Elementalist Discussion

[DrakeWurrum]

I have to ask. I have a ton of fun with air scepter +dagger.

My success as an elementalist is really attached to changing the att.? I mean, I do it and I do good with it, but I would love the power to focus in one element.

Would that make me behind everyone else?

Not attunement swapping is much the same as never weapon swapping. If you don't particularly need the other attunements, ain't nothing wrong with sticking in just one. Plenty of Champion fights I found myself just sticking to my Greatsword and not weapon-swapping, simply because I didn't need the utility from what was in the second weapon set.

[Zilong]

Not attunement swapping is much the same as never weapon swapping. If you don't particularly need the other attunements, ain't nothing wrong with sticking in just one. Plenty of Champion fights I found myself just sticking to my Greatsword and not weapon-swapping, simply because I didn't need the utility from what was in the second weapon set.

I think I mislead XD a little. On Pve on my level 25 elementalist I only use air because it fits in every need I have, I think I meant more pvp wise, which will probably be even more needed.

[Lucky_]

I have to ask. I have a ton of fun with air scepter +dagger.

My success as an elementalist is really attached to changing the att.? I mean, I do it and I do good with it, but I would love the power to focus in one element.

Would that make me behind everyone else?

Yes. Massively so. Far more then "no weapon swapping" for other classes. Elementalists have only one weapon and four attunements putting us at total of 20 weapon skills against 10 weapon skills of other classes. As a result all weapons have several skills on very long cooldowns, clearly aimed at rotating through attunements to use them all for proper gameplay.

Essentially sitting in one attunement as elementalist is more comparable to using nothing but skill #1 and #2 on a single weapon and nothing else for other classes. It's terrible, and will completely destroy you as a credible threat.

[Zilong]

Yes. Massively so. Far more then "no weapon swapping" for other classes. Elementalists have only one weapon and four attunements putting us at total of 20 weapon skills against 10 weapon skills of other classes. As a result all weapons have several skills on very long cooldowns, clearly aimed at rotating through attunements to use them all for proper gameplay.

Essentially sitting in one attunement as elementalist is more comparable to using nothing but skill #1 and #2 on a single weapon and nothing else for other classes. It's terrible, and will completely destroy you as a credible threat.

Yeah I know. I did pvp thru the first 2 beta tests with only Air att on my elementalist, surprisingly I did awesome, just as good as mainly every other gamer. But I did feel that I could be doing more tho, and while I can and probably will use all other attunements, I kinda wish that I could stick with only air because that's what I primarely like it.

[Ananan]

I also spotted some trait changes. Most notably the trait that removes conditions when giving regeneration is no longer Water I but instead Water XI, making it much more of an investment.

And the first two minor traits in the Arcane line has switched places (the Fury and the lingering thing - whatever that one does).

[Lucky_]

I also spotted some trait changes. Most notably the trait that removes conditions when giving regeneration is no longer Water I but instead Water XI, making it much more of an investment.

And the first two minor traits in the Arcane line has switched places (the Fury and the lingering thing - whatever that one does).

Problem is, damage nerf bat pretty much ensured that support elementalist was water 30 already. It's a bit of a retroactive nerfbat that doesn't really impact the already massively OP tanky support elementalist, but is another nail in the coffin of damage one.

[Scrogg]

A week with no posts?!?
I had to use search just to find this thread and I was surprised to see it about half the posts of the other profession threads.

Is Elementalist in that good of a spot that everyone is pretty happy with it, or is it just not as popular a profession as the other 7?

[Deleted]

A week with no posts?!?
I had to use search just to find this thread and I was surprised to see it about half the posts of the other profession threads.

Is Elementalist in that good of a spot that everyone is pretty happy with it, or is it just not as popular a profession as the other 7?

Mmmmm, it seems to me from other forums that a lot of people aren't overwhelmingly happy about it at the moment but I'd expect a lot of changes still anyway.

I'm finding elementalist pretty challenging and I've got like 5 different builds I need to extensively test right now.

[Deleted]

Exactly! Who does'nt feel almighty when then turn from small asura to a huge tornado!

[Deleted]

Exactly! Who does'nt feel almighty when then turn from small asura to a huge tornado!

I don't know how long you will feel almighty for though since tornado in pvp so far seems to be painting a massive KILL ME I'M OVER HERE target on your back

[Lucky_]

I don't know how long you will feel almighty for though since tornado in pvp so far seems to be painting a massive KILL ME I'M OVER HERE target on your back

Indeed, if you don't have defensive traits that pop various shields on you when your health drops, tornado is pretty much a "kill me, I can't defend myself" button in sPvP at the moment.

