Why don't we have a viable 'caster' option for eles?

[Faelun.7563]

I totally get people wanting to play this 'battle mage, in your face' type elementalist. I think its cool and I think its what make guildwars unique. However, there are many of us who want to play a classic spell-caster type. Why can't things be adjusted so both staff (or scepter!) and sword (or daggers!) are viable for a raid spec?

I think being forced into playing sword/dagger if you want to be competitive in raids is silly, we should have the option to be a spellcaster or a 'mele elementalist'

[Ashikuro.1920]

I'm no expert, but snow crows has a staff build as one of the top benchmark specs. It says #1 benchmark is sword/dagger weaver, but this one is ranked #7 out of all specs ...I'd say that's viable

https://snowcrows.com/raids/builds/elementalist/weaver/staff/

[starlinvf.1358]

Yeah..... pretty much everything the OP thinks doesn't exist already does. But it also shows a total lack of understanding of the Class's mechanical potential, seeing how it was top DPS for large hit boxes by an insanely large (30%) margin IN RAIDS!!! And that build was Staff, the most traditional spell caster casty weapon in in the history of RPG casty weapons.

This highlights a problem with Mage as a concept in most MMOs, because its a class thats almost fundamentally Min/Maxed toward damage, and is fundamentally broken without the Trinity framework that was built around it.

[Liberis.9573]

Core arcane staff is still viable in spvp too.

[aceofbass.2163]

But isn't staff ele the top dog in raids for a very long time?

[Feanor.2358]

It was, but it is currently fallen behind. That being said, staff is still viable - meaning it offers enough damage to properly finish an encounter provided you're skilled enough. It is also a decent pick on a few fights due to better cleave and/or range (Xera, Deimos ranged). It is also pretty good pick in fractals due to actually having higher/faster burst than Sword/Dagger.

[Poelala.2830]

Eles don’t have a viable anything option as far as fighting players goes.

[Liberis.9573]

@Poelala.2830 said:Eles don’t have a viable anything option as far as fighting players goes.

In Spvp? Arcane caster zerker staff ele works very well. It's fun in WvW too, but I don't play that mode too much.

[Poelala.2830]

@Liberis.9573 said:

@Poelala.2830 said:Eles don’t have a viable anything option as far as fighting players goes.

In Spvp? Arcane caster zerker staff ele works very well. It's fun in WvW too, but I don't play that mode too much.

What rating have you gotten to on that build?

[Carighan.6758]

Honestly though, Staff does not feel like a caster-spec by and large.

More like a machine gun.

I genuinely miss MMOs where spells such as Meteor Shower were among the faster spells. It gave me time to chat during combat, things weren't so super-hectic :pensive:

[Javelin.7960]

I have yet to see a staff build that worked, that didn't require conjures to function. If I have to conjure another weapon 25+% of the time in trying to do damage in the build, then it's not a staff build, it's a hybrid staff+conjures build. The designers made the decision to not give Ele weapon swaps, because the class attunement mechanic was going to take it's place....and then they gave us a crappy, time-limited weapon swap that has to sit in a utility slot.

Show me an effective, conjure-free staff build, and I'll stop saying staff isn't an effective weapon for ele.

[Jski.6180]

Glyph are kind of caster skills but there impact is not as great. I would love to see ele get say wells that tend to be more of a spell caster skill. Could this be what you mean? Not so much wepon skills but utility and f5?

[Javelin.7960]

I think conjures, if they're going to exist at all, should be an F5 type skill. More to the point, I think staff should be reworked such that it's a viable weapon without using conjures as a crutch to wait-out the cooldowns on it's few truly useful damage skills. The whole build is absurd; take the squishiest class, and turn their only long range combat weapon into primary support instead of DPS. The elementalist should be all about raining fiery death on the enemy from afar. This whole melee deal should have never been the focus of the class. Fine, people want a magi-knight or whatever, the game can be flexible enough to do that, GW1 was. But it should have been a novelty, not the focus.

[Liberis.9573]

@Poelala.2830 said:

@Liberis.9573 said:

@Poelala.2830 said:Eles don’t have a viable anything option as far as fighting players goes.

In Spvp? Arcane caster zerker staff ele works very well. It's fun in WvW too, but I don't play that mode too much.

