Guild Wars 2

The following suggestions are for the devs. Note that if all these suggestions were to be implemented, it would be insanely overpowered, i am just asking for 1 or 2 to even be considered. consider the list something to choose from, and to pickt he best suggestion.
Armor of earth- CD reduction to 70s. Lasts 7s.

Arcane shield- Cd reduction to 50s, change functionality. Lasts 2s, blocks all attacks for 2s. After 2s, it explodes (just how it did before). Blast finisher. Still breaks stun.

Lightning Flash- CD reduction to 20s ( or atleast something reasonably lower)

Mist form- Condis stop doing damage while invuln, but arent removed due to this. when the invuln is over, condis start to hurt again.

Every conjure except for FGS- Reduced CD to 20s.

Cleansing fire- increased cd to 60s. Removes all condis.

Second set of ideas (credit to swagg.9236). You will see his post later on in the thread.

Swagg.9236:

UTILITIES
Arcane Blast

• FUNCTIONALITY CHANGED
• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 20 seconds
• Build up an orb of arcane energy in front of you for 1 second before sending it at your foe. It blasts your target for critical damage.
• Delay: 1 second
• Damage: 363
• Combo Finisher: Physical Projectile (100%)
• Range: 1500
  • The delay represents how long the orb remains in front of the caster before flying toward the target.

Arcane Wave

• FUNCTIONALITY CHANGED
• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Conjure a ring of arcane energy around target area. After 1 second, the ring explodes, blasting foes in the area for critical damage.
• Delay: 1 second
• Damage: 628
• Combo Finisher: Blast
• Radius: 360
• Range: 900
  • The ring floats just off the ground and highlights the area targeted by [Arcane Wave].
  • Delay ring shares its coloration with [Arcane Blast]’s projectile.

Arcane Shield

• Recharge lowered from 75 to 50 seconds.
• Duration lowered from 5 to 2 seconds.
• Explosion generated from exhausting blocks now also dazes adjacent enemies (180 radius; 2-second daze).

Glyph of Renewal

• Cast-time reduced from 3¼ to 2½ seconds.
• Recharge reduced from 165 to 150 seconds.

Glyph of Storms

• Recharge reduced from 60 to 50 seconds.
• Damage increased from 122 to 159 (same damage modifier).

Mist Form

• Recharge reduced from 75 to 50 seconds.
• Duration reduced from 3 to 2 seconds.
• Invulnerability reduced from 3 to 2 seconds.
• Now also cures immobilize, crippled and chill upon activation.
  • Now chains into another skill upon use: [Cold Front].

Cold Front

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Recharge: 5 seconds
• Dash in a target direction, chilling foes that you strike along the way.
• Damage: 111 (0.3)
• Chill: 2 seconds
• Evasion: ¾ seconds
• Range: 450
  • [Whirlwind Attack]

Armor of Earth

• Recharged reduced from 90 to 50 seconds.
• Stability reduced from 6 to 4 seconds.
• Protection reduced from 6 to 4 seconds.
• Duration reduced from 6 to 4 seconds.

Lightning Flash

• Recharge reduced from 40 to 30 seconds.

Cleansing Fire

• FUNCTIONALITY CHANGED
• Recharge reduced from 40 to 30 seconds.
• Cast-time increased from 0 to 1½ seconds.
• Channel a cleansing fire that pulses around you three times, damaging and burning nearby foes while cleansing 1 condition from yourself and nearby allies with each pulse. The final pulse knocks back nearby enemies.
• Damage (3x): 387 (0.5)
• Burning (3): 1 second
• Knock back: 240
• Radius: 240

Reserved for future use-

Arcane shield suggestion 60 seconds block all attacks for 3 seconds explodes as it does now. Traited it become 48 which I think is reasonable for how much damage it does when it explodes. I like your suggestion also though.

