Guild Wars 2

STAFF

• Fireball: Reduce the aftercast by .25 seconds and increase the projectile speed by X%.
  • Replace X with a number where its percentage would allow it to actually hit a moving target thus making it viable, and the aftercast of a skill should never be nearly half of the actual cast time of said skill.
• Burning Retreat: Increase the power contribution by 100% (146 damage @ 2,375 power versus its current 93), increase the burning duration to 2 seconds, and add the functionality of pass-through burning at 2 stacks for 4 seconds.
  • Let’s add some offense to staff’s defense.
• Meteor Shower: Reduce the cast time by .75 seconds.
  • Let’s shave this down to 3 seconds to make it more viable.
• Water Blast: Reduce the aftercast by .25 seconds, increase the power contribution by 100% (435 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 278), and increase the projectile speed by X%.
  • See Fireball.
• Ice Spike: Reduce the cast time by .5 seconds.
  • This is the Elementalist version of Mind Stab albeit slightly more powerful. Double the cast time is agreeable, quadruple the cast time is not.
• Frozen Ground: Add the functionality to this skill that that it also pulses 2 stacks of vulnerability for 10 seconds every second.
  • This skill is fairly lackluster in PvE and PvP; let’s change that.
• Healing Rain: Reduce the cast time to 1 second, reduce the radius to 360, reduce the regeneration to 2 seconds, and reduce the duration to 3 seconds with it pulsing every second.
  • This skill currently does very little given the current speed of combat. Let’s speed it up while shaving it a little.
• Chain Lightning: Reduce the aftercast by .25 seconds, increase the power contribution by 50% (787 damage @ 2,375 power versus its current 613), and increase the projectile speed by X%.
  • Replace X with a number where its percentage would allow it to actually hit a moving target thus making it viable. Air is modeled as the fast-hitting power attunement; this skill shouldn’t be slow or hit like a wet noodle.
• Lightning Surge: Reduce the cast time by .5 seconds and increase the radius to 240.
  • Reducing the cast time to 1 second would make it a lot more viable while still maintaining the slower theme of the staff, and a radius increase offers better on-point defense.
• Gust: Increase the projectile speed by X%.
  • Replace X with a number where its percentage would allow it to actually hit a moving target thus making it viable.
• Windborne Speed: Change the functionality of this skill to instead grant 5 seconds of superspeed and increase the cooldown to 30 seconds while still curing crippled, immobilized, and chilled.
  • This will give the staff better disengage for the Elementalist and any teammate(s). Offensively, it will give the Elementalist or teammates better chasing ability.
• Stoning: Reduce the after cast by .35 seconds and add 1 stack of bleeding for 5 seconds.
  • Earth is the second condition-themed attunement. Let’s give the the staff a little more condition damage while in it and take away most of its aftercast which is close in duration to the actual cast time.
• Eruption: Reduce the delay to 1 second, reduce the cast time to by .25 seconds, and reduce the radius to 240.
  • Let’s make this skill viable beyond downed bodies and small capture points while also shaving its radius.
• Shock Wave: Change the 1 stack of bleeding for 20 seconds to 4 stacks of bleeding for 5 seconds and increase the power contribution by 200% (988 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 464).
  • Let’s make the damage appropriate for the cooldown and the condition damage actually matter.

SCEPTER

• Flamestrike: Reduce the initial burn to 2 seconds and increase the power contribution by 100% (595 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 380).
  • This skill is not that great to use as a power-based Elementalist; let’s find an actual middle ground here.
• Dragon’s Tooth: Halve the time it takes for the tooth to impact.
  • This skill already has a 1-second cast time and a visual that’s impossible to miss; let’s make it faster.
• Ice Shards: Add 1 stack of vulnerability for 5 seconds per hit for 3 total and reduce the aftercast by .15 seconds.
  • Let’s make this skill worth using and not have an aftercast on it that’s a third of its cast time.
• Shatterstone: Increase the radius to 240.
  • Let’s make this AoE more viable and give scepter something better on-point pressure while in water attunement.
• Arc Lightning: Reduce the cast time to 2.5 seconds and the aftercast by .25 seconds.
  • This is the Elementalist’s version of Spatial Surge; let it do comparable (still less) damage-per-second.
• Stone Shards: Reduce the aftercast by .25 seconds.
  • No skill should have an aftercast that’s half a second.

