Catalyst Feedback Thread

[Nsuidara.3649]

For me Catalyst is only for "static" PVE - like strike or like some fractal (i not play raids but propably too) 
more dynamic = more usless this profesion is

[Galdren.3680]

I've been an Elementalist main since the launch of GW2.  I was super excited during the livestream, the Catalyst elite spec looked great (without cooldowns...).  And I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.  I was so incredibly deflated after playing with it in the Silverwastes for less than 10 minutes.  I realize that simply isn't enough time to really get my head around it, and given time and familiarity, I could probably do a lot more with it.  But, it was slow, clunky, and felt disjointed from a design perspective.  Like it was trying to do a few too many things at once, and failing at all of them.  I changed gear stats, played with different specialization traits and builds, and nothing ever felt quite right.  It feels a bit like a core Ele with a mechanic tacked on that you have to try REALLY hard to use.

 

I agree with the vast majority here that the cooldown plus energy mechanic for the Jade Sphere is too restrictive and should be a useful tool in combat with some more compelling ways to work with or around.  As it stands, you have too many limiting barriers to engaging the Jade Sphere on F5.  I think something akin to how Holosmith mode works would be interesting, many have suggested a flat cooldown, but I would have the energy mechanic constantly build up while the Jade Sphere is not engaged, then drain when you activate the F5.  A minimal cooldown if any.  Adjust or create a trait that impacts the energy gain/drain, as there should be better ways to gain energy and prolong it from turning off, but definitely have it drain so you can't use it indefinitely.  I feel like it should be able to be engaged from the beginning of a fight or encounter--otherwise you have a full mechanic that doesn't see as much use because it takes too long to charge.  The push and pull dynamic of constantly charging while Jade Sphere is off, and then draining while on seems interesting, and gives you a way to react to situations better.  Energy would be preserved if you disengage the Jade Sphere, then begin building again--with only a short cooldown.  I would love to see it move like Ventari's tablet--but barring that, a MUCH shorter cooldown, with a constant energy gain mechanic solves that problem for the most part.  I know some want it to be like Gyro's 2.0, and that isn't bad idea either.

 

The hammer felt pretty bad to use.  The condi application is poor, the damage is anemic, and whether in melee or ranged, it just never 'felt' good to use.  I switched to dagger/dagger & dagger/focus and it immediately felt better--but many of us, myself included have been playing Ele this way for years...  Spinning attacks that aren't whirl finishers?  Only 4 combo finishers out of 20 skills and no aura or field application unless your Jade Sphere is out, when there is a whole trait line dedicated to it?  I'm confused by this decision.  Bleed application on Earth auto-attacks, and Vulnerability application on Air auto-attack seem pretty reasonable as well.  Some of the damage tuning can certainly be tweaked as well.  As has been already said, the orbs on #3 in each attunement need a bit of work.  They look great, but they disappear when they simply hit the environment, wall, door, hill, etc.  They should probably be "fields" that have an AoE damage radius to affect small hitboxes as well as the large one--and a minor increase in duration would all be welcome tweaks.

 

Utility skills are awkward, clunky to use with cast times, and feel weak unless cast within your Jade Sphere WITH the correct attunement.  I play all the other classes a fair amount, why would I bring this over an Alacrity Rev or Quickness Firebrand? A few simply button presses gives them access to powerful utilities, good healing, and Elite skills that require only knowing when to press them, with some mindfulness to positioning; having to worry about  correct attunement, channel time, positioning, range, number of enemies, etc.  I don't think there should be perfect parity across classes, but the utilities feel anemic--some fine tuning could certainly help here.  Perhaps, have them interact and give you some boons or effects regardless of the attunement you are in within the Jade Sphere, but a more powerful effect when attuned to the matching element.  Otherwise, make the Augments more interesting, like one that gives a massive pulse of energy to sustain the Jade Sphere duration with damage spikes per pulse on the field.  Perhaps one that can 'augment' the radius of the Jade Sphere field and boost either boon duration or number of allied players affected.  You know, actually Augment the Jade Sphere...

 

Finally, I'd like to see the traits have some more interesting choices.  Nothing so simple as power/support/condi like with Harbinger.  Some of the existing traits are good, but if the Elite Specialization mechanic is the Jade Orb (so the other weapons can interact with it), then having some traits that really give you some unique choices to alter it would be really welcome.  As it stands, extra boons, and boon duration isn't particularly exciting, or 'spectacular' as one such named trait suggests.

