Guild Wars 2

Zumy.6318:

Played Warrior with under 1h of playtime in soloQ tPvP yesterday.

I can see now. 1vs3 against 2 Eles and one Necro. The eles just died as collateral damage while I was killing the Necro. I dropped to 15k hp eventually.

& yet they are giving warriors more hp & heals in an upcoming patch lol

Zumy.6318:

Played Warrior with under 1h of playtime in soloQ tPvP yesterday.

I can see now. 1vs3 against 2 Eles and one Necro. The eles just died as collateral damage while I was killing the Necro. I dropped to 15k hp eventually.

I cant belive you – there are no eles in soloQ but on wvw I absolutly own eles while playing pure berserker dps warrior (pve fractal build but with GS/AxeShield) althought I have spend 300h on warr and 1.5k h on ele so know both classes quite well. Also those eles I meet on wvw often have no idea how to play ele cuz my eviscerate always hits them and this is the one of the fev skills that ele must avoid at all costs cuz it takes 50% to 100% of their hp.
I think playing as ber warr I will loose against myself as pvt+ber d/d 0/30/0/10/20 ele.

silvermember.8941:

stale.9785:

ThiBash.5634:

stale.9785:

Skill doesn’t matter when the class itself is boned. Seriously, you could be god’s gift to ele’s, and you’re still not a threat to another player controlled character. Seriously, any player who’s paying attention will only ever allow 2 ele skills to land. Most of the skills can be stepped away from, no dodge needed. There are a very few where someone will have to burn a dodge, but that’s it.

Were ele’s alright, they’d have a heavy presence anywhere other than overworld PvE.

My guess is you’re the one who’s boned, because I’m not experiencing the issues you’re mentioning. But since very few people will even TRY to duel with staff, how can you expect hordes of staff eles in WvW? It’s circular reasoning: eles suck so nobody will play them so nobody will play them well so they suck. Sure, staff was never meant to be the top duelling weapon, but claiming you won’t land a hit is just plain false.

Feel free to disagree, because I disagree with you.

Dude, I played ele, a lot. Then I just stopped, completely. Doing more work for less output, regardless of the situation, is bad. The truly sad aspect of this is twofold; one is that it would be extremely easy to fix. The second is so many people who deny there are problems.

Each blatant problem has been brought up before, and as always, the people who believe the ele is fine crawl out of the woodwork and actively object to suggestions that would improve the class.

If you recall, Thi, I’ve suggested numerous things that would improve the ele – and we don’t get them. Since I’ve grown tired of bashing my face against a wall to no avail, the simplest option was to roll another class, and actually have fun.

Anyway, there’s no so blind as those who will not see, so there’s no point continuing this.

Later, eh?

Stale

Not too sure why you are concern with what he says, it feels like he is just punking us or laughing as he types each ridiculous comment.

Do you honestly feel that dismissing me as crazy is the best way to adress my counter arguments? Because to be honest, I could feel the same way about your arguments.

In most posts, people complain about basic things without taking all variables into consideration. They demand the staff ele to have high damage and still retain their support. Eles should get weapon swap. Eles should be able to win all 2v1 fights. Combos fields aren’t taken into account when balancing. Combining weapons with different utilities and trait builds is nonsense. And so on. And so on…

If an informed post comes along that makes a valid argument, I will consider it and support it. But for my part, I’m getting sick of the 95% ele wannabees that expect the staff ele to be a WoW mage, and then cry if they lose a duel against 2 other players.

The elementalist is a unique take on the classic caster profession. But it’s as much a stereotypical mage as Guild Wars 2 has the stereotypical tank/heal/dps setup. any serious attempt at balancing the elementalist should thus take these factors into consideration and THEN complain.

@Poster above ( can’t write your name without the kitten with it..dunno why)

I think you made your point clear enough after countless posts, but you still find hard to understand is what other people are try confirm : ele staff inability to duel.

