Guild Wars 2

So, let’s look at D/D and count the single target skills…

Fire:
1- single
2- area
3- area
4- area
5- area

Water:
1- area (sort of)
2- area
3- area
4- aura, doesn’t count
5- area heal/cure

Air:
1- single
2- single
3- aura, doesn’t count
4- area
5- area

Earth:
1- single
2- area
3- single, but useful for setting up area attacks
4- area
5- area

So… with D/D, a questionable 4/20 skills are single target. What were you saying about dagger being single target focused?

All this is true in sPvP. That said, Sylvari PvE/W3 elite skills are great. The plant turret skill is tremendously useful if not overpowered. In sPvP, though, I have enjoyed using the Fiery Greatsword. It seems to work pretty well.

I’ve been considering D/F for sPvP, not so much for PvE. The defensive abilities add a lot, whereas the offhand dagger skills are of questionable utility in sPvP. RTL is buggy, Churning Earth is easily interrupted/dodged and makes you vulnerable, Frost Aura is questionably useful, Fire Grab has problems with targeting, etc., etc. You lose Ring of Fire, Updraft, and Earthquake, but gain some really awesome defensive abilities.

Cure 3 conditions and reflect projectiles on a 25 second cooldown instead of one condition with a small heal on a 40 second cooldown? Yes, please. Invulnerability? Sure! Knockdown, projectile destruction, fire aura, ranged chill? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. These are all great options for sPvP.

Now unless you’re having lots of difficulty with PvE content, the D/D skills seem to serve you better. It’s easy to pull off RTL or Churning Earth, and Frost Aura may matter more when you’re trying to escape from creatures instead of players. Kiting isn’t very useful for a D mainhand in sPvP. You need to be close to do damage. The opposite is sometimes true for PvE, where getting away often takes priority.

D/D seems like it would be good for intercepting reinforcements or roaming around the secondary objectives. This build is really tough and damaging in small fights. No two people are not on fire. Just pretend that the amulet is actually W3 gear of a similar focus.

I ran this build last night to GREAT success. It’s somewhat of a bunker build, but it does have a good deal of precision and condition damage. The rune of earth potentially compliments the aura build VERY well, but I haven’t tested whether or not it triggers fury/swiftness/protection (Air I, Earth V).

I don’t remember my sigils, exactly. Would two sigils of purity have separate cooldowns? If not, the sigil of earth is there to add conditions to them constantly, which is essential for making sure they don’t cure everything.

Your HP is low (11k), but you’re a brick wall. Your toughness is around 3,000, and you’re probably always under protection from auras (Earth V) and Rune of Earth. Additionally, Armor of Earth will pop at 50%, and Magnetic Aura will pop at 20% (Rune of Earth). Crits will also variously inflict burning/bleeding and/or cure your own statuses.

But you’re no offensive pushover, either. You have >1300 condition damage, and, as stated, your crits have a chance to add burning and bleeding. You will almost always be under Fury and Swiftness, since you’ll gain Fire Shield every time you cast a Signet (Air I, Fire IX). The Signets also inflict MORE statuses, making it harder for your enemy to cure everything.

I had two main issues running this build. First was in dealing with a ranger defending a choke point. Since you don’t have any cantrips, it can be hard to escape danger, but you can always switch to water. Also, Signet of Air/Earth dealt with them decently.

The second was in dealing with a necromancer. I’m not exactly sure what he did, but I got owned pretty badly. I think he used one of his wells which change boons into conditions and another which does the opposite. Regardless, ouch. I got hit by an enormous amount of bleeding, whereas he barely took a scratch and had a huge assortment of boons.

The only thing I’m considering changing about this spec is to switch to D/F. There are a number of great spells for dealing with projectiles or spikes of damage (Air 4, Earth 4/5). It also swaps Frost Aura — fairly useless — for fire aura, and it gives us a fire field to cast from a distance to use with Earth 3 for MORE fire aura. This mainly sacrifices Air 4/5 and Earth 4, which are a lot of fun, but THINK OF WHAT THIS GIVES YOU:

• Projectile reflection/cure 3 conditions (Earth 4)
• Invulnerability (Earth 5)
• Projectile destruction (Air 4)
• Knockdown (Air 5)
• Ranged chill (Water 4)
• Ranged daze (Water 5) (I admittedly don’t know how well this works or if it shares Scepter Fire 2’s problem)
• Fire Wall (Fire 4) (Use with Earth 3 for aura)
• More Fire Shield (Fire 5)

All of those are useful, though Fire 4 and Water 5 might be less so. I may try out this build tonight if I have time. The focus wouldn’t lose much offensive capacity, since most of your damage will come from bleed/burn, and it will give you defensive options for annoying ranged damage players and thieves (earth 4 and 5, respectively).

