User:Erasculio/Elementalist

Elementalist
Third character ever created, used mostly for some mindless exploding fun xD With my first and second characters being respectively a necromancer and a mesmer, I felt like making a character easier to play. At the beginning of the game, elementalists were indeed too easy to play - I remember running to a Charr group, casting Firestorm, moving a bit away and the Charr just stood there taking damage. Not only they didn't flee from the AoE damage, they didn't even try to attack me. Such bad AI, together with how half the professions in the game were seen as useless at the time (no one wanted a necromancer, a mesmer or a ranger) made the elementalists one of the most popular professions then. Which is to be expected; right after the initial stages of the game, in which no one knew anything about anything, the community fell into a "holy trinity" mentality, and the popularity of warriors, elementalists and monks rose. With warriors not being truly tanks (as fortunately they don't have Taunt skills) and monks being often annoying to play as, elementalists were all the rage at the time.

Meanwhile, in PvP elementalists sucked hard as damage dealers. Charles Ensign wrote a great article about why "nuking sucks", and I think it was truest around six months after the release of Prophecies. Elementalists were very common in GvG, but they were often seen using Heal Party, or bringing some utility. The irony in this setup (elementalists as the main damage dealers in PvE, and being used mainly as utility in PvP) shouldn't be lost on today's players.

The first blow to the popularity of elementalists in PvE came months after the release of Prophecies, with the introduction of Area of Effect flee: now monsters wouldn't stand still under spells that dealt damage over time, rather move away. Massive outcries followed, hordes of players claimed they would leave the game, and of course no one really left. Regardless, the first interaction of the AoE flee AI was still very easily abused; there are still some theories about how exactly the AI recognizes it's under an AoE spell, but I believe it flees after being hit multiple times by the same kind of damage within a short time. When the AoE flee was first implemented, using AoE spells that didn't deal damage over time was enough to make the enemies run (which isn't entirely unexpected; if an enemy needs to be hit twice by fire damage to run, if it's hit by Immolate and then Fireball it would run). It was very simple to keep casting spells and thus lock the enemies in an endless run, killing them while they wouldn't do anything other than move from one side to the other.

Arena Net then changed slightly how the AoE flee worked, changing its "sensibility", as they would often do in the following months. It became moot, though, given the next big update to the game: Sorrow's Furnace.

Now, despite having been released six months earlier, the game was still new at the time. There were far less skills than today, but no one knew exactly how the game worked, and it took a considerably long time before extraordinary skill combinations were found. Sorrow's Furnace changed that by adding some new mechanics (indirect damage could finally be seen) and some new exploits, like the Gear Trick. The main result was the rise of Necromancers, as people could actually see the damage done by Spiteful Spirit and by minions, but elementalists were also helped by the new area. With the Gear Trick, in which all enemies would attack a character holding a Gear and not move away, good old "nuking" became easier, as enemies would obediently bunch together in order to be hit by AoE spells. It was then that the community learned of one of the most overrated skills in the game: Meteor Shower.

True, Meteor Shower was (and is, somewhat) useful, despite the long recharge. With enemies being bunched together, the small area of effect wasn't an issue, and the energy loss could be dealt with. More importantly, enemies hit by Meteor Shower would not run under the AoE flee effect (which some players through was due to the knock down effect, but IMO that's wrong; the area of effect is very small, and hitting the enemies with Fireball as soon as the first meteors hit would make the enemies run, thus making me believe that the AoE flee isn't triggered simply because there is a long delay between each wave of damage). But it was then that some players became obsessed with Meteor Shower, and builds rellying on Glyph of Renewal plus Meteor Shower, or Echo plus Meteor Shower (or even better, Echo plus Arcane Echo plus Meteor Shower) were created.

When the Gear Trick was finally nerfed, by the release of Factions, elementalists were ridding their meteors over a nice wave of popularity. With the nerf to minion masters soon after the release of Guild Wars' second chapter, the sorcerer-like profession of Guild Wars was being very successful in PvE, and in PvP they were still being used mostly for utility. All was well...

...And then things became a bit complicated. Arena Net released Nightfall, and with it a huge power creeping, giving elementalists very strong nuking skills such as Searing Flames and Savannah Heat (which are still a problem in PvP). The AoE flee effect was improved, which was actually a good thing. However, some players kept yelling how the AI could outsmart them, and so they and their heroes would be stuck running in circles trying to catch the enemies, despite how they had four skill bars in which to fit any snare or knock down skill (and those are available to all professions in the game, but anyway). Arena Net replied by reducing the AoE flee to even less than what it used to be, and introducing something meant to revolutionize Guild Wars: Hard Mode.

Now most players know that Hard Mode is actually "hard" not because of a better AI, but rather thanks to gimmicks such as enemies at higher levels (and thus less susceptible to damage) and with higher armor levels. The AI was (and is, incidentally) still vulnerable to the same old tricks, and skills like Spiteful Spirit became actually more useful in Hard Mode.