We ( most of us ) do understand the support concept of the staff, nobody ever asked to play staff ele as a WoW frost mage instead what people are asking is for the staff to become a more viable weapon set from the 1vs1 point of view, this is dictated more from the game mechanics than selfish requests.

No matter how skilled you think you are on staff the current state of the game force players in 1vs1 situations most times than not with no support on the horizon, to simply put it..the ele staff concept is outdated, it doesn’t go well with the way GW2 run, for a suitable staff playstyle pls check the necro staff : immediate effect-unblockable-1vs1 viable.

Now I’d rather not go in the whole ele concept in its entirity, as it’s absolute garbage concept [ NOTE: personal opinion, I do believe the designer who came up with the ele idea..should be “re-instructed”], I’ll limit myself with saying that : staff guardian offer more healing and support, necro staff offer more offensive support and pressure ( kitten the might boon, who care about might when you can condition bomb the whole enemy team in 10s ? ) adn both profession can still switch weapon and thereofore range of action…compared to being stuck at 1200 range like ele.

The whole range stuck is another stone on the road for an ele, the idea of being able to spamm aoe from the safe distance is just wishful thinking, given the sheer amount of close gaps mele professions enjoy in this game..you simply won’t stay at safe distance for long and when they close in..it’s game over.

I’m not asking for ele to win 1vs2 in any possible situation, no profession should be able to do that ( like now with necros and rangers ), all me and other are asking is for staff ele to finally become 1vs1 viable, they are counteless threads with suggestions that would greatly improve the staff without making it OP, right now every time I used the staff it end like this:

1) See allies on a point
2) Try to give some support
3) …2s later a s/d thief on you , or a mesmer or a necro or warrior
4) as you can’t win all you can do is pray that an ally will come to your rescue ( in a team based game this would happen always..like in GW1)
5) after burning all your utilities and defensive skills..nobody comes 9 times out of 10
6) playing with r40+ people, on TS3 even if you ask for help

If not even top teams run a staff ele with their level of communication than nobody can in any other similar scenario.

I can’t find the exat quote right now but this is what I can re-collect from a past thread :

@Jonathan Sharp
yes we know that some weapon sets are not viable across all game format, take ele staff, we know is only good for WvWvW, is this intended? Yes that’s the way we designed it

A plain and shameless lie, and this is not the first time the devs use the ele as an “example” of their design ideas..as they try to make it sound.

:- We give clear animations to all skills as indicator…blah blah blah…so that you can dodge key skills
: – We want people to make choice when they go from one format to the to other..blah blah blah…switch builds and weapons…

For kitten sake all this is true only for the ele and no the other professions..because ele was the first profession to be designed and obviously a failed design …check how all other profession mechanics are more fluid and logical.
It’s time for people to stop giving Anet an excuse to not fix the ele properly…in GW1 after 6 years of practice, most opponents on any profession used to run away at the mere sight of my obsidian tiger rank air ele ( the absolute truth, even sins and mesmers used to flee away..truly rewarding)…..what a disaster this game is…

Arheundel.6451:

@Poster above ( can’t write your name without the kitten with it..dunno why)

That seems odd…I wouldn’t know what part of my name would be considered offensive language.

Let me start by saying that I appreciate the time you took to write your response. It’s well argumented and you have a few valid points. And quite frankly, I agree with the basic sentiment of staff eles are less suited for duelling than some other professions. However, I disagree on 2 key points: ‘the severity of the issue’ and the fact that ‘range defines our weapons’.

