Curse

Jam Jar · Mar 04, 2008, 04:40 AM // 04:40

Did they go out of fashion or something? Cause all I see now adays are nukers, snarers, and warders!

There are probably some guides on air eles in guildwarsguru, but from ingame to me, I think there's a decrease.

And... are air eles any good in pve? Or are they heavily outmatched by fire because of AoE.

Gift3d · Mar 04, 2008, 04:42 AM // 04:42

Since your post is so vague i'll just go ahead and assume you are talking about just RA. And i see air eles all the time in RA.

Jam Jar · Mar 04, 2008, 04:53 AM // 04:53

Maybe its just me then...

Songbringer · Mar 04, 2008, 04:54 AM // 04:54

Hmm...Invoke Spike can still be done ion HA but it isn't very common. When I run air I generally run water/air bar. Utilizing bsurge with slippery ground and a snare or just blinding flash. Or I run a earth/air build using wards for team support and spiking with RtL and shock L-Touch spike

aznhalf · Mar 04, 2008, 05:00 AM // 05:00

Bsurge anyone?

Stormlord Alex · Mar 04, 2008, 05:32 AM // 05:32

All Air has going for it is blind, simply. The damage is terrible and ecclipsed by Fire (both AoE and single-target).

In PvE, I'd rather just run Ward vs Melee or BFlash on a Mind Blaster and keep some level of damage output.

For PvP, BSurge iz gud - on a bar packed with utility (wards, Channeling buffs, Gale), and BFlash on Mind Blast iz gud too.

Trevor The Wave · Mar 04, 2008, 05:32 AM // 05:32

THUNDERCLAP? ll jk.
Actually air eles aren't that great anymore, many people have found builds that over come them in support, and in damage.

Mike The Spike · Mar 04, 2008, 05:50 AM // 05:50

Monking earlier in AB, I actually ran into a group of air ele spikers. They put out a massive amount of damage, using B-Surge, Ride the Lighting, etc. But luckily I kept my team alive - Spirit Bond ftw.

I'm not too familiar with larger scale pvp, like GvG or HoH, however I see air ele's pretty often in AB and RA, but rarely in TA.

So I guess they're not gone completely, just in select places.

Coloneh · Mar 04, 2008, 06:08 AM // 06:08

no reason to spec full air. can get the good skills (blind and KD) with only a minor investment.

cellardweller · Mar 04, 2008, 06:24 AM // 06:24

I keep a bsurge/enervating/shellshock+earth wards as a niche ele hero - Works decently against the warrior heavy destroyer groups; Works fantasticly everywhere when I'm running my fevered dreams mes.

Ghostcell · Mar 04, 2008, 09:36 AM // 09:36

plenty of air eles in RA, only time i've used an air ele was when i did ring of fire because fire eles suck there

Brian the Gladiator · Mar 04, 2008, 03:57 PM // 15:57

Air eles were very common in various areas in PvP during proph but were killed off when factions came out. Many of you posted that they were outdone by other elements or that air simply did not require significant investments into that attribute line. You are wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong.

Although these opinions may have some truth to them, they are not the reason for why air magic is underutilized. The true reason is the introduction of the ritualist and the channeling line. It uses lightning magic just as the air elementalist does but with significantly more damage capabilities.

Air was first used by the elementalist as a spike variant. A team of all elementalists would shoot lightning orbs at a desired target to deal massive damage quickly to kill him before the monks had time to save the target.

This was then swapped for a much more efficient spike of Me/E called the fast cast air spike. Because Lightning Orb was a 2 sec cast, many spikes were being shut down by mass interrupters. Me/E were able to use anti-interrupt stances and fast casting to eliminate this anti-spike tactic while taking a minor penalty of a bit less damage on the spike.

SIDE NOTE: Arena Net's marketing strategy has been very hypocritical by introducing new campaigns with overly imbalanced skills while saying at the same time, that a player does not necessarily NEED to get the campaign to stay competitive in PvP. Then, after a couple of months, once all the Pvpers see that they in fact NEED the overpowered skills to be competitive and are forced into buying the game, Arena net has a massive skill balance of the new skills which basically means NERF!!! -- They did this primarily to Ritualists and Paragons (Communing spirits and Shouts and Chants)

The ritualist was one of these classes that trumped the already existing form of air spike. With the use of channeling magic, you could spike for twice as much damage without much of the shutdown that a normal ele spike would encounter. The original problem with the Lightning Orb spike was interrupts... the ritualist had 1 second or faster casts for equal damage. The Me/E fast cast air spike had lesser damage... the rit spike had more damage than the original air spike. The downside??? THERE IS NONE... thus the end of air magic.

Tyla · Mar 04, 2008, 04:02 PM // 16:02

[skill]mind blast[/skill]

The energy management made [skill]blinding surge[/skill] redundant, because you can also take strong damage with mindblast aswell as Blind.

Until Mind Blast gets nerfed, I doubt we'll see many B-Surgers about.

Aera · Mar 04, 2008, 04:22 PM // 16:22

This is the PvE section ye? They never were popular in PvE. And with Dervspike on tour, BSurgers will be as well.

Dervspike is going to get nerfed this weekend though. Wouldn't be surprised if Mind Blast will as well, giving space for BSurge.

Tyla · Mar 04, 2008, 04:23 PM // 16:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aera

Dervspike is going to get nerfed this weekend though. Wouldn't be surprised if Mind Blast will as well, giving space for BSurge.

Let's hope for that.

Proff · Mar 04, 2008, 04:34 PM // 16:34

They found pvp...

Aera · Mar 04, 2008, 04:35 PM // 16:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyla salanari

Let's hope for that.

I'm pretty sure

http://guildwarsguru.com/forum/showp...3&postcount=65

Brian the Gladiator · Mar 04, 2008, 06:42 PM // 18:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyla salanari

[skill]mind blast[/skill]

The energy management made [skill]blinding surge[/skill] redundant, because you can also take strong damage with mindblast aswell as Blind.

Until Mind Blast gets nerfed, I doubt we'll see many B-Surgers about.

You fail to see that B-surge can be coupled with other things as well...

People can still use B-surge + Wards or B-surge + splinter weapon. You would actually be sacrificing a lot to simply substitute a Mind blast for a B-surge.

The current ele meta is water trident, Mind Blast, and B-surge... that's it. The water trident and B-surge hold similar purposes which is to shut down the enemy teams melee. The Mind Blast has a secondary purpose of doing this but its main purpose is for splitting and adding pressure.

Once Dervspike gets nerfed people may stop bringing B-surges... but in its place they will probably put a water hexer or the mind blast... and then the meta will shift for mesmers back to Hex Eater Vortex... and then people will bring B-surge again... It's actually pretty cyclical

Sir Pandra Pierva · Mar 04, 2008, 10:11 PM // 22:11

i really hope they dont nerf mb.

dual attune is too easy to shut down.<_<>_>

plus bsurge is nothin more than a glorified b flash and almost never does anything more than that.
in my opinion

Coloneh · Mar 04, 2008, 10:40 PM // 22:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian the Gladiator

Although these opinions may have some truth to them, they are not the reason for why air magic is underutilized. The true reason is the introduction of the ritualist and the channeling line. It uses lightning magic just as the air elementalist does but with significantly more damage capabilities.

Air was first used by the elementalist as a spike variant. A team of all elementalists would shoot lightning orbs at a desired target to deal massive damage quickly to kill him before the monks had time to save the target.

air spike went out when R-spike came in... not with rits