Guild Wars 2

Thats it, im giving up on this, i’ve played every single class, i have tried elementalists multiple times, staff, dagger, scepter, all, i have done many keybindings and played countless hours, elementalists are UP, period. The damage they can POTENTIALLY do is good, yes, but the amount of effort it takes for it is not worth it, when i can do the same with 3-4 keys on any other class.

Also it seems very unfair classes like thief and mesmers get such an easy time, i have been playing elementalists ever since release and I would be very happy when I would get a kill somehow, i thought it was supposed to be hard because they do so much damage, then i played ranger, theif, mesmer and realized that I could that, more and MUCH more without having to use not even 1/6 the effort.

“Just play another class” NO, i like elementalists, i like their gamestyle, I dont like the others, i play for fun, and being able to do stuff is fun, elementalist feel underwhelming, period. I like pressing buttons but i want to have a more reliable reward, anyone with half brain can dodge a 1 1/2 second cast spell ground targeted with a hitting radius of almost a few paces, most skills have to be oriented at enemies, they are not locked unlike almost every other class, you mess up ONE skill and you can pretty much kiss goodbye to life.

Yes, this is a rant, but after being playing for this long, tried MULTIPLE builds, played with friends, asked them to test things out on empty servers and overall was very humble in asking for advices I have come to the conclusions elementaists need some heavy rework, specially water, and yes Im looking at you; staff and D/D

[/rant]

Lol, just lol. I read to “elementalist is UP…” then I stopped. And as I said just a few words ago – lol.
Or acctually, I’m not sure weather I should laugh or cry when I read stuff like this anymore. It’s both sad and hilarious at the same time.

Now here’s a lil’ story for y’all:
Until yesterday I found Elementalist pretty equal to the other proffs. I ran around doing decent damage with decent survivability. But then, yesterday, when I got the last of my exotic peices and changed my runes and sigils I completely change my mind (until this point I had been running around with MF stuff). Elementalist isn’t UP, it isn’t equal to the others, it’s freakin’ OP. I’m running around like a boss kicking kitten I barely have to try to kill people anymore, they just drop dead infront of me. Wich is why I kinda lol at these topics and also cry – considering how kitten I know the proff is. If you can’t play Elementalist, that’s your problem, go make a theif. But don’t come here telling people Elementalist is UP, cuz’ they are far from it.

Peace out.

Let’s say, if played well and with the RIGHT build, elementalist is pretty same if not even more powerful than other classes.

Problem is, except a really few godlike builds, the rest are completly worthless and UP.

Calle.8746:

Lol, just lol. I read to “elementalist is UP…” then I stopped.
.

and I stopped reading here, if you are not gonna put some effort into reading my points and explanation then i got no use for your argument because it most likely gonna touch some topics i mentioned in the way i didnt intend to.

Im here to have a civilized conversation base don my experiences on elementalist, your lack of effort will be rewarded with the same.

Dear OP

Review this Forum post, on the forums titled below:

[Guide] Mastering the D/D ele 11/19/12

Impressive no?

RhysSebastian.7651:

Dear OP

Review this Forum post, on the forums titled below:

[Guide] Mastering the D/D ele 11/19/12

Impressive no?

read it, tried it before i saw it on the forums, tried after reading it, tried multiple paths of it, final result; the same.

Notice how people dont want to be forced into D/D, and even then the damage can be good, yes, but at expense of survavility (TOO MUCH) , or bunker elementalist but people can just heal it through, you are not gonna be killing stuff anytime soon.

Impressive, no?

Heavy rework? Ele might be the red-headed step child of the cast when it comes to getting “buffs,” but honestly I don’t feel we need them. Bug fixes yes, but what class doesn’t?

It’s true other professions take less effort to get a kill, but what you’re not seeing is how nobody really matches up to Ele in terms of utility. The exception might be Engies, but they aren’t exactly “Hurr I press buttan!!1” class either.

I went back and played some of my previous professions and noticed: “Hmm..If only I could swap to this, and do this.” Everything felt so limiting now after having accesss to so many skills and tools for just about any situation. And on top of that, Ele has been the first profession I’ve played to where I can consistently win when I’m outnumbered.

Any chance you can post your last build? Maybe we can help, after all, without a solid build your skills may not count for much.

Jericho.4521:

Heavy rework? Ele might be the red-headed step child of the cast when it comes to getting “buffs,” but honestly I don’t feel we need them. Bug fixes yes, but what class doesn’t?

It’s true other professions take less effort to get a kill, but what you’re not seeing is how nobody really matches up to Ele in terms of utility. The exception might be Engies, but they aren’t exactly “Hurr I press buttan!!1” class either.

I went back and played some of my previous professions and noticed: “Hmm..If only I could swap to this, and do this.” Everything felt so limiting now after having accesss to so many skills and tools for just about any situation. And on top of that, Ele has been the first profession I’ve played to where I can consistently win when I’m outnumbered.

Any chance you can post your last build? Maybe we can help, after all, without a solid build your skills may not count for much.

out of the many i’ve used Im currently using D/D 30 arcane, 30 water 10 air , soldier’s amulet, have around 6 keybinding just for dodge, utilities and most used water swapping attunement.

