Guild Wars 2

Hey,

I finally reached lvl 80 on my elementalist and I´m really struggling about upgrading her armor/weapons etc.

My main is a full zerk warrior and warriors are a lot of fun. A lot of hp, awesome damage(up to 40K with hundred blades) and a great variety of weapons to choose from(while only has staff, dagger, focus and scepter -.- ). I just cant see the advantage of playing an elementalist over my warrior, dont get me wrong I love the skills(visual) and light armor on female humans looks awesome etc. It´s just…on eles you need to know how to use your combos, when to use skills and how to combine them etc.(dont get really rewarded for investing your time into it), with my warrior I just stack might —> hundred blades and that´s it(. Sounds lame, but is still fun to me. Besides that I have the feeling, that elementalists arent really popular for dungeons etc., every time I ask “Should I switch to my warrior?” the answer is ALWAYS “Yes, please”.

Some of you like to call the ele “Jack of all trades”, yeah, I agree with that but I think that´s the biggest disadvantge. Why take an ele with you which can deal some damage, heal, support the group etc. when you can take a warrior(more damage), guardian(better healing), mesmer(better support) etc…and I´m pretty sure that there´s another class which even deal more Aoe damage than an elementalist.

Beside that I really dont like the pool of weapons we can choose as an elementalist. D/D you can only get melee, staff only distance(I know we have the biggest amount of skills, but still…)…not mentioning, that stakitten and daggers(beside incinerator) looking boring in this game(compare it to greatswords, swords or hammers…)

Any tips for me? Is the ele worth it? As I mentioned before I love the skills(visuals) and the light armor on female humans, but somehow I´m not sure to invest my laurels into my ele…

Lg

What game mode do you play/want to play? sPvP? Casual PvE? Speed runs?

Eles are fun. GW2’s purpose is to be fun. Therefore, Eles are worth it if you, like me, find them fun.

Ele’s are perfectly fine in PvE. It’s WvW that is the source of a lot of issues.

I play everything besides PvP(never tried), usually PvE and WvW.

For PvE there’s a guide on the top of the subforum. Eles are actually very good for DPS but they lack survivability. It gives them a bad reputation(like thieves).
For WvW you should just go staff and use statics and water fields to help the zerg. If you have an organized group that can actually protect you, you can also try a more DPS-y staff build. Or just bunker in the front lines with D/D. If you want to roam then you should try out another class. Eles are too slow now.

Eles are viable in PvE; but then again, what isn’t? If you’re looking for ultimate efficiency Warrior/Mesmer/Guardian is what you want. Lightning Hammer builds can achieve some of the highest damage in the game but sacrifice almost everything else.

In PvP, the Ele is currently shafted due to a meta that heavily favors condition spam. This is a very different situation from a few months ago when bunker Ele was king; however, Anet nerfed bunker ele to the underworld (and in the process screwed over non-bunkers.) Other classes then received substantial buffs (Necro and Warrior) that have made them IMO difficult even for pre-nerf bunker Eles to deal with. The recent QoL improvements to staff and buffs to skills like Arcane Shield are good starts though, but they were also accompanied by more nerfs to Lightning Flash and Cleansing Fire.

Ultimately though, I still consider Ele extremely fun to play, but it’s definitely not the most efficient class, FAAAR from it.

‘Worth it’ is in the eye of the beholder.

You’ve already answered your own question when you mentioned that the simple, might+hundred blades combo is something you enjoy playing. You also realize you won’t get that on an ele. The real question you should be answering thus is what it is about eles that you like.

From my perspective, being able to pull of elaborate combos is part of the fun, and I’ve never felt them lacking (a well placed Frozen Ground can result in 20+ seconds of chill for example). However, that doesn’t mean it’s a ‘better’ way of playing, and you shouldn’t feel obligated to learn a more complex profession just because ‘it feels more pro’ or something like that.

In short: play what you like.

No and honestly the fact you had to ask means you probably knew but are trying to look for a justification to play the Ele anyways. See the “It’s fun!” responses above for that.

