Guild Wars 2

I’ve played the Elementalist to level 80.  I love the profession design/spells..the team or individual responsible did an amazing job.  However at the moment, I believe they are underpowered.   Let’s take a look at the base stats(naked toons at 80) according to the game guide:
               

………………..Necro.  Elem.    Thief
Power              1729     1216     2054
Precision          916       1016     1166
Toughness      1571     1016     1771
Vitality             1571     1016     1571
Attack             1729     1216     2054
C. Chance        4          9          14
Armor               1571     1091     1771
Health               24922   11805   17355
 

As you can see Elementalist ranks lowest in all but one area.  Why is this?  I believe there was a fear that Elementalists would be overpowered due to all of the abilities from attunement switching.  However as many are finding out – they are  underpowered..dps is low..easy target in pvp..utility provided is already dished out by other classes who can contribute more in dps and by simply surviving. 

The profession design is solid but what about that gap?  My suggestion would be to make the Elementalist choose a strength.  A final grandmaster trait ability should define how the Elementalist will be played and should not be stackable with other final grandmaster trait abilities. IE, for fire and air ,  add + significant damage to their respective lines (aoe vs single)bringing it close to thieves (2054 vs 1216 is quite a gap).  In earth add +Toughness and + bleed dmg/length to bring us near Necros and Thieves.  In water increase our healing ability to be close to that of guardians and improve/add conditions..etc…

What about attunement swapping?  Well that will seperate good from average Elementalists(boons/utility).  How about balance?  The Elementalist, in my view, should never be as strong as a thief in terms of dps on a single target but should be much  closer if they spec air grandmaster..that’s the trade off for versatility. In earth, toughness should be equal to that of Thieves and Necros but dps should be subpar.  Again that’s the sacrifice for versatility.  

There is a place for Elementalists in spvp and dungeons – its versatility –  they should be able to wear different hats..but they may not look as good in them as other professions  but should look pretty darn close.  Those small deficits should be made up by boons and versatility.

If this information is accurate (and I have no reason to believe it isn’t), it is a real eye opener. I would love to hear from Anet on this one.