 

I have logged in and played this spec every day this week.  I went from feeling deflated and hating it, to seeing some potential--though still not really with the hammer.  I think with some reasonable tweaks, damage adjustment, skill and cooldown tuning, this could find a niche to reside in.  As it stands, I can only see you getting booted from instanced content or asked to play another spec or profession altogether...

[Nocterusyan.1853]

3 words: overcomplicated, melee, useless

Compared to all the other Beta builds this is so far the worst one. I´m not a fan of the weaver build, havent played elementalist that much since staff tempest was rendered useless, but wow catalyst takes the cake when it comes to a new low.

I feel like you expect ele players to study the overcomplicated messy rotation for a payoff that´s at best average while the class doesn´t bring anything to group or raid play. After seeing a lot of tempests in my early raiding days, the class has completely disappeared from groups. Why bring a glass cannon to a raid that allows 0 mistakes, doesn´t benefit the group and is difficult to play? All other classes not only have better survivability and im comparing to mesmer and necro especially (clones, blocks, evades etc. and a ridiculously high hp pool) but benefit the group with buffs or cc and aren´t as difficult to play.

I strongly believe the Longbow would be a better option for the elementalist and i´m not the only player that desired another option for ranged attacks. I really liked the setup of the elementalist when i first started playing him, using different attunements for different tasks (fire and air for pure dmg, water to heal, earth for condi dmg), for some reason you made it so even an Ele focused on power dmg has to shuffle through all attunements, keep track of who knows how many cooldowns, use conjured weapons in order to put out acceptable dps, all while not using any passive defenses and avoiding any hits. If you must insist on making this glass cannon a melee fighter please give us a bit leniency and some passive defenses. BUT if you want him to stay a glass cannon then keep him ranged, make him less complicated and if he lacks passive defenses then atleast balance it out somehow with something useful for the group he´s in. Otherwise he will keep beeing an option only for players who spend hours practicing on a golem to learn the next overcomplicated rotation.

In my opinion drop the catalyst alltogether and rework him entirely. It doesn´t have to be a 2 button rotation, but make him PLAYABLE even for players that don´t have time for hours and hours of training. If he doesn´t have any defenses make him someone who can kite his enemies and has decent dmg. I still vote Longbow all the way and if the argument is: almost no class uses the hammer atm, then take a look at scrappers or heralds. Longbow is only played by dragonhunters in wvw/pvp and maybe rangers so it´s just as rare while fitting the elementalist way better.

Please don´t make this class disappear because it´s unplayable.

[Andovar Edoras.2143]

It does feel like the catalyst is definitely lacking some oomph. All the other new elite specs have had some sort of a new identity, or a slot where they fit in. But catalyst seems like a whole lot of effort but not a lot of payoff.. I mean..their unique thing is that they can pretty just drop a combo field and thats it? It just.. i dunno.. If you look at things like weaver and even tempest, they both brought something so impactful. 

Theres also the situation with the hammer..its weird that the squishiest class is getting yet another melee weapon. They should be safely tucked away in the backline, not trying to box with enemies in melee range. 

Overall, i feel like the whole Jade Sphere situation needs more to it than just a static little combo field.. Nothing right now makes me think "hmm, i Definitely wanna play This instead of the other 2 specs".

[Kilty.4906]

So far for me, the Catalyst e-spec offers nothing new to Elementalists, and although they can give quickness to allies through Jade Spheres, the Spheres take too long build-up and their radius is too small to offer boon support in fights. Also, Catalysts are too similar to Tempests, both Jade Sphere being similar to Overload Attunements and the heavy aura-based theme for the traits. As well, hammer skills can't compete with Weaver's sword skills, and to effectively deal damage with hammers, players have once again to play piano. 
I would much prefer longbow Elementalist with fast pace combat, a new attunement similar to Celestial Avatar/Death Shroud (so no need to modify the previous weapons), and party alacrity since quickness is now mainstream.

But I know--->BUDGET!

