Guild Wars 2

I was having a hard time picking a class after my Ranger. I was walking about in the Norn area and was inspired by an Elementalist. Usually, I wouldn’t even consider one. I hate swapping, it messes with my OCD. This Ele though, didn’t swap. She said she was pure fire. She had awesome damage, didn’t die often, and was just what I was looking for.

I was leveling my Ele, enjoying it VERY much, and it came up in Map Chat and people started insulting me, calling me a selfish kitten and saying that I’m and idiot for not swapping constantly.

Is it seriously that big of an issue? I feel like quitting now, I haven’t enjoyed the other classes, and now I’m being harassed and told that I won’t be able to play me class at all later if I don’t fix myself now.

Here we go >_>

huehuehue

/15

If a core mechanic of the game that is highly beneficial across the board messes with your OCD, this probably isn’t the game for you. You can still keep playing and not swap but I’ll be the first of many to tell you, you’re gimping yourself.

To add to my previous comment, I don’t care how you play. Heck, I probably don’t play ‘optimally’ either, and it’s your choice to do so or not.

There will be people telling you that you have to play a certain way but it’s not really true. It depends on what you want to do, just don’t expect to be compensated for what you give up.

I’m curious though, why so many jump to be ‘fire mages’ but no one ever jumps to be ‘water mages’ or ‘air mages’. But for all we know, the devs could change the status quo on its head soon as they’re apparently making more build varieties better across various professions.

You can play without swapping. Although you should know how to do for when you need it. What do I mean by that? Most of the time my ele is on fire. I even have a couple traits that only affect fire to help with damage and cooldowns since I am on it so much.
However, I also know when I need to switch. Fire alone is fine for a lot of more simple things, like just running around the world or the easier dungeon mobs. But if you get in trouble or if you’re fighting a dungeon boss, it is better to be switching. A few examples. In the Cliffside Fractal I use mostly fire on the mobs. But when we are fighting the boss I am dropping chills, cripples, and immobilize constantly to help team avoid boss’s attacks (if he is chilled and does hammer jump, he goes half the distance and misses. It looks rather funny). I still use some fire as I cycle through on my staff, but it isn’t the only thing I can do. In AC, I am mostly on Fire the whole time. But I also use the Frost Bow conjure a lot to deal with the mounds quickly.

So if you want to play on fire, go right ahead. However, I would suggest playing with all the attunements a bit so you know that does what. It took me a bit to learn, but once I memorized my staff skill and knew what I could attune to for what skills it helped a lot. Then you can just spam fireballs and know what to do when fire alone just isn’t enough.

sounds like you should maybe try a greatsword warior. They don’t ever need to swap weapons if you build ’m properly.

Majora.6028:

I was having a hard time picking a class after my Ranger. I was walking about in the Norn area and was inspired by an Elementalist. Usually, I wouldn’t even consider one. I hate swapping, it messes with my OCD. This Ele though, didn’t swap. She said she was pure fire. She had awesome damage, didn’t die often, and was just what I was looking for.

I was leveling my Ele, enjoying it VERY much, and it came up in Map Chat and people started insulting me, calling me a selfish kitten and saying that I’m and idiot for not swapping constantly.

Is it seriously that big of an issue? I feel like quitting now, I haven’t enjoyed the other classes, and now I’m being harassed and told that I won’t be able to play me class at all later if I don’t fix myself now.

You can play elementalist like that. Just know that you are not playing the class at even 25% of its potential, and that people in PUGs will usually yell at you in dungeons in case they notice (and they’re right to do so).

If none of that is a problem, then keep doing your thing.

So here’s some very real talk about this subject.

I play many specs and use a variety of weapons. When I play as 0/10/0/30/30 D/D build I swap constantly. There’s numerous cross attunement combinations (mostly revolving around Fire and Earth) and useful utilities (Auras in Air and Water) in all 4 trees with this setup that you’d want to use just about in any scenario. This is pretty much the prime example of swapping around like a schizophrenic madman and what most people consider the “core” mechanic of the class.

When I play as 30/30/0/0/10 Staff I don’t swap very often except between Fire or Air. Fire is juiced up to do a lot of damage and Air I mostly use for mobility (Swiftness) or when things are too spread out for Fire. I have no healing so Water is a hugely wasted attunement (the amount is so pitiful it won’t stop me from dying in most cases) and Earth’s only real defenses is Magnetic Aura which only works against projectiles.

You’re going to hear a lot of arguments:

1. The core mechanic of the class is to swap attunements. This is largely false and is entirely spec dependent. The simple truth is if you aren’t traited for it swapping attunements tends to be a colossal waste of time. Swapping to fire to do it’s AOE is silly because it does virtually no damage in a short melee based radius. A few measly seconds of protection likely won’t save your life in Earth without additional factors kicking in. When you are spec’d for it, such as having deep points in the Water line, swapping to other trees can be extremely beneficial.

2. You’re bad if you stay in one attunement. If you’re specialized for that attunement being in others you aren’t specialized or geared for is a huge waste of time. Setting up an Eruption → Geyser combo to heal for a marginal (10% of your HP tops in most cases) amount of healing when you’re taking hits for equal or greater damage in less than a second isn’t going to turn the tide and all you’ve done is put your Fire attunement on cool down leaving you even more useless till it’s back up.

