Guild Wars 2

Anet, I was very taken with your description of the elementalist pre-release and and their playstyle in some of the early BWEs. That was until everything was changed.

Elementalists are multi-faceted spellcasters that channel elemental forces, making fire, air, earth, and water do their bidding. What they lack in physical toughness, they make up in versatility and the ability to inflict massive damage in a single attack.

The issue is that elementalists do not make up for their squishyness by massive damage as you describe and as used to be the case. I would like the elementalist that you promised in your profession description.

Let’s look at some of the attunement descriptions.

Fire
Elementalists can inflict scorching damage on multiple enemies by turning the ground to fire, raining down molten rock from the skies, and more.

Air
By harnessing wind and lightning, elementalists can target specific foes with focused, high-damage attacks.

Water
Elementalists can chill their foes with ice and rejuvenate their allies with water.

Earth
Elementalists can cause the ground under their feet to come to their aid, turn flesh to stone, destabilize foes with seismic shocks, or trigger volcanic eruptions.

Fire and earth look decently described.

Air? What high damage attacks are we doing? Lighting strike and auto attack? This is not a damage attunement, it’s a utility one, a far cry from what has been described.

Water? Chill is one of the most least used skills in the game other than as a filler skill before you attunement switch to keep the theif from killing you due to its incredibly short duration vs a cripple. Signet of water is never even used due to its terrible active and mildly useful passive.

What I’m basically trying to say is this: I would like the elementalist I bought the game for. The one you described and we would like to play. If you do not want to do this, at least please update the profession description to match so others won’t have to be frustrated by the false advertising.

Thanks for reading.

Chill is strong and the Elementalist is better off than you make it seem.

The description of Air may be wrong, but it doesn’t really matter. Sure, they can change that one description and you can play another class that would appeal to your lower skill level?

I think there are two things wrong here.

Firstly I wouldn’t buy a game based on the description of one character. Especially a mmo where basically skill game play etc change and it’s with in their “Anet” right (T&C)

10. SERVICE AND AVAILABILITY

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(b) You acknowledge that Service may be interrupted for reasons within or beyond the control of NCsoft, that NCsoft cannot and does not guarantee You will be able to use the Game or any Account whenever You wish to do so, that NCsoft will interrupt the Service on a regular basis for purposes of maintenance or updates and may do so without providing You with notice before such interruption, and that NCsoft may provide subsequent versions, enhancements, modifications, upgrades or patches related to the Software that You must accept and/or install before You will be able to use the Game.

Secondly never take the PR guff to heart. If you’re after the damage of a thief from a distance you’re not asking for a balanced game. That being said you are dealing out massive damage in single attacks just not to a single target.

Personally I don’t want the Elementalist changed.
I like the challenge of playing.
I like being thought of as a weak class that everyone can “supposedly” gank.
I like proving people wrong and using the skills available and surviving.
I take pride in my work and don’t blame my tools.

Intigo.1653:

Chill is strong and the Elementalist is better off than you make it seem.

The description of Air may be wrong, but it doesn’t really matter. Sure, they can change that one description and you can play another class that would appeal to your lower skill level?

First off, I think it rude and uncalled for that you suggest I am somehow less skilled for desiring to play the class that ArenaNet said plays a certain way, that actually doesn’t. Please refrain from posting in this thread if you plan on only spouting vitrol about other people.

I think there are two things wrong here.
Firstly I wouldn’t buy a game based on the description of one character. Especially a mmo where basically skill game play etc change and it’s with in their “Anet” right

I buy games based on them doing what they say they will do. It is easy to change a professions design while still staying within the bounds of what you are describing the profession does. They have disregarded their own descriptions and thrown out what the class used to be by giving it low damage and survivability vs what other professions can do with less effort.

Secondly never take the PR guff to heart. If you’re after the damage of a thief from a distance you’re not asking for a balanced game. That being said you are dealing out massive damage in single attacks just not to a single target.
Personally I don’t want the Elementalist changed.
I like the challenge of playing.
I like being thought of as a weak class that everyone can “supposedly” gank.
I like proving people wrong and using the skills available and surviving.
I take pride in my work and don’t blame my tools.

The “PR guff” is the way that people know what to expect from the game. We have nothing to go on for what a profession IS other than their descriptions of what it is designed to be. If this description is wrong, then change it, as it is entirely misleading.