So, What I would change for the currently Catalyst:

When I think of an Elementalist wielding a hammer, I think of DEVASTATION, DESTRUCTION! So using a fire skill while wielding a hammer should invoke the power of a volcano or at least something like the Berserker skill Rupturing Smash. The current animations and particle effects are too lackluster compared to this concept (and the previous Beta e-specs). In other words, the hammer skills should have impactful skills with high cooldowns, also preferably melee skills, which means skill 3 should go because besides being a projectile, the range of this skill is inconsistent with the other skills, and enemies with small hitboxes will often avoid them, this is without mentioning how short they last. And as a final note, and maybe the most important note, hammer skills should deal higher damage, especially all skills 5 and water/air/earth skill 2.

As for Augments they are boring, and besides the healing skill, all utilities are there to fill holes that the e-spec has created, like lack of damage. 

Traits should also get some love since most of them focus on auras, something that Tempest already does. As well, we should have a trait that allows us to lock our Spheres in a determined element.

Finally, the Jade Sphere. It's pretty hard to change the Jade Sphere to something different than the Overloads but I believe its radius should increase to 360 units so it's easier in open-world PvE.

Edit: I also wish I could see the Jade Sphere next to my character, just like Function Gyro.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Kilty.4906

[Master Po.8154]

I'm an ele main and I'm very disappointed about Catalyst. The current version of the sphere is a joke. I'm not even gonna talk about the energy/cooldown of the skill, just how impossible to utilize them.

1. I don't play raid nor other hardcore PVE contents, but I know that a DPS class who can provides quickness needs to compete with quickness cFBs. And Catalyst can't reliably maintain quickness for the whole group and can't even provide quickness at the very beginning of the fight (no energy for sphere). And the group even needs to stand within the 240 radius circle to get buff? OMG seriously? Why would anyone choose Catalyst when others provide more to the table and not limiting your movements.

2. In PvP and WvW roaming, the sphere is a complete joke. Watch any streamers/youtubers playing catalyst in pvp or roaming in wvw, the sphere is just there to look pretty, doing nothing. No one would ever fight an Catalyst in the sphere. (Not that it's insanely powerful or something, just super easy to avoid)

3. In WvW zergs, given how mobile zergs are when fighting each other, the sphere is not gonna buff anyone, and it doesn't do damage either. 

 

The whole class mechanic thing needs to be reworked. 

[Ragnarox.9601]

also 2# lightning should be instant, not swirling around for 5,6 sec

earth 2# should do more dmg

water 2# should heal with every strike for 200

f5 should be on CD energy is bad

[Nsuidara.3649]

23 minutes ago, Ragnarox.9601 said:

f5 should be on CD energy is bad

Then F5 just like nerf F1-F4 over... Tempest (bc. you can sawp and over... each elemental)

For me energy isnt good... but static "stay one pleace" is more worse - here same problem have Tempest when boss/mobs move / charse for other player/s.

 

[BXXL.8047]

Don't know if the elite specs are already meant to be tested in underwater combat, but if so:

Underwater I had quite some trouble placing the F5 skill at a useful spot if there was no ground near me where I could place it. I'd suggest to either instantly place in centered to the player or to the target as aoe ground targeting is not so easy underwater.

 

By the way (just as a note, not helpful for improving the catalyst, I know, but maybe your interested nonetheless): Personally I was hoping for greatsword elementalist making heavy damage with its five attacks of the selected attunement, but therefor losing the ability to swap to the other attunements - in combat or at all (you get something, but also lose something). Inspiration for this were e.g. Balthazar with his heavy fire magic and Frost Legion Charr with greatsword doing some nice (damaging, not just healing/supporting) ice magic. For powering up a single attunement (aside from Balthazar/fire and Frost Legion/water/ice) I was inspired by the Olmakhan with their sand using magic and the earth elementalist sunspears in the Palawa Joko fractal. The only attunement I wasn't quite sure about was wind, but you'd come up with something great there, I'm sure.

So taken all together it would be an elementalist heavily specialized in one single attunement.

[Puck.3697]

14 hours ago, gandlethorpe.2641 said:

The more I play this spec, the more I love it. I honestly feel sad for the devs that something this fun is getting so much hate

They aren't getting hate, but it's very important they get honest opinions. 

It feels to close to just playing core ele it looks more like it's a rough starting point of design and is still missing alot to put it together, I get the concept of not having them so overblosted. 

But the prior 2 very much has, which creates a layer of expectation from these and sadly they don't innovate alot. 

If you play catalyst with dagger/focus. Your litterally playing core ele with a f5 skill and due to it not rly being a mechanic it doesn't feel innovative enough to feel like anything but core ele. 

