Is Cataclyst a joke compare to other new specs?

[Milosz.5938]

 

[Milosz.5938]

 

 

[Milosz.5938]

 

[Mini Crinny.6190]

I think anet realise that catalyst does need a lot of work and while it was a beta, I doubt they will fix everything by the time EoD comes but hopefully for the players that are going to play Cata in EoD, it won't be as bad as it was

[Infusion.7149]

Just FYI while I agree with first video that earth should have bleed on auto (hammer) , he's wrong about using water/air with condi builds. There's multi-hit skills and the loop (hammer 3) that all will trigger on-hit traits such as Burning Precision and/or Arcane Precision. Would you camp air/water with a condi build? No, but to push damage you will attune to them just as on weaver.

[Bleikopf.2491]

3 hours ago, Mini Crinny.6190 said:

I think anet realise that catalyst does need a lot of work and while it was a beta, I doubt they will fix everything by the time EoD comes but hopefully for the players that are going to play Cata in EoD, it won't be as bad as it was

Same mindset. They might fix some things, but there is so much stuff going wrong with Cata it'd be a miracle if they fixed everything until EoD launches. I'm expecting some more changes after EoD releases.

I would prefer another beta after some changes has been made, but I'm not really hoping for that.

[Xephir.7635]

16 minutes ago, Bleikopf.2491 said:

Same mindset. They might fix some things, but there is so much stuff going wrong with Cata it'd be a miracle if they fixed everything until EoD launches. I'm expecting some more changes after EoD releases.

I would prefer another beta after some changes has been made, but I'm not really hoping for that.

There is another beta with all 9, hopefully aome change have been made then.

[Avatara.1042]

Everything about the spec is broken 😞

[Dadnir.5038]

Catalyst mainly lack originality, so much that it's infuriating.

- Tempest had aoe on it's F key and focus on aura, So does Catalyst.

- Weaver had a set of stances, so does Catalyst.

I mean, the catalyst isn't transcendental yet mechanicaly viable but, is elementals auras and elemental aoe all there is to elementalist?

Do the elementalist have to be stuck with Fire, Air, Water and Earth until the end (Couldn't they have gone with something like: "the attunments are corrupted by the jade energy, fire transformed to light, air transforme to poison, water transformed to darkness and Earth transformed to whatever's left, modifying the core weapons fields and have the elite spec weapon specifically designed around new elements)?

Couldn't the devs find a way to make the attunments work differently (allow weapon swap but at the cost of losing the change of the weaponskills when switching attunment. I mean, a single new set of skills for all core weapons and a spec specific weapon is the exact same number of skills they developped for the hammer. We could have had attunments work like willbender virtues instead)?

Couldn't they "give up" the (not so great) elite skill as trade off and put a 10s CD "Elemental shroud" there with a second life bar since they did something not much different for the thief?

Couldn't they do an elemental pet spec (they've done one for engineer)? It would not be great by all account but at east it would have been different.

But maybe I'm asking for to much, maybe my expectations are to high...

Edited October 24, 2021 by Dadnir.5038

[usernameisapain.7163]

2 hours ago, Dadnir.5038 said:

Catalyst mainly lack originality, so much that it's infuriating.

- Tempest had aoe on it's F key and focus on aura, So does Catalyst.

- Weaver had a set of stances, so does Catalyst.

I mean, the catalyst isn't transcendental yet mechanicaly viable but, is elementals auras and elemental aoe all there is to elementalist?

Do the elementalist have to be stuck with Fire, Air, Water and Earth until the end (Couldn't they have gone with something like: "the attunments are corrupted by the jade energy, fire transformed to light, air transforme to poison, water transformed to darkness and Earth transformed to whatever's left, modifying the core weapons fields and have the elite spec weapon specifically designed around new elements)?

Couldn't the devs find a way to make the attunments work differently (allow weapon swap but at the cost of losing the change of the weaponskills when switching attunment. I mean, a single new set of skills for all core weapons and a spec specific weapon is the exact same number of skills they developped for the hammer. We could have had attunments work like willbender virtues instead)?