3. You’re selfish if you don’t swap. This is a lot of garbage and really comes down to group makeup. Usually it’s some shmuck who wants you to come heal/buff them (this is nothing new and has been in MMOs forever). It’s not your responsibility to run around dropping super weak water fields for other people to combo in. Most good groups I play in are all self sufficient individuals who bring offense and defense to the mix and don’t need someone to waste everyone’s time by playing babysitter for them.

The basic thing you gotta consider is Attunements are basically just sub weapon sets for the class. If you’re going to equip a Scepter on a Necromancer, chances are you’re going to spec and gear for Conditions with it. Equipping an Axe or Dagger as your secondary weapon set doesn’t make much sense you’re not geared or traited to take advantage of those weapons. Just the same, swapping to Water to throw out weak or nonexistent heals doesn’t make much sense when you have virtually no healing.

That all said, there are a number of spec’s and play styles. Water is a very powerful tree because of all the synergy it gives towards self defense and preservation. It is arguably our best designed tree. Spec deep enough in Water and just swapping to Water becomes a powerful defensive cool down without using any abilities what so ever. It’s pretty tough to ignore such strong defenses especially on a class that is already defensively weak in utility, damage reduction and hit points.

Really that’s the problem I forsee for ya. As I am fond of saying, sometimes all you need is the hammer to get the job done. In GW2, there are many other jobs out there that will require more than just a Hammer. What bugs me about the people around here is no one will admit the former.

Kodiak.3281:

etc

Ignore this guy and his bad advice. While he’s not entirely wrong in some parts, he mixes up things quite a bit and just ends up confusing people even more.

Bottom line is: What defines elementalists is being able to have the most amount of weapon skills available in game, and the versatility of their playstyles depending on which weapon or spec you’re using.

By using only 5 of the 20 skills available at a time, you’re only playing 1/4 of the class (or less, considering all the boons and combo fields / finishers that you’re missing out), and that’s not necessarily a good thing, no matter which spec you use (using a very bad spec doesn’t justify a bad playstyle to come along with it, as logical as it may sound).

Kodiak always makes it sound as if people simply argued that constantly switching attunements is mandatory even if there’s no reasoning behind doing that, but he’s wrong. No one is implying that you should mindlessly press ff123f213f24f4, it requires common sense, obviously, and that’s something you learn as you play ele.

Simple stuff
====
Consider these two situations.

1. You are shopping for fruits and someone tries to sell you a hairdryer. He is telling you one day you will need one and he has the best one right there.

2. You need a hairdryer. So you went online did some research on finding a good one and purchased it.

Which one do you prefer?

Go play your elementalist, however way you want to. It is a fun class and don’t let just listen to my statement. Let the game prove it to you.

Stay in one attunement, and even if you are the only one in the world who does that, so be it. It is your toon. Why the !@#$% care about other’s opinion? Because you fear your elementalist will fail?

When you decide your elementalist is somewhat lacking in an area, go find out why. Experiment, online research, whatever.

Slightly more technical stuff
====
If you are wondering if it is possible, yes it is.
I leveled mine using 3 attunements Fire, Lightning and Earth.
3 attunements because I get bored not because I had to.
So when I got bored of seeing fire, I changed to lightning for flashy stuff. I stayed in an attunement for hours before I got bored again. If you won’t get bored, feel free to stay in fire all the way.

The technical stuff, and something you might not like to hear
===========

That was when I was leveling on PVE map. I do dungeons all day round and things are different.

Elementalist is a very powerful and versatile class. Without full use of blah blah blah yada yada…refer to 100 other posts above.

Fact: You will never be as good as other elementalists. Not a problem unless you are working towards world ranking #1 elementalist and there is a Nobel Award for that.

Now for something you might be glad to hear and try.
=========
Stick to fire.
Use tweak your build/play style to keep yourself alive.
When you don’t drop like a fly in dungeon, no one will notice if your playstyle. This way you are still welcomed in dungeon runs.

Play how you want, just play with friends, I’m sure you can make a pure 1 attunement build work well enough even though it’s not optimal. Maybe just start in a different attune and get the switch bonus on your chosen one.

I had loads of fun making a melee auto attacking mage in wow, and that’s way less useful than a 1 attunement ele :P

Play the game how YOU want to play it. Stuff what everyone else thinks. You payed for the game. Up to level 80 i also stayed in fire. Nearly everything died before i even had to think about changing. I sometimes swapped to water for heal but thats about it. Dungeons and pvp etc i have started changing but still not as much as some think you need to. Also no one has ever complained. Even if they had i would just carry on playing MY game the way I want to.

The posters above are right but let me simplify it more.

In WvW, sPvP, PvE open world /solo do what ever you want none of us cares. We won’t be on your back following you around telling you kitten. It’s your game time do with it as you please.

In tPvP and Dungeons if you pull this and other players realize in tougher content there is a good chance your’e going to get kicked. And if they do they are in the right. Eles who don’t attunement swap at all are usually dead weight.

Now realize all the best gear stat wise can be gotten solo and dungeon tokens are account bound not soul.

If they call you selfish, it’s because they didn’t spec for healing either and want someone to heal them.

My advice is to consider what people above have said, and then do what works best for you. Ignore people who want to yell at you for not building the character they want you to build.

