Guild Wars 2

After taking my staff elemental to wvw for abit again.
(took a break for my warrior and flamer-engineer).

Its more clear than ever before.

Staff = total and absolute crap.

Dagger/Dagger still A-nets little favourite specc on elemental.

If YOU (a-net). want us staff elemental users to be supports.
Give us our 150 skill points then. and maybe, just maybe, we can play as a decent support.

Right now. our supporting is complete and total bullkitten.

IF i Gear thoughness + healing. + support traits.
I will have absolute zero damage capability.

And last time i checked, our support role is to deal dmg in AoE. right ???
well, you kinda totaly failed at this in design.

So, full support + traits = 0 dmg = support ability worthless.

Lets gear for dmg then instead.
full berzerker.. (only way to get some ability to deal dmg).

Well, now we have 14 k hp, no thoughness and no ways to escape either as we play staff.

Wich means. the totaly op thieves (your favourite class in game).
Can now 1 hit us. or 2 hit us with their spam able heart-jump-strike.

Can i 2 hit the thief ? not a chanse in hell.
Can i get away like a thief ? even less chanse.
Can a thief kill me in the middle of my group of friends ? YES.
(simply cloak + stability and use stomp).

Its very simple how you should go to balance up the staff users and not make the D/D
specc even more op than it is compared to us.

Give staff users Bigger AoE + longer duration + Instant dmg on placings + increased HP and thoughness WHILE using a staff. and ONLY staff.

THIS will not make staff users op in any way, its only a very tiny step in the right direction. wich were we are several MILES behind.

A staff supporter is there to push back and controll enemies with their AoE DMG…
but staff have no dmg, unless we go full berzerker, wich makes us die in 2 hits.

So, its kinda clear. to me atleast. staff need more hp and survival, while still being able to have the dmg.

Or is that only for your little favourite D/D specc ?
all boons, all survival, all dmg, all support… All in one.

And i know we have what i said above already. Spread out in our tree.
But its not very hard to mod the traits. is it.

“Blasting staff” 20 point arcana. larger AoE while using staff.
great, i have to sacrifice 20 points to get what i should have at BASE.

“Persisting flames” 30 point fire: Fire fields last 30 % longer.
If iam designed to atunement jumping, should not this longer lasting apply to all my elements ???

There are almost NO traits that supports staff.
95 % of them are made to fit for the D/D users. and you see this more clearly when looking at all the 5 point steps.

Blasting enemies with fire while atuneing, lightning, blinding… … etc.
20 % chanse to place a fire dot when ppl hit me in melee.. IAM A RANGED SUPPORT.
I NEVER even want to be in melee.

You say: “staff = support”.
But yet, you dont give traits to realy support that.

If i ever saw a bad design… … …

So basically you wanna heal a lot while being tanky, while also dealing significant aoe damage?

Or you want to deal massive aoe damage, while being tanky as hell?

It’s one or the other. These are called tradeoffs, remember that word. Thief has many (maybe too many) tools available to do their single-target assassin job, but that’s all they can do.

A thief (or any class) only wishes to be able to pull off such huge aoe numbers on their own. Or to aoe heal, or to aoe CC.

So basically every class has their ups and downs. A staff ele excels in wvw for aoe damage and control, while thief excels at being slippery and a ridiculous single target damage dealer. Which one is more infuriating to face? and which one has a bigger impact in large scale fights? The answer is obvious, and that’s why you seem to hate thieves.

I dislike them too, because they’re cheap, but that’s about it.

I just want to be able to play the aoe dmg support as we are designed to play.

The only way to push and controll enemies are if our AoE fields actually do dmg.

when i play my warrior or flamer-enginner. and i face these.
jack of all trade staff supporters. i just laugh at them.
i can most of the time continue to use the flamerams on the gates, even while they use their aoe on me. because its so weak if they gear for anything but dmg.

But on the otherhand, i have myself with 1 other player been able to hold a gate against 10-15 people. because they can not use their flamerams due to my AoE hitting harder. (when i use berzerker gear).

but, they just build a cata at range and laugh at me.

And when facing weak aoe dmg on ground fights. i also just laugh at the poor staff elemental that is geared for “support” and given such weak traits.

DMG is the only way to controll enemies from flanking your group.

