Guild Wars 2

An idea I had for Geomancer’s Freedom was to take the name literally to it’s effect and to improve utility and survival, thus removing more pressure to go into water. If I had it my way, the trait would be something like this:

“Attuning to earth will remove crowd control effects like immobilized, cripple and chill.” (This would be very strong in pvp, maybe even too strong. So it will prob even get a cooldown on top of it.)

A simple 33% less duration isn’t good enough compared to other earth traits, making this one (afaik) not so popular. Of course in an ideal world all traits would be good and you’d have a hard time choosing traits in general…

I was thinking if maybe dragon’s tooth could work “better” if it acts something like a hovering ability that can be recast to make it strike the opponent. For example:

- A dragon tooth formation is occuring above the target, hovering and following it for 3 seconds. This ability may be cast again to instantly drop the formation on the target or after the timer has run out. (I’m not sure if the damage should be adjusted to how long you have waited to activate it or not. Like, full duration is max damage potential etc)
- A different version: You charge up a dragon tooth formation, this charge will remain with you for (x) seconds. You may recast this ability to instantly launch a dragon tooth to the target. (Of course the damage could be balanced around this and maybe play around with the cooldown of the ability for not using it, else you could just keep running around with a charged dragon tooth.)

Nothing wrong with dreaming You’re also quite the dreamer yourself it seems :p

I can go on with more ideas on how to make some traits more interesting, but so do many others and there have been countless of topics about it. It’s just that, in my opinion, traits should give you the feeling of a dilemma. With this I mean that the player should have a difficult time choosing between traits because they all are equally interesting, yet different. Which is not the case with quite a few of our traits. That’s also a reason why I think combining these weapon traits is something Anet should think about, because this way it actually opens the opportunity for more trait designs and builds.

Earth is indeed one of the better trait lines regarding design (there are still a few which could use some work imo, like geomancer’s freedom and alacrity in general) but sadly conditions aren’t our strongest point, which points out to the synergy problem you and many others have mentioned before.

A few ideas I had for traits to make conditions more interesting for elementalists in particular were something like this:
- Biting Cold: Applying chill now causes the target to suffer from damage over the duration of the chill effect. (Something along the lines of the necro fear trait. Since chill and burning are specific ele conditions)
Fire traits:
- Tormenting Fire: Burning lasts 33% longer and inflicts a stack of Torment every time it ticks.
- Pyrophobia: Burning causes Fear for 1 second if it damages target under 50% health. (Can only occur to the same target every 30 sec.)

Chill and Burn are our main conditions, even the runes say so, so why not make traits around it that can bring some interesting condition builds? I know fear and torment aren’t our conditions, but of all the conditions out there, I think that these can fit inside the fire trait line, especially since fire is the only condition we can do in fire, making it easely cleansable. (Unless we get a trait to make cleansing fire harder or even punishing. But I’m not sure if that is unbalanced or not)

But we’re going slightly off topic here :p

I’m thinking about this for quite some time and I was wondering if anyone was thinking the same thing regarding the 3 arcane traits:
- Windborne Dagger
- Vigorous Scepter
- Blasting Staff

Although there is nothing wrong with them, I’m just wondering if it isn’t better to combine them into a single trait, granting 2 extra spots for new arcane traits. Because the way they are designed now, it kinda feels like a bit lazy and a way to fill up some trait spots. An example of the combined trait could be something like:

- Arcane Weaponry: You move faster while wielding a dagger, endurance recharges faster while wielding a scepter and your area attacks with staff are larger.

I know that with this example you can combine scepter and dagger bonuses, so I’m not sure if that needs some balancing or not. (Like: dagger bonus only given to main hand) Any thoughts or opinions about this subject?

I often like to play around with possible new ele traits, changes etc… and an idea of mine was to have a trait in the arcane line where elementals would have extra health and spawn a field on death, for example:

- Empowered Elementals: (New) Increases the health and armor of all your elementals and creates a field on death or expirement. Lava Font/Ring of Rire, (Static field? would be OP though, but i don’t know anything else), Ice Field, Muddy Field(?)

Also on a side note, I would personally combine all those weapon traits (dagger, scepter and staff) in arcane into 1 trait, opening slots for new traits. Because imo, they are just filler traits when they are apart like it is atm.