Lightning flash is fine – 20s is to low for how much damage it does. It does alot of damage on crit damage builds for 20s to be justified imo. It would basically become arcane wave at 20 secs. Think Lightning flash burning speed combo’s every 20 seconds? That would be pretty powerful and counter play would be be difficult for enemies. You could do it every 15 seconds traited for cantrips with this suggestion.

Your mist form suggestion is ok I think. I just say reduce the cd you have to think about the traits also. With your suggestion the condis stop doing damage but if I trait 30 water with soothing disruption your suggestion doesn’t matter. Once I attune to water while mist formed and dodge roll while mist formed. I say leave as is just reduce cd.

Cleansing fire – NO there is already condition removal on weapon sets as is. Cleansing fire is fine like it is now. It is a offensive and defensive cantrip the cd is fine. Removing all conditions doesn’t warrant a 60 second cd. Nobody would take cleansing fire ever again.

oZii.2864:

Arcane shield suggestion 60 seconds block all attacks for 3 seconds explodes as it does now. Traited it become 48 which I think is reasonable for how much damage it does when it explodes. I like your suggestion also though.

Lightning flash is fine – 20s is to low for how much damage it does. It does alot of damage on crit damage builds for 20s to be justified imo. It would basically become arcane wave at 20 secs. Think Lightning flash burning speed combo’s every 20 seconds? That would be pretty powerful and counter play would be be difficult for enemies. You could do it every 15 seconds traited for cantrips with this suggestion.

Your mist form suggestion is ok I think. I just say reduce the cd you have to think about the traits also. With your suggestion the condis stop doing damage but if I trait 30 water with soothing disruption your suggestion doesn’t matter. Once I attune to water while mist formed and dodge roll while mist formed. I say leave as is just reduce cd.

Cleansing fire – NO there is already condition removal on weapon sets as is. Cleansing fire is fine like it is now. It is a offensive and defensive cantrip the cd is fine. Removing all conditions doesn’t warrant a 60 second cd. Nobody would take cleansing fire ever again.

How is LF + burning speed that bad? it really doesnt do nearly as much damage as other classes can do. The cd reduction would allow it to be used offensively and then defensively smoothly in one fight. Use it to open up, and then when its off CD again use it to put distance between your enemy for some time. Think, skull crack and HB. Illusionary leap+ blurred fenzy. Basilisk venom + cloak and dagger(and backstab). all of those are as telegraphed as burning speed+LF. On my 100% zerk set my ele does 2k lightning flashes. Thats pitiful for 100% zerk. To say 20s cd would be op with 2k damage on 100% zerk is a bit silly. Yes the damage is nice, but shouldnt be a reason to say no to a 20s cd. The damage is just, there. Its not good, its not bad. Not op either.

To remove condis while in mist form you need to trait 60 points while having water attune off cd. ( reminder, those 60 points only remove TWO condis in situations where you can easily have 5-10)..just have the condis stop doing damage while youre invuln. no need to waste traits to make mist form work.. thats silly. it also would allow for more build diversity.

I can agree with cleansing fire. but i disagree with enough condi removal on weapon sets. we inherently NEED more condi removal.

Your full Zerker ele does 2k damage with how many trait points invested in air or fire? Thats alot for probably only 10-20 points invested in critical chance line. Imagine 30 fire 20 air which would be part of the goal to get scepter, focus, and dagger users to spec into for pvp because nobody goes into fire except staff users for pvp.

This person has points in power I think and crit chance

https://dviw3bl0enbyw.cloudfront.net/uploads/forum_attachment/file/126585/gw172.jpg

4.1k it isn’t a uplevel he hit with that. His build is in the where’s the damage thread. That is the potential damage of LF why I think 20secs is to low for that possible damage output.

I dont know I just think LF + Burning speed every 16 seconds is pretty strong and pretty easy mode. I think 30 seconds is reasonable 24 traited..

oZii.2864:

Your full Zerker ele does 2k damage with how many trait points invested in air or fire? Thats alot for probably only 10-20 points invested in critical chance line. Imagine 30 fire 20 air which would be part of the goal to get scepter, focus, and dagger users to spec into for pvp because nobody goes into fire except staff users for pvp.

