Does elementalist get better?

[Jski.6180]

40 minutes ago, Infusion.7149 said:

Actually you used to be able to run staff weaver in fractals as long as people were casual. Now after lava font nerfs and meteor shower nerfs, not so much. Power weaver is still usable but with bad instabilities it is really stressful. I've seen some power fresh air tempests with scepter +warhorn or dagger+warhorn but if it's not trash mobs you're cleaving out then the damage isn't all that great. The variant on discretize uses water traitline so it has decent sustain when you need it (via heal on dodge and attuning to water + soothing mist if dipping into water for shatterstone or cone of cold).

They did just nerf WH lighting orb dmg in pve.

[Aigleborgne.2981]

15 hours ago, mindcircus.1506 said:

Imagine being an MMO veteran and calling a build that is more successful than your preferred playstyle "cheesy".

 

Power weaver is a beast against the paper mobs in Orr. You are misrepresenting it's capabilities. It needs less preparation than a condi build. Where Power weaver (in Marauder) falls behind Condi (in Trailblazer) is against champions against everything else it is objectively better.

 

Obviously, trailblazer is easier sustain than any power combinations. 

You are certainly better than me then because even in Orr, there are many champions that give me troubles, capable of putting down my squishy ele in 1 or 2 hits. You have far less margin of error than trailblazer. 

There are also several veterans that are quite strong, almost champion level. 

Either you play with a defensive build with power gear, and then you don't need preparation. Either you play a full dps build with very little defense, but in this case, you can't handle all situations, especially champions. 

[TheDarkness.6947]

14 hours ago, HappyHubris.1096 said:

I would be far more worried about playstyle compatibility and general viability than being the "best."  Doing 15% higher damage is less likely to keep you happy than thoroughly enjoying the mechanics and aesthetics of your class.  Remember that players like to complain about T4 CM fractals and tough raids that a vanishingly small part of the playerbase ever even attempts.  To do raids and high end fractals you will likely be expected to use a playstyle that fits your role (e.g. no ranged staff DPS in fractals), but player learning curves are likely to constrain players before class selection. Also, most GW2 content is tuned for absolutely terrible DPS, so it's not like you'll be wiping on T2 fractals or failing due to your class selection.  Remember, every MMO class feels like it's being shortchanged (or misunderstood, if they're currently in the lead).

 

I love the elementalist aesthetics and theme but found that the mechanics and performance weren't as smooth as other classes I tried.  That said, it wouldn't hurt to try either weaver or tempest to see if they offer some secret sauce.  You can do a few HoT HP chains in an hour and get the points to fill in an elite spec.

 

That seems like sound advice.  I was really going for a caster play style.  Staff ele does have that vibe, but it also felt pretty underwhelming to me.  I wasn’t feeling like my shiny moments were quite shiny enough for as much tap-dancing and trying to stay upright as I had do do.  Dagger/dagger feels stronger and more fluid, but less like a caster and more like a melee with some cool visuals.

 

Maybe the whole package would feel better if you could switch weapons in combat.  I assume that’s what the conjure weapons are there for, but they also feel a bit underwhelming.

 

I really haven’t spent much time with scepter or focus.

 

To your point though, if tempest plays like a caster maybe it’s worth sticking with it long enough to open up that specialization to check it out.

Edited May 8, 2021 by TheDarkness.6947

[HappyHubris.1096]

4 hours ago, TheDarkness.6947 said:

To your point though, if tempest plays like a caster maybe it’s worth sticking with it long enough to open up that specialization to check it out.

Tempest is pretty close to core.  I would see if you could look at a core Fresh Air Scepter build and go from there.

[jpsssss.7530]

It does get better. Overload fresh air Air Tempest can be fun and do oonga boonga damage while also spamming fury. Weaver is great for WvW roaming. I will say that lvl 80 is your target and you shouldn't try to evaluate any class before lvl80 and obtaining all elite specs.

[CETheLucid.3964]

It gets better. Pre-80 is suffering. Properly geared at max level, ele can do anything in the game and excel. The learning curve is steep and generally unforgiving but you're given a lot of tools to mitigate death in your weapons, utilities, and elemental swaps. And you really have to master them to get the most out of the class.

