Which specs are actual "sidegrades"? (caster edition)

[Vagrant.7206]

Hey everyone.

I was thinking about e-specs today, and some of the intention behind them was to make them sidegrades, not direct upgrades. So which e-specs do you think actually met that goal?

This poll is about the light classes. I would say of the light classes, weaver is the closest to a sidegrade. It isn't an outright damage increase, nor is it an outright survivability increase. If anything, it makes elementalist more complex.

[Feanor.2358]

@Vagrant.7206 said:I would say of the light classes, weaver is the closest to a sidegrade. It isn't an outright damage increase, nor is it an outright survivability increase. If anything, it makes elementalist more complex.

Speaking of pure dps specs, weaver is most certainly a direct upgrade over core ele. Heck, even Tempest is.

[Vagrant.7206]

@Feanor.2358 said:

@Vagrant.7206 said:I would say of the light classes, weaver is the closest to a sidegrade. It isn't an outright damage increase, nor is it an outright survivability increase. If anything, it makes elementalist more complex.

Speaking of pure dps specs, weaver is most certainly a direct upgrade over core ele. Heck, even Tempest is.

That's fair. I know next to nothing about ele, and since I haven't seen too many weavers, it's hard for me to tell how good it is.

[Evolute.6239]

I'd say tempest at this point because it's a playstyle change in meta pve, though all specs listed are still "upgrades" over the core.

Weaver is the definition of straight upgrade from core tbh lol.

[steki.1478]

@Feanor.2358 said:

@Vagrant.7206 said:I would say of the light classes, weaver is the closest to a sidegrade. It isn't an outright damage increase, nor is it an outright survivability increase. If anything, it makes elementalist more complex.

Speaking of pure dps specs, weaver is most certainly a direct upgrade over core ele. Heck, even Tempest is.

@"Evolute.6239" said:I'd say tempest at this point because it's a playstyle change in meta pve, though all specs listed are still "upgrades" over the core.

Weaver is the definition of straight upgrade from core tbh lol.

DPS wise they are, but that works for nearly every elite spec in game. They arent direct upgrades on class mechanic though, since tempest gets increased attunement cooldowns on overloads, weaver has timegated 3-5 skills etc.

[ZDragon.3046]

Tempest wins here for sure a close second would maybe be reaper everything else is a direct upgrade

[DeceiverX.8361]

I'd have absolutely said reaper prior to the life force changes and RShroud damage increases.

As far as PvP and WvW go, core necro in no way can come close to the damage reaper has and is so much easier to counter.

Tempest doesn't have much higher DPS than corw but its competitive play builds are much better than core, and weaver is just downright better. We all know about mirage amd chrono...

[otto.5684]

I went with potato, cuz I think the changes over the last year in HoT elites and the addition of PoF elites is mostly power creep with little game play variety over how classes previously could provide. If I order them from sidegrade to upgrade:

ChronoMirageTempest......

(Intentional gap to indicate Anet failure in design)

Reaper......

(Intentional gap again to show massive failure in design)

ScourgeWeaver

The last 2 are nothing more than reaggregation of previous roles these classes fulfilled with power creep added to the mix.

[Feanor.2358]

The point of the elite specs isn't to give new roles. That's nice to have, but also not feasible beside maybe the first 1-2. The reason being, you'd be running out of roles to cover. The point of the elite specs is to give new gameplay. Which they do.

[Kako.1930]

I think all of the elite specs for the light armor professions are superior to running their core builds. The only professions that I think might meet the criteria are warriors/berserkers/spellbreakers, thieves/daredevils/deadeyes, and maybe revenants/renegades, although herald is superior to the other two. That's just my opinion though.

Edit: this is from a mostly PvP perspective. I just wanted to add that cuz the meta is different for pve.

[Rhyse.8179]

Every elite spec is superior to it's core. There are no sidegrades. It's all been a lie, and power creep is real.