This person has points in power I think and crit chance

https://dviw3bl0enbyw.cloudfront.net/uploads/forum_attachment/file/126585/gw172.jpg

4.1k it isn’t a uplevel he hit with that. His build is in the where’s the damage thread. That is the potential damage of LF why I think 20secs is to low for that possible damage output.

I dont know I just think LF + Burning speed every 16 seconds is pretty strong and pretty easy mode. I think 30 seconds is reasonable 24 traited..

Maybe 30 seconds is reasonable, yea, i can see 30 seconds being ok at 24 traited. My build is 100% zerk gear with 30 in air. And i hit an average of 2k on my LF’s.

But in no way is this easy mode. this is do or die mode, where when you are sneezed on you die before the sneeze particles reach you. So no, it wouldnt be op whatsoever.

Arcane Shield really needs some work. It’s just ridiculous if you compare it to Endure Pain from warriors.

Endure Pain: 4 seconds of immunity to direct damage, stun breaker, 60 second cooldown
Arcane Shield: Blocks (only) 3 attacks, doesn’t even last more then a few seconds in case you don’t get hit, stun breaker, 75 second cooldown

It’s less effective but has a higher cooldown. Oh yeah, it does damage, great.. but my glass cannon ele needs at least 1 utility that grants her some kind of shield and the only option besides arcane shield is earth armor, which has even higher cd.

Considering that this shield only blocks 3 attacks, a 45 second cooldown would be appropriate. They can even remove the damage of it, I don’t care, but give us some defense anet..

The Game Slayer.7632:

Armor of earth- CD reduction to 70s. Lasts 7s.
Don’t [ever] use the skill, don’t care

Arcane shield- Cd reduction to 50s, change functionality. Lasts 2s, blocks all attacks for 2s. After 2s, it explodes (just how it did before). Blast finisher. Still breaks stun.

I can agree with this one. I think the CD needs reduction on this skill. I think blocking all skills might be OP, but 5 skills would be a nice start.

Lightning Flash- CD reduction to 20s ( or atleast something reasonably lower)
What I’d give for LF to not be on a 40 second cool down. I’d say 20 is OP, I’d appreciate 25-30.

Mist form- Condis stop doing damage while invuln, but arent removed due to this. when the invuln is over, condis start to hurt again.
Not sure how I feel about this. I think mist form is fine.

Every conjure except for FGS- Reduced CD to 20s.
Conjures need more reforms than just this.

Cleansing fire- increased cd to 60s. Removes all condis.
No, no, no, No, NO, NOOOO. That would be the worst thing to do to this skill. With 30 water, this skill already does a full clear almost..

See my responses in bold.

If you think blocking all skills is OP, I would like to point you to Warrior’s Shield Stance. That’s right, you get 3 secs of invincibility every 30 secs, 24 if you trait for it! So yeah, I don’t think Ele having a similar utility would be OP.

Granted, I know Warrior can’t do anything in the middle of channeling that, but it’s still incredibly powerful. Ele having a higher CD on its version would make it balanced, IMO.

UTILITIES
Arcane Blast

• FUNCTIONALITY CHANGED
• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 20 seconds
• Build up an orb of arcane energy in front of you for 1 second before sending it at your foe. It blasts your target for critical damage.
• Delay: 1 second
• Damage: 363
• Combo Finisher: Physical Projectile (100%)
• Range: 1500
  • The delay represents how long the orb remains in front of the caster before flying toward the target.

Arcane Wave

• FUNCTIONALITY CHANGED
• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Conjure a ring of arcane energy around target area. After 1 second, the ring explodes, blasting foes in the area for critical damage.
• Delay: 1 second
• Damage: 628
• Combo Finisher: Blast
• Radius: 360
• Range: 900
  • The ring floats just off the ground and highlights the area targeted by [Arcane Wave].
  • Delay ring shares its coloration with [Arcane Blast]’s projectile.