 

Other classes tend to achieve better median results with much less effort. For a lot of people median and open world stability is enough.

[jpsssss.7530]

It does get better. Overload fresh air Air Tempest can be fun and do oonga boonga damage while also spamming fury. Weaver is great for WvW roaming. I will say that lvl 80 is your target and you shouldn't try to evaluate any class before lvl80 and obtaining all elite specs.

[Zeesh.7286]

It's a decent class and you'll still get roles in every form of the game. BUT with that said and done, I sometimes look back and wish I had started as a Guardian main or a necro. I mainly do WvW and Spvp. Guardian is one class that is absolutely busted in all game modes and given the current direction it will definitely stay in the meta for WvW and Spvp for a while to come (unless anet drops some massive nerfs which will be unlikely). Meanwhile while ele is in the meta right now, in my experience it is often just a ping pong class that may or may not remain meta based on whimsical anet balancing.

 

For PVE all classes are viable and have some builds that work for solo content as well as group content so you can't go wrong with ele in PVE. I love swapping builds in PVE from melee based to casters. It's very flexible in this sense and in open world pve since you have access to a bigger skill combo set than most classes, it can also be massively enjoyable. 

[vardeleanu.8972]

On 5/5/2021 at 7:59 PM, TheDarkness.6947 said:

Hello all, new player, first post.

 

I’ve leveled an elementalist up to 50.  Compared to the other professions I’ve taken for a test drive, it seems far squishier and also significantly more challenging to pilot.  I’m fine with all that if there’s a strong upside in exchange for the extra learning curve and getting downed/defeated more frequently.  But I’m not sure I’ve really noticed that upside at level 50. I haven’t noticed it doing significantly more DPS or being more flexible than other professions.  It mostly just seems squishier and harder to play.  This experience is based solely on open world PvE and dungeons.

 

So, assuming I’m not just playing it horribly, which is possible, does it get better at cap?  Are there some strong upsides to elementalist that will be realized at higher levels that I can look forward to?

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

No.

The devs don't even bother reworking/improving skills that have been requested by the players for years, but they have time to make unlisted nerfs to ele and rework guardain/mesmer skills due to extremely minor inconveniences . Reroll a guardian, revenant, or ranger, as those tend to be anet's love children where they applied actually good game design rules. Ele is not worth it. If none of the professions mentioned above appeal to you, try engineer, who is in my opinion straight up a stronger elementalist. Just stay away from ele forever.

[TheDarkness.6947]

Thanks for the taking the time to post answers everyone!  

 

I guess at this point I’ll suffer through to cap and unlock especs to decide for myself.  Best case the secret sauce will show itself and main it.  Worst case, I’ll have a L80 mule and you’ll have another voice on the forum asking anet to re-work this prof lol.

 

Sounds like it will at least be better than pre-80, although if it requires absolutely perfectly timed coreography to play well, I might be mediocre with it. Complexity I can handle. Dexterity is hit and miss...

[Yumenei.7943]

It's the only class I can 1v3 in SPvP in P2 and win sometimes. In the right hands it's crazy OP, but the key words here are the "right hands". It's especially true for this class, because the lerning curve is very steep. For PvE content generally anything else is easier and probably better too. The easier the rotation is the more attention you can pay to encounter's mechanics and that's crucial in raids and fractals.

[Arheundel.6451]

14 hours ago, TheDarkness.6947 said:

Thanks for the taking the time to post answers everyone!  

 

I guess at this point I’ll suffer through to cap and unlock especs to decide for myself.  Best case the secret sauce will show itself and main it.  Worst case, I’ll have a L80 mule and you’ll have another voice on the forum asking anet to re-work this prof lol.

 

Sounds like it will at least be better than pre-80, although if it requires absolutely perfectly timed coreography to play well, I might be mediocre with it. Complexity I can handle. Dexterity is hit and miss...

