Guild Wars 2

Hi,

I was wondering why anyone would play Elementalist above another class in this game. There doesn’t seem to be much of a reason and they feel very underpowered since release already and especially now since their only viable build has been nerfed yet again. Also they’re the worst solo PvE class there is with them dying way to much compared to a ranger who can just keep on farming and get a lot more gold then an elementalist because elementalist die to quickly.

Even in PvP there is no reason to pick an Elementalist anymore over a Guardian or Mesmer these classes are just superior in everything an Ele can do.

So why would you ever pick an Elementalist?? I can’t really see the reasons besides for the fun or because I want to play the UP class.

Well, the best about Elementalists is that they have cool looking skills.

Quite frankly it’s the challenge. While with time it becomes more natural, compared to other classes simply put we do more. We are one of the best kite tankers in the game, one of the best support, and we have decent sustained dps and cc. Fact is the reason I play ele is because it requires me to be more than generic dps number 1. They gave us a bag of tricks vs a few pew pew buttons.

They have a fun and energetic playstyle, at least with D/D. I don’t die that often in PvE to be honest, it just takes much more precise gameplay or build/gear to compensate.

cause its fun maybe?Otherwise with the support spec and trebuchet killer nerf i dont see much of a reason at all in structured pvp

D/D is a blast to play and it’s very powerful in WvW. If they ever nerf it that’ll probably be the end of the game for me, I just don’t really have any interest in the other classes unless they make them more exciting and active to play

because it is unique compared to other classes.

and on-top of that my main character in any game has always been a Mage (Elementalist) :P

As others have said, Ele can still be quite shockingly (see what I did there) powerful. A lot of people are upset at the EA nerf, but meh, the class as a whole is still solid.

IMO, it’s still the choice for those who are looking to challenge themselves, it just seems to take a little more brain power to do well with and D/D is fast paced, dynamic, and fairly fluid.

simple masochism. i enjoy humiliation and pain. elemenatalist is like paying a lady of the night to grind her 5" stiletto heel right into your junk while telling you what a hopeless pathetic loser you are compared to her other clients. I’m getting all hot and bothered just thinking about pressing 20 buttons for 12 stacks of might when other classes can do it with auto-attack while sacrificing nothing. Oh yeah, grind it baby.

That’s why I love my elementalist.

Its for the interesting gameplay. Sure you could do fine spamming one button as another class, but this class you have to play like concert pianist, with proper timing and all!

Some people arent going to like that idea but some people do, and this is the class for them. It is a very engaging class.

Never used E/A since I figured it was getting nerfed, so dont miss it :p

Elementalist’s power builds are a bit underpowered.

That does not means, however, that all elementalist builds are underpowered.

We have some excellent traitlines, especially on water and arcana, and we are mostly restricted by them. However, as long as you stick to the best traits we have, you can switch between a more balanced or defensive build attribute-wise and be worthwhile with it.

Good defensive elementalists are stubborn. They refuse to die.
(And they were overpowered before the last patch, with infinite blast finishers for countless might-stacking and regeneration stacking from a single trait. Yeah, they weren’t very weak exactly).

don’t be fooled, when people say “elemenatlist takes more skill” what they really mean is it takes 2x as many button presses and 2x the effort for 1/2 the results compared to other classes.

Elementalists are so awesome they are practically required to put 30 points in arcane and/or water just to be half-way viable but still weak compared to other options. So awesome! Thanks for FIXING elementalists, ANet!

DiogoSilva.7089:

Elementalist’s power builds are a bit underpowered.

That does not means, however, that all elementalist builds are underpowered.

We have some excellent traitlines, especially on water and arcana, and we are mostly restricted by them. However, as long as you stick to the best traits we have, you can switch between a more balanced or defensive build attribute-wise and be worthwhile with it.

Good defensive elementalists are stubborn. They refuse to die.
(And they were overpowered before the last patch, with infinite blast finishers for countless might-stacking and regeneration stacking from a single trait. Yeah, they weren’t very weak exactly).

this is coming from the person that spent all last night explaining how EA is STILL GOOD but wouldn’t answer when asked if they think it is worth 30 points or worth taking 30 arcane for by itself. It’s sad when people want the 10 extra arcane points for attunement recharge and could care less about the “grandmaster” trait at the end of it.

“EA, it’s still good you guys! Just not good enough for me to use in a build ever!”