There’s literally no PvE scenario where you aren’t better off or just as good bringing your warrior (or mesmer/guardian if you have them). Most people who try to convince you otherwise simply haven’t been part of a Warrior/Guardian/Mesmer farm team. They talk about nonsense like combo fields or might stacking not realizing that the other classes are already bringing perma fury and 25 stacks of Might and combo fields are largely irrelevant.

This is not to say an Elementalist is 100% worthless. If you put your mind to it you could work 3x as hard making sure you time all your combinations perfectly, memorize every encounter so it doesn’t disrupt your combinations, and work out an elaborate gear set that offers you decent damage and enough survivability to equal the base survivability of the previously mentioned classes…and then you’d still lower damage than the Warrior but not 100% worthless!

Then we get into that silly argument: The Challenge. Some reason people have convinced themselves by handicapping themselves to a sub-par class that it’s “worth it” because it “more challenging.” To me this is no different than tying your arm behind your back and playing the game one handed and then bragging about how hardcore you are.

On a funny aside you could probably still play the Warrior one handed and still do better than an Ele lol…

The ONE area that Eles excel at more than any other class is in Zerg v Zerg WvW. They have the capability to bring group level support with combo fields that are actually used and useful with the number of people around. Their AOE CC (Static Field, Frozen Ground) can stop whole enemy Zergs of people in their tracks (or at the very least separate the non stabilizability users like Necros from their Warriors). They are capable of all this at full range which is more than similar style support classes (Guardian) can offer.

Last time I checked eles actually had the best PvE DPS thanks to greatsword/hammer. Dropping a fire field before you go hammer gets your team AoE might.
Also for zerg vs zerg eles are worse than necros ATM. Organized they’re useful, but in random blobs it’s better to go necro.

Wryog.5073:

Last time I checked eles actually had the best PvE DPS thanks to greatsword/hammer. Dropping a fire field before you go hammer gets your team AoE might.
Also for zerg vs zerg eles are worse than necros ATM. Organized they’re useful, but in random blobs it’s better to go necro.

You mean by relying on a kittenty conjure? The OP was asking if it was fun not whether nor not you force yourself into using a crappy skill because all your alternative suck.

OP technically, you have the highest dps by doing what Wryog BUT at the cost that you effective strip away the purpose of playing the class. if your biggest concern is dps you get nearly equal amounts of dps + way higher hp, way way higher toughness and defense. With the added bonus that you don’t have to deal with the frustration of playing a subpar glass cannon without the cannon class.

Played Ele since launch and took a break a while back and re rolled warrior. Felt like I could basically slam my face into the keyboard and roll it back and forth and do what I was doing…it just wasn’t fun to me.

Now I don’t want to start a flame war, but I recently came back to the ele and im loving. I think people have way to many expectations of the class from what it used to be. Don’t feel even alittle tanky even in a bunker spec any more so, I figure why not just blow people up haha. Yes it is harder but its more fun and you have to be creative while playing like lightningflash-into-earthquake combos etc. Everyone complains we are weak but I ran this build earlier today and had TONS of fun and had no problem killing people whatsoever. Just my 2cents.

If you read these forums you will find that all people do is complain anyways if you like it play it.

Ele WVw S/d Burst

silvermember.8941:

Wryog.5073:

Last time I checked eles actually had the best PvE DPS thanks to greatsword/hammer. Dropping a fire field before you go hammer gets your team AoE might.
Also for zerg vs zerg eles are worse than necros ATM. Organized they’re useful, but in random blobs it’s better to go necro.

You mean by relying on a kittenty conjure? The OP was asking if it was fun not whether nor not you force yourself into using a crappy skill because all your alternative suck.

OP technically, you have the highest dps by doing what Wryog BUT at the cost that you effective strip away the purpose of playing the class. if your biggest concern is dps you get nearly equal amounts of dps + way higher hp, way way higher toughness and defense. With the added bonus that you don’t have to deal with the frustration of playing a subpar glass cannon without the cannon class.

Yes, you do have to throw away your class mechanic. And yes, it is boring to spam 11111 while dodge rolling. Sadly, that’s how they want us to deal real damage in PvE. The DPS difference isn’t that much with hammer unless it’s 5 stacked targets, that’s true. Most of the time you also won’t be able to use greatsword properly. The DPS makes our conjured weapons a bit useful at least. We can’t really say that they’re all useless now :P

Wryog.5073:

Also for zerg vs zerg eles are worse than necros ATM. Organized they’re useful, but in random blobs it’s better to go necro.

