Guild Wars 2

I know a lot of people want the Elementalist to get MH Sword or Greatsword for its next weapon specialization. However, I believe that it’s too cliched.

How often has the magic swordsman been done in MMOs? Way too often is the answer you’re looking for.

I think the Elementalist should get MH Pistol for it’s next specialization. It would synchronize really well with the Dagger and Focus off hands. The set could be played at mid range or in a hybrid set with auras.

Specialization Mechanic:
Reload: The Elementalist reloads his gun after every 4 spells in an attunement or when switching attunements for a unique effect.

Fire: Flame of Purity: Release a PBAoE of flame that removes 2 conditions from allies and heals them. Blast finisher.
Water: Frozen Waves: Launch a wave that slows enemies it passes through and freezes foes where the wave crashes.
Air:Dustdevil: Summon a storm of dust that blinds foes while granting Swiftness to allies,
Earth:Summon Golem: Summon two clay golems which attack foes and pulse Protection.

Fire Attunement
1. Burning Bullets: Shoot super heated bullets that inflicts burning to the target and heal allies that attacks them. 20% Projectile Finisher
2. Breath of Life: Short ranged cone attack that damages enemies while granting Regeneration(3s) to self and allies.
3. Cleansing Flame: Set a pulsing flame field in target location. Each pulse removes 1 condition from allies while inflicting a stack of Burning to enemies.

Water Attunement
1. Brittle bullets: Shoot icicles that explode and inflict splash damage on collision. 20% Projectile Finisher
2. Frozen spear: A charged shot that pierces foes and inflicts Slow. Projectile Finisher
3. Glacial Blast: Freeze the air solid and explode it to inflict high damage and Chill foes. Blast Finisher.

Air Attunement
1. Sonic Bullets: Shoot high speed bullets that inflict vulnerability. 20% Projectile Finisher.
2. Turbulent Gunner: Unleash a short ranged hail of bullets while gaining Evade. 20% Projectile Finisher.
3. Concussion Mine: Set a mine which can either be exploded remotely or when a foe enters its area of effect. Stuns enemies for 1s. Blast Finisher.

Earth Attunement
1. Brittle Bullets: Fire clay bullets which shatter and inflict bleeding in a small area.
2. Stalacite Flechette: Fire a short ranged blast of earth bullets which inflicts bleeding in a cone.
3. Tectonic Ripple: Launch a block of earth that travels in a straight line knocking back everything hit.

Heal: Incandescence- Heal self with purifying flames. Grant regeneration to allies while curing 2 conditions.

Utilities:
1. Tectonic Traverser: Charge forwards in a straight line knocking down everything in your path and inflict damage. Breaks stun, become immune movement impairing abilities/conditions for 8s.

2. Arctic Winds: Release a blast of air that pushes back foes and chills them. Creates an Ice Field which grants Protection to those that pass through it.

3. Hasty Reload: Reload while granting Alacrity to allies.

4.

5. Elite: Elemental Gattler: Summon a gattling gun equipping which results in a new set of abilities while gaining Stability and Protection.
1- Arcane Shots- Quick low damage shots that add Vulnerability. 100% projectile
2- (Earth attack)- A hail of bullets which stacks bleeds
3- (Air attack)- A blast finisher which knocks the elementalist back
4- Monsoon Storm- Fire a hail of electrically charged bullets into the sky which summons down a rain of lightning in a set area dazing foes
5- Flames of Rebirth- Release liquid flame from the gattling gun to cool it down (fire field) which heals and revives allies
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Wold love your opinions.

Honestly this sounds pretty cool. Granted, I play a spellslinger/arcanist in my pathfinder game, so I’m biased, but this seems like a very fun playstyle.

My only criticism is that all of the 1 skills seem like just reskins of each other, it would be interesting to see a little more variety there.

My main question: ele’s lack a viable condi build, and the way this is set up it seems to have a lot of potential for a good medium range condi, but it currently looks like the conditions are sort of flavor for a power-based build. What are your thoughts on modifying this to be more condition-based?

I love the concept, but I do not like the execution.