Things are bad, but not that bad
Forums being what they are, people tend to exagerate their issues to get their emotions across. This comes in both forms, ranging from ‘the staff ele is absolutely worthless and deals no damage’ to ‘I can duel everyone 2v1 in WvW with my staff ele’. This sentiment is my main point of contention. While I do agree that there’s still room for improvement, I don’t find the staff ele to be nearly as bad as it’s portrayed on these forums. I don’t consider myself a god-like player and if these forum statements were 100% accurate, I shouldn’t have a 50%+ win ratio in WvW duels. insert ‘you only fight noobs’ here

However, what’s more concerning about these posts is that because of their exageration, they disregard key factors when it comes to balancing. Combo fields for example, are by their very nature, imbalanced. If you balance them around 1v1, they’ll be overpowered when multiple players make use of them, and vice versa. The staff ele solves this problem somewhat by being able to make use of their own fields. However, if you want to balance the staff for duelling, you’d have to remove the combo fields from the weapon or dumb them down greatly (guardian-style). I’d be very sorry to see that happen because combo fields in general, are a big improvement in Guild Wars 2 compared to other MMO’s.

Other factors that are often ‘overlooked’ are the dagger’s better-than-melee range, the range vs. melee balance , the AoE vs. single target effect and last but not least, support AND damage instead of support OR damage. When considering all these effects, the level of balance you end up with should be pretty close to the current level. Because in the end, most people ‘feel’ that there’s something wrong but few people actually ‘quantify’ it.

Range doesn’t define the weapon
For other MMO’s and certain other professions, this is certainly true. However, the elementalist is a special case in my opinion and for staff, this is due to Evasive Arcana. I’ve noticed that while playing the staff, I rarely stand back at full range throwing fireballs. Instead, I tend to rush in and support my team with fields and combos, dodging through stuff and generally increasing my chance to hit things by being in the thick of things.

For dagger/dagger, the opposite is true: while in melee, you can retreat to a range where you can still hit your melee opponent while they can’t, and you get a bucketload of gap finishers (3 on the weapon, and a teleport utility), not to mention permanent swiftness, to make sure you’re always in damage range. Scepter/dagger is even more like that, rather than being melee or ranged, you’re both.

Great wall of text, but where does this leave the discussion?
There’s room for improvement, but things aren’t as bad as people make them sound. Staff eles are perfectly playable in PvE, dungeons and WvW, and they deal sufficient damage to keep up. Any changes or buffs should be done in small steps, in my opinion. The previous patch was a step in the right direction, with a few casting time reductions and Healing Rain being castable while moving. What I’d like to see personally, is fields like Lava Font starting their damage at the start of their cast instead of at the end of the first second. Skills with a trigger delay, like Eruption and Ice Spike should have a low casting time OR a delay, but not both (to make them suitable for area control, and to keep the versatility in skill effects). The damage on the non-fire auto attacks could be buffed slightly without much risk to XvX balance. Finally, decoupling attunement recharges from Arcana could be a good idea.

Ideas I firmly do not support are weapon swapping, major cooldown reductions on skills and removal of utility in favor of more damage, for reasons I’ve stated elsewhere.

The staff’s problems with duelling are inherent to the combo fields that come with it, and I fear that the only way to make the majority happy would be to remove them. However that would be a sad day for people like me, who enjoy the staff as it is now.

ThiBash.5634

Things are bad, but not that bad
I don’t find the staff ele to be nearly as bad as it’s portrayed on these forums.

Indeed a staff ele can find some degree of utility with the right build and trait set up, but talking strictly from a PvP point of view that subtle margin of playability get quickly overshadowed by what other professions can offer.

In all truth I do enjoy WvWvW where I run my d/d roamer build with impunity, winning 1vs1, 9 times out of 10 against every profession or even win 2 vs 5 when I roam with my friend, in this format ele is not that bad..all thx to that extra 3-4k base HP and un-nerfed healing.