DAGGER

• Dragon’s Claw: Reduce the aftercast by .25 seconds.
  • No skill should have an aftercast equal to its cast time.
• Vapor Blade: Increase the projectile speed by X% and decrease its aftercast by .25 seconds.
  • Replace X with a number where its percentage would allow it to actually hit a moving target thus making it viable. No skill should have an aftercast equal to its cast time.
• Cone of Cold: Increase the healing power contribution by 100% (1,508 at 1,200 healing power as opposed to 1,124).
  • Let’s make this skill a little more than something to use when everything else is on cooldown.
• Frozen Burst: Increase the power contribution by 50% (548 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 352).
  • Because less than 500 damage with a 1,200 power amulet and a power rune is too sad.
• Ride the Lightning: Reduce the cooldown to 25 seconds.
  • It’ll still be 10 seconds longer than Ancestral Grace, and Ancestral Grace will still be better.
• Impale: Change 1 stack of bleeding for 8 seconds to 2 stacks of bleeding for 4 seconds and reduce the aftercast by .10 seconds.
  • Let’s make this skill more fluid and its condition damage actually matter a little bit.
• Ring of Earth: Increase the cooldown to 10 seconds, change the missile-blocking functionality to a 1-second block period, change the 1 stack of bleeding for 12 seconds to 3 stacks of bleeding for 4 seconds, and set the damage and conditions to occur at the end of the block.
  • Let’s make this skill more defensive, increase its cooldown accordingly, and make its condition damage actually matter.
• Earthquake: Reduce the cooldown by 5 seconds.
  • 45 seconds is a bit too much.

FOCUS

• Flamewall: Reduce the duration to 5 seconds, increase the power contribution of the ticking damage by 500% (248 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 76), reduce the ticking burning by .5 seconds, and add the functionality of pass-through burning at 2 stacks for 4 seconds.
  • This skill is incredibly difficult to utilize beyond bleeding out downed enemies. Let’s make it much easier to use and a lot less forgiving to justify its cooldown.
• Freezing Gust: Make this an AoE with a 240 radius and increase the power contribution by 500% (651 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 199).
  • Give this ability more viability and at least some pressure damage to justify its cooldown.
• Gale: Fix the tooltip.

HEAL

• Ether Renewal: Change the cast time to .5 seconds and the conditions removed to 2 while maintaining the base healing and healing power contribution.
  • This skill is currently neither viable in meta PvP nor meta PvE; let’s change that.

ARCANE

• Arcane Blast: Give this skill a .25 cast time and increase the power contribution by 50% (1,140 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 884).
  • Blast Gyro is still better, but at least this skill will be more desirable.
• Arcane Power: Increase the amount of affected attacks from 5 to 10.
  • Someone might use it.
• Arcane Shield: Change its functionality to instead block all attacks for 3 seconds and deal its damage at the end if it blocks an attack.
  • Let’s make this skill competitive in the current meta with a worse ratio of block versus cooldown than Shield of Courage.
• Arcane Wave: Give this skill a .25 cast time and increase the power contribution by 50% (1,140 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 884).
  • Blast Gyro is still better, but at least this skill will be more desirable.

CANTRIP

• Armor of Earth: Decrease the cooldown to 60 seconds and change its functionality to periodically apply 3 seconds of protection and 3 seconds of 2 stacks of stability for 3 times over 8 seconds for a total of 9 seconds of protection and stability.
  • Let’s make this a more defensive version of Balanced Stance with a longer cooldown.
• Mist Form: Add the functionality that this skill removes all conditions.
  • If you want to see offensive Elementalist builds, you need to give them more condition removal outside of specializations.

