I bid you welcome, fellow Elementalists! Another week passes, and that pits us one week closer to our final release into Tyria. It also puts us one week away from our last beta weekend event, so I’ve decided to make a little “To-Do” list of sorts! There are many things I want to accomplish in the coming weekend, and they range from practical to giggle-inducing. I now happily share that list with you in the hopes that we all have a productive, fun-filled weekend!

1. Try the Asura

When I heard that Asura were going to be playable a while back, I had mixed feelings. They’re silly creatures and could only propagate that terrible “short race” archetype from other games. I can say that after what I’ve seen, that has all changed! Asura are cool little buggers, with some of the best looking starter-area dynamic events in the game. The Asura themselves are very stylishly animated too, and obviously had a lot of work put into them.

While I don’t plan on having an Asura at launch next month, I do plan on checking them out alongside…well…everyone else. Sylvari are cool and all, but you know that you’re going to make a floppy-eared Elementalist! Between everything there is to do and see in the new starter zones, trying out an Asura made its way to the top of my list!

2. Experiment with Combo Fields

Combo fields are one of Guild Wars 2′s greatest accidents. I say this because, like most of you I’m sure, I forget to make use of them. I’ll be doing an article on combo fields very soon, but needless to say they’re extremely useful, and very underused.

A combo is performed when an ability tagged with “Combo Finisher” is cast onto an area of an ability tagged with “Combo Field”. Pretty much every effect that leaves something on the ground is a combo field, and pretty much any ability that is a projectile or an explosion is a combo finisher. Elementalists are one of the few professions who can not only set up a combo field, but can also detonate it by themselves. It does take some work on our part though, as the catch is that we need to switch to another attunement to detonate our field. This weekend you should go out and practice placing and detonating combo fields, as it can often be the difference between defeat and victory.

3. Try Out Crafting and Pick Something for Launch

Beta is a really good time to nail down which professions you’d like to start with. You can learn through experiencing the craft before launch and smooth any wrinkles for when launch rolls around. Why, in BWE 1 I sold all of the stuff I picked up, including the crafting materials that are only obtainable by farming mobs! So much wasted experience…

I know some people will be wanting to pick whichever makes the most money, but that’s not an issue so much in the first 3-4 months of the game. Everyone will be busy earning and spending money on different aspects of the game like there’s no tomorrow, so just stick with something you’ll use yourself for now!

As an Elementalist, you could pick anything, but let’s think about this for a second. Mages use light armor (well, dresses, but you get the point) as well as staves, scepters, focuses, and daggers. Therefore, becoming a Tailor and Artificer would be a good idea. Tailors craft new robes that you can use while Artificers can make staves, scepters, and focuses. Sadly, daggers are made by Weaponsmiths. No one’s stopping you from rolling one of those too! The beautiful part of Guild Wars 2 is that you can switch between maxed out crafting skills whenever you want, if you’ve got the coin. I actually would suggest Artificer and Chef for leveling, if you’d like my input!

4. Try Some WvW

I spent a lot of time in WvW combat during BWE 2. Running around in the Mists is one of the craziest experiences I’ve ever had in a game; it simply cannot be beaten! As heavily AoE (area of effect) Elementalists are with a staff, we’re invaluable on the large-scale battlefield. I would recommend spending at least an hour over the weekend playing in the Mists, even if you don’t normally PvP. If you’d like a buffer on strategy, I’ve written a 3 part Engineering column on WvW play, and the third part is especially useful for anyone wandering into the huge battles; even non-Engineers. Venture into the Mists, get into a big group, and have some fun. It’s an experience like no other!

5. Run Ascalonian Catacombs as Dual-Daggers

This is one goal that I’m going to try very hard to complete! Dual-Daggers, as you may remember, is a very close range and very fun build to run. It takes a very special kind of insanity to run around this monster-filled world of Tyria wearing a frilly tunic/dress combo. Now take that insanity and drive it into combat. Now wrap everything up into melee range! Goodness I’m so excited that I can hardly contain myself! There is a fine line between brave and stupid, and that line is called fun!

It’s a short list, but it’s also a short weekend. Let’s make the most of it and plan out this coming weekend…that way, we can use the info gathered to plan the rest of our weekends! Launch is one short month away, people! So, are your plans this coming weekend anything like mine? Maybe you’ll trying one of the other professions? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next week, I bid you all farewell!