Focusing on the staff in a WvWvW, again the level of devastation a grenade engy or staff necro can bring to the table..is unmatcheable, the support a staff guardian offer is unrivalled ( on command swiftness, stability, line of warding in the middle of a zerg , followed by wells spamm = massacre )

ThiBash.5634

However, what’s more concerning about these posts is that because of their exageration, they disregard key factors when it comes to balancing. Combo fields for example, are by their very nature, imbalanced. If you balance them around 1v1, they’ll be overpowered when multiple players make use of them, and vice versa. The staff ele solves this problem somewhat by being able to make use of their own fields. However, if you want to balance the staff for duelling, you’d have to remove the combo fields from the weapon or dumb them down greatly (guardian-style). I’d be very sorry to see that happen because combo fields in general, are a big improvement in Guild Wars 2 compared to other MMO’s.

One of the main reasons why I consider staff as UP and in need of help is because combo fields in general are lacklustre or rather not strong enough to force an entire weapon set around them and we’re talking about our only 1200 range weapon, a viable PvP 1200 range weapon would make the current ele extremely viable in the current meta where we could avoid being forced in mele range( spirit ranger-stunlock warrior-necro) given the low HP

ThiBash.5634

Range doesn’t define the weapon
For other MMO’s and certain other professions, this is certainly true. However, the elementalist is a special case in my opinion and for staff, this is due to Evasive Arcana. I’ve noticed that while playing the staff, I rarely stand back at full range throwing fireballs. Instead, I tend to rush in and support my team with fields and combos, dodging through stuff and generally increasing my chance to hit things by being in the thick of things.

For dagger/dagger, the opposite is true: while in melee, you can retreat to a range where you can still hit your melee opponent while they can’t, and you get a bucketload of gap finishers (3 on the weapon, and a teleport utility), not to mention permanent swiftness, to make sure you’re always in damage range. Scepter/dagger is even more like that, rather than being melee or ranged, you’re both.

That’s the problem, I don’t see why a staff ele should be forced at mele range to be effective when all your skills are designed to be used from range, it’s counter-productive and non ideal for many people.
I can’t help but look with envy at other staff users ( mesmer-guardian-necro ) while they do their business from safe distance while I’m forced to put myself in harm’s way being at mele range, where I could directly use a more suitable weapon set, not counting the fact that everybody always see a staff as something to be used while sitting behind the curtain..unless you give the staff the anti-mele defenses I suggested in another thread

ThiBash.5634:

Arheundel.6451:

@Poster above ( can’t write your name without the kitten with it..dunno why)

Range doesn’t define the weapon
For other MMO’s and certain other professions, this is certainly true. However, the elementalist is a special case in my opinion and for staff, this is due to Evasive Arcana. I’ve noticed that while playing the staff, I rarely stand back at full range throwing fireballs. Instead, I tend to rush in and support my team with fields and combos, dodging through stuff and generally increasing my chance to hit things by being in the thick of things.

This is one of the most ridiculous statements you have made. A range doesn’t define the weapon. If that’s the case why have RANGE weapon. Just make every weapon melee and call it a day.

Just to show how much in denial or naive you are, why does this range doesn’t define the weapon only applies to the elementalist. I can use RANGE weapons just fine with every other class, what makes the elementalist the exception to the rule?

ThiBash.5634

There’s room for improvement, but things aren’t as bad as people make them sound. Staff eles are perfectly playable in PvE, dungeons and WvW, and they deal sufficient damage to keep up. Any changes or buffs should be done in small steps, in my opinion. The previous patch was a step in the right direction, with a few casting time reductions and Healing Rain being castable while moving. What I’d like to see personally, is fields like Lava Font starting their damage at the start of their cast instead of at the end of the first second. Skills with a trigger delay, like Eruption and Ice Spike should have a low casting time OR a delay, but not both (to make them suitable for area control, and to keep the versatility in skill effects). The damage on the non-fire auto attacks could be buffed slightly without much risk to XvX balance. Finally, decoupling attunement recharges from Arcana could be a good idea.

Ideas I firmly do not support are weapon swapping, major cooldown reductions on skills and removal of utility in favor of more damage, for reasons I’ve stated elsewhere.