What rating have you gotten to on that build?

Currently 1568, but I hit 1500 within the first week of every season. Until 1500ish, it's very easy to carry teams with this build. Uses all arcane abilities + summon elemental elite. I hit 1500+ with this build even before they buffed arcane.

I haven't uploaded anything recently, but here's a playlist with some of my older ranked gameplay. The gameplay isn't great compared to how I play now, but it should give you a general idea:

The build guide: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/12149/core-glass-cannon-staff-ele-for-spvp-october-2017

[TSOdinson.2518]

@Liberis.9573 said:

@Poelala.2830 said:

@Liberis.9573 said:

@Poelala.2830 said:Eles don’t have a viable anything option as far as fighting players goes.

In Spvp? Arcane caster zerker staff ele works very well. It's fun in WvW too, but I don't play that mode too much.

What rating have you gotten to on that build?

Currently 1568, but I hit 1500 within the first week of every season. Until 1500ish, it's very easy to carry teams with this build. Uses all arcane abilities + summon elemental elite. I hit 1500+ with this build even before they buffed arcane.

I haven't uploaded anything recently, but here's a playlist with some of my older ranked gameplay. The gameplay isn't great compared to how I play now, but it should give you a general idea:

The build guide:

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/12149/core-glass-cannon-staff-ele-for-spvp-october-2017

What do you do when you have a power shatter/rev/thief focus you?

[Poelala.2830]

@Liberis.9573 said:

@Poelala.2830 said:

@Liberis.9573 said:

@Poelala.2830 said:Eles don’t have a viable anything option as far as fighting players goes.

In Spvp? Arcane caster zerker staff ele works very well. It's fun in WvW too, but I don't play that mode too much.

What rating have you gotten to on that build?

Currently 1568, but I hit 1500 within the first week of every season. Until 1500ish, it's very easy to carry teams with this build. Uses all arcane abilities + summon elemental elite. I hit 1500+ with this build even before they buffed arcane.

I haven't uploaded anything recently, but here's a playlist with some of my older ranked gameplay. The gameplay isn't great compared to how I play now, but it should give you a general idea:

The build guide:

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/12149/core-glass-cannon-staff-ele-for-spvp-october-2017

This build could never be viable because once people know what you are playing you will be focused 100% of the game and effectively make a 4v5 for your team. I know if I were on core guard all it would take is 1 burst and you'd be instantly dead, especially without using lightning flash.

[Liberis.9573]

Not sure what to tell you other than it works for me. You gotta go try it for yourself :)

Thief is easy because you can burst them in a single stun. Otherwise run onto the point with your team and force them into your damage. It's not a 1v1 build.

[Faelun.7563]

@Javelin.7960 said:I have yet to see a staff build that worked, that didn't require conjures to function. If I have to conjure another weapon 25+% of the time in trying to do damage in the build, then it's not a staff build, it's a hybrid staff+conjures build. The designers made the decision to not give Ele weapon swaps, because the class attunement mechanic was going to take it's place....and then they gave us a crappy, time-limited weapon swap that has to sit in a utility slot.

Show me an effective, conjure-free staff build, and I'll stop saying staff isn't an effective weapon for ele.

I absolutely agree with this. I guess my feelings about all this stemmed from the fact that staff was SO MUCH FUN to play and now the top dps build for ele is sword/dagger which is a miserable experience by comparison.

[Arkaile.5604]

@"Faelun.7563" Meanwhile, there are people, myself included, who find sword/dagger more interesting than staff, which itself was what I could describe as "a miserable experience by comparison." Not to mention sword/dagger actually has a couple evades and cc available in its rotation without having to rely on a conjured weapon, if I ever need them. Something about opinions and everyone having a certain body part that would be censored if I were to type out its name comes to mind...

As for your original post, I agree it is a shame that we don't have more weapons which are considered raid "viable," but until the balance team actually starts, you know, balancing, it's just what we'll have to deal with. Moreover, as evidenced by the "Concerns About Elementalist" thread, the team is either ignoring what people have to say or, what I think is more likely, just really slow to implement any ideas from that massive thread due to most of the suggestions being bad or unrealistically grand and good old lack of time.