Curse

DiogoSilva · Sep 13, 2012, 08:30 PM // 20:30

I just logged in into the game right now, and there was a notice for a new Elementalist Update, and to check out the developer's notes. But there's no new update for the client, and the notice was removed when I logged in again.

Does this means an update is about to come?

Rifky · Sep 13, 2012, 08:37 PM // 20:37

Saw these news too... I'm afraid it was just a mistake ;_; Would be wonderful if they kept on updating the game, especially in terms of skill balance.

DiogoSilva · Sep 13, 2012, 08:39 PM // 20:39

It was probably a mistake, but I doubt it was a random mistake. Maybe it's about to come in a few hours, and they made the notice too soon and had to remove it?

Rifky · Sep 13, 2012, 08:42 PM // 20:42

One would have to check whether news like these were posted in the past (if indeed, then it might have been an accidental repost). There was an ele update in January, and then some rebalance of the update a few weeks later. Maybe it was a post from then?

Edit:
I did the research (yes, I'm bored). I browsed the archive of the login screen announcements. There was a similar one:

Elementalist Skills Updated
We’ve made a major update to the Elementalist, improving their viability in PvE. Try out the enhanced elementalist today!

...but that's not the one from today, as it featured something about checking the developer update. So indeed it might be something new.

Masacru Ak · Sep 13, 2012, 09:02 PM // 21:02

i hope they will nerf that dumb Elite Sw is the most anoying in Ra . Any noob can play that elite

DiogoSilva · Sep 13, 2012, 09:38 PM // 21:38

Update is up.

Bristlebane · Sep 13, 2012, 09:53 PM // 21:53

Anyone found any changes in game?
Because there's no update notice to be found yet.

DiogoSilva · Sep 13, 2012, 10:03 PM // 22:03

Elementalist changes. There's a new mechanic named Overcast, but I don't know what it is.

Bristlebane · Sep 13, 2012, 10:09 PM // 22:09

Where do you see this Overcast mechanic?

DiogoSilva · Sep 13, 2012, 10:10 PM // 22:10

Many elem's skills now have extra bonus if the player is "overcast".

Rifky · Sep 13, 2012, 10:15 PM // 22:15

---> http://www.guildwars.com/gameplay/de...l_balances.php

StormDragonZ · Sep 13, 2012, 10:30 PM // 22:30

I'm glad they tested out how the enemies in PvE might be now with this update.

/extremesarcasm

tw1tchdp · Sep 13, 2012, 10:41 PM // 22:41

GW2 ele

/12char

cantalus · Sep 13, 2012, 10:52 PM // 22:52

amusingly pointless update

projectmercy · Sep 13, 2012, 11:04 PM // 23:04

This whole change makes no sense from a PvE perspective. The issue elementalists had was that the spells you had just didn't do enough damage in hard mode. The mesmer and many necro damages were armor ignoring (as well as spirits) and hit people near or in the area. The elemenalists skills had to deal with AC as well as inherent elemental resistances, that made it that most monsters could just out-heal the AE. So elementalist abilities were inferior to mes/necro ones, not to mention that fast casting and soul reaping were superior mechanics.

So now we added some status effects if we're exhausted? It makes no sense. I still see no reason to bring an elementalist. If I need AE i'll go with a dom mesmer or smitter. If I need single-target damage I'll bring.. probably the same thing or some spirits.

All this does is make certain monsters (especially bosses) with the damage bonus to now add status effects. If someone wanted bleeds or cracked armor, there's already plenty of ways to get those with classes that can still deal damage. Not to mention, in hard mode they're casting faster, and most have condition or hex removal as a group, which means it will just get purged off quickly, or worse yet, used against you in condition transfer abilities.

Edit: To put it another way, the other caster classes basically turn the bonuses for Hard Mode against the creatures, by taking advantage of their increased attack speed, or increased HP, or increased casting speed, or their propensity to throw up more hexes/conditions, etc. For the ele, you don't scale at all, which means you don't get better in hard mode. It doesn't help that ES is a totally useless stat. It's sole purpose is basically to allow exhaustion. Contrast with the other primary stats, where the purpose of the primary stat is a bonus to the character irrelevant of what skills they're using. ES does nothing but give you more energy. Additional energy does nothing, it's not enough to provide any drastic casting speed increase in PvE, and you're still required to resort to energy management skills. The only use for it is to provide more leeway for exhaustion. Changing exhaustion to actually provide some bonus might not be bad, but It'd be better if you made ES be useful outside of exhaustion purposes (which is a dead system). Something like "In PvE, for every 5 points of energy you currently have, you gain 1% armor penetration) or something in that regard.

Ayuhmii Shanbwa · Sep 13, 2012, 11:06 PM // 23:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masacru Ak

i hope they will nerf that dumb Elite Sw is the most anoying in Ra . Any noob can play that elite

i hope it'll be splits all the way, if they make any changes for pvp

i hope that, i hope they make some less useful skills a lil more useful, they shouldnt OP HM enemies with it, and several useless skills at least useful in pve

ps. this all counts for pve, of course, as thats all i play in GW (any MMO, lol)

even though its not now, its soon

see? they didnt leave GW, yay

EDIT: whoops, it IS now, sry tired... sleepy now, so will comment next time

Reformed · Sep 13, 2012, 11:23 PM // 23:23

If I'm reading this right they want you to cycle exhausting spells to fuel bonus AoE on a handful of other spells. One positive here is that the Invoker can probably come back with the new Arc Lightning being a nice replacement for the old Chain Lightning. Intensity needs one other fix to make it viable...it needs to be changed to next spell and function on DoT. As it is now you still only get one packet to work with which makes it a waste of a slot.

Rifky · Sep 13, 2012, 11:27 PM // 23:27

Earthen Shackles: changed functionality to: "For 5...20 seconds, target and all nearby foes move 90% slower. When Earthen Shackles ends, it applies Weakness for 5...20 seconds."

Umm... 90% slower for 20 seconds, and affecting nearby foes? :O Must be a mistake.

projectmercy · Sep 13, 2012, 11:29 PM // 23:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reformed

If I'm reading this right they want you to cycle exhausting spells to fuel bonus AoE on a handful of other spells.

It would be a lot more interesting if the amount of overcast actually affected the bonus damage. If that was the case, then ES might actually be useful, as you could increase your damage output by dumping more points into ES. But all the changes just say "if overcast". Which means, 5 pts is as good as 50.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rifky

Earthen Shackles: changed functionality to: "For 5...20 seconds, target and all nearby foes move 90% slower. When Earthen Shackles ends, it applies Weakness for 5...20 seconds."

Umm... 90% slower for 20 seconds, and affecting nearby foes? :O Must be a mistake.

My page says,

Code:

Earthen Shackles: changed functionality to: "For 3 seconds, target and all nearby foes move 90% slower. When Earthen Shackles ends, it applies Weakness for 5...20 seconds."

Rifky · Sep 13, 2012, 11:35 PM // 23:35

I believe there's a mistake on guildwars.com, but it's correct in the game. It's indeed 3 seconds there.