Constructive Elementalist Ideas
xarchitect
I agree with many others taht have already said a universal effect is not necessary. Just fix the spells that REALLY suck. My example: Have Firestorm and Meteor Shower actually follow the target for the duration (increase recast on FS to balance it). Give the PBAoE spells a bit more area coverage. And give some wand preparations like the rangers have so eles can do something between major spells.
bam23
Having Firestorm and Meteor Shower follow the target is ridiculous.
I think the best you could do with those is more damage per second, or larger AoE.
I think the best you could do with those is more damage per second, or larger AoE.
Mandy Memory
The main problem I see with eles is the fact that because they have a large energy pool...spells are overpriced and have exahstion added in...
Meteor shower is a good example...Bad damage, 3 kds (Most people move before the first...the other people move right after it.) and a rather small AoE. 25 energy (Most expencive skill....on this crap) and exhastion (WTF?...SERIOUSLY)
I would consider using that skill if it was ~15 energy or 25 without exhastion.
Meteor shower is a good example...Bad damage, 3 kds (Most people move before the first...the other people move right after it.) and a rather small AoE. 25 energy (Most expencive skill....on this crap) and exhastion (WTF?...SERIOUSLY)
I would consider using that skill if it was ~15 energy or 25 without exhastion.
Undivine
You know, I think I like Therlun's suggestion about buffing glyphs. Glyphs were advertised as the unique thing that eles have that no other class has, yet they haven't really done very much with them. I mean, there are some good glyphs, don't get me wrong, but they could be much more effective, perhaps even to the point that you don't even need to make changes to the ele's spells.
For one thing, a glyph should act similarly to Soul Twisting, in that it never goes away until you use it or enter a new zone. You can prep Soul Twisting minutes before a fight and it will still be there ready to take effect.
Secondly there ought to be more glyphs with a wide range of modifications on your spells from negating exhaustion to adding a condition side effect to whatever. And more of them should be non-elite.
Thirdly, perhaps reduce their use time to about half a second.
Why, they could actually make the ele an undisputably awesome class by just fiddling around with glyphs.
For one thing, a glyph should act similarly to Soul Twisting, in that it never goes away until you use it or enter a new zone. You can prep Soul Twisting minutes before a fight and it will still be there ready to take effect.
Secondly there ought to be more glyphs with a wide range of modifications on your spells from negating exhaustion to adding a condition side effect to whatever. And more of them should be non-elite.
Thirdly, perhaps reduce their use time to about half a second.
Why, they could actually make the ele an undisputably awesome class by just fiddling around with glyphs.
Therlun
Quote:
Originally Posted by Undivine
Why, they could actually make the ele an undisputably awesome class by just fiddling around with glyphs.
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You could have several glyphs with you to adjust your spells to your needs.
Adding glyphs that work with relative values would be a good step to avoid making them overpowered. So instead of an Elite-Instant recharge glyph, you get one that halves the recharge.
draxynnic
You know what I think would be useful?
Have a nonlinked (and preferably nonelite, although it would need to be carefully balanced with current skills that give energy at the cost of exhaustion) skill that costs 15 or 25 energy and wipes ten points of exhaustion (or five points exhaustion for 10 or 15 energy, or something like that). That way, exhaustion becomes a kind of deferred energy cost (making the total cost of a Meteor Shower equivalent to 40-65 energy if the exhaustion is then wiped by this skill, for instance) rather than something that potentially leaves you waiting for several minutes to recover.
Have a nonlinked (and preferably nonelite, although it would need to be carefully balanced with current skills that give energy at the cost of exhaustion) skill that costs 15 or 25 energy and wipes ten points of exhaustion (or five points exhaustion for 10 or 15 energy, or something like that). That way, exhaustion becomes a kind of deferred energy cost (making the total cost of a Meteor Shower equivalent to 40-65 energy if the exhaustion is then wiped by this skill, for instance) rather than something that potentially leaves you waiting for several minutes to recover.
Rieselle
I would dearly love to see a creative and wide-ranging fix for Elem damage. (and the MM nerf shows ANet is both willing and able to introduce new mechanics into the game to fix balance issues).
