Originally Posted by
Endus
And that's what we've got.
If you're seeing something different, you're either not looking at the same talent trees as everyone else, or you're mistaking your own subjective preferences for established mathematical facts.
From the perspective of Elemental;
Tier 1: Astral Shift for taking single massive hits or for PvP when focused, SBT for more constant damage mitigation, NG for 5-mans where threat is an issue.
Tier 2: FP for typical PvP, EG for situational PvE situations or BGs where I want AoE CC, Windwalk Totem in PvE depending on the fight, in PvP for CC-heavy teams
Tier 3: CotE for PvE typically, Totemic Restoration for arena PvP, Totemic Projection for BGs for chucking Capacitor/Earthgrab
Tier 4: EM for when I want burst, AS for sustained controlled DPS and instants for PvP, Echo for PvE sustained DPS
Tier 5: HTT for low-cost AoE healing support, AG for low-cost single-target support, COnductivity for higher-cost much-higher-healing support.
Tier 6: UF for PvP 90% of the time, PE for sustained DPS, EB for bursty DPS in PvE or where pets aren't friendly, possibly phasing towards UF later in the expansion depending on scaling and caps.
Acting as if there's only one choice in any one tier is simply false. Every tier has choices. Usually all three. The only one I can't see a use for, for me, as Elemental, is Nature's Guardian, but I'd quite possibly take it as Resto in PvP, and it'd have some use for leveling and for 5-mans as well.