The most important thing you can do is use Fire Attunement. This drastically cuts down on the amount of energy you will consume. Also, cast Glyph of Lesser Energy before using an energy-expensive spell, such as Meteor Shower or Searing Flames. Note that using Glowing Gaze will give you a tiny amount of energy if used on a burning enemy. This isn't an effective way to regain energy so much as it is a great way of dealing lots of damage at a significantly lower energy cost. Again, always keep Fire Attunement active. This skill works wonders for energy conservation, so use it. It also helps to have a blood necro around, too.
Vs. Individuals:
Individuals aren't exactly your style, but with this build, you'd definitely be able to hold your own. Start by casting Immolate to do a decent amount of damage and set the target on fire. Follow that up with a Glowing Gaze for more damage. If the enemy is still on fire from immolate (it should be unless it somehow got healed), you will receive a nice energy bonus from the attack. If you find yourself running low on energy, use Glyph of Lesser Energy to dampen the costs.
Vs. Groups:
This is where you shine brightest. Target the center-most enemy, Cast Glyph of Lesser Energy and unload with Meteor Shower. This will knock the group down and allow you a few more nukes before they run away and disperse. Use Searing Flames next. This will most likely set all the enemies on fire for 6 seconds. Then, hit them with Fireball. At this point, they should still be on fire and Searing Flames will have recharged. Use Searing Flames again to cause some serious damage. Follow that up with a Meteor and then another Searing Flames to set them on fire again. Keep spamming Searing Flames and Fireball until the enemy group turns to ashes. If you get low on energy, revert to normal attacks.
Vs. Bosses:
Bosses have an added immunity to status effects, so immolate is a lot less effective. Instead, use Searing Flames. The extra 3 seconds of burning are long enough for you to get a Glowing Gaze off before the flame dies off. Alternate between Searing Flames and Glowing Gaze as you would against individuals. Use the Glyph of Lesser Energy/Meteor Shower trick to do a ton of damage and lose less energy. Just keep applying the pressure and the boss will fall.
When getting attacked:
Elementalists make horrible tanks. You really don't have much armor, so try and avoid taking damage and avoid being the first to aggro. Running away helps as a last resort. Running not only saves you from taking damage, it also gives you a little time to recover some energy. Just don't run into a second group of enemies or transfer the aggro to one of your Monks.
Combos:
Immolate/Glowing Gaze
Immolate sets the target on fire and does damage, Glowing Gaze does damage and restores some of your energy if the target is on fire. Both are cheap and can be spammed when alternated. Use this to take down individuals. Switch from Immolate to Searing Flames when you face bosses.
Glyph of Lesser Energy/Meteor Shower
Glyph of Lesser Energy reduces the cost of the best nuke in the game down to only 10 energy. It also makes casting Searing Flames free. Use this skill as often as you can to reduce energy consumption.
MultiQuote