That kind of attitude should tell you all you need to know.

I am still fairly new to the class but I love playing it because of how much interaction is involved . I’m blasting in 20 directions, teleporting all over the place, constantly switching between elements . Fun stuff
My guardian was fun to but got pretty stale where it was just the same thing over and over and it seemed like I ended up staring at CD timers. Dont have to worry about that as much on my ele.
Just my 2 cents anyways

I don’t feel like I’m working harder than other classes to achieve the same result. For me, swapping attunements constantly just feels natural and has kept combat interesting from level one. I took a warrior to 80 but after rolling this D/D, I have a hard time playing alts because none of them (save engineer) fit as comfortably as my ele. I feel like I should be doing more when I’m playing them, my fingers feel too idle during combat.

Playing the ele reminds me of playing Magicka – the better your muscle memory and speed the more you’ll get out of it, at least when it comes to D/D. I find myself attacking larger and larger packs of Risen and soloing bigger and badder champs just to see if I can, and in W3 I feel comfortable roaming solo or in a group/zerg.

QFQFASA

And while you’re practicing your scales so that everything comes out JUST RIGHT your buddies are selling out stadiums and rocking people’s socks off with one note.

I’m having a hard time not feeling discouraged with the class given the broken abilities, lack of good damage options, and generally underwhelming class balance. However, even with all its problems, for me this class still has the most fun, engaging and dynamic play style in the game.

Korath.7402:

I’m having a hard time not feeling discouraged with the class given the broken abilities, lack of good damage options, and generally underwhelming class balance. However, even with all its problems, for me this class still has the most fun, engaging and dynamic play style in the game.

This, though I feel guardian has just as much dynamic (multiple) play styles within one build that also keeps me hooked. Everything else is boring.

Nonlinear.9823:

simple masochism. i enjoy humiliation and pain. elemenatalist is like paying a lady of the night to grind her 5" stiletto heel right into your junk while telling you what a hopeless pathetic loser you are compared to her other clients. I’m getting all hot and bothered just thinking about pressing 20 buttons for 12 stacks of might when other classes can do it with auto-attack while sacrificing nothing. Oh yeah, grind it baby.

That’s why I love my elementalist.

This man’s got it.

Korath.7402:

I’m having a hard time not feeling discouraged with the class given the broken abilities, lack of good damage options, and generally underwhelming class balance. However, even with all its problems, for me this class still has the most fun, engaging and dynamic play style in the game.

I agree. What concerns me, though, is that when the most fun, engaging, and dynamic play style in the game isn’t fun enough to bother with, it makes me think I should be playing another game. And that’s terribly distressing to me because, as a player of GW1 since its beta, I’m a big fan of Tyria and have been excited to see it 250 years in the future.

This pointless nerf combined with the inanity that is Ascended Gear’s stat creep makes me thing ArenaNet has lost sight of good game design, and that breaks my heart. EA acting as a blast finisher was fun. It was phenomenal design for Exotic armor to be the be-all end-all of stats, so you could get it without too much grind and then never look at your gear again if you didn’t want to. These changes… they’re inexplicable.

I’m playing it because I wanted to play a scholar/light armor class and this is the one I chose to level to 80. I don’t want to level to 80 again so this is what I’m stuck with.

I originally chose elementalist because it seemed like it had the most potential to support or do damage depending on traits.

I consistently get hit by “Kill shot” and back stab for 8-15k dmg in WvWvW..

They can do this with relative ease.

Elementalists have to work hard just to not reach those numbers hitting other glass cannons…. a Thief can just press 5 → Steal to hit 2 times and be invis and then press 1 and 2, 2, 2. But they don’t need to press any 2s. That right there does ~15k + dmg in 1-2 seconds.. Add in the 2s, that’s even more dmg….
Mess it up, just invis.. lol

How come, with my ranger, I never even see close to those numbers? lol
Even with 100% full spec and geared glass cannon.

Because in PvE you can fight a Deer and have roughly the same experience as fighting a Champion. Also, weapon summons are humorous and fun. Mjolnir FTW!

If you enjoy carpal tunnel, dying a lot, doing mediocre damage, gimmicks (conjured weapons), being totally worthless under water, and choosing between a bunch of crappy traits and elites, then Elementalist might be the class for you!

If you like taking 8 button presses to do the same damage that other classes can do with 2, you’ve come to the right place!