Guild Wars 2

I’m thinking about this for quite some time and I was wondering if anyone was thinking the same thing regarding the 3 arcane traits:
- Windborne Dagger
- Vigorous Scepter
- Blasting Staff

Although there is nothing wrong with them, I’m just wondering if it isn’t better to combine them into a single trait, granting 2 extra spots for new arcane traits. Because the way they are designed now, it kinda feels like a bit lazy and a way to fill up some trait spots. An example of the combined trait could be something like:

- Arcane Weaponry: You move faster while wielding a dagger, endurance recharges faster while wielding a scepter and your area attacks with staff are larger.

I know that with this example you can combine scepter and dagger bonuses, so I’m not sure if that needs some balancing or not. (Like: dagger bonus only given to main hand) Any thoughts or opinions about this subject?

good idea, they need to consolidate a few traits to compensate for elementalist inadequacy and lack of synergy.. i think elementalist is the definition of a good profession that was ‘spread too thin.’ just look at earth line, it’s got about 6 great traits, maybe 3 other good ones.. you can argue build diversity or redundant overhaul, but i would just point you toward the other professions..

I think those are not too bad, because
>> Windborne Dagger is now “out of combat”
>> Vigorous Scepter can replace Renewing Stamina
>> Blasting Staff got nifty extras with auto attack Fire & Water

The Alacrity traits are the problem. Those should get extra effects like many other weapon line trait other professions have (e.g. Forceful Greatsword). Mastery traits that improve damage are better than ours right now too (10% damage increase).
An awesome addition would also be to give the Alacrity traits a 10% recharge reduction on their corresponding Signets, Glyphs & Conjures (e.g Aquamancers Alacrity would reduce the recharge of Signet of Water from 30 to 27 seconds, Glyph of Stroms to 54 if you used it in Water attunement, Frostbow to 54 sec etc.).

I can go on with more ideas on how to make some traits more interesting, but so do many others and there have been countless of topics about it. It’s just that, in my opinion, traits should give you the feeling of a dilemma. With this I mean that the player should have a difficult time choosing between traits because they all are equally interesting, yet different. Which is not the case with quite a few of our traits. That’s also a reason why I think combining these weapon traits is something Anet should think about, because this way it actually opens the opportunity for more trait designs and builds.

Earth is indeed one of the better trait lines regarding design (there are still a few which could use some work imo, like geomancer’s freedom and alacrity in general) but sadly conditions aren’t our strongest point, which points out to the synergy problem you and many others have mentioned before.

A few ideas I had for traits to make conditions more interesting for elementalists in particular were something like this:
- Biting Cold: Applying chill now causes the target to suffer from damage over the duration of the chill effect. (Something along the lines of the necro fear trait. Since chill and burning are specific ele conditions)
Fire traits:
- Tormenting Fire: Burning lasts 33% longer and inflicts a stack of Torment every time it ticks.
- Pyrophobia: Burning causes Fear for 1 second if it damages target under 50% health. (Can only occur to the same target every 30 sec.)

Chill and Burn are our main conditions, even the runes say so, so why not make traits around it that can bring some interesting condition builds? I know fear and torment aren’t our conditions, but of all the conditions out there, I think that these can fit inside the fire trait line, especially since fire is the only condition we can do in fire, making it easely cleansable. (Unless we get a trait to make cleansing fire harder or even punishing. But I’m not sure if that is unbalanced or not)

But we’re going slightly off topic here :p

Oh one can dream. Yes, you, zyter.

Nothing wrong with dreaming You’re also quite the dreamer yourself it seems :p

Add Blasting staff +300 range. Ele need some utility.

Zyter, me and you kinda think alike. I recently was “dreaming” about a new offhand weapon that utilised our defining conditions burning and chill.

The offhand weap could be a new weapon entirely, or give us like offhand scepter or something. Something magical…

Anyway I had a couple of ideas like:

Fire attunement
4. Magma tomb – 1 second cast time and 900 range. Immobilise for 1 1/2 seconds and places a wide ring around the enemy that upon entering burns them for 3 seconds. Explodes after 3 seconds dealing AoE damage. Enemy is completely unharmed if they don’t move into the ring and stay still. 25 sec CD.
5. Frostfire blast – 3 second cast time and 900 range. Deals significant damage (equal to that of fire grab or something). Instant cast if target is chilled and burned. 40 sec CD.

Water attunement
4. One with frost – Instant cast. All of your attacks chill an enemy for 1 second, but for each chill you apply you are also chilled for the same amount of time. Lasts 5 seconds, at the end of the 5 seconds chill is removed from you and heals for more depending on how much chill you stacked on yourself. 30 sec CD.
5. Paralyzing frost – 1/2 sec cast. 600 range. Stuns your enemy depending on how much chill has been stacked on them up to a max of 3 second stun. 40 sec CD.

Earth attunement
4. Earthbound defence – 1/2 sec cast. Summons a destroyable, small, mobile ring of warding around the caster. Lasts 3 seconds and removes a condition each second. 30 sec CD.
5. Burrow – 1/2 sec cast, obvious and easily interuptable animation. Burrow underground on the spot for 2 seconds, upon resurfacing deal aoe damage and cripple. Evades all attacks while burrowing, but you move 50% slower in it. 40 sec CD.

Air attunement
4. Static Orb – 1 sec cast and 900 range. Places an orb of air on your opponent. Deals no damage initially but discharges after 2 seconds dealing more damage the farther your opponent has travelled (in terms of units). 30 sec CD.
5. Windborne leap – 1/2 sec cast/animation and 900 range. Leap to your target, dazing them for 1/2 a second as well as all enemies in a small radius around the leap destination. 30 sec CD.

I know stuff like this will never be in the game most likely but as The Game Slayer said, one can dream!!