19 Nov 2008 at 10:40 - 15
I was bored, so I wrote up a bunch of stuff.
Note: For easier gameplay, and success in PvP, you will need to purchase all the campaigns (Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall and Eye of the North). I did not pay attention to the fact if the skills are core, Factions, or from an other campaign in the following post. It however still (attempts to) make(s) a point on how these professions play.
Elementalists:
Elementalists are in general quite versatile. They're equipped for high personal or party defense, hindering the opponent and doing large chunks of AoE (Area of Effect) damage to opponents. Their job is usually to stand back and make things go "boom" in lower-end PvE and PvP, however when you progress to the higher tiers (GvG, HA or HM PvE) their job shifts to partial support, or opponent hindering.
Farming
For farming, the elementalists wins flat-out versus the warrior. It's far more versatile, is able to take on larger groups of enemies, and to generally farm in more areas, more effectively due to Area of Effect damage from the Earth and Fire magic lines. It is also resistant to spellcasters thanks to Obsidian Flesh, which allows it to farm many areas.
General earth tank:
[Glyph of Swiftness][Obsidian Flesh][Stoneflesh Aura][Mantra of Earth][Optional][Optional][Stone Striker][Earth Attunement]
330 elementalist (requires 300 health or less)
[Stoneflesh Aura][Protective Spirit][Optional][Optional][Optional][Earth Attunement][Essence Bond][Balthazar's Spirit]
Optionals are damage skills such as [Sliver Armor], [Teinai's Crystals]/[Crystal Wave], [Aftershock] and [Shockwave].
Low tier play:
Elementalists are also very suited for easy play in Normal Mode or Alliance Battles with a build such as these, which use high damage AoE skills to take out mobs quickly, and efficiently.
General SF elementalist
[Searing Flames][Liquid Flame][Glowing Gaze][Glyph of Lesser Energy][Teinai's Heat][Optional][Optional][Fire Attunement]
General SH elementalist
[Savannah Heat][Arcane Echo][Teinai's Heat][Glyph of Lesser Energy][Rodgort's Invocation][Optional][Optional][Fire Attunement]
Optional skills could include [Fireball], [Aura of Restoration], [Auspicious Incantation] + [Meteor Shower]/[Deep Freeze] or something of the like.
Higher tier PvP/PvE
More specialized PvP (such as GvG or HA) would require an elementalist bar to look somewhat like these (although the SH ele could be used for HA with [Weapon of Warding] + [Death Pact Signet] or other support skills).
Shatterstone gank ele (GvG)
[Shatterstone][Freezing Gust][Glowing Ice][Glyph of Immolation][Steam][Healing Breeze][Water Attunement][Resurrection Signet]
As you can see, for an elementalist, as the game becomes harder - your role shifts more from damage to hindering the opponent and supporting your party (with either defense or damage). This is true in both high-end PvP (HA, GvG) and Hard Mode PvE.
For HM PvE, your bar would likely look something like this for the highest efficiency:
[Mind Blast][Rodgort's Invocation][Optional][Optional][Splinter Weapon][Ancestor's Rage][Fire Attunement][Death Pact Signet]
Optionals could be [Glyph of Lesser Energy], [Liquid Flame], [Ebon Battle Standard of Honor], [Great Dwarf Weapon] or something of the like.
Summary:
As previously stated, the role of an elementalist depends greatly on what the party is doing, and where it is. In the lower realms of the game, it can be a highly powerful tool to take out mobs quickly, and efficiently. However as the areas become harder, the role of an elementalist shifts from pure damage to some damage and utility, or almost pure utility and party support. This is something to (eventually) take in to account, as a profession with 'changing goals' can be more difficult to master than a more 'static' one.
Warrior:
The warrior is a less versatile, but equally (if not more) powerful class. Instead of focusing on party support, it's job is to hurt things as much as possible, as often as possible. As such, you will see that pretty much every single "good" warrior build is centered around dealing damage, as opposed to taking it.
Farming:
The warrior is one of the professions honestly least suited for farming. It has little versatility in it's farm builds, although the few it has are somewhat effective, but highly focused. They will often not work as well in areas outside of the one they are created for.