I land most of my spells and can dodge most of the heavy hitting spells because i pretty much know half the classes by memory now.

Still takes me 100x more times the effort to get someone to 20% hp

I will admit that the utility of the elementalist is unpaired and I think for people who specc on it they should be able to survive better at expense of no being able to kill well, but even when you go fully offensive; you either get someone from 100 to 0 in one combo where they are just standing and are squishy or die trying, which the latest happens the most.

I want to be able to deal damage like I do with other classes, I want to be able to give up AoE and utility in exchange of some reliable single or 2-3 target damage

Also, i dont want to be FORCE to play D/D, i like staff, i LOVE staff, i dont like melee weapons like D/D wich force me to go unnecessarily balls deep into a full team when i have the lowest hit points on the game and the weaker of all armors.

Honestly Fortus, it sounds like what you want is not the Ele. Nothing wrong with that, but Ele in its current form doesn’t fit that description IMO. Your old build seems fine, it’s similar to what I’m running now.

Staff unfortunately took a big hit with the EA nerf, but i think it’s still viable. If you want to stick it out with staff, hopefully someone else can come and shed some light on this as I myself typically only use D/D.

All I can say is if Ele really is your love, try something else if you haven’t and come back. I basically was frustrated with my Necro, found Ele and now i’m as happy as can be.

P.S.: Have you tried playing Engie? Long range, plenty of utility, not as squishy if building for power/ etc.

RhysSebastian.7651:

Dear OP

Review this Forum post, on the forums titled below:

[Guide] Mastering the D/D ele 11/19/12

Impressive no?

This is a strong build, but that doesn’t mean the class as a whole is balanced. Most other builds are very underwhelming, with poor trait and trait line design to blame.

Calle.8746:

I understand that a limited mind like yours think that way. Good thing I’m here to tell you you’re wrong!

Seriously now… that’s no way to address someone on any forum, or anywhere actually.

I don’t know what you guys are doing or how you are playing but…wait…for…it… Elementalists are NOT underpowered. Yes you have to put more effort in to beat people but that is what makes the class more interesting.

If planning rotations, timing and using your attunement correctly is too much and this is not a direct flame…PLAY AN EASIER PROFESSION. Stop trying to pressure aNet into chaning Ele’s because you just want to press 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,1,1,1,1, lIke some other professions.

With increased effort and understanding comes rewards. I cannot play another profession after playing my Ele. And yes I wreck people, 1v1, 2v1, 3v1, 4v1 you name it. I’m tough to kill and can kill, I know my profession inside and out. I know how to counter other professions, other builds and I wreck people. Yeah of course I sometimes die, it comes with the territory. Do I expect to beat everyone I come across, of course not some people are just better at their class than I am. However Ele’s are NO way as kittenome people make them out to be.

Roll warrior and do bull-rush + Hundred blades if that’s what tickles your fancy. I’ll stick to playing something that takes time and effort to work out.

efficient builds has been in EVERY PVP MMO in existence. There are some builds that simply trump others. There has yet to be a game, where every alternative is a viable alternative.

Hell, even chess is not balanced.

Yes its good to be passionate about an issue, and desire that changes be made. Unfortunately, At the end of the day, there will always be a better if you slapstick a build together.

So to quote you

“Notice how people dont want to be forced into D/D, and even then the damage can be good, yes, but at expense of survavility (TOO MUCH) , or bunker elementalist but people can just heal it through, you are not gonna be killing stuff anytime soon.”

You want an I win button, that you can mash your face into repeatedly for results.

Until you change that mindset, and work with what you got you will always be frustrated.

On a sidenote, keep in mind that combo fields are weaker than non-combo fields because of the combos that can be made with them. So in effect, a lot of their total damage doesn’t show up, and they’re balanced around teamplay (making them weaker in 1 vs 1).

i use the same build and set up dapheonix has and i got to say it works perfectly i admit it took me literally 8 hours to get the combos right and adjust to the attunement swapping with the build but now this build feels like ur literally unkillable

And as for doing damage i do damage just fine and able to take down enemies fairly quick my fights literally dnt last long at all i would say 8 to 12 seconds and i end up on the Win 90% of the time the other 10% is when i get zerged down thats not always fun…

Fortus.6175:

Thats it, im giving up on this, i’ve played every single class, i have tried elementalists multiple times, staff, dagger, scepter, all, i have done many keybindings and played countless hours, elementalists are UP, period. The damage they can POTENTIALLY do is good, yes, but the amount of effort it takes for it is not worth it, when i can do the same with 3-4 keys on any other class.

Also it seems very unfair classes like thief and mesmers get such an easy time, i have been playing elementalists ever since release and I would be very happy when I would get a kill somehow, i thought it was supposed to be hard because they do so much damage, then i played ranger, theif, mesmer and realized that I could that, more and MUCH more without having to use not even 1/6 the effort.

“Just play another class” NO, i like elementalists, i like their gamestyle, I dont like the others, i play for fun, and being able to do stuff is fun, elementalist feel underwhelming, period. I like pressing buttons but i want to have a more reliable reward, anyone with half brain can dodge a 1 1/2 second cast spell ground targeted with a hitting radius of almost a few paces, most skills have to be oriented at enemies, they are not locked unlike almost every other class, you mess up ONE skill and you can pretty much kiss goodbye to life.

