Guild Wars 2

Elementalist

This profession has seen a lot of defensive additions through recent updates and the addition of the tempest. In this iteration, we’ll be fine-tuning the defensive nature of the elementalist a little more and improving its offensive side a bit. To that end, Diamond Skin will see its first change in a long while, moving to condition removal (as is more thematic with the elementalist) rather than condition avoidance. In the effort to improve offense, Air grandmaster traits will be getting usability and damage improvements, while the scepter and focus will be receiving some positive quality-of-life modifications.

Detailed notes:

•Diamond Skin going from condition immunity to condition removal (1 condition removed on a 1s internal cooldown). Health Threshold is now 75% instead of 90%. So rapid conditions applications will spike you down.

•Auras – duration and overall availability of auras too much since HoT. Overall uptime too high. We are reducing all the auras activated from skills/traits to 4s.

•Fresh Air – In addition to its refresh mechanic, everytime you reattune to air, you get 250 Ferocity for 5s. This bonus doesn’t stack in intensity. So you will be critting and then critting hard.

•Shatterstone (Water Scepter)– Reduced the timeit takes for the shatterstone to explode from two seconds to one. It has a small radius so the explosion would often miss. Cooldown increased from 2 to 3s.

durability rune is being removed

Celestial amulet is being removed, four brand new amulets are being added

Mercenary’s Amulet
1050 Power
1050 Condition
560 Toughness
560 Vitality

Sage’s Amulet
1050 Power
1050 Condition
560 Healing Power
560 Vitality

Paladin’s Amulet
1050 Power
1050 Precision
560 Toughness
560 Vitality

Mender’s Amulet
1050 Power
1050 Healing Power
560 Precision
560 Vitality

(I would like to see a variety of offensive gems for amulets make a comeback)

THESE ARE NOT ALL CHANGES BEING MADE
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

With the way the games heading I think fresh air is slowly making its way into the meta, we’ll just have to wait and see. the additional 250 ferocity is almost like having a 5 stat amulet in some cases. If they could just change the dynamic of tempest away from locking you out of attunements for soo long then I think that would seal the deal. Go away long channels and long attunement cd!

This is some pretty good news, I’d also like to see offhand dagger make a comeback and I think this could be a possibility if earth 5 was changed into something defensive along with ride the lightning being fixed to have a flat 20 seconds regardless of it landing.

I am thinking faster cast time for scpter and foces. There maybe a bit more aoe added (at least that how most of there update work out added more aoe to effect that where not befor) so some how diamond skin is going to become aoe condition removal as well as scpter and foces attks.

Added note: What i want is to see foces get more fields so freezing gust become wall of ice that chills ppl who go though it and is a frost field. Make air 5 gust a wall of wind knock down ppl who go though it and is a lighting field.
As for scpter just simply make all of its attks on faster cast speed so DT start to become a much faster spell that works a lot like ice spike but a bit faster and higher dmg.

I would love to see dimaond skin be the trait that makes it possible to ditch the water line when considering condition removal, would also really like to see a rune set that removes conditions upon an aura being granted, further making the water line less relevant. If Diamond skin removed conditions upon an aura being granted that would be okay with me too.

Defensive nerfs again… Not sure the buffs will be worth it and it’s the fire line that really needed a buff, not air.

I think diamond skin was fine, only noobs didn’t know how to break through it and it was the only counter to full condi builds.

Grimreaper.5370:

I would love to see dimaond skin be the trait that makes it possible to ditch the water line when considering condition removal.

I so want this to happen. Whether or not it will remains to be seen.

Looking forward to how they’re changing the Air GM Traits to be more offensive.

I hope the new scepter and focus buffs will be worth it, not like the last time when everyone was hyped for scepter buffs and all we got was ground targeted DT.
Cannot wait for air spec buffs.

inb4 it’s just a 10% boost to dust devil damage.

I hope there’s something for staff elementalists, short ranged tempest skills are already a slap in the face for staff elementalists.