My warrior in full zerker armor. have 20 k hp. critting almost 2 k on my auto.
and 10 k volleys on light armors.

And my warriors bullets HIT their targets.

something is very wrong when you compare to my 14 k hp… staff elemental.
With fireballs that rarely ever hit anything.

Who is controlling better ?? my warrior.

going back to playing it. just remember how much better it is.
HP, ARMOR, ESCAPES, MOBILITY, DMG. my rifle warrior have that.

my staff elemental have:
… … … … decent dmg. GREAT. 1 out of 5. not bad.

And thieves arent that bad on my warrior. sure very good thieves always will be.
But, i can use my bullcharge and volley on them to start the fight. wich takes them to 30 % hp or less. making them scared and takes off. some i even kill in that combo.

AFAIK warriors don’t have aoe slows, aoe stuns, aoe immobilizes, aoe blinds or aoe cripple.

even with 0 power and precision, those spells still stun, slow, immobilize, etc, respectively.

In order for staff to be better, at least one of the following needs to happen:

1. Staff skills need to be reworked so that less are AoE based (it’s currently, what, 19/20?).
2. AoE effects need to be instant rather than tick after a second (or worse—here’s looking at you, Earth #2).
3. Staff needs to have attunement-based skills with more meaningful support options so that you can stay full support if you want.
4. The AoE cap needs to be removed so that WvW staff Elementalists can play area-of-denial roles and zergs can actually be strategically countered.

#.1 won’t happen until ArenaNet gets its design team organized. #2 won’t happen because it would introduce imbalances that the current design team won’t be able to handle. #3 won’t happen because a full support design would be perceived as a violation of their no-trinity manifesto. #4 might happen if enough people request it and it’s not a serious drain on server resources.

However, there are ways to make support interesting without returning to the trinity. I’d love to play a buff/debuff, condition/cleanse support Elementalist.

Introduce more debuff and condition based weapons/skills and have combat centered around that. Then allow Elementalists to have a weapon that is centered around debuffing or cleansing conditions.

Or you can just play a necromancer?

Why do people want to destroy uniqueness at the expense of “more viability”?

Razor.6392:

Or you can just play a necromancer?

Why do people want to destroy uniqueness at the expense of “more viability”?

Because it’s the easy way out.

For my part, I actually love using the Staff in WvW. Each attunement has a bunch of awesome spells great for a number of things. If I’m ever in a siege situation and not on my Ele, I feel like I’m playing with one hand tied behind my back.

First let me state “Staff is not perfect, it has problems”

So far most people that do terrible with staff seem to:

1. Fail at ground targeting
2. Bad at positioning & anticipation
3. People think they should be able to 1vX in any situation and be a “solo pro”. Staff works best in organized groups and feels like it was designed with that in mind.

Staff still has great access to fields and depending on utilities /traits has enough blast finishers to fire them off well enough providing aoe frost armor, might, area healing.

As mentioned before there is good access to aoe daze/cripple/chill with blasting staff this covers a rather large area(unrelated to stats).

The “typical” support build that I see people with is the 0/10/0/30/30 setup that some d/d builds runs as well. With full zerker or a mix of pvt/zerker it’s damage output is still good attunement dancing dropping aoes and spamming fire #1 or lightning #1. For healing a lot of the abilities don’t scale that great so using only cleric trinkets/jewelry should be enough to assist with healing more without destroying your damage too.

Being able to crowd control decently and a couple water fields at your disposal you’re great support even with no +healing just make sure finishers are getting used.

With all that said.. the numbers still need a lot of tweaking for both +healing power scaling could be better as well as for the base damage. However if you crunch the numbers you’ll see it’s actually rather competitive with other professions and builds it happens to feel a bit clunky a lot of the time though. Staff could use 1 more native blast finisher Earth #2 is kind of slow if you are not using the utilities/traits for other blasts. The cast times on ground targeted aoes really need to be reduced across the board.

It is not any where nearly as bad as some people think you just have to really milk it to do well mixing the single target with the aoes even on “single targets” questionable design imho makes it feel clunky having to ground target aoe on single targets to maximize damage.

All-in-all its a bit of an awkward weapon to use with a higher-than-it-should-be skill cap that is not easily perceived.

