Upcoming ele changes - October 2019

In this update, we're following up on some of the tempest changes from the previous update. Speedy Conduit has been a lackluster trait for a while, so we're combining it with Harmonious Conduit and creating a new trait that grants concentration. Imbued Melodies is being removed—we felt it wasn't very interesting while also being unnecessarily restrictive by being tied to the warhorn. Its replacement, Transcendent Tempest, provides an effect that is unique among other grandmaster traits, which we hope will provide a more meaningful choice when compared to the other options.

• Signet of Air: This skill can now be activated to break stuns without a target. Activating the skill while out of range of a target or without a target while not under control effects will put it on interrupt cooldown.
• Glyph of Renewal (Renewal of Fire): Reduced the amount of invulnerability granted when reviving the elementalist from 5 seconds to 1 second.
• Burning Rage: Reduced the burning duration from 5 seconds to 4 seconds.
• Speedy Conduit: This trait has been removed. Its functionality has been combined with Harmonious Conduit, and it has been replaced with Gathered Focus.
• Gathered Focus: This new trait takes the master tier, minor trait slot, and it grants 120 concentration plus an additional 120 concentration while the elementalist is above 90% health.
• Harmonious Conduit: This trait no longer increases damage after completing an overload. Instead it grants swiftness in addition to stability. It has also changed positions with Invigorating Torrents.
• Invigorating Torrents: This trait has switched positions with Harmonious Conduit. Its functionality is unchanged.
• Imbued Melodies: This trait has been reworked, and its name has been changed to Transcendent Tempest. This trait reduces the time it takes to attain a singularity by 33% when switching elements and increases outgoing damage and condition damage by 7% for 7 seconds after an overload completes.

Overall great changes everywhere. Speedy conduit was useless trait, now it gives free concentration on minor trait. Tempest has a meaningful offensive GM trait which is great considering that it gives both damage buff (bigger AND longer buff compared to before) as well as less downtime until overload is ready.

Core traits/skills are mostly irrelevant since they arent even used much or are already pretty strong so a slight nerf doesnt hurt. Not having a dedicated warhorn trait can be a bit immersion breaking I guess, and losing free 3 sec boon extension proc might affect some pve group scenarios, but I like it this way more because there's more distinct role in GM traits compared to before. I'd rather have 1 offensive and 1 supportive trait than 2 supportive ones.

it's not like Tempest was a dps spec, but seems a bit like a nerf anyway.Will we lose the magnetic aura in the Gathered Focus ?Speedy conduit was not useless, but weak, but between +10% dmg and swiftness in the new harmonious conduit ...meh And come on seriously, why elem is stuck with regen/swiftness/protection boons instead of quickness alacrity resistance ... ?

trash changes actually. dps tempest will continue to be useless in all game modes except open world while you trade swiftness for some concentration when the point of your spec is to be able to get close to your allies so you can actually support them.

I mean, not bad changes, but nothing really that would change anything...

10% direct damage for 4 seconds VS 2 sec less downtime on overloads, 7% all damage and 7 sec duration is actually a lot bigger than it seems. You should be able to permanently upkeep it with FA and it's already a very good build for fractals.

FA build was already buffed last patch and this improves it even more. More air overloads = more group dps. Atm I think it's about 1.5-2k or something.

Swiftness is never really an issue on tempest considering that dps build uses stab trait anyway (which now gives swiftness) and support builds use arcane. Wh and staff 4 already give enough swiftness on top of that as well as other classes.

TL:DRDps tempests got a permanent 7% increase in damage, if traited. And support tempests lost swiftness access, but received an extra 240 concentration.

Everything else is pretty much insubstantial.

Except for earth, Overload is still the easiest thing to interrupt in all Tyria.

Also:(War)Adept:Leg Specialist: In addition to its previous effects, this trait now also grants a 7% damage bonus against foes suffering from a movement-impairing condition. The cooldown on this trait is now calculated per target.

So it's possible after all. Would you mind sharing it with blinding ashes, please?

The changes aren't really meant for WvW I guess , since air overload is basically prone to all sorts of CC and boon corrupt (i.e. interrupting your overload). Gathered focus is weaker as well (in non PVE), since you lose magnetic aura passive.