Avador.8934:

I hope the new scepter and focus buffs will be worth it, not like the last time when everyone was hyped for scepter buffs and all we got was ground targeted DT.
Cannot wait for air spec buffs.

Prepare yourself for another 1 stack of vuln added to ice spike and 5% damage buff to flamestrike.

Don’t expect much from air buffs either, because air is objectively pretty good – it just doesn’t solve the ele problem of “In desperate need for maximum defense b/c there are no inherent defensive capabilities outside of traits.” You will probably just get inscription “buffed” so you get 3 stacks of might on using a glyph while in fire.

Honestly, prepare yourself to be disappointed because it is all but guaranteed to happen.

Just stopped by to fill in all you eles who still play this game. Leaving was one of the best choices I made with my limited free time.

Avador.8934:

Honestly, prepare yourself to be disappointed because it is all but guaranteed to happen.

Just stopped by to fill in all you eles who still play this game. Leaving was one of the best choices I made with my limited free time.

Not expecting much for elementalists. I’d love to see a minor, insignificant change on Fireball skill. Making it like a rain drop is not so ‘cool’.

Also, having many classes maxed in your account helps for times such as this :P

BlackBeard.2873:

Honestly, prepare yourself to be disappointed because it is all but guaranteed to happen.

Sadly, I’m sure you are right

I also expect a minor buff. They fear to overbuff scepter.

i wonder if devs realize that in the current meta its impossible to have a cleanse build…. i mean with the amount of condi aids being thrown into mix the only way for a non condi build to survive is to avoid condi. you cant cleanse it…..oh well,bye bye power builds, Condi Wars 2 it is…

I simply hope for one thing and one thing only, in not just the elementalist’s adjustments but with every profession in the game:

A review of, and potentially change, to abilities that are entirely underwhelming and useless, or weapons that really dont fit their theme.

Here is a list to name a few:

Scepter: On the whole, they really should consider changing all of the auto attacks to be used without a target. This is increasingly important with the advent of the action camera, as it makes the “hit scan but target required” only abilities like Fire and Air Scepter’s auto attacks clunky without a target with action came on. I’d love for every Attunement on scepter to have viable power ratios AND condition damage options, since the elementalist does NOT have the luxury of a large selections of weapons, Scepter needs to simultanously work well for power and condi builds, or hybrid builds, in every attunement.

Fire: Flamestrike – The visual is non-existent, it doesn’t feel powerful enough for its animation that the character uses, and it also has no counter-play from the opponent since it is simply a hit-scan on use. What if this caused an area under the foe to glow, and then erupt in a tiny, brief pillar of flame that burns them and as well as other foes near the targeted foe, but could be avoided if they leave the area? This would make all of Scepter-Fire based around ground “targeted-ish” type effects in which the goal is to punish stationary foes and clumped foes. The other abilties are iconic and functional and fit with a “dodge this or pay” type theme, they just need some tuning on their delays.

Earth: The auto is mostly fine, but the other abilities need to be more iconic and have some condition AND power applications. I’d like to see Rock Barrier have some condition damage potection as well, like reduce incoming condition damage by 20%, so that the decision to “hold onto it or use it” becomes more of an important decision. Similarly, Hurl does not have any synergy with condi builds outside of projectile finishing, which is nice, but it could use at least some Bleed options on it, and could use a slight damage bump for power builds so that the decision to “burst off” your defense to go offensive is a worth while choice depending on the situation.

The auto needs some moderately better power ratios and maybe the slightest increase in duration on the Bleeds. Dust Devil is very underwhelming, and could use either some additional conditions or perhaps some projectile destruction, or both. Its timing should be rewarding and have some good defensive applications, but as it stands it is a very underwhelming blind.

Water: Its almost good, but it still feels wonky. The auto could be ever so slightly improved with its travel speed and damage and potentially move the Vulnerability stacking to the auto instead of the second skill and add some Bleeds to it, but the second ability definitely could use a damage increase as well as some Chill application on detonation. Water Trident needs some CC application, like a small knock-back on the impact location. A bit of bump on the damage and healing SCALING (not base) would be appreciated.