However, here's a quick-and-dirty suggestion I'd like to see right away. Any comments on specifics that it would break?
For all elem damage spells:
- Any spell costing more than 10 energy gets their energy cost lowered by 1 class. (ie. 25->15, 15->10)
- All aoes (not pbaoes though?) have their AoE radius's increased by one class. (adjacent -> nearby, etc.)
- Make PBAoEs have the standard aftercast again.
(optional) I dont think any damage spell in the game should have a recharge longer than 20seconds or so. Balance aside, it's JUST NOT FUN.
THEN, after these changes they can adjust individual spells and fiddle around the edges like they do now. I don't think the above changes would make Elems overall too overpowered.
However, here's a quick-and-dirty suggestion I'd like to see right away. Any comments on specifics that it would break?
For all elem damage spells:
- Any spell costing more than 10 energy gets their energy cost lowered by 1 class. (ie. 25->15, 15->10)
- All aoes (not pbaoes though?) have their AoE radius's increased by one class. (adjacent -> nearby, etc.)
- Make PBAoEs have the standard aftercast again.
(optional) I dont think any damage spell in the game should have a recharge longer than 20seconds or so. Balance aside, it's JUST NOT FUN.
THEN, after these changes they can adjust individual spells and fiddle around the edges like they do now. I don't think the above changes would make Elems overall too overpowered.
Phades
Quote:
Originally Posted by Undivine
For one thing, a glyph should act similarly to Soul Twisting, in that it never goes away until you use it or enter a new zone. You can prep Soul Twisting minutes before a fight and it will still be there ready to take effect.
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In my head i really like the idea of eles, but rits just seem like what a ele should have been minus the healing of course. This is mostly by effect versus cast time, with the different options for support or offense. Eles by comparison are rather shallow and get used for ether prodigy. Its kinda sad really.
Ensign
Quote:
Originally Posted by Therlun
I'm somewhat surprised you take Fireball as an example for a "good" Ele-Spell.
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What exactly are you looking at that compares so favorably?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Therlun
Not energy management in itself is the problem of the Ele, nor is casting time, recharge, armour reduction or low base damage.
The problem of the Ele is the simultaneous appearence of all of these points for most of his spells, with no worthwile way around them. |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Undivine
You know, I think I like Therlun's suggestion about buffing glyphs. Glyphs were advertised as the unique thing that eles have that no other class has, yet they haven't really done very much with them.
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I agree that they should be made more like Soul Twisting, but in my mind that doesn't mean the duration, that means the usage time. If you can just hit a Glyph and have it work on your next spell, no cast time, even the Glyphs with marginal effects become more attractive.
I don't think you can use this to balance the ele as a profession, though, because none of the glyphs have an associated attribute. That makes it better to just glyph a good spell from another profession rather than a bad elementalist spell, and you haven't done much other than further increase the popularity of the elementalist secondary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phades
In my head i really like the idea of eles, but rits just seem like what a ele should have been minus the healing of course.
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Peace,
-CxE
BahamutKaiser
I guess after considering Elementist armor being the weakest in general, it would make a little sense if they had a body armor with an additional energy regen and 60 armor with nothing else, all other classes have armor with added energy, but elementist doesn't have nor need this, so having armor with some energy regen would be reasonable I guess.
As for other Classes primaries, Soul Reaping is increadibly effective once people start dying, but unless people die it is useless, I didn't suggest that Soul Reaping have extra effects, I suggested that skills be made for Soul Reaping and more skills for Fast Casting, giving those classes some added incentive to power up and use those attributes, Elementist has 5 attributes, and even he has more primary skills than Necromancer and Mesmer, who have 4 attributes. The primary point of adding more to other classes is balanced improvement to elementist. Anet has decided elementist is balanced, we are debating on ways to improve elementist. If elementist is concretely balanced and giving him any improvements would unbalance him, then it is better to improve elementist and improve other classes as well, which is why I brang up ideas to improve other classes as well, suggesting an improvement to several classes and not just elementist.