Tempest needs more group oriented things, outgoing damage isn't it (although cooldown reduction would allow for more static charge procs).

EWW the loss of magnetic aura is huge since its useful for fractals when you got ballasts everywhere.

@Infusion.7149 said:The changes aren't really meant for WvW I guess , since air overload is basically prone to all sorts of CC and boon corrupt (i.e. interrupting your overload). Gathered focus is weaker as well (in non PVE), since you lose magnetic aura passive.

Tempest needs more group oriented things, outgoing damage isn't it (although cooldown reduction would allow for more static charge procs).

You never used WH trait in non pve anyway because heal on aura is pretty big when you share auras on 10 people.

From reading last patch comments as well as this one I feel like people will hate on any change even if it's all buffs... I dont see a reason to pigeonhole tempest into support only option considering that ele is a hybrid class to begin with.

@Axl.8924 said:EWW the loss of magnetic aura is huge since its useful for fractals when you got ballasts everywhere.

You have FB in every party though and it's loaded with reflects. Not to mention that support tempest still has 2 more sources of aoe magnetic aura, 3 with conjured shield if it's absolutely necessary (and it really isnt). You're making an issue out of nothing.

I hope Tempest gets to improve Auras or actually have something distinctive.

The problem with 7% increase or its likes of changes feel insignificant, even though the numbers may change and offense/defense might see improvements, but it doesn't solve the issues except for when fully specialized.

I want QoL changes over tiny number changes. I was a lot more of a numbers-addict, but now it's about improvements.

Ya...nothing will really change much unfortunately. These aren’t really buffs or nerfs...just a reallocation of traits and abilities that already existed on elementalist and moving them around.

Imbued Melodies will be nice for FA tempest.

Loss of swiftness on overload kinda sucks....but it’s not the end of the world.

Just a meh update for ele here.

Just a meh update, there focus was probably on Warrior and Necro with this balance, I was expecting some sort of nerf to Condi Weaver but atleast anet didn't give in to people who can't kite :)

I feel like anet forgot tempest is an support class.

I personally play as support tempest in small group, and the imbued melodies trait is good when you need that extra reflect. Im gonna die to pew pew now.

This up coming nerf..... thanks :(

@steki.1478 said:

@"Infusion.7149" said:The changes aren't really meant for WvW I guess , since air overload is basically prone to all sorts of CC and boon corrupt (i.e. interrupting your overload). Gathered focus is weaker as well (in non PVE), since you lose magnetic aura passive.

Tempest needs more group oriented things, outgoing damage isn't it (although cooldown reduction would allow for more static charge procs).

I can't say this is a buff wvw was the only game mode were dps Staff Tempest still works this will kill it and Staff Tempest was the strongest DPS built until the start of PoF. I was already red like a crab because Neco got even more hit per targets while for ele this was a major dps reduction when they nerfed it from 5 to 3 and now Necro gets even more .

On top of it they nerf the built now again. By the way this will also have no impact on the raid built for Tempest which also only works because because warhorn 5 on air hit multiply times on big hitboxes. I really have no interest in a game which constantly punish you for playing soft classes and buff heavy classes e.g today we found out that you can turn warrior into a heal tank like scrapper was and after this patch this will even worse because the built get buffed this will largely replace scrapper.

In all games I played so far there is a trade of between soft classes and hard classes soft soft classes can do more dmg as a trade off because they die easier in Gw2 it is the opposite ATM you die easier you do less dmg maybe with the exception of thief and mirage in raids.

to be clear hard classes are all in heavy armor + necro and Holosoft classes are the rest

Also: 'Gathered Focus: This new trait takes the master tier, minor trait slot, and it grants 120 concentration plus an additional 120 concentration while the elementalist is above 90% health.' is absolute useless support Ele with staff is already at boon cap with ministerial gear not even with harrier witch has even more concentration.

And before someone can mention it Swordweaver is for 99.99% of the players unplayable I pug on a daily bases fractals since it came out I only met 2-3 players who can play it without constantly being dead in all that time.