Arcane Shield

• Recharge lowered from 75 to 50 seconds.
• Duration lowered from 5 to 2 seconds.
• Explosion generated from exhausting blocks now also dazes adjacent enemies (180 radius; 2-second daze).

Glyph of Renewal

• Cast-time reduced from 3¼ to 2½ seconds.
• Recharge reduced from 165 to 150 seconds.

Glyph of Storms

• Recharge reduced from 60 to 50 seconds.
• Damage increased from 122 to 159 (same damage modifier).

Mist Form

• Recharge reduced from 75 to 50 seconds.
• Duration reduced from 3 to 2 seconds.
• Invulnerability reduced from 3 to 2 seconds.
• Now also cures immobilize, crippled and chill upon activation.
  • Now chains into another skill upon use: [Cold Front].

Cold Front

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Recharge: 5 seconds
• Dash in a target direction, chilling foes that you strike along the way.
• Damage: 111 (0.3)
• Chill: 2 seconds
• Evasion: ¾ seconds
• Range: 450
  • [Whirlwind Attack]

Armor of Earth

• Recharged reduced from 90 to 50 seconds.
• Stability reduced from 6 to 4 seconds.
• Protection reduced from 6 to 4 seconds.
• Duration reduced from 6 to 4 seconds.

Lightning Flash

• Recharge reduced from 40 to 30 seconds.

Cleansing Fire

• FUNCTIONALITY CHANGED
• Recharge reduced from 40 to 30 seconds.
• Cast-time increased from 0 to 1½ seconds.
• Channel a cleansing fire that pulses around you three times, damaging and burning nearby foes while cleansing 1 condition from yourself and nearby allies with each pulse. The final pulse knocks back nearby enemies.
• Damage (3x): 387 (0.5)
• Burning (3): 1 second
• Knock back: 240
• Radius: 240

all conjurers must be instant and work like break stun. maybe some new effect, llike:
ice bow:
instant
break stun
chill 3sec

for shield:
breaks stun
stability 3sec

etc.
arena should rework conjurers.

and pay attention on glyphs, especially for renewal. 3,5 sec cast ??? /o\

@swag:
On everything except for the arcane skills, sounds great. On the arcane skills, just no. Never. The only reason these kitten things are even close to useful is because they are not telegraphed and are instant cast. Changing either of them to have delay would make them even worse than they are already, and completely useless as finishers.

P Fun Daddy.1208:

@swag:
On everything except for the arcane skills, sounds great. On the arcane skills, just no. Never. The only reason these kitten things are even close to useful is because they are not telegraphed and are instant cast. Changing either of them to have delay would make them even worse than they are already, and completely useless as finishers.

I gotta agree with this, also if arcane blast is going to be delayed, give it, you know, a blast finisher…

Yea arcane wave and blast are really only good for getting arcane lighting trait activate and a bit of pressure. If you want them to really hit you gotta be instagib build. Wave is on a low cd so its ok but it almost should be a weapon skill. Shield is nice though love arcane shield. CD is a bit long for only blocking 3 attacks.

Swagg i reposted your ideas at the top, as they also sound very nice and accepted!

oZii, I don’t disagree the cool down is long, but the thing I love most about it is that it nearly always crits, it hits about 2-4k for people I’m crating, and it truly punishes people for attacking me up close. That’s invaluable. I’ve won some close fights because people are concerned about the shield and I can just pound away.

Mbelch.9028:

oZii, I don’t disagree the cool down is long, but the thing I love most about it is that it nearly always crits, it hits about 2-4k for people I’m crating, and it truly punishes people for attacking me up close. That’s invaluable. I’ve won some close fights because people are concerned about the shield and I can just pound away.

