Guild Wars 2

I don’t want to say I’m 100% confident with correctness here, but when I play my Elementalist… She feels weak.

Like squishy /and/ dies a lot. Her damage output feels lacking, even with full ‘Zerker gear and traits. I’m wondering if this is just me or if Ele’s in general are just that squishy and pathetic. It feels like throwing sticks at a boulder.

My Elementalist was my first 80, but now I feel so pathetic on her when I use her. Clothies should be high damage, but I feel like Ele’s have almost the lowest damage in the game.

should be a build issue because an elementalist with a correct build is about as much damage as you can get. you’ll still be extremely squishie though

Elementalists, because of their large weapon skill pool via attunements, are given individually weak skills. With the expectation that players will constantly be jumping between attunements to fire off as many skills as possible on their target.

elementalist lowest damage in the game? lol, You are playing it wrong, pve elementalist is one of the best classes with highest DPS, 2nd highest dps doesnt even come close, and it has insane bursts too.

i think dps comes mostly due to bugged fiery greatsword #4. yet i’m not saying the dps is low, but elementalist is really a hard class to master, probably the hardest along with the engineer.

pza.8024:

i think dps comes mostly due to bugged fiery greatsword #4. yet i’m not saying the dps is low, but elementalist is really a hard class to master, probably the hardest along with the engineer.

engineer is so hard to master, not. there are no hard to play class in this game, only hard enemy, not happening often in PvE tho.

and ele fgs 4 alone is not bugged(on wall or not), its only bugged when used with lightning flash, without it, ele is still best dps.

Simon.3794:

pza.8024:

i think dps comes mostly due to bugged fiery greatsword #4. yet i’m not saying the dps is low, but elementalist is really a hard class to master, probably the hardest along with the engineer.

lol engineer is so hard to play, not. there are no hard to play class in this game, only hard enemy, not happening often in PvE tho.

and ele fgs 4 alone is not bugged(on wall or not), its only bugged when used with lightning flash, without it, ele is still best dps.

what a badboy over here! i wonder why so i hardly ever met a good engineer while roaming, in dungeons or whatever. i could write more, but that would be off topic.

you’re saying fgs#4 is not bugged. a skill that is intended to be a mobility skill and produces a wall of fire behind you. and mobility skills should always be best used for running against walls… yeah, that makes sense.

Outside of the FGS glitch, Ele has the best damage potential with both LH hammer build or with a staff. Dagger is okay, nothing exceptional. They also have a great might and fury stacking capability.

pza.8024:

Simon.3794:

pza.8024:

i think dps comes mostly due to bugged fiery greatsword #4. yet i’m not saying the dps is low, but elementalist is really a hard class to master, probably the hardest along with the engineer.

lol engineer is so hard to play, not. there are no hard to play class in this game, only hard enemy, not happening often in PvE tho.

and ele fgs 4 alone is not bugged(on wall or not), its only bugged when used with lightning flash, without it, ele is still best dps.

what a badboy over here! i wonder why so i hardly ever met a good engineer while roaming, in dungeons or whatever. i could write more, but that would be off topic.

you’re saying fgs#4 is not bugged. a skill that is intended to be a mobility skill and produces a wall of fire behind you. and mobility skills should always be best used for running against walls… yeah, that makes sense.

engineer is not hard to play, ask any top500 lb pvper, lets not mention how faceroll is decap engi. its not popular in pve because of condition and the class itself is not attracting attentions. i bet most of the new players didn’t even look at what an engineer can do before choosing either warrior, guardian, thief or elementalist.

and who told you that fgs4 is only made for mobility? even without stacking, the fire trail does a lot of damage too. i simply don’t know what you based your opinion upon. then in your eyes, warrior gs3, fgs3 are also bugged and not been fixed since launch and being used by devs. devs only said that fgs4 + lightning flash is bug, wall stacking is not. so get real.

It may be just you TC, because I’ve seen some crazy damage from Elementalists in WvW before. I fought a zerker D/D ele who proceeded to force me down in under 8 seconds. I also fought a zerker staff ele whose Meteor Showers hit for 4K damage each hit on a tanky thief build. Do not sell yourself short, zerker eles are incredibly dangerous. However, because they run zerker, they are the textbook definition of a glass cannon.

Simon.3794:

so get real.

FGS#4 might be working as intended, which is the definition of something not beeing bugged. that’s right.
But it definetly isn’t beeing used as intended, which would be as an attack or simple mobility skill. as a result a harsh statement would be it was getting exploited, like arrowcart cornershooting via windowed mode is beeing exploited. both working as intended, but well… with at least a need of rethinking, for the sake of FGS. It doesn’t want to be the cornerkitten.

try thinking this way: if it dealt twenty times the current damage with a much smaller hitbox, effectively dealing the same damage if using it without stacking, the skill would suddently be incredible imba at corners. this would instantly be called a bug, although it worked the same way it does now.

engineer is strong, but even stronger if you master him. necro, warrior, ranger, guardian are all easier to master. mesmer arguably, but that might be just me.

