Guild Wars 2

Wow…brainburn…lol.
I play an ele as my primary. I also mainly do PvE, with a little PvP and WvWvW. Personally, I love my Ele. I usually run with a staff so I can have some decent damage spells under Fire Attunement while being able to heal my team mates with my water spells. After a profession class a few nights ago, I now see the need for being able to switch to Scepter/Dagger for certain situations, such as PvP or WvW. To my mind, I agree with the others here who have asked for the ability to switch weapon sets like the other professions. That way I can go from a direct damage skirmisher to a rear echelon Ao/Healer as needed.

As for comparing the Ele to something like a Warrior or Guardian…rubbish. Elementalists were never intended t be played like Warriors or Guardians. Same thing goes for comparing us to any other profession. The Elementalist was designed to be played as an Elementalist. Yes, we are squishy. No, we can’t take very many hits. Yes, we have low armor and hit points.

An Elementalist is a caster, not a tank. Sure, we can stand back and play glass cannon or bunker buster, but we are more useful when we are mobile. Strike and kite is a good example. We are not meant to wade into a melee and withstand a small nuke. Hit hard and move, stick and move. Kinda like a sniper…lol.

Beyond that, I would call attention to the history of caster classes in general. And I mean all the way back to PnP games like Dungeons and Dragons. Wizards start with crap for armor, a dagger or staff for weapons, and 1 to 4 HP plus Con mods. Its pretty much been that way ever since with the exception of specialized classes such as battle mages and certain other games that have tried to reinvent the wheel. The caster is not a tank but rather a controller. A decent caster in a team setting shouldn’t be trying for one-shots, rather he or she should be trying to support the tanks, herd the enemies into a controlled area so that tanks and dps classes can take them out. Yes, a high level caster in some games can be nearly a demi-god if he uses his spells proficiently, but a well placed arrow or dagger can still spell certain doom without a little help from that caster’s friends.

Again, this is my opinion based on personal experience gleaned after years of playing RPG’s across the spectrum. I gladly welcome intelligent discussion and creative criticism…