Curse

Kyosuki · May 26, 2006, 04:50 PM // 16:50

Hi.

I was seeing Elementalist skill of each Element and i see a lot fo thing unfair

Fire is way better than Air,he do more dammage that Air and it AoE,Air is suppose to do more dammage but only into a single target....

To it seem that Earth Skill are doing more dammage than Air

And i always here,that Air and Fire are the offensive element,why Earth doing more dammage?

I wanted to do a Air Elementalist

Yanman.be · May 26, 2006, 04:54 PM // 16:54

Air elementalist gets armour penetration.

Also, alot of "High Damage" fire skills :
A) Cost alot of energy
B) Long casting time
C) Horrid Recharge

thus, Air will always do more damage over time, with less energy...

Earth is a bit mixed..You cannot put 7 Earth damage skills into a bar, and a res signet..the build would be close to unplayable..you have a few handy defense skills, plus EQ/AS ( some new factions skills too maybe ) and attunments/utilities...

Dr Strangelove · May 26, 2006, 05:12 PM // 17:12

A dual attunement air ele has the highest DPS on a single target of any ele. It actually compares favorably to a frenzy warrior. In additon, you get some nice utility skills, like blinding flash, enervating charge, whirlwind, and windborne speed.

A fire ele has NO utility spells. It's all damage, and all the useful ones are AoE damage. Fire eles are glass cannons good against groups and sucktacular against single targets.

Earth eles rarely have more than 3 damage skills on their bar. The exhaustion caused by the good ones makes it difficult to play. on the other hand, you have a lot of defensive skills, for you and the party. When playing earth I usually fall into moe of a defensive role.

Francis Demeules · May 26, 2006, 06:11 PM // 18:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yanman.be

Air elementalist gets armour penetration.

Also, alot of "High Damage" fire skills :
A) Cost alot of energy
B) Long casting time
C) Horrid Recharge
D) Lot Exhaust spells

thus, Air will always do more damage over time, with less energy...

Earth is a bit mixed..You cannot put 7 Earth damage skills into a bar, and a res signet..the build would be close to unplayable..you have a few handy defense skills, plus EQ/AS ( some new factions skills too maybe ) and attunments/utilities...

(Quoted in Bold)

Fire spells do high dmg overtime but cost so high and Exhaust generaly. They lose more energy than other Elemantalist

Air have Lightning with armor penetration and Wind to do Knock down and speed. They can make some conditions on foes (Weakness, Blind and some does knock down). Good against one target (Except some skills like Chain Lightning, Glimmering mark, Thunderclap, etc)

Earth is more in Defensive than Offensive thought. They usualy use Wards to protect than dealing damage to foes. When I played Earth, I had only 3 skills to attack (Earthquake, Aftershock, Crystal wave) and other to support the team like wards. I alway stay and protect my team than attacking except when they come near.

But in PvE, the majority plays Fire as a Nuker (Meteor Shower). If you want to play Air ele, go for it. Its better getting experience on something than have nothing in it. If you like how it is, then go.

Kyosuki · May 26, 2006, 07:12 PM // 19:12

I see..so Air not that bad at all!

(YESSS GOGOGO AIR,SUUUCCKKK FIRE,lol)

Thank guys for the advice

From "the Noob you dont know"

frojack · May 26, 2006, 07:18 PM // 19:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francis Demeules

(Quoted in Bold)

Fire spells do high dmg overtime but cost so high and Exhaust generaly. They lose more energy than other Elemantalist

Air have Lightning with armor penetration and Wind to do Knock down and speed. They can make some conditions on foes (Weakness, Blind and some does knock down). Good against one target (Except some skills like Chain Lightning, Glimmering mark, Thunderclap, etc)

Earth is more in Defensive than Offensive thought. They usualy use Wards to protect than dealing damage to foes. When I played Earth, I had only 3 skills to attack (Earthquake, Aftershock, Crystal wave) and other to support the team like wards. I alway stay and protect my team than attacking except when they come near.