The staff’s problems with duelling are inherent to the combo fields that come with it, and I fear that the only way to make the majority happy would be to remove them. However that would be a sad day for people like me, who enjoy the staff as it is now.

We definetely don’t want any OP buff, we are all familiar with the MMO mantra : little buff equal huge Nerf, the balance in small steps policy suits me..but these steps should be substantial nevertheless.

Indeed the last patch did bring some good buffs for the staff..but that took like 6-7 months of “whining”..too little too slow, we don’t want to wait another 6-7 months to see another small improvement.

The solution by you proposed could work pretty well, a staff ele could use instant effect aoe as area control against mele opponents, this when we see skills like : lava font apply dmg the second it activate and not like 2s later ( I mean wtf? ), and yes eruption and ice spike should not have both huge casting time and activation on top of the huge red circle…like ele staff gives 3 reminders to the enemy to move away while necro simply can bombard you in an instant from 1200 range applying all effects at once without warning as the wells explode underneath you the moment they appear ..no chance to dodge, plus they’re unblockable.

If what you suggest appear not to be the way then we should implement the other suggestions we seen so far :

1) PBaoe gust ( like Illusionary wave )
2) 5-6s cripple Unsteady ground ( 2s it’s ridicolous )
3) on target shockwave..take out the ground slow moving projectile crap and replace with on target immobilize with maybe 1s activation before immobilize
4) Insta-cast lightning surge and more dmg on air-auto attack

These changes would not make OP a staff ele , but viable in case you meet 1vs1 situations where now you just wait there to die praying help comes..

I have 1.5k hours on my ele, and I know how to play the class very well with every weapon set.

I can confidently say the class is currently garbage.

stale.9785:

Pre-emptive list of the blatant problems, before someone goes asking;

Attunement swapping is far too long when untraited – it should match weapon swap (10s) with a minimum possible time of 7s when traited 30 into arcana.

Earth and Fire are useless lines – they’re both two concerned with their own attunements. Making the effects more universal would help.

I agree with pretty much everything, the Attunement cool down times 100% it should be 10seconds standard and going into Arcane should reduce it down to like 6-7seconds, i think 5 seconds would be to strong.

Earth line i find great personally. Currently i havent made a Ele build without it. Currently i am 10/30/30/0/0. Taking Stone Splinters, Earth’s Embrace and Written In Stone.

Though i am not to keen on Fire and i am even thinking about changing the 10 points in it, maybe in Arcane for Elemental Attunement depends if it works out of combat as well as in combat and what the durations are.

I think i would find it hard to have a build without Written In Stone, can very very useful as i run with Signet of Restoration, Signet of Air and Signet of Fire

If five seconds is too strong for an ele, surely four second weapon swap for a warrior is op then?
Either way, whatever your attunement swap is, most of the spells would still be on cd & the weapon proc would seem messy.

Fishbait.6723:

If five seconds is too strong for an ele, surely four second weapon swap for a warrior is op then?
Either way, whatever your attunement swap is, most of the spells would still be on cd & the weapon proc would seem messy.

Since when can Warrior weapon swap every 4 seconds? I have never noticed it.

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Fishbait.6723:

If five seconds is too strong for an ele, surely four second weapon swap for a warrior is op then?
Either way, whatever your attunement swap is, most of the spells would still be on cd & the weapon proc would seem messy.

Since when can Warrior weapon swap every 4 seconds? I have never noticed it.

Levelled warrior once to get rid of daily crap today, put points randomly in bottom trait line aaaaaaaaaand…..

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Fast_Hands

I thought surely a tooltip mess, but tested it & it works.

Fishbait.6723:

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Fishbait.6723:

If five seconds is too strong for an ele, surely four second weapon swap for a warrior is op then?
Either way, whatever your attunement swap is, most of the spells would still be on cd & the weapon proc would seem messy.

Since when can Warrior weapon swap every 4 seconds? I have never noticed it.

