Is it just me, or does Air Magic suck now?

Don`t knock it totally! I always went air when doing the Arborstone mission, fast and deadly always got masters. Just goes to prove what everyone is saying - 1 on 1 and air eles ftw and quick spamming with dual attunement helps if you can keep it up. There must be other spots where it rules?

Personally I mainly (like everyone else) used fire till I got bored and went earth (still my favourite, churning earth/earthquake lol) and now I at last get a chance to use Water, although Water worked well in Nightfall (freeze those runners) this expansion has given me chance to hone this side of the ele profession. So I suppose in PvE at least Air is a now and again thing for me.

I run a Fevered Dreams Air Ele in melee heavy areas. Spreading 3 conditions (blind, cracked armor, weakness) thoughout an entire area every 10 seconds works great, and much better than an Epidemic build.
The loss of energy to spec Illusion isn't very noticeable when using Radiant armor+attunement and an insightful/energy boost staff. Just ensure the duration of Fevered Dreams exceeds the recharge and you're all set.

Bring along a bleed or Broadhead Arrow ranger, a fire ele w/mark of rodgort, and an MM with Death Nova - and you have conditions running rampant. It got me through several GWEN dungeons without blinking an eye.

People kept whining about the spike damage in PvP because wtf it's too hard to shut them down by playing a mesmer and there were nerfs. Air Eles just don't have the nuke power they used to have at release.

For vanquishing I prefer air damage over all others. It's nice to be able to pick off one target at once, just getting that kill count up, even if you die doing it.

Earth is my daily campaigning build, and I use that for it's AoE with alternate support builds if I need them. The numbers on-screen for a Sandstorm, Eruption, Churning Earth, Snow Storm and Dragon Stomp are a wonder to behold at times :-)

My vanquishing Air build usually consists of:
* Glyph of Lesser Energy
* Invoke Lightning (e)
* Lightning Orb
* Lightning Hammer
* Enervating Charge
* Rebirth (heroes/henchman vanquishing, remember)
* Aura of Restoration
* Air Attunement

Either way, I like both Air and Earth as they are, and would prefer to see Fire changed giving it more of a degen motif; more burning perhaps.

If killing is the only thing in guild wars, i guess monk is the worst profession ever :P

On the contrary a good monk is there soley to help the OFFENSE (in PvP, this is read warriors, and includes the removal of conditions and hexes) of the team kill, by virtue of they can bring a skill bar dedicated to killing and not have to worry about healing themselves.

Having the most blind skills in the game is clearly the foundation for a great attribute line...

I did ra yesterday. Dual Attunement + Blind flash + Knock down + hammer & orb spamming == GG. Aura of restauration to releave some heal pressure of the monks too.

[skill]enervating charge[/skill]

zomg wtf hax!

Saying air magic is good because it has blind skills is only relevant if you ignore the fact any other element can run 7 skills + a blind with a small air spec anyway.

It's just you.

so pvp..
+[skill]Lightning Surge[/skill]+[skill]Lightning Hammer[/skill]
cracked armor+ ~130dmg and KD + ~130dmg
not a bad combo.

surge for PvP is really bad imo, every decent monk still has the time to remove the hex or at the least RoF the surge.

im not so experienced in pvp. im using this combo in RA. works very well.

Look, I have no quarrel with Gale. Neither with Blinding Flash/Surge, nor with Enervating Charge. Orb does OK damage but nowadays even the Jahai rats have learned how to dodge orbs. Glyph of Swiftness might be good for it if it weren't buggier than a mandragor's bottom. Hammer is awesome until you run into enchantment hate. Shell Shock is maybe decent, haven't made up my mind on it. The air elites are wastes of elite slots, imo.

Honestly, rits were better lightning damagers until the recent Ancestor's Rage nerf/fix/whatever you want to call it.

I'm confused, what exactly are you trying to say?

Sorry, but basing any argument off success in RA is just bad. Players there suck so badly, anything is effective against them usually.

Sorry, I should have been clearer. The air elites intended for damage are wastes of elite slots. As I said, I have no quarrel with Surge.