Air: Should be the best “single target” option that also performs well against mobile foes, unlike fire, and really needs a condition and power play-style options. This should be a constant pressure damage on the opponent, but the three skills currently are the least interesting in the game. You have two “instant cast” abilities and a long channel. In my opinion, is the least “fun and interesting” attunement option for scepter currently. I think this would be a good attunement foe punishing runners and constant movers with power and conditions that make sense:

Make Lightning Strike the new auto, and allow it to be ground targeted if no target is selected, and have it do increased damage to “isolated” targets with no allies around them. Single target damage, less potential sustained damage than Firestrike from Fire if target is not isolated, and also have it apply Torment stacks to punish runners and make it useful for condition builds against moving foes.

Arc Lightning could become the new second skill which would apply increasing amounts of damage with bonus damage to moving foes and and apply increasing amounts of Torment stacks the longer it is channeled, dealing very high condi or power damage if the foe does not interrupt you and you can keep them in range (which plays nicely with air’s mobility).

Blinding Flash could become Bolt Jolt, a brief 1 second Daze that grants 3 seconds of Super-speed on Interrupt, with a longer recharge of say 15 seconds. This would work well with the Air line’s Lightning Rod build and would help maintain distance to keep Arc Lightning going for maximum damage.

Changes like the above could make the Scepter useful for far more build options, and give the Elementalist some range flexibility for power and condi builds that function well in the mid-range, while making certain attacks more televised for foes and make the attunement’s “uses” more distinct, ie Fire is AOE and punishing stationary, air is single target and punishing isolation and movement, Water is supportive and hindering, while Earth is attrition and survivability.

Grimreaper.5370:

I would love to see dimaond skin be the trait that makes it possible to ditch the water line when considering condition removal, would also really like to see a rune set that removes conditions upon an aura being granted, further making the water line less relevant. If Diamond skin removed conditions upon an aura being granted that would be okay with me too.

Well this cleanse on aura should be when One with Fire and Conjurer are combined in one, and the trait replacing One with Fire makes Fire Aura cleanse 1 damaging condition.

Alekt.5803:

Grimreaper.5370:

I would love to see dimaond skin be the trait that makes it possible to ditch the water line when considering condition removal, would also really like to see a rune set that removes conditions upon an aura being granted, further making the water line less relevant. If Diamond skin removed conditions upon an aura being granted that would be okay with me too.

Well this cleanse on aura should be when One with Fire and Conjurer are combined in one, and the trait replacing One with Fire makes Fire Aura cleanse 1 damaging condition.

I like it, I also think blinding ashes could perhaps effect auras too in some manner, say maybe reduce condition duration by X% when you have a fire shield up and grant an aoe blind around the fire sheild when its summoned, 8 sec icd.

Would love to see it be made possible to use a fire/air/x build but as it stands it would lack defense. This is my problem when considering offensive builds anet, lets say tempest or arcana is a given, if I pick earth and water line my sustain and condition removal becomes absolutely insane, if I pick the water line and ignore earth I have good sustain and condition removal, but if I ignore the water line im screwed because there goes all my condition removal and a good portion of my healing potential.

It would be nice to see each off hand weapon set for ele provide something defensive that needed to be timed well to mitigate dmg, heals are boring and face roll. They say they want to tone down sustain, if sustain is nerfed the amount it should be (which is a good chunk imo, also look into the absurd protection coming from earth overload) and traded for offense then our weapons need to have ways of blocking damage taken.
___________________________________________

Some ideas for weapon changes:

OH dagger earth 5 could be revamped into something to block projectiles, possibly block 1 attack and daze if an attack is blocked in melee

OH dagger water 5 has its healing reduced by half, then lets add an effect of something like: block all attacks for 1.5 seconds, if you are attacked during this time, heal for double.

Focus fire 4 is lack luster for anything more than a fire field and could probably have the amount of burning stepped up a notch.

Focus water 4 feels like its not strong enough, id rather this be something like a long duration ice wall you casted on the ground and when an opponent stepped into it, it chilled along with some additional effect.