Levelled warrior once to get rid of daily crap today, put points randomly in bottom trait line aaaaaaaaaand…..

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Fast_Hands

I thought surely a tooltip mess, but tested it & it works.

Lovely. Something that ele needs and another class gets it :/

Its awesome when weaponswapping refills 50% of your adrenaline. Every 4 seconds.

silvermember.8941:

This is one of the most ridiculous statements you have made. A range doesn’t define the weapon. If that’s the case why have RANGE weapon. Just make every weapon melee and call it a day.

Just to show how much in denial or naive you are, why does this range doesn’t define the weapon only applies to the elementalist. I can use RANGE weapons just fine with every other class, what makes the elementalist the exception to the rule?

Because of Evasive Arcana our spells actually become more effective as we get close to them. Elemental Attunement’s buffs require us to be close to others. So we can choose wheter to stay at range and out of harm, or close in and be more effective with the same weapon. Also, unlike the ranger’s longbow or the mesmer’s greatsword, our attacks don’t get weaker at short range. Range for the elementalist is just another stat, not THE stat.

Azunai.5974:

silvermember.8941:

Azunai.5974:

I’m sick of people like LightningBlaze cluttering up this forum.

There is nothing neccessarily wrong with players like him, they provide another prospective, I just wish that they realize that their prospective is extremely flawed. Beating players in WvW doesn’t really say anything about the class, because they are a lot of things that make WvW combat different from pvp. Not including the difference in the way certain skills operate, you got server bonuses, foods, rune combination, the fact that most t1/t2 players are simply headless chickens without a crew behind them.

I will say that the worst are the PvE heroes coming in here and acting like being good at mindless braindead predictable PvE mobs is something to be proud. OMG I can provide mediocre support and do mediocre damage = elementalist being good.

I totally understand where you’re coming from. Really! I love an optimist much as the next guy (my email and account names always includes “optimistic”, lol)

But all I’ve seen from LightningBlaze isn’t positive posts on how he’s playing and building his elementalist differently as a case for argument. No, all he does for almost every post is to start with “I have a level 80 ele” then “I don’t understand why you people aren’t like me” and “Lol, ele’s are fine, you guys just need to learn to play” and the succintly ends with a “I also won a 1v+3, nobigdeal”

I realize I’m wasting my time talking about guys like him but I just want the ele forums to be a muh better place for rational discussion and constructive feedback.

/signed

I ran into a Ele player in Wvw the other night. I was running around soloing camps and he saw me and tagged along. At one point he asked me if I changed attunements. He said he stayed in fire for the dps. Not feeling like spending the rest of the night clueing in this very nice but clueless person, I gave a short answer and told him I changed attunements so I could access skills that were not on cool down. He thought that was a pretty amazing idea. I think he had an epiphany. So, I showed him how to use a combo field and finisher, how to build some might, and signed off and went to bed.

There was a time I would have suggested to this guy that he go onto the forums to pick up some pointers. I didn’t. When I have, I have been told that the forums have very little or nothing to offer because it is too hard to wade through all the qq. I’ve been told it is a waste of time.

ThiBash.5634:

silvermember.8941:

This is one of the most ridiculous statements you have made. A range doesn’t define the weapon. If that’s the case why have RANGE weapon. Just make every weapon melee and call it a day.

Just to show how much in denial or naive you are, why does this range doesn’t define the weapon only applies to the elementalist. I can use RANGE weapons just fine with every other class, what makes the elementalist the exception to the rule?

Because of Evasive Arcana our spells actually become more effective as we get close to them. Elemental Attunement’s buffs require us to be close to others. So we can choose wheter to stay at range and out of harm, or close in and be more effective with the same weapon. Also, unlike the ranger’s longbow or the mesmer’s greatsword, our attacks don’t get weaker at short range. Range for the elementalist is just another stat, not THE stat.