I’m not sure what you are looking for on this forum. Do you want us to reassure you that playing in one attunement all the time is a viable way to play? The consensus amongst most skilled elementlists is that intelligent attunement swapping goes without saying. It’s the way the class is designed, try playing a ranger without any pets or a Mesmer without any clones. Sure it can be done but you are seriously handicapping yourself.

Play however you want. If it works for you in pve stick to it. Just dont expect to be as efficient as someone who swaps attunements when you are doing more difficult content like dungeons, wvw or spvp. For example in a dungeon if you dont swap attunements you are like someone using only 1 hand to carry something heavy. Dont expect others to applaud you for making it more difficult for you and your group.

I am a severe ELE. I am 30Fire, 10Water, 30 Arcana. I use the snot out of fire due to Might stack. I currently dish out 3500+ dmg per attack and usually drag everything around because I hit so hard. I switch through my skills when needed, but Fire seems to be the dmg dealer. I like healing and freezing things, so water helps. If there are ranged, I switch to earth to give me the magnetic shield to bounce ranged attacks and if it is a caster, I will switch to Air to air blast them and interrupt. Only in dugeons do I constantly switch to get the most out of the boons we have to offer to the group. (fury is BIG). If you want to know more about my build and the gear I wear to give a good stiff hit, just let me know. Also, everyone is going to tell you that you need condition dmg, they are wrong, unless of course you are earthed out, and then condition dmg and duration are good.

Lvl 80 Ele – Crit chance 50% – +crit dmg 66% – power 3383

Beaverlover.9015:

Lvl 80 Ele – Crit chance 50% – +crit dmg 66% – power 3383

Crit chance with fury I presume because you can’t have that much without any points in Air magic. And also, power != attack.

Look at it like this,

You can play an ele without swapping attunements. You can also play the game without dodging. You can play the game without armor on. You can play the game without a keyboard. Hell, you can play the game with your monitor off if you really want to.

The other skills in the other attunements are there for you to use. Choosing not to use them is your choice, but there’s no disadvantage to using them, so why not use what’s available to you?

Play however you want to play. If 100% fire is more fun, then play 100% fire. It’s your game, and your experience. You might be enjoying the challenge of it. If it gets too hard, maybe you pick 1 other attunement to swap with as if you were any other class just swapping weapon sets.

Also taking people’s advice in Map Chat is a bad idea no matter what game you are playing. Don’t quit, I’m sure the joker that badmouthed you has already completely forgotten about it and is heckling other players already.

After a while you get to find the right balance of when it’s time to switch and when you don’t want to put fire on cooldown.

For S/D and D/D, there’s no question you want to attunement swap alot. If nothing else, the #1 attack sucks across the board and if you don’t attunement swap alot you’re going to be using it. That’s before even getting into any boons. As SD or DD, you will outright do more damage by attunement swapping alot.

For Staff, Fire #1 is okay damage, and most of the non fire attacks on staff do awful damage (Even earth 2 is bad considering the cast time). So you’re left in situations where your best damage option is just staying in fire, particularly against non moving bosses. Sometimes the right choice really IS to just sit in fire on staff. If you’re not getting hit, in no danger, nothing needs to be crippled/slowed etc, then it’s fine.

But making the decision to not attunement swap based on simply “I don’t like to attunement swap”…Well if that’s the case for an ele, they’d be better off with another profession.

LOL, map chat is where people practice being a smart kitten so I wouldn’t worry about that.

FROM ONE OCD PERSON TO ANOTHER

I will agree that you should play the game the way you want to… however, this class was designed to dance between attunements, so while it’s perfectly fine if you just love using one attunement, you are handicapping yourself, and don’t let your OCD be the reason. In fact, if you think about it, the way ele is organized is PERFECT for the OCD person.

As someone who has struggled with OCD myself, I actually appreciate the attunement changes simply because it helps me gain control over a situation… and OCD is not about things all being at right angles to each other, it’s about the need to maintain discipline and control over your life.

Instead of thinking of ele as requiring swapping away from something to get something else, think of it this way. As an ele you have 25 skills at your disposal. 25 skills all sitting on your screen at the same time is extremely disorganized. Anet took those 25 skills and organized them into 5 file folders… 4 of those folders contain your main skills, broken down by category, the other file folder includes the utility skills.

Can’t get much more organized then that.

Ok so in the situation the OP is presenting this, it’s ok to do what they did. Norn starter area, likely grinding DEs for experience if you have a staff you can do perfectly fine sitting in fire in the back row auto attacking and laying down your fire field/meteors when they’re available.

This however isn’t going to be amazing dps, just enough for you to get the tags/credit you need. You’re not giving yourself any of the many boons available by switching around, nor are you applying any of the conditions (aside fire) that can be beneficial to team play.

So in short, you’re absolutely right – if you’re just doing DEs in a zerg, sitting in fire attune is fine.

There’s a lot more to the game than that, however. And don’t even try soloing like that, it’s a royal headache (I should know, I did it for 45 levels at launch).

Shimond.2478:

There’s a lot more to the game than that, however. And don’t even try soloing like that, it’s a royal headache (I should know, I did it for 45 levels at launch).

