First, before you make any judgements I would like to share an anecdotal story to set the mindset this post is written in.
I used to think that I did not like tea, because all I ever had was standard Lipton or Red Rose tea. One day I was exposed to a high end tea place, and they told me how to properly brew tea (don’t use boiling water, and black tea take 2-3 minutes).\
I was amazed that I had been doing it wrong this entire time. So I continued brewing tea properly and now I like tea (even the cheaper stuff). It took me a while to wonder Why had I been brewing tea incorrectly this entire time? I finally looked at the back of the Lipton tea box for instructions on how to brew, and it instructed: Brew 3-5 minutes in boiling water.
Now that is a long anecdote, but what I am trying to get at is one of the first impressions you have of the Elementalist is the Profession page, and I do not think that page reflects the state of the Elementalist.
First the actual Text of the Elementalist taken from https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/elementalist/
Elementalists are multi-faceted spellcasters that channel elemental forces, making fire, air, earth, and water do their bidding. What they lack in physical toughness, they make up in versatility and the ability to inflict massive damage in a single attack.
I think something like “They reward player skill and creativity with strong support and devastating area attacks” would be a better description for two reasons.
1) I have played as every class but the thief, and I can safely say that to play the Elementalist well demands some of the best player skill because we are not given any class specific advantage (i.e. Stealth, clones, pets, etc.).
- We have some of the best area damaging attacks. This really shines in WvW were you can get a lot of targets in a small area.
- We have no specific defenses but dodge, so you have to get really good at the dodge button. (all classes have to, but Ele’s are so squishy there is little room for error)
- One of our greatest strengths is comboing off fields, something all classes do, but this is one of the aspects we really shine.
- We have some of the longest cool downs and worst auto attacks for weapon skills encouraging us to constantly change attunement. That is a lot of buttons to be hitting at any given time.
2) The phrase “what they lack in physical defence they make up for in massive damage in a single attack” is misleading.
- This implies that the Elementalist somehow sacrificed durability for greater DPS, or Skills that hit harder than a class that did not sacrifice durability at the very least. which is not true. I compare the Elementalist to the warrior, because the warrior has sacrificed no durability.
*The hardest hitting skill I can think of is Fire Grab, which does 941 base damage to targets on fire (588 if the target is not on fire, and this skill has a 45 second cool down). Level 3 kill shot does 1256 damage and level 3 eviscerate does 1006 (10 second cool down, but requires adrenaline).
*Lava Font is another one that hits for 1200 if the target stands in it for 4 seconds. Hundred blades does over 2000 unconditional damage (it takes 3.5 seconds, but has an 8 second cool down).
- I do not think I am the only Ele that was expecting since our practical maximum health around 20 K is about where the warriors begin, that our DPS would be noticeably higher to compensate.