I strongly recommend you to abandon elementalist, you can have fun with it I guess..but....it's a wasted investment to simply put it, you are better off with anything else, you are playing a MMO...no Dark Souls IV

[Touchme.1097]

It doesn't get any better, except in open world in full Trailblazer gear where the squishiness of this profession is compensated by 2000 toughness.

In other PvE modes you will most likely run in full berserker gear for power builds or full viper for condi builds and they will feel just as squishy as it feels at level 50.

I strongly advice you to delete your Elementalist or take it to 80 and wait for the profession to be removed from the game in exchange for a level 80 boost because it's the worst designed profession in the game and it brings nothing the other professions can bring to the group.

I have been flamed for playing a power weaver in a raid because the raid leader hates elementalists for their squishiness being detrimental for the whole group because it forces dps to revive the downed player.

[Noodle Ant.1605]

imo, (pve) ele is just sad if you cant find an excuse to take the earth traitline. might just be me but that -10% dmg reduction (within range, so no pewpew allowed) magically makes ele feel much less like tissue paper, the only problem is earth is super inefficient for power builds so its better off running condi

 

i find that if you can grab any +condi main attribute gear with burn duration runes + sigils, dagger or scepter/focus as main weapon set, at least fire and earth traitlines and signet of fire slotted - you can basically camp fire attunement for surprisingly useable results; theres no need to go for full trailblazer condi weaver straight away, unless venturing into non-casual content

[Puck.3697]

On 5/5/2021 at 5:59 PM, TheDarkness.6947 said:

Hello all, new player, first post.

 

I’ve leveled an elementalist up to 50.  Compared to the other professions I’ve taken for a test drive, it seems far squishier and also significantly more challenging to pilot.  I’m fine with all that if there’s a strong upside in exchange for the extra learning curve and getting downed/defeated more frequently.  But I’m not sure I’ve really noticed that upside at level 50. I haven’t noticed it doing significantly more DPS or being more flexible than other professions.  It mostly just seems squishier and harder to play.  This experience is based solely on open world PvE and dungeons.

 

So, assuming I’m not just playing it horribly, which is possible, does it get better at cap?  Are there some strong upsides to elementalist that will be realized at higher levels that I can look forward to?

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Yes weaver gets good at cap. 

 

Core elementalist is bad, it's really not great. However it's elite speccs are much better, weaver is a great DPS. 

 

Elementalist passive defences are low. However the class has about 8 evade skills and access to multiple defensives in it's kit. 

 

Elementalist is harder to play comparitively to every other class. That is very true, it's a option for those that find that enjoyable. 

 

But yes core ele has problems. And it isn't recommendable if you love the class stick with it get weaver unlocked at 80 and you will see a drastic improvement. Providing you practice and get a good handle on the class

 

 

Edited June 9, 2021 by Daddy.8125

[medivh.4725]

A class good at every elements is a master of none

[Jski.6180]

8 hours ago, medivh.4725 said:

A class good at every elements is a master of none

So every class in the game but ele?

[TheDarkness.6947]

Thanks everyone for the comments here - they were helpful.  My own conclusion was that for open world, dungeons, and low level fractals, tempest and core ele actually got worse at cap.  After suffering through that, I didn’t feel inspired to farm out the hero points to try weaver.  I ended up re-rolling a necro and can get far better results with a lot less pain and frustration.  

 

Maybe I’ll dust off the ele and try it again when I get into raids and competitive game modes and/or get more experienced with the game.  For now it’ll probably get parked at a jumping puzzle or something.  

 

It’s possible that I just never reached the skill floor for it, but to me ele seems pretty terrible right now.  Not sure why anyone would want to play one, at least in the content/modes I’ve been running.  Unless you’re just such a good player that you need an additional challenge or something. XD

[Puck.3697]

16 hours ago, TheDarkness.6947 said:

Thanks everyone for the comments here - they were helpful.  My own conclusion was that for open world, dungeons, and low level fractals, tempest and core ele actually got worse at cap.  After suffering through that, I didn’t feel inspired to farm out the hero points to try weaver.  I ended up re-rolling a necro and can get far better results with a lot less pain and frustration.  