Yes, this is a rant, but after being playing for this long, tried MULTIPLE builds, played with friends, asked them to test things out on empty servers and overall was very humble in asking for advices I have come to the conclusions elementaists need some heavy rework, specially water, and yes Im looking at you; staff and D/D

[/rant]

The only way you can play ele effectively is if you learn to act like a macro. Some players are happy pressing 10 keys to do a simple job, others find it brain eating.

The only way you can play ele effectively is if you learn to act like a macro. Some players are happy pressing 10 keys to do a simple job, others find it brain eating.

QFT. Sometimes I dance to another stance and realize stuff I need was still on CD. Then a thief fillet me before I can say kittens.

Watch this vid, this guy does around 20k (aoe) damage in 3 seconds by using 3 weapon abilities and a utility. I think people exaggerate the amount of effort required to play an ele. Also under ideal circumstances fire grab can crit for 15k+ (aoe) so it shouldn’t exactly be easy to land.

Evie.2794:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTyehv-2uEw

Calle.8746:

But then, yesterday, when I got the last of my exotic peices and changed my runes and sigils I completely change my mind (until this point I had been running around with MF stuff). Elementalist isn’t UP, it isn’t equal to the others, it’s freakin’ OP. I’m running around like a boss kicking kitten I barely have to try to kill people anymore, they just drop dead infront of me..

It would have been better to clearly state the itemization and stat priority of your build to give the OP a good idea of what to do right. I myself can’t tell if it’s a condition build, if it’s going 30-30 Beserker or if it’s straight out of DaPhoenix’s build.

Back to the main topic, in terms of actual gameplay one of the things that really sticks out is movement. With D/D elementalist it is important to know the ranges of the opponent’s and your own attacks and to be constantly doing a dance around the opponent. Little things like integrating LoS, and knowing when to book it to allow cooldowns to come back up so you can continue the fight help as well.

As for learning, I’d suggest starting with pulling 2 mobs at a time in a lower zone (1-40ish sounds fine) and working yourself up to 8. Wolves are excellent practice as they summon allies that can simulate additional enemies coming to a battle. I don’t know about the intricacies of Scepter but kiting a champion and adds for several minutes with Staff is quite the learning experience.

it does take a while to get the combos down.
the learning curve to the ele is brutal.

there is no shame in giving up
this is a good result

i took me around 300 matches to get to the point that i feel very strong in 1v1 at level 40. i also felt like giving up several times. do it. play something else. then come back to the ele.
but it was worth it to me as now i using the same mechanics in pve and its very strong. i also see now how pve can help my pvp when dealing with losing battles and judging when to bug out.
pvp is a harsh learning environment.

Even with quite a few useless trait lines and utilities elementalists remain one of the most powerful classes at top play with three weapon sets being viable(staff,scepter/dagger,dagger/dagger).

The key I think for you guys is you need to:

A)Learn to attunement swap comfortably and reliably. Position keys so they will come naturally and quickly to you for swapping.
B)Find a good build. I see a lot of eles running around funky builds which probably leads to their ultimate frustration. Read up, and do some google/youtube/twitch.tv searching. There is good stuff out there.

In defense of the OP I’d like to add something to the table which people tend to forget when analysing the ele:

- It is the only profession which require heavy investment in one trait line to change the main mechanic from worthless to viable, for viability I mean effectivness hence I challenge anyone to run an ele without 10 pts in arcane

PvE comments only:

I know I’m about to commit some serious heresy here, but I found that I enjoyed ele much more in group situations when i stopped focusing on uber damage and shifted focus to support and a general, balanced build.

Damage can be achieved w/ glass cannon if you’re twitchy. Healing can be ok, but imo not really worth it. Don’t get me wrong: it helps, but it’s not worth a focusing in it.

However, built correctly we can perma-cripple/freeze mobs. We can perma-blind mobs too between lightning hammer, signet air, and glyph storms.

We can give our group shelter from projectiles. We can rez our teammates regardless of incoming damage in the nastiest of scenarios through a variety of methods.

We can stack team might pretty well too, especially once they fix dragon’s tooth (again).

Snares + blinds + speed boosts = your team will do so much better. You mitigate so much damage it’s not even funny. This is just one approach.

I know a lot of people try to say Ele is like the paragon more from Gw1, but I’ll draw another analogy. I like to think of myself more as the Enchanter from EQ. This is my personal strategy.

When you stop worrying about your individual success and consider just how much you can add to your group, you’ll find a new kind of happiness.

@ Arheundel, I’ve played plenty w/ out any in arcane or any in water for that matter. This is for PvE; I don’t know how it would work in PvP.

PlatypusRex.3428:

…This is for PvE; I don’t know how it would work in PvP.

Ele gets by OK in PvE. I think most of the concerns are for WvW and PvP. Builds that are adequate against monster AI may melt when faced with human opponents who do a better job of optimizing their resource usage and exploiting your weaknesses.