On a side note, even full zerker damage builds regardless of weapon sets can still survive well if you manage cantrips/evades well and play in organized groups for both pve and wvw.

p.s. conjured weapons(hammer/fier gs/bow(aoe on objects is superb gates etc..)) can actually help supplement staff well, you do not have to use them for full duration/charges just as needed.

eldain stenlund.4306:

Its more clear than ever before.

Staff = total and absolute crap.

…

You say: “staff = support”.
But yet, you dont give traits to realy support that.

If i ever saw a bad design… … …

You’re kidding, right? Staff isn’t a perfect weapon, but especially in WvW situations it’s one of an elementalist’s most versatile tools.

I’ve just recently moved to a hybrid damage/controller build. I use a mix of zerker’s and soldier’s gear, and with traits in fire, water, and arcana. It works great, especially in locking down opponents so that they have trouble moving out of the AoE. Condition duration runes prolong this time as well. With the right setup, you can easily make your enemy burn their condition removal while you’re still sending chills and cripples their way. It’s no condition necro, but it gets the job done.

Tkittenence of your complaint seems to be that you can’t be overpowered in one area or the other. You’re right, you can’t. You need some vit/toughness gear, some way to soften the blows. This isn’t PvE. You will be focused by the enemy, because you’re lightly armored and have the capacity to shape the battlefield. You can’t fit into some hackneyed zerker’s slot, or full healer. You have to be able to anticipate a variety of situations and learn to adapt.

Besides, healing isn’t the only way to support. Boons can be just as important. Elemental Attunement is a great way to spread the boons to other members of your party. Soothing Mist and Cleansing Wave are good if you need some extra healing and condition removal. Healing Rain’s only downside is its channel.

Hell, both Water 4 and Earth 4 are amazing support skills, because the best way you can support your party is by making sure they don’t take damage at all. Lightning 5 is one of the best skills in the game. It doesn’t matter how high your numbers are, in either healing or damage, if you can’t get close enough to use them.

Sure, staff ele needs at least one other person with them to be truly effective, but that’s no big deal. How you do in 1v1 is less important than how your group does on the whole. Assassins have their role, but if you’re constantly chasing the DPS, staff isn’t the best weapon for you. A staff elementalist serves the group first, and all things considered are pretty good at what they do.

I haven’t played an elementalist in awhile, but there are two things I know when I’m in WvW:

I’m happy whenever I see a staff elementalist on my side.
I dread when I see one on the other side.

Seriously, those stun fields and meteor showers have messed up my tactics so many times, and whenever we have one I get so many more loot bags out of the ordeal. Maybe you just haven’t figured out how to make a staff elementalist you really like, because I’ve seen people that own with that staff.

Here’s a test.

In the middle of a big fight where both sides are taking tons of damage drop both your water fields in the midst of your side.

Count how many other people blast finish them.

If that number is less than 2 then it’s not Staff that has the problem.

You’re running with newbies that don’t know how to play.

tl;dr. But i did catch some things like

Thief

(simply cloak + stability and use stomp).

first of all…stability does not ensure a stomp against an elementalist at all. Your down skill 2 is MIST FORM. holy crap. And second, thieves don’t have a source of stability other than daggerstorm, which they cannot stomp you while they’re using. Finally, the ele doesn’t have any CC in downed state, so idk what your point with stability is.

Call it ad hominem, but I don’t see much point in reading the rest of the exposition due to my rather negative perception of the author.

your missing the point of support just a bit, The idea of support seems to aim more for the actually word “support” not ’i’ll handle everything". Your the guy who while still helping up with dps will be the one who will throw is that last second blind or stun making the enemies big attack worthless on your fellow player. or dealing with a sudden over whelming rush of conditions that some players would usually be forced to ride out but your there with a quick spell to help out.

Support is all about helping to fill in the other 4 players weakness. least thats how I’v always viewed it.

Staff Elementalist is top tier class when decently played (and combo’ed by team).

Has 4 huge CCs (Static, Frozen, Unsteady and Shockwave).
Carry the trinity of the combo fields you need in wvw (static for swiftness. lava for might. geyser/rain for healing).
Long range area denial and pressure (not high dmg or spike, but that’s not what wvw is about).
Direct healing and support (water auto, geyser, rain).
Self survivability with 2-3 cantrips.
Decent elites (water/fire elemental, GS).
Strong condition aoe removal (yes, even with CW icd) with regen spamming.