CONJURE

• Conjure Earth Shield: Change the increased vitality to a 20% increase in boon duration.
  • Crippling Shield: Add 2 bleeding stacks for 6 seconds.
  • Stone Sheath: Increase the power contribution by 200% (727 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 337).
  • Magnetic Surge: Increase the power contribution by 200% (910 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 422).
  • Magnetic Shield: Increase the power contribution by 200% (727 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 337).
  • Fortify: Change the functionality of this skill to remove 1 condition each second for 3 total and also block attacks for 3 seconds without preventing Capture-Point Contribution instead of being an invulnerability.
    • The intention here is to make this skill a viable utility with good pressure and on-point defense that won’t play against the node while also adding counter-play.
• Conjure Flame Axe:
  • Lava Axe: Add 1 seconds of burning.
  • Explosive Lava Axe: Add 2 seconds of burning.
  • Burning Retreat: See suggested Burning Retreat (Staff) changes above.
  • Ring of Fire: Mirror the current Ring of Fire (Dagger) Implementation.
  • Flame Leap: Change the 1 stack of burning for 8 seconds to 2 stacks of burning for 4 seconds.
    • The intention here is to make this skill a viable utility with good physical and condition damage.
• Conjure Frost Bow:
  • Water Arrow: Increase the power contribution by 500% (837 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 253).
  • Frost Volley: Increase the power contribution by 50% (2,720 tooltip damage at 2,375 power which is still less than Volley and Barrage versus its current 2,110).
  • Frost Fan: Increase the power contribution by 50% (1,904 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 1,477).
  • Ice Storm: Reduce the cast time by 1.5 seconds (setting it equal to Glyph of Storms) and change the 5 seconds of bleeding to 5 seconds of vulnerability.
  • Deep Freeze: Increase the power contribution by 100% (1,066 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 601).
    • The intention here is to make this skill a viable utility with good damage albeit not better than the Ranger’s Longbow or the Warrior’s rifle.
• Conjure Lightning Hammer:
  • Lightning Leap: Increase the base damage per level by 100%, increase the power contribution by 100% (1,688 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 844), and make it an evade.
  • Lightning Storm: Increase the base damge per level by 100% and increase the power contribution by 100% (666 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 422).
  • Static Field: Reduce the cast time by .25 seconds, increase the base damage per level by 200%, and increase the power contribution by 200% (910 tooltip damage at 2,375 power versus its current 422).
    • The intention here is to make this skill a viable utility with good damage beyond Lightning Swing, Static Swing, and Thunderclap.

GLYPH

• Glyph of Elemental Power: Make this work with attunement swapping, reduce the weakness and crippled durations to 3 seconds each, reduce the burning stacks to 1, increase the trigger chance to 100%.
  • Each foe can only be affected by this skill’s effect only once every 5 seconds anyway; let’s make it more consistent.
• Glyph of Renewal: Reduce the cast time to by 1.25 seconds and increase its cooldown to 240 seconds.
  • See Battle Standard. Revival skills could actually be viable (while not necessarily optimal) if they all had a 2-second cast time.
• Glyph of Storms: Reduce the cooldown 45 seconds.
  • 60 seconds is a bit too much.

SIGNET

• Signet of Fire: Change the 2 stacks of burning for 10 seconds to 4 stacks of burning for 5 seconds.
  • Conditions get removed too quickly in the current meta for this to ever realize its full damage in the current meta.
• Signet of Water: Change the interval to 5 seconds.
  • All such removal skills and traits with an interval of 10 seconds per removal should be changed to this.

ELITE

• Conjure Fiery Greatsword:
  • Flame Wave: Add 1 second of burning per cast (4 seconds total).
  • Fiery Whirl: Add 2 seconds of burning per impact (8 seconds total) and update the tooltip to reflect the actual number of impacts.
  • Fiery Rush: Add 2 seconds of burning when it delivers its final damage.
  • Firestorm: Add 2 seconds of burning per impact.
    • The intention here is to make this skill a viable utility with good physical and condition damage.
• Tornado: Give it the same bonus toughness and vitality as Plague and increase it’s cooldown to 180 seconds to match.
  • This will actually make Tornado a formidable and quite possibly desirable elite skill.

FIRE

• Burning Precision: Increase the chance on Critical Hit to 50%.
  • This lines up with such sigils.
• Blinding Ashes: Make this an AoE with a 240 radius and increase its cooldown to 10 seconds.
  • This will make it actually competitive.

