Guild Wars 2

It’s a bit sad, but I played Ele up to level 40, but I just can’t get into it. I tried various combinations of weapons, not many traits to chose yet with 40 anyway. But somehow I don’t feel so weak with ANY class even remotely. I put most in defense and got tons of VIT and TOUGHNESS stuff to counter how super fast my HP always dropped.

I tried D/D, thinking close range does most dmg, and it looks cool, but… phew it forces me to circle around my enemy, and even then I lost a lot of fights. Like skill point challanges against single mobs, which ALL my other classes easily managed, I died 2-3 times before somehow getting it.

I play Staff in WvW, walking with the Zerg and playing Artillery, but I seriously have the feeling not to contribute much. Don’t get many drops with that char in WvW. (Unlike my Warrior or Necro who get drops in WvW left and right!)

Finally I tried scepter/focus which I managed the “best”, but still I was constantly swapping through the 4 elements, deffing with earth, healing with water, doing dmg with fire and then going back, so QUITE a hassle.

I did the same stuff afterwards with my Ranger who by chance has the same level, 40, and I felt like playing frigging GOD MODE compared to that! Just sent out pet and let my axes bounce around. I mean, with Necro, Mesmer and War I can almost fight afk! At least in PVE. Mesmer is so easy. Just make my clones, and sit down drink some tea and watch the fight. But my Ele… always RUN RUN RUN like a frightened bunny!

I dunno, it just feels lame always have to run so much. But I admit with Ele=Mage, I always imagine mages to be more… like Gandalf, or Elminster! But I felt more like Schmendrick! Not cool. I mean, I’d love to play Ele for the cool elemental attacks. But really… it feels like a drag. Other wizards I played, like in WOW, EQ2 or WAR had ways to keep the enemy away, eithe by slowing them or freezing them, by tank pets or whatevs. But the GW2-Ele has… nothing. It’s just not possible to play and mostly stand there, what I imagine with a “mage”: a mostly stationary character who destroys his enemies from afar. Here, health just goes down like WHOOPSY DAISY.

shrug Just my 5 cents. Seems to need some serious love, this class.

This class probably isn’t for you.

Congrats. You found out, why many eles are unhappy with their class. Anet has no clue how to design the elementalist and their attempts at doing something with this class are quite ineffective.

I know what you mean, however, I’m up to the challenge. I’ve leveled a Warrior, Guardian, Mesmer and thief up to 80 with little to no problems. Out of those 4 classes, Thief seemed to be the most challenging but still easy to level. I was working on a Necro but realized at level 43 or so, this class too was going to be a breeze leveling so I deleted him for the slot and made an Elementalist. I already knew what to expect when making the Elementalist, because I’ve deleted this class atleast 4 times out of frustration then ended up leveling the other classes I mentioned lol.

I feel this class is a class for players who are looking for a challenge and I’m up to it. Also, I’m finding out through conversation with EXPERIENCED Elementalist that I was playing the class totally wrong.

P.S.

But yes I do agree with you that the other classes are FAR superior to this one. Well that’s how I feel at the moment as a low level Elementalist. I’ll see how I feel after hitting 80 and unlocking the full potential of the profession.

Andross.5183:

Congrats. You found out, why many eles are unhappy with their class. Anet has no clue how to design the elementalist and their attempts at doing something with this class are quite ineffective.

Even with attunement switch I personally think the class would be more enjoyable if the player was able to weapon swap. Man, If I could swap between D/D and Staff, that would be insane !

“full potential of this profession”…..Don’t worry even at lvl80 elem has no real potential but this class is not too bad everywhere and is exelent nowehere. That’s the real problem. It seems that Anet has not understood that they created a class with no real specificity. Ah yes we have 20 spells , so good, but we do nothing really powerfull with 20, 10 would be ok if we could have great combination spells/taits/ability.
With this patch thay say “look you won’t need to spend eveything in arcane” but to add what ? Someting that change the fact that ele is at the moment incapable of beeing exellent in one point (support, dps or else). Plz Arnet, stop thinking that changes like this make great difference, give ele a real place in the game, give us a real utility.