But in PvE, the majority plays Fire as a Nuker (Meteor Shower). If you want to play Air ele, go for it. Its better getting experience on something than have nothing in it. If you like how it is, then go.

Most of what you say is true. However you do miss out on a few very important points. I'm not sure if this has changed in Factions, but as far as I know, for elementalist's Earth magic is the only place where you will find skills that ignore armour. This benefit can not be understated.
Obsidian Flame is one of the best elementalist attack spells in the game. Couple this with stoning (for soft targets) and you have very high damage potential. Btw, the new spell Silver Armour is also amazing

.

Francis Demeules · May 26, 2006, 07:40 PM // 19:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by frojack

Most of what you say is true. However you do miss out on a few very important points. I'm not sure if this has changed in Factions, but as far as I know, for elementalist's Earth magic is the only place where you will find skills that ignore armour. This benefit can not be understated.
Obsidian Flame is one of the best elementalist attack spells in the game. Couple this with stoning (for soft targets) and you have very high damage potential. Btw, the new spell Silver Armour is also amazing

.

For your information, that doesn't change even in Faction. Yeah Obsidian Flame hurts badly with Ignore target defense, but cause Exhaustion so we can spam it everytime we like. Crystal Wave hurts too with the Ignore armor. Silver Armor, dont tell me that

. The Construct Shiroken in Tannakai temple can kill Warriors in a matter of seconds lol

Well, each element has its strong and weakness

SnipiousMax · May 26, 2006, 09:35 PM // 21:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by frojack

...the new spell Silver Armour is also ......

Evil....

Caught me by suprise.

Ensign · May 27, 2006, 06:23 AM // 06:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Strangelove

A dual attunement air ele has the highest DPS on a single target of any ele. It actually compares favorably to a frenzy warrior. In additon, you get some nice utility skills, like blinding flash, enervating charge, whirlwind, and windborne speed.

Close, actually. Dual attuned air will be comparable (and slightly favorable) to an axe or sword warrior with an attack speed buff and no other skills. It cannot catch a hammer warrior with an attack speed buff - though you can come close with dual 20/20s and a bar built to utilize every single fast cast or recharge.

The trouble you're going to run into trying to deal straight DPS with air is the recharges. There are only two spammables you really want, Orb and Strike, and you have to fill your bar with 2-3 more if you want to keep your chain from breaking. You can kludge by with Lightning Javelin, which actually isn't *that* terrible if what you want is DPS with double Attunements.

The problems you're going to have with air guy in PvE is that his AoE is anemic, so you really don't get to ever be awesome in exploit situations, and that you are completely outclassed by a blood necro in the later areas of the game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Strangelove

A fire ele has NO utility spells. It's all damage, and all the useful ones are AoE damage. Fire eles are glass cannons good against groups and sucktacular against single targets.

Fire eles run face first into the recharge wall in ways that air eles couldn't even fathom. Several of the effects are worth the energy costs, especially in PvE where you can exploit AI to get enemies into little balls, but you're going to be spending a lot more time waiting for skills to recharge and wanding than you'd like.

You're going to be able to rip through low level mobs like no one's business, especially if you can get them to ball up - however, against the later mobs you tend to run out of spells and the damage each one deals becomes pretty pathetic, especially against the physical (warrior/ranger) mobs. I like fire for the earlier parts of the game, but once you start seeing level 28 mobs you should put the fireballs away unless you like beating your face against the wall.

Peace,
-CxE

Francis Crawford · May 28, 2006, 04:43 AM // 04:43

Ensign's spot on about fire.

Maxed-out Fire Magic is ridiculously powerful in Ascalon, and probably for quite a while thereafter whenever interrupts aren't a serious issue (or if you grab Mantra of Resolve and bring it back for a visit).

Later in the game it seems as if the times you can hit multiple enemies at once with AoE aren't very impressive, and don't make up for fire's other limitations.