Dalanor.5387:

Outside of the FGS glitch, Ele has the best damage potential with both LH hammer build or with a staff. Dagger is okay, nothing exceptional. They also have a great might and fury stacking capability.

Sorry, no. Staff doesn’t touch melee weapons ever.

If you want to do actual damage, it’s conjures one way or another.

And conjure eles only work in premades built for them. Try working with a group as a 12-13k HP ele in high level fractals without guardians rotating aegis and prot for you.

And by the way, people:

BURST =/= Sustained damage.

The OP is probably referring to the fact that ele autoattacks outside conjure weapons are so weak.

Simon.3794:

pza.8024:

i think dps comes mostly due to bugged fiery greatsword #4. yet i’m not saying the dps is low, but elementalist is really a hard class to master, probably the hardest along with the engineer.

engineer is so hard to master, not. there are no hard to play class in this game, only hard enemy, not happening often in PvE tho.

#gw2ishard

Tyme.1067:

I don’t want to say I’m 100% confident with correctness here, but when I play my Elementalist… She feels weak.

Like squishy /and/ dies a lot. Her damage output feels lacking, even with full ‘Zerker gear and traits. I’m wondering if this is just me or if Ele’s in general are just that squishy and pathetic. It feels like throwing sticks at a boulder.

My Elementalist was my first 80, but now I feel so pathetic on her when I use her. Clothies should be high damage, but I feel like Ele’s have almost the lowest damage in the game.

I feel the same way about ele. It’s supposed to be best ranged caster with high damage, but I have a feeling that only zerker thief is squishier than zerker ele. I think it’s because of water attunement. You’re supposed to heal yourself much better than other professions, so your damage and survi is lower. But the truth is that heals are really really weak unless you’re cleric, but then your damage is close to 0. I can’t figure out how to make ele better or at least enjoyable. It’s good for nothing, even in soldiers gear I can’t even gather materials in Orr, when my zerker warrior barely notice mobs damage.

i’m running full earth/water traits on my elementalist, with full berserker gear. it’s definitely better than the various iterations of full fire i used to do. high damage becomes less appealing when you’re often just a oneshot/instagib waiting to happen, requiring your team to spend a lot of time reviving you, or fighting on without you… mind you, the damage is still noticeable – especially by the AI! or like, i don’t know what it is, but the enemies seem to focus me a little too much still… it’s kinda annoying.

From playing d/d, I found I can sometimes set up very effective burst combos (i.e. updraft into 5k burning speed and 10k fire grab + other stuff), although it can be a bit harder to apply pressure during the in between time. The combo is also very breakable as any stunbreaker, stability, or blind can make it ineffective (the burning speed can also go a bit awry sometimes due to how it functions). I’m definitely not a master of d/d, or anything ele for that matter.

However, if you compare it to something like a thief you can backstack every 5-10 seconds for a similar amount of burst damage, it always makes me feel like the ele has a lot more work to do to get a similar output. It may just be the particular build I use though. I guess it’s also worth noting that eles have more abilities that will damage multiple foes, whereas a d/d backstab thief is largely single-target focused.

I haven’t played around much with s/d, but I think that might be a bit better for burst combos.

Why yes, the elementalist does feel weak… at first. When I made a zerker full DPS staff build, seeing my auto attack hit only for 2.5k was quite disheartening. Compared to my usual dungeon runner, which is a thief that can hit a single target for 14k damage every few seconds, it seemed weak.

But the ele’s damage doesn’t come from big hits. It comes from accumulating smaller hits. While the fireball doesn’t do a lot of damage, the lava font doesn’t do a lot of damage, and meteor shower doesn’t do a lot of damage, the fact that they run consecutively means things add up very quickly to a respectable amount of damage. Outside of staff builds, there are many lingering effects that and quick hits that layer up over time.

Ele damage also comes from the size of their hits. Most melee cleave hits 3 targets, but most ele attacks hit at least 5 targets. Ele attacks tend to be in large AoEs, hitting enemies that are more spread out. Many Ele attacks benefit from larger enemies. Against the bigger enemies in the game, things like Lightning Storm from Glyph of Storms, Meteor Shower, and Ice Storm from Frost Bow do mind bogglingly insane amounts of damage. It has been said before, but the Fiery Greatsword, when used properly, has the highest DPS in the game.

