Just passing by.
Its even more ovious to me that ArenaNet does not understand how players want to play their characters. Back during the beta days, while GuildWars 2 was a really hot seat, ArenaNet promissed that 5 weapon-skills, which can not be changed, will still guarantee to play your character how you want it.
I just recall two weaponsets on elementalist not working at all in specific cases.
Staff and focus doesn’t have any space to envolve outside AoEing and defending. Ok, Focus has 8 skills, those are not very much, but the cooldowns are already hilarious.
I can’t use a focus when I want to focus on 1vs1.
Staff elementalists. The only usable places for such elementalists might be the WvW zerg or fighting against easy predictable mobs. There is absolutely no balance between casttime and casting while running.
Every class is able to do that and be really efficient in every aspect of the game. Even staff mesmers would rule staff elementalists while the elementalists still stands over there … waiting for the meteor shower to execute.
Comparing to the warrior the elementalist is a joke if it comes to build variety. GuildWars 2 obviously focuses a community which wants easymode. That game already competes with World of Warcraft drawing a lot of players from that place.
Its really easy to run whatever warrior you want. Sword/Shield? Mace/Shield? Even Offhand Mace and Longbow is usefull enough. Dualwield Swords? No problem, whether in 1vs1 or groupfights.
I remember how ArenaNet introduced GuildWars 2 with “every profession will be able to heal, to deal damage and to survive”.
The warrior is even a decent healer with that shout-trait same as a mesmer is able to do this with mantras and phantasms. Necromancer has an AoE-siphon and an AoE well, oh I don’t know where to start with other classes anyway. Every class is able to support and to deal damage.
Jesus, thats how you should be able to build builds in this game. But what happend with the elementalist? Oh, its already intended that those Staff and Focus skills are more supportive.
Wait … ArenaNet told me before I bought this game – And trust me everything was completely different during Beta days with those professions anyway, don’t start with “you had the possibility to test the game” – that I those 5 weaponslot restrictions won’t affect the build freedom that much?
Sigh … Elementalist and Ranger are those troublemaker professions which don’t allow you to play as you want.
Those supportive skills should be just deleted and implemented anew with traits – as with the warrior and mesmer. You’d have to decide if you want to be a bunker or not instead of being put in a bunker-profession with heavy build-restrictions.
The player already decided what role he wants to play by choosing a specific equipment statset.
Short thing on the “easymode or challanging”-discussion:
Well, I know what challange is from DAoC and Warhammer Online. There is a lot of easymode put in GuildWars 2, but I don’t want to complain right here about this.
While some players say about dodging: You have to dodge at the right moment!
It could mean on the other side: Lol, full damage avoided with one button.
Well, in the end I think that everybody agrees that the challange in GuildWars 2 should rather lie in the game’s combat. In the end I want to face the the player behind the profession instead of the profession itself. While mesmer and warrior have tons build variety the elementalist is put in a specific role as a Mage in World of Warcraft.
Of course, creative builds are awesome – especially if such vary from character to character.
But on the other hand its just obvious thakittens harder with some professions to create a decent build for a specific case as with other ones. And this sucks for the game itself and for my character(s) which I played up till level 80.