In general, elementalists have been gimped rather hard in BWE3 and never really recovered in comparison to BWE2. We still work fine as long range WvW sluggers and controllers, and we still provide good support mixed with good AoE in PvE. We can also play a very team oriented tanky support in sPvP.

But for sPvP (and generally non-staff) damage, we've been gutted and are likely to stay that way for release. This has been already covered back in BWE3, and there's nothing that really changed if stress tests are of any indication.

[DrakeWurrum]

I'm seriously trying to figure out, Lucky, if when you've been using the word "gimped" you simply mean "It's not OP, and thus not good enough for me" O_o

[rhandric]

I'm seriously trying to figure out, Lucky, if when you've been using the word "gimped" you simply mean "It's not OP, and thus not good enough for me" O_o

I think it means, "I haven't adapted to the changes so it must be bad"
Just like how "Guardians are OP in sPvP" means "I haven't learned how to counter them so they're OP"

[Lucky_]

It means "not viable in current state". Not that hard to understand, but after the whole "humanoids don't mean what they mean" thread, I guess we need to provide as exact definitions as possible for you to avoid new random meanings from getting slapped to any word by you.

Or do you seriously want to argue that non-staff elementalists have functional roles in the game beyond small niches? Or that elementalists can play burst in a viable fashion?

[DrakeWurrum]

It means "not viable in current state". Not that hard to understand, but after the whole "humanoids don't mean what they mean" thread, I guess we need to provide as exact definitions as possible for you to avoid new random meanings from getting slapped to any word by you.

Or do you seriously want to argue that non-staff elementalists have functional roles in the game beyond small niches? Or that elementalists can play burst in a viable fashion?

And now all I can do is question what you mean by viable. Some people tend to use it to mean "It's not the most powerful form of it, so it's worthless."

After having been told all too often, as an Enhance Shaman, that my spec is not "viable" melee DPS, simply because we're not the best melee spec, I can't help but question it.

[Lucky_]

And now all I can do is question what you mean by viable. Some people tend to use it to mean "It's not the most powerful form of it, so it's worthless."

After having been told all too often, as an Enhance Shaman, that my spec is not "viable" melee DPS, simply because we're not the best melee spec, I can't help but question it.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/viability

Meaning #2. Unlike some, I don't invent new meanings for existing words just to hide my own incompetence.

[rhandric]

Until you come up with hard data, saying something isn't viable is meaningless. And hard data doesn't mean a comparison with earlier builds, because...wait for it...beta is beta. If you're going to claim such, and compare with something, it's other builds from other classes that fill the same niche that you need to compare with, along with other Elementalist builds that fill different niches, to show how one build is viable compared to others. Saying it's not viable in a vacuum is meaningless.

[Casper0878]

I didn't get to play much the last few weeks, but I heard the Elementalist profession has gotten nerfed a bit. Was debating between an Elementalist or a Guardian for my main. Might go Guardian if the nerfs were severe. Can't find a list of changes. Did you guys notice a big difference damage wise in PvP? I know there were a couple skills that were bugged also, can't remember which though

[DrakeWurrum]

Until you come up with hard data, saying something isn't viable is meaningless. And hard data doesn't mean a comparison with earlier builds, because...wait for it...beta is beta. If you're going to claim such, and compare with something, it's other builds from other classes that fill the same niche that you need to compare with, along with other Elementalist builds that fill different niches, to show how one build is viable compared to others. Saying it's not viable in a vacuum is meaningless.

On top of that "viable" does not mean "better than others in the niche" or not even necessarily "average" or even "not the worst"

One has to consider your quantifiable measure for a build being viable or not, and whether or not it's even a worthy measure. If you seriously believe that these Elementalist builds that you claim are not viable are incapable of succeeding in PvP, to what degree to you mean?

[Deleted]

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/viability

Meaning #2. Unlike some, I don't invent new meanings for existing words just to hide my own incompetence.

I think the word viable or not viable in this case sounds pretty negative. It's clear that elementalist has changed a fair bit over the beta, but it'll probably change a fair bit more too. I know a lot of people on other forums working on builds, theorycrafting and hoping to play competitively from release aren't amazingly happy with some of the changes right now. It can be pretty stressful for them to put so much time into a build and then it's diminished but that's really the great risk of playing a beta.

The fact is there are a lot of builds and quite a few of the builds aren't viable for every situation but why would they be? I'm 100% sure that come release with enough time to properly test and explore every often there'll be quite a few decent builds for each situation. It's really too early right now to be making any sort of sweeping statement, in my humble opinion.

I'm looking forward to testing a LOT of builds and hopefully finding the one that is most "viable" for my goals.

And really... was there any need for trying to be insulting.