05 Jan 2009 at 01:35 - 10
Play an Elementalist, your options are wide.
Damage - Elementalist damage in Normal Mode is impressive, and they can still be made to play for damage in Hard Mode (although your damage output will be considerably decreased).
Heal - Ether Renewal based Elementalist healers can rival and even exceed real Monks, under certain conditions. This is a real strength of Elementalists. If for some reason you can't / don't want to run the ER bar, you can still fall back on Ether Prodigy, although Ether Prodigy based Elementalist healers considerably inferior to those based on Ether Renewal.
Buff - Because of Elementalists' high energy pool and variety of energy management, you can go /Rt or /N and cast Orders or Splinter Weapon, or else keep to Elementalist skills and use Great Dwarf Weapon, Ebon Vanguard Standard of Honor. You won't be as effective as a dedicated buffer, but you can do the role.
Tank - Earth Elementalists tanking with Kinetic Armor, Stoneflesh Aura and possibly Obsidian Flesh are incredibly resilient against most kinds of damage, and you get Sliver Armor to deal some damage of your own, too. That said, a dedicated tank isn't exactly a valuable class in most PvE.
There're other roles an Elementalist can undertake. Several Elementalist spells offer great support for the party, eg. Ward Against Melee or Blinding Surge. You can also go melee and swing a weapon - while you won't be as effective as a War / Derv / Assassin, you do have the Conjures, some defensive skills (Armor of Mist, Armor of Earth etc) and point-blank AoE spells on your side.
Bottom line: outside of the Elementalist's home terrain, you can still take on a variety of different roles, although you typically will not be as effective as other classes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zarestial
So I should go N/E?
or E/N?
Can those two heal good?
or do I need ?/Rt
Pick a primary and stay with it. E/N's and N/E's cannot heal at all. The versatility of both classes come from having access to the secondary. If you're going to heal as an Elementalist, you go /Mo, if you're going to swing a sword, you go /W, if you're spamming Searing Flames you might go /Me and bring Arcane Echo. The same applies to Necros, although they are slightly different. Here if you heal you go /Rt, if you're dealing damage you go /Me with Arcane Echo, if you're raising minions and tanking you go /Mo, and so on.