This is largely inaccurate, at least on a Tier 1 server (don’t have experience on other servers) were everything is go Zerg or go home. In a Zerg a necromancer has many things that are helpful (and SOR uses them to great effect) as well but have one critical area where they are held back: Stability.

In Tier 1 (which again I only specify because I’m not sure if it’s different in other tiers), even disorganized to a PUG level, most combat fights are one Zerg running through the other Zerg and seeing who comes out on the other side. Necro’s lack of stability in this scenario in fact gets them caught up on the huge amount of AOE CC such as Static Field which effectively separates them out from the rest of the classes or the people who didn’t bring Stability.

Also when built properly you can easily bring a ton of self support without needing organized play. We have a few blast finishers and plenty of AOE healing any group, organized or not, can easily take advantage of. A necro on the other hand has no ability to support like this and is basically just a large amount of AOE Conditions (subject to AOE Removal) as well as AOE CC.

A good roamer WILL kill you without anyone to get them off you. Just one good thief in that zerg and without being tough you’ll instadie.
In the mid-low tiers is more ranged, choking and defense. If you want warrior-guardian reta zergs then there’s no classes better for those than warriors and guardians.

Ele is the only class in this game I truly enjoy playing. It has the most interesting mechanics, as well as some of the most challenging as this game is fairly simplified in that area.

If you enjoy it, yes it is worth it. If you are just looking for something strong to play, no, pick something else.

dreztina.4820:

Ele is the only class in this game I truly enjoy playing. It has the most interesting mechanics, as well as some of the most challenging as this game is fairly simplified in that area.

If you enjoy it, yes it is worth it. If you are just looking for something strong to play, no, pick something else.

Voilà.
Eles are just simply the most stylish class. Even with the lowest HP, lowest armor, and lowest DPS, they still go into melee beautifuly. And THAT is the essence of a true warrior. We get nerfed because we’re just awesome.

MyPuppy.8970:

dreztina.4820:

Ele is the only class in this game I truly enjoy playing. It has the most interesting mechanics, as well as some of the most challenging as this game is fairly simplified in that area.

If you enjoy it, yes it is worth it. If you are just looking for something strong to play, no, pick something else.

Voilà.
Eles are just simply the most stylish class. Even with the lowest HP, lowest armor, and lowest DPS, they still go into melee beautifuly. And THAT is the essence of a true warrior. We get nerfed because we’re just awesome.

Because you called Ele’s awesome…we are about to get another nerf!!

Kodiak.3281:

Wryog.5073:

Also for zerg vs zerg eles are worse than necros ATM. Organized they’re useful, but in random blobs it’s better to go necro.

This is largely inaccurate, at least on a Tier 1 server (don’t have experience on other servers) were everything is go Zerg or go home. In a Zerg a necromancer has many things that are helpful (and SOR uses them to great effect) as well but have one critical area where they are held back: Stability.

In Tier 1 (which again I only specify because I’m not sure if it’s different in other tiers), even disorganized to a PUG level, most combat fights are one Zerg running through the other Zerg and seeing who comes out on the other side. Necro’s lack of stability in this scenario in fact gets them caught up on the huge amount of AOE CC such as Static Field which effectively separates them out from the rest of the classes or the people who didn’t bring Stability.

Also when built properly you can easily bring a ton of self support without needing organized play. We have a few blast finishers and plenty of AOE healing any group, organized or not, can easily take advantage of. A necro on the other hand has no ability to support like this and is basically just a large amount of AOE Conditions (subject to AOE Removal) as well as AOE CC.

You are incorrect about necro’s access to stability. I have more stability on necro than on an ele. Correctly traited a necro has 3 seconds of stability every 6 seconds.

I honestly just find the ele really fun to play. Simple as that. And for those of you who say ele “sucks” in WvW I suggest you actually go and TRY it before you flame them. I do quite well on my D/D ele in WvW and PvE alike. Now I’m not saying the ele’s better at it than any other class, I’m simply saying I like it so I play it.