 

Maybe I’ll dust off the ele and try it again when I get into raids and competitive game modes and/or get more experienced with the game.  For now it’ll probably get parked at a jumping puzzle or something.  

 

It’s possible that I just never reached the skill floor for it, but to me ele seems pretty terrible right now.  Not sure why anyone would want to play one, at least in the content/modes I’ve been running.  Unless you’re just such a good player that you need an additional challenge or something. XD

 

Oof we lost another one 😞

 

on a serious note: Core Elementalist is pretty terrible, Tempest kinda got gutted when they started nerfing Weaver. Weaver is stronger.. but again as u correctly point out, it increases both the skill floor and ceiling of the proffession. so it only gets harder. from a practical point of view. Yes basically any other proffession will serve you better.

 

Condi firebrand can do the same DPS With added utility.. and it only takes a Small DPS Loss to provide several boons and more to the group, DH can Equalise in DPS with a much more initituve build. and Elementalist gets Punished the hardest when not geared correctly for content.

 

as a Ele ur basically forced to use Trailblazer in Open world, otherwise your gonna get wrecked, while necro can run around in Berserker or viper gear and survive perfectly fine. Necromancer also has Scourge.. which is kitten strong in Fractal and Raid Point, so its basically a Bag of Solutions when it comes to looking for QoL.

i'd only recommend Elementalist.. if ur inlove with its mechanics. Its really fun to play.. its capable of content.. but its a harder entry. Goodluck with ur Necromancer hopefully u enjoy it more 🙂 ,

 

if ur looking for a class that has something alike Elementalist attunements in a Sense i'd recommend Firebrand (Guardian) it offers Tomes which gives u more abilities.. but its Easier to play, less Punishing and offers ALOT of group utility and DPS Options.. Dragonhunter and Core guardian have their Strengths too which makes it far more versatile.

 

17 hours ago, Jski.6180 said:

So every class in the game but ele?

 

 

tbh i'd like to know where he pulls "jack of all trades" from, all weavers good for is Damage.. and all Tempest is good for is healing.. they outmatched in "jack of all trades" by things like firebrand.

Edited June 10, 2021 by Daddy.8125

[TheDarkness.6947]

2 hours ago, Daddy.8125 said:

 

Oof we lost another one 😞

 

on a serious note: Core Elementalist is pretty terrible, Tempest kinda got gutted when they started nerfing Weaver. Weaver is stronger.. but again as u correctly point out, it increases both the skill floor and ceiling of the proffession. so it only gets harder. from a practical point of view. Yes basically any other proffession will serve you better.

 

Condi firebrand can do the same DPS With added utility.. and it only takes a Small DPS Loss to provide several boons and more to the group, DH can Equalise in DPS with a much more initituve build. and Elementalist gets Punished the hardest when not geared correctly for content.

 

as a Ele ur basically forced to use Trailblazer in Open world, otherwise your gonna get wrecked, while necro can run around in Berserker or viper gear and survive perfectly fine. Necromancer also has Scourge.. which is kitten strong in Fractal and Raid Point, so its basically a Bag of Solutions when it comes to looking for QoL.

i'd only recommend Elementalist.. if ur inlove with its mechanics. Its really fun to play.. its capable of content.. but its a harder entry. Goodluck with ur Necromancer hopefully u enjoy it more 🙂 ,

 

if ur looking for a class that has something alike Elementalist attunements in a Sense i'd recommend Firebrand (Guardian) it offers Tomes which gives u more abilities.. but its Easier to play, less Punishing and offers ALOT of group utility and DPS Options.. Dragonhunter and Core guardian have their Strengths too which makes it far more versatile.

 

 

Makes sense.  Seems to me this creates  kind of a catch 22 for a new player who starts as an ele.  Gear like trailblazers is a bit out of reach upon hitting 80 with your first character.  So if core is weak and even the especs really need specific gear sets, it’s an uphill battle to farm out the things you need to get to actually get to a workable build.