AIR

• Inscription: Increase the protection duration to 5 seconds.
  • Minor traits from other professions will still see more protection application than this trait.
• Tempest Defense: Make the damage increase work properly for all sources of disabled.
• Lightning Rod: Make this effect work properly for all sources of the Elementalist disabling an enemy.

EARTH

• Rock Solid: Increase the stability duration to 4 seconds.
  • See Perfectly Weighted which is a minor trait.
• Diamond Skin: Change the Health Threshold to 50%.
  • This trait will still be lackluster Given just how much other condition removal Cleric Tempest builds had to run on top of it.

ARCANE

• Arcane Precision: Increase the chance on Critical Hit to 50%.
  • This lines up with such sigils.
• Final Shielding: Reduce the cooldown to 60 seconds and let it stack with Arcane Shield.
  • The Elementalist has less defense than the Warrior and you grant the Warrior this courtesy.

Please… Warhorn is still something that need to be “instant” and with lower timer.

You forgot about that weapon and it need more LOVE than anything on Ele.

Jourdelune.7456:

Please… Warhorn is still something that need to be “instant” and with lower timer.

You forgot about that weapon and it need more LOVE than anything on Ele.

I haven’t used warhorn enough to make well reasoned suggestion about it; its skills seem really supporting with copious amounts of CC, but most of my suggested changes are to open up more of a bruiser role for the Elementalist than a pure support role since that seems to be the direction that ArenaNet wants to go in. I will try and edit in any suggested changes for it and the Tempest specialization that I can reason as justifiably balanced later this week.

A lot of your changes are pure power contribution increases, or faster cast time.

You should consider an increased velocity on auto-attacks of staff for instance.

Your Healing Rain and Frozen ground changes are on point, though.

Lightning Surge cast time is good, I’d love to see a cooldown reduction on the skill to fit for a Fresh Air Staff build.

Gust needs a width and velocity increase, which you stated.

Windborne Speed is a good ability already. Would the super speed remove the movement condition clear on it? Because I would like to see it remove slow as an additionnal functionality.

Shockwave: Shockwave is probably my favorite ability. Though, it needs a velocity increase, and could have a more generous power ratio and base. Like you stated on most of the other skills, a pure 50% power increase would actually be welcome on this case, along with a large cooldown reduction.

For the Conjure Earth Shield
You are being too generous with the power ratios. Magnetic Surge could get more power, indeed. But I’d prefer to see the Vitality removed on the Weapon and changed for Concentration instead.

If you have Concentration instead of Vitality, you will avoid the healing reduction effect. Concentration will then be good for the Pull mechanic of the skill that gives protection. Then, for the Fortify, you make it Convert the Condition instead of removing it. Additionnally, you add a Retaliation Boon to Stone Sheath upon activation (Retaliation will damage upon the block).

About the Earth Shield, some want it to be instant cast with a breakstun. (They also want conjure to be a 30 seconds cooldown).

Your changes to the weapon skills are pretty spot on, though some of your suggestions for utility changes are too good.

Number buffs are nice and all, but what eles really need is active mitigation that is mutually exclusive with support.

No matter what you said, the time and effort you put into this topic is admirable. I appreciate for that. And most of your ideas.

I’m just going to go over your suggestions for staff since I have the most experience with it. I’m only going over what I think are problems with your suggestions. Anything not mentioned is something I agree with, which is most things. I would comment on dagger and focus too, but I like all your suggestions overall for those.

Staff:

Frozen Ground: I like the vulnerability suggestion, but I think the only real buff it needs is a reduced CD to 25 seconds.

Healing Rain: This is fine in terms of speed. Though if a CD buff is needed, it should be no less than 35. It’s a powerful skill for condition cleansing when traited properly.

Chain Lightning: Keep in mind that this skill bounces 3 times, so it would be OP if it hit too hard.

Lightning Surge: While a reduced cast time is needed, A 1 second cast time is still too long for a skill that hits as hard as Scepter 2, which is instant, and blinds only one target. For a 1 sec cast, it can stay a single target damage skill, but it should apply AoE blind around the target.