@ DiogoSilva

A warrior or mesmer might have single-target damage (I’ve only played mesmer to any significant degree), but most ele spells besides the spammables (1) are AoE, even with lightning. I’m getting pretty late into the story, and while I might not be able to down a single enemy very quickly, I can in fact down a large group of enemies with relative ease; I just have to have the right defensive skills available to be able to survive long enough to cast.

A sample D/D combo against a large group might be (using F/A/E/W to indicate element and # to indicate which skill) A4, A5, A3, E5, Arcane Shield, E4, E2, W3, W4, W2, F3, F4, F2, F5, and then proceed as needed from there. Every single skill in that combo has the potential to hit multiple targets, and D/D is the most focused damage weapon set you can get.

So no, I don’t think our damage is that low. Besides, running fire, I usually kill a single pretty quickly, anyhow, and I’m 71.

I have to agree with Drake. If you’re only using one element, you’re not playing the class properly. Many strong skills have long cooldowns. If you don’t change elements, you’re not taking advantage of the downtime between those skills.

You could just say “Ele is like playing Ninja Gaiden,” and then all the “Lol DARKNESS!!!” kids would run away screaming.

Pretty sure that you’re going to suffer 1v1 as a staff elementalist 100% of the time. The staff simply is not a 1v1-oriented weapon. Your best option is to give yourself some escape options so that you can regroup (we’re talking cantrips, mostly). Staff is a support weapon, and without a weapon swap, you’re going to be stuck in that for the duration of the match.

Weak at what? The only way in which we are potentially weak is in sPvP. PvE does not seem to need any changes. Even sPvP is debatable. How do you feel weak? If you’re playing staff while soloing, then you’re not playing to the strengths of your class. Staff is, quite obviously, a better choice for group play. D/D and S/D are much better options, but you’ll have to be quick with your fingers.

Aside from a few bug fixes and our downed skills, the main thing that needs changing is that people need to know that the Elementalist is HARD.

So as a result of the poll I created, I noticed a trend in that people who focused on damage statistics but used their utilities for survival were on the whole more satisfied with the performance of the class over those who had very little damage-dealing capacity. This trend exaggerates depending on the weapon.

For example, the difference between people wielding D/D with damage-centric statistics vs. D/D with survival statistics is nearly a point (5.24 vs. 4.35). This holds true for S/D and Staff with a less exaggerated but still pronounced gap. The numbers are still low (5.24 is hardly stellar on a 10 point scale), but they do show that the ability to deal substantial damage makes a difference.

If I filter based on those who rated 7-10, several more interesting trends emerge. Those who play D/D gave a damage focus high marks. If you play Staff, survival fared better. Thus, your statistical focus must match your weapon’s strengths. Staff works much better in a support role, where dagger works best when it is best able to kill things.

So what is all this talk of speccing totally 100% toughness/vitality? It doesn’t seem that the best people are really enjoying this sort of focus. In all honesty, I have fairly low sPvP HP (moderate toughness), but I don’t have a horrendous time surviving. I’m not even all that experienced at sPvP — I’ve done it for all of a day or two.

My thinking is that a lot of our survivability comes from the traits we choose. Arcane gives us arcane shield at 25%, earth gives us protection on our auras (see Fire IX in conjunction with Earth V, XII, and Air I). This can very quickly turn into a lot of defense without blowing our statistics on toughness/vitality.

What are some good trait-based options for defense if focusing on offense?

This build| may be a good supporting build that would significantly increase damage output for the party. Auras grant protection, fury, and swiftness, and you gain/give fire aura as often as you cast signets (aside from using auras on your own). Swap out Earth V for Earth II to make signets cast faster. This sacrifices protection for more damage.