Oh man… ele at launch ?!? What a nightmare that was before any of us knew what this class was really all about

SlimGenre.6417:

Shimond.2478:

There’s a lot more to the game than that, however. And don’t even try soloing like that, it’s a royal headache (I should know, I did it for 45 levels at launch).

Oh man… ele at launch ?!? What a nightmare that was before any of us knew what this class was really all about

Yea, and it’s why I stopped playing it for 2 months and got a guardian and engineer to 80 instead. Glad I read daphoenix’s d/d guide and gave it another shot, haven’t had more fun in the game since (not saying this is the only way to play, just, WAY better than sitting in fire attune auto attacking).

Razor.6392:

etc

This guy is your classic example of setting unrealistic expectations about the class and how it plays. He thinks you’re doing a service to anyone swapping to Water to heal someone even if you have zero points in healing. Or how gaining 3 stacks of Might to do an Eruption → Lava Font combo is going to contribute more than the 10 seconds or so of significantly higher damage you could have been doing in Fire.

Long story short, you got the people who actually look at the numbers and look at the benefits and then you got people like him who just puke up the same advice they lapped someone else vomited all over them.

Kodiak.3281:

Razor.6392:

etc

This guy is your classic example of setting unrealistic expectations about the class and how it plays. He thinks you’re doing a service to anyone swapping to Water to heal someone even if you have zero points in healing. Or how gaining 3 stacks of Might to do an Eruption -> Lava Font combo is going to contribute more than the 10 seconds or so of significantly higher damage you could have been doing in Fire.

Long story short, you got the people who actually look at the numbers and look at the benefits and then you got people like him who just puke up the same advice they lapped someone else vomited all over them.

I have a couple of realistic situations for ya’. This is what I would do, so tell me if you agree with it. Keep in mind I’m a D/D auramancer.

1. I’m in AC. A scavenger jumps on my teammate. S/he can’t get up, and will die if somebody doesn’t do something.
2. I’m in fire attunement. I then switch to air attunement, RTL to the scavenger, knock it back with Updraft, then use the air aura to give the person a chance to recover (they’d get fury, swiftness and protection, as well as the aura’s normal effect).

1. I’m in AC. A breeder is about to breed, right next to me.
2. I’m in fire attunement. I throw down a fire field, switch to earth attunement, and knock it down. This gives 3 stacks of might, plus the thing is down, giving me a chance to use skill 5 and give more might as well as stack some bleeds and do damage.

(The majority of) people arguing FOR stance dancing are thinking about situations like those. We’re not saying, “GO CRAZEH. Use everything as soon as it’s off cooldown!” We’re saying that you should use the other attunements when the time is right.

Hmmm… Thinking about my supporty playstyle makes me think I’d enjoy a Guardian. I’m constantly looking out for my teammates. >_>
If anyone could direct me to an awesome Ele support build, please post or PM me. lol

I can’t see how anyone who has played the class for while doesn’t see skills in lines other then fire that they would like to play.

I can’t see how anyone who has looked at the traits doesn’t see any that they want to use that affect lines other than fire.

Personally I could care less how you play, as long as you are not taking up somebody else’s spot in a group that is doing difficult content. Yes, PUG groups can easily 4 man the dungeons and fractals. Maybe no one has noticed your lack of contribution. Just don’t kid yourself into thinking your limited dps, is which is all you are providing, is making a difference. There is a reason the boons, buffs, conditions, etc for all the professions have such short timers. It’s because everyone needs to be doing their small part and only together is the result nothing short of fantastic.

The OP seems strangley absent since he started this thread. I’m kind of curious OP.
Are you seriously claiming not to see the benefits of the different attunements? Do you seriously claiming that playing in fire alone with no crowd control, no healing, no buffs, no nothing is as good as everything else? Come one, I just want you to say it. Pleeeeeeeese.

Kodiak.3281:

Razor.6392:

etc

This guy is your classic example of setting unrealistic expectations about the class and how it plays. He thinks you’re doing a service to anyone swapping to Water to heal someone even if you have zero points in healing. Or how gaining 3 stacks of Might to do an Eruption -> Lava Font combo is going to contribute more than the 10 seconds or so of significantly higher damage you could have been doing in Fire.

Long story short, you got the people who actually look at the numbers and look at the benefits and then you got people like him who just puke up the same advice they lapped someone else vomited all over them.

So much ignorance, it hurts.

For one, not everyone is a staff ele, I switch between s/d, d/d and staff for different encounters.

Two, not everyone runs 30/30/30/30/0 like you, where switching attunements usually locks you out of your last used element for like 16 seconds.

And three, not everything is raw damage. In this game every class can fulfill supportive roles, and believe it or not, a 1300 heal or a well timed blind, or even something as minimal as giving regen to your group, can be the difference between failure and success. And this is coming from a full dps spec elementalist.

But what would you know? I’m just sad that you chose this specific class when all you wanted to do was just damage and nothing more. Should have went thief or warrior.

Kodiak.3281:

Razor.6392:

etc

This guy is your classic example of setting unrealistic expectations about the class and how it plays. He thinks you’re doing a service to anyone swapping to Water to heal someone even if you have zero points in healing. Or how gaining 3 stacks of Might to do an Eruption -> Lava Font combo is going to contribute more than the 10 seconds or so of significantly higher damage you could have been doing in Fire.