Staff earth 3 feels like it needs a cd of 15- 20 sec of its only going to provide the aura, its out matched by the potential projectile reflect warhorn and focus provide which is basically the reflect and more in one skill. Look at sand squall vs staffs magnetic aura…

Staff fire 2 feels so crappy in pvp if you dont have some sort of cc ready, id like to see this tic once immediately upon being casted.

Staff autos all need to be looked at.

Staff needs to feel less clunky in general.

Scepter fire 2 needs a instant cast time and a 3/4 second delay to drop.

Scepter water 2 should be instant and take around 1 second to detonate, possibly leaving behind an ice field.

Scepter autos all need to be looked at.

Some hardcore scepter fans may disagree but I think phoenix needs to be on a 15s cd and hit more reliably, phoenix doesnt always land its hits in if targets are inside but to the side of the telegraph.I love a challenge but come on now, if youre inside the telegraph it should land more of its hits.

Scepter water 3 imo should remove +1 condition.

BlackBeard I’m disappointed to say has most likely nailed it, as usual. I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

As Xillllix pointed out, Fire traits need an improvement more than Air which already brings more to the table for an elementalist than fire, particularly in PvP and especially a Tempest.

Also I personally would rather see Warhorn Fire/Air tweaked over the already amazing Focus but that may just be me and my love of Warhorn, both as it stands (air knockdown, water skills, earth skills) and conceptually for Tempest.

Elementalist was meta, is meta, and continues to be strong right now… in narrowly defined scopes, though you get mavericks like Alekt being successful with deviant earth shield shenanigans. This is what underpins the limited (significant and useful) buffs you’re likely to see, or not see, as the case may be.

This is personally frustrating for me as I adore GW2. It has amazing PvP mechanics with wonderful class concepts, but it does fall short as above and as many others have smoothly and understandably articulated in various other posts across the forum.

There is much that can be workt on with ele. Glyphs, elites, arcane, conjures, scepter, warhorn and a few traits here and there.
If you focus on a few things improving scepter is one good thing.
The only trait that currently stiks out is DS because it counters some condi builds quite hard. On the other side its often the only hope to survive reapers.
I personaly find hard counters OK as long as they have there nemesis too (which cele ele hardly has).
But a remove condi does not fit. A simple – condi duration would fit earth.
Focus is mostly fine. Fire aura CD is way to high and gust + chill a bit.

Roxanne.6140:

I hope there’s something for staff elementalists, short ranged tempest skills are already a slap in the face for staff elementalists.

Thats what i have been thinking some time ago! necromancers get a trait to have their wells equipped with positioning targeting, why can’t staff ele’s also get that XD

I’m interested to see if 3 months after HoT’s release they can make Warhorn interesting. After all, we had to pay for it and at the moment it’s completely useless and hits like wet noodle.

I rly hope they won’t disappoint us, tho thats pretty likely gonna happen :’D

@xillllix, at the moment warhorn is the best offhand weapon for fresh air builds that are based on pure dps ^^

They really should just scrap warhorn and replace it with a sword

Grimreaper.5370:

They really should just scrap warhorn and replace it with a sword

Even if when hot was relased i dindt like the warhorn at all, mainly because i didnt played much pve, right by now i think it is the best offhand we have in pve, and paired with a Dagger it has really mucj to offer.
For pvp yes, it is scrap.

I agree. In PvE it works. But i use focus WvW and PvP and so i stick to it also in PvE.
The only change i do is swap to staff.

This is marketing speak for, basically, they are going to kitten us in the kitten by nerfing the one area of PvP combat we excel at and have become dominant in while making “quality of life” changes to scepter that really do very little in making scepter an actual viable weapon, but hopefully get us to shut up about it.

We’ve been down this road before and the changes were a joke then and will be now, because they pretty much have to retool the whole weapon to make it useful.

On the plus side, any amount of damage improvement to Air is just going to increase our usefulness in PvE where Fire and Air builds have always been dominant. However, I really doubt that whatever improvements they make are going to be enough to make burst builds viable in PvP.

