I feel like at least 50% of the topics in this forum nowadays are all saying the same thing. I understand that everyone needs to vent their frustrations (every other profession board has its own QQ threads), but I’m a little tired of not being able to read anything in these forums without tripping over the same complaint repeated ad nauseum. Let’s summarize:
s/t PvP – While an experience player will always beat a rookie, an elementalist playing against another profession controlled by a player with equal skill will pretty much always lose. While the elementalist arguably has the right skills, it’s very vulnerable to something going wrong (stability, having to interrupt a combo to move out of a field, etc).
WvW – While 1v1 roaming faces the same issues as PvP, staff elementalists are valued for their combo fields and versatility. They don’t do as much damage as necros or warriors, but their fire fields, aoe heals, and CC provide fine balance and support for any zerg.
PvE – A player who knows what they’re doing can get away with just about anything, which is true of all classes. Damage is always highly valued, but the versatility of elementalists provide an opportunity to quickly adjust if things go wrong. We’re never going to be a warrior, and people will never love us as much as we love ourselves. But we can get the job done.
Balance – There are some balances that we would love to see from ANet, including trait adjustments, mobility cooldowns, etc. However, ANet can’t adjust one are of the game without throwing the others out of whack. It would be nice to see them separate PvP skills from the other areas of the game like they did in GW1, which led to more flexibility and overall spec viability.
I personally take pride in the challenge that the elementalist poses. I feel comfortable in saying that we have to work harder than any other profession to be effective. Elementalists play the game in hard mode. It may be a time in which playing alts is easier, but I’m a little tired of people ragequitting the profession / game. You can walk away for a while and come back when you feel like it. We won’t judge you for it.
