Title continuation: That’ll never see the light of day.
I like the earth attunement. I like the bleed stacking, I like the defense it adds, and I LOVE churning earth. But Conjure Earth Shield is extremely lackluster to put it VERY lightly.
Earth:
+Toughness / +Condition damage.
Conjure Earth Shield:
Shield Smack – Smack your foe with the magnetic shield. (No CD)
Crippling Shield – Throw your shield in a line, crippling struck foes. (8 sec CD)
Magnetic Surge – Unleash a magnetic force, surging at your opponent and dazing them. (12 sec CD)
Magnetic Shield – Pull nearby foes to you with a magnetic force. (25 sec CD)
Fortify – Use magnetism to envelop yourself in a shield, becoming invulnerable. Lasts 3 or 5 seconds I believe. (45 sec CD)
Uh oh… the skills don’t look very condition damagey. The shield isn’t spikey or barbed in any way to cause bleeding, so there is no condition damage. Which for an earth elementalist that is your bread and butter.
But, fear not, It has fortify! Toughness n stuff right? But wait, 45 second cooldown? Way too long for a conjured weapon to be useful compared to a warrior’s shield block.
So, now that you’ve seen this. Why would you want to conjure up an earth shield that offers extremely limited protection an absolutely no condition damage? Yeah, neither would I… but I did without looking at it on the wiki before hand.
Time to rethink things:
Passive adjust – Its a shield that adds literally nothing to defense, unlike other shields.
Either add a defense bonus or a +toughness % by level bonus. Something to make this shield actually a shield. (Defense would probably be better.)
Shield Smack – Smack your foe adding 3stacks(Cap of 9) of bleed. (No CD)
Why 3 stacks? Its a temporary weapon running off charges, each attack uses a charge. Without traits adding additional charges you only have 15 hits.
Earthen Rush – Raise your shield and charge at your foe dealing damage, adding 3stacks of bleed(Same cap of 9), and making your foe vulnerable. (10sec CD)
You just charged your foe with your shield, that hurts, not to mention its got spikes on it so now your foe is making a mess all over the floor… are you going to clean that up? Pff no, you’re too busy being awesome. And its a freakin rock shield… its gonna crack something, be it armor, bones, ego(?).
Magnetic Surge – Stay as is.
Magnetic Shield – Stay as is, add cripple? (15-20 CD)
That shield is a strong magnet… its gonna take some effort to get away from it.
Fortify – Stay as is. (25-30 CD)
Could swap Magnetic Shield with Earthen Rush for better balance.
Yeah I admit this might get a little redonk especially considering anyone can pick your spare up, but again keep in mind it only has 15 attacks. At-least this makes earth shield a legit utility to pick up an use.
This one is completely for the lulz.
Magnetic Smash – Smash your magnetic shield down creating a magnetic shock-wave pulling down your foes and exploding shortly afterward it.
Basicly Earthquake and Churning Earth in one completely OP skill