Which means catalysts "unique gameplay" is entirely based on hammer being the BiS weapon. It's very important ele hammer is going to be the best option for that reason. 

Granted some could be abit more constructive though. 

Imho I think the problem is hammer has too many holes 

Hammer 3 needs to do more damage and the duration needs increasing. 

They need more access to survivability, it feels too squishy to play the role it's susposed to. 

F5 design isn't flexible enough it's fundamentally worthless in anything other then a raid.. and given this is the physical mechanic of the specc it can't be this 1 dimensional. 

It's fine for utility to have niche but the mechanic itself cannot be. It needs more flexibility and different ways of use realistically. 

F5 mechanic needs a selfish reason to cast such as a self buff for casting it on initial cast. It also needs to not change element after casting. 

Hammer needs more access to barrier and healing also. The utilities need to be ramped up alittle also and the elite needs redesigning. It's just not strong enough realistically. 

You are correct. Catalyst has potiental. But it needs work 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2021 by Daddy.8125

[VentiGlondi.9830]

Some of the most common suggestions I've seen are to remove energy altogether, and make the jade sphere mobile.

I however think it's worth considering to instead remove cooldown on jade sphere, and instead let the player redeploy the jade sphere at any moment and any other place they want, as long as they're capable of paying the energy cost.

This kind of solves the problem of jade sphere being immobile, as it can just be resummoned at a desired location, but the player is forced to build up the required energy beforehand.

[Hexd.4796]

Do not design Catalyst to be played like Weaver.

 

[Avalon.4809]

I had negative thoughts at first experience. After making some negative comments here, I kept playing catalyst with persistence. My thought have changed, so i decided to make another comment.

I tested different traits fighting legendary bounties, fighting in Silverwastes and open-world without even checking other new specs, since i love ele. I saw that all i needed was more practice. Each time i started to play better and finally today i didn't die when fighting legendary bosses while 3/4 of people kept dying. Also I learned how to survive in Silverwastes when fighting alone against hordes of mordrem. I even could fight a champ bounty alone in Crystal Desert. I couldn't beat the champ in given time ofc, but i could survive without having much difficulty, even 2 people joined me afterwards and i had to res them during fight.

I had so much fun today, hammer started to make me feel like a true powerful mage. Catalyst is awesome when fighting along other people with all those combo fields around. Watching people die while i was staying alive fighting melee with a beta character was so fun. But when i try to fight against lots of mordrem 'alone' in Silverwastes, it becomes problematic due to lack of evasion skills.

I liked all hammer skills, though i still think water attunement needs to be range instead of air. Water skills feel meaningless if i don't chose water trait.

"Fortified Earth" is awesome, saved me many times. Either "Invigorating Air" needs to be ammo skill, or some hammer skills needs to give evasion.

I don't get the dislike skill#3 got from some people. It reminds me a fire skill i used a lot in GW1. I just think that cast time for "Grand Finale" is a bit long.

Air skill#4 "Wind Storm" has immense power that it can let you go through wall behind you and stuck in it. Not kidding, it happened to me.

Again ı want to say something about UI of F5 skill's energy bar. Beside being really small and hard to read, I can lose if i activated it or not in the middle of fight. There is nothing flashy telling me that energy is full or became getting lower. I have to manage to read that tiny miny energy bar in the middle of fight. I deactivated it immediately many times thinking i couldn't activate it.

I don't think charging F5 skill is long, you need to swap elements to charge it fast. That's also the way how elementalist needs to be played, so it shouldn't feel slow. But i can agree that its size is small; not in pve, but in wvw i can imagine size would be problem. Nobody will stand in it.

Edited September 24, 2021 by Avalon.4809

[kapenike.6793]

On 9/23/2021 at 6:29 PM, Eddbopkins.2630 said:

Against stationary targets it could work. But for pvp and wvw where no one is a still bot, the spec falls short in all aspects of combat. F5 unmoveable, augements dont do enough compaired to 2xtwistoffates, or armor of earth, teleport, or mistform. As for support goes it offers no team healing, except for a blast feild and the boons it gives out are better on tempest. When given the time and slow basicness of raids and pve, this spec can preform well. But under fast pace real combat it slow and uncompetitive.

