Luna's guide on water magic for those interested

First: Aliance battles.


Have a look:
http://guildwars.gameamp.com/guide/viewGuides/1468.php!orderBy=

Lately, i've been using maelstrom instead of deep freeze. It's a good skill to capture shrines with. Maelstrom deals 26 cold damage every second for 10 seconds to adjacent foes and interrupts spells every second.

This build isnt meant for PvE but it shows the deadlyness of water for those of you doubting it .

Ok im convinced that hydromancer are good eles after all . But i have a few questions:

Is this a pvp only character and if its not can you post a pvp only character? (i dont wana change my pyromancer to hydromancer and to start a new ele will take ages)

The elite skill did u get it from priest of balthazar?

The weapon if its a pvp character why you need to buy it? its something that should be in the pvp only weapon list isnt it?

Luna was my very first character ever (PvE) and i've completed the whole prophecies campain with her only using water magic. I found my elite in the Iron Mines of Moladune. It's easy to get because the boss who has it needs to die to comlete the mission. PvE characters can't learn skills from a priest of balthazar. My weapon is a green water staff found in tyria. It's not available in PvP but you could make a good water staff with the right upgrades.
If you make a PvP character, you'll need to unlock all this water magic wich might take a while (this is why factions sucks, you dont unlock skills from quests). Also, if you don't have prophecies, not every skill I use might be available for you.
Remember, this is a build for aliance battles, you'll need another one in the random arena/PvE. I'll post a nice build for random arena later (short on time now).

Please dont hate me for our little catfight yesterday, but thats what happens when people mock water magic . If you need help with water, just ask. If you want to duel (probably not after reading that build, although its not the one i use in 1 on 1) i'll gladly do it. Wear something warm, things will get chilly!

First i dont hate ppl cause little catfight so dont worry i wont hate you.

about the elite skill and the weapon i dont have prophecies so i cant get em. but i realy looking forward for your random arenas/pve character, maybe i can use some of the skill for making a nice pvp hydromancer.
(ill leave my ele a pyromancer ).

and about a duel no problems ill just make this character and we will duel (i love challenges i might be noob in the start cause i duno how to fight with hydromancers but ill do my best).

Hint: Make a mesmer and i'm dead... so DON'T

Ok, big problem: There are hardly any good water elites in Cantha. Cantha doesn't have Mist Form, Ward Against Harm or Water Trident... all the good ones .

Anyway here is one build i use in the random arena:

-Ice Spear (never leave home without it, fast, cheap and deadly),
-Icy Prism (damage and interrupts/disalbes signets),
-Frozen Burst (about 115 damage to foes around you and 10 second slow),
-Blurred vision (it's not blind but it lasts long),
-Aura Of Restauration (selfhealing is always usefull)
-Mist Form (elite, life saver, no warrior/ranger/assassin can hurt you)
-Water Attunement (for energy management)
-Res Signet (you know why )

Now, this is a simple (not perfect) build wich can kill warriors with ease. Casters are dead after a few well aimed Ice Spears. One thing to keep in mind: Warriors/rangers/assassins can't deal damage to you in your mist form but they can give you conditions so be aware. Also, Mist Form only protects from attacks, not spells and hexes.

Other possible skills to take:

-Rust: tripples the casting time of signets for 44(!) seconds. throw it around whenever you can. Hexed foes need 9 seconds to use a res sig. this way you can interrupt them (after waiting a while) with icy prism. Also, warriors who use healing sigs are doomed due to the -40 armor while using it.

-Water Trident (elite): Nice damage dealer, recharges in 3 seconds and is very cheap. If it hits a moving foe, the foe is knocked down. This makes it very hard for enemies to flee or warriors to get to you. Very irritating .

-Ice Prison/Tenai's Prison: With 16 water magic, hexed foe moves 66% slower for 21 seconds. Use this on warrior (wich become useless) or on fleeing monks, eles and other. Keep in mind that this hex ends when the target takes fire damage. Your teammates might use fiery swords or kindle arrows so taking this is a bit of a gamble.

-Armor Of Mists: If you don't have Mist Form, this is the spell for you. For 21 seconds you get +42 armor and move 25% faster. Both come in handy!

-Ice Spikes: Target and adjacent foes are hit for about 84 cold damage and are slowed for 66% for 6 seconds. Use on small groups only since it costs 15 energy.

thx that can realy help me

Now for PvE:

Wich skills you take depends on the mission, but here's a build that will often do:

-Ice Spear (again)
-Shard Storm (hits for 69 damage and slows for six seconds)
-Ice Spikes
-Deep freeze (90 damage in a wide area, 10 second slow)
-Maelstrom (note: the only waterspell causing exhaustion)
-Blurred Vision
-Ward Against Harm (elite, +26 armor, +62 armor against fire, this is "a" reason why i kick pyromancers butt )
-Water attunement

Now, this build if both offensive and defensive. Use the first three spells for some nice damage. Only use Deep Freeze on large groups since it costs 25 energy (keep yourself attuned). Maelstrom is used for some nuking. It does 26 cold damage to all adjacent foes each second for ten seconds and interrupts spells each second. I always cast Ice Spikes right after maelstrom for additional damage and slowing so they can't get out of the maelstrom so fast if they decide to run. When needed, use Ward Against Harm and place it well. Don't be afraid to run into the heat of the battle so you can use the ward where it is most needed. The teams warriors will thank you. This ward lasts 21 seconds and recharges in 20 so you can keep it up. Blurred vision is used to hinder enemy warriors.

What else you could take:

-Rust, in missions with lots of healing sig using warriors (white mantle, titans...) where it is very usefull.
-Icy Prism, use it with rust.
-Armor of Mist if you don't have the ward.

As for the factions water elites (haven't tried them yet), go for Mirror Of Ice or Shatterstone. The mirror protects agains spells and deals damage to the caster while Shatterstone seem like a good damage dealer. Mind freeze is not so good (tried it) although it slows for 90% .

Phew, thats about all I can think of now. Enjoy!