Anthony.8056

I will start by saying that I honestly didn't want pistol and would have preferred longbow, however considering what they came up with in terms of skills, it seems it would be the same outcome but with arrows and conditions with no visual distinction between skills. I would have liked for them to have won me over with the idea of pistol but that clearly failed. I will remember this the next expansion and unless they show off something good about elementalist, I will not purchase it. For me this is just a game to have fun, but they seem to being taking the fun out of this class by not listening and ignoring feedback specifically to this class. They added another mechanic to an already complex class and I ask why, I would have understood if it was an Elite Specialization but why add more work to just a weapon on an already convoluted class. I would have liked just a regular pistol with some nice visuals attached but that seems to be asking for too much. They have many animations throughout the game that could have been tweaked and reused for many skills on elementalist specifically for hammer and pistol and I will give a few examples of enemies with unique elemental abilities: The Sorrowful Spellcaster, Naga, Kirin, Lava shaman, Soo-won, Icebrood Construct, Sohothin and many more. They could have come up with many skills reusing any of those elemental abilities, but they chose basic animations that don't feel like an Elementalist. I know they didn't run out of ideas for this class because they have many that can be merged, reused, and tweaked for many skills. Moving on to the suggestions for pistol, I will start with the bullet Ui buff, this goes back to not listening and ignoring feedback. Why would you add it to an already cluttered buff bar when all you had to do was put the elemental bullets above the health bar like deadeye with malice or above the attunements like Mesmer clones. The right side is a jumbled mess of buffs. For the pistol, here are my simple suggestions that would give it some elemental identity and not just fire bullets: Fire 1. Incendiary shot, or Flare shot - Fire a flare at the enemy that continues to burn then engulfs two nearby foes in flame when it ends. A Guild wars 1 skill Flare 2. Liquid Flame- Fire a stream of Liquid flame at enemies. A Guild Wars 1 skill. Consume bullet to fire three streams a narrow triangle cone of liquid flame. For the animation a narrow beam with dripping fire and flames 3. Keep as is Water 1. Bubble shot- Shoot a bubble of water instead of bullet, then Bubble blast- shoot two bubbles of water, then Bubble Burst- shoot a large bubble of water 2. Keep as is 3. Frozen Tundra - Shoot a vortex of ice that leaves a trail of ice as it travels. Keep the same animation but add a vortex animation. Air 1. Arc Lightning - Shoot an electrified bullet that ricochets to nearby foes and tethers them with electricity. How does engineer have static shot on pistol and on short bow arc detonator that function similarly but Elementalist that should have such a skill doesn't and chain lightning doesn't count on staff because it is extremely weak and nonexistent. Also, a Guild wars 1 skill. 2. Shell Shock- Keep animation as is but change daze to a stun and add confusion. A Guild Wars 1 skill. Consume bullet to add more confusion. 3. Don't really care for this ability but it has mobility. Earth 1. Ebon Hawk- Shoot a stone hawk that pierces enemies. A Guild Wars 1 Skill. The animation can be similar to phoenix but made of stone. 2.Faultline- shoot a bullet that sunders the earth as it travels. The animation can be similar to echoing eruption from revenant mace, not exacly the same but a fractured line with red cracks coming out of the sides. Consume the bullet the cracks extend more and add more bleeding. 3.Keep as is though I would have liked a skill created with the name boulder dash. Weaver Skill Combinations 1.Fire/Water- Steam Explosion- Fire a wide area with steam from your pistol that heals allies and burns enemies. The animation can be similar to Fumigate on engineer and Effervescence on mesmer but clear with bubbles. 2.Fire/Air- keep as is 3.Fire/Earth- Bed of Coals- Fire a shot of burning coal that explodes at the target location, leaving a bed of coals to linger. A Guild wars 1 skill. The animation could be how engineer pistol glue shot functions. 4.Water/Earth-Quicksand- Coat the area with quicksand that slows enemies. Use the same animation from glue shot when firing but add the sand animation that was used for short bow engineer animated sand that was used in the weapon beta. Consume the bullet to immobilize foes. 5.Water/Air-Flowing Haze- Evade backward leaving behind fog that blinds enemies. A smoke field but with a lighter color. 6.Air/Earth- Sirocco blast- Fire a fast bullet of air and earth that knocks back an enemy on impact. Bring back the old dust devil animation that travels forward. Consume bullet and nearby foes are also knocked back. Or Fire a vortex of bullets that shoot out similar to how Unstable Bladestorm use to function on mesmer until they ruined it. These are just my ideas to make the class have some class identity. I know nothing will be changed but I wanted to share my ideas anyway. As mentioned above I will remember this the next time before purchasing another expansion.