I think f5 will be useful in pvp action when you are forced into a fight. Just like any other ability you use, its where you place it. No one thinks you should be able to move other placed fields. But if elite augment could move the jade sphere the class would be a lot better I agree. Currently though, if the fight moves you recall it and its another ability on a 15s cooldown... Not too long for the utility it brings.. especially when that utility is partly a boon/effect that moves with you. Conditions wreck me in pvp, immob destroys me in wvw, guardians absurd amount of blocks are just annoying lol Cataylst solves these issues with access to resolution, resistance (wait why can i give but not get resistance? fix this asap), and fire augment to negate blocks.  And these are 5 man boons not just for yourself! I was hoping ele would get a new boon .. didnt expect 3 new ones 😛 I also agree that there is no way this build will be a heal support class. Thats what everyone wanted from ele for the new elite spec though...a class with good damage that wasnt dps nerfed because of its potential to heal. Looks like this will be a high damage class that can offer great damage or protective boons.

Edited September 25, 2021 by kapenike.6793
i guess resistance is only a boon you can grant allies, not yourself :/ whoops & lame

[kapenike.6793]

On 9/23/2021 at 6:29 PM, Eddbopkins.2630 said:

Against stationary targets it could work. But for pvp and wvw where no one is a still bot, the spec falls short in all aspects of combat. F5 unmoveable, augements dont do enough compaired to 2xtwistoffates, or armor of earth, teleport, or mistform. As for support goes it offers no team healing, except for a blast feild and the boons it gives out are better on tempest. When given the time and slow basicness of raids and pve, this spec can preform well. But under fast pace real combat it slow and uncompetitive.

Also just want to quickly point out that at EoD, a group of 4 catalysts and their trusty auramancer tempest are gonna be running mfs down with perma stability, maxed [Elemental Empowerment] and [Empowering Auras] stacks, and unblockable attacks ❤️

[TheAgedGnome.7520]

42 minutes ago, Avalon.4809 said:

I had negative thoughts at first experience. After making some negative comments here, I kept playing catalyst with persistence. My thought have changed, so i decided to make another comment.

I tested different traits fighting legendary bounties, fighting in Silverwastes and open-world without even checking other new specs, since i love ele. I saw that all i needed was more practice. Each time i started to play better and finally today i didn't die when fighting legendary bosses while 3/4 of people kept dying. Also I learned how to survive in Silverwastes when fighting alone against hordes of mordrem. I even could fight a champ bounty alone in Crystal Desert. I couldn't beat the champ in given time ofc, but i could survive without having much difficulty, even 2 people joined me afterwards and i had to res them during fight.

1) Can you share your build?

2) The fact that you could not finish a champ bounty within the time limit reflects the weakness of the Catalyst spec.

[JohnWater.5760]

On 9/21/2021 at 2:26 PM, RuQu.8394 said:

That duration needs to be increased to allow at least one, preferably two, abilities to be used at each attunement in the cycle.  That would make for a nice build up. Fire 3, Fire X, Fire Y, Air 3, Air X, Air Y, Water 3, Water X, Water Y, Earth 3, Earth X, Earth Y...unleash! Or start in water, end in fire for maximum damage. 

 

That would be a worse piano than Weaver, just for 1 weak combo.

[Ukon Cairns.9160]

Catalyst is by far my favorite of these 3. it does need some work but i think 90% of that can be fixed by adjusting numbers.    

im liking what im seeing of hammer, augments, traits and the sphere. love the turtle friend, the whirling hammers, the loops, the voice lines.     

what needs improvement

the sphere being stationary AND using an energy management system AND having a 15/13 second cooldown makes it a bit to difficult to comfortably use. one of those 3 things probably should be removed.

the 5 second uptime on the hammer 3 loop buffs is pretty tight especially next to 3 second cast times on other hammer skills. should probably pump that up to 6 or 7 seconds at least.

for a class so focused on combo fields and finishers its a bit weird for the whirling hammer 2s to not be whirl finishers and the hammer 3 projectiles not being projectile finishers is rough. also no fields on hammer itself, but that can be remedied by making the sphere better. 

theres some interesting traits for stacking auras but you dont really have all that much power to stack auras yourself. the elemental epitome trait gives one on a 10 second cooldown and water 4 gives one in a field every 20 seconds. and with those aura buffs only being 6 seconds long is super rough. 

that said, theres actually a lot of buffs to maintain between Elemental Empowerment, Empowering Auras, Flame Wheel and friends, your Jade Sphere boons, maybe even a Persisting Flames or a Relentless Fire thrown in. would be nice it if was a bit easier to maintain more of these buffs more often.

