What exactly IS the Elementalist’s greatest flaw?
Range Locking: an inability to operate effectively across the entire spectrum of ranges on a battlefield. More simply: being locked into either a long-range or short-range set of skills that function poorly (or not at all) at the opposite range.
This is a flaw that is common with all classes in most class-based MMOs, but which ArenaNet solved with the concept of skills tied to the weapon instead of the class. For example: a Warrior can keep an Axe and Shield on their primary weapon set and a Rifle on their secondary weapon set; this setup allows them to be at least partially effective (depending on traits and utility skills) across the entire range of the battlefield.
However, the Elementalist is one of two classes in the game with no weapon swap — the Engineer is the other. Both are designed to operate primarily at range, but the Engineer has an advantage the Elementalist notably lacks: Kits. These Kits allow the Engineer to replace their weapon skills with Kit skills that are appropriate to the situation and the role they wish to fill.
These leaves the Elementalist as the only range locked class in the game. Once in combat, the mainhand weapon dictates the Elementalist’s effective range, with a dagger completely non-functional beyond 600 units and the staff and scepter operating at dramatically reduced effectiveness once a target is inside 300 units.
There is a solution to this glaring weakness that already exists within the game: Conjured Weapons.
These utility skills see very little use outside of the somewhat gimmicky Lightning Hammer because of their vast array of drawbacks, not the least of which is the fact that they are doubly-impaired by being items that are limited by both charges and time. In almost every situations, having a more flexible utility skill will serve the Elementalist better.
Consider, however, if Conjured Weapons were placed on the weapon swap slot, had their time and charge limitations removed, and had their skills rebalanced to the power level of normal weapon skills:
1. Upon hitting level 10 and opening up the weapon swap slot, the Elementalist would get access to their choice of Conjured Weapon to utilize in that slot, with the exception of the Fiery Greatsword. The selection could be changed any time the Elementalist isn’t in combat, and could function like selecting a pop-up “utility skill” from the character sheet.
2. Swapping to the Conjured Weapon would start the normal weapon swap timer and lock the Elementalist out of switching elemental attunements, though the passive effects of the current attunement would remain. Swapping to the weapon from the right attunement would be important!
3. Swapping back to the primary weapon set from the Conjured Weapon would place the Elementalist back in the attunement they were last in before the swap and active the normal attunement cooldown for ALL attunements (as reduced by the Arcana trait).
4. Upon reaching level 30 and purchasing the Fiery Greatsword elite skill, the ability would become available as a weapon swap, but selecting it as the Conjured Weapon swap would consume the Elementalist’s Elite skill slot.
There are two issues with this solution:
The Conjured Weapons could no longer be shared with other players like they can be now. I would argue that this isn’t that great of a loss.
The weapons would have to be re-balanced around the concept of being permanent weapons available on-demand.
These two issues aside, however, this solution allows a dagger-wielding Elementalist to keep a Frost Bow on a weapon swap for times when closing to 600 units or closer isn’t a viable combat option or for a staff-wielding Elementalist to keep a Lightning Hammer on the swap for when closing to melee range is unavoidable.
This would grant the Elementalist the ability to adjust to a dynamic battlefield without making weapon swapping compulsory like it is for some classes: the Elementalist will still benefit more by remaining on their primary weapon set unless the changing battlefield devalues the range at which the primary weapon skills function.
[BICE] Black Ice / Maguuma Server