Long story short, you got the people who actually look at the numbers and look at the benefits and then you got people like him who just puke up the same advice they lapped someone else vomited all over them.

your ‘heals’ in water attune are actually fields as staff – so yea with 0 points in healing these are still incredibly useful in groups

3 stacks of might to everyone around the target area (at least melee) will do more damage than you spamming more auto attacks from your fire attune

So only in a solo situation does what you’re saying actually work – and I really pity you if you solo with the staff. For a guy who claims to ‘look at the numbers’ and know how stuff works, every post shows less of a clue…

zTales.4392:

I have a couple of realistic situations for ya’. This is what I would do, so tell me if you agree with it. Keep in mind I’m a D/D auramancer.

Let me just stop you there and requote what I already said on that topic:

Kodiak.3281:

I play many specs and use a variety of weapons. When I play as 0/10/0/30/30 D/D build I swap constantly. There’s numerous cross attunement combinations (mostly revolving around Fire and Earth) and useful utilities (Auras in Air and Water) in all 4 trees with this setup that you’d want to use just about in any scenario. This is pretty much the prime example of swapping around like a schizophrenic madman and what most people consider the “core” mechanic of the class

And in fact while playing said spec I do, as you say, “GO CRAZEH. Use everything as soon as it’s off cooldown!” A lot of time my game play revolves around starting in Water:

Frost Aura
Fire -> Breath -> Fire Grab
Ring of Fire -> (backup) Earth -> Dodge Roll -> Arcane Wave -> Knockdown -> Churning
Air -> Aura -> Weaken -> Auto till Arcane Wave back Up
Fire -> Breath -> Ring of Fire -> Earth -> Grasp -> Arcane Wave -> Churning
Air

So on and so forth really basically constantly swapping between all the attunements using cool downs and abilities to maximize damage and game play. I use Fire Grab early to keep an eye on my cool down for Earth 4 (since they both have 40s cool downs). If it’s down too early and I’m in Fire I use the Grasp combo to add in Fire Aura for an additional aura buffs from Zephyr’s Boon. Swap to Water as needed for healing or condition removal for me or allies.

That is because FOR THAT SPEC AND WEAPON that is the way to play. That doesn’t mean it’s that same game play style for every other spec and weapon combination we have.

Baladir.2736:

The OP seems strangley absent since he started this thread. I’m kind of curious OP.
Are you seriously claiming not to see the benefits of the different attunements? Do you seriously claiming that playing in fire alone with no crowd control, no healing, no buffs, no nothing is as good as everything else? Come one, I just want you to say it. Pleeeeeeeese.

You could’ve made your whole point without being rude/baiting the OP, who was just asking a question. I would genuinely be interested in hearing his/her justification for sticking to fire alone. As a primarily d/d ele, much of my build is based around swapping… Someone who spends the majority of their time in fire could have some interesting insights into the advantages of that particular attunement.

The beauty of the ele is that it really allows for a flexibility of play style. I have a great deal of fun trying to determine which tool is best for which situation – be that weapon or attunement. If, after looking at all the options, you can find a good argument to make to stick fire 100%, go for it. Not liking attunement swapping is not an argument – it’s a preference that needs an argument to support it.

On a side note, many of you seem to ignore that the OP is still leveling. Much of the easy/beauty of attunement swaps does really show itself until later levels, when you can lower the cd and trait added bonuses to the mechanic. I crafting leveled my ele through 30 lvls, and I still recall the swap timer being rather painful in WvW when I was doing anything other than focus blocking. I’d agree with some of the other posters that it might be worthwhile experimenting with just one other attunement for now. Damage is nice, but that AoE chill in water becomes addictive when you realize it keeps them in your fire field longer. And then plop down a water field, not for the minuscule heal, but for the multiple heals you allies can combo into it. But you don’t have to do this very often. Especially not leveling up.

Kodiak.3281:

zTales.4392:

I have a couple of realistic situations for ya’. This is what I would do, so tell me if you agree with it. Keep in mind I’m a D/D auramancer.

Let me just stop you there and requote what I already said on that topic:

Kodiak.3281:

I play many specs and use a variety of weapons. When I play as 0/10/0/30/30 D/D build I swap constantly. There’s numerous cross attunement combinations (mostly revolving around Fire and Earth) and useful utilities (Auras in Air and Water) in all 4 trees with this setup that you’d want to use just about in any scenario. This is pretty much the prime example of swapping around like a schizophrenic madman and what most people consider the “core” mechanic of the class

And in fact while playing said spec I do, as you say, “GO CRAZEH. Use everything as soon as it’s off cooldown!” A lot of time my game play revolves around starting in Water:

Frost Aura
Fire -> Breath -> Fire Grab
Ring of Fire -> (backup) Earth -> Dodge Roll -> Arcane Wave -> Knockdown -> Churning
Air -> Aura -> Weaken -> Auto till Arcane Wave back Up
Fire -> Breath -> Ring of Fire -> Earth -> Grasp -> Arcane Wave -> Churning
Air

So on and so forth really basically constantly swapping between all the attunements using cool downs and abilities to maximize damage and game play. I use Fire Grab early to keep an eye on my cool down for Earth 4 (since they both have 40s cool downs). If it’s down too early and I’m in Fire I use the Grasp combo to add in Fire Aura for an additional aura buffs from Zephyr’s Boon. Swap to Water as needed for healing or condition removal for me or allies.