 

with sphere adjustments and adjustments to cooldowns and durations, the rest is just tuning dmg numbers so it can do solid dps on an enemy thats smaller than an entire room. with those changes id be more than happy to swap mains to catalyst as soon as EoD launches. 

[TheGrimm.5624]

Note: these are all in WvW/sPvP modes.

 

In WvW, not certain how much play I would see for Catalyst as it stands right now. The JS doing no damage (5) doesn't help its case either. Would adjust that or give it more impact on play since it feels like its not worth the time to power up and use. Don't see the Augments being used much either. Maybe for WvW/sPvP,  change them into offensive attacks when cast on enemies and defensive when cast on allies and then add extra enhancements when cast within the JS for the more skillful game play. Like the mechanic on hammer 3 but the odds are low on getting them to refresh and have multiple running. Would almost like to see more reward with Grande Finale if the player can. Maybe if multiple elemental wheels land from the same source there is more impact for each additional one. Could also see some way in traits to add to this gameplay since it does seem to be an out layer to the other skills on hammer.  The back and fourth of the ranges across the different elements also feels off. The fact that there is some consistency in hammer 3 and then not in the others makes it more of a memory game. So a potential reshuffling so that there is more of a pattern to the skills like you have with hammer 3 might address that or more standardization in skill ranges.

[Tambaloneus.6290]

I'll start with I love elementalist and you'd literally have to make it cause me actual real life pain for me to even dislike it so I am somewhat biased. I also play melee tempest and melee spellweaver on 2 alts with a third waiting for this new spec. I love the new weapon, my new ele Norn is going love hauling a hammer around. I agree some of the comments to give it more really weighty animations too because why not.

Things I'd tweak - I find the little energy bar on the f5 skill to be a bit hard to see, wondering if it would benefit from being more like the druid one that sits over the stamina bars? I like the F5 being static, although staying still is usually the death of the ele the ability to place it where the zerg is to share boons is also awesome, as is being able to stand off to the side and staff cast if the zerg is too big to join (because I can't see if lots of things are happening at once on screen). As for the energy if we're asking for wishes I'd also love for it to sit at 50% when out of battle, just so I can start with something 'in the bank', but I'll be happy anyway. I just get annoyed when tech drains to zero (adrenaline i can understand draining but tech should hold charge, its tech after all put a battery in it).

The little 3 skill balls are a bit of a mixed bag, because they're moving they're only hitting things when they pass through them, maybe they could leave a trail or form a ring while they're moving too?

Regardless I'm going to have a lot of fun and will now spend an inordinate amount of time collecting hammer skins because it's one weapon I've entirely neglected until now. Much love and good luck with the release.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Tambaloneus.6290

[Roci.4638]

Does each new utility skill really require a hammer?? say that's a first.. force a new elite class into a single weapon choice.

 

All in all, was holding out on this expansion.. can see that was waste now. Its already been said in 20 pages.. poorly done in all regards.

[kapenike.6793]

On revisiting beta ... I noticed that Catalyst can't grant themselves resistance, only allies. I feel like if I can give a boon to an ally I should get it too 😅 basically that whole trait should give you the boon as well.

[Auburner.6945]

In my opinion the whole e-spec contradicts itself (Cons):

 

1- The weapon has numerous range thresholds it just doesn't make any sense, 600 range attunements with melee range skills, 125 range attunements with range skills, clunky range leap finishers, Jade spheres unga bunga range in-between. For example, Fire on Hammer has a 600 range autoattack, however, skill #5 is melee. The issue is that it's not just Fire attunement.

2- Elementalist is known for its fast-paced gameplay; it's really fun using a skill on an attunement and swapping mid-animation. Like I somehow hop into water to get heals and then use any other attunement; I don't want to waste more time on this attunement. However, hammer is way too slow for that. Only fix I see is... not hammer.

3- What is the main mechanic of this specialization? Stats on auras? that's tempest. Stats on combo finishers? the weapon lacks the fields and the finishers. Barely any trait to amplify F5's uptime/duration/effects/movement, except fast attuning on a slow weapon... Weaver can do it on a fast-paced weapon. Utilities, remind me of ranger spirits with weaker effects... at least those are for 5-10 players. The whole thing seems to bring the other down than synergize.