Don’t play an ele. The class is getting destroyed more and more with every patch. I main ele since release and I actually wanna cry after I read the Dec 10 nerfs. Go play a guardian or mesmer.

elikal.7356:

Other wizards I played, like in WOW, EQ2 or WAR had ways to keep the enemy away, eithe by slowing them or freezing them, by tank pets or whatevs. But the GW2-Ele has… nothing.

Staff has: Burning Retreat, Frozen Ground, Gust, Static Field, Unstead Ground and Shockwave. Also, we have Glyph of Lesser Elementals and Glyph of Elementals, with the Earth elemental version being about the best tank in the game both in terms of aggro and survival.

It’s just not possible to play and mostly stand there, what I imagine with a “mage”: a mostly stationary character who destroys his enemies from afar. Here, health just goes down like WHOOPSY DAISY.

You’re not supposed to stand still. When it comes to staff, you have 1 skill that requires you to stand still. Everything else allows you to move while casting.

Guild Wars 2 elementalist is an active combat game, not a passive sit back and press 1 game. You’re just misinformed and inexperienced, sorry.

just saying

staff ele, in fire alone, is better than mesmer in 90% of PVE

Sure that ele is active combat but we don’t have the tools to balance the fact that we are weak, we don’t DPS, we don’t support a lot. We are just trying to DPS a bit without beeing OS. We are in paper and Anet tells us that perma vigor is just a too big advantage ??

Machupo.1095:

Sure that ele is active combat but we don’t have the tools to balance the fact that we are weak, we don’t DPS, we don’t support a lot. We are just trying to DPS a bit without beeing OS. We are in paper and Anet tells us that perma vigor is just a too big advantage?

That’s all true, but the OP’s complaints weren’t about that. He claimed he couldn’t defeat PvE foes and keep them at distance while standing still. I merely told him that if he moves while fighting, he will have enough survivability to at least be able to complete PvE stuff.

I’ve been looking at some of the traits and powers that unlock at higher levels and from what I’m reading, it appears Elementalist can tank pretty good with dual daggers. Their healing abilities keep them going plus you have a variety of shields to choose from. Dual daggers AOE is pretty good with high survivability.

If you haven’t deleted your Elementalist I suggest using dual daggers and look into a tank build. Hang in there until you unlock the professions full potential before making a final decision.

Azure.8670:

just saying

staff ele, in fire alone, is better than mesmer in 90% of PVE

With the changes being made in December, it would be nice if they moved the blasting staff trait out of arcana and pit it into fire. That would really make staff a strong weapon.

ThiBash.5634:

Machupo.1095:

Sure that ele is active combat but we don’t have the tools to balance the fact that we are weak, we don’t DPS, we don’t support a lot. We are just trying to DPS a bit without beeing OS. We are in paper and Anet tells us that perma vigor is just a too big advantage?

That’s all true, but the OP’s complaints weren’t about that. He claimed he couldn’t defeat PvE foes and keep them at distance while standing still. I merely told him that if he moves while fighting, he will have enough survivability to at least be able to complete PvE stuff.

I am not standing still. But the Ele is over the top dependent on constant running around. Other classes need to dodge now and then! But with Ele I need to be lolcoptering the enemy all the time, and thats just plain silly.

elikal.7356:

ThiBash.5634:

Machupo.1095:

Sure that ele is active combat but we don’t have the tools to balance the fact that we are weak, we don’t DPS, we don’t support a lot. We are just trying to DPS a bit without beeing OS. We are in paper and Anet tells us that perma vigor is just a too big advantage?

That’s all true, but the OP’s complaints weren’t about that. He claimed he couldn’t defeat PvE foes and keep them at distance while standing still. I merely told him that if he moves while fighting, he will have enough survivability to at least be able to complete PvE stuff.

