Guild Wars 2

i like fire. Universe started with realy hot fire. (kinda hehe
and i played fire mage in wow.
i played bright wizard in Warhammer.
etc etc..

always liked fire speccs.

But, in this game ??
OMG.. the boredom.
I got my elemental to lvl 6.. before i sent her back to the big black nothingness wich happens when you delete a character.

I got so many moments… “umm.. why is this crap skill even in this game?”

The volcanos. realy ? do design team realy think ppl will just stand still in them ??
“iam gonna pop up a volcano at your feets. please stand still, its pretty i promise”

the tiny tiny tiny fire strip when you roll backwards.. ? you cant even stand in it if you wanted to…

The falling fire tooth. hoovering for 2- 3 seconds.. before dropping.
its just like “YO, iam gonna drop this BIG tooth on you, please stand still.. 3..2..1..”

Or the firey meteor rain. mobs just stod there in the middle.. not taking dmg.. ?
realy realy lucky mobs avoiding all those falling meteors ?

i used 2 skills of all my fire skills.
1: autoattacks.. (works)
2: that thing that go boom. (nr3 skill on staff).’

all else was just pure crap.
and the dmg is way to low.. to survive on just those 2.

Then i jumped to the pvp mirror area. to check the traits.
1 path for each element ? ye sure. but i want fire only. so 30 points.. then 40 not even used.. i dont want to play a wussy water, earth or lightning.. i want FIRE…

Forcing people to specc into other elements ?.

If i ever saw bad design.. this is it.

oh.. and yes.. i used staff. all real cool elementalists/mages/wizards and what not..
All use the cool staff.

The thing is, you’re assuming to only use 1 element. That’s not what the elementalist is about. You’re supposed to use all elements to some degree. So it’s not a design flaw, but you wanting something from this class that it doesn’t have.

Once you get to higher levels you’ll discover the use of skills like Lava Font…it’s not so much about the damage as it is about combining it with blast finishers.

Bottom line: don’t play just fire. Or if you must…get an engineer and use a flamethrower build.

This has been discussed before if you stick to one element your going to kitten yourself. The class is designed (arcane or not) around you switching elements.

My suggestion role a engineer go juggernaut with flame thrower. It has all the fire you could want.

ThiBash.5634:

The thing is, you’re assuming to only use 1 element. That’s not what the elementalist is about. You’re supposed to use all elements to some degree. So it’s not a design flaw, but you wanting something from this class that it doesn’t have.

Once you get to higher levels you’ll discover the use of skills like Lava Font…it’s not so much about the damage as it is about combining it with blast finishers.

Bottom line: don’t play just fire. Or if you must…get an engineer and use a flamethrower build.

lol great minds……

change your perspective on the average mage then.

use D/D and experience the fun or use a scepter if your still looking for that ranged caster style.

*Obligatory complaint about how elementalists suck at ranged combat.

Chaosky.5276:

*Obligatory complaint about how elementalists suck at ranged combat.

*Obligatory counter argument against false but popular statement.

I’m glad OP gave up on the ele. One less potential “fire mage”.

If you want to e a “Mage” and use a lot of fire you could always roll a scepter/torch + staff guardian seeing as how you can build yourself to burn everything around you on your 4th hit AKA every auto attack against a group while using a staff, you may find it fitting… That or As everyone else said, juggernaut engi + flamethrower will be fitting.

And also as everyone else has said, eles -need- to swap attunements regardless of spec, you can’t just use one attunement.

ThiBash.5634:

Chaosky.5276:

*Obligatory complaint about how elementalists suck at ranged combat.

*Obligatory counter argument against false but popular statement.

Excellent points, and as a primary Staff Elementalist, I agree completely.

ThiBash.5634:

Chaosky.5276:

*Obligatory complaint about how elementalists suck at ranged combat.

*Obligatory counter argument against false but popular statement.

Do you really have a build like that? I only care about PvP, but if you can show me how the staff and/or scepter are/is just as viable as d/d, I’d happily recant my previous complaint.

Chaosky.5276:

Do you really have a build like that? I only care about PvP, but if you can show me how the staff and/or scepter are/is just as viable as d/d, I’d happily recant my previous complaint.

