Curse

Kymeric · Aug 11, 2010, 08:59 PM // 20:59

New to GW, and at first exposure I was excited about jumping in as an Elementalist. Then I spent some time reading, and was disappointed to find that Eles aren't the nukers they're advertised to be.

My question is, does this matter much to a newcomer, or is it a distinction that only really gets to be a disappointment for seasoned players at endgame or in hardmode? Will it still be fun to explore the early game as an elementalist if I don't want to be a healer, or is that pretty much the only way to go without feeling outclassed by the other professions?

reaper with no name · Aug 11, 2010, 09:22 PM // 21:22

First off, you misspelled "Elementalist".

Second, the main reason Elementalists fail as nukers is because monster armor is determined by their level. Once you get to the later parts of the game, monsters will start having 100 armor (or more). Every 40 armor over 60 reduces armor-sensitive damage by half. However, none of this will be an issue until you reach the later parts of the game. You'll do just fine early on.

Third, even with a suboptimal class, you can still get through the game just fine. Most players don't even know that ER healers > Monks or that Elementalists don't make good nukers.

Fourth, healing and the prot aren't the only things ER can be used for. They're also good for offensive support in the form of Orders.

tichi · Aug 11, 2010, 09:52 PM // 21:52

i've been playing as ele from my first day which makes over 40 months (i know it's not as much as some other ppl but still) and i can assure you if used correctly elementalists can be kickass nukers even in hardmode no matter what anyone says. and to top it off nuking / DPSing is not only thing ele's can do. not by a long shot actually. i've actually discovered ways to make ele an effective SY spammer, there are loads of builds for eles to play as tank, large energy pool basically allows you to use whichever weapon you may desire etc. etc. possibilities are pretty much limited only as much as your imagination.

Masmar · Aug 11, 2010, 10:29 PM // 22:29

Weaken armour > HM

frostkisses · Aug 11, 2010, 10:30 PM // 22:30

Ele will always be my first love. 53 months on my ele.
Yeah sure, maybe you cant do the "nuking" they're intended to do. If you could...no one would be any other class. I've played every area in hard mode, and I assure you I would pick ele over anything else over and over again. They have amazing versitility. The people on here that say eles suck because they cant nuke and thats the only thing they're supposed to do, really dont understand them at all. Besides there are numerous skills you can equip heros with to help reduce that nasty armor the baddies have.
Give it a go

WarcryOfTruth · Aug 11, 2010, 10:59 PM // 22:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by reaper with no name

Most players don't even know that ER healers > Monks

Because they don't? Give me the choice for a party and I will take a monk any day, human or hero. My hero monk(s) are very effective, if I ever have issues in an area, it isn't because of them.

G4ymBoy · Aug 12, 2010, 12:03 AM // 00:03

Rangers...5 years ago it too me a month to decide on my main, I love my ele but my Ranger is my true love (he is hot!)

Like Masmar said weaken armor is fantastic. Shell shock is also good even when not in Hard Mode for those pesky high armor warriors (rangers can make good use of shell shock/ weaken armor too ^.^)

ac1inferno · Aug 12, 2010, 01:49 AM // 01:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masmar

Weaken armour > HM

So very true.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarcryOfTruth

Because they don't? Give me the choice for a party and I will take a monk any day, human or hero. My hero monk(s) are very effective, if I ever have issues in an area, it isn't because of them.

I don't know about players, but with heroes, I like [[Protective Spirit] and [[Spirit Bond] on my entire team.

But on topic, as some have pointed out, even though damage gets reduced by the higher armor level foes later on, PuGs still welcome nukers. They expect Eles to do a lot of damage and they typically think Fire Magic for AoE.

WarcryOfTruth · Aug 12, 2010, 02:34 AM // 02:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by ac1inferno

I don't know about players, but with heroes, I like [[Protective Spirit] and [[Spirit Bond] on my entire team.

Those are both Monk skills, a Monk hero can do that, although Prot Spirit ends before you can cast it on everyone

. But, I do not understand what this has to do with the argument.

ac1inferno · Aug 12, 2010, 03:34 AM // 03:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarcryOfTruth

Those are both Monk skills, a Monk hero can do that, although Prot Spirit ends before you can cast it on everyone

. But, I do not understand what this has to do with the argument.

A monk would run out of energy attempting this. An ER won't.

ElnoreVarda · Aug 12, 2010, 04:42 AM // 04:42

If you are new to GW, eles will feel like nukers. Its not until later in the game they start to lose power. You can easily clear two thirds of the game with only elementalists in your party, and you will probably want to, because most other classes will seem worthless damage-wise until late game.

Kymeric · Aug 12, 2010, 01:27 PM // 13:27

Thanks, everyone, I thought that might be the case, even though most of the forum posts I read were so down on the nuking abilities of Elementalists. Started playing this morning, and have been enjoying it a lot.

WarcryOfTruth · Aug 12, 2010, 02:23 PM // 14:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by ac1inferno

A monk would run out of energy attempting this. An ER won't.

Not a good monk, I am capable of doing this, but I generally am never in a situation that would require me to do that, because in parties I am in we usually only have 1 or 2 people taking damage at a time, so it is easy

.