I am not standing still. But the Ele is over the top dependent on constant running around. Other classes need to dodge now and then! But with Ele I need to be lolcoptering the enemy all the time, and thats just plain silly.

Are you swapping attunements ? Try D/D and go through your attunements. Also try other slot skills like that signet that gives you toughness and that signet that passively cures conditions every 10 seconds. These things keep me alive with D/D not to mention the survivability you get just from using D/D alone. Anddddd don’t forget the different shields you have at your disposal. Annnndddddd trait yourself to take damage and give it.

You only start feeling the Ele after level 50-60, well you used to. The playstyle is fun, that’s about all it has going for it in my opinion (mained an Ele since beta). And yes we are dependent on movement and boons to keep alive.

It isn’t a class for everyone yet everyone has an opinion on balancing it. Save yourself the time and effort and don’t level any further.

elikal.7356:

I am not standing still. But the Ele is over the top dependent on constant running around. Other classes need to dodge now and then! But with Ele I need to be lolcoptering the enemy all the time, and thats just plain silly.

Then maybe the profession simply isn’t your thing. Personally, I don’t have the issues you complain about. Between the staff’s control skills, the Earth Elemental and the perma protection/heals I don’t have much more trouble staying upright than warriors do in PvE. When things get to extreme though, I move, but that’s also how things were in the other games you mentioned (even if they were much less mobile). I’d say percentagewise, the Mage and Warrior in WoW move as much relatively as the Warrior and Elementalist do in GW2.

Don’t play a light armor profession if you can’t handle avoiding damage otherwise.

ThiBash.5634:

elikal.7356:

I am not standing still. But the Ele is over the top dependent on constant running around. Other classes need to dodge now and then! But with Ele I need to be lolcoptering the enemy all the time, and thats just plain silly.

Then maybe the profession simply isn’t your thing. Personally, I don’t have the issues you complain about. Between the staff’s control skills, the Earth Elemental and the perma protection/heals I don’t have much more trouble staying upright than warriors do in PvE. When things get to extreme though, I move, but that’s also how things were in the other games you mentioned (even if they were much less mobile). I’d say percentagewise, the Mage and Warrior in WoW move as much relatively as the Warrior and Elementalist do in GW2.

Don’t play a light armor profession if you can’t handle avoiding damage otherwise.

Have you ever played a WoW mage or Warrior? Because WoW mages turret, they don’t move much except on certain boss fights, the only mobile mage would be arcane and even then you channel a lot so you’re not moving. Moving = cancel spell cast. Also warriors can just charge mob to mob on WoW. So I’m not trying to be rude but GW2 Ele moves around a whole more more than any WoW class every does, except maybe a hunter when kiting.

But I get the attunement changes, that can be annoying to switch to heal then get locked out for a while. Most other games offer you a specialty with other utilities to play with, GW2 offers so-so spells on attunements that lock out and no real weapon swapping. You really have to love the ADD playstyle to really even bother with the ele which kinda sucks because there isn’t another mage class besides necro to play with.

The Ele profession for me is excellent for all aspects of pve, solo/small group roaming, and in Zerg WvW. The only field where it doesn’t excel is spvp. I have lvl 80 from all the other professions and I can easily tell ya the Ele is the hardest to play well specially in pvp scenarios.. This profession isn’t newcomer friendly,… It takes a lot of time to master so give it a bit more time and you might actually enjoy.

ThiBash.5634:

Then maybe the profession simply isn’t your thing. Personally, I don’t have the issues you complain about. Between the staff’s control skills, the Earth Elemental and the perma protection/heals I don’t have much more trouble staying upright than warriors do in PvE. When things get to extreme though, I move, but that’s also how things were in the other games you mentioned (even if they were much less mobile). I’d say percentagewise, the Mage and Warrior in WoW move as much relatively as the Warrior and Elementalist do in GW2.