Ofc, it’s very very bad at 1vx, dmg and roaming.
But that’s because it isn’t the weapon role, not because staff is bad.

I think whats most frustrating is that people pick up the ele expecting a range dps class.

what you get instead is a class with so few HP that almost the entire community has gone bunker spec and cantrips just to survive. the lack of HP (AND armor) makes water mandatory and arcane is mandatory for either blasting staff or swaptimes/evasivearcana, leaving only 10 flexible trait points. to make the joke extra funny, this range dps class’s weapons that do competitive damage are mostly very short range, while staff is relegated to support. No one else is in this much of a crappy spot at the start: Necros wear cloth but get great HP and DS. Thieves have our HP but get stealth and medium armor. Guardians have our HP, get bigger heals and heavy armor. Mesmers have to deal with paper armor, but they get stealth, clones, and higher base HP. Ele’s dont get anything baseline to cope, so every single ele has to spec for “how am i going to deal with this clusterfunk of bad stats?”

can we do damage? sure. if you are really good and have finesse, you can be an elite d/d or s/d ele that blows people up, but few are, so most bunker. we can also try to go dps gear with staff, but damage output is far less than ranger shortbow or longbow or warrior rifle or longbow, both of which have superior survivability to any dps staff spec.

ele’s right now are almost too good as bunkers, but are far too fragile as dps. dps trait lines need to have some survival traits tossed in there (ala earth’s embrace). I think thats what the OP was getting at, not, “make me the king of everything.”

Chaotic Storm.2815:

…your there with a quick spell to help out.

I agree with you but we do have a considerable problem—nothing about staff is quick. Clutch CC is a magic trick when you’re in Slo-Mo and everyone else is at full speed.

I took a look at the author’s posts and I think his most of his/her GW2 experiences comes from playing with random peoples or PUGs, this conclusion came from reading his/her post about Guardians.
I disagree about the author’s claim about no trait that supports staff because the typical 0/10/0/30/30 build with staff, IMO, excels at remove condition (water 3 and water 5), group reflection shield (Earth 3 with trait, plus, it gives fury and swiffness), and constant DPS while lock down enemies with chain CCs, other posts above me gave all reasons I can think of how useful staff Ele can be, so I dont want to repeat them again.
And I want to add 1 more thing, IMO, supports need to have flexibility to adapt to the situation they’re in, and the author’s point of view is too rigid to play Elementalist at full potential, that is my opinion.

Not sure if it’s a Troll or simply knows nothing of the elementalist profession…..the combo field generators as I like to call them……I hope it’s a troll for the troll’s sake.

yeah, it sounds like a l2p issue. ya don’t need tons of hp with staff because of the range. High crit will break the opponents line and when they run they die lol. The aoes usually seem to be falling on the front line or just in front of it. Snagging the other players with our cc lets the melee classes mop them up. The ranged damage I attract is damage the melee classes are not taking. I can dodge and reflect the ranged damage. And it just goes to show how much attention the eles are getting that there is so much ranged damage, that those aoes are effective, especially when crits come into play.

I think of it as team play, not support.

edit The l2p comment is not meant to be harsh. It’s a matter of playing to the build and taking what it gives you. If you are weak in an area, change the build and that can take some work. By work, that kind of means being creative with the build. I have exactly 2 pieces of pvt gear out of all my gear. Yet, I have managed to pull out 1461 Vitality and 1507 Toughness. Those are not great 1v1 stats but then I don’t look for 1v1 combat. It does however make me hard enough to take down when I am at range using a staff. I’ll often look down to find 5 or more conditions on me but a cleanisng fire, water attunement, and a dodge roll takes care of that. Healing power is a highly underrated stat. People forget to add up the healing that generates over minutes with regen and it adds up to high numbers. The change to all the healing adds up to high numbers over time. Not so much good in fast quick 1v1s but alot of staying power at range.

I enjoy playing Staff Ele in WvW.