That is because FOR THAT SPEC AND WEAPON that is the way to play. That doesn’t mean it’s that same game play style for every other spec and weapon combination we have.

… if that’s what you do, why are you arguing against it…?

Kodiak.3281:

zTales.4392:

I have a couple of realistic situations for ya’. This is what I would do, so tell me if you agree with it. Keep in mind I’m a D/D auramancer.

Let me just stop you there and requote what I already said on that topic:

Kodiak.3281:

I play many specs and use a variety of weapons. When I play as 0/10/0/30/30 D/D build I swap constantly. There’s numerous cross attunement combinations (mostly revolving around Fire and Earth) and useful utilities (Auras in Air and Water) in all 4 trees with this setup that you’d want to use just about in any scenario. This is pretty much the prime example of swapping around like a schizophrenic madman and what most people consider the “core” mechanic of the class

And in fact while playing said spec I do, as you say, “GO CRAZEH. Use everything as soon as it’s off cooldown!” A lot of time my game play revolves around starting in Water:

Frost Aura
Fire -> Breath -> Fire Grab
Ring of Fire -> (backup) Earth -> Dodge Roll -> Arcane Wave -> Knockdown -> Churning
Air -> Aura -> Weaken -> Auto till Arcane Wave back Up
Fire -> Breath -> Ring of Fire -> Earth -> Grasp -> Arcane Wave -> Churning
Air

So on and so forth really basically constantly swapping between all the attunements using cool downs and abilities to maximize damage and game play. I use Fire Grab early to keep an eye on my cool down for Earth 4 (since they both have 40s cool downs). If it’s down too early and I’m in Fire I use the Grasp combo to add in Fire Aura for an additional aura buffs from Zephyr’s Boon. Swap to Water as needed for healing or condition removal for me or allies.

That is because FOR THAT SPEC AND WEAPON that is the way to play. That doesn’t mean it’s that same game play style for every other spec and weapon combination we have.

Fair enough, then I guess it boils down to: Your staff build, playstyle and spec are bad.

Shimond.2478:

your ‘heals’ in water attune are actually fields as staff – so yea with 0 points in healing these are still incredibly useful in groups

3 stacks of might to everyone around the target area (at least melee) will do more damage than you spamming more auto attacks from your fire attune

So only in a solo situation does what you’re saying actually work – and I really pity you if you solo with the staff. For a guy who claims to ‘look at the numbers’ and know how stuff works, every post shows less of a clue…

Combo fields are a rather advanced topic, but lets delve into it.

1. Combo Fields only give you what was placed on the ground first. This means if you do an Eruption and then a Guardian does Symbol of Wrath before you lay down Lava Font that’ll combo as something else which you typically don’t have. Mesmers and Guardians also have a huge number of combo fields that get thrown all over the place. Most people are throwing down whatever random abilities they have.

2. People have to take advantage of said fields to make them worth a kitten If you don’t have people purposefully taking advantage of Water Fields, dropping them isn’t going to add any benefit what so ever. Most players tend to just do whatever they do and rarely take advantage of what’s presented to them as a possibility.

3. Combos tend to be very minor effects that are strong when added up with everything else. Even the devs have commented on this regarding our class, that it isn’t any one thing that’s too strong, but rather a combination of many things. Most Eles who are setting up Water fields are spec’d deep in those lines and the Water fields in combination with the rest make for a very strong package.

It isn’t hard to calculate. Go to SPvP, pull out a staff and DPS in Fire for 9-12 seconds, then swap to Earth and do whatever DPS you can until you can swap back to Fire (9-12 seconds) and then stay and DPS in Fire again with your +3 might stacks for 9-12 seconds. Now add it up all the damage for each time period and total time. Next just stay in Fire the entire time for a similar duration and total up all the numbers between the two. You’ll easily see you’ll have done a HUGE chunk more damage just sticking in Fire with a 30 Fire spec than you did by adding 3 stacks of might, but then being stuck in Earth for 1/3rd the time.

I run the numbers and don’t make just blind assumptions on whether or not adding 3 stacks of Might to an unknown number of players is “clearly” better.

Baladir.2736:

I can’t see how anyone who has played the class for while doesn’t see skills in lines other then fire that they would like to play.

I can’t see how anyone who has looked at the traits doesn’t see any that they want to use that affect lines other than fire.

Personally I could care less how you play, as long as you are not taking up somebody else’s spot in a group that is doing difficult content. Yes, PUG groups can easily 4 man the dungeons and fractals. Maybe no one has noticed your lack of contribution. Just don’t kid yourself into thinking your limited dps, is which is all you are providing, is making a difference….

Hold it hold it…

What the kitten?

You have professions that often run those fractals with nothing BUT DPS and bring nothing more. I can understand some of you guys hold your profession to a higher standard, but seriously, stop kidding yourself. Just because you can hand out boons doesn’t mean they’ll make a difference if the team was fine without them to begin with. The only thing in those instances is doing damage to speed up the process, which none of the other boons or conditions help with.

Although I’ve never had trouble getting fractal teams, maybe that’s why teams may overlook eles for their groups.

Basically, quit the premadonna bull-puppy.

zTales.4392:

… if that’s what you do, why are you arguing against it…?