Adding a couple of seconds of blind or burning to every elemental attack based on attribute is totaly broken, anyone who doesn't agree with that automaticly dispels their opinion, because it is whether you agree or not. Getting a free 3 or 4 seconds of burn on Flare because you have max fire attribute just doubled the net damage it does, half in projectile damage and half in degen, this is a totaly unbalanced addition. Also Blind is not something you give to every earth spell, Blinding flash cost 15 energy just to blind someone for a maximum of 10 seconds, and your suggesting that Stone Dagger throws 3 or 4 seconds of blind continously on top of the damage it does for 5 energy, and with aftershock, you can blind all enemies adjacent to you every 8 seconds, the whole idea of added status effects based on attribute points is flagrantly unbalanced.
The whole point of this thread is to consider reasonable elementist improvements which would be balanced, not make mindless suggestions which would over power elementist even if it wasn't balanced with other classes. If you cannot respect the limitations and restrictions of balance in the game then you might as well scrap this thread, because it is the same as the last elementist thread with a less agressive title.
As for other Classes primaries, Soul Reaping is increadibly effective once people start dying, but unless people die it is useless, I didn't suggest that Soul Reaping have extra effects, I suggested that skills be made for Soul Reaping and more skills for Fast Casting, giving those classes some added incentive to power up and use those attributes, Elementist has 5 attributes, and even he has more primary skills than Necromancer and Mesmer, who have 4 attributes. The primary point of adding more to other classes is balanced improvement to elementist. Anet has decided elementist is balanced, we are debating on ways to improve elementist. If elementist is concretely balanced and giving him any improvements would unbalance him, then it is better to improve elementist and improve other classes as well, which is why I brang up ideas to improve other classes as well, suggesting an improvement to several classes and not just elementist.
Adding a couple of seconds of blind or burning to every elemental attack based on attribute is totaly broken, anyone who doesn't agree with that automaticly dispels their opinion, because it is whether you agree or not. Getting a free 3 or 4 seconds of burn on Flare because you have max fire attribute just doubled the net damage it does, half in projectile damage and half in degen, this is a totaly unbalanced addition. Also Blind is not something you give to every earth spell, Blinding flash cost 15 energy just to blind someone for a maximum of 10 seconds, and your suggesting that Stone Dagger throws 3 or 4 seconds of blind continously on top of the damage it does for 5 energy, and with aftershock, you can blind all enemies adjacent to you every 8 seconds, the whole idea of added status effects based on attribute points is flagrantly unbalanced.
The whole point of this thread is to consider reasonable elementist improvements which would be balanced, not make mindless suggestions which would over power elementist even if it wasn't balanced with other classes. If you cannot respect the limitations and restrictions of balance in the game then you might as well scrap this thread, because it is the same as the last elementist thread with a less agressive title.
Undivine
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ensign
The biggest problem glyphs have is their cast times. You're already looking at a slowish profession that will miss windows of opportunity on casting times alone, and tacking nearly two seconds onto a spell's casting time isn't something you can afford to do much of the time. You can do it when you're able to prepare your casts several seconds in advance, ala spiking, but otherwise the cast time makes them unplayable.
I agree that they should be made more like Soul Twisting, but in my mind that doesn't mean the duration, that means the usage time. If you can just hit a Glyph and have it work on your next spell, no cast time, even the Glyphs with marginal effects become more attractive. I don't think you can use this to balance the ele as a profession, though, because none of the glyphs have an associated attribute. That makes it better to just glyph a good spell from another profession rather than a bad elementalist spell, and you haven't done much other than further increase the popularity of the elementalist secondary. |
First of all, I agree the casting time on glyphs is one of the biggest reasons not to use them. Really they should be just like Soul Twisting in every way.
As for their use, you can have element-centric glyphs. "Your next elemental spell does double damage to spirits." "Your next water hex lasts 10...50% longer." "Your next offensive spell that causes exhaustion costs no energy." "Your next offensive fire spell does cold damage instead." Who says glyphs have to apply to any spell? They don't have to trigger on the next spell. They can trigger on the next qualifying spell.
Once you open that up, you have all sorts of crazy possibilities for eles that not only make them very useful, but also allow you combo almost like an assassin or a warrior, making them even more fun to play.