Don’t play a light armor profession if you can’t handle avoiding damage otherwise.

I really would like to see that in fotm 80. You either lack damage or stay at range which is nothing to be proud of.

I feel this class is good for when you get bored with your other classes. Just my opinion.

Sunshine.4680:

kinda sucks because there isn’t another mage class besides necro to play with.

Mesmer is a mage archetype too — the Illusionist one.

Can I talk about how excited I was to see a reference to The Last Unicorn? Because I was really excited.

D/D is one of the more frenetic weaponsets, and not everyon’e cup of tea. S/D is slower, but you can run it fast if you want to burst, so it’s grown more popular recently.

I always play staff in zergs, and I feel useful because I support everyone around me with buffs and aoe healing.

Personally, I enjoy D/F, which you didn’t mention among the sets you tried. It’s a bit of a redheaded stepchild, but I really enjoy it. It’s tankier, and can support you through a slower rotation should you so choose.

It’s as you said. You can’t get hit.

I never had too much problems leveling though.

Those skill chalanges you mentioned? Let me give you scenario.

Enemy get’s too close? I race trough them with burning speed and put down ring of fire and fire grab him
He get’s close again? I get into air and updraft, then dps some more.
About to get hit again? earthquake in ring of earth.
Don’t have anything to knock him down or get away from him?
Just dodge.

If you’re looking for survival tips while you’re still lacking a lot of good traits, Glyph of Storms in earth is persistent AoE blind. It really helped me a lot when I was still super squish.

If swapping to each attunement regularly = “quite a hassle”, then there’s not much help we can offer you, because that is how you’re supposed to play. Now, unless you’re clicking all your spells, or haven’t touched the keybinding system, then it’ll probably be next to impossible for you to enjoy the class.

Sunshine.4680:

I’d say percentagewise, the Mage and Warrior in WoW move as much relatively as the Warrior and Elementalist do in GW2.

Have you ever played a WoW mage or Warrior? Because WoW mages turret, they don’t move much except on certain boss fights, the only mobile mage would be arcane and even then you channel a lot so you’re not moving. Moving = cancel spell cast. Also warriors can just charge mob to mob on WoW. So I’m not trying to be rude but GW2 Ele moves around a whole more more than any WoW class every does, except maybe a hunter when kiting.

My apologies, I wasn’t clear. What I meant to say is that if the WoW warrior had to move 10 paces per minute and the mage 20 to avoid damage, in Guild Wars 2 the warrior has to move/dodge 100 per minute and the elementalist 200. That kind of relativity.

But the bottom line is: I have no problem with the active, mobile playstyle. I welcoem it, makes the game a lot more interesting than ‘stand still and go afk while auto attacking’.

haviz.1340:

I really would like to see that in fotm 80. You either lack damage or stay at range which is nothing to be proud of.

We were obviously talking about PvE, and I didn’t mention it to brag, I merely intended to say that it’s very possible for a staff ele to survive in melee for at least a short while. People seem to think that just because you have 1200 range you must remain at 1200 range at all times and that’s just not true. My average range during dungeons is between 200 and 700 so everyone can make the most use of my boons, heals and combos.

I actually found it was the opposite for me, I played elementalist for a while in the early days got tired of being as squishy as a wet paper bag so I tried around and found warrior. Love it for a good 6 months as I learned the ins and out of this game and found myself getting bored… so 1 day I when back to my first toon and suddenly I saw elementalist in a whole new light after experience the world. sure were squishy but thats fixable. very fixable.

I suddenly found I have selection in the way I could fight from 1 battle to the next. having skills that provide multiple levels of healing in short times became a blessing to me. Hell I never leave water if it didn’t do weak dps. Now when I play other toons it feels so…fixed and stiff.

