Curse

Cosmic Error · Mar 31, 2008, 10:00 PM // 22:00

Elementalist is probably my second favorite profession. I don't use them as much as I used to, but I recently decided to take my old Earth elementalist for a spin in AB. I used a PUG, since none of the guild members that I knew well enough to group with were on at the time. The idiots in the group wouldn't stop yelling at me for not using fire magic. I assumed they knew nothing about the game, and pushed the incident aside. I entered another PUG. The same thing happened again.

Of the four elements availible to Elementalists, the only one i've ever seen used with any frequency is Fire. (Aside from myself, I prefer Earth.)

Do the other 75% of Elementalist abilities suck? Or were the people who I PUGed with just morons? I'm going to assume the latter for now, but I'd appreciate input.

Splitisoda · Mar 31, 2008, 10:03 PM // 22:03

Yes, I have to admit fire damage is MOSTLY what people run. Im pretty sure 1/2 the reason is mind blast + rodjorts, or the fact you can nuke capture points in AB, or even flame dijnns to get out of tight spots. Water Magic is pretty much only good for Snare, it does have shatterstone and BLurred vision, but those 2 arent as good to other things, etc. Earth is just for those "O hai, u atk me while i tank k?" moments. Air magic i think should get more glory since it can REALLY do alot of damage. Although it burns energy fast.

IT'sinthatgianttwinkie · Mar 31, 2008, 10:04 PM // 22:04

By no means is fire the only viable elemental, but its the most common, and from my experiances, its the most useful.

Highlander Of Alba · Mar 31, 2008, 10:05 PM // 22:05

Well I have Zed as an earth on all my chars..and also switch between both fire and earth depending on what I am doing..I enjoy earth also so iour not fighting alone as Komir would say lol

wise range master · Mar 31, 2008, 10:07 PM // 22:07

well i think people just use fire more best earth is for more tanking and has less damage but really if you run a good earth build do it

Stormlord Alex · Mar 31, 2008, 10:23 PM // 22:23

Fire's for capping in AB, and most groups want someone who can wipe a shrine because they fail at it themselves.

Water and Air are for skirmish characters, my preferred playstyle for AB. Any 'tard can cap, but it's a helluva lot more fun to screw with the enemy.

Earth is really 'meh' though. The AoEs are weak, wards are wasted in AB and everything else is tanking shit, worse that BFlash + kiting.

Fril Estelin · Mar 31, 2008, 10:24 PM // 22:24

Playing a fire ele with an ele hero as water or earth can bring some nice combinations. I still love water with which I started, not as powerfull as fire but still pretty efficient in PvE. I've never done much wit hair, except the occasional skill use.

As said before, fire build can wipe a shrine in AB, which is nice as I've been able to do it on my own while a few times others were scrubbing as noobs (it feels good because you see the impact you have on the score).

hurdlebeast · Mar 31, 2008, 10:28 PM // 22:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormlord Alex

Fire's for capping in AB, and most groups want someone who can wipe a shrine because they fail at it themselves.

Water and Air are for skirmish characters, my preferred playstyle for AB. Any 'tard can cap, but it's a helluva lot more fun to screw with the enemy.

Earth is really 'meh' though. The AoEs are weak, wards are wasted in AB and everything else is tanking shit, worse that BFlash + kiting.

i would like to kindly disagree with this. i've run full terra tank builds in AB before (no damage dealers at all, just damage reduction (obi flesh, armor of earth, stonestriker, mantra of earth, etc)) and it's hilarious how long some people will attack you, not realizing that all they have to do is leave you alone and eventually you'll run out of energy.

most fun i've had in AB in quite a while: running into a fully mobbed chokepoint with just the terra tank build and hear the cries of "you're chaearing" and "you sux" and whatnot :P

Tyla · Mar 31, 2008, 10:33 PM // 22:33

No.
Air has B-Surge and Gale. Lightning Orb is quite sexy now.
Earth is kinda meh apart from a few skills (Ward Against Melee = yum).
Fire has Mind Blast, which offers plenty versatility in the bar as well as nice damage.
Water is so fricken' fun playing Water Trident, Water is best used as a Snaring line, though -- it's damage options are very limited.

Stormlord Alex · Mar 31, 2008, 10:38 PM // 22:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by hurdlebeast

i would like to kindly disagree with this. i've run full terra tank builds in AB before (no damage dealers at all, just damage reduction (obi flesh, armor of earth, stonestriker, mantra of earth, etc)) and it's hilarious how long some people will attack you, not realizing that all they have to do is leave you alone and eventually you'll run out of energy.

most fun i've had in AB in quite a while: running into a fully mobbed chokepoint with just the terra tank build and hear the cries of "you're chaearing" and "you sux" and whatnot :P

Sorry, I don't play bad builds, or consider them.

A BSurge is even more fun.

Itokaru · Mar 31, 2008, 10:40 PM // 22:40

Honestly, I hate using fire magic. The damage isn't great in PvP, as most of it is DPS AoE which is easy to just walk out of. It has near no use except maybe to separate the bigger groups or to nuke people that are bodyblocked (like on the bridges in some of the AB matches).