Ammo is a great concept sort of touched on, but might be better expressed using the venom mechanic from thief and simultaneously provide a new set of utilities.

The Reload mechanic expressed sounds too passive and lacking player input. I’m not sure about a replacement for the mechanic you suggest, but spellslinger isn’t hurting for inspiration. If you are going for a cowboy kind of feel, creating the opportunity for moments of bravado or recovery might work well while staying true to the core of your idea. (1) Critical hits build resource (promotes damage oriented builds), (2) use F5 to spend resource, (3) how you spend resource changes based on attunement: Fire-deal damage and/or increase damage output (burst opportunity), Water-heal and/or cleanse conditions (recovery opportunity), Air-gain superspeed and/or cc and/or blind (kite and/or rotation opportunity), Earth-gain invulnerability or a blocking shield of sorts (defense opportunity). The mechanic is selfish, situationally useful, creates an opportunity for player choice, and its flexibility allows room for optimal use that rewards skill.

Considering baseline elementalist and tempest both cover support roles, the weapon skills and traits may be better suited with a damage focus rather than a jack-of-all-trades. Elementalist already provides plenty of damage in PvE I hear, specializing in AOE, so a single target focus might be key. Scepter already sort of fills this niche, so making it different enough would be important so as not to just create scepter 2.0. I like the idea of a flexible mid range weapon like you suggest, so focusing on a skill set that supports moving in and out of melee and 900 range could be cool, like a combination of scepter and dagger skill mechanics. Thief pistol sets could provide plenty of inspiration (dagger/pistol and pistol/dagger).

Making the weapon functional for condition and/or power might be possible depending on weapon, trait, and utility selection, design, and availability.

Allarius.5670:

I love the concept, but I do not like the execution.

Ammo is a great concept sort of touched on, but might be better expressed using the venom mechanic from thief and simultaneously provide a new set of utilities.

The Reload mechanic expressed sounds too passive and lacking player input. I’m not sure about a replacement for the mechanic you suggest, but spellslinger isn’t hurting for inspiration. If you are going for a cowboy kind of feel, creating the opportunity for moments of bravado or recovery might work well while staying true to the core of your idea. (1) Critical hits build resource (promotes damage oriented builds), (2) use F5 to spend resource, (3) how you spend resource changes based on attunement: Fire-deal damage and/or increase damage output (burst opportunity), Water-heal and/or cleanse conditions (recovery opportunity), Air-gain superspeed and/or cc and/or blind (kite and/or rotation opportunity), Earth-gain invulnerability or a blocking shield of sorts (defense opportunity). The mechanic is selfish, situationally useful, creates an opportunity for player choice, and its flexibility allows room for optimal use that rewards skill.

Considering baseline elementalist and tempest both cover support roles, the weapon skills and traits may be better suited with a damage focus rather than a jack-of-all-trades. Elementalist already provides plenty of damage in PvE I hear, specializing in AOE, so a single target focus might be key. Scepter already sort of fills this niche, so making it different enough would be important so as not to just create scepter 2.0. I like the idea of a flexible mid range weapon like you suggest, so focusing on a skill set that supports moving in and out of melee and 900 range could be cool, like a combination of scepter and dagger skill mechanics. Thief pistol sets could provide plenty of inspiration (dagger/pistol and pistol/dagger).

Making the weapon functional for condition and/or power might be possible depending on weapon, trait, and utility selection, design, and availability.

I disagree with you about the Reload mechanic being passive. I think people will be forced to count their skills and time the changing of their Attunements. It will be a part of their active rotation as opposed to something built on say things like critical. That way condition/bunker/power all builds would have access to it. Also it would make the Reload mechanic mean something because you either use 4 attacks or force yourself out of the attunement if you really need it straight away..

I think I get where you are coming from and trying to go with it, and I fully appreciate a disconnect in what we might each think an elite spec should bring to ele. That said, I still don’t see it. If you were to get rid of the every four attacks I would be more on board because otherwise I don’t think it forces the interesting choices you suggest and if it is powerful enough to have you stick around in an attunement it probably shouldn’t be passive or on skill proc. No sweat though, just an opinion.