Well, replacing our attunements would never happen (I think), since the elementalist is all about our attunements That would be changing the core of our profession. Engineers are all about weapons and weapon kits, that is why I think it could be better if our conjured weapons are moved and merged into our own unique weapon swap. This will show on our character window as an elemental weapon icon that, when moving with your mouse icon over it, will display the 4 conjured weapons. And weapon swapping will let you equip a conjured weapon depending on the attunement

The Alacrity thing is suggested for every attunement. This to grant the option for still having some faster attunement recharge time without having to spend points in Arcane. If it will stack with arcane, I’m not sure, it could be a bit too much but on the other hand, players will need to sacrifice a trait slot for this and it is only affecting a specific attunement.

Thanks for the reply though

Again, I am not claiming to be an expert on balance nor do I claim that these suggested ideas are how the elementalist should be like, this is merely for giving food for thought and creative and fun purposes to make our profession more fun.

Thanks for reading through this huge list of suggestions and walls of text. (If you did)
and let me know what you think. I am open for suggestions and for a civil and mature conversation!

Skills:

Glyph of Elemental Power: Increase the chance to inflict conditions to either a full 100% (but reduce the duration to 10 seconds.) or simply increase the chance in general. Utility slots shouldn’t be gamble skills that we aren’t sure of will actually give results.

Glyph of Storms: Make every storm variation inflict conditions and constantly damage targets in it’s area. (With the damage adjusted of course). The reason this isn’t picked, except for Sand storm, was because it’s unreliable and other utilities are better.

Ride the Lightning: Make the cooldown in the PvE world back to 20 seconds, there is no reason for the pvp utility nerfs to affect the huge pve open worlds. Maybe even make the pvp cooldown to 30 seconds and reduce it by 10 on hitting a target.

Lightning Surge: Apply the blind while charging this skill.

Focus Skills: Reduce the cooldown on Fire Shield and increase the damage and lenght of Flame Wall. Maybe even reduce the cooldown of Gale to 40 seconds, equal to Updraft.

Earth

5) Geomancer’s Attunement: Attunement swapping grants 2 seconds of protection to yourself and allies. (5 sec CD)

- Serrated Stones: 30% to bleed on crit + Bleeds you apply last 20% longer
- Signet Mastery: Signets recharge 20% faster and are instant.

- Geomancer’s Freedom: When attuning to earth, remove crippled, immobilize and chilled effects.(30 sec cooldown – when it actually removes something)
- Rock Solid: Grant 3 sec of stability when attuning to earth.
- Geomancer’s Alacricity: Earth skills recharge 20% faster. Earth attunement recharges 20% faster.

25) One with Earth: For each 3 seconds you stay in earth, you convert 1% of your power into condition damage. Up to a maximum of 5%

- Diamond Skin: Increases toughness by 10% and converts 5% of your toughness into condition damage.

I always felt that earth wasn’t a bad build, but fell out because wasn’t good enough compared to other builds. These changes were done to grant Earth the reputation it deserves, a bulky and bleeding trait line. Many of these changes were also based on removing pressure to put points in water or arcane. The change to Diamond Skin was to make up for the loss of toughness from the 5 pointer. I do realise it’s alot more
toughness, but at least the earth trait line deserves this since we are squishy beings.

Water

5) Hydromancer’s Attunement: Attunement swapping grants 2 secs of regeneration to yourself and allies. (5 sec CD.)

- Drop and Roll (Old effects removed and switched with arcane debatement): Take 50% less damage from falling and create a spell based on attunement.
- Piercing shards: 20% more damage to vurnerable foes while in water. 5% while not in water.

- Aquamancers Alacrity: Water skills recharge 20% faster. Attunement recharges 20% faster.
- Biting Cold: Chilled effects also cause damage and last 33% longer.

25) One with Water: Regenerate health to yourself and allies while attuned to water. this effect becomes stronger by 10% for every 3 seconds you stay in water. Up to a maximum of 50%

Drop and Roll; I felt that this trait suited alot better for a fall damage reduction trait, I mean, the name said it all. I also moved this to Adept to grant easy and early access for fall damage reduction, like many other professions have. Piercing Shards was slightly changed to promote some synergy between other trait lines.
The biggest change is Biting Cold, I couldn’t help but feel Elementalists, a profession who’s best conditions are burning and chill (look at our runes), deserved a special trait like this one. Just like the Necromancers have this trait for Fear, we now have one for Chill, creating more unique builds combinations.

Arcane

- Arcane weaponry: Increases movement speed by 15% while wielding a dagger in main hand, Endurance recharges faster while wielding a scepter, and area attacks with a staff are larger.
- Master Conjuring: Reduces the cooldown of swapping to your elemental weapon by 5 seconds.

