Is staff ele nerfed? (PvE)

I just wanted to know if staff ele is okay for PvE, I feel it's not at the same level of most classes. Feels very squishy in exchange of some not amazing damage.I don't want to play a nerfed class so that's why I'm asking.☺

It's among the highest DPS in the game, although it's dependent on your foes standing still. It can be squishy though because all of it's defenses requires making skill combos through multiple attunements.

It's optimal dps choice in many cases and decent for most. That, however, is under optimal conditions. If you're not comfortable playing it or if your group can't support you properly there are other classes and builds which will work better for you.

if you playing core ele - yes it's below the tempest and the weaver specs but still deals decent dmg ... but as the other two says above me , it's dependant of the target standing still in your AOEs

And yeah ELe sacrifices defensive utilities to deal dmg ... + low HP pool /armor = can be hard alone if you new to the game.

It's all about getting to know your class. For any kind of elementalist build i would suggest you to use staff because it has the highest damage output in current meta-builds (that are more or less optimised for dungeons/fractals/raids).

Ele is the strongest PvE class in the game but probably also the hardest to play. My advice would be to invest some time to learn dodging and evasive movements and to learn when to use which skill. Just because Meteor Shower has the highest damage potential doesn't mean every situation is a good situation for Meteor Shower. You've probably noticed that you're quite vulnerable while channeling, which is why you should learn position yourself in order to be able to channel your skills effectively. Also for open World PvE I'd reccomend playing Tempest instead of Weaver since the Overloads are extremely useful in PvE while Weaver is just a lot more complex and doesn't really do more damage outside of a few optimal situations, and even in those optimal situations you'll only outdamage a Tempest if you're very good with Weaver.

In short, yes, it is just fine for PvE ...... as long as you invest the time to learn the mechanics... and have a few trademark skill rotation paths committed to muscle memory :)

A few things that I've found to be immensely helpful in becoming proficient with this profession are:

1. Learning to combo with my own skills in the middle of cycling through the elements
2. Respecting the interplay between casting time and the aftercast delay
3. Becoming familiar with the interplay between bonuses/buff due to armor, weapons, and specializations and understanding how that affects the skills themselves
4. Master using free-look and look-behind while on the move
5. Learning to recognize enemies and their skills by the sounds they make (I have dodged many unseen attacks from behind due to this)

The Elementalist requires you to be highly strategic, prepared, and versatile, but it is an Orrian boat-load of fun to play (even when certain aspects are over-nerfed ;) )

If you're really good at Ele then staff has potentially highest DPS on glass builds. If you're not so good at Ele, remember that skills like arcane shield, armor of earth, magnetic aura and mist form will keep you from being one-hit most of the time, and never try to channel anything without defenses up, or at the very least being in a really good position where you do not think you will be interrupted or downed mid-channel.

Staff ele is meant for group play. On ur own, u're extremely vulnerable, many of staff ele abilities have a long cast time, rooting u in place while u get smacked by mobs. In a party or world boss event, that ain't an issue, but for solo-play, staff ele is a poor choice. Tempest dagger/dagger or weaver sword/dagger are more ideal for solo, if u need range, u can just conjure frost bow + fiery gs.

I've been playing Staff Ele (Tempest/Weaver) since the dawn of time (headstart.)

I can say it's one of the most versitile glass cannon specs in the game. If you know what you're doing, and which skill/element combination is used for which situation, it is one of the highest DPS professions with the least down time. Yes, it is better if your enemies are standing still, but if you plan a bit, you can hit them as they're coming at you somewhat like aiming a bit in front of a flying pheasant or running deer (if you're familiar with hunting in the real world.)

I am running Zojjia's equipment with Ascended version of Berserker's accessories. All power/Precision and little or no defense. I die, but I take a kittenload of bad guys with me.

So, the short answer is yes. Staff ele is still viable. The long answer is yes, but you have to know what you're doing and which combo is used in which situation. In other words, it's like every other profession. :sunglasses:

@Unknown.3976 said:Staff ele is meant for group play. On ur own, u're extremely vulnerable, many of staff ele abilities have a long cast time, rooting u in place while u get smacked by mobs. In a party or world boss event, that ain't an issue, but for solo-play, staff ele is a poor choice. Tempest dagger/dagger or weaver sword/dagger are more ideal for solo, if u need range, u can just conjure frost bow + fiery gs.

Git gud. Staff is great for solo play because of its huge damage potential, excellent cleave and nice utilities. I'd take it over sword/dagger any day. With Fresh Air Tempest it literally doesn't matter what weapons you pick - you have Overload Air anyway. D/D is fun to play, but staff isn't worse, that's for sure.

Agreed on FA staff tempest. It has strong melee pressure and ranged damage, lots of aoes and CC to hold enemies in those.

My main nowadays is a Staff Tempest/ Fresh Air build.I can't play staff weaver tho, i feel that i lost all my DPS without Overload Air.

Staff is great for solo pve, people saying otherwise are doing it wrong. Has great range and single target damage, plus great movement abilities and healing. It just takes good positioning and understanding of skills. I find a lot of newer ele players just spam skills without really knowing what they are doing. Don't spam skills as ele, learn what they do and use them smartly. Unlike certain other classes (I'm looking at you engi) ele's actually get rewarded for their complexity, which makes them really fun to play.

nerfed for big boss fights since meteor shower nerf, so it depends if you depended on it for damage