The ele also has a whole lot of support skills. On the staff DPS build I give my party 36 seconds of fury and 9 stacks of might, while also making a permanent fire field for others to blast off of. The ele also has water fields in which you can burst heal in, and a lightning field in which to give AoE swiftness. On my fresh air + elemental attunement build, I give my party over 50% uptime of protection, along with regen, might, and sometimes a minutes worth of swiftness. With many different control effects, movement skills, cleansing, buffing, and reviving skills, the elementalist is excellent at support, being capable of doing nearly anything.

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

Fiery Greatsword, when used properly,

I tried to convince lot of invaders in WvW to stand near a wall so I could “use FGS properly” but negotiations have failed in 100% of cases :\

The problem is, is that everyone will focus the ele first.

You have lowest armour and lowest hp in the game, so out of everyone who will go down fastest?

I’m an ele and even I target other eles.

Grevender.9235:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

Fiery Greatsword, when used properly,

I tried to convince lot of invaders in WvW to stand near a wall so I could “use FGS properly” but negotiations have failed in 100% of cases :\

It’s a gimmick. The only time that really works is if someone is overly intent on attacking you that they just wade into it, or they simply don’t know that’s what FGS can do. You can always try to immob them with signet of earth and then use a lightning flash combo to try and guarantee it, but again it’s just a gimmick. Can work wonders when it works though.

phaeris.7604:

The problem is, is that everyone will focus the ele first.

You have lowest armour and lowest hp in the game, so out of everyone who will go down fastest?

I’m an ele and even I target other eles.

It’s partially that they know they are inherently more squishy and thus an easier target, but it’s also because people realize the amount of value that an ele can add to group combat. The AoE hard and soft CC’s, boon distribution, condi cleansing, as well as the damage output and setting up field combos means you can take quite a bit away from an enemy group if you eliminate one of their eles. For instance, if a zerg doesn’t get a water field when they need it, they may have to fall back or risk losing people, and eles are the primary provider of zerg water fields.

I guess I’m talking about staff ele for the most part, but s/d and d/d specs can perform some very high bursts and a focus provide a wide area projectile reflection screen. That’s stuff that, if removed, can really take the edge off of your opponents.

So people targeting you first just means they realize how important you are… something like that anyways, I’m trying to put a positive spin on it.

They are the weakest PvP profession, great in premade dungeons, great in WvW zergs, average to weak at WvW roaming, and ok at non-dungeon PvE and non-premade dungeons.

The major issues are the tissue paper armour/health, horrible traits, and only cantrips being viable (other than Arcane Wave).

Paciunek.2496:

Tyme.1067:

I don’t want to say I’m 100% confident with correctness here, but when I play my Elementalist… She feels weak.

Like squishy /and/ dies a lot. Her damage output feels lacking, even with full ‘Zerker gear and traits. I’m wondering if this is just me or if Ele’s in general are just that squishy and pathetic. It feels like throwing sticks at a boulder.

My Elementalist was my first 80, but now I feel so pathetic on her when I use her. Clothies should be high damage, but I feel like Ele’s have almost the lowest damage in the game.

I feel the same way about ele. It’s supposed to be best ranged caster with high damage, but I have a feeling that only zerker thief is squishier than zerker ele. I think it’s because of water attunement. You’re supposed to heal yourself much better than other professions, so your damage and survi is lower. But the truth is that heals are really really weak unless you’re cleric, but then your damage is close to 0. I can’t figure out how to make ele better or at least enjoyable. It’s good for nothing, even in soldiers gear I can’t even gather materials in Orr, when my zerker warrior barely notice mobs damage.

Heals are weak even in cleric, outside of PVP, period.

This because the PVE side numbers are wildly out of whacks thanks to the ham fisted way “active combat” is implemented. You can’t choose to dodge or not depending on build, you are forced to dodge no matter the build.

thomasgjkgwdn.4760:

i’m running full earth/water traits on my elementalist, with full berserker gear. it’s definitely better than the various iterations of full fire i used to do. high damage becomes less appealing when you’re often just a oneshot/instagib waiting to happen, requiring your team to spend a lot of time reviving you, or fighting on without you… mind you, the damage is still noticeable – especially by the AI! or like, i don’t know what it is, but the enemies seem to focus me a little too much still… it’s kinda annoying.

Likely because those 300 from the earth line makes you just a but more rugged than a balls to the wall zerker warrior. And in their almighty wisdom, ANet made (relative to the group) high toughness a red flag for mobs…

digiowl.9620:

thomasgjkgwdn.4760:

i’m running full earth/water traits on my elementalist […] the damage is still noticeable – especially by the AI! […]

Likely because those 300 from the earth line makes you just a but more rugged than a balls to the wall zerker warrior. And in their almighty wisdom, ANet made (relative to the group) high toughness a red flag for mobs…

high dps seems a flag too. i got more attention before. odd thing, having to choose between the two – from the fire into the frying pan and all that.