Playing staff I maintain two targets (individual and specific areas). Say I am in Fire I would be targeting an individual with Fire 1 or 3 and then cast Fire 2 or 4 in a specific area whether on the same individual or front-line, flank and etc.

However, you are only as good as you team is around your party/guild need to be aware of the look of your combo fields to get the best benefit.

We have 6 combo fields + 1 more depending on race.
Example: Prior to battle, stack, cast lava font, guild-mates and yourself now cast combo finishers (Eruption) to get might. If done together you can easily hit 25 might stacks prior to fight.

My Newest Build 0/20/20/0/30

Air: quick glyphs, inscription
Earth: Earths Embrace, Geomancers Freedom
Arcana: Ele Attune, Blasting Staff, Evasive Arcana

Utilities:
Glyph of Elemental Harmony
Glyph of Elemental Power
Armor of Earth
Radiation Field
Tornado

Soldier/Knight armor with Melandru
Beserker Staff with Accuracy
Soldier trinkets with ruby/beryl

Conditions (I have no condition removal skills or traits (well dodge in water) instead I use the following):
Melandru, Soup and Earth trait (geo free)
Buff – Bowl of Lemongrass Poultry Soup (-40%)/Bowl of Poultry and Leek Soup (-36% – less but a lot cheaper)
Condition Duration: -61-65%
Trait: Geomancers Freedom (Chilled, Crippled, Immoblized -33% (total -94-98%)
Stun Duration: -33%

Glyph, Air Traits and Boons:
Swiftness – Add in Winborne (air 4) allow for near constant swiftness
Regeneration – Add in Healing rain and other combo fields for near constant regeneration
Might – As stated above
Protection – switching to Earth and timing with Glyphs up to 16secs.

Jarek.2430:

I enjoy playing Staff Ele in WvW.

Playing staff I maintain two targets (individual and specific areas). Say I am in Fire I would be targeting an individual with Fire 1 or 3 and then cast Fire 2 or 4 in a specific area whether on the same individual or front-line, flank and etc.

However, you are only as good as you team is around your party/guild need to be aware of the look of your combo fields to get the best benefit.

We have 6 combo fields + 1 more depending on race.
Example: Prior to battle, stack, cast lava font, guild-mates and yourself now cast combo finishers (Eruption) to get might. If done together you can easily hit 25 might stacks prior to fight.

My Newest Build 0/20/20/0/30

Air: quick glyphs, inscription
Earth: Earths Embrace, Geomancers Freedom
Arcana: Ele Attune, Blasting Staff, Evasive Arcana

Utilities:
Glyph of Elemental Harmony
Glyph of Elemental Power
Armor of Earth
Radiation Field
Tornado

Soldier/Knight armor with Melandru
Beserker Staff with Accuracy
Soldier trinkets with ruby/beryl

Conditions (I have no condition removal skills or traits (well dodge in water) instead I use the following):
Melandru, Soup and Earth trait (geo free)
Buff – Bowl of Lemongrass Poultry Soup (-40%)/Bowl of Poultry and Leek Soup (-36% – less but a lot cheaper)
Condition Duration: -61-65%
Trait: Geomancers Freedom (Chilled, Crippled, Immoblized -33% (total -94-98%)
Stun Duration: -33%

Glyph, Air Traits and Boons:
Swiftness – Add in Winborne (air 4) allow for near constant swiftness
Regeneration – Add in Healing rain and other combo fields for near constant regeneration
Might – As stated above
Protection – switching to Earth and timing with Glyphs up to 16secs.

I like it. Because:

You play with your team in mind.

You put offensive dps in.

You built synergy.

You are survivable.

You didn’t use and don’t need the utility skills many elementalists think they must have.

Baladir.2736:

I like it. Because:

You play with your team in mind.

You put offensive dps in.

You built synergy.

You are survivable.

You didn’t use and don’t need the utility skills many elementalists think they must have.

This. I don’t really understand why everyone thinks they need 3 stun breakers at all times. On D/D I can kinda understand it, since you’re in melee basically all the time. On Staff? I run with 0-1 stunbreaker and get by just fine. Even in non-zergy WvW I make do with using terrain, range, LOS, and coordinating with team members. And if I need a stun breaker I’m probably going to die 5 seconds later anyway.