This build might help, I’ve found it works for me:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQJAoYhEmmbwR3wjEAEFm4SQxBMMK0RRxM5A

With 20 points in Fire you can play around with Conjurer if you want, Earth 10 gives you access to Earth’s Embrace and Elemental Shielding, and Water 20 and Arcane 20 give you access to a bunch of traits like Blasting Staff, Arcane Abatement and more that are useful in PvE, PvP and WvW. I’ve found that this distribution, apart from a Scepter FA build with 30 in Air, gives the most versatility of any build I’ve played.

It certainly may not be optimized to the hilt, but I play with full Celestial gear too! I like the versatility in playstyle, allowing me to switch up on the fly between close combat D/D to distance nuker with Staff. And with judicious switching up of certain Water and Earth traits, I can usually solo a Champ, groups of 2 to 3 Veterans, and the aggro limit on trash mobs. Its primarily a PvE build, but with the right gear could do well in PvP.

Avoid chilling them. Good necros will put that right back on you. It is usually what kills me.

ThiBash.5634:

We were obviously talking about PvE, and I didn’t mention it to brag, I merely intended to say that it’s very possible for a staff ele to survive in melee for at least a short while. People seem to think that just because you have 1200 range you must remain at 1200 range at all times and that’s just not true. My average range during dungeons is between 200 and 700 so everyone can make the most use of my boons, heals and combos.

Dungeons are child’s play, try high level (60+) fotm.

Perhaps if you got Ele drunk.

haviz.1340:

Dungeons are child’s play, try high level (60+) fotm.

You managed to run fotm 60+? Wow. Congrats. I only know a few who has reach 52. You are probably the only person that I know that can run this with the current capped to agony resistance.

Anyway, to OP. Have you tried other profession yet? If this is your first class then it’s not gonna easy to master. I deleted my ele dozen times before I finally managed to get lvl 80. And I am loving it as my alt.

But let me be honest, this class is getting harder to play with each passing note. If you are having difficulty with d/d or staff or any of your equipment, I suggest you take 1-2 conjure weapon. It will make things easier in your PvE or dungeon content. Take lesser elemental as well if you have difficulty in dodging.

elikal.7356:

I was constantly swapping through the 4 elements, deffing with earth, healing with water, doing dmg with fire and then going back, so QUITE a hassle.

Constantly swapping elements and moving around is how the ele is supposed to be played. It takes a lot of practice. It took me 6 months to feel I was really “good” at the class and knew what worked best in which situations.

Sigils that increase your endurance on swap are a life saver. The lower levels are tough when leveling an ele, once you gain access to traits like the “create a spell on dodge” and get used to constantly moving and changing attunements according to the situation ele is really fun (in my opinion).

Chaotic Storm.2815:

I actually found it was the opposite for me, I played elementalist for a while in the early days got tired of being as squishy as a wet paper bag so I tried around and found warrior. Love it for a good 6 months as I learned the ins and out of this game and found myself getting bored… so 1 day I when back to my first toon and suddenly I saw elementalist in a whole new light after experience the world. sure were squishy but thats fixable. very fixable.

I suddenly found I have selection in the way I could fight from 1 battle to the next. having skills that provide multiple levels of healing in short times became a blessing to me. Hell I never leave water if it didn’t do weak dps. Now when I play other toons it feels so…fixed and stiff.

same here, i started playing an ele when i got the game (~ 2 months ago) then switched to warrior when he was around 40, i still play the warrior a lot and its also fun, but i usually level an alt as well (got 80 mesmer + necro as well).

i just decided to drop some money into the ele and leveled him to 80 with some crafting, dungeon end boss swapping and orr champ train.
Then got him a full knight set and some mixed trinkets and went to wvw tonight.

boy did i have a blast, playing ele has such a bold playstyle.
Usually on my warrior i jump into the midst of things in zergfight, but on ele i feel so secure i can go wherever i want and feel like i can run or engage at leisure.