So, they couldn't bother with showing off anything during the livestream because from the looks of it nothing has changed other than nerfs. Who are the people designing the skills for this class? It is a boring weapon that lacks creativity and nothing about it screams Elementalist. Just because it is a pistol doesn't mean every skill has to be a simple shot animation, many are fire a shot with conditions attached especially weaver. It is the same animations across four attunements and I can't see some of the earth animations. I honestly could care less about the numbers or balance because if the weapon isn't fun why bother with it.

I wish for Elementalist to be more elemental. They need to add more tornados, earthquakes, waves, whirlpools and blizzards. Tornado is useless in pve which sucks because it is a cool skill and I wish it was ground targeted, we need an actual earthquake animation and a blizzard skill, for being an elementalist it is lacking those skills. The pistol didn't add anything visually appealing aside from a couple of skills. Also, I don't understand how the enemies in this game have better elemental animations. Look at the Kirin, Naga, and the Sunqua Peak Fractal Sorrowful Spellcaster with those abilities. If animations are being reused why not use those with some tweaks to give to Ele. All I'm saying is they could add some flair to this class to make it more Elemenatal because the hammer and pistol have been huge letdowns of what they could have come up with in terms of skills.

Don't know if anyone noticed but why does water skill 3 have the most interaction than all the other skills. You can skate on it and if you consume the bullet, it shatters but none of the other skills interact in such a way other than giving extra conditions or some sort of passive.

I honestly think they should have been given an off hand axe to complement the main hand axe. It feels very mesmer to me or what mesmer axe should have been.

Lack of design and laziness describes this weapon and that is my honest opinion. When I first started the game when it came out, I was impressed by the visuals and creative skills that elementalist had which was a reason I enjoyed it. Like I said in my previous post Tempest and Weaver are fun with great abilities but once hammer Catalyst was announced and I saw the skills it all fell flat. No earthquakes or tidal waves or nothing other than Hurricane of pain make that weapon boring to use. I can come up with a million ideas to make it at least fun to use but once again Elementalist is punished for having to many skills.

I don't even want a longbow or any other weapon because it will be just as bad. I would rather they fix the weapons we already have and I'm not talking just numbers. The hammer and pistol are awful and slow along with staff. I enjoyed tempest and weaver but it seems after that, it has been on a decline for this class.

Once again let down by the boring visuals. Some skills on skill 3 were ok but it just all looks the same. I expected bullets with conditions and that was what most were. The enemies in game have some good visuals that Ele could use to make it more appealing. I just want some distinction between some of the skills to give the weapon some flair to feel like an elementalist. Some changes I would like to see. Fire 1. Scorching shot- explode on impact similar to necromancer pistol vile blast 2. Raging Ricochet -change to Raging Inferno- Guardian gets a big blue fire ball on their pistol so why can't Ele get one 3. Fine Water 1. Soothing Splash- change to Soothing Stream- Fire a stream of water bullets, the visual similar to guardian pistol skill 2 but with a water visual like a stream of water. 2. Frigid Flurry I guess keep. Would have liked to see the Naga water ability Bubble shot similar to the underwater ability that we use but on land. 3. Fine. Though, I would have used another Naga ability that I can't understand why it isn't on the Elementalist kit especially hammer but they get a Water Vortex that would be perfect for one of its abilities. Shoot a water vortex out or a frozen vortex that freezes the ground as it travels. I know we will never get a skill like that because they changed Dust Devil and Unstable Bladestorm to not be projectiles and made them stationary. I enjoyed them while it lasted. Air 1. Electric Exposure- Speed up projectile 2. Dazing Discharge- change- Fire an electric bullet that ricochets between enemies, tethering them with lightning. Other than staff chain lightning, which does horrible damage, we should have a good chain ability with lightning that is nonexistent on this class. 3. Fine. I hope they put a wind animation on this skill because they gave warrior the flash animation. Earth 1. Piercing Pebble- Here is an idea, have them pierce. 2. Shattering stone-change to Stalagmite Fusillade- Shot a bullet that creates stalagmites along the ground as it travels, once it reaches its target a big stalagmite emerges underneath the target and hits all surrounding enemies. 3. Fine. These are just some ideas that would make the pistol on Ele feel more Ele. This is just my opinion and I know nothing will change but I would prefer this over what is currently given to us.