I didn’t pick any skills or weapons for you. Just use this as a base.

Obviously you’re not a pro, nor are you claiming to be (nor am I), so I won’t comment on things you could have done differently. I did notice, however, that flaming kick missed pretty frequently, which is unfortunate. I like how it works now in theory, but in practice, it tends to miss a lot. This is true in PvE, too, especially with faster creatures.

There are now a good number of responses (>100). If you’re interested in seeing the statistics themselves, be sure to check the live results. The tabs at the bottom display the information divided by a number of different factors.

On the whole, people seem satisfied with PvE and WvWvW. There are not yet sufficient responses to justify making too many conclusions from the data (go take the poll if you haven’t!), but they might suggest one thing or another. Here is a list of emerging trends I have observed specifically regarding sPvP:

• People who play the same weapon in PvE and sPvP tend to have a higher satisfaction rating in both.
• There is a marked difference in satisfaction between those who switch frequently vs. occasionally.
• Focus is highly underused. Out of 123 current responses, only 10 used focus whatsoever. There are 5 possible weapon combinations, 2 of which involve focus. That means there should be an expected ~50 people using a focus.

The first point leads me to believe that familiarity with each weapon’s mechanics dramatically influences satisfaction. The ability to recognize how the skills work together will lead to a more satisfying experience.

The second point makes me wish that I had set up the survey differently to where people could rate their attunement change frequency from 1-5. There is already significant stratification between the two responses (frequently vs. occasionally). This further reinforces the idea that one needs to understand the weapon he is using to have a satisfying experience.

The last point leads me to believe that people are bringing their own expectations to the class without actually exploring its potential. Dagger/Focus scored highest of any weapon combination in sPvP, though without sufficient responses to justify making a conclusion.

The same mindset which pigeonholes us into certain weapon specs probably also affects the degree to which we are able to function with the specs we choose. As a number of people have indicated, they want to play an ele to be a “glass cannon.” But the elementalist is about balance, hence the four elements. If we view the elementalist purely as a glass cannon, I believe we are forcing a square peg into a round hole.

Therefore, I believe that if you find your elementalist unsatisfying, you should reevaluate what you want from your class. If you view him as a damage class, you should be playing a thief, instead. Certainly damage is one of our primary functions, but pure damage is only fire spec, which is 25% of our class. We also have significant crowd control, mobility, healing, and defense options just within our weapon skills, to say nothing of utilities.

Anyhow, keep filling out the survey if you haven’t yet, and perhaps more trends will emerge. It only takes a brief moment.

Even so, we might be able to identify this through the statistics.

This is the spec I will eventually use. I enjoy it in sPvP with moderate success. Note the synergy. Fire IX will give you an aura every time you use a signet. This results in 3 seconds of protection and 5 seconds of swiftness and fury every time you use a signet or aura. You have 3 signets and 2 auras, meaning 15 seconds of protection and 25 seconds of fury and swiftness. That’s almost enough to sustain indefinitely if you were to use all skills as they come available. Your crit chance will be high enough to ensure you inflict burning often.

The final 10 points can go to arcane, water, or fire. In this example, I used arcane. Arcane III, IV, V, VI, Water II, V, and Fire XII are all decent options for the last trait.

Interesting results so far on the poll, but not enough to say much other than that there is surprisingly little variety in weapon choice. With 19 responses so far, not one has used focus in the offhand. Are these skills underdeveloped?

Much more data needs to come in, but it appears that daggers fare best, scepters are next, and staves are lowest. WvWvW is obviously an exception to this.

Please be sure to check out the statistics on the pivot tables, as they’re going to be the most interesting portion of the live results.

Hi everyone,

First of all, please take the following poll in order to help us understand what, if anything, truly plagues elementalists. Let me know if it’s not working.

Poll

Live results

EDIT: I’ve added pivot tables which give an analysis of each of PvE, sPvP, and WvWvW according to your spec.

While results come in on this, I already managed to come across another poll which received over 2000 responses regarding class and satisfaction in PvE, sPvP, and WvWvW. The elementalist fared relatively poorly, but I want to point out some statistics I managed to pull from that spreadsheet via pivot table.

The results I list below come from the poll listed here.