- Arcane Retribution: When taking damage greater 10% of your health, you damage and daze the target for 1 second. (30 seconds cooldown)
- Inscription: Grants a boon associated with your current attunement when casting a glyph.
- Empowered Elementals: Increases the health and armor of all your elementals and creates a field on death/expirement. Fire elemental: Lava font. Air elemental: Discharge field (small damage and vulnerability finishers, like the aetherblades) Earth: Muddy Field. Ice: Ice field.

25) Arcane Precision: Instead of being blocked, your skills will do none critical damage to blocking enemies.

Arcane has changed alot to remove the pressure for having to spend points in this trait line. But I did not want this to become a useless trait line either.
Arcane Weaponry was changed because I felt it was more logical to have 1 trait for all these weapon based bonuses. Now we have more slots open for new traits.
Master conjuring is a supporting trait for Conjured Weapons as our unique own weapon swap and Inscription was moved because I felt it belonged in Arcane better due it’s passive boon duration and to create more build variations.
The new trait Empowered Elementals was something we needed a long time ago in my opinion. Our elementals are a big part to us, they are a utility and an elite skill after all. Yet they did not feel that strong and died really easely, that is the reason why this trait makes them bulkier.
The 25 pointer was changed because conditions weren’t a thing for Arcane, Arcane is different and unique. And I felt that this change could be exactly
that one unique thing. Even though buffing the old 25 pointer to 60%, it isn’t meant for Arcane in my opinion.

Traits:

Fire

5) Pyromancer’s Attunement: Attunement swapping grants a stack of might to yourself and allies for 2 seconds. (5 sec CD)

- Lava Tomb: You also go down slower by attacking. -or/and- make the lava font bigger and last longer.
- Fire’s Embrace:Signet activation causes a fiery shield + grants vigor when you cause burning (or restores 5% endurance if a target takes burning damage 0.5sec cd
- Ember’s Might: Aura’s grant might and shifting to fire attunement converts any burning effect to a stack of might
- Burning Precision: 30% to cause burning on a crit + increases your chance to critical hit on burning foes by 5%.

- Pyromancer’s Alacrity: Fire skills and Fire attunement recharge 20% faster.
- Burning Fire: Burning lasts 33% longer and inflicts a stack of Torment every time it ticks.
- Pyrophobia: Causes Fear for 1 second if a target under 50% health takes burning damage. (Can only occur to the same target every 30 sec.)
- Burning Rage: Increases damage done to a target by 2% for every unique condition the target suffers from.

25) One with fire: For every 3 seconds you stay in Fire, you reduce the active cooldowns of your Fire skills by 10%.

- Pyromancer’s Puissance: Fire spells grant might for 20 seconds.

All these changes for fire were to make the entire Fire trait line more attractive and worthy of it’s name. Elementalists were also originally meant to be a hybrid between power and condition damage if I remember correctly, therefor I promoted a couple of condition
traits in Fire. I do realise that Torment and Fear aren’t Elementalist conditions. But of all the conditions out there, I do believe that these two are allowed for Fire in a logical and not broken way. Fire is about burning and hitting hard, then let it be a playstyle around it.

Air

5) Aeromancer’s Attunement: Attunement swapping grants 2 seconds of swiftness to yourself and allies. (5 sec CD)

• Quick Glyphs:* Glyphs are instant and recharge 20% faster.
• Weakening Light:* Applying blind also inflicts weakness. ( 3 seconds )

VIII: Zephyr’s Focus: Channeled skills channel 20% faster and endurance charges 50% faster while channeling. *

25) One with Air: You have a 50% chance to cause vulnerability with a critical strike, this chance goes up by 10% for each 3 seconds you are in air.

I already thought Air was fine the way it is right now, but I did feel some traits weren’t that good compared to others, so I changed a couple of them to make other builds more attractive, like glyph builds. And promoting scepter with it’s channeling and blinds.

General information:

5 Pointers: These are huge changes and the reason for these changes is that the Elemental Attunement trait in arcane is removed. The reason for this change is to reduce the pressure to spend points in the arcane trait line without feeling rusty. If you have all of the four 5 pointers you will gain all the boons on a single attunement swap, but these bonusses will be on a small cooldown. I do realise that this is
slightly uncontrollable and chaotic. But I’m open for suggestions.

Alacrity: I understand that this might feel too strong but the reason for this is, again, to reduce the pressure for players having to spend points in arcane. This trait is specifically made to grant some attunement cooldown reduction for your favourite element. If you do choose to combine this with arcane then realise that players sacrificed other traits for this playstyle.

