in all seriousness burst builds have taken a much bigger hit other tankers cele specs. Nerfing a entire segment of the class that already was underwhelming is a big mistake. (I am biased towards burst ele and don’t really like dd tank specs in their current state but that would make me biased towards thinking burst specs are stronger than they are would i not ???) the way the traits are it looks like zerker mesmer might become meta but ele still will have no truly competitive zerker option. please remember I design this on a small amount of freetime and the devs spend much more time with a larger team so don’t expect every trait to be perfect yet.
Trait changes: these are mostly focused on bustier or damage focused builds but include overall design changes that are beneficial to all eles.
Fire:
This line did not receive nerfs necessarily but is not going to be able to provide enough survival for a glassy ele and doesn’t add enough to its burst because many of the traits incentivize melee gameplay ( bad on glassy builds) but aren’t even that strong in the first place making it likely to be the least used line by elementalists outside of pve.
My changes: This line will be strong for adding sustained damage and some sustain (moving most blinding traits to air)
Grand Master – Blinding Ashes – you have a 33% chance to burn foes you hit; blind foes you burn ( 3s ICD per target )
Grand Master – Pyromancer’s puissance – Fire auras you apply reduce damage taken ( 15% )
master- minor – Sunspot: Blind your target when attuning to fire ( AoE around target)
adept – Power overwhelming – gain 33% more duration for burning and gain might when you strike a burning foe ( 1 stacks ( 1s icd) 5 seconds base duration)
Adept – conjurer- conjure weapons have additional affects ( not sure about icebow but if they Nerf it damage ( the said the would) making it support viable could be nice- icestorm on frostbow heals ( more on theme with it anyways), lightning hammer applies vulnerable with each attack (2 stacks), you take reduced damage while wielding earth shield, fiery gs ( need better ideas), flame axe does increased damage to burning foes ( 10%)
adept minor – critical blaze – ( 10% higher crit chance to burning foes, might change this)
Air: this line is okay but the modifiers on it aren’t consistent with other traits i will explain on aeromancer’s training)
My Changes: this line becomes a highly critchance and damage based line with emphasis on popping in and out of air attunement to burst and use skill that provide utility and synergizes with blind ( fire will keep the blinding GM but other blind traits will likely be moved to air )
adept- Ferocious winds: Gain ferocity based on your percision ( 7% )
adept minor – Zephyr’s percision: gain 10% critical chance while in air attunement ( awaiting laraley’s obviously amazing suggestion she is bound to post)
Master – aeromancers training – air skills reduced CD by 20% and increases crit damage by 30% ( roughly 425 ferocity ) this is because as the trait is set up now it provides + 10% crit damage which, because it us a multiplier for power, is only a 5% damage bonus on crit and the average crit chance of a Zerker scholar runes build in pvp is 49% this is under a 2.5% average damage bonus and so is absolutely useless; with my changes it would be an average 7.5% damage bonus but can be made higher with the crit chance the air line would incentivize.)
GM – bolt to the heart – increase damage by 20% to foes below 50% hp ( this is only an average age 6.66…% damage modifier so it is not GM worthy. 20/3 = 6.66…)
GM minor – piercing lightning – cause vulnerability ( 3 stacks) to foes you blind ( does this need an icd? )
Master – Powerful inscriptions – reduce recharge of glyphs by 20%, glyphs have addition effects based on your attunement:
Glyph of storms fire attunement-example- firestorm also grants might to allies in an AoE ( 5s duration 2 stacks per second )
Notes:
Currently fixing balance, design, and thematical issues as well as adding an arcana improvements section.
Also if you like my ideas Arena-net please allow me to help you with more design balance I have the summer free and would be happy to help you then ( Note that especially the blind traits in the fire line are not final, moving most of them to air and adjusting traitlines right now).
More ideas, critique, and balancing suggestions are much appreciated!!!! Nothing is final and theme reworking is in progress. Remember my balance is based on mathematics and quantifiable amounts or references to top or players with well respected opinions.
As this thread is full ( my post has reached work cap ) I will be making a separate arcana + water changes thread which will eventually become the final product of my game balance design recommendations for ele.
(edited by Sadrien.3470)