Satisfaction in PvE (descending order, scale of 1-10):

Guardian: 8.27
Warrior: 8.19
Ranger: 7.97
Thief: 7.81
Engineer: 7.60
Mesmer: 7.27
Elementalist: 7.25
Necromancer: 7.00

Satisfaction in sPvP:
Mesmer: 8.57
Thief: 8.14
Guardian: 7.88
Warrior: 7.39
Ranger: 7.35
Engineer: 7.00
Necromancer: 6.35
Elementalist: 5.58

Satisfaction in WvW:
Mesmer: 7.29
Ranger: 7.26
Elementalist: 7.12
Engineer: 7.10
Thief: 6.93
Warrior: 6.77
Guardian: 6.66
Necromancer: 6.37

Some observations on the data. In PvE there is a CLEAR stratification in terms of satisfaction, and I will offer to you that there is a simple way of explaining this: natural survivability. The soldier classes live longer by their very natures, followed by the adventurers, with scholars in last place.

My proposed solution is simply to focus on survivability if you’re having a hard time. If you’re struggling with a damage-centric build, BUY TOUGHNESS/VITALITY/HEALING GEAR. If you’re still having a difficult time, come back here. Maybe you have a reason to complain.

More interestingly, in sPvP, elementalists FAILED HARD, whereas in WvWvW, ele came in 3rd. This requires more thought to explain, and I will hazard a hypothesis. In sPvP, the expectations people have for their class differ dramatically from what the situation requires of them.

With wizard-esque classes, people probably expect to sit back and blast from a distance. When you have a wall of flesh between you and the enemy in WvWvW, this works. In sPvP, you have to be okay with some guy going up in your face. You have to have a contingency plan. Scepter/staff skills aren’t particularly suited to this, in my opinion (scepter more than staff, perhaps).

Adopting an approach that focuses more on close combat or freedom of movement, one might find that things ease up quite a bit. If anyone cares to offer their own explanations of what might be occurring, please feel free to speak up. Also, I will provide further commentary once results come back from the other poll.

I started as ele without hearing anything about it being underpowered; I just wanted to play an ele. As I’ve gone through the game, I have found that I love the class. I haven’t done a significant amount of PvP, but in 1v1 I do well. PvE, I can handle quite a lot.

PvE, I play as D/D, with a focus on sheer damage. I haven’t taken a lot of time to min/max, but I get by handily. That said, it requires a lot of button mashing and knowledge of the class. I find that to be a lot of fun, but I recognize that it’s not for everyone. Many of the people whom I know that play MMOs would not be able to play this class as it stands.

We can put this in very simple mathematical terms: elementalists are quantifiably 1.5-2x as complicated as any other class, perhaps more, if complexity scales with the number of available skills. In any setup, an ele has at least 25 skills available. This number can go up to a grand total of 41 skills if you (stupidly) took 4 weapon summons, but flaming greatsword is definitely one of our best elites, so we arguably have 29 skills (assuming it subtracts one skill from your hotbar while adding 5 more).

Other classes have far fewer skills. Mesmer has 19 if you count its shatters in the same way as a normal skill. Warrior has 16. 19/25 is about 4/5 of the way there, 16/25 is definitely more simple.

Despite the condescending tone of the original post, its message seems correct: the ele is not and should not be for everyone. It requires that you work with a much wider array of tools in order to thrive. Done well, it can be an impressive force. Done poorly, you might end up with your face in the dirt more often than makes you comfortable.

The ele is a hard class by design, but I do not believe it is underpowered. Giving it a buff would be a mistake and give an unnecessary edge to the people who can play the ele well already. The only thing I find to be a reasonable alternative is to give the class buffs in some areas and nerfs in others, but then I think the class would look and feel exactly like the other classes.

For me, the ele’s difficulty is a welcome challenge. There are still areas in which I know I can and should improve, but it’s tremendously better for me and others who enjoy this type of gaming than other more straightforward classes.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying a more straightforward class, and there are ways in which you can be a good gamer that don’t necessarily involve the same skillsets as those required to play ele. Please go play those classes if you are unsatisfied with the ele, because I would frankly be bored playing them, but this I find entertaining. Other people do, too. With actual variety in the classes, more people are able to find their class of choice, and that’s a good thing.