Phades
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ensign
Well you get one attribute line that does a lot of stuff besides DD for offense. Of course that line's offense consists of a one second cast spike skill for 126, a lightning strike for 84, and another strike for 53 that gives you 3 energy instead of it costing you anything. In fairness you have to be within an aggro bubble of a spirit to use them, and you're not going to pressure anyone with that. But they're significantly better than what you're going to get in the air line for the most part, and that's kinda sad.
Peace, -CxE |
Its not just that the lines have depth, but many of them also posess useful and cheap utility at the same time. I dont see any elementalist skills building off of wards the way ritualists build off of spirits or held items.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BahamutKaiser
Adding another point of regen on the armor doesn't require points in Energy storage, so it is even easier. For another point of regen over other classes, they should be investing in something, adding some regen along with the current effect of energy storage is alot more reasonable than adding even more energy regeneration on the armor. If they added 3 energy regeneration onto elementist armor then they would likely have to reduce their armor to 50, it is a simple balance issue. Your suggesting a free improvement over an improvement to an investment, it would be diffucult at best to even get added regen for points in energy storage.
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Maybe if they start rewarding the ele for having the primary attribute energy storage instead of penalizing them, it could start to have meaningful changes. At the same time i wouldnt mind individual skill changes either, but id hate to see them suddenly become more useful for a mesmer (or insert new ch3 profession or rit etc) than the ele.
BahamutKaiser
I'm not so confident in Anets balancing skills anymore, some of these skills are just worthless. Like DD.
zamial
how about(since it seems to be a energy problem)that when the ele is hit by the element it gains x energy?
(like soul reaping)
so when a fire mage,with 16 fire,gets hit by a fire ball or fire damage they gain half that attribute in enegy(8).
same with all the other elements.
fixed............
(like soul reaping)
so when a fire mage,with 16 fire,gets hit by a fire ball or fire damage they gain half that attribute in enegy(8).
same with all the other elements.
fixed............
prism2525
Quote:
Originally Posted by zamial
how about(since it seems to be a energy problem)that when the ele is hit by the element it gains x energy?
(like soul reaping) so when a fire mage,with 16 fire,gets hit by a fire ball or fire damage they gain half that attribute in enegy(8). same with all the other elements. fixed............ |
Pyromancer armor: Burning on you causes -6 instead of -7 energy degen and lasts 1 second less.
Hydromancer armor: Water Hexes on you last 1-2 seconds less.
Geomancer armor: Weakness on you is reduced by 1-2 seconds.
Aeromancer Armor: Blind on you lasts 1-2 seconds less.
Would have put 'reduces crippled' on the hydromancer but no ele skill causes crippling. (at least not from prophecies)
About you energy-absorbing idea though, if balanced it would make a lot of sense. Why not make the armor give the ele 10% of the energy used to cast the spell? I mean getting hit by a flare would not give anything but a fireball gives 1 energy. (This and the armor stuff above is true only if the ele is using a full armor set of the same type like full pyro, hydro, etc. and pyro only absorbs fire attacks and so on)
I also think that there should be a new staff mod for the eles which gives a chance to avoid exhaustion. I'm gonna put this mod idea in the ideas forum unless it's already there.
Edit: I made the thread about the exhaustion-avoiding thing and you can see it here
lishi
Quote:
Originally Posted by zamial
how about(since it seems to be a energy problem)that when the ele is hit by the element it gains x energy?
(like soul reaping) so when a fire mage,with 16 fire,gets hit by a fire ball or fire damage they gain half that attribute in enegy(8). same with all the other elements. fixed............ |
draxynnic
Quote:
Originally Posted by lishi
it will be useless on many case and overpowerd when you facing a fire ele...
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And, besides, that's already a Mesmer trick .
Cybah
My personal suggestions for fire magic based spells: (first: 33% reduced recharge of ALL spells)
[Note: all with 12 to fire magic, not 16!]