Air eles have blind, and very strong spikes. Water has snares and some pressure.
Earth has tanking abilities and if done right, very strong spikes or pressure, depending on your build.

All of these out-do fire in my opinion.

But of course fire is better in PvE, with the (generally) reduced intelligence of the enemies.

Winterclaw · Mar 31, 2008, 11:50 PM // 23:50

In PvP air and water can work depending on how you use them.

Fire is only important in pve.

Yuhe Ji · Mar 31, 2008, 11:56 PM // 23:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by hurdlebeast

i would like to kindly disagree with this. i've run full terra tank builds in AB before (no damage dealers at all, just damage reduction (obi flesh, armor of earth, stonestriker, mantra of earth, etc)) and it's hilarious how long some people will attack you, not realizing that all they have to do is leave you alone and eventually you'll run out of energy.

most fun i've had in AB in quite a while: running into a fully mobbed chokepoint with just the terra tank build and hear the cries of "you're chaearing" and "you sux" and whatnot :P

THey were probably just retards. If you were playing against any competent players, they would quickly realize that you did little to no damage and would just ignore you. AB is too big for wards since you should be moving around quite a bit. Fire and air are typically the most common builds. Water works well, but earth just doesn't have good damage skills.

Dr Strangelove · Apr 01, 2008, 12:09 AM // 00:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Itokaru

Honestly, I hate using fire magic. The damage isn't great in PvP, as most of it is DPS AoE which is easy to just walk out of. It has near no use except maybe to separate the bigger groups or to nuke people that are bodyblocked (like on the bridges in some of the AB matches).

Air eles have blind, and very strong spikes. Water has snares and some pressure.
Earth has tanking abilities and if done right, very strong spikes or pressure, depending on your build.

All of these out-do fire in my opinion.

But of course fire is better in PvE, with the (generally) reduced intelligence of the enemies.

Why are you attacking humans in AB?

horseradish · Apr 01, 2008, 01:08 AM // 01:08

Air magic ftw.

but [skill]Ward Against Foes[/skill] is so much fun.

the ruloes · Apr 01, 2008, 01:45 PM // 13:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Itokaru

Honestly, I hate using fire magic. The damage isn't great in PvP, as most of it is DPS AoE which is easy to just walk out of. It has near no use except maybe to separate the bigger groups or to nuke people that are bodyblocked (like on the bridges in some of the AB matches).

Air eles have blind, and very strong spikes. Water has snares and some pressure.
Earth has tanking abilities and if done right, very strong spikes or pressure, depending on your build.

All of these out-do fire in my opinion.

But of course fire is better in PvE, with the (generally) reduced intelligence of the enemies.

You'd be surprised how many people fail to realise they're standing inside a AoE spell. I've played a lot as a monk and ele in AB, and while I always dodge whatever get sent at me, it's actually quite sad how many people simply don't care about avoiding the damage.

I've actually managed to kill people with meteor showers after they killed me. I once killed a monk with two meteor shower hits - after having stood up from the first hit, he didn't bother running out of it, and apparently didn't seem to care about his low health either.

Cebe · Apr 01, 2008, 02:07 PM // 14:07

I'm in agreement with Alex, on the whole. Fire is for capping shrines, and Water and Air are for "moar fun" in AB. Earth Magic's place seems to be more PvE. When I go full Earth I use Enfeebling Blood, Stoning and Unsteady Ground for lots of knockdowns. More often I will simply dip into Earth Magic to make use of the Wards, which are pretty effective at 9-10 Earth Magic anyway, if you're using Earth Magic as a secondary element.

Fire is widely used in PvE because either Mind Blast can be used for infinite energy and powering non-fire magic skills, or for the large-scale AoEs (which provided you bring a snare, makes PvE very easy).

Really, PvE and AoE are inseperable, and Fire Magic is the best equipped element to dish out high-damage AoEs. Well, that and Firestorm is legendary...

BigDave · Apr 01, 2008, 04:58 PM // 16:58

I love Earth magic on my ele in PvE. The amount of damage you can prevent against your team is pretty huge. AoE blindness, AoE knockdowns, AoE blocking, AoE armour boosts. Throw in Enfeebling Blood and Weaken Armor using nec 2ndry (or have a nec on your team bring them) and you're good to go. The damage might not be on a par with fire but it's not half bad and the melee shutdown is fantastic. Works better in HM than NM where damage reduction is more important and weaken armor works against pretty much anything.

Sir Pandra Pierva · Apr 01, 2008, 06:17 PM // 18:17

ONLY NOOBS NEED TO KITE<_<>_>
thats the new mentaility in RA and AB.

people will sit in 3 Savanah heats. it really is quite sad.

FoxBat · Apr 01, 2008, 06:22 PM // 18:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yuhe Ji

THey were probably just retards

You did see the part about him playing in AB right?