Just pointing this out arcane shield should always crit like arcane wave and blast. But yes i also agree with oZii the cool down is way to long for 3 attacks even in a small group fight (max 5v5) that’s not longer than 2 seconds if you are lucky. In a 1v1 it is most likely 3 seconds long which puts it even with mist form and a little shorter than earth 5 on focus (assuming opponent is attacking you at 1 attack per second.)

Then you agree with both myself and oZii, we both think the cool down needs lowered. We both use the skill over mist form.

Should the skill be buffed (in that skill buffing fashion)? I think so. Does it obviously need it? No because players are most certainly using it.

Mbelch.9028:

Then you agree with both myself and oZii, we both think the cool down needs lowered. We both use the skill over mist form.

Should the skill be buffed (in that skill buffing fashion)? I think so. Does it obviously need it? No because players are most certainly using it.

Yes I was agreeing with you. The only buff I think the skill needs is a lower CD because the dmg output of arcane shield is higher than that of arcane wave or blast. That brings me to arcane blast, as is being compared to arcane wave now after the update.
-Arcane Wave: 30CD,470 Base DMG,900 Range, Blast finisher,AoE.
-Arcane Blast: 20CD,470 Base DMG,1500 Range,Projectile Finisher,Single target.
I think Arcane Blast should get a DMG boost as a buff. To bring it more up to par with the new Arcane Wave.
P.S. Arcane Shield’s base DMG is 504.

A lower CD on mist form and armor of earth would be nice considering most classes have similar buffs with 20-50% less cooldowns before traiting them, though im sure some pro player will come in and tell us that you cant compare abilities between classes because theyre designed differently and w/e. Arcane shield is definitely pretty weak too, though if anything id rather a form of it without any damage but on a 30-40s cd, a lot of classes have block abilities on less cd than that so it would be fair.

Stun break on lightning flash would be pretty nice to have back too. Cleansing fire buffs would also be nice since people dont seem to take it often over the other cantrips, maybe up the duration on the burning or something so its more offensive.

Don’t you think it’s kinda silly that the skill is called Cleansing Fire, way too close to a certain guardian skill, since they removed the stun break without buffing it, please consider changing the name and giving it an attunement specific effect, yes burning is nice to have to proc with flame grab but there are so few (if any) condition specs.

Alter the cantrip to do something along the lines of:

Fire Attunement: Cures three conditions, applies burning.
Water Attunement: Cures three conditions, applies chill or vulnerability.
Air Attunement: Cures three conditions, applies blind or weakness.
Earth Attunement: Cures three conditions, applies cripple.

Or add the stun break back please.

MarzAttakz.9608:

Don’t you think it’s kinda silly that the skill is called Cleansing Fire, way too close to a certain guardian skill, since they removed the stun break without buffing it, please consider changing the name and giving it an attunement specific effect, yes burning is nice to have to proc with flame grab but there are so few (if any) condition specs.

Alter the cantrip to do something along the lines of:

Fire Attunement: Cures three conditions, applies burning.
Water Attunement: Cures three conditions, applies chill or vulnerability.
Air Attunement: Cures three conditions, applies blind or weakness.
Earth Attunement: Cures three conditions, applies cripple.

Or add the stun break back please.

Sounds like a certain glyph…

Ancient Ranger.3276:

Mbelch.9028:

Then you agree with both myself and oZii, we both think the cool down needs lowered. We both use the skill over mist form.

Should the skill be buffed (in that skill buffing fashion)? I think so. Does it obviously need it? No because players are most certainly using it.

Yes I was agreeing with you. The only buff I think the skill needs is a lower CD because the dmg output of arcane shield is higher than that of arcane wave or blast. That brings me to arcane blast, as is being compared to arcane wave now after the update.
-Arcane Wave: 30CD,470 Base DMG,900 Range, Blast finisher,AoE.
-Arcane Blast: 20CD,470 Base DMG,1500 Range,Projectile Finisher,Single target.
I think Arcane Blast should get a DMG boost as a buff. To bring it more up to par with the new Arcane Wave.
P.S. Arcane Shield’s base DMG is 504.