I already use scepter focus so it’s only good news for me

List of Scepter and Focus weapon skills that need to be looked at:

Dragon’s Tooth: The only thing this is good for is maybe standing under to ward the enemy off as its about to land or use it in a blast finisher for might, it should only take 1 second to cast and then immediately land IMO. Even then you’d be able to outrun the blast if it was cast right under you but you would at least have some sort of chance at landing this ability if it was tactically placed well.

Flame Wall: This skill is pretty weak and takes way to long to cast for how effective it is.

Fire Shield: Why is this skill on a 40 second cd? Fire shield is arguably the weakest aura out of all the auras Ele has. I really think this skill should have the cd reduced and some extra perk that grants some form of defense.

Flame Strike: Takes way too long to cast for what its worth, if it could be casted in 360 degrees I’d then see a point to it.

Ice Shards: Too unreliable vs a moving target past melee-ish range.

Shatter Stone: This is probably the most underwhelming skill on the scepter, its not even worth using almost ever.

Freezing Gust: The cool down is just far too long for what this skill has to offer*

Stone Shards: I’d prefer this skill not be a channel and instead remodeled around the idea of a 3/4 second cast time, it would synergize much better with healing signet if it had this sort of cast time.

Dust Devil: This skill doesn’t really work at a far distance, this skill needs to have some sort of extra perk ontop of it and needs a wider hit box.

Rock Barrier: This skill isn’t too terrible for its defense but using it offensively is usually not that great, I’d like to see this provide some sort of defensive perk when used.

As much as most eles (myself included) would be loath to see anything happen to it I think phoenix would need to be altered in any serious rework of the scepter. Currently it brings fantastic melee burst, but that goes against the ranged profile of the scepter and could potentially be too good if the rest of scepter was good (imagine if dagger had phoenix).

Assuming the rest of scepter’s skills can be brought up to a reasonable level I would say that phoenix would be better off as something similar to gun flame.

Coldtart.4785:

As much as most eles (myself included) would be loath to see anything happen to it I think phoenix would need to be altered in any serious rework of the scepter. Currently it brings fantastic melee burst, but that goes against the ranged profile of the scepter and could potentially be too good if the rest of scepter was good (imagine if dagger had phoenix).

Assuming the rest of scepter’s skills can be brought up to a reasonable level I would say that phoenix would be better off as something similar to gun flame.

Lol no. Phoenix It’s the only skill on scepter very well disegned and possibly the real, if not the one, motivation to use scepter. Dont touch it at all

BlackBeard.2873:

Don’t expect much from air buffs either, because air is objectively pretty good

Xillllix.3485:

it’s the fire line that really needed a buff, not air.

These were my first thoughts when I read the notes.
Air is pretty kitten good right now. All 3 grandmaster traits are useful in damage oriented builds. The fire grandmasters are immensely subpar in comparison.

lucadiro.4519:

Lol no. Phoenix It’s the only skill on scepter very well disegned and possibly the real, if not the one, motivation to use scepter. Dont touch it at all

That’s my point though. Just having phoenix is enough to make it sometimes worthwhile to use scepter over dagger even though every other skill is useless. How could you possibly balance making the other skills worth using on their own while also having a skill that outweighs entire weapons? That’s in addition to my other point that phoenix just isn’t a ranged skill at all.

vana.5467:

BlackBeard.2873:

Don’t expect much from air buffs either, because air is objectively pretty good

Xillllix.3485:

it’s the fire line that really needed a buff, not air.

These were my first thoughts when I read the notes.
Air is pretty kitten good right now. All 3 grandmaster traits are useful in damage oriented builds. The fire grandmasters are immensely subpar in comparison.

While air grandmaster traits might be good, having those three in the same slot is exactly what completely killed fresh air. Not enough damage output since they changed it. Sure, there were other factors but in reality they nerfed air with the big trait revamp.

I’ve made some updates to my original post so you guys can look at new changes being implemented.

Something to think about.. Glyph of Renewal being moved to elite option instead of a regular utility.

