(wall of text ahead)
I’m feel like I’m being preachy, but just in case… the leveling process is the endgame, pretty much. You have access to 95% of your skills by level 30, and grind rewards are cosmetic, not stat-based. If you rush to 80 (and it is possible to reach 80 in a matter of days), you’ll miss a lot of content and burn yourself out. Enjoy the game at your own pace, and don’t be afraid to explore- there’s a lot of interesting detail worked into the world.
That aside, I’m only level 43 right now on my elementalist and pure PvE, but I’ve been playing since launch, so hopefully this will count for something.
I guess I’ll start with the pros. Firstly, versatility. Elementalists have a lot of tools at their disposal. They don’t have weapon switching like other classes, but they have four different elements which they can attune to, each with a different skillset. In other words, they have twenty weapon skills per weapon, and many of these skills have a purpose other than damage.
For instance, as a double dagger ele, I have three skills I can use to quickly close the gap between myself and my enemy- one on fire attunement, one on wind, and one on earth. I also have numerous control skills- freeze on water, cripple/knockdown/immobilize on earth, and knockdown on wind. I can also inflict burning on fire, vulnerability on water, weakness on wind, and bleed on earth. I also have AoEs on fire, water, and earth. In case of an emergency, I can use skills on fire and wind to get away. I’ve become rather spoiled on skills as a result- every other class I play feels sparse next to the options ele has.
Staff eles are also great at support. I can heal and cleanse conditions on water and lay down fire, water, ice, and wind combo fields for everyone else to take advantage of. If I spec far enough into Arcana, changing attunements will buff allies close to me. I can also control from afar with freeze, stun, knockback, cripple, and immobilize. If the enemy’s foolish enough to stand still, I can lay down several AoEs on them to speed up killing.
Oh, and they look awesome. They’re probably one of the flashiest classes in the game. There’s nothing quite like zooming in out of nowhere in a flash of lightning, burning everything down, and then teleporting out afterward in another flash of lightning.
Now, for the cons. You’ve probably heard a lot of people say that elementalists are squishy. They are.
Up until a time ago, I ran staff and put all of my points into fire, the offensive/might trait line. And, well, whenever a mob caught up and sneezed on me, I either died or came close to it. Then I respecced into earth, water, and arcana, the toughness, healing/vitality, and attunement lines. Now, as long as I stay on my toes, I can easily solo most world content, including some of the tamer champion and skillpoint bosses, and outlive other players in group events.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that elementalists are squishy, but not cripplingly so as long as you build defensively, learn your attunements/skills, and stay on your toes. That leads, however, to the fact that you may be more limited on builds as an elementalist than as other classes, as you’ll be punished for playing a pure glass-cannon build. Thus, you will likely not have the DPS that mage classes in other MMOs have. You’ll still do a generous amount of damage, just not MASSIVE DAMAGE IN ONE ATTACK-level damage.
And in case I wasn’t clear… elementalist is hard. Probably one of the hardest classes to master, along with mesmer. You’ll have to change your mindset regarding mage classes in other MMOs; you’ll have to memorize twenty skills (more if you decide to keep another weapon with you), think about how they all chain together, think of backup plans in case the attack/attunement you want to use is on cooldown. You’ll have to stay moving constantly in battle, dodge, and swap attunements often. It takes a lot of practice, and often a lot of deaths. At one point, I gave up and started maining necro/ranger instead.
There’s also a number of annoying bugs on some skills, like Ride the Lightning, which has a tendency to freeze. Hopefully, they’ll be able to fix them.
tl;dr Elementalist is a difficult and sometimes discouraging class, and can be limiting sometimes when it comes to necessary traits. However, it is also very rewarding once you get it down. I do feel that I have to work harder than other classes, but I find it thrilling as well. I’m rarely bored in combat, and I feel that I can contribute better than I can as any other class.