Ahh. 100% agree here.

Sizer.5632:

A lower CD on mist form and armor of earth would be nice considering most classes have similar buffs with 20-50% less cooldowns before traiting them, though im sure some pro player will come in and tell us that you cant compare abilities between classes because theyre designed differently and w/e. Arcane shield is definitely pretty weak too, though if anything id rather a form of it without any damage but on a 30-40s cd, a lot of classes have block abilities on less cd than that so it would be fair.

Stun break on lightning flash would be pretty nice to have back too. Cleansing fire buffs would also be nice since people dont seem to take it often over the other cantrips, maybe up the duration on the burning or something so its more offensive.

I almost always take cleansing fire, mist form is the cantrip I don’t take anymore. I only remove cleansing flame for arcane shield.

Some of the request here show a lack of understanding of how the ele works…

Armor of earth- CD reduction to 70s. Lasts 7s.
I would prefer having a second skill giving stability

Arcane shield- Cd reduction to 50s, change functionality. Lasts 2s, blocks all attacks for 2s. After 2s, it explodes (just how it did before). Blast finisher. Still breaks stun.
Uncontrollable blast finisher, bad idea, why would we want that?

Lightning Flash- CD reduction to 20s ( or atleast something reasonably lower)
Bad idea, that’s totally OP. It’s fine as it is as it potentially give regen, vigor and might.

Mist form- Condis stop doing damage while invuln, but arent removed due to this. when the invuln is over, condis start to hurt again.
That one is ok, or they can just unerf mist form and let us heal in it like before

Every conjure except for FGS- Reduced CD to 20s.
Why? they suck anyway except frost bow and it would be OP for the frost bow

Cleansing fire- increased cd to 60s. Removes all condis.
But then your nerfing vigor, might stacks and healing (which can also remove conditions. Bad idea

Arcane Shield- Change how it works functionally. Now lasts 3 seconds regardless of amount of hits. Reduce cd to 50s

Armor of Earth-reduce to 70s

Cleansing fire-keep the same

Mist Form-allow us to heal in mist form again

Signet of air-creates 3s blind field on use
Signet of water-removes 2 conditions every 10s. chill duration increased to 8s
Signet of Earth-reduce cast time. increase immobalize to 3s
Signet of Fire- no longer applies burn. Increases power by 200 for 10seconds when activated.

P Fun Daddy.1208:

@swag:
On everything except for the arcane skills, sounds great. On the arcane skills, just no. Never. The only reason these kitten things are even close to useful is because they are not telegraphed and are instant cast. Changing either of them to have delay would make them even worse than they are already, and completely useless as finishers.

MarzAttakz.9608:

P Fun Daddy.1208:

@swag:
On everything except for the arcane skills, sounds great. On the arcane skills, just no. Never. The only reason these kitten things are even close to useful is because they are not telegraphed and are instant cast. Changing either of them to have delay would make them even worse than they are already, and completely useless as finishers.

I gotta agree with this, also if arcane blast is going to be delayed, give it, you know, a blast finisher…

Non-telegraphed, instant-cast, ranged skills go against the core design of GW2: a game in which you’re supposed to be able to play according to what you see happening on the battlefield or what you see coming from an enemy. There are a lot of skills that break this rule. They’re unfair and should be balanced. Elementalist is not immune to this sort of rule just because “but my low armor” and “but my low hp.” Lead your targets, predict moves and chain attacks in an ideal manner so as to prevent enemy evasion. It’s a 1-second delay. It’s much less than you think.

Swagg.9236:

P Fun Daddy.1208:

@swag:
On everything except for the arcane skills, sounds great. On the arcane skills, just no. Never. The only reason these kitten things are even close to useful is because they are not telegraphed and are instant cast. Changing either of them to have delay would make them even worse than they are already, and completely useless as finishers.

