Guild Wars 2

And not in a good way. When GW2 launched, the elementalist was a huge contender with damage and survivability (considering their low health pool). And now…. holy crap… I have swapped builds three times. All three times building more toughness and healing power to compensate their low defenses and did no damage and still was mauled all over in several rounds.

I had missed a lot of the patch notes because I was busy, but I have NO idea what went wrong with the Elementalist… They are a crap profession to pvp with and I am just force to PvP with a ‘flavor of the month’ profession to enjoy this aspect of the game. I am very disappointed and really hope you see the dilemma in this.

Please fix this once-great class. Give them the attention they deserve and please give better traits (I know it’s being worked on) because the traits for them now are so jumbled and some are so utterly useless. -.-

Mage profession….not so mage-like at all. It’s more like a paper doll profession with pebbles for a weapon.

You are doing it wrong. Unless you are playing against top competition, ele is viable. The problem is people are stuck trying to make the old approach work in the new meta.

The sustain ele is not viable in the current meta, so you need to shift accordingly. You cannot sustain through the large amounts of condis and aoe being thrown out anymore and also expect to kill anyone.

A well thought out heavy burst build, when played properly, is very viable. It plays similarly to a burst thief with a different flavor. There are only a couple builds that can shut it down, but it can counter many of the currently popular ones.

lolAirborne.8496:

Mage profession….not so mage-like at all. It’s more like a paper doll profession with pebbles for a weapon.

Actually, I like the fact it doesn’t play like a generic mage from random game X.

I just hate the fact the main mechanics, the weapons, the ultilities, the traits (fire sucks, water/arcane are essential), the elite, the damage, the skill CD (when compared to similar skills from other class), the staff (requires special mention) all suck or are half baked. Or maybe the class like someone said in another thread is a relic of the past (since the elementalist was the first class to be made) and the developers have too many Jon(s) to admit the problem or don’t want to put in the effort to fix the problems the class has with respect to other classes.

With that said, don’t we already have enough topics on how bad things are for the elementalist in PweeP?

Nettle.9025:

You are doing it wrong. Unless you are playing against top competition, ele is viable. The problem is people are stuck trying to make the old approach work in the new meta.

The sustain ele is not viable in the current meta, so you need to shift accordingly. You cannot sustain through the large amounts of condis and aoe being thrown out anymore and also expect to kill anyone.

A well thought out heavy burst build, when played properly, is very viable. It plays similarly to a burst thief with a different flavor. There are only a couple builds that can shut it down, but it can counter many of the currently popular ones.

Well, I would very much like to see this build that you are talking about because I must be a fool to want to build defenses on the squishiest profession in the game. -.- (Not irritated with you, just irritated with this profession)

I understand where you’re coming from. I came back to the game a couple weeks ago and was banging my head trying to get an old d/d build to work. I was having horrible losing streaks and trouble winning any fights.

I completely reworked to a burst build (I used to main a burst thief so I like this style) and now I’m finding a lot of success.

I haven’t really seen a solid tpvp burst ele guide, so I might write one out today or tomorrow. The basics are S/D 10/30/0/0/30 with double arcane, but the traits themselves are a little unconventional outside of fresh air.

Basic Breakdown

S/D Berzerk Amulet+Gem Eagle Runes or Divinity Runes
1 Sigil of Endurance 1 Sigil of Air

0/30/0/10/30 *Don’t know trait names off the bat, deal with it.
Air: Bolt to the Heart, 10% more damage in air attune. Fresh Air
Water: Cleansing Wave
Arcane: Elemental Attunement, Vigor on crit, Evasive arcane

Utilities, Glyph for heal, Arcane Wave, Lightning Flash, Mist , Glyph for Elite

Burst Combo:
Air auto attack, Air 1, Air 2, Lightning Flash, Updraft, Fire, Dragon’s Tooth, Phoenix, Ring of Flame, Arcane Wave, Fire Grab, Air 1 , Air 2, Dead

EchenSketch.9142:

Basic Breakdown

S/D Berzerk Amulet+Gem Eagle Runes or Divinity Runes
1 Sigil of Endurance 1 Sigil of Air

0/30/0/10/30 *Don’t know trait names off the bat, deal with it.
Air: Bolt to the Heart, 10% more damage in air attune. Fresh Air
Water: Cleansing Wave
Arcane: Elemental Attunement, Vigor on crit, Evasive arcane

Utilities, Glyph for heal, Arcane Wave, Lightning Flash, Mist , Glyph for Elite

Burst Combo:
Air auto attack, Air 1, Air 2, Lightning Flash, Updraft, Fire, Dragon’s Tooth, Phoenix, Ring of Flame, Arcane Wave, Fire Grab, Air 1 , Air 2, Dead

That is what many people run, but there is a better burst build that gives you an almost guaranteed CE hit even in 1v1s, for a second burst rotation. And no, I don’t mean LF→CE.

This is stuck using traits from the D/D glory days that aren’t ideal in a pure burst build in this meta. I’ll post up a guide tonight I think.