Eruption: YES PLEASE! This has to be done. It takes way too long to do damage and it’s staff’s only blast finisher.

Alekt.5803:

A lot of your changes are pure power contribution increases, or faster cast time.

The Elementalist needs a lot of love in that respect with a lot of clunky skills that don’t do enough damage to be competitive.

Alekt.5803:

You should consider an increased velocity on auto-attacks of staff for instance.

For the Conjure Earth Shield
You are being too generous with the power ratios.

Alekt.5803:

If you have Concentration instead of Vitality, you will avoid the healing reduction effect.

See my current suggestions and let me know your thoughts.

Alekt.5803:

Then, for the Fortify, you make it Convert the Condition instead of removing it.

I can’t agree with that no matter how much synergy it would have. Warrior had its warhorn’s boon conversion stripped because it wasn’t in its theme; if we’re following their train of thought like so, we shouldn’t be adding that to the Elementalist no matter how nice it would be.

FrownyClown.8402:

Your changes to the weapon skills are pretty spot on, though some of your suggestions for utility changes are too good.

Did you mean overtuned, and if so, which ones?

Shadowflare.2759:

Number buffs are nice and all, but what eles really need is active mitigation that is mutually exclusive with support.

See Ring of Earth, Arcane Shield, Mist Form, Fortify, and Blinding Ashes. I definitely held like considerations when considering changes for these particular skills.

alain.1659:

No matter what you said, the time and effort you put into this topic is admirable. I appreciate for that. And most of your ideas.

Thank you. It hasn’t been my main since Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns hit, but I’d still like to see it competitively viable.

Glenstorm.4059:

Too bad it’s probably going to be moved to the Ele forum and ignored forever like most other posts like this.

If it gets moved, it gets moved. While my suggested changes should benefit both PvE and PvP, my purpose for suggesting them was for the Elementalist’s viability in PvP. ArenaNet has taken my suggestions in the past (“Chilled to the Bone!” cooldown reduction to 90 seconds and Zephyr’s Speed Movement Speed Increase to 25% which you should be able to confirm in their forums unless those HoT beta feedback topics were removed), though I know the amount of changes that I am suggesting now is far more considerable. Still, I believe them to be balanced.

Zintrothen.1056:

Frozen Ground: I like the vulnerability suggestion, but I think the only real buff it needs is a reduced CD to 25 seconds.

I can’t in good conscience agree with increased chill uptime.

Zintrothen.1056:

Healing Rain: This is fine in terms of speed. Though if a CD buff is needed, it should be no less than 35. It’s a powerful skill for condition cleansing when traited properly.

I actually took back my suggestion for the cooldown decrease.

Zintrothen.1056:

Chain Lightning: Keep in mind that this skill bounces 3 times, so it would be OP if it hit too hard.

Keeping this in mind, I also kept in mind piercing from other ranged options and comparable damage in correlation as the staff would still do less damage here.

Zintrothen.1056:

Lightning Surge: While a reduced cast time is needed, A 1 second cast time is still too long for a skill that hits as hard as Scepter 2, which is instant, and blinds only one target. For a 1 sec cast, it can stay a single target damage skill, but it should apply AoE blind around the target.

I updated my suggestion for this skill. Check it out.

A million threads have been made before, with many of these same suggestions…none have really ever been implemented.

Instead, we get improvements like adding that worthless damage proc to flamestrike that does nothing against even a slowly strafing or moving enemies, completely missing the point as to why the skill is terrible. Who knows, maybe another 10% damage on shatterstone is all that is holding scepter back from true viability. /s

But seriously, why even waste your time. The decisions made will completely miss the point. Rather than making simple changes that really improve a lot of these terrible skills, they will either NEVER be looked at, or be completely redone in one fell swoop (see some of the new guardian shinies, for instance). Maybe with ele being the next profession to be unviable, they will take the opportunity to make real changes, but past performance (see Summer 2013-Summer2014) shows they will do nothing before just returning the class to the last state in which it was considered “OP” and call it a great success!

Its amazing how people are still trying to claim ele is op lol, dont say that unless you truly know the class.