Catalyst Structured PVP opinion and suggestion

[Kulane.5932]

I tried a lot of different structured PVP build in the last few days with the new elite spec the Catalyst and here are the main problems that I found concerning the catalyst in pvp structure and my suggestions.

1-Its no secret that the elementalist is the squished class when it comes to base stats. They have 756 less vitality and 304 less toughness then warrior (that's the worst case comparison). That's a total of up to 1060 less stats then another class...that's a lot. If you want to do Pvp and not get 1 short by everything you have no other choice but to waste some damage stats on the amulet in order to close the gap of vit and toughness. If you play condition well you already have a dead start on your amulet because they removed all the good condi amulet for Elementalist so you are stuck with either power or precision which you dont need. If you play power you can take Demolisher (power precision toughness and ferocity but you wont have any vitality) and if you take Paladin ( power precision toughness and vitality) well for some reason the amulet have 100 less toughness and 100 less vitality so you just played yourself and increased the stats gap by another 200 points.

Suggestion: Bring back some better amulet or Make Elementalist a medium health pool class or if you only want to change Catalyst maybe change the Elemental Empowerment buff (+all stat %) to a +base value like +50 to all stat per stack so at max stack you have +500 all stats (+1000 with the grandmaster trait). It would also be more balanced for celesital stats in other game mode this way.

2-The Jade Sphere fell very underwhelming in pvp all it does it create a combo field and give some not very desired boons. People are moving all the time, the only way we can get value out of this is if we are fighting on a node and even if you stay in the field for the full duration it feel lack luster. Also the sphere is on the same global cooldown as the attunement meaning you cant switch attunement place the sphere immediately and combo into it you have to wait an awkward 1 second before placing the sphere it just doesn't feel good.

Suggestion: Make the field do the same damage as they do in PVE.

-Lightning : Is the only one that feels good to use because quickness is such a good boon. I wouldn't change it.

-Fire: Only 5 mights ? Why would someone waste their energy for this. I feel like it should pulse 1 second burning

-Water: Resolution? Regen which has more synergy with other elementalists traits or a pulsing heal would be better in my opinion.

-Earth: Protection is good but it would feel a lot better if it had the PVE damage like I said above and maybe cripple to help sticking to your targets ?

3- Other issues I found are on the hammers skills. It lack mobility. The only mobility skill on hammer is water 4 which is your heal. So you have to waste you big heal in order to stick or catch up to your target. This really feel bad to me.

suggestion: I would add another leap on another skill like earth 5 (earth is the other melee range element it should have a gap closer)

The delay on the stun plus the projectile travel time of Air5 make it almost impossible to land and if you land it..its only a 1.5 seconds stun. Focus get a guarantee hit 3 seconds knockdown 900 range in comparison.

suggestion: Make it instant and/or make the projectile faster or make it more rewarding maybe 3 seconds stun.

-4 My last concern is with the trait Hardened Auras (+2% damage when you gain a aura up to 10%). This is such a bad trait it takes a lot of time to reach 10% you have to get 5 aura which take a long time and is almost impossible to maintain. Don't get me wrong the Elementalist need traits like that but its lack luster when you compare it to other classes trait like the Rev Close Quarter (10%), Warrior hardened Armor (10% +resolution) etc...

suggestion: Also make it proc on combos or buff if to 3-4% per stack.

Thanks all for taking the time to listen to my feedback feel free to leave yours !

From a longtime Gw2 fan = )

[Ace.1784]

1 hour ago, Kulane.5932 said:

2-The Jade Sphere fell very underwhelming in pvp all it does it create a combo field and give some not very desired boons. People are moving all the time, the only way we can get value out of this is if we are fighting on a node and even if you stay in the field for the full duration it feel lack luster. Also the sphere is on the same global cooldown as the attunement meaning you cant switch attunement place the sphere immediately and combo into it you have to wait an awkward 1 second before placing the sphere it just doesn't feel good.

Suggestion: Make the field do the same damage as they do in PVE.

-Lightning : Is the only one that feels good to use because quickness is such a good boon. I wouldn't change it.

