Guild Wars 2 Elementalist Conditions Guide

Guild Wars 2 Elementalist Conditions Guide by Gorani

A short note in the beginning. The last two “conditions” (Daze & Stun) are not really conditions in the sense the first eleven are. They can not be removed with “condition removal skills”, but have to fade out without triggering or countered by special skills. In terms of discussing the effects, this has to be kept in mind, but does not deserve a separate category at the moment.

– Poison & Fear- (beta Poison icon) (beta Fear icon)

The Elementalist has no skill for applying these conditions. This is a continuity from GW1, where the Ele lacks skills that cause poison, too. In GW2 the Necro remains the master of poison as he was in GW1
The fear condition is new to GW2, but you could argue that the “AOE scare effect” is somehow similar, although undesired.

– Bleeding – is a stackable condition. Every stack causes damage per second. Inflicts X damage per second. (Stacks intensity) (beta Bleed icon)

Ring of Earth, Rock Spray, Shockwave and Stone Shards (+ Impale and Churning Earth in the beta) will cause bleeding, all of them are part of the Earth Magic line of skills. Bleeding is new to the Elementalist in GW2. Earth Magic is now a source of degeneration for the Ele, with the February beta adding two new skills to the list. The limitations are focus to just one element, so in order to degenerate, you have to attune to Earth. The distribution of this condition among professions follows the path of GW1 (with only the Guardian excluded from the condition). There are no know traits affecting Bleeding.

– Burning – is a stackable condition that deals damage over time. Inflicts X damage per second. (Stacks duration) (beta Burning icon)

Burning Retreat, Burning Speed, Cleansing Fire, Fire Shield, Flame Burst, Flamestrike, Flamewall, Ring of Fire, Signet of Fire & Steam will cause burning. This condition is almost exclusively dealt by Fire Magic skills (Cleansing Fire being the exception as an utility skill) and no other profession can cause burning compared to the Elementalist. Since the GW2 Guardian combines some abilities of Monks & Paragons from GW1, this class gets a close 2nd place. Right now, burning is very strong compared to bleeding and a great source of DPS for the Elementalist. There are a few known traits that effect burning. They will be decribed in the [Basics] thread about Elementalist traits.

– Crippled – is a condition which decreases movement speed by 50% (Stacks duration). The “prevents dodging” effect was not in the February beta any more and possibly been removed. (beta Crippled icon)

Churning Earth, Lava Chains and Unsteady Ground cause this condition. Fire & Earth Magic are home to those skills. Other GW2 professions have a lot more options to cause cripple, like in GW1. The GW1 Elementalist did not have a single cripple skill, but the hexes of Water Magic had an similar effect to movement speed (although most of them slowed 66% and not 50%, like cripple). The effect to take away the ability to manually doge (which, when successful is a full evasion of damage) makes the new cripple more powerful though. “Earthen Blast” is the only trait that effects the Crippled condition.

– Chilled – It causes those affected by it to acquire a blue tint, have a 66% speed reduction. While chilled, skills already recharging will recharge at one third speed. (Stacks in duration) The previous “unable to dodge effect” is unknown after the February beta event. (beta Chilled icon)

Armor of Frost, Cone of Cold, Freezing Gust, Frozen Ground & Ice Shards are all part of the Water Magic line. The Elementalist is only rivalled by the Necromancer in dealing this condition (but two of their options are aquatic & down variants of skills). Chilled combines the effect of cripple with an even slower movement (66% => 50% slowdown) and induced a slowing of recharges, which is an effect only very few GW1 skills could do (Mesmer ones most of the time). With Conjure Frost, the Ele can create a weapon that causes the chilled condition, thereby helping other professions to acquire the ability to gain access to “chilled”. “Icy Mists” is a trait that can cause Chilled, too.

– Immobilized – is a condition which stops movement (by 100%) and prevents dodging. The condition stacks in duration. (beta Immobilized icon)

Frozen Burst, Grasping Earth, Magnetic Current, Shockwave & Signet of Earth will immobilize a foe. All professions have very few skills that cause that. The list looks larger, but one is a downed skills, the other for aquatic combat. Most of them are from the Earth Magic line. The limits apply for the other professions as well.

– Weakness – is a condition that 50% of attacks are glancing (which is hitting “off-target” extras) and endurance regeneration is reduced by 50%. Stacks in duration. (beta Weakness icon)

The Elementalist has only one skill for applying this condition: Stoning from the Earth Magic line. This is a setback from GW1, where the Ele had three skills and the potential to cause AoE weakness within the Ward of Weakness. Most of the professions got their ability to induce weakness reduced, so the move to cut the ability seems OK (Weakness also got stronger on AoE damage dealers, while making individual strikes, both by spells or physical attack less vulnerable – but you have to see Blind for that)

– Vulnerability – is a condition which lowers the target’s armor. It stacks in intensity, allowing damage spikes after applying it multiple times. (beta Vulnerability icon)

The Elementalist has currently four skills for applying this condition: Lightning Touch & Ice Spike, Shatterstone and Vapor Blade from Air & Water Magic lines. Vulnerability is the GW2 version of “cracked armor”. Therefore, the Ele got its options increased from one skill, to three. Unlike the GW1 condition, Vulnerability can stack, but only Vapor Blade has the potential to do so, because of the recharge times. There are no traits associated with this condition.

– Blind – is a non-stacking condition that causes the target’s next attack to miss. Attacks apply to all form of skills. (beta Blind icon)

Blinding Flash, Lightning Strike, Lightning Surge, Murky Water, Signet of Air, Steam & Dust Devil can cause this condition. Most of the skills come from the Air Magic line. Blind is different in GW2. While it could shut down a physical attacker in GW1 for a while (90% chance to miss), it now acts on all attacks (including spells) and therefore is closer to some Mesmer skills of GW1. This condition make the Air Magic line the “shut down” line of the GW2 Elementalist. No traits are directly connected to this condition.

– Confusion – Inflicts X damage each time (depending on the skill and ability level) a foe uses skill. It stacks in intensity. (beta Confusion icon)

Only Lightning Surge from the Air Magic line has the ability to inflict Confusion. The conditions is very limited outside the Mesmer class for all other professions as well.

– Daze – is an effect which interrupts and prevents the target from using skills for a period of time. (beta Daze icon)

Comet & Static Field are the two skills that can cause daze. As with “blind”, the daze condition got a redesign too, as it is not the caster version of GW1 blind any more, but affects all skills now. It is slightly stronger, as it works over a period of time.

– Stun – is an effect which interrupts, immobilizes, and incapacitates foes for a short duration. (beta Stun icon)

Lightning Cage and Shocking Aura can cause this condition. Both skills come from the Air Magic line. Stun kind of combines the immobilize & daze condition, which again contributes to the “shut down line” of Air Magic.

Warning – the following two graphics do not have the February 2012 beta changes yet!