PinCushion.7390:

Baladir.2736:

I like it. Because:

You play with your team in mind.

You put offensive dps in.

You built synergy.

You are survivable.

You didn’t use and don’t need the utility skills many elementalists think they must have.

This. I don’t really understand why everyone thinks they need 3 stun breakers at all times. On D/D I can kinda understand it, since you’re in melee basically all the time. On Staff? I run with 0-1 stunbreaker and get by just fine. Even in non-zergy WvW I make do with using terrain, range, LOS, and coordinating with team members. And if I need a stun breaker I’m probably going to die 5 seconds later anyway.

With Staff I sometimes take the Asura racial that lets you drop an AoE poison cloud. Nothing quite like limiting the heals of the enemy zerg in WvW.

Guns and Giblets.9308:

PinCushion.7390:

Baladir.2736:

I like it. Because:

You play with your team in mind.

You put offensive dps in.

You built synergy.

You are survivable.

You didn’t use and don’t need the utility skills many elementalists think they must have.

This. I don’t really understand why everyone thinks they need 3 stun breakers at all times. On D/D I can kinda understand it, since you’re in melee basically all the time. On Staff? I run with 0-1 stunbreaker and get by just fine. Even in non-zergy WvW I make do with using terrain, range, LOS, and coordinating with team members. And if I need a stun breaker I’m probably going to die 5 seconds later anyway.

With Staff I sometimes take the Asura racial that lets you drop an AoE poison cloud. Nothing quite like limiting the heals of the enemy zerg in WvW.

Asura racial is called Radiation field – listed above. Combo field; poison. More importantly 15sec duration combo field. Which I use in conjunction with Staff – Earth combo finishers Skill 1, 2 and 5.

Edit: Baladir Thanks. I still need to play around with Trinkets – reduce vitality about 100 points and add in more precision.

I’ve been enjoying Staff Elementalist in WvW this month quite a bit. I do agree that the positioning of some key Staff traits is, unfortunate. I think other than that, my biggest issue is that damage is just pathetic. I have over 3K attack power with my build and I still take for ever to kill someone one vs. one. Never had that problem with D/D!

I don’t think Staff needs radical changes. I think the path to fixing Staff Elementalist can be achieved via the following:

1. Increase base damage of all four #1 skills. Adjust upward incrementally until balance is found. (We are a fair ways off from that point right now).
2. Make at least one skill from each attunement a finisher. (I don’t mind having to work a little for the addition DPS we need and having to do combos for respectable damage would make the build even more fun, imo).
3. Reposition staff related traits into more logical positions in the trait tree.

I’d add that an implied #4 is that A-net shelve the idea they were tooling with that AoE needs to be much more limited in the game. IMO, it’s the most non-nonsensical thing that’s ever come out of an A-Net dev, ever, but specifically to Staff Elementalist, if they ever did nerf AoE and make AoE skills non-viable for single target attacks, it would be the absolute death of Staff Elementalists.

Try going Celestial stats. Works great in PvE, dungeons, and WvW. I wouldn’t take staff into sPvP just because there’s no big advantage to 1200 range when everything happens around small circles.

Eles are a very weak cl;kitten currently and the staff makes them slow and weak. We need either more skill points, no delay on staff like thief weapons, medium armor, or a companion like a beast or spirit full time like the ranger to draw aggro. We also need a much farther casting range and a larger AOE area as even current expanded area isn’t that useful or far. A true ele or caster class should almost never be in melee but this class is in it constantly and cannot always dodge or run or get outnumbered. Downed state is a joke as we need at least 6 seconds of invisibility not three. I can’t play WVW solo as I die in 2 seconds after three hits unless I’m in a group so not good balance at all. Not sure how I’ll do in dugeons but I died 20 times in MF in large boss battle which was embarassing even with fairly good dodge abilities. True balance in this good would give every charter type arounf the same HP amounts like 20,000 not 14,000-18,0000 for ele. If anything we should have the most HP as we have the lightest armor. This is why heavy armor characters are just easier to play. I hardly ever die with my warrior but die 4-5 times a day with my ele even in low areas especially with the staff. I gave up on staff and went S/D as it dealt more damage faster in a medium range. I just don’t like D/D as it seems too melee for me which is not what this class needs to be. I don’t mind support roles but I should not be forced to play this role in group play which I feel I have to because of lack of power and toughness and damage output. I agree meteor shower hits like 1 in10 times, real effective. My ranger hits 100% of the time from further back and has a pet for aggro draw so my ranger hardly ever takes direct damage. I liked this character a lot in GW1 but it is NOT the same now and is the weakest class in the game and I have played all other classes up to level 60 at least. My only good point about this character is that it has made me a better character and player as I would never have learned to dodge or manuver as well if I did not have such a weak character and it helps me with my strong characters to never die. To those who find this game easy, I challenge you to get off your warrior or heavy armor class and play an ele with a staff in fractals and dungeons and on Southsun as this makes the game as challenging as you could want, I KNOW, and this challenge is fun but it still would be nice once in a while to feel like the fight is fair and my ele can stand on even ground with all the other classes. For NOW, this is NOT the case.