Triple chop melee farmer
[Triple Chop][Whirlwind Attack][Cyclone Axe][Optional][Dolyak Signet][Vigorous Spirit][Live Vicariously][Balthazar's Spirit]
UW Smite Crawler farm
[Sympathetic Visage][Ancestor's Visage][Warrior's Endurance][Power Attack][Counterattack][Dolyak Signet][Lion's Comfort][Sprint]
These builds both depend on enchantments to stay alive, and are vulnerable to conditions, hexes and the removal of those enchantments - which is why they cannot function in all (or even most) areas.
Low tier play
The joy of walking/running up to something and smacking it in the face with a sword, hammer, axe or scythe is a simple one. It's fun and effective for most warrior builds used in a party - especially in lower tier play such as Normal Mode or Alliance Battles. Most warrior builds for this are centered around pure damage to single or multiple targets in short bursts.
General endurance warrior
[Power Attack][Protector's Strike][Optional][Optional][Flail][Enraging Charge][Warrior's Endurance][Optional]
First two optionals are attacks, based on your weapon of choice. Options are: [Dismember] + [Furious Axe], [Eremite's Attack] + [Mystic Sweep], [Body Blow] + [Wild Blow], [Hammer Bash] + [Crushing Blow]. The last optional can be a PvE skill such as [Asuran Scan], ["Save Yourselves!"], ["I am the strongest!"] or [Aura of Holy Might] for well, PvE. Or, for PvP, a utility skill such as [Shock], [Mending Touch], [Rending Touch], [Rip Enchantment], [Power Spike] or something of the like. (In RA, take out one attack skill for the utility, and put [Resurrection Signet] on the final spot)
General KD warrior
[Optional][Crushing Blow][Hammer Bash][Optional][Optional][Flail][Enraging Charge][Death Pact Signet]
1st optional is an elite of choice, [Magehunter's Smash], [Devastating Hammer] or [Earth Shaker] are usually good bets. For PvE, I'd recommend [Earth Shaker]. For the other slots, optionals are [Belly Smash] for blind, [Distracting Strike] for an interrupt, [Bull's Strike] for a conditional knockdown or [Crude Swing] for some AoE damage.
These builds are focussed on either taking on and slowing down mobs, or taking down targets in rapid succession. As opposed to the Elementalist however, their role changes very little in higher-end play.
Higher tier play
In higher tier play, Melee characters are generally the damage dealers of choice. Their role is to kill stuff, period. This doesn't mean simple tab+space and 1-2-3 though. Especially in higher end areas, frontline characters must have other skills as well. In PvE, they have to be able to hold the aggro of a group, to prevent (most of) them from getting to the rest of your party. In higher-end PvP, they must be able to be unpredictable to the enemy monks, harass who needs to be harassed. The builds for this are still very similar, though slightly more specialized than the low-tier builds.
Endurance Axe/Hammer
[Optional][Optional][Protector's Strike][Bull's Strike][Frenzy][Rush][Warrior's Endurance][Resurrection Signet]
Optionals: either [Dismember]+[Power Attack] or [Hammer Bash]+[Crushing Blow], depending on the weapon
General axe warrior
[Eviscerate][Executioner's Strike][Disrupting Chop][Optional][Bull's Strike][Frenzy][Rush][Resurrection Signet]
Optional would be [Shock], [Rip Enchantment] or [Power Spike], most likely.
General hammer warrior
[Optional][Crushing Blow][Hammer Bash][Bull's Strike][Distracting Strike][Flail][Enraging Charge][Death Pact Signet]
Optional is [Magehunter's Smash], [Devastating Hammer] or [Earth Shaker]
Summary
The warrior is an easy class to learn, but a hard class to actually master - especially in higher end PvP. It's main objective however, always stays the same. Dish out pain, as fast and often as possible. It doesn't have the "many sides" to it such as an elementalist, though it has a lot of finesse which is hard to completely get the hang of.
In conclusion
I spent way too much time on this, especially since it'll be read once and ignored, if that.
Otherwise, though.
tl;dr version:
There will always be place for a warrior in high-end places, such as Hard Mode and high (and low) end PvP. There is simply always a need for them - whilst this is not the case for an elementalist. However, elementalists by far outshine the warrior in farming and versatility of roles they can take on. It's up to you to decide what seems more appealing.