(Rodgort's Invocation) 40-130 basic dmg
(Incindiary Bonds) 2-6 seconds burning
(Double Dragon) no exhaustion
(Fire Breath) 8-48 dmg per second
(Fire Ball) 20-120 dmg
(Fire Attunement) stance instead of enchantment
(Flare) 30-70 dmg
(Immolate) 2-6 seconds burning
(Fire Storm) double sized area of effect
(Conjure Flame) 5-20
(Flame Burst) 20-133
(Mind Burn) 10 mana, no exhaustion, 2-8 seconds burning
(Smoldering Ambers) 10 mana, 20-65 basic damage
(Inferno) 40-150 dmg
(Bed of Coals) 4-8 seconds burning
(Lava Font) 7-42 dmg per second
(Lava Arrows) 10-35 dmg
(Meteor) 10 mana, no exhaustion, 40-150 dmg, 2 seconds casting time
(Meteor Shower) no exhaustion, 40-150 dmg per hit, 3 seconds casting time
(Phoenix) 10 mana
(Searing Heat) 7-42 dmg per second
(Star Burst) 10 mana, 40-150 dmg per hit
(Teinai's Heat) 7-42 dmg per second
(Mark of Rodgort) 15 mana
[Note: all with 12 to fire magic, not 16!]
(Rodgort's Invocation) 40-130 basic dmg
(Incindiary Bonds) 2-6 seconds burning
(Double Dragon) no exhaustion
(Fire Breath) 8-48 dmg per second
(Fire Ball) 20-120 dmg
(Fire Attunement) stance instead of enchantment
(Flare) 30-70 dmg
(Immolate) 2-6 seconds burning
(Fire Storm) double sized area of effect
(Conjure Flame) 5-20
(Flame Burst) 20-133
(Mind Burn) 10 mana, no exhaustion, 2-8 seconds burning
(Smoldering Ambers) 10 mana, 20-65 basic damage
(Inferno) 40-150 dmg
(Bed of Coals) 4-8 seconds burning
(Lava Font) 7-42 dmg per second
(Lava Arrows) 10-35 dmg
(Meteor) 10 mana, no exhaustion, 40-150 dmg, 2 seconds casting time
(Meteor Shower) no exhaustion, 40-150 dmg per hit, 3 seconds casting time
(Phoenix) 10 mana
(Searing Heat) 7-42 dmg per second
(Star Burst) 10 mana, 40-150 dmg per hit
(Teinai's Heat) 7-42 dmg per second
(Mark of Rodgort) 15 mana
jesh
Quote:
Originally Posted by Undivine
Nah, nah, just roll with it for a second. Have a bit of imagination. What can they do with Glyphs?
First of all, I agree the casting time on glyphs is one of the biggest reasons not to use them. Really they should be just like Soul Twisting in every way. As for their use, you can have element-centric glyphs. "Your next elemental spell does double damage to spirits." "Your next water hex lasts 10...50% longer." "Your next offensive spell that causes exhaustion costs no energy." "Your next offensive fire spell does cold damage instead." Who says glyphs have to apply to any spell? They don't have to trigger on the next spell. They can trigger on the next qualifying spell. Once you open that up, you have all sorts of crazy possibilities for eles that not only make them very useful, but also allow you combo almost like an assassin or a warrior, making them even more fun to play. |
This is the best idea I've heard in a very long time. Making spells buffable like a warrior or ranger can do with their attacks is the natural thing to do. In fact there should be as many glyphs as spells.
It would also be kinda neat if you could have kind of like a holographic tatoo for each glyph that you're using, and of *course* make them stackable. This may mean nerfing some of the existing glyphs, but not having them stackable is about as lame as not being able to use an enchant with a prep.
Also some better spells like this wouldn't hurt, would they?
Balefire: Target takes xx-xxx amount of damage. Target is teleported to their previous location x-x seconds ago.
Damage would be shadow type. In case none of you know the reference, what I mean by the teleporting is this. Say a warrior comes charging at your team. If you use balefire, he'll take damage and end up at the back of the map again, or wherever he was, potentially exposing a vulnerability in the enemy's battle formation.
