Guild Wars 2

Hi there fellas

Im a decently experienced fella, no impressive AP or ascendeds/legendaries for that matter though.

I´m sitting on an 80 mesm, war & engi.
Currently im powerleveling an elementalist in EOTM (its just.. wow guys. Try it out if you want to powerlevel! possibly 20levels in 3 hours!!)

The questions are the following:
Is the elems flowing movement and skills worth the loss in CC, condition dmg and versitality (locked range)?

I know elem and engi discussion never ends.
I somehow feel that the elementalist piano playstyle is easier than the engineer aswell, which probably invests in the “flowing” feeling.

What does the elementalist have that the engineer doesnt?
(except 50k crits with hammerbuild and fully buffed)
(… and lack of Condition builds)

They aren’t anything alike. I know people say they are similar but they just aren’t.

Freedom imo is the biggest difference between the 2. I have both at 80 and they are my 2 favorite classes. The engi flows more then the Elementalist which is restricted because of the cd on attunements. The engi has it on the fly.

I haven’t played power engi so I can’t compare that.

I’ve played Engi since launch. I’ve played every meta build, and even some weird ones I tested from time to time. The kit swapping ability of Engineer is just so much smoother than the attunement management of Ele. Not that it makes Ele worse. I can burst people to death much faster than my Engi ever could when using my Ele, but the margin for error is MUCH smaller. Ele is punishing to mistakes and rotation disruption.

Yes, Ele conditions are lackluster compared to others, but I don’t think that’s what Ele is about. It’s Elemetal power crushing your opponents. Using my Scepter/Dagger Fresh Air, I have dropped people in SECONDS. Yes, the conditions need to be right, and that means picking your targets wisely, but there is a level of potential that if played correctly, the Elementalist can reach and allow you to crush all (most) who stand before you.

If you played an Engi and loved it, you will enjoy the challenge that Ele’s have to offer.

Engineer is just safer. You always have something because of tons of skills, most of the time you just rotate around kits and deal a lot of damage with passive procs. There’s nothing really that “skillful” about engineer (at least condibunker 99% run), remembering how you can use your combo fields doesn’t make it harder since it’s wide around all professions, it’s just engi that have an access to many fields and finishers on condition setup.

Engie is better condi wise, Ele power wise. Melee Ele is superior better. Even rifle with jump shot & co don’t make engie a decent melee profession. Sure bombs and nades work, but again, here is where ele shines with cool (and strong) combo’s. Complete freedom with kits (not cooldown, swith on the fly) is what makes engie a little more interesting in their own way. But Ele has better utilities then engie (theirs kinda suck apart from kits and elixirs, most aren’t worth it), well and Rocket boots, that one is amazing i give it to you, but ele’s have similar skills on their weapon bar already.

For elites i gotta give ele more credit. Supply crates is nice if you want to enforce a victory in a dual, but otherwise is kinda a let down. Fiery greatsword, tornado, and even the Elemental summon are more fun and usefull in their own way.

Stability is a lot better on Ele. Stability in wvw is very important and with engie it means non stop moving at the edge of the zerg with 1500 range grenades or die in the stunlock train. Ele has better escapes from this. Like lightning flash, armor of earth etc.

Combo finishers Ele is better (especially projectile ones they own more), combo fields they are equal, (perhaps a slight edge to engie for smoke field and poison field, but ele has Ice field wich is very underrated).

Underwater Engineer is the king. Nothing comes close. Having come back lately to my ele rather then engie, if you play it to it’s limits, Trident ele (underwater), has it’s use. But engie is better.

Condition removal is a tie, maybe better on ele cause of Ether renewal. Engie mostly gotta trait for serious (more then 1 or 2) condition removal, and that’s important in pvp and wvw.

Phoebe Ascension.8437:

Engie is better condi wise, Ele power wise. Melee Ele is superior better. Even rifle with jump shot & co don’t make engie a decent melee profession. Sure bombs and nades work, but again, here is where ele shines with cool (and strong) combo’s. Complete freedom with kits (not cooldown, swith on the fly) is what makes engie a little more interesting in their own way. But Ele has better utilities then engie (theirs kinda suck apart from kits and elixirs, most aren’t worth it), well and Rocket boots, that one is amazing i give it to you, but ele’s have similar skills on their weapon bar already.

For elites i gotta give ele more credit. Supply crates is nice if you want to enforce a victory in a dual, but otherwise is kinda a let down. Fiery greatsword, tornado, and even the Elemental summon are more fun and usefull in their own way.

Stability is a lot better on Ele. Stability in wvw is very important and with engie it means non stop moving at the edge of the zerg with 1500 range grenades or die in the stunlock train. Ele has better escapes from this. Like lightning flash, armor of earth etc.

Combo finishers Ele is better (especially projectile ones they own more), combo fields they are equal, (perhaps a slight edge to engie for smoke field and poison field, but ele has Ice field wich is very underrated).

Underwater Engineer is the king. Nothing comes close. Having come back lately to my ele rather then engie, if you play it to it’s limits, Trident ele (underwater), has it’s use. But engie is better.

Condition removal is a tie, maybe better on ele cause of Ether renewal. Engie mostly gotta trait for serious (more then 1 or 2) condition removal, and that’s important in pvp and wvw.

agreed. especially with underwater part… fighting a engi underwater is RIDICULOUS. Only Ranger and Mesmer come even close

Azure.8670:

Phoebe Ascension.8437:

Engie is better condi wise, Ele power wise. Melee Ele is superior better. Even rifle with jump shot & co don’t make engie a decent melee profession. Sure bombs and nades work, but again, here is where ele shines with cool (and strong) combo’s. Complete freedom with kits (not cooldown, swith on the fly) is what makes engie a little more interesting in their own way. But Ele has better utilities then engie (theirs kinda suck apart from kits and elixirs, most aren’t worth it), well and Rocket boots, that one is amazing i give it to you, but ele’s have similar skills on their weapon bar already.

For elites i gotta give ele more credit. Supply crates is nice if you want to enforce a victory in a dual, but otherwise is kinda a let down. Fiery greatsword, tornado, and even the Elemental summon are more fun and usefull in their own way.

Stability is a lot better on Ele. Stability in wvw is very important and with engie it means non stop moving at the edge of the zerg with 1500 range grenades or die in the stunlock train. Ele has better escapes from this. Like lightning flash, armor of earth etc.

Combo finishers Ele is better (especially projectile ones they own more), combo fields they are equal, (perhaps a slight edge to engie for smoke field and poison field, but ele has Ice field wich is very underrated).

Underwater Engineer is the king. Nothing comes close. Having come back lately to my ele rather then engie, if you play it to it’s limits, Trident ele (underwater), has it’s use. But engie is better.

Condition removal is a tie, maybe better on ele cause of Ether renewal. Engie mostly gotta trait for serious (more then 1 or 2) condition removal, and that’s important in pvp and wvw.

agreed. especially with underwater part… fighting a engi underwater is RIDICULOUS. Only Ranger and Mesmer come even close

Have you ever tried fighting DS-specced Power Necromancer underwater? This thing can take 3v1 including Rangers and still win.