25 pointers: I changed these because I felt elementalists could use something that promotes staying a little longer inside one element, even though we still need to swap all the time.

My changes were based on the idea to make unpopular builds more attractive and removing the pressure on having to spend points in Arcane or Water for survival and utility. I also wanted to improve the synergy between the Trait lines for not making the most changed bound to only one attunement. Alot of my inspiration for the following ideas also come from the trait names themselves.

General information:

5 Pointers: These are huge changes and the reason for these changes is that the Elemental Attunement trait in arcane is removed. The reason for this change is to reduce the pressure to spend points in the arcane trait line without feeling rusty. If you have all of the four 5 pointers you will gain all the boons on a single attunement swap, but these bonusses will be on a small cooldown. I do realise that this is
slightly uncontrollable and chaotic. But I’m open for suggestions.

Alacrity: I understand that this might feel too strong but the reason for this is, again, to reduce the pressure for players having to spend points in arcane. This trait is specifically made to grant some attunement cooldown reduction for your favourite element. If you do choose to combine this with arcane then realise that players sacrificed other traits for this playstyle.

25 pointers: I changed these because I felt elementalists could use something that promotes staying a little longer inside one element, even though we still need to swap all the time.

My changes were based on the idea to make unpopular builds more attractive and removing the pressure on having to spend points in Arcane or Water for survival and utility. I also wanted to improve the synergy between the Trait lines for not making the most changed bound to only one attunement. Alot of my inspiration for the following ideas also come from the trait names themselves.

Conjured Weapons as our own unique weapon swap.

I came up with this idea because of the many topics and conversations I’ve seen talking about how elementalists have problems being stuck in melee or range during combat. For example dual daggers in a fight where it’s suicide to go close to a boss. Another reason is because conjured weapons weren’t the most popular kind of utility skills. To promote these skills and to solve our weapon swap problem without being overpowered, I figured that we could use these conjured weapons as our alternative weapon slots.

The way it works:

I have a couple of ideas on how this could work. The general idea is to grant us the ability to weapon swap. But not with an actual other weapon, instead we will swap to one of the conjured weapons depending on our attunement:
Fire – Flame Axe
Air – Lightning Hammer
Water – Frost Bow
Earth – Earth Shield
My first idea is that the conjured weapons won’t have any charges like they used to have. Now you can equip them as long as you like but have the same cooldown as weapon swap in general.
My second idea is that these conjured weapons have a duration instead of charges. In this duration you can swap as many times you like, afterwards they go on a mediocre cooldown.

On how the attribute bonuses will work, I’m not sure yet, I guess for balancing reasons they might need to be adjusted.

Fiery Greatsword

These changes will also affect our elite skill. This skill won’t be a weapon swap and still needs to be activated as it is now. Although activating it will also give a duration where you can swap in and out as many times you like. This will replace all the other conjured weapons during the duration of this elite skill.

Introduction:
Hello everyone, before you read my ideas I’d like you to keep in mind that this topic is not meant to be another “whine or cry” about the Elementalist profession post. This topic is purely made for ideas and to give food for thought. I’m also not claiming to be an expert on balancing because I am not.
The numbers used in the suggestions were guesses from my part and I’m open for changing them if seen unbalanced. I’m also not saying that this is how the Elementalist should be like, these are just ideas to make the profession more fun and solve some minor issues it has. If any of these ideas were already suggested by another person, my apologies, I also brainstormed on these and if by coincidence we have the same idea then I guess that great minds think alike ey?

I must warn you that this will be alot of stuff to read but I’ll try my best to make the best out of it.

The List will exist out of these sections:
- Conjured weapons as our own unique weapon swap
- General information about some global changes seen in the traits
- Traits
- Small changes to existing skills like glyphs

Quietly shed a tear when you fight against a stunlock warrior in spvp that can also auto regen 80% of your lightning whip damage as a bunker ele.

Get confused when you suddenly mistform in combat only to realise you suddenly died while smashing buttons and wasting your downed ability.

Seeing your LF go on cooldown without actually bringing you somewhere.

Giggling like a little girl when you updrafted someone from a ledge (and not dying yourself)

Running around panicking when your health is extremely low, smashing the water attunement button when it has 2 seconds left on cd (with all utilities on cd as well).

Noticing you’re the only ele in spvp for 5 matches minimum between at least 6 warriors and 4 necromancers spread over both sides.

Losing sight of your mouse cursor during combat and having the feeling your hand controlling the mouse is lost in the void.