MarzAttakz.9608:

P Fun Daddy.1208:

@swag:
On everything except for the arcane skills, sounds great. On the arcane skills, just no. Never. The only reason these kitten things are even close to useful is because they are not telegraphed and are instant cast. Changing either of them to have delay would make them even worse than they are already, and completely useless as finishers.

I gotta agree with this, also if arcane blast is going to be delayed, give it, you know, a blast finisher…

Non-telegraphed, instant-cast, ranged skills go against the core design of GW2: a game in which you’re supposed to be able to play according to what you see happening on the battlefield or what you see coming from an enemy. There are a lot of skills that break this rule. They’re unfair and should be balanced. Elementalist is not immune to this sort of rule just because “but my low armor” and “but my low hp.” Lead your targets, predict moves and chain attacks in an ideal manner so as to prevent enemy evasion. It’s a 1-second delay. It’s much less than you think.

Read this once, realized I needed this:
TL;DR
Arcane Blast IS telegraphed and dodgeable.
Many, many skills are ranged, have no cast time, and hit instantly.
Arcane skills aren’t overpowered enough to justify a nerf in their current form, and are balanced around their instant-castiness.
Most ranged skills have a delay that is less than one second and are less telegraphed than your suggestion, and the kind of player that uses these is fragile enough that one second is very valuable.
Finishers with delays are not incredibly useful.

Arcane blast has a visible projectile, which has a travel time and is thus completely dodgeable and telegraphed, similarly to any other projectile skill, except that it has no cast time.
Unless you also feel like nerfing every air scepter skill (not dodgeable because every single one does instant damage), Lightning Flash (900 range instant AoE), several mesmer mantras, Fear Me, On My Mark, Doom and any others I missed, the game has and will always have an abundance of ranged instant cast instant hitting skills.

Not to mention that the skills don’t even do that great damage anyway, so introducing a one-second (and very highly telegraphed) delay will make them an even worse option when compared to cantrips (they are already usually much worse because you lose huge amounts of defensive utility by taking them). Not to mention that you did not give them any other boost in compensation. If these were actually overpowered in their current form, I think that they would see a bit more use than they do.

You say that a one-second delay is not that big of a deal, but the vast majority of ranged skills have less delay than that, and are less telegraphed than building up a large AoE ring or building a ball of energy in front of your face. And one second on a burst-oriented elementalist is about the time it takes you to die, seeing as most of them sit at 12-14k hp with similarly diminutive amounts of toughness.

Finally, they both would lose a huge portion of their finisher value, which is pretty much the only reason anyone takes them anyway.

So, no.

P Fun Daddy.1208:

Read this once, realized I needed this:
TL;DR
Arcane Blast IS telegraphed and dodgeable.

Only just barely. It activates instantly, has no post-cast effect delay and the projectile moves tremendously fast. When used within 600 range, the effect is almost instant.

P Fun Daddy.1208:

Many, many skills are ranged, have no cast time, and hit instantly.

Yes, and they all need to be nerfed. The game needs to be changed.

P Fun Daddy.1208:

Unless you also feel like nerfing every air scepter skill (not dodgeable because every single one does instant damage), Lightning Flash (900 range instant AoE), several mesmer mantras, Fear Me, On My Mark, Doom and any others I missed, the game has and will always have an abundance of ranged instant cast instant hitting skills.

I do, and I’ve already made concrete suggestions about how to do it.

P Fun Daddy.1208:

You say that a one-second delay is not that big of a deal,

It isn’t given the average speed of a player in this game coupled with the availability of snares. Like I said, the game needs to be changed.

…I don’t understand the link.
Anyway, I have since changed my mind and now agree with you, mostly because I found the original thread with changes for all the classes and not just the ele.
I still think it would be a good idea to rebalance the skills’ damage without instahit (they don’t do great damage solely for that reason), but would still accept them because they’re really just finishers anyway.