Azunai.5974:

Ele’s are perfectly fine in PvE. It’s WvW that is the source of a lot of issues.

if WvW is the source of a lot of issues, then ele in SPvP is already dead, hehe

ele is quite fun, i find mage classes always interesting, but actual state of ele is focused heavy on spaming skills with attunement dancing and is overall underwhelming, you will probably do much worse with the same effort like with other profs…

MaXi.3642:

Azunai.5974:

Ele’s are perfectly fine in PvE. It’s WvW that is the source of a lot of issues.

if WvW is the source of a lot of issues, then ele in SPvP is already dead, hehe

It actually is. Even Phantaram stopped playing ele. The low HP that we have doesn’t help us in the condition spam meta. If an ele goes burst they need support from someone or they’ll die. S/D thieves are simply better for that role.

I think Obi-kittenenobi said it best. Elementalists are “… a civilized weapon, from a more elegant age.”

Fasyx.9347:

Hey,

I finally reached lvl 80 on my elementalist and I´m really struggling about upgrading her armor/weapons etc.

My main is a full zerk warrior and warriors are a lot of fun. A lot of hp, awesome damage(up to 40K with hundred blades) and a great variety of weapons to choose from(while only has staff, dagger, focus and scepter -.- ). I just cant see the advantage of playing an elementalist over my warrior, dont get me wrong I love the skills(visual) and light armor on female humans looks awesome etc. It´s just…on eles you need to know how to use your combos, when to use skills and how to combine them etc.(dont get really rewarded for investing your time into it), with my warrior I just stack might —> hundred blades and that´s it(. Sounds lame, but is still fun to me. Besides that I have the feeling, that elementalists arent really popular for dungeons etc., every time I ask “Should I switch to my warrior?” the answer is ALWAYS “Yes, please”.

Some of you like to call the ele “Jack of all trades”, yeah, I agree with that but I think that´s the biggest disadvantge. Why take an ele with you which can deal some damage, heal, support the group etc. when you can take a warrior(more damage), guardian(better healing), mesmer(better support) etc…and I´m pretty sure that there´s another class which even deal more Aoe damage than an elementalist.

Beside that I really dont like the pool of weapons we can choose as an elementalist. D/D you can only get melee, staff only distance(I know we have the biggest amount of skills, but still…)…not mentioning, that stakitten and daggers(beside incinerator) looking boring in this game(compare it to greatswords, swords or hammers…)

Any tips for me? Is the ele worth it? As I mentioned before I love the skills(visuals) and the light armor on female humans, but somehow I´m not sure to invest my laurels into my ele…

Lg

I think you are right, stick to the warrior. It does everything an ele does, but way better.

i tried a new build last night.. was just wandering around and roughing up some npc’s
was actually kinda fun.. i know for a fact if an invader came by or if i tried any of the even somewhat beyond mild game content i’d immediately be having a bad day though

is elementalist worth it
nice rhetorical question

Thanks guys.

I tried this build today and I love it ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Fnp0C09dc ).

What I dont get: For what are elementalists auto attacks(Skill 1)? The DMG is a joke, they are useless in my opinion…any tipps? You guys even use the auto attack?

For ele I run berserker D/D and do WvW solo roaming and fractals. The class takes time to get used to, but once you get the hang of it you can breeze through pve and most pvp players. Honestly, just run a berserker cantrip build with s/d or d/d and jump right in. You cant pick up the class and faceroll like a warr.

Another tip, eles heals are like a thief’s stealth, they make up for the the class being so squishy.

Wryog.5073:

MaXi.3642:

Azunai.5974:

Ele’s are perfectly fine in PvE. It’s WvW that is the source of a lot of issues.

if WvW is the source of a lot of issues, then ele in SPvP is already dead, hehe

It actually is. Even Phantaram stopped playing ele. The low HP that we have doesn’t help us in the condition spam meta. If an ele goes burst they need support from someone or they’ll die. S/D thieves are simply better for that role.

That is for high-level pvp. Eles are fine in the condi meta, they have insane condi clear and cant be bursted very easily with shocking aura.