Showing Posts For Eimi.4062:
I dunno what you’re asking, but slot a lightning hammer or earth shield if you want to go melee a lot in PvE. Glyph of storms (earth) helps too. Utilities can be swapped out at any time, so this works for any build.
Well in general with how squishy I seem as an ele. Since it seems I die in very few hits. So I want something that is comfortable to solo on. As for Guard I’ve thought about it, though I don’t like their greatsword compared to warrior’s, it doesn’t seem as active/fun.
Well I’ve been trying mesmer and warrior, and while I like them…I am still torn on what to play. Is there any build that has some utility in dungeons but can also lets me play solo without running around screaming “NOT IN THE FACE” the entire time?
So even though I currently I have Zerker’s jewelry but I think Knight armor, I should replace the armor?
Barring that I have thought about rerolling to War or Guard, Guard kind of feels(in terms of theme) like something I’d enjoy…but War has better performance.
…or at least this game
I’ve recently come back from trying this game out at launch, to find that the elementalist is basically in the same state it was, with Staff being a largely boring affair, with none of the skills being that satisfying, even dagger really only has Fire 5 that really packs a punch. I’ve tried a variety of builds with this class, but nothing seems to click; and solo things largely have a feeling of me being in a frantic race to reduce a mobs hp to 0 before mine hits that, particularly in Orr.
Like I said I’ve tried several staff and D/D builds, but they don’t click and all feel relatively samey to me. However is there a build I don’t know about that makes this class feel fun? Or at least more like a traditional mage in terms of power?
Barring that, I’ve tried thief, and did not like it for the same reason I’m meh about my ele, in that it’s very much a racing class only…more one button. What classes are able to easily take out mobs in Orr? Preferably while not being an autoattack snore fest.
Hello, since I hit 80 I’m in the process of refining the build I use and I thought I’d come to you guys for help. Currently I am running this http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQFAWhImIbpxzgjDAhHCwQCiCVUeMTM7A which is 30 Fire/10 Air/30 Arcane. I sort of have a soft spot for Arcane Blast, as it’s just that extra nudge of damage, though I do feel it is quite a bit weaker at 80 than it was leveling, but also Arcane Shield is probably my favorite defensive skill. I don’t feel Armor of Earth is that strong in PvE and I hate how you can’t cast in Mist Form. Beyond that our only usable elite is a glyph, and our best heal is, so it makes sense to at least get Quick Glyphs.
In general my goal is to try and be traditional mage, with damage being my focus, as who doesn’t like blowing things up? This is why I have the 30 in Fire, although I don’t particularly care over much for all in it. If I had to sac points anywhere it would be in Fire. With this build I am running Knights and Valkyrie’s gear to make up for the missing Toughness/Vit while still retaining power and crit. As for runes, mine are all a big mess right now since I don’t really know much about em.
Anyway any advice would be great, although I will say I want to stick with staff, as I don’t really feel like playing totally melee, and Scepter just didn’t click with me.
You really found the dungeons easy? I have only done storymodes thus far and have gotten very, very frustrated by some of them. While I don’t think they are the enjoyable kind of challenge, the mobs hit extremely hard, with very small tells, and in general its either easy or stupidly frustrating, with more pulls leaning on the latter. Perhaps because you have a full group of dedicated players? But still I wouldn’t call them cakewakes…
Fooling around with the human female int he character creator, I noticed that the only model with hips had little bust – it’s either/or.
I was also puzzled to see that two pairs of models were exactly identical in shape, but one of each pair had visible ribs when viewed with no armor, and the other did not.
Of course the game is a fantasy and there is no reason why the gamemakers or players should apologize for having characters who embody a particular fantasy image – but it’s weird that development money was spent on a difference that will never be seen during play, while no choice was provided of more realistic figures for those who want them.
I really hate that the ‘chubby’ human model is so flat. I still use that as I much prefer that body type to the normal ones, which look very skinny to me. I would like to at least have some bust though, if not at least equal the bust on the skinny super model. Of course I doubt it will ever get changed, but it’s a big complaint I have.
@Eimi:
You’re absolutely right about Air having no damage, but then, I’m noticing that Air tends to double as a “control” attunement. You use it when you need to blind or knock things thing around.As I indicated above, this thread is mainly devoted to “quality of life” suggestions and consistency for the Elementalist. Whilst some of the Elementalist’s skills may need to do more damage or have shorter cooldowns, I’m of the opinion that that judgment needs to be made on a “numbers pass” for the Elementalist — a forum post seriously comparing Elementalist DPS at 80 with other classes.
Yeah, Air does have control but that’s one of the blurbs Air attunement has. It is supposed to have heavy damage and control, while Fire is heavy damage and AoE iirc. Seeing Air be really high single target, like say Zeus from DOTA, would differentiate it from Fire which is all about the aoe.
@Shockwave:
Fire fields provide a lot more than burning.If combo’d, fire fields provide Area Might (3 stacks of it), Flame Shield (which, I feel, should provide Vigor), and Burning Bolts. You can get a lot out of them besides Burning.
I understand what you’re asking: you want Fire to provide conditions besides Burning.
My only counter-arguments are as follows:
- Other conditions are provided by other attunements (Air = Weakness, Blind; Earth = Crippled, Bleed; Ice = Vulnerable, Chilled). Fire is already our best DPS, for single targets AND groups — if you provide conditions, too, what incentive is there to swap attunements at all?
- Fire is pretty generous with boons, namely Vigor (provided by Phoenix and Heat Wave), Might (which is provided within Fire fields), and Fury (when attuning to Fire).
Yeah, it sucks that Fire can’t do everything. At the same time, it’s kinda GOOD that Fire can’t do everything. =)
I would say there are a few reasons fire is the primary for dps that should be looked it. Your changes do a lot to help bring Water up to par, but I think Air needs work too.