A whole playstyle or weaponset SHOULD NEVER BE DICTATED by a trait. A trait should only enhance the playstyle. So what you are saying is that we should dump 30 points in to arcane for a trait that contradicts a weapon’s purpose and puts us at risk with no escape except our cantrips then when you burn your cantrips become a sitting duck, correct? Just because you want to use a trait that requires to give up a dodge?

You are right our attacks don’t get weaker at range, but they are still extremely slow and weak. the mesmer’s greatsword actually has 4 other useful skills that are almost always guaranteed to hurt and almost hard to evade. Most of the other 17 skills are extremely slow, obvious and easily evaded.

Do you even listen to yourself when you type these things? It’s one thing to want to win an argument but at least do it without overreaching aka grasping at straws.

silvermember.8941:

A whole playstyle or weaponset SHOULD NEVER BE DICTATED by a trait. A trait should only enhance the playstyle. So what you are saying is that we should dump 30 points in to arcane for a trait that contradicts a weapon’s purpose and puts us at risk with no escape except our cantrips then when you burn your cantrips become a sitting duck, correct? Just because you want to use a trait that requires to give up a dodge?

You are right our attacks don’t get weaker at range, but they are still extremely slow and weak. the mesmer’s greatsword actually has 4 other useful skills that are almost always guaranteed to hurt and almost hard to evade. Most of the other 17 skills are extremely slow, obvious and easily evaded.

Do you even listen to yourself when you type these things? It’s one thing to want to win an argument but at least do it without overreaching aka grasping at straws.

But that’s exactly what the traits do. They enhance the staff’s playstyle so it becomes useful both in melee and at range. You mention cantrips, but have to ever played staff without cantrips? Have you considered that being in melee allows you to make use of your Ice Elemental’s heal and Ice Field? Your Earth Elemental’s protection boon? Using Stoning at short range to make sure it hits, cutting your opponent’s damage in half? Or even getting in melee to do the aforementioned, then gusting them away while burning retreating back to 1200 range?

Playing the staff elementalist is a dance, and melee is part of it. Also, I would really appreciate it if you’d stop accusing me of being rediculous. It’s clear by now that you don’t play the staff the way I do, and I don’t fault you for that. I’m not saying my way is better either. But maybe, just maybe, I have a few insights you don’t and if anything, I have just as much right to share them as you have without being called an idiot 3 posts in a row.

^We can’t believe anything ThiBash says b/c he is a member of the Lord Faren Fan Club! Seriously, that guy (Faren) is rubbish. ;-)

Joking aside, Thibash does have a lot of very good pointers for staff eles. Melee isn’t something to be avoided all the time, they key is to only enter melee range when you have a way to protect yourself (eruption, static field, burning retreat, etc) and to use the opportunity to provide bait to your opponent.

Unlike our other weapon sets, staff plays like an ele should: we have all the tools for almost any situation (except burst really, which your cantrips are for). However, b/c your mobility is weak and damage is tied to fields, you can’t 1v1 very well with it. You can do a GREAT job of weaving in and out of fight playing a support role (lots of opponent control with chills/immob/cripple), plus earth 1 is a decent AA that applies weakness and is a projectile finisher. Very powerful skill for something that hits like a wet noodle. If you have a few dps’ers around you, you can do a great job of setting them up and peeling a little bit if needed, while throwing in a little damage and condis while you are at it.

Heiltdo.2891:

I’m so sorry you can’t 3v1 people anymore, maybe you should realize youre class is now what they call “Balanced”.

Ele is a very high skill celling class, pro’s do extremely well, and new players get destroyed.

Your friend probably didn’t have any idea of how Op Eles were at WvW.

I think you mean 1v3?

No wait, you’re right, they can’t 3v1 another player anymore, lol……..

SQLOwns.7316:

I think you mean 1v3?

No wait, you’re right, they can’t 3v1 another player anymore, lol……..

Question: why ‘SQLowns’? Is MYSQL too egocentric?