So wait, Ele’s are now the 4th most mobile class in game? Above Engineers, Necros, Guardians and Mesmers you’re telling me?
So they are the mid ground, but also offer other things warriors+thieves+rangers can’t? Sounds like…like… A jack of all trades to me.
Oh come on! What other things are we talking about here?
Damage? Ele is at the bottom.
Survivability? Healing got nerfed, condition cleansing got nerfed, cantrips got nerfed, armor and health are the lowest compared to any other class.
CC? Rarely used in WvWvW apparently, seeing as how all the anti-Ele QQ was from people who don’t know how to CC 3.25 second skills.
Half the classes have more AND better gap closers/creators than the Ele ever did, even with a 20s 1550 bugged range RtL. For those classes that DON’T have the ability to range their opponent, they have inherent survivability characteristics like more health, armor, blocking skills, CC, etc.
The Elementalist is a light armored class, with a weapon set designed for melee (D/D). How does the lightest armored, lowest health class survive in melee? It used to be a combination of healing and being able to escape when things went south. Which makes sense, kind of like an F-22 Raptor fighting an M1 Abrahams tank. When the jet is airborne and mobile, its almost guaranteed to win. When its on the tarmac with chocks in front of the landing gear, its got no chance.
ANet has to decide how they want Eles to fight. They’re an AoE class with an artificial cap on AoE, and regardless of which weapons you’re using, the Ele has lower mobility than classes wearing plate armor and wielding greatswords!
Pistol this next questions aren’t just addressed to you, but to the community as a whole and ANet specifically:
How is the Elementalist supposed to survive a battle with the removal of mobility, healing, and condition cleansing; not to mention the potential effects of the addition of boon hate? What class mechanics and skills does the Elementalist have that realistically give it an edge over the competition (i.e. blocks, stealth, distortion, illusions, death shroud, etc.)?
For the second part, please refrain from hyperbole and stupidity. All classes have access to heals, utility skills and boons, so those obviously don’t factor in to the equation, which is why I mentioned class/weapon specific abilities.