Loki Seiguro
wow...no i dont think that last part would work unless that time thing was only like 5 secs ago or something close to that...but other then that sure sounds good
Sofia Sofia Sofia
Keep It Simple, Stupid
KISS:
20% increase in the radii of AoEs
10% increase in the damage of non-AoE attack spells
Exhaustion decreased to 3 E grayout
1 extra E regen pip for every 4 on Energy Storage
KISS:
20% increase in the radii of AoEs
10% increase in the damage of non-AoE attack spells
Exhaustion decreased to 3 E grayout
1 extra E regen pip for every 4 on Energy Storage
Lordhelmos
Quote:
Originally Posted by jesh
This is the best idea I've heard in a very long time. Making spells buffable like a warrior or ranger can do with their attacks is the natural thing to do. In fact there should be as many glyphs as spells.
It would also be kinda neat if you could have kind of like a holographic tatoo for each glyph that you're using, and of *course* make them stackable. This may mean nerfing some of the existing glyphs, but not having them stackable is about as lame as not being able to use an enchant with a prep. Also some better spells like this wouldn't hurt, would they? Balefire: Target takes xx-xxx amount of damage. Target is teleported to their previous location x-x seconds ago. Damage would be shadow type. In case none of you know the reference, what I mean by the teleporting is this. Say a warrior comes charging at your team. If you use balefire, he'll take damage and end up at the back of the map again, or wherever he was, potentially exposing a vulnerability in the enemy's battle formation. |
Lordhelmos
I agree that many of the suggestions overpower eles. I think eles just need a tweak not an overhaul.
Some ideas I think are useful are:
~Glyph Improvement:
Having glyphs last longer or behave like soul twisting is a great idea. I also like the idea of glyphs that are only activated by certain types of spells (I.e. Enchantments, Offensive spells, etc.) Its such a pain to use a glyph to cast maelstrom and have things mess up you throw on armor of earth to defend yourself against a teleporting assassin. Glyphs should be "smarter." Their operation in the game feels kind of sloppy.
~Simple non-elite E management skills.
EX:
Signet of Focus:
For 5 seconds all of your spells are disabled. Gain 7-10 Energy.
<Signet, Cast time: 1, Recharge time: 30, Cost: 0>
Power Trip:
For 15-30 seconds you suffer from -2 life degen but gain +1 energy regeneration.
<Enchantment Spell, Cast time: 2, Recharge time: 25, Cost: 5>
Ether Shield:
For 15 seconds you gain +1 energy regeneration for each hex your suffer.
<Enchantment Spell, Cast time: 2, Recharge time: 25, Cost: 5>
~Tweaks to existing useless spells.
EX: Add KD to lightning hammer.
~Better defense against lethal spike attacks.
EX:
Teinai's Barrier: (Earth)
For 10 seconds all damage over 50-25 from one source is negatated and Teinai's Barrier ends.
<Enchantment Spell, Cast time: 1, Recharge time: 20, Cost: 10>
Some ideas I think are useful are:
~Glyph Improvement:
Having glyphs last longer or behave like soul twisting is a great idea. I also like the idea of glyphs that are only activated by certain types of spells (I.e. Enchantments, Offensive spells, etc.) Its such a pain to use a glyph to cast maelstrom and have things mess up you throw on armor of earth to defend yourself against a teleporting assassin. Glyphs should be "smarter." Their operation in the game feels kind of sloppy.
~Simple non-elite E management skills.
EX:
Signet of Focus:
For 5 seconds all of your spells are disabled. Gain 7-10 Energy.
<Signet, Cast time: 1, Recharge time: 30, Cost: 0>
Power Trip:
For 15-30 seconds you suffer from -2 life degen but gain +1 energy regeneration.
<Enchantment Spell, Cast time: 2, Recharge time: 25, Cost: 5>
Ether Shield:
For 15 seconds you gain +1 energy regeneration for each hex your suffer.
<Enchantment Spell, Cast time: 2, Recharge time: 25, Cost: 5>
~Tweaks to existing useless spells.
EX: Add KD to lightning hammer.
~Better defense against lethal spike attacks.
EX:
Teinai's Barrier: (Earth)
For 10 seconds all damage over 50-25 from one source is negatated and Teinai's Barrier ends.
