Throwing in my 2 cents;
I think the best summary for Tempest is it feels better than it looks. The more I played it, the more I fell in love with how it functions, despite it looking rather lackluster at first glance.
Overloads
Air and Fire feel in a fairly good place, Earth feels a little weak (but I’m also still getting used to it, so can’t speak too certainly), and Water feels distinctly underwhelming of the 4 (partially due to the low tick rate). The fact Fresh Air doesn’t work on the cooldown while still in Air is disappointing, but fairly understandable given the effectiveness of the overload.
Warhorn
Fire 4: while certainly being useful, just feels sort of underwhelming. Would be nice if it transferred the boons that Elementalists reliably generate (stuff like regen/might/prot/swiftness, maybe fury) instead of just might.
Fire 5: just takes too kitten long to extend for how long it lasts. Unless the enemy was perfectly stationary (Something that really doesn’t/shouldn’t happen in GW2) they will have usually moved on by the time the fire field is in place.
Water 4: throws me off with how the hitbox fits with its visuals (hitbox is smaller and animation seems to run notably past when hitbox is active).
Water 5: feels solid and gives a much needed water combo field for non-staff Tempests.
Air 4: needs a faster speed, as it is fairly easy to dodge with just normal movement despite its fairly short range.
Air 5: I’d like if the orb itself also did something (instead of just firing projectiles) to get it closer to the original lightning orb and to give an extra bonus for good targeting on it.
Earth 4: feels sort of overloaded (having basically all of the useful things you can get out of earth in a single skill), but also feels like it NEEDS that overloading to compete with stuff like Obsidian Flesh for a front liner.
Earth 5: really just not sure where the hitbox is post cast, as the visuals are hard to see in any active fight.
Traits
The biggest issue I see right now is that Harmonious Conduit still feels required, because the stability stack and bonus damage just do so much to make overloading safer and a bigger payoff. Running Tempest without intending to use overloads brings up the question of why use Tempest in the first place, since it is so heavily geared toward them.
The Grandmaster traits all seem like they would be useful for different builds, though I find myself being a big fan of Elemental Bastion when combined with Unstable Conduit.
Latent Vigor feels incredibly out of place, since it is the only trait in Tempest that relies on a specific element and ONLY interacts with that specific element. It seems like a Water Adept trait that got lost before squatting in a Tempest Adept spot.
Shouts
The heal is usable, though I have a feeling I’ll be using Arcane Brilliance and a water field to heal my team more often (as the blast finisher on AB provides more utility outside of just healing as well).
Feel the Burn: Very happy about having a short cooldown aura provider with no cast time. Works great with Elemental Bastion without the damage being overwhelming for its CD/cast time.
Flash Freeze: Had a few issues making it land, might need a slightly longer chill application to make up for the low damage.
Eye of the Storm: Without a ton of team coordination, this ability feels sort of meh. There are better personal stun breaks, and the radius means you have to be the on same page as the rest of your team to help out.
Shock and Aftershock: Great effects, but the CD is massive. As opposed to the other shouts, Magnetic Aura (as with all projectile reflects) needs specific timing, which will usually NOT be when you need the immobilize. As such, definitely feel like I’m wasting half the skill usually.
Rebound: Honestly, it feels more like a “I want x aura 5 seconds from now” then “i want this rebound-heal thing going”. This isn’t inherently bad, but 75 seconds for an aura of your choice 5 seconds later is pretty lackluster (especially for an elite).
Animations
[As Human Male] Better than the previous iterations (particularly water), but still feel a little off. Fire is definitely my least favorite, though it does make sense for the visual effects.
(edited by Delam.7328)