Really lot of fun, you cant really measure this class before you got it full equiped at 80 and also got some game experience on top (dodging, comboing, reading the flow of enemy movement, smart utility skill usage).
If you dont have these chances are high you will get steamrolled in seconds and i can understand that thats not fun, especially the correct use of mist form, blink etc are so important for not getting killed, which is really different from other classes where you get defensive either through passive hp,thoughness or automatically triggered defensive skills.

strange… i got the same feeling you have…. but with my mesmer… i don’t have that problem with ele tough.

I’m almost a only wvw player. I have a warrior 80 and a ele 80.
With my warrior i think i used at least 5 different viable build, ending with a lot of loot or at least with the perception of being helpful to our zerg, with damage, cc or support (shouts healing build).
Playing the ele i noticed even leveling a higher skill cap. When i build it for wvw i went straight for the only viable zerg build, staff damage / support.
Even if not 80 i think my job was more effective than the warrior. Maybe because was not my first character, but i found having more loot, very big heal (despite level and gear difference) and very good CC.
What i also noticed is that dying with my ele is very uncommon. Distance and evasive move helps a lot, but to play it properly (at least in wvw) you should understand something about the class.
First of all, position. Good position let you place spells with insane effect. Spell 5 of fire, spell 4 of earth, and so on.
Eles have good dmg, good heal and good CC. Use all your spells. Don’t try to do only damage, because you will be useless in part of your attunement swapping. I built my ele cleric staff, for now at least, and this means he got good survability, good heal and decent damage (poor crit chance, 30% with fury, but still i have almost fury perma up).
Even if not D/D, you should use all your spells, traits (for example with dodge) and consider that you should always manage to find the best use for all of you spells.
My 5 cent:
With staff auto attack is not so good, use it when you need time to think or when you really know you need (water for example).
Remember that you create fields, use it properly for yourself and much important the army.
Fire is good for damage, but don’t focus on it. You can have an insane damage if you force the biggest number of your opponents to shower in your fire. So…
Spell 3 and 5 of air, spell 4 of water, 4 and 5 of heart, plus traits, runes and so on. Stop them, move, cast, swap, heal allies, give reg, stability aoe, protection, tune to fire, buff and dmg.
Make this not only in this sequence, constantly, and you will have a great performance.
People will love you and you will have fun.
It’s clear that the problem is get used to this and keep focus. I don’t know why but i found ele easy, most of my friends not. It’s a l2p issue, even if i admit some class are a bit op (but not REALLY OP). For example with war sure i’m not very good Good, but not much than this.

If you want to roam go D/D. And remember, roaming is making something useful for server. Not kill random invaders that try to reach the zerg (if you don’t kill A LOT of invaders, of course). Even if a hammer warrior can beat you, he can’t kill you. Go for the dolly, kill it and run faster than him to another target. Keep fortress contested, and so on. Btw, i’m not expert in this role so don’t take this as the roamers’ bible.

Have you tried Conjure Lightening Hammer or Conjure Frost Bow? I’m leveling an ele (26 atm) and have been using them with ease. LH hits like a truck. I’ve got 5pts in Water for constant regen and then use either FB or LH in water attunement and it work great. We’ll see how this keeps up at later levels.

Are you WvW only?

I only play PvE.

Ele gave me a huge learning curve at first, but now I can survive pretty well. I dodge, run around, slow, etc., and healing’s nice, but it feels like that’s all I’m good at: Running and healing. Once I get hit, if I’m slowed or stopped, that’s it for me—more than 3-4 mobs and I am down in seconds. One personal story quest was impossible to solo because I always had 7+ mobs on me at a time who could slow and poison. It takes a long while to kill most stuff, unfortunately. I can survive, I can manage, but it takes so much time. And I hate summoned weapons, so I never use them.

It’s tricky, but it sounds like it’s not your style. You’re supposed to run around and swap elements a lot. I don’t like the massive amount of running around I have to do (all the time), but I accept that it’s generally a mobile class.

elikal.7356:

It’s just not possible to play and mostly stand there.

Well there’s your problem. Ele is not a stand still, press 1 repeatedly and win kind of class.