Well, for me the answer lies in two key points.

On one hand, I feel the division between elementalist weapons isn’t so much indicated by the range, but by the role they play. Dagger/Dagger is very swift, opertunistic and proactive playstyle, whereas the staff is reactively, more planned and supportive. This also means that I think of the D/D as more of a duelling weapon, and staff more as a group weapon. This is emphasized by the staff’s combo fields that get exponentially stronger the more allies you have.

Second, I’ve found that the utilities that work for D/D, don’t work as well for staff. The key skill for me when playing the staff is Glyph of Elemental Power. When used in earth or water, all your attacks gain the ability to snare foes. When duelling someone 1v1, this greatly helps in hitting my opponent with the ground targetted spells. In turn, when those spells hit, they too cause snaring which…you get the point. Combined with the lesser earth elemental, which causes weakness and crippling (and can hardly get destroyed), kiting and hitting stuff becomes a lot easier, and the elemental adds to my dps. Also, since the cooldown of the glyph works per individual foe, when used against groups I can literally spam cripples or chills with my aoes all over the place.

That’s my take on it anyway. Will it work as well in duels as D/D? of course not. But since I started using the glyph, the fights have gone a lot more in my favor than before.

ThiBash.5634:

Well, for me the answer lies in two key points.

On one hand, I feel the division between elementalist weapons isn’t so much indicated by the range, but by the role they play. Dagger/Dagger is very swift, opertunistic and proactive playstyle, whereas the staff is reactively, more planned and supportive. This also means that I think of the D/D as more of a duelling weapon, and staff more as a group weapon. This is emphasized by the staff’s combo fields that get exponentially stronger the more allies you have.

Second, I’ve found that the utilities that work for D/D, don’t work as well for staff. The key skill for me when playing the staff is Glyph of Elemental Power. When used in earth or water, all your attacks gain the ability to snare foes. When duelling someone 1v1, this greatly helps in hitting my opponent with the ground targetted spells. In turn, when those spells hit, they too cause snaring which…you get the point. Combined with the lesser earth elemental, which causes weakness and crippling (and can hardly get destroyed), kiting and hitting stuff becomes a lot easier, and the elemental adds to my dps. Also, since the cooldown of the glyph works per individual foe, when used against groups I can literally spam cripples or chills with my aoes all over the place.

That’s my take on it anyway. Will it work as well in duels as D/D? of course not. But since I started using the glyph, the fights have gone a lot more in my favor than before.

The GoEP helps, but staff damage is still quite unreliable with it. The skills of the scepter’s fire attunement are easy for an enemy to dodge (and its earth attunement lacks offense).

An elementalist’s ranged damage potential is fine for the most part, but many ranged skills perform poorly when it comes to actually connecting with a target.

Chaosky.5276:

ThiBash.5634:

Well, for me the answer lies in two key points.

On one hand, I feel the division between elementalist weapons isn’t so much indicated by the range, but by the role they play. Dagger/Dagger is very swift, opertunistic and proactive playstyle, whereas the staff is reactively, more planned and supportive. This also means that I think of the D/D as more of a duelling weapon, and staff more as a group weapon. This is emphasized by the staff’s combo fields that get exponentially stronger the more allies you have.

Second, I’ve found that the utilities that work for D/D, don’t work as well for staff. The key skill for me when playing the staff is Glyph of Elemental Power. When used in earth or water, all your attacks gain the ability to snare foes. When duelling someone 1v1, this greatly helps in hitting my opponent with the ground targetted spells. In turn, when those spells hit, they too cause snaring which…you get the point. Combined with the lesser earth elemental, which causes weakness and crippling (and can hardly get destroyed), kiting and hitting stuff becomes a lot easier, and the elemental adds to my dps. Also, since the cooldown of the glyph works per individual foe, when used against groups I can literally spam cripples or chills with my aoes all over the place.

That’s my take on it anyway. Will it work as well in duels as D/D? of course not. But since I started using the glyph, the fights have gone a lot more in my favor than before.