Desert Rose · Aug 12, 2010, 03:54 PM // 15:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarcryOfTruth

Not a good monk, I am capable of doing this (...)

He was talking about heroes. Ecept for a few occasions (i.e. Arborstone) E/Mo heroes are far more stable than Mo heroes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kymeric

New to GW, and at first exposure I was excited about jumping in as an Elementalist. Then I spent some time reading, and was disappointed to find that Eles aren't the nukers they're advertised to be.

My question is, does this matter much to a newcomer, or is it a distinction that only really gets to be a disappointment for seasoned players at endgame or in hardmode? Will it still be fun to explore the early game as an elementalist if I don't want to be a healer, or is that pretty much the only way to go without feeling outclassed by the other professions?

Eles offer support and spike assist, not damage. But don't feel bad, you're not the frist one that fell into this trap and thought that the "mages" in GW have the same role as mages in many other RPGs.
As you progress you'll deal less and less damage and you should focus more on support. You'll have to play builds like an ER monk if you want to join some SC teams (speed clear), but as long as you don't want to finish missions as fast as possible you still can play a "normal" Ele (i.e. an earth Ele), deal medicore amout of damage, good support, and be a great addition for your team.

ElnoreVarda · Aug 12, 2010, 04:38 PM // 16:38

Do you people read his post? He asks if he will be able to enjoy the ele for its damage dealing capabilities in normal mode, not if they are the best damage dealers in the game.
Luckily the OP started an ele anyway (and is enjoying it).

kanuks · Aug 22, 2010, 07:12 PM // 19:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarcryOfTruth

Because they don't? Give me the choice for a party and I will take a monk any day, human or hero. My hero monk(s) are very effective, if I ever have issues in an area, it isn't because of them.

Er ele hero >>>>>>>> monks heroes anyday.

You probably tried shitty er ele hero builds (ones with infuse, which is terrible with AI).

Vallen · Aug 22, 2010, 07:37 PM // 19:37

Ele's are fine nukers at the early stages of game. When you get to later parts of the game you will be better at game and will be able to adapt to make your ele effective, like someone said earlier weaken armour < HM.

Off topic,
In my book a good monk is better than an ER any day of the week, but an ER hero is 10x better than a bad monk.

This is player monks now im talking about ofc. Hero monks are dreadful. Why anybody would waste a hero slot on a healer is beyond me... but if you chose to waste the slot a N/Rt < E/Mo imo. When the figurative shit hits the fan, the E/Mo will crack a lot faster than a N/Rt hero or monk player.

UnChosen · Aug 22, 2010, 08:43 PM // 20:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kymeric

New to GW, and at first exposure I was excited about jumping in as an Elementalist. Then I spent some time reading, and was disappointed to find that Eles aren't the nukers they're advertised to be.

My question is, does this matter much to a newcomer, or is it a distinction that only really gets to be a disappointment for seasoned players at endgame or in hardmode? Will it still be fun to explore the early game as an elementalist if I don't want to be a healer, or is that pretty much the only way to go without feeling outclassed by the other professions?

Elementalists are for damage, not for healing/support...so its understandable that you don't want to be a healer.

Elementalists are fine in the beginning, but their effectiveness drops by a mile once you approach the end of normal mode and start hard mode. So if you just want to get through normal mode then it would still be fun to you, just expected to be quite a bit more frustrated should you ever want to use your ele in hard mode/end game areas. If you ever wants to progress further but still does not want to heal, I would suggest focusing on getting these 4 skills: "You Move like a Dwaf!", Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support, "Finish Him!", and Assassin's Promise. You have to go E/A for this but it lets you retain damage effectiveness even in Hard Mode.

Cuilan · Aug 23, 2010, 12:15 AM // 00:15

Here at Guild Wars Guru, any reduction in damage automatically means you're doing bad damage (regardless if you're are or not and other factors that determine how much damage you're doing). Basically don't listen to us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarcryOfTruth

Give me the choice for a party and I will take a monk any day, human or hero. My hero monk(s) are very effective, if I ever have issues in an area, it isn't because of them.

Just because one thing is very effective, it doesn't mean you can't use something else or play with someone who is just as effective or if not more.

Beomagi · Aug 23, 2010, 02:28 PM // 14:28

I still think that elementalists can put out decent damage on HM, but by then, care has to be taken with skill selection. You can expect to use SF and do wonders everywhere.

Cracked armor is the "amp damage" of elementalists. -20 armor is a 40% damage boost. Of course elemental lord, intensity, scan, buh, even evsoh all work to increase damage.

But who wants to use ALL of that just to kill something :P

The problem they face vs other classes is their damage doesn't ignore armor/level - it's what makes the enemy level 30 elementalists on HM hit for half your life, and they're hitting for... 50?

I ran into a horde of flame dijins during a ZB. The entire party was annihilated with one simultaneous cast from 3 of them, plus a roaring ether. Making elementalist skills even more powerful would just cause more suckage vs elementalist monsters. While I would like better nuking, elementalists are ok with the ability to interrupt, knockdown, blind, snare, daze, ward. With their ridiculous amount of energy, they can simply use auspicious incantation to insane levels. Spam what you want, when you want. Fire isn't as powerful as it used to be - higher armor enemies, regen, and of course enemies that can't even be burned laugh it off. But air especially seems to still work well.