-Fire: Only 5 mights ? Why would someone waste their energy for this. I feel like it should pulse 1 second burning

-Water: Resolution? Regen which has more synergy with other elementalists traits or a pulsing heal would be better in my opinion.

-Earth: Protection is good but it would feel a lot better if it had the PVE damage like I said above and maybe cripple to help sticking to your targets ?

-4 My last concern is with the trait Hardened Auras (+2% damage when you gain a aura up to 10%). This is such a bad trait it takes a lot of time to reach 10% you have to get 5 aura which take a long time and is almost impossible to maintain. Don't get me wrong the Elementalist need traits like that but its lack luster when you compare it to other classes trait like the Rev Close Quarter (10%), Warrior hardened Armor (10% +resolution) etc...

Just a quick question on the boons. I'm not a sPvP specialist by any means, I play it for fun whenever I'm bored (I do play WvW), but isn't Protection and Resolution super strong PvP boons. In WvW protection is quite valuable and against any condi class, Resolution puts a damper on their damage.

With Spectacular Sphere, you can get:

- 10 might with Fire

- 5s Fury, 5s Quickness with Air

- 5s Resolution, 5s Vigor with Water

- 5s Protection, 5s Resistance (anti immob, anti chill, anti cripple) with Earth

With sphere specialist, you can give them a 50% duration increase. 

All of those boons, to me, seem very PvP centric, so how are they not desired/desirable? Is it the duration?

[Downstate.4697]

On your first point I agree having less stats is limiting in theorycraft. Unless you are building like a LR catalyst I find both hammer and d/x work best with hybrid damage. I also find investing into healing power to be a waste if you are using fire arcane catalyst. Wizards and shashbuckler have been the most effective for me so far. You can then build for more toughness/damage through your rune choice. 

Tl&dr

Dont invest in healing power unless playing support

Dont invest in only power damage unless running LR build.

[Downstate.4697]

39 minutes ago, Vinteros Asteano.1209 said:

Just a quick question on the boons. I'm not a sPvP specialist by any means, I play it for fun whenever I'm bored (I do play WvW), but isn't Protection and Resolution super strong PvP boons. In WvW protection is quite valuable and against any condi class, Resolution puts a damper on their damage.

With Spectacular Sphere, you can get:

- 10 might with Fire

- 5s Fury, 5s Quickness with Air

- 5s Resolution, 5s Vigor with Water

- 5s Protection, 5s Resistance (anti immob, anti chill, anti cripple) with Earth

With sphere specialist, you can give them a 50% duration increase. 

All of those boons, to me, seem very PvP centric, so how are they not desired/desirable? Is it the duration?

The jade sphere is stationary and trying to get allies to stand in it for more than 2s is not worth the trouble. If it was aoe around you then it would be a good choice as a team fighter. If in comms you could make the most use of what you described so could be possible in tournaments. On demand quickness can help counter the res utility meta. 

With team fights becoming the win/lose condition these days you may find a lot more bruiser type fighters in team fights with boon support. 

Once EoD comes out I wouldnt be suprised if berzerker and reaper become more widely used since they can have a spectre be their dedicated babysitter at mid. Everyone else will probably be a bit tankier and have more mobility option for rotations. That is where a d/d catalyst could fit in.

[Ace.1784]

1 hour ago, FrownyClown.8402 said:

The jade sphere is stationary and trying to get allies to stand in it for more than 2s is not worth the trouble. If it was aoe around you then it would be a good choice as a team fighter. If in comms you could make the most use of what you described so could be possible in tournaments. On demand quickness can help counter the res utility meta. 

With team fights becoming the win/lose condition these days you may find a lot more bruiser type fighters in team fights with boon support. 

Once EoD comes out I wouldnt be suprised if berzerker and reaper become more widely used since they can have a spectre be their dedicated babysitter at mid. Everyone else will probably be a bit tankier and have more mobility option for rotations. That is where a d/d catalyst could fit in.

This makes a lot of sense; it's the coordination required when pugging that makes it difficult to get the full use. Thanks for the answer!