Laraley.7695:

vana.5467:

BlackBeard.2873:

Don’t expect much from air buffs either, because air is objectively pretty good

Xillllix.3485:

it’s the fire line that really needed a buff, not air.

These were my first thoughts when I read the notes.
Air is pretty kitten good right now. All 3 grandmaster traits are useful in damage oriented builds. The fire grandmasters are immensely subpar in comparison.

While air grandmaster traits might be good, having those three in the same slot is exactly what completely killed fresh air. Not enough damage output since they changed it. Sure, there were other factors but in reality they nerfed air with the big trait revamp.

Honestly, if you did the math, air builds never really lost much damage. The lost bolt to the heart and air training, but gained either tempest defense or air CDR + ferocity. Fresh air is a dinosaur killed off by power-creep, with everyone else getting tons of passive defense and tankiness while its damage just stayed mostly the same.

It’s back to elementalists not even existing in pvp.

DS change is terrible, should have been active condi removal like the water trait.

Scepter “buffs” LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.

NOT A SINGLE ACTIVE DEFENSE BUFF.

REMOVAL OF OUR ONLY DEFENSE, CELESTIAL STATS.

Necro Uber-boon rip, lol autoattacks removing boons and 10 seconds cooldown on 3-boon corrupt. Bye Bye.

Seriously, how the frak doesn’t anet realize that BOONS AND STATS were the only defense eles always had? We need ACTUAL SKILL CHANGES to make some of our weapon skills into active defense (Auras aren’t active defense besides shocking and magnetic which we have almost no access to).

And the thief damage buffs make sure that no actual damage ele specs will be around. We already have seen these things play out in the first few years of the game.

This is a serious deja vu.

No matter how much they shaft elementalist, it will not be nearly as bad as mesmer will be

BlackBeard.2873:

Laraley.7695:

vana.5467:

BlackBeard.2873:

Don’t expect much from air buffs either, because air is objectively pretty good

Xillllix.3485:

it’s the fire line that really needed a buff, not air.

These were my first thoughts when I read the notes.
Air is pretty kitten good right now. All 3 grandmaster traits are useful in damage oriented builds. The fire grandmasters are immensely subpar in comparison.

While air grandmaster traits might be good, having those three in the same slot is exactly what completely killed fresh air. Not enough damage output since they changed it. Sure, there were other factors but in reality they nerfed air with the big trait revamp.

Honestly, if you did the math, air builds never really lost much damage. The lost bolt to the heart and air training, but gained either tempest defense or air CDR + ferocity. Fresh air is a dinosaur killed off by power-creep, with everyone else getting tons of passive defense and tankiness while its damage just stayed mostly the same.

Well, obviously. My point is that it wasn’t a buff for fresh air at all. Not getting buffs like everyone else but rather nerfs was the issue. However, it’s not like fresh air was ever viable, it was a supoptimal build and this trait revamp killed it.

Laraley.7695:

BlackBeard.2873:

Laraley.7695:

vana.5467:

BlackBeard.2873:

Don’t expect much from air buffs either, because air is objectively pretty good

Xillllix.3485:

it’s the fire line that really needed a buff, not air.

These were my first thoughts when I read the notes.
Air is pretty kitten good right now. All 3 grandmaster traits are useful in damage oriented builds. The fire grandmasters are immensely subpar in comparison.

While air grandmaster traits might be good, having those three in the same slot is exactly what completely killed fresh air. Not enough damage output since they changed it. Sure, there were other factors but in reality they nerfed air with the big trait revamp.

Honestly, if you did the math, air builds never really lost much damage. The lost bolt to the heart and air training, but gained either tempest defense or air CDR + ferocity. Fresh air is a dinosaur killed off by power-creep, with everyone else getting tons of passive defense and tankiness while its damage just stayed mostly the same.

Well, obviously. My point is that it wasn’t a buff for fresh air at all. Not getting buffs like everyone else but rather nerfs was the issue. However, it’s not like fresh air was ever viable, it was a supoptimal build and this trait revamp killed it.

