Guild Wars 2

Thrashbarg.9820:

It’s quite simple, they built this class using basic math. We have twice as many skills as other professions, so they are all half as effective. Balancing 101.

Not basic math, not basic math one bit. Complex algorithms dealing with damage over time graphs at maximum skill level and average skill level, reviewing all combinations of skills to see if elementalist can stunlock longer than intended with too much damage coming out during that decision. It’s not easy to balance a class like ele.

Leiloni.7951:

noobdestroyer.4271:

My thoughts are this: We were made to be a complex class and therefore they cant make it easy on us. The skill ceiling is higher for us than all the other classes.

Except that the class is not supposed to be harder than the others. The classes were all designed to be of even difficulty, just different styles.

No, no no no no no no. The classes were NOT designed to be even difficulty. That’s just not true. If they were designed to be even difficulty, they would make you choose two attunements and make everything much slower and easier.

I just want to put my two cents in here.

First off, it’s really hard to balance game mechanics. I’m a gameplay programmer, it’s literally what I do. The easiest way to balance a game is to make skills, abilities, guns, etc. essentially the same thing. The more diversity there is to the game, the harder it becomes to balance. Many times players get emotional while playing a game or refuse to admit their skill level and call out that something is grossly imbalanced without much warrant.

I can’t play the other classes as well as I play my elementalist. I’ve tried, and I’ve had fun with other classes (briefly), but in the end I always find that I have a lack of options available. I played a priest in WoW because I felt the other healer classes didn’t have enough options to react to the situation, it’s just the kind of player I am.

When I PvP I stomp noobs into the ground. That’s not to say I’m elitest, or that I never lose, but if someone thinks they can win through basic tactics it’s very rare that they do. Every now and then I’ll duel my friends or find really talented players of all classes and when I fight them it’s usually, if not always, a very close match. Most of the time I still win these skirmishes but it’s extremely evident to me that if I had made one mistake it could have cost me the match. This shows me that the game is balanced in the hands of strong players.

Some builds on certain classes are harder to fight than others, and depending on my setup that changes as well. But the issue stands that I almost never lose a legitimate fight to any basic strategy like heartseeker spams, hundred blade warriors, or pistol condition mesmers.

Balance can’t be determined for the low-skill, low-knowledge masses in a game. Arena.net stated that they want this game to be e-sports worthy competitive PvP. If that’s the case, then they will compare top-tier players on different classes against each other. If a class is made easier to use for the masses through a buff (and not a complete feature revamp, which is often a bad way to handle things ala WoW) then the top-tier players suddenly have an overwhelming advantage.

It’s unfortunate that the elementalist is such an attractive class visually and spiritually because it’s also a very difficult class. This brings a large player population. Almost everybody (about 80%, I forget where I read the polls) thinks they’re better than average at driving cars. But only 50% can be better than below average, not even labeling them as average. I hope you can see the correlation.

That’s all.

Glyph of Renewal works 100%, both for downed and dead allies/NPCs. The way it works is it auto-targets the nearest downed/dead ally/NPC with priority to the closest target to you. Kind of annoying, especially with the Air form, but that’s how it works.

Reserved for utilities and playstyle.

Edit: I’ve done this entire post two times now and lost it both times. Please be patient while I make the post once again.

Welcome!

Do you want to be a successful melee range elementalist in the rough and tough world of explorable dungeons? Do you enjoy getting in the enemy’s face with colorful explosions dealing lots of damage but don’t enjoy being eaten for lunch? Do you like looking like you have force fields of protection? All of this and more can be yours with this build!

The Build

So let’s run over the trait selection first.

10 Points in Fire
We take Burning Precision to make hitting with critical hits a little stronger by having a chance to apply burning. This helps keeping burning up even outside of fire attunement. This trait is more of a free trait and can be replaced with your “favorite” Tier 1 Fire trait.

20 Points in Fire
This one is a must. We take Fire’s Embrace so that when you activate a signet it gives you three seconds of Fiery Aura. You’ll understand why it is so necessary in a moment.

Hidden Option 10 Points in Air
If you really enjoy having the extra boons from Zephyr’s Boon, go ahead and take 10 points out of water and put the 10 points into air. You will lose some powerful healing and condition removal options but if this is more your playstyle then go for it!