Couldn't they "give up" the (not so great) elite skill as trade off and put a 10s CD "Elemental shroud" there with a second life bar since they did something not much different for the thief?

Couldn't they do an elemental pet spec (they've done one for engineer)? It would not be great by all account but at east it would have been different.

But maybe I'm asking for to much, maybe my expectations are to high...

I was thinking the same, could have been interesting to see the attunements be replaced, maybe even only to two attunements for this specific e-spec, maybe finally see that Arcane attunement...  

[Stallic.2397]

Thanks for the videos! Great feedback that are similar to forum complaints, now fully explained with visuals. Hopefully Anet watches these and makes the necessary changes. In case someone didn't watch, here's the TL:DR with personal suggestions. 

 

Video One:

 

Biggest point made was Role Identity. What Role does Catalyst play that makes it unique? Aura Share/Support is better done by Tempest & Dps/Bruiser is already achieved with Weaver. Catalyst is a mix of the two without any shining mechanics that make it more viable.

 

Energy mechanic is lackluster with only one trait increasing energy output. It takes way too long to gather 30 Energy and none of that is ever saved if the F5 is recalled. More Traits should support energy build up and the F5 should keep it's energy, even if out of combat.  

 

Aura Buffs: Only 6 seconds long. Literally impossible to get full stacks on hammer and Dagger is not much better. Anet has to increase duration otherwise those traits are useless

 

F5 is way too clunky. It shares an ICD with attunement swapping (Video 2 reference). Why?? It's like catalyst was created as difficult to play, just to irritate players. F5 in it's current state is no better than a utility well on other classes. In fact, much worse, given it's CD, energy requirement and unmovable. Please allow Catalyst to create multiple wells as long as the energy is available. Catalyst needs consistent available fields to combo with and make auras. In actual combat that's impossible with the current iteration of Jade Sphere. Catalyst is stuck in one spot and locked behind an incredibly long energy buildup. 

 

Video 2- This video did a great job explaining Hammer and it's weaknesses. Too many suggestions to list, but the ones I really agreed with

 

Hammer 3- Remove from weapon and replace with much more needed weapon skills; for example, combo fields, evades, auras, blast finishers. Catalyst without any core additions, doesn't have the resources to be the promised "steady front-liner". Especially since hammer is lacking so much utility in it's kit. I've read other suggestions to put Hammer 3 into one singular F skill.   

 

Hammer Ranges- They're all over the place without a consistent understanding of where a Catalyst should be standing. Hammer 3 ONLY hits at 200 range but half of the auto attacks are at 130 range. Literally, Hammer contradicts itself, reducing effectiveness. 

 

Elite Skill: Should provide auras based on attunement rather than boons. Hammer has only 1 aura skill. Completely impractical since this Elite Specialization is all about generating auras. After seeing Untamed's Elite, I genuinely feel Catalyst is getting the short end of the stick. With Untamed, there's no ICD! Dozens of seconds removed based on the speed of the player. Catalyst, has a 1 sec ICD, so max is a mere 8 second reduction. Not sufficient for a 90sec CD skill.   

 

Lastly, Utilities are way too situational to be effective. Jade Sphere is stationary so getting the added benefit "within the sphere" is challenging, to say the least. Not to mention, ensuring the right attunement is selected. Suggestion: Remove attunement necessity all together, or remove "within Jade Sphere" limitation.  

Edited October 25, 2021 by Stallic.2397

[Paradoxoglanis.1904]

I can only imagine what anet was thinking when designing catalyst. Just start over from scratch and give catalyst a bow or pistols. I guess all the people complaining about ele being forced into squishy melee roles with slow, clunky weapons were ignored. And in pvp cata hammer is probably the worst weapon in the game, which is saying a lot seeing how bad staff is.

[Alchimist.4738]

Catalyst is by far the worst one of this expansion, no matter how clunky the other might feel, they all change the way you're approaching your class, while Catalyst just feels like core Elementalist with a well for an F5, an bunch of of left over ideas from Weaver and Tempest.

