advice for other profession to try?
Greatsword Phantasm Mesmer.
Most Phantasms are all done at range. The classic case being “iZerker” (Illusionary Berserker) which for me is around 6k+ damage instantly from range on any targets it goes through.
Sword/X is often chosen as the second set and Sword in itself lends itself to the “dart” style of play with being able to pop in, Blur Attack, pop out, send a clone in then swap with the clone, etc. Your dislike of guns won’t fail you as Focus is pretty staple for an offhand.
The “pets” are dumbfire and largely don’t need to be micromanaged beyond shatters. There are other builds more focused on the Shatter play style and more Clone management.
Mesmers have conditions but they’re largely separate builds and focus. For example Scepter/Staff is more condition/clone based while Greatsword/Sword are more raw damage oriented and any conditions are applied secondary and not intentionally (such as Phantasm crits applying bleed).
The game is not balanced at all for PvE. For all the theory crafting we do here on the Ele forums for damage it’s paltry damage output compared to Warrior or Mesmer damage. Both classes combine strong base defenses that let them get away with Zerker gear or minimally focusing on defensive stats while both having access to strong amounts of raw damage. I would argue the point that anyone capable of pulling off an Ele in PvE currently would most likely be even better if they played one of the holy trinity of this game (Warrior, Mesmer or Guardian). Honestly if I didn’t play Zerg vs Zerg WvW as much as I do I would have shelved my Elementalist for my Mesmer a long time ago.
Kodiak X – Blackgate
(edited by Kodiak.3281)
It is possible to make a ranged caster build with guardian if that’s the style you prefer. I was using a scepter/focus build with spirit weapons for awhile. Plays kind of like a caster, but with heavy armor and way more survivability than an ele. You deal WAY more damage too than you could ever dream of doing with ele. If you spec totally for spirit weapons and take the trait that makes them not be destroyed when you command them and the ones that make them last longer its really good. you can just sit back smiting things with the scepter while commanding your weapons to smash and stab things. plus unlike ele you have the option of swapping weapons if things get right in your face. You can always swap to a sword if things get right up on you.
@Nikkinella – you sound like someone who didn’t really explore elementalist capabilities all that well. give an ele a heavy armor and in right hands it will be unkillable. Also, dmg spec played ele can not just deal more dmg than guardian but can over scale his dmg at least twice. to do that you have to be in D/D build as it is most damaging and mobile build which, I am aware, is not exactly what the original poster is looking for.
Arguably, you can also deal a tons of dmg in PvE as lot of mobs tend not to move to much by landing ele’s devastating AoE attacks. I really don’t understand how is that to much to bare. All you have to do is swap from fire to earth.
@Rhaegar – Not to be snide or anything but I honestly think you would be better off playing something else. This is my conclusion based on what you posted. There is really no class in this game that would fit perfectly (best case it may fit half way) to your description.
Anyways, let me suggest few things:
1. Play ranger with short bow and long bow (or axe+smt. its also great in PvE as it hits multiple targets) and command your pet to avoid combat. This is what I’m doing at the moment although my motivation is completely different (to make myself entirely self sufficient as a ranger and to make the game even more challenging)
2. Play great sword mesmer as someone above me already suggested (although there is some basic skill required to manage your illusions properly)
3. Each class in the game can be at least decent at range (although you excluded engineers completely because of the ‘no guns’ policy). Go for bows on thief or warrior, scepter on guardian (i personally don’t like it but it is a decent choice nevertheless). Lastly, necros has two good ranged options in scepter and staff. A lot of both AoE and variety of conditions
Thanks everyone for the replies. I think I’m going to try out the ranger and see how it does.
I picked elementalist thinking in terms of classic ranged dps but now I see this game doesn’t let anybody just do one thing. That’s a very good thing but it also means some classic archetypes I might like in a typical holy trinity rpg don’t work for me as well.
Going to try the ranger for a bit with sword and bow and focus on survival and conditions. I like the mobility and lots of endurance and evasion, with some ranged options as well. Now that I’ve read more I think I can be ok with the pet and at least utilize it if not specialize
@Nikkinella – you sound like someone who didn’t really explore elementalist capabilities all that well. give an ele a heavy armor and in right hands it will be unkillable. Also, dmg spec played ele can not just deal more dmg than guardian but can over scale his dmg at least twice. to do that you have to be in D/D build as it is most damaging and mobile build which, I am aware, is not exactly what the original poster is looking for.
Arguably, you can also deal a tons of dmg in PvE as lot of mobs tend not to move to much by landing ele’s devastating AoE attacks. I really don’t understand how is that to much to bare. All you have to do is swap from fire to earth.
@Rhaegar – Not to be snide or anything but I honestly think you would be better off playing something else. This is my conclusion based on what you posted. There is really no class in this game that would fit perfectly (best case it may fit half way) to your description.
Anyways, let me suggest few things:
1. Play ranger with short bow and long bow (or axe+smt. its also great in PvE as it hits multiple targets) and command your pet to avoid combat. This is what I’m doing at the moment although my motivation is completely different (to make myself entirely self sufficient as a ranger and to make the game even more challenging)
2. Play great sword mesmer as someone above me already suggested (although there is some basic skill required to manage your illusions properly)
3. Each class in the game can be at least decent at range (although you excluded engineers completely because of the ‘no guns’ policy). Go for bows on thief or warrior, scepter on guardian (i personally don’t like it but it is a decent choice nevertheless). Lastly, necros has two good ranged options in scepter and staff. A lot of both AoE and variety of conditions
No, i’m speaking as someone who played ele in beta before our overall damage was reduced by over 60%. We’re weak as hell compared to what we used to be able to do. And you’ve obviously never played guardian extensively if you think they can’t outshine ele now in the damage department.