However, between the higher armor of Hard Mode enemies and how the AI could be abused through necromancer and mesmer skills, the popularity of elementalists began to fall, as did the damage they could do in comparison to that of other professions. Further blows came when all other caster professions were given sources of armor ignoring damage (Spiteful Spirit and Necrosis, Cry of Pain, Signet of Spirits, Ray of Judgment; Cry of Pain can be used effectively by elementalists, but the other builds simply belong to the other professions), and when enemies with immunity against burning became common at GW:EN.

Today, elementalists are still used often, even if only due to how many elementalist characters there are in Guild Wars. But they are far from their heights of glory, being outranked as the main damage dealers of PvE by many other professions. It's not uncommon these days to see elementalists either trying to rely completely on a secondary profession (bars filled with spirits are not uncommon) or trying to rely on broken gimmicks (the Assassin's Promise build to spam Meteor Shower is a joke, even if its creators made clear that no, the goal was not to spam Meteor Shower).

Meanwhile, elementalists are huge headache in PvP. With the power creeping intensified after the release of Nightfall, Fire Elementalists became a problem in the confined Hall of Heroes, and they remain overpowered there despite a few timid nerfs to some fire spells. Even in GvG damage dealing Water Elementalists are an issue that apparently won't be solved any time soon.

It is deeply ironic, IMO, how elementalists were first the main damage dealers of PvE and mostly a source of utility in PvP, only to become the main "nukers" of PvP and third-grade damage dealers of PvE.

Regardless, I still enjoy the profession. My favourite element is actually Water, as it has enough damage and some interesting utility skills (snaring enemies is overrated in PvE, IMO). From a purely functional point of view they may not be as powerful as the other professions, and the elementalist isn't as beautiful as some of the newer additions to Guild Wars, but they do have their appeal.

After having done everything I wanted with this character, she now stays at House zu Heltzer. Her favourite heroes were Jora (Swordsmanship warrior), Tahlkora (Protection Prayers monk), and the third slot actually changed often (some times Zhed, Water Magic elementalist, others Acolyte Sousuke, Fire Magic elementalist, or Gwen, Domination Magic mesmer).

Armor

 * Elite Canthan Robes (Aeromancer, Minor Energy Storage)
 * Elite Canthan Gloves (Survivor, Minor Air Magic)
 * Elite Canthan Leggings (Survivor, Major Vigor)
 * Elite Canthan Shoes (Survivor, Minor Water Magic)
 * Elite Stoneforged Robes (Geomancer, Minor Earth Magic)
 * Elite Stormforged Gloves (Survivor, Minor Energy Storage)
 * Elite Stoneforged Leggings (Survivor, Major Vigor)
 * Elite Stormforged Shoes (Survivor, Minor Fire Magic)
 * Everlasting Aura (Radiant, Superior Energy Storage)
 * Vabbian Flame Eye (Radiant, Superior Fire Magic)
 * Storm Aura (Radiant, Superior Air Magic)
 * Glacial Aura (Radiant, Superior Water Magic)
 * Stone Aura (Radiant, Superior Earth Magic)

Weapons

 * Milius' Pillar
 * Blisterbark's Staff
 * Runar's Brimstone Staff
 * Flint's Fleshcleaver
 * Galigord's Stone Staff


 * Prismatic Focus
 * Fire Wand
 * Fire Magic 5
 * Energy +5
 * Damage +20% (against Charrs)
 * Voltaic Wand
 * Air Magic 13
 * Energy +5 (health above 50%)
 * Halves casting time of spells (10%)
 * Wayward Wand
 * Water Magic 9
 * Energy +5 (health above 50%)
 * Zarnas' Wrath

Other

 * 76 Jade Wind Orb
 * Rose Focus

Builds
Note: those suck. I'm not aiming at the most efficient build possible, but rather at something I have fun playing with. And while it's not fun to have ten party wipes, I'm not against playing with a "bad" build if I enjoy it.

Water Magic
Water Mirror  Template code: OgBCsMzkZ10g6w6AkoSE0AGH 

I'm very fond of Water Magic. The big area of effect of Deep Freeze is useful in snaring a large group of melee enemies, which may also be weakened with Blurred Vision. Mirror of Ice allows this build to do decent damage, and Glowing Ice ensures a constant flow of energy.

Hydromancer  Template code: OgBCsMzjYbakyQGXj1B0AjD 

Decent damage with snaring and spell interrupt. Maelstrom is somewhat unyielding to be used, but I like the skill anyway. A somewhat energy intensive build, but nothing Glyph of Lesser Energy cannot handle.

Mind Frost  Template code: OgBCsMzkYz0AyQ0w1AkI0AGH 

Very similar to the build above, I admit this exists just so I may have my revenge on those stupid Ice Imps xD Combining the heavy snare of Mind Freeze with the disruption of Maesltrom. In order to use Mind Freeze properly, this build has a strong focus on enermy management.

Frozen Ground  Template code: OgBDo5ycStDVDqDMgONPiQDYcA 

A bit different from the above. This build has a focus on knock downs, inflicting a few useful conditions. Less damage than the other builds here, but useful in its own way.

Frozen Wind  Template code: OgBDg5ycOY1qx0Qpt0WHQDMO 

I wanted to have at least one build relying on the interaction between Water and Air, so here it is. Far from being the most effective build here, it's somewhat useful when knocking enemies down.