 

Willbender for instance in super underwhelming, but it still manages to change the way you're interacting with the core mechanics, you don't have the virtue passives, only after using the virtue itself, but the passive is stronger and the activation of the virtue also is. It's clunky and need some polish, but on paper it's interesting, and all the other specs are like this, except for Catalyst, which changes nothing in how you're playing Elementalist. Tempest changed a little bit the way you play with your attunements by encouraging the player to stay in them longer in order to gain a new ability, Weaver also changed that by allowing you to merge two attunements, in comparison with Catalyst you just press F5 when you've enough energy (which is an awful mechanic) and the well has different properties depending on your attunement, which is super bland and boring.

 

On paper it's boring and uninspired, and in practice it's also quite useless.

[Aedil.1296]

Yes, an absolute joke. Like total nonsense seriously. 

[Shadowflare.2759]

As things stand the Catalyst is a joke compared to other elementalist specs, so of course it's also a joke compared to other classes.

[Jski.6180]

Cata just a core ele with a bit more + to all and an F5 so its stronger but still not going to out dps a weaver nor will out "heal" a tempest (though i think it was better boon support then tempest in quality of boons not duration).

[Stallic.2397]

4 hours ago, Jski.6180 said:

Cata just a core ele with a bit more + to all and an F5 so its stronger but still not going to out dps a weaver nor will out "heal" a tempest (though i think it was better boon support then tempest in quality of boons not duration).

 

Creating a tanky boon support would actually give catalyst its own identity apart from tempest. But Anet has to stop being so stingy when it comes to Ele and give them something strong to work with

 

For example : Spectacular Sphere, a master trait that only grants fury, vigor and might?? Easy boons to get anywhere else. Give Catalyst Alacrity! Or Aegis. This is an elite spec, but it's access is limited to the same boons Elem had since 2012. 

 

Sphere specialist should be combined with Spectacular Sphere. It's a Waste of a grandmaster for how little it gives. Instead, you can add new condi damage to the class. Jade sphere gives condis based on attunement: fear, slow, weakness and torment. Or Jade sphere can now be multiple wells at once. 

 

Just frustrating when Elem gets one dimensional buffs but other classes get game changing Elites

 

 

Edited October 25, 2021 by Stallic.2397

[Avatara.1042]

its

[Tabootrinket.2631]

yes

[Neva Eilhart.5347]

Not only it's a joke, but it also tries hard to do things already done by Elementalist be it Core, Tempest or Weaver.

This is the e-spec which lacks a strong vision the most. I can forgive them for hitting and missing with Willbender because it has a vision behind it. But not so much with Catalyst.

So many things could be done and toyed around attunements and Elementalist : getting rid of attunements entirely and giving them pure arcana power, forcing Eles to commit to only one element but buffing it strongly... just look for example at how D&D has been handling the subclasses for casters in 5e.

Throwing a static field on the ground which needs to be powered by some other obscure mana ressource being at the very bottom of the list of what would be fun (I thought the point of GW2 was to get rid of old Mmo tropes such as having CDs+ressource management).

Edited October 27, 2021 by Neva Eilhart.5347

[Zicarous.2134]

jokes are funny... this is... sad

[crosknight.3041]

17 hours ago, Zicarous.2134 said:

jokes are funny... this is... sad

indeed, catalyst wins the prize of biggest loser elite spec

[Downstate.4697]

All of the elite specs but spectre are a joke atm. Catalyst abd willbender are the worsed though

[Xanadrine.4352]

Cata and untamed are both jokes compared to the rest. They are mechanically bad, whereas willbender can be fixed with a few damage buffs and a small virtues rework. Both eod hammer specs are just mechanically unsound and need to be redesigned from the ground up. but that wont happen and they will be 2 broken elites in EoD.

[Serephen.3420]

On 10/25/2021 at 6:56 AM, Paradoxoglanis.1904 said:

I can only imagine what anet was thinking when designing catalyst. Just start over from scratch and give catalyst a bow or pistols. I guess all the people complaining about ele being forced into squishy melee roles with slow, clunky weapons were ignored. And in pvp cata hammer is probably the worst weapon in the game, which is saying a lot seeing how bad staff is.

You don't need to imagine what they were thinking because they weren't thinking anything from the looks of it.