I have over 700 hours of play on my elementalist across all game modes GW2 has to offer. However, I have the most experience in PvE, especially fractals as I run them almost daily. I dont consider myself a “highend pro player”, but I have a fair amount of experience and a good understanding of the elementalist profession and the different environments of GW2. Besides elementalist I play mesmer (it is my first character and I have almost as much hours on him) and have a level 80 character of each class.
There is enough text incoming, so I want to keep it short and just jump into it. I hope I achieve my goal to give a constructive feedback and can contribute a tiny bit to the goal of Anet in making the elementalist a versatile, viable and fun class to play.
- Fire
Minors:
- T1: Flame Barrier: Gain Fire Aura when you attune to fire (20% chance to trigger)
- T2: Sunspot: Inflict damage at you location when you attune to fire
- T3: Burning Rage: Deal more damage to burning foes (10%)
All minors seem fine to me. I like the change to T1.
Adept:
- Burning Precision: Critical hits have a chance to cause burning (30%), burning lasts longer (33%)
- Conjurer: Conjure weapons have more charges (10), gain a fire aura when an ally picks up a conjure weapon
- Power Overwhelming: Gain condition damage based on power (7%)
Conjurer does not seem useful in any way to me. Unless you have traited Zephyr’s Boon (Air Adept) or Elemental Shielding (Earth Adept) it does not a lot for you. Also the aura will not be shared with allies through Powerful Auras (Water Grand Master). I would rather see something that provides you a buff while using a conjured weapon. Maybe that you grant boons to allies, while using one (Icebow=regeneration, Earth shield=protection, Lightning hammer=fury, Flame Axe= 5 might, FGS= fury, might and swiftness) or that you gain an aura according to the weapon you conjure (earth shield = earth aura etc.). This would encourage the use of conjured weapons. Otherwise I think, that they will not be used anymore in their current state, after the nerf to LH and icebow. And please: remove the casting time of Earth shield so it can be an actual defensive tool.
Power Overwhelming seems just bad. Burning Precision seems better in any case. I highly doubt that the damage gain from this trait can make up for a longer burning duration and for more burning stacks you get from critical hits.
Master:
- Pyromancer’s Training: Deal more damage while attuned to fire (10%), fire skills have reduced cooldown (20%)
- One with fire: Fire auras last longer (33%) and give might when applied (2 stacks)
- Burning fire: When you have 3 conditions: Cure 3 conditions and burn nearby foes (CD: 40s)
Masters seem fine to me. They offer something for different playstyles. Maybe buff One with fire (more might) and Burning fire a bit.
Grand Master:
- Persisting Flames: Blast finishers you execute on fire fields grant fury (10s), fire fields last longer (2s), create a lava font when downed
- Pyromancer’s Puissance: While attuned to fire, each skill grants you might (~20s)
- Blinding Fire: Blind foes that you burn (CD: 5 s)
Persisting Flames is by far the best choice to buff your personal and your group’s direct damage. I appreciate the buff, but it was not needed. Pyromancer’s Puissance seems very underwhelming in comparison and I don’t see any use for it. If you go for direct damage, Persisting Flames is always the better choice. A change to PP is needed to make it useful. I suggest a change that supports a condition damage build. Maybe something like: “Burning you apply is also applied to nearby enemies”.
Blinding fire has another field of use and I do like the idea. I think when the CD gets removed or decreased to be in line with Burning Precision, this is a nice trait for certain playstyles.
(edited by Chrolo.8536)