Fresh air is actually really viable now and has same or even more dps than staff on small hitboxes (not sure when enemy doesnt move tho, like sabetha, cause thats awsm for staff).

Roul.3205:

Laraley.7695:

BlackBeard.2873:

Laraley.7695:

vana.5467:

BlackBeard.2873:

Don’t expect much from air buffs either, because air is objectively pretty good

Xillllix.3485:

it’s the fire line that really needed a buff, not air.

These were my first thoughts when I read the notes.
Air is pretty kitten good right now. All 3 grandmaster traits are useful in damage oriented builds. The fire grandmasters are immensely subpar in comparison.

While air grandmaster traits might be good, having those three in the same slot is exactly what completely killed fresh air. Not enough damage output since they changed it. Sure, there were other factors but in reality they nerfed air with the big trait revamp.

Honestly, if you did the math, air builds never really lost much damage. The lost bolt to the heart and air training, but gained either tempest defense or air CDR + ferocity. Fresh air is a dinosaur killed off by power-creep, with everyone else getting tons of passive defense and tankiness while its damage just stayed mostly the same.

Well, obviously. My point is that it wasn’t a buff for fresh air at all. Not getting buffs like everyone else but rather nerfs was the issue. However, it’s not like fresh air was ever viable, it was a supoptimal build and this trait revamp killed it.

Fresh air is actually really viable now and has same or even more dps than staff on small hitboxes (not sure when enemy doesnt move tho, like sabetha, cause thats awsm for staff).

We we talking about pvp, not pve.

Elementalist

This profession has seen a lot of defensive additions through recent updates and the addition of the tempest. In this iteration, we’ll be fine-tuning the defensive nature of the elementalist a little more and improving its offensive side a bit. To that end, Diamond Skin will see its first change in a long while, moving to condition removal (as is more thematic with the elementalist) rather than condition avoidance. In the effort to improve offense, Air grandmaster traits will be getting usability and damage improvements, while the scepter and focus will be receiving some positive quality-of-life modifications.

I noticed just now, but they wrote focus will recieve some change too, and there was literally no word about focus changes later in the stream.

Laraley.7695:

BlackBeard.2873:

Laraley.7695:

vana.5467:

BlackBeard.2873:

Don’t expect much from air buffs either, because air is objectively pretty good

Xillllix.3485:

it’s the fire line that really needed a buff, not air.

These were my first thoughts when I read the notes.
Air is pretty kitten good right now. All 3 grandmaster traits are useful in damage oriented builds. The fire grandmasters are immensely subpar in comparison.

While air grandmaster traits might be good, having those three in the same slot is exactly what completely killed fresh air. Not enough damage output since they changed it. Sure, there were other factors but in reality they nerfed air with the big trait revamp.

Honestly, if you did the math, air builds never really lost much damage. The lost bolt to the heart and air training, but gained either tempest defense or air CDR + ferocity. Fresh air is a dinosaur killed off by power-creep, with everyone else getting tons of passive defense and tankiness while its damage just stayed mostly the same.

Well, obviously. My point is that it wasn’t a buff for fresh air at all. Not getting buffs like everyone else but rather nerfs was the issue. However, it’s not like fresh air was ever viable, it was a supoptimal build and this trait revamp killed it.

I agree. Even with this damage back, its not going to have enough damage to kill anything with all of the insane tankiness afforded since the trait revamp. Maybe this will help fresh air not have a damage problem in some regards, but it will continue to have the age-old defense problem. Unless arcane shield has a 15s CD (I honestly think that is approximately the proper CD to make dps ele a thing), lightning flash has a 20s CD, and RtL is reverted to a 15s CD, it will NEVER compete with dps builds for rev/mes/scrapper and get utterly kitten on by thieves. An not even the clean kind, but the really messy kind that gets all over everything and leaves the bathroom smelling foul for a half hour afterwards.

While its OK that Cele gone and DS nerfed, i hate the aura nerf and hoped for a scepter buff. In the end we got nothing relevant just deadly nerfs ….