I’m not arguing against it. What I am saying is that just because that play style works for one weapon set and one trait set doesn’t mean that it works the same way for all weapon sets and trait sets. That there are gasp alternatives in play style that aren’t automatically horrible because they don’t follow the same play style.

Razor.6392:

Fair enough, then I guess it boils down to: Your staff build, playstyle and spec are bad.

Considering the source of criticism I don’t really give it much weight.

Kodiak.3281:

Combo fields are a rather advanced topic, but lets delve into it.

1. Combo Fields only give you what was placed on the ground first. This means if you do an Eruption and then a Guardian does Symbol of Wrath before you lay down Lava Font that’ll combo as something else which you typically don’t have. Mesmers and Guardians also have a huge number of combo fields that get thrown all over the place. Most people are throwing down whatever random abilities they have.

2. People have to take advantage of said fields to make them worth a kitten If you don’t have people purposefully taking advantage of Water Fields, dropping them isn’t going to add any benefit what so ever. Most players tend to just do whatever they do and rarely take advantage of what’s presented to them as a possibility.

3. Combos tend to be very minor effects that are strong when added up with everything else. Even the devs have commented on this regarding our class, that it isn’t any one thing that’s too strong, but rather a combination of many things. Most Eles who are setting up Water fields are spec’d deep in those lines and the Water fields in combination with the rest make for a very strong package.

It isn’t hard to calculate. Go to SPvP, pull out a staff and DPS in Fire for 9-12 seconds, then swap to Earth and do whatever DPS you can until you can swap back to Fire (9-12 seconds) and then stay and DPS in Fire again with your +3 might stacks for 9-12 seconds. Now add it up all the damage for each time period and total time. Next just stay in Fire the entire time for a similar duration and total up all the numbers between the two. You’ll easily see you’ll have done a HUGE chunk more damage just sticking in Fire with a 30 Fire spec than you did by adding 3 stacks of might, but then being stuck in Earth for 1/3rd the time.

I run the numbers and don’t make just blind assumptions on whether or not adding 3 stacks of Might to an unknown number of players is “clearly” better.

So your argument against fields is that people are morons and won’t use them properly? That’s fairly valid I guess, but I expect more out of people around me (perhaps I get disappointed at times, but not often).

I said 3 stacks of might to everyone in range, not just yourself.

What you say makes perfect since in a solo environment with a staff – which is a terrible idea to begin with.

Kodiak.3281:

zTales.4392:

… if that’s what you do, why are you arguing against it…?

I’m not arguing against it. What I am saying is that just because that play style works for one weapon set and one trait set doesn’t mean that it works the same way for all weapon sets and trait sets. That there are gasp alternatives in play style that aren’t automatically horrible because they don’t follow the same play style.

Well most people would agree with that. I don’t think you’re being very clear, however, if that’s what you’re trying to say.

It’s just confusing. lol

Leo G.4501:

Baladir.2736:

I can’t see how anyone who has played the class for while doesn’t see skills in lines other then fire that they would like to play.

I can’t see how anyone who has looked at the traits doesn’t see any that they want to use that affect lines other than fire.

Personally I could care less how you play, as long as you are not taking up somebody else’s spot in a group that is doing difficult content. Yes, PUG groups can easily 4 man the dungeons and fractals. Maybe no one has noticed your lack of contribution. Just don’t kid yourself into thinking your limited dps, is which is all you are providing, is making a difference….

Hold it hold it…

What the kitten?

You have professions that often run those fractals with nothing BUT DPS and bring nothing more. I can understand some of you guys hold your profession to a higher standard, but seriously, stop kidding yourself. Just because you can hand out boons doesn’t mean they’ll make a difference if the team was fine without them to begin with. The only thing in those instances is doing damage to speed up the process, which none of the other boons or conditions help with.

Although I’ve never had trouble getting fractal teams, maybe that’s why teams may overlook eles for their groups.

Basically, quit the premadonna bull-puppy.

Lol, If the OP is running fire attuenment only as he claims, that is what he would be doing if he has been running these. Not knowing his level of play or how long he has been playing an Ele, he may very well been doing this and gotton away with that for a long time. The fact is, a 5th wheel in a decent party could walk behind and do nothing and the group would still finish a fractal or dungeon.

Do I recommend this? Lol. Do I really need to state the obvious?

Majora.6028:

I was having a hard time picking a class after my Ranger. I was walking about in the Norn area and was inspired by an Elementalist. Usually, I wouldn’t even consider one. I hate swapping, it messes with my OCD. This Ele though, didn’t swap. She said she was pure fire. She had awesome damage, didn’t die often, and was just what I was looking for.

I was leveling my Ele, enjoying it VERY much, and it came up in Map Chat and people started insulting me, calling me a selfish kitten and saying that I’m and idiot for not swapping constantly.

Is it seriously that big of an issue? I feel like quitting now, I haven’t enjoyed the other classes, and now I’m being harassed and told that I won’t be able to play me class at all later if I don’t fix myself now.

By the way, they were very rude people in map chat to be insulting you. There are people like that everywhere on this planet unfortunately.