Idk, if you guys are fine with staff then I am. I love seeing a staff ele against me. Thats always my first target because he isn’t getting away and his damage is laughable. I don’t even think their ground targeted attacks even hit for the first second it is down. I barely ever play with my ele but when I do the only weapon loadout I don’t use is staff. If I want to put out aoe damage, create combo fields, cc, aoe cleanse conditions and heal, I will get on my engi for that. 1500 range and the ability to fight 1vx is nice also.

Rush is Right.9723:

Eles are a very weak cl;kitten currently and the staff makes them slow and weak. We need either more skill points, no delay on staff like thief weapons, medium armor, or a companion like a beast or spirit full time like the ranger to draw aggro. We also need a much farther casting range and a larger AOE area as even current expanded area isn’t that useful or far. A true ele or caster class should almost never be in melee but this class is in it constantly and cannot always dodge or run or get outnumbered. Downed state is a joke as we need at least 6 seconds of invisibility not three. I can’t play WVW solo as I die in 2 seconds after three hits unless I’m in a group so not good balance at all. Not sure how I’ll do in dugeons but I died 20 times in MF in large boss battle which was embarassing even with fairly good dodge abilities. True balance in this good would give every charter type arounf the same HP amounts like 20,000 not 14,000-18,0000 for ele. If anything we should have the most HP as we have the lightest armor. This is why heavy armor characters are just easier to play. I hardly ever die with my warrior but die 4-5 times a day with my ele even in low areas especially with the staff. I gave up on staff and went S/D as it dealt more damage faster in a medium range. I just don’t like D/D as it seems too melee for me which is not what this class needs to be. I don’t mind support roles but I should not be forced to play this role in group play which I feel I have to because of lack of power and toughness and damage output. I agree meteor shower hits like 1 in10 times, real effective. My ranger hits 100% of the time from further back and has a pet for aggro draw so my ranger hardly ever takes direct damage. I liked this character a lot in GW1 but it is NOT the same now and is the weakest class in the game and I have played all other classes up to level 60 at least. My only good point about this character is that it has made me a better character and player as I would never have learned to dodge or manuver as well if I did not have such a weak character and it helps me with my strong characters to never die. To those who find this game easy, I challenge you to get off your warrior or heavy armor class and play an ele with a staff in fractals and dungeons and on Southsun as this makes the game as challenging as you could want, I KNOW, and this challenge is fun but it still would be nice once in a while to feel like the fight is fair and my ele can stand on even ground with all the other classes. For NOW, this is NOT the case.

How are you dying this much with staff? In WvW I’d understand, as Thieves take me out pretty fast if I don’t see them coming.

You have so much CC, you should almost never die in PvE. I haven’t done dungeons on my Ele in a long time but I run Southsun with staff and run by Iron Marches now and again to solo the champ charr there (he’s pretty easy since he’s so kitable). I only really die to the Vet Karkas in Southsun, but I’m just bad at spotting their tells so I miss dodges all the time and waste CDs on evaded shots.

Rush is Right.9723:

Eles are a very weak cl;kitten currently and the staff makes them slow and weak.

What’s your build?

I have 3.5 k power. 61 % crit. 99 % crit dmg. on my staff elemental.
Iam going for dmg support. Scare them with high dmg.
and yes i also use slowing and stun fields from time to time.