I would have loved for them to give other conditions instead of the same ones. They could have thematically created something to change it like giving fire attunement torment., water attunement poison (opposite of healing), air attunement confusion, and earth attunement slow.

I want the Pharaoh's Regalia outfit but It hasn't been in the gemstore in a while. I hope it returns. Didn't know it existed until recently.

Many other people will disagree with your first statement. The only people who like it the way it is are competitive players. Many skills have been changed for competitive mode and many utility skills and elites are clearly for those modes which are rendered useless in pve. Reworks and redesigns aren't always a bad thing, other games do it. For example, Elementalist hammer needs an overhaul and I'm not talking numbers wise. Necro staff needs a visual overhaul because the first skill shares the exact animation with skill 4 on focus. I'm not saying to change how it functions from what it does, I'm talking about how it needs some diversity other than just placing aoes all over. You can't even see when somebody activates it other than skill 3 and 5. That was ten years ago and many weapons need to be updated. I have played since launch and many skills across the board need updates for better or worse. Either way, I think Necro staff needs an update in the visual department as well as other weapons but I'm sure many people are happy they are getting a new weapon so they will find something to complain about it. Thanks.

I would rather they rework older weapon skills, utility, and elites that haven't been touched since launch. Not just numbers and functionality but animation wise as well. As much as I like new weapons added, many skills are outdated. I would love a rework of necro staff to be a summon weapon instead of marks. Elementilist needs a blizzard skill on water skill 5 and earthquake from offhand dagger should be on earth skill 5 with an updated animation.

Thanks for your response, I think I'm just salty for how certain skills are changed that were fun to use for me. For example, Dust devil on Ele and Unstable bladestorm on Mesmer were both changed to ground target aoes instead of their projectile while skills like Tornado on Ele should be a ground target ability instead of its current iteration since its useless in pve. Honestly it really isn't that deep for me I'm just offering my dislike for the changes that have been made while others need changes. I do hope they rework older weapons in the future, but I'm also excited to see how the new weapons perform and what new builds can be made.

If the problem in pvp/wvw game modes are because of projectile immunity reduce those drastically in that game mode. Why does the skill have to be changed completely to accommodate those modes. They have changed many skills already because of it, like the awful Dragons tooth ability on Ele, why make it baby proof and easier when the purpose is to be skill based, if you dodge you dodge if not you get hit. The same with projectiles, we have reflects and blocks, and you also have other weapons and skills at your disposal that can be used. I'm referring to certain skills being changed from projectile to ground target for the sake of pvp/wvw. Not everything has to be made easy. I actually liked the shortbow but I hate how every skill 2 thru 5 is basically the same ground target with no difference in how it functions. Also, I enjoy ground target abilities a lot but ever since they changed Virtuoso unstable bladstorm to be another ground target ability when it was enjoyable for some of us was the last straw for me. It was a unique aoe projectile that turned into another basic skill.

To make most skills ground target just for the purpose of pvp/wvw is also ridiculous, otherwise why even have projectiles. Every person has ways to react and counter projectiles or let them hit you. My point is they shouldn't be changed for competitive modes because people are bad at how they respond to a situation. We have weapon swap for a reason, so use another skill until you find an opening to use that projectile. Competitive modes are skill based after all, learn how to use those skill instead of making all skills centered around pvp/wvw. Looking at utility skills across some of these classes, you can tell they are for competitve modes and not pve, which is why they are never used in open world. I really hope they change that in the future.