I can only say ARGGGHA

@Lord of the Fire.6870 said:

@steki.1478 said:

@"Infusion.7149" said:The changes aren't really meant for WvW I guess , since air overload is basically prone to all sorts of CC and boon corrupt (i.e. interrupting your overload). Gathered focus is weaker as well (in non PVE), since you lose magnetic aura passive.

Tempest needs more group oriented things, outgoing damage isn't it (although cooldown reduction would allow for more static charge procs).

You forgot that the damage boost got buffed and transferred to the new GM trait, which also makes you charge your singularity quicker. DPS tempest just got buffed. It is true that support tempest does not need the concentration to reach boon cap, but it does enable you to swap some gear pieces if you want to get some more damage or healing. It can also help with maintaining vigor if you want to go with that. The major problem with these tempest changes is that Anet failed yet again to provide an alternative to FB for stability, while tempest is the perfect candidate for this.

Four changes that can make tempest have good stability share:

1. Eye of the storm grants stability instead of swiftness. (Swiftness is not useful on a superspeed shout, and the eye of the storm is the place where you are the most stable in a storm thematically.)
2. Overload Earth stability is shared to allies.
3. Harmonious Conduit stability is shared. (Trait will be kinda lackluster after the upcoming patch.)
4. Rock Solid Increased stability duration to 4 seconds, and a second part that adds conditional stability when you do something but not sure what yet. (Maybe worst trait in the game atm. Literally had no updates since 2012.)

@Lord of the Fire.6870 said:

@steki.1478 said:

@"Infusion.7149" said:The changes aren't really meant for WvW I guess , since air overload is basically prone to all sorts of CC and boon corrupt (i.e. interrupting your overload). Gathered focus is weaker as well (in non PVE), since you lose magnetic aura passive.

Tempest needs more group oriented things, outgoing damage isn't it (although cooldown reduction would allow for more static charge procs).

Staff tempest was never the best dps build in wvw lol. Overloads bring absolutely nothing outside of unnecessary cooldown increase and there's no other trait that benefits you in either damage nor sustain. Fire/air/arcane is still far better than tempest when it comes to dps in wvw because you have more damage modifiers, more utility and far better personal sustain. You can even take water for arcane and still provide more support than tempest would.

You also forgot that damage modifier lost from harmonious conduit is transferred to new GM, but thats even more irrelevant for wvw because dps and tempest overloads just dont work there since staff is ranged build and they are melee aoes. It's a wasted specialization for 90% of the combat time.

Ele already does more damage than most classes, in both pve and wvw. Your logic also makes no sense when it comes to concentration...if you get free conc from traits that means your gear options are more flexible. I dont see why you'd run full minstrel/harrier when you can get more magi pieces for even more healing.

It's like people expect ele to have 150% of the dps of other classes while playing random builds and complaining how ele is too weak. Maybe learn how to build and play properly and you'll get that high dps and good performance that you're seeking.

Sc/w is already superior build in fractals due to very high burst, better range and passive defenses through stab, prot, stun breaks and even additional heal through auras. There's no point of playing sword if you dont have a good healer and strong CC in group.

@steki.1478 said:

@Lord of the Fire.6870 said:

@steki.1478 said:

@"Infusion.7149" said:The changes aren't really meant for WvW I guess , since air overload is basically prone to all sorts of CC and boon corrupt (i.e. interrupting your overload). Gathered focus is weaker as well (in non PVE), since you lose magnetic aura passive.

Tempest needs more group oriented things, outgoing damage isn't it (although cooldown reduction would allow for more static charge procs).

I never said that it was the best build but it was meta during HoT even for wvw after that it went out of it . Today only in wvw is dps staff tempest still usable . Yes you can use meteorshower but what are you doing now if you play it is charging with overload to the enemy zerg while having full berserker gear. This does some dmg .

SC/w only works in PvE raids and most of the open world bosses because warhon air 5 hits big hitboxes multiply times without that the dps falls nearly to the level of Staff Tempest. In fractals that doesn't work. (I even tested it)

You really sounds like the Arena.NET guy who came up with this idea.

