Showing Posts For ekn.6572:
This is from the link you directed us to. I am adding comments to this because here is where you specify exactly why you think such a change is necessary.
They need to fix the attunement system. It FORCES Anet to balance the Elementalist around the fact that (s)he can cast any of the 20 weapon skills at any given time. So if half the weapon skills are support (more like 75% with staff), then she is forced to become a support.
Maybe in leveling all four of your 80s, you missed out on a key point of the game.
Weapons have general focuses. Sure, sometimes they deviate (Scepter is normally cond dmg-based, except for Guardians, Mesmer GS is ranged), but in general there tends to be a consistent theme in each weapon type.
For all four of the classes that can use the staff (Guardian, Ele, Mesmer, Necro), the staff serves as a support weapon. If you’re playing with a staff you will only be using it to its max potential as a support weapon. This is has nothing to do with Attunements though, and I’m very confused as to why you brought it up.
Also, 75%?
Of the 20 skills on staff, there are four exclusively party-support skills:
W1 (pretty much anyway), W3, W5, A4
And 3 more that are high-utility tools that can help the group (and your own safety):
W4, A3, E4
That’s more like 20%.
35% if you’re counting the other three mobility/control skills.
Neglecting support skills to focus on dps at any given significant period of time means you are not playing your class to its full potential.
ANY class that neglects support in the right situation to dps is not playing their class to its full potential. Some classes have more support than others. I hate to break it to you, but the Elementalist has some of the best. Not utilizing this support is just not playing the class correctly.
Also, a HUGE amount of our support comes from our dps. Using the plethora of combo fields and the many blast finishers available to us is probably where the majority of our support comes from.
I’m terribly sorry that you not only can drop a Ring of Fire to damage and burn a group of foes, but that you also should drop a Phoenix in it, damaging them further, granting you vigor, clearing a condition and giving any allies by the RoF 3 stacks of might. Being able to support your team is such a pain!
I don’t want to HAVE to play support to play my Elementalist to its max…
Are you under the impression that full support is the only way to go for an Ele?
If I choose not to use most of my support skills as an Elementalist, I’m hampering my party output by more than half.
I really doubt you’re more than doubling the party’s DPS. I also am really confused as to why you lay such an incredible weight to your own support as though it is a bad thing.
All other professions can contribute support for 4-5 seconds every minute, and they’ll last. We have to circle jerk around our damage spells’s cooldowns and fiddle with support spells in the mean time.
“Fiddle with support spells”? Do you just spam S-W1? How else do you spend such an inordinate amount of time playing “support” that you feel the need to complain about it?
I’d much prefer only being able to use 2 attunements in any given combat period (as every class is stuck with their current 2 weapon sets in combat), but allowed a weapon swap.
You want to cut a major strength (versatility) of the Elementalist in half just because you don’t want to feel pressured into using another major strength (support) of the profession? I really don’t understand this at all.
The Elementalist is a support-heavy profession. I know I’m going to get a “we were told every class could perform every role!”-That doesn’t mean that some classes won’t bring more conditions, more buffs, more heals, more dps, or more survivability than others.
Honestly, after reading all of your complaints, it is apparent that the Elementalist just isn’t the profession for you.
Dixa-Please do more research before being so hostile.
Phantasmal Haste doesn’t work on two relatively useless phantasms (Mage and DE), one that’s not used for a
condition build (Swordsman), and underwater phantasm (Mariner), and a phantasm not used for its attack
(Defender).
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Phantasmal_Haste
It gives a 15% attack speed increase to everything else, and a 50% attack speed increase to Warden. With Phantasmal Haste and Sharper Images, one Warden can stack up to 12 bleeds every 6.6 seconds, plus considerable direct damage to all nearby enemies PLUS absorb or reflect projectiles if traited. The Warden has its own drawbacks, such as its almost non-existent mobility.
To the OP-
I found that I wasn’t able to efficiently level using a condition damage build until I was around 65. Around then I had access to a large amount of AoE conditions by using clone generation traits with staff + phantasm bleeds, taking advantage of clone overwriting counting as death for the AoE “Clones apply a condition on death”, and the “All shatters cause confusion” trait comes in handy when your main target is close to dead and you still have more to go. Having so many different ways to apply conditions makes you quite versatile.
And yes, I believe Sharper Images is crucial to a condition build for mesmers, and as Anxiety stated it is very useful for any farming build. It’s also only 15 points in the Precision + Crit Dmg line, which is a very nice stat combo either way you go.
Phantasms are extraordinarily fragile. They are one-shotted by pretty much any AoE.
Shatters synergize EXTREMELY well with phantasm builds. Why?
You pop one out, it manages to attack.
Do you risk letting it die before it can get its next cast off? Or do pop out a clone or two and shatter? If you let it live, will your opponent be alive by the time it can get another cast out?
Shatters allow Mesmers to choose HOW their phantasms go out. And trust me, those phantasms will be dying whether the Mesmer wants them to or not.
The illusion/shatter mechanic requires THOUGHT.
Instead of relying entirely on passive DPS and traits to buff this DPS, and then complaining when your very low health illusions die, THINK. If you shattered them instead of letting them die, you’d have dealt a very nice chunk of damage.
Furthermore, if you’re having trouble sustaining DPS without 3 phantasms out, you’re doing something wrong.
If you have a power build, your sword/GS does pretty decent DPS.
If you have a condition build, throw out more clones for Confusion/condition on death/staff clones.
While you wait for your phantasms to come off CD, throw out more clones and shatter them however you need.
Mesmer’s skills are highly situational.
Think about your situation, and act accordingly.