4- An elite specialization that only works by ditching the weapon it's released with is just bad design, the trait lines are not even fully used to their max potential in any showcase. Like roll a Weaver, Tempest, or a core line and it would be much more impactful.

5- Lack of range options. It's just frustrating having to rely on (semi)celestial stats to function in melee range, while spending a lot of time in tanky attunements. Sustain is needed for critical moments, not for a class to be playable.

6- I am a huge fan of weaver. I started playing by the release of PoF and didn't even level a Tempest or play much core for like a year and half-ish. Why am I saying this. Well, because I don't see why elementalist always needs to be complicated for the sake of it rather than because it's rewarding. Like, I wouldn't mind it being complicated, but the issue is that; it's complicated because it's elementalist. At first it was like "yeah I mastered one of the hardest to play classes" but after a while and by playing more classes it's: "well, have fun with being so full of yourself while I can roll a Firebrand and out-support/out-damage you in every single field of the game"

7- Why hammer? I  won't quote the first few words for the showcase, but it's sad.

 

Tldr

The attunements and skills' range need fixing so that they work together. Hammer is too slow. The mechanic/traits/utilities/weapon all bring the specialization down; no synergy. Lack of range now for a squishy mage. Complicated for the sake of being complicated, because it's ele.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Auburner.6945

[Mini Crinny.6190]

40 minutes ago, Roci.4638 said:

Does each new utility skill really require a hammer?? say that's a first.. force a new elite class into a single weapon choice.

 

All in all, was holding out on this expansion.. can see that was waste now. Its already been said in 20 pages.. poorly done in all regards.

No, they require you to be close to your jade sphere which is the F5

[Chopps.7461]

The concept is cool, but the gameplay and synergy is really bad. I played it for 4 days trying to figure out how use it in wvw groups (small and large ones)

Catalyst has no tradeoff, so it looks like a core elementalist with Jade Sphere. There are a bunch of cool ideas that I read in this thread about how Jade Sphere could work and tradeoffs for it, like Deploy Jade Sphere been usable only in the attunement and when used put it on a bigger cd (similar to overload on tempest).

 

Jade Sphere need improvements. Its really hard to use and the benefits is not that great. On pvp/wvw, hardly enemies or allies will stay long on that small field. So it need to follow you as gyro or some way to move/reposition the jade sphere. Increase a bit the radius too!

Augments are really weak at this point, the needing of the right element to get the selfish benefits when it could have too some finishers to generate auras and aoe benefits.

Elite has long cd and poor benefits even on top of Jade Sphere. The effect of reduce cooldown should work at least for utilities and maybe reduce the interval to 1/2 sec.

In traits some are good and fine for the class, but others should be merged and add new ones. Traits that generates energy with aura gain, generating barrier on aura gain, pulse some barrier on Jade Sphere. A trait that when using hammer or have auras increase toughness and vitality for you and allies. Even Hardened Auras and Empowering Auras could be merged and another new trait share it with allies.

Hammer
Since we are hoping tweaks on Jade Sphere, it doesnt need to generate fields if its easier to keep up and move together/reposition the Celestials. But it definitely deserves more finishers! Look to air 2, water 5 and earth 2, they are claiming for it. And consider change fire 5 to a leap please!

Another thing is reduce some cast times or increase significantly the damage in some skills. On air 2(3 sec -> 2 sec), earth 2 (3 1/4 sec -> 2 1/4 sec) and earth 5 (1 -> 3/4 sec). In earth 4 it could block all attacks while channeling and if it block at least 1 attack, gain the aura.

I really wish some crowd control additions on hammer too besides air 4 and 5! Like water 5 knockback and fire 4 create 3 small ward type rings or 1 medium (similar to Ring of Warding).

Hammer 3 should stay longer, like 8~10 sec and not be destroyed when touch some source of block/reflection/invulnerable.

Some skills like fire 5, water 4 and water 5 should have a base effect + extra for each enemy hit cause when enemies block, evade or you use it for combo, you dont get any benefit.

Faster projectiles in fire 1 and air 1 will be really usefull or increase the range to 900. Water or ice field on third water 1 (Chilling Crack) will be great. Earth 1 applying cripple or at least bleeding.

There is some ideas to make the catalyst has some impact in the battlefield, currently they are just massaging the enemies

Edited September 25, 2021 by Chopps.7461