1. I like the challenge of playing.
2. There’s a reason people think this way, overwhelmingly.
3. Fighting an uphill battle due to a disadvantage is great some of the time, but not all the time.
4. Poor tools make performing your job difficult, any workman would know this. This statement is foolish. Get better tools and the work will go better.

I just want what Anet actually describes. Why is this so much to ask?

I don’t really think the class description is that far off what it is. From what you quoted

Elementalists are multi-faceted spellcasters that channel elemental forces, making fire, air, earth, and water do their bidding.

YES we are

What they lack in physical toughness, they make up in versatility and the ability to inflict massive damage in a single attack.

Yes we are weak but we can heal a load, if you load up on healing and toughness you can heal half your health while sustaining a fair amount. Yes we do have high attacks but not just to one target. (we’ve got massive AOE)

The only problem I can see with the class specifics is that with Air the Lightning attacks are not very single target high damage. I am trying to build a character with a high single attacks I’ll come back to you once I’ve found it.

Personally I think you and many people including myself have misinterpreted the class description. I think we expect it to be like other MMORPG where we can be a glass canon. I also don’t want the class changed just yet. I think people are still finding how the class works and it’ll be a great shame if we were to be redesigned to fit a description that doesn’t seem that far off anyway.

I was in a game tonight where a mesmer told me I need to L2P Ele because I am only rank 9. My rank has nothing to do with my ability to play. Ele has the potential to be very strong, but I feel we are punished if we try to spec for damage. We all have to spec Defensively. However, I can kill groups of people. With the exception of most confusion mesmers, several thieves at once, or bunker guardian. Get them low and full life instantly. This is not a L2P issue. When 95% of Elementalist are forced to spec Earth, Water, Arcane, that is a design flaw. Who here is not this spec? If so, please elaborate on your build, how fast you can kill (dps numbers) etc, and survivability vs 2 or more targets.

Monkeymoo.6091:

I don’t really think the class description is that far off what it is. From what you quoted

Elementalists are multi-faceted spellcasters that channel elemental forces, making fire, air, earth, and water do their bidding.

YES we are

What they lack in physical toughness, they make up in versatility and the ability to inflict massive damage in a single attack.

Yes we are weak but we can heal a load, if you load up on healing and toughness you can heal half your health while sustaining a fair amount.

It’s not the healing that’s the problem, it’s the weak damage that you admit we have. That is completely different from the description.

The only problem I can see with the class specifics is that with Air the Lightning attacks are not very single target high damage. I am trying to build a character with a high single attacks I’ll come back to you once I’ve found it.

It’s been over a month and no one has found the mystical high damage spec that is what Anet described, or the high target damage air is supposed to do. It’s not that we can’t find it, it’s that it doesn’t exist.

Personally I think you and many people including myself have misinterpreted the class description. I think we expect it to be like other MMORPG where we can be a glass canon. I also don’t want the class changed just yet. I think people are still finding how the class works and it’ll be a great shame if we were to be redesigned to fit a description that doesn’t seem that far off anyway.

How is massive damage able to be misinterpreted? You admitted our damage is weak, which is counter to the description. The fact that we can heal well isn’t the point. Our damage sucks, and that doesn’t fit what Anet promised an elementalist to be.

ok so if you cast meteor with a large group underneath it you do high damage? I guess its the aoe they’re on about. I’m not disputing our low 1 target damage I’m saying they’re not wrong in their description when we have high aoe damage. I’m not taking sides it’s that their description isnt entirely incorrect. Hey if they buff us great, I just dont want a buff that overpowers us or leaves us in a state where there are loads of Eles running around 3 shotting people

The statement “ability to inflict massive damage in a single attack” isn’t so far from the truth. It sounds more like it’s something an Elementalist is able to do occasionally, not every other second; it doesn’t state that the Elementalist makes a good DPS profession.

Eruption can deal up to 8k damage, Lava Font and Fiery Eruption (Conjure Fiery Greatsword #2) more than 10k and several other skills that deal 5k+ AoE damage. If one of those skills hit more than one foe they deal an amount of damage only a few characters can match with a single attack.

Intigo.1653:

Chill is strong and the Elementalist is better off than you make it seem.

The description of Air may be wrong, but it doesn’t really matter. Sure, they can change that one description and you can play another class that would appeal to your lower skill level?

How about you not being insulting of the OP. He/She has a valid opinion.