(This is pretty much for staff as it is my love.)
Fire, aside from having naturally higher numbers, is the only stance with two attacks on a low cooldown, and our best autoattack. Water has a great 2, even without the buffs you suggest, but Geyser is a mid cd, no damage spell, and Water’s autoattack is the worst on staff. Air (which is billed as our second damage attune) only has one skill that does damage, and while it’s auto is good if only two targets are in range, can be random, and is far worse than Fire on one target. So basically in my opinion Air and Water need some more damage spells, and at least for Water I would /adore/ if so of its underwater mechanics got brought on land. Flinging spheres and detonating, or ice walls that you explode are soo fun and very fitting for an ice mage. Air just needs focus and I am not quite sure how to get it to fit and be fun. Making it /only/ single target would be a neat fix. As for Earth, it needs help too, but Eruption is also one of the best skills staff has, so I don’t know what to add.
As for elites, I would love to see them scrapped and redesigned. And I would love to see a massive ‘blow up the world’ type spell as an elite. Huuuuge damage, but similarly huge cast time. Could be an arcane spell or a glyph. Would be a lot of fun. I just love Meteor/Pyroblast type spells though.
(edited by Eimi.4062)
I think a bigger problem is that the way weapon skills are designed. Traits are already set up to reward staying in one attunement (possibly not enough) but they still want you to stay in one or two attunements. The problem is that very very very few of our weapon skills can stand on their own.
Fire staff is an example of a set that stands on its own, fully capable of being used as a sole attunement while leveling. Compare it to the other staff attunes, Air being particularly bad (‘Damage’ based attune only having two skills that actually deal damage), but Water and Earth are not based as attunements that you wish to sit in a long time. Situational effects and large cooldowns limit you use of them.
So pretty much weapon skills must be changed to stand on their own before people will consider limiting their access. With all our cooldowns and limited damaging abilities, we have to utilize everything we have. Change that and we will consider just sitting in one stance.
Just yeah, for referance,
Fire:
2: 6
3:10
4:20
5:30
Water:
2:4
3:20(Healing only)
4:40(Chill only)
5:45(Regen and Condition remove)
Air:
2:10
3:30(Knockback only)
4:30(Swiftness and runspeed inhib remover)
5:40(Minor damage and stun if passing barrier)
Earth:
2:6
3:30(Reflect projectile)
4:30(Cripple only)
5:30
That is a lot of skills with no damage and only one effect on fairly hefty cooldowns.
(edited by Eimi.4062)
I would say that our minor traits need to be looked at, pretty much all of them but Arcane and Water are very mediocre.
Just comparing the Ele and Thief minor traits together (since I have experience with Thief, no other reason,) the Thief traits all tend to synergize and give each trait line a playstyle goal. Deadly Arts rewards you debuffing, specifically poison, and gives you an active way to apply poison. Shadow arts rewards you going into Stealth, very heavily with two stacks of might at the end. Seeing the Ele traits based around a logical goal instead of just (rarely) useful buff in attunement, very bad damage when attuning, random buff.
I like how ‘active’ Ele is, versus thief. I like pressing more than one or two skills, but yes the damage output is just really low. And from a feel standpoint, never on my ele do I feel as if I am a master of the elements. I feel like an apprentice who stole a spellbook and staff, and is desperately trying to use everything I know to kill an angry rabbit.
I feel the reason I prefer Fire more is that it’s cooldowns are more balanced, especially on the Staff. Fire is the only one with it’s two main attacks being at 10~s cd, so they are up often. Every other element is full of massive cd abilities that don’t really reward you for being in that stance. None of our autoattacks are particularly impressive, so it only makes sense to switch back to the stance that actually lets you do things 70% of the time.
Simply rebalance the skills and cooldowns on other attunes to let them be fun and interesting to use, and you will see people not sit in fire all the time.
Edit: As an example, look at Water Attune. 2 is fine, the cd is low, damage is okay, it’s a skill you use a lot with great utility. I would say 5 is also of the right power. It’s a long cd, but aoe condition curing is great. 3 and 4 are the biggest problems. Geyser’s heal is very small, it’s main use is to spam a blast finisher in for a real heal. It also only provides utility in that minor healing. Yet it is on a 20s cd. Frozen Ground is the same way, a no damage, though it is aoe, Chill, on a 40s cd! There is a place for damageless utility to be sure, but the Rain Storm gets it right by feeling very powerful, while Frozen Ground and Geyser are less so. And as has been mentioned, Air with all weapons needs help. It certainly doesn’t have damage, like it says it should, with Air in staff having just as few damage spells as water does.
(edited by Eimi.4062)
I really kinda wonder why the elementalist is missing some big cast time, huge burst type skill. It’d be sweet to have an elite that unleashes a massive single target spell determined by your attunement. Something like Ancient Magic in FFXI. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU5erJB3-To
Granted it’d be nice if Ele had any damage at all, but yeah.
I’m kinda counter on your opinion on the staff. The only attunement that actually feels right on staff to me is Fire. But granted I’d like to see every attunement viable as a ‘home’ attunement. Fire is the only one with semi low cds that allow for interesting gameplay. The other staff abilities suffer from horrendous cds. It’d be nice if 2 and 3 were in the 10-15s cd range or under of course, and 4-5 were the big ticket items of the attunement, Meteor Swarm and Healing Rain fit that great.
But again I feel a big issue is that for Ele our weapons are only 1/4 of a weapon, since we have attunements. Our weapon skills in an attunement should be changed to be able to just sit in one attune, rather than /needing/ everything to play, making using all your spells an option rather than the only route.