<Enchantment Spell, Cast time: 1, Recharge time: 20, Cost: 10>
Master Fuhon
One problem is that some of the non-elite energy managements are balanced for classes other than elementalists. A spell like "Fireball" is good only because it costs 15 more energy, 8 seconds of recharge, and 1 second cast time to get to "Rodgort's Invocation", which is a spell that people need to be afraid of once unleashed. And getting to Rodgorts only nets you some more instant damage, 3 seconds of burning, larger area of effect, and a guaranteed hit on the target you were aiming at.
Ether prodigy is frequently used to pay for 15 energy costs, but I've only seen one way to put together a build that can afford the 25 energy chunks on a consistent basis (Dual Attunement). Glyph of lesser energy is fine for a class with one 25 energy spell that they need to get off. But for an elementalist to get use out of it, you need to be able to save on at least two 25 energy spells in a row to make up for the fact that you didn't use an elite energy management.
For example, here's my skill management for a place like PvE tombs on a fire Elementalist: Fire Attunement, Glyph of Renewal, Power Drain, Mantra of Resolve. I have to use the glyph of renewal on my non-elite attunement to keep from becoming crippled by the enchant removal. Mantra of Resolve drains energy whenever getting interrupted, but I'd rather have mantra protecting my casts than to have to use 25 energy again to get a big spell off. And Power Drain is great, probably only because of that free feeling you get with fast casting spells that makes people want to spam 10 energy spells all the time. Glyph of Renewal keeps me from being crippled by the long recasts on the spells, and I find myself using the glyph on Fireball because its the only way to get damage out immediately on small groups.
Sometimes I look at suggestions like "increased burning" or some non-elite energy managements that seem more suited for another class and worry. When you are burning someone, the monk is getting better energy management on his "Mend Condition" than you are getting for damage.
And an elementalist without skill management is a complete joke. "Guys, wait for regen." "30 more seconds for recharge on spell please." "My Energy is 24 out of 81." "OMFG interrupts!!!" Most other elementalists need to be either part monk, or using a stance to keep them from being slaughtered. That kind of spam all the time wouldn't be tolerated in a PvP battle.
The elementalist class is just completely fragile, there's no chance of self-survival without your secondary. If there was more of a possibility of unloading area of effect on real people, then I wouldn't have any complaints about being weak on so many points. Skills are balanced for PvE mobs, who hold hands during battle so that they know who not to attack. It would be nice to have more secondary options beside Mesmer or Monk. This isn't like monks using energy management to put themselves over the top. This is more like using energy management to prevent being useless.
There are some area of effect spells that just require people to stand in them for an amount of time. I'm surprised to not see more comparisons with the superior method of PvP AOE in the game. We have rangers who walk up to targets and drop traps down right in front of them. Trapping is better than area of effect nuking, especially when the condition isn't inflicted immediately after casting (Meteor Shower, Eruption, Searing Heat).
I see some skills with great design (Chain Lightning/Rodgorts Invocation), where you can still do massive damage to a poorly spaced team who knows better than to stand in one place all the time. Chain Lightning is a good example because you can look at how multiple target skills are balanced based on area of effect. You hit 3 targets, do this damage, and pay this cost in energy/exhaustion/recharge. And balance the area of effect damage out by some kinds of numbers that would make sense for pvp (adjacent=2, nearby=3, in the area=4). The game shouldn't be balanced for the hypothetical "surrounded by 8 hydras in the desert scenario" because the farmer elementalist is already limited to timing interrupts/knockdowns of dumb enemies more than a warrior or monk is.
There are a few skills that are a good example of things that are being done right. Then you can follow that with a simple approach of more imitations of the skills that are good, less of the skills that are bad. There aren't enough skills that make the bad ones good, so glyph improvements have a limited effect. And I hate to see instant cast glyphs balanced more for ressurection spells (because those are pretty much the worst two penalties I could think of an elementalist being able to handle to save one spell). So keep in mind that your improvements have to limit the user in such a way that he is only using them on Elementalist spells.