You are not the first person to play in one attunement and likely will not be the last. In your case you apparently did so unconsciously having been told it was a viable way to play. Whether or not you choose to continue to play the class this way is up to you. As you can see, just above I got my butt chewed because someone misunderstood and thought I was supporting a one attunement style of play.

It is, by 99% of the population, not a viable way to play the class . The first reaction people often have is one of disbelief that someone plays that way, but, there are, after all, fire mages in other games so why not?

If my previous post was harsh, I apologize. At least one person thought so anyway.

I notice from some of your other posts that you are having issues with other classes too. The forums are a great source of material and feedback. Also, the GW2 official Wiki at http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Main_Page

This isn’t a simple game, however it is not hard to master. There does have to be time spent reading about the class you are playing however for best results toward the end game. About the time you are spending gold for triats at level 40 and then again, whenever the last is, would be a good idea at least then.

I don’t get the OCD part. It seems to me that your OCD tendencies would make you more inclined to “obssessively” attune swap like crazy , and “compulsively” use every available skill to squeeze every bit of intended potential out of the character. I can tell you that’s what this OCD guy does.

i’ve run a fire staff 30/30/0/0/10 build before in fotm 30+. i don’t run it anymore not because it’s as terrible as everyone says (it was actually quite good), but because i found it extremely boring sitting at 1200 range mashing 1, 2 and 3. i also find these elitist nerds hilarious. some of these comparisons they’re making….lol

“like omg guyz a fire ele is like a mesmer with no clones heh heh heh”
this guy is right on the money. as soon as you decide to spec fire staff, the air, water, and earth attunements automatically get greyed out. it’s kittenin crazy!!!

point is, don’t let any of these holier than thou nerds change your mind. play what you find fun, otherwise why play at all?

Shimond.2478:

So your argument against fields is that people are morons and won’t use them properly? That’s fairly valid I guess, but I expect more out of people around me (perhaps I get disappointed at times, but not often).

I said 3 stacks of might to everyone in range, not just yourself.

What you say makes perfect since in a solo environment with a staff – which is a terrible idea to begin with.

And there’s some groups that use them to great effect. Such as in WvW most staffers setup the Water fields behind the main engagement area so players back up into the staff heal fields instead of there being every other field possible. It’s simply rare outside of a very organized effort.

You’re again assuming everyone is close enough to get said might. That isn’t always the case. People don’t stack on Troll or Kohler for example. A lot of groups have 1-3 people at range which will miss the Might stack. I know because I drop Lava Font → Arcane Wave all the time and see people completely miss getting the buff.

zTales.4392:

Well most people would agree with that. I don’t think you’re being very clear, however, if that’s what you’re trying to say.

It’s just confusing. lol

I’ve been saying the same thing for days since you made your post about the guy who was telling you to use Fire/Air. There are specs and trait setups where that works and is viable. You’re the one who seems think that I meant it in another way.

dont listen to others that tell you how to play. just play the way you like. if thats 100% fire than thats 100% fire. I have no idea why they would call you selfish for doing so. the only reason i can think off would be sPvP where you probably need all 4 atunements and you team would benefit from that to, for example the heals in water. Also spreading Might to all your allies cant be called selfish if u ask me.

Razor.6392:

Kodiak.3281:

etc

Bottom line is: What defines elementalists is being able to have the most amount of weapon skills available in game, and the versatility of their playstyles depending on which weapon or spec you’re using.

Off topic,

I was bored and was reading this topic.

Would like to rectify

Most skills in the game → Elementalist
Most skills availaible during a fight → Engineer

Thanks man

Baladir.2736:

As you can see, just above I got my butt chewed because someone misunderstood and thought I was supporting a one attunement style of play.

If you’re talking about me, I was ‘chewing’ for the opposite reason. If the team needs damage and not much else, saying ‘your limited DPS is pointless’ undermines a whole meta of team play people look for. And DPS is highest in fire.

Yeah, you can say ‘should just put down ele and roll a warr/thief’ which is basically admitting ele sux and can’t function in a damaging aspect, which is a dumb conclusion. Even if ele isn’t the best DPS class, doesn’t mean no one should play it and have fun with it.

Kodiak.3281:

Shimond.2478:

So your argument against fields is that people are morons and won’t use them properly? That’s fairly valid I guess, but I expect more out of people around me (perhaps I get disappointed at times, but not often).

I said 3 stacks of might to everyone in range, not just yourself.

What you say makes perfect since in a solo environment with a staff – which is a terrible idea to begin with.

And there’s some groups that use them to great effect. Such as in WvW most staffers setup the Water fields behind the main engagement area so players back up into the staff heal fields instead of there being every other field possible. It’s simply rare outside of a very organized effort.

You’re again assuming everyone is close enough to get said might. That isn’t always the case. People don’t stack on Troll or Kohler for example. A lot of groups have 1-3 people at range which will miss the Might stack. I know because I drop Lava Font -> Arcane Wave all the time and see people completely miss getting the buff.

zTales.4392:

Well most people would agree with that. I don’t think you’re being very clear, however, if that’s what you’re trying to say.

It’s just confusing. lol

I’ve been saying the same thing for days since you made your post about the guy who was telling you to use Fire/Air. There are specs and trait setups where that works and is viable. You’re the one who seems think that I meant it in another way.

Well yea, ’cause the point of that post was, “You should use other attunements when needed.” and you were arguing with me. lol