 

Meanwhile my experience with necro is that taking core trait lines and running in cheap exotic gear is good enough to farm the things needed for an even better build.

 

I may return to ele eventually.  There were things about it that seemed fun.  Maybe it was just a poor choice for a first character.  Core ele might be something for Anet to have a look at, though.  This isn’t my first MMO, so I kind of get that it’s been balanced around the most recent espec leaving others lacking.  But I could see where someone trying ele as their first class would simply conclude “I suck at this game” and move on to another one.

Edited June 10, 2021 by TheDarkness.6947

[AliamRationem.5172]

45 minutes ago, TheDarkness.6947 said:

 

Makes sense.  Seems to me this creates  kind of a catch 22 for a new player who starts as an ele.  Gear like trailblazers is a bit out of reach upon hitting 80 with your first character.  So if core is weak and even the especs really need specific gear sets, it’s an uphill battle to farm out the things you need to get to actually get to a workable build.

 

Meanwhile my experience with necro is that taking core trait lines and running in cheap exotic gear is good enough to farm the things needed for an even better build.

 

I may return to ele eventually.  There were things about it that seemed fun.  Maybe it was just a poor choice for a first character.  Core ele might be something for Anet to have a look at, though.  This isn’t my first MMO, so I kind of get that it’s been balanced around the most recent espec leaving others lacking.  But I could see where someone trying ele as their first class would simply conclude “I suck at this game” and move on to another one.

 

Just FYI, none of this doom and gloom is preventing ele from having a great open world build. That other classes do it easier or better doesn't mean the class is unplayable.  You can use dire exotic on weaver and have strong sustain and damage for doing whatever you need to do in open world.

[TheDarkness.6947]

8 minutes ago, AliamRationem.5172 said:

 

Just FYI, none of this doom and gloom is preventing ele from having a great open world build. That other classes do it easier or better doesn't mean the class is unplayable.  You can use dire exotic on weaver and have strong sustain and damage for doing whatever you need to do in open world.

 

I’m sure you’re right - I’ve seen some of your videos and you certainly do well with it.  To be honest though trying to figure out weaver’s rotations while also trying to learn a bunch of other game mechanics like tells for dodges, specific boss mechanics, etc. seemed like a bit much for me to take in all at once.  Weaver also seems pretty hard-locked to sword/melee which isn’t my preferred play style.  I’d chosen ele assuming it played more like a “traditional” caster.  But maybe I’m wrong about that?

[AliamRationem.5172]

5 minutes ago, TheDarkness.6947 said:

 

I’m sure you’re right - I’ve seen some of your videos and you certainly do well with it.  To be honest though trying to figure out weaver’s rotations while also trying to learn a bunch of other game mechanics like tells for dodges, specific boss mechanics, etc. seemed like a bit much for me to take in all at once.  Weaver also seems pretty hard-locked to sword/melee which isn’t my preferred play style.  I’d chosen ele assuming it played more like a “traditional” caster.  But maybe I’m wrong about that?

 

I can relate. I picked ele first but it wasn't my first 80 for the same reasons. I also tried weaver several times before I found my way with it.

 

You're also correct that weaver and really ele in general mostly performs better with its available melee options. Although that can change any time with balance updates.

[Puck.3697]

4 hours ago, AliamRationem.5172 said:

 

I can relate. I picked ele first but it wasn't my first 80 for the same reasons. I also tried weaver several times before I found my way with it.

 

You're also correct that weaver and really ele in general mostly performs better with its available melee options. Although that can change any time with balance updates.

 

I actually did one step worse. When I installed the game 2 monthish ago, I instantly bought PoF and boosted elementalist as a first char 🤣🤣🤣 

 

Went off to get my raptor mount and stuff to make world completion and stuff easier, I cannot tell you how fast I went splat 🤣🤣

[medivh.4725]

On 6/10/2021 at 12:00 AM, Jski.6180 said:

So every class in the game but ele?

What I mean is I don't know what ele is good at. If I may be direct here, why would I want to start a toon on ele. The fighting mechanics of an ele doesn't appeal to me

Edited June 12, 2021 by medivh.4725