The GoEP helps, but staff damage is still quite unreliable with it. The skills of the scepter’s fire attunement are easy for an enemy to dodge (and its earth attunement lacks offense).

An elementalist’s ranged damage potential is fine for the most part, but many ranged skills perform poorly when it comes to actually connecting with a target.

How does earth lack offense? The scepter 1 on earth applies 3 bleeds and can stack 9bleed EASY.

And staff is only unreliable if you make it, you have snares, you have immobs, you can predict (or force) enemy movement so they go into your effects, etc.

Durzlla.6295:

How does earth lack offense? The scepter 1 on earth applies 3 bleeds and can stack 9bleed EASY.

And staff is only unreliable if you make it, you have snares, you have immobs, you can predict (or force) enemy movement so they go into your effects, etc.

It takes time to stack bleeding with Stone Shards, and even then it’s only worthwhile with condition damage; a mainhand dagger is much less restrictive.

Weapons such as a warrior’s rifle and a mesmer’s greatsword are reliable ranged weapons, as opponents are not given much of a chance to evade their attacks – this is not the case for an elementalist’s staff. Sure, you can use Static Field and Shockwave to keep enemies in your AoEs, but that can’t be done very frequently.
I’m not saying that the staff can’t do ranged damage, but players simply have more control over the damage they take when fighting a staff elementalist than most other ranged combatants.

Chaosky.5276:

Durzlla.6295:

How does earth lack offense? The scepter 1 on earth applies 3 bleeds and can stack 9bleed EASY.

And staff is only unreliable if you make it, you have snares, you have immobs, you can predict (or force) enemy movement so they go into your effects, etc.

It takes time to stack bleeding with Stone Shards, and even then it’s only worthwhile with condition damage; a mainhand dagger is much less restrictive.

Weapons such as a warrior’s rifle and a mesmer’s greatsword are reliable ranged weapons, as opponents are not given much of a chance to evade their attacks – this is not the case for an elementalist’s staff. Sure, you can use Static Field and Shockwave to keep enemies in your AoEs, but that can’t be done very frequently.
I’m not saying that the staff can’t do ranged damage, but players simply have more control over the damage they take when fighting a staff elementalist than most other ranged combatants.

Yes, but unlike rifle warrior and GS mes staff attacks are a lot more punishing to get hit by, and keep in mind you can put all your AoEs on an area the enemy wants to be (very easy in s/tPvP) so they choose to essentially surrender the area or eat everything

Chaosky.5276:

The GoEP helps, but staff damage is still quite unreliable with it.

You do realize that the glyph activates based on the attunement it was cast in, not the attunement you are in when it triggers?

Sure, not every skill will hit…but you’ll hit a lot more often than without it.

ThiBash.5634:

Chaosky.5276:

The GoEP helps, but staff damage is still quite unreliable with it.

You do realize that the glyph activates based on the attunement it was cast in, not the attunement you are in when it triggers?

Sure, not every skill will hit…but you’ll hit a lot more often than without it.

Yup, AoE cripple with Meteor Shower is fun. My point is that I don’t like the staff because its skills are designed to be dodged, and our other ranged weapon suffers from similar issues, albeit to a lesser extent.

Scepter/dagger with Conjure Frost Bow is the closest I’ve been able to get to what I’m looking for.

Came here expecting discussion about the summon. I am dissapoint…

Shurbryn.1360:

Came here expecting discussion about the summon. I am dissapoint…

Why? You wanna change the Fire Elemental too like wut they did with Lightning Elemental?

Gallrvaghn.4921:

Shurbryn.1360:

Came here expecting discussion about the summon. I am dissapoint…

Why? You wanna change the Fire Elemental too like wut they did with Lightning Elemental?

Haha no, just the title was misleading.
I don’t mind the new air ele though.

Yeah every elemental is now some kind of creature, I like that the lightning one is in line now :P

Thanks for the GoEP tip, i’ll definitely try that again with staff, it didn’t really work very well for me , was unsure about its effects.

an elementalist using only one element is the same as a warior only using a mace and no off-hand weapon. Traiting only for the mace and saying that the class sucks because I lack the skill to hit all the monsters in the vicinity with skill number 2.