I actually tried an air build with dual attunements, Blinding Flash, a couple of damage spells, etc. on the way to and in Arborstone over the past couple of days. It worked pretty well, although Blinding Flash is a bit of waste with henchies because you're afraid to spread it around and confuse their targeting. I've failed twice at the Arborstone mission, however (first time in with my character, so only now understand what is going on), and will probably switch to Ether Prodigy because of enchantment stripping, and to do a bit of Prodigy monking. Hmm, if I do the monking and abandon Mantra of Resolve, I won't take ranged AoE in that interrupt-heavy area ... and in that case switching to fire isn't terribly appealing.

Lord Cooper · May 30, 2006, 10:18 AM // 10:18

it isnt unfair or unbalanced you just have to realise that the elements do different jobs..

Fire heavy damage against multiple targets good for nuking large mobs. high energy cost high recharge and many spells cause exhaustion. effectiveness decreases as your opponents armour gets better. no defensive skills.

Air spike damage against single targets. many offensive spells in this line have 25% armour penetration. this element packs a lot of warrior hate ie weakness blind and knockdowns. spells are reasonably cheap compared to fire.

Earth the ultimate defensive element. many armour buffs and wards allow you to tank very effectively in certain situations. a few excellent damage spells such as obsidion flame and crystal wave to punch through any armour. very vulnerable to mesmers and necros.. once your enchantments are gone you are virtually useless

Water the utility line.. snares defensive buffs and speed buffs are what this line is aboutt along with some damage skills. harder to play than the other elements

Fred Kiwi · May 30, 2006, 12:17 PM // 12:17

in my opinion fire is worthless, eles aren't that good for damage anyway so its always best to put utility on your bar, not to mention how crap its spells are

Lalita · May 30, 2006, 06:38 PM // 18:38

If you don't mind having it as an elite...shockwave is an awesome addition to an earth build rather than those exhaustion causing skills.

Adjacent foes take 5...41 earth damage, nearby foes take 5...41 earth damage, and foes in the area take 5...41 earth damage.

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Shockwave

I do a shockwave followed up with an aftershock and it's around 300 dmg to those closest to you.

Only problem is your el has to take a bit of abuse getting into position to do the most damage. That shouldn't be a problem for those exp with doing a good defensive el build.

Francis Crawford · May 30, 2006, 07:33 PM // 19:33

I've started playing fire again in PvE. I just take dual attunements, and if I'm slowed down briefly by enchantment stripping, so be it. And if I'm slowed down MORE than briefly? Well, then the other members of the party probably have a lot of squishy targets.

The four damage spells in my current build are Fireball, Immolate, Rodgort's Invocation, and Incendiary Bonds.

I'm squishy myself, of course. That's the downside. Also, I can't carry both rez and cap sig without giving up a lot of damage ability.

Trylo · May 31, 2006, 12:42 AM // 00:42

Dual attunements... not worth it...

Fire magic, needs rework, air is below par...

Earth is where IMO eles shine, having high damage spells with 20s or less recharge (Shockwave {E}, very usefull!)
E/A With Return, Death's Charge and Shadow Refuge with 8-10 shadow arts magic can be very effective snare + spike, and dont use aftershock... Crystal Wave will do 100+ and i personally think that better than saving 5 energy... IDK where he got 300 from... I usually do 200 to wars, 260 to squishy things... rangers is more like 150 because of ele resis, but the armor of earth makes u an ok tank.

Water isnt THAT hard to play, you just need to consentrate on target sins + wars and shut them down with snares and sometimes Icy Prism. If you do choose fire... try out mind burn {E}, this is early in factions, very late in proph, but an ok spell with 12+ fire magic, Mark of Rodgort has many possibilities, E/A with fiery Tang and shadow steps with some PBaOE spells (the good ones with little recharge, inferno... close to worthless, but powerful)

Just listen to ensign about offense, im not fighting anymore