10 Points in Earth
Another choice that we can not live without. When you activate an aura, you gain 3 seconds (plus any extra duration given from arcana) of protection. This ensures that almost every hit you take will have damage reduced by 33%!

10 Points in Water
If you are hit too hard and need to back off, now you can sit around and heal even faster! The 5 point trait Soothing Mist is party support and great for your own sustainability. The 10 point trait Cleansing Wave helps you and the whole team remove unhappy conditions keeping you up and runny for much longer!

10 Points in Arcana
I heard you like boons, so I picked this one up just for you. Elemental Attunement gives a boon every time you switch attunements, and good ones at that! Great for any build, and especially good in this one!

20 Points in Arcana
Let’s get Arcane Synergy for a free 25% endurance refill every time you use a signet! What a great trait, this allows you to roll much more often! This is even better once we get to our 30 point trait.

30 Points in Arcana
Creme de la creme, Evasive Arcana casts a nice spell at the end of our dodge rolls (which we need to use a lot!) Combine this with Arcane Synergy and you can actually use dodges to improve your DPS! Something really nice here is the free Cleansing Wave in water attunement, clearing an extra condition rolling. What a great trait!

What this means is every time you use a Signet, you gain Fiery Aura, Protection, and half a dodge! Every time you dodge, you deal damage or heal!

Next up, utilities and playstyle! Stay tuned folks!

I run a build that looks like this (gear is similar but not spot on, I have more health and less precision but I might move that around).

http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fEAQJAoYhMmYbuR5gjEAkCmEUIACjCiUeMDP2A;ToAAzCoo+y8l4L7XuvkfNEYSA

The idea is to be too mobile to get hit most the time, and when you are hit you have an aura on and protection up. You’ll still have to switch to water and step back every now and then but the down time isn’t bad.

In an ideal world, I usually open with Ride the Lightning into Updraft and while Updraft is going off I put on my Shocking Aura. Then, depending on the situation I would go to fire and Burning Speed into the other side of the enemy, followed by a roll for an instant fire grab, Dragon’s Breath to light them up and use Signet of Air during the channel to gain another aura and my endurance filled up. Fire Grab using your skill, throw down a Ring of Fire and switch to earth and Magnetic Grasp to get another fire aura. Dodge roll and get a minor churning earth, then kite and apply bleeds until you’re ready to use Earthquake followed by Churning Earth. While Churning Earth is being channeled you switch to water to cleanse your conditions and apply Frost Aura (still during the channel). Afterwards dodge for a free cleansing wave then play defensively as you fill your HP pool back up, throwing out Vapor Blades to apply some vulnerability stacks. If burning comes off at any time or if you need more endurance, cast Signet of Fire.

Of course that’s all an ideal circumstance, no elementalist using D/D can play with a formula of skill usage, it has to be on the spot decisions. It’s not an easy build and requires a lot of skill. Look as you might you won’t find an easy D/D build since it’s such a high risk type of play style.

Just an overview of why I chose what I chose. Since I don’t have a lot of healing and depend on protection for a lot of damage reduction with my auras, I put toughness into my gear. This leads to me needing condition cleansing or else certain mobs would drop me fast, but water has that all covered with 10 easy points.
I try to put a lot of condition damage in since currently that’s where a lot of D/D’s long term damage lies right now and allows you to switch attunements without losing much damage output.
There’s three signets available to both fill up your endurance for more rolling which gives you more damage and survivability and more auras to show up to give you protection. Mistform is great for D/D as it gets you out of those “Oh kitten” moments. The Glyph of Elementals is just the best elite available, as much as I like the other two. I tried Tornado and it does have its good parts but usually it takes away too much maneuverability to be viable.
The 30% burning chance on crit can be changed if you’d like, but I personally found it was a good way to justify getting some extra precision. I tried getting Zephyr’s Boon from 10 points in air, but you just really can’t sacrifice the points from anywhere else without losing your survivability or losing the amazing Evasive Arcana.

tldr;
http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fEAQJAoYhMmYbuR5gjEAkCmEUIACjCiUeMDP2A;ToAAzCoo+y8l4L7XuvkfNEYSA
Apply auras for protection.
Apply conditions for damage.
Roll to stay mobile, alive, and deal damage.
Use signets to give auras and endurance.