Elementalists can become absolute powerhouses in the later levels if you build it right. Before you hit the later levels you’ll find yourself too squishy and lacking in the damage department which really does suck when you first start playing, but take my character as an example:
My level 80 has all Bezerker armour, a Bezerker Staff, with superior runes of the scholar on all of my armour (Which i don’t believe you can use until your level 80, not to mention how expensive they are ) and having a signet of fire boosts my critical hit chance to 55%, and 201% damage. This is truly devastating when you get the AoE’s down, especially in tandem with the Ice Bow’s AoE, it downs people so quickly its disgusting.
The thing is, to start racking up those kinds of stats on your character, you have to build it up. They aren’t very good off the bat, but when you’ve maxed them out you get access to stuff that really benefits the class, more than it does for others in my opinoin.
Hope this helps