Do ppl fear my hits ?? nope. because my main dmg skill. Fireball auto. Can not hit.

My elemental get stuck with No weapon swap. 14 k hp. no escape buttons.

Comparing to my rifle warrior. (range specialization). controling with dmg + slow.
3.6 k power. 76 % crit (not counting in rage or rage button) 86 % crit dmg.

My rifle warriors Bullets. HIT their target. making him alot more scary.
and even more so when i land my bullcharge and then empty my volley on them while they are stuned, ending with the rifle knockback.

The biggest fail here.
my warrior is using heavy armor. almost 800 more armor than my elemental.
with zerker gear he still have 20 k hp. 6 k more hp than my elemental.
weapon swaping. to escape or close. no escapes with my staff.
Rifle bullets HIT their target. Fireball almost NEVER hit anything.

In a duel. if i whould face a staff elemental.. and i have in wvw with my warrior.
they die so fast, that you can begin to question if there realy was a fight in the first place…

I almost exclusively play staff in WvW when I run with groups. When I roam, I have other options available.

First thing I learned is that while fields and AOE’s are powerful, you are not the top of the food chain. From what I have observed, staff seems to be more devised around area pressure and denial. That is the hallmark of a support weapon. The staff Ele is not for ranged ganking, despite the nice big spikes every now and then. These spikes are deterrents, mostly. Even if you have terrible damage, the thought of being surrounded in red circles is not something people are likely to enjoy.

Every profession that has enjoyed ranged ganking has had their skills pruned against that sort of thing. Even with the availability of something near it can be hazardous and risky to field.

On some of your other points, all I can say is that your experience does not match mine at all. Some of the points are actually rather incorrect, and pretty much QQ.

Here’s a handy tip that has saved my life several times in WvW.

Other than your auto attacks (which are mostly very bad) very few staff skills give any indication of where they’re coming from. If you’re 1v1 it might buy you an extra second or 2. If there’s multiple things to Tab-Target, or your grouping, it’s useful to run outside someone’s field of view and drop non-thrown stuff on them so they don’t really know where you are.

PinCushion.7390:

Here’s a handy tip that has saved my life several times in WvW.

Other than your auto attacks (which are mostly very bad) very few staff skills give any indication of where they’re coming from. If you’re 1v1 it might buy you an extra second or 2. If there’s multiple things to Tab-Target, or your grouping, it’s useful to run outside someone’s field of view and drop non-thrown stuff on them so they don’t really know where you are.

I do this all the time when defending a keep.

look for someone that have attention elsewhere.
start with lava font, hit nr3 for added burning, and shoot a few fireballs.

If they arent aware at all. they go down. and when ppl try to help him. i put my meteor shower above him.. and use other elements AoE on him also to try and keep them in there.

But when we talk about a zerg vs zerg.
it doesnt matter what you do to help your team.
Even if you lure enemy into a thight spot so you can rain AoE. 1 dodge. and they are thru it all.

The ONLY AoE that can give you time. 1 – 2 seconds. is the electric stun field.

Ramethzero.3785:

I almost exclusively play staff in WvW when I run with groups. When I roam, I have other options available.

First thing I learned is that while fields and AOE’s are powerful, you are not the top of the food chain. From what I have observed, staff seems to be more devised around area pressure and denial. That is the hallmark of a support weapon. The staff Ele is not for ranged ganking, despite the nice big spikes every now and then. These spikes are deterrents, mostly. Even if you have terrible damage, the thought of being surrounded in red circles is not something people are likely to enjoy.

Every profession that has enjoyed ranged ganking has had their skills pruned against that sort of thing. Even with the availability of something near it can be hazardous and risky to field.

On some of your other points, all I can say is that your experience does not match mine at all. Some of the points are actually rather incorrect, and pretty much QQ.

You said that so well.

I think the word “support” has been misused to an extent. Players use that word when referring to healing, buffs, and builds. In the useage you are describing, I think “strategic” or something like that is a more descriptive word. As you put it, “area pressure and denial.” but that is 4 words . How many times have we heard, " I have a support build." or “Is a support build viable?” WTF are those anyway?! No, I think you hit it right on the head. Support is a playstyle. It takes what we have and uses it to good advantage. It does not take what we have and try to make it into something that it is not.