What I don't understand what they mean with singularity ? The overloads ? if so that was a suggestion I debunked in the board as not a good idea. True for my playstyle in wvw this could help in certain situations but it is not what people expected also the 3% loss dps will properly translate to 2 k dps loose for the raids build because crit multiplier. This is relative big because currently the build are very tight in the dps difference

Also ele doesn't need to make 150% dps of the others it is just so in fractals Staff Weaver is more on the end of the dps scale while being squishy and has still a complex rota. The top dps in fractals looks like this ATM : Beserker Warrior, Reaper(face roll rota), DH , Deadeye.

Currently when a ele does go past you in ARC DPS this only means you don't know your rota or you using some outdated builds.

transcendent tempest looks like crap. now my staff ele in pvp is even more unplayable with less reflects.

@Lord of the Fire.6870 said:What I don't understand what they mean with singularity ? The overloads ? if so that was a suggestion I debunked in the board as not a good idea. True for my playstyle in wvw this could help in certain situations but it is not what people expected also the 3% loss dps will properly translate to 2 k dps loose for the raids build because crit multiplier. This is relative big because currently the build are very tight in the dps difference

There is no 3% DPS loss. Sure, the buff after the overloads will 7% instead of 10%, but it will last for 7 seconds instead of 4 which is a buff most of the time. Also it will affect condition damage as well after the patch. The singularity is the 5 second cooldown that you have on the overload as soon as you swap to its attunement.

@Lord of the Fire.6870 said:I never said that it was the best build but it was meta during HoT even for wvw after that it went out of it . Today only in wvw is dps staff tempest still usable . Yes you can use meteorshower but what are you doing now if you play it is charging with overload to the enemy zerg while having full berserker gear. This does some dmg .If I understand correctly, you're saying that it was meta during WvW, and that these days, dps staff tempest is only viable in WvW.

Tempest was only 'meta' because it had some useful functions like water overload, fire overload for might, air overload provided additional DPS and earth for CC. But - anyone please correct me if I'm wrong - core staff ele had more damage modifiers and better overall DPS, while sacrificing the utility provided by tempest. Fire/Air/Arcane gives almost as much %dmg stacking as running Fire/Air/Weaver, just a little bit less, and Tempest comes in third place with the least amount of %dmg stacking.

@Lord of the Fire.6870 said:... so in fractals Staff Weaver is more on the end of the dps scale while being squishy and has still a complex rota. The top dps in fractals looks like this ATM : Beserker Warrior, Reaper(face roll rota), DH , Deadeye.

Currently when a ele does go past you in ARC DPS this only means you don't know your rota or you using some outdated builds.No.https://snowcrows.com/benchmarks/If your sword/dagger Weaver is not top DPS (in most scenarios ... not all!) , THEY don't know their rotation well enough.I understand how you could think Weaver is not as good for DPS, good DPS weavers in t4 fractal pug groups are extremely hard to come by. It's not a class/build designed with everyone in mind, a lot of ppl just can't do it.

@"SoulSlavocracy.4902" said:

@Lord of the Fire.6870 said:I never said that it was the best build but it was meta during HoT even for wvw after that it went out of it . Today only in wvw is dps staff tempest still usable . Yes you can use meteorshower but what are you doing now if you play it is charging with overload to the enemy zerg while having full berserker gear. This does some dmg .If I understand correctly, you're saying that it was meta during WvW, and that these days, dps staff tempest is only viable in WvW.

@Lord of the Fire.6870 said:... so in fractals Staff Weaver is more on the end of the dps scale while being squishy and has still a complex rota. The top dps in fractals looks like this ATM : Beserker Warrior, Reaper(face roll rota), DH , Deadeye.

Currently when a ele does go past you in ARC DPS this only means you don't know your rota or you using some outdated builds.No.

https://snowcrows.com/benchmarks/

If your

sword/dagger Weaver

is not top DPS (in most scenarios ... not all!) , THEY don't know their rotation well enough.I understand how you could think Weaver is not as good for DPS, good DPS weavers in t4 fractal pug groups are extremely hard to come by. It's not a class/build designed with everyone in mind, a lot of ppl just can't do it.

That topic was already on the top staff weaver can maybe played from 10% of the player base but sword/dagger is unplayable for 99.99% of the players like I said I only saw 3 players until now who can play this build in fractals since the start of Pof and I pug on a daily bases. The question is more what should do the rest of the Eles who can't play Swordweaver ?