And lastly, for the balance of skills we need to fix the ratio of PvP elementalist friendly skills. You can have a considerable amount of fun with Meteor Shower alone, so we don't need more than a few variations of this. Also limit the balance of the skill lines among skills more likely played by an melee class (Ride the Lightning should be a retreat skill, not rush you into melee range!). Sometimes the mind can be in the right place, but just thinking backwards... In reality, elementalist gets played more by people who intend to keep the more powerful enemies away from others.
Ether prodigy is frequently used to pay for 15 energy costs, but I've only seen one way to put together a build that can afford the 25 energy chunks on a consistent basis (Dual Attunement). Glyph of lesser energy is fine for a class with one 25 energy spell that they need to get off. But for an elementalist to get use out of it, you need to be able to save on at least two 25 energy spells in a row to make up for the fact that you didn't use an elite energy management.
For example, here's my skill management for a place like PvE tombs on a fire Elementalist: Fire Attunement, Glyph of Renewal, Power Drain, Mantra of Resolve. I have to use the glyph of renewal on my non-elite attunement to keep from becoming crippled by the enchant removal. Mantra of Resolve drains energy whenever getting interrupted, but I'd rather have mantra protecting my casts than to have to use 25 energy again to get a big spell off. And Power Drain is great, probably only because of that free feeling you get with fast casting spells that makes people want to spam 10 energy spells all the time. Glyph of Renewal keeps me from being crippled by the long recasts on the spells, and I find myself using the glyph on Fireball because its the only way to get damage out immediately on small groups.
Sometimes I look at suggestions like "increased burning" or some non-elite energy managements that seem more suited for another class and worry. When you are burning someone, the monk is getting better energy management on his "Mend Condition" than you are getting for damage.
And an elementalist without skill management is a complete joke. "Guys, wait for regen." "30 more seconds for recharge on spell please." "My Energy is 24 out of 81." "OMFG interrupts!!!" Most other elementalists need to be either part monk, or using a stance to keep them from being slaughtered. That kind of spam all the time wouldn't be tolerated in a PvP battle.
The elementalist class is just completely fragile, there's no chance of self-survival without your secondary. If there was more of a possibility of unloading area of effect on real people, then I wouldn't have any complaints about being weak on so many points. Skills are balanced for PvE mobs, who hold hands during battle so that they know who not to attack. It would be nice to have more secondary options beside Mesmer or Monk. This isn't like monks using energy management to put themselves over the top. This is more like using energy management to prevent being useless.
There are some area of effect spells that just require people to stand in them for an amount of time. I'm surprised to not see more comparisons with the superior method of PvP AOE in the game. We have rangers who walk up to targets and drop traps down right in front of them. Trapping is better than area of effect nuking, especially when the condition isn't inflicted immediately after casting (Meteor Shower, Eruption, Searing Heat).
I see some skills with great design (Chain Lightning/Rodgorts Invocation), where you can still do massive damage to a poorly spaced team who knows better than to stand in one place all the time. Chain Lightning is a good example because you can look at how multiple target skills are balanced based on area of effect. You hit 3 targets, do this damage, and pay this cost in energy/exhaustion/recharge. And balance the area of effect damage out by some kinds of numbers that would make sense for pvp (adjacent=2, nearby=3, in the area=4). The game shouldn't be balanced for the hypothetical "surrounded by 8 hydras in the desert scenario" because the farmer elementalist is already limited to timing interrupts/knockdowns of dumb enemies more than a warrior or monk is.
There are a few skills that are a good example of things that are being done right. Then you can follow that with a simple approach of more imitations of the skills that are good, less of the skills that are bad. There aren't enough skills that make the bad ones good, so glyph improvements have a limited effect. And I hate to see instant cast glyphs balanced more for ressurection spells (because those are pretty much the worst two penalties I could think of an elementalist being able to handle to save one spell). So keep in mind that your improvements have to limit the user in such a way that he is only using them on Elementalist spells.
And lastly, for the balance of skills we need to fix the ratio of PvP elementalist friendly skills. You can have a considerable amount of fun with Meteor Shower alone, so we don't need more than a few variations of this. Also limit the balance of the skill lines among skills more likely played by an melee class (Ride the Lightning should be a retreat skill, not rush you into melee range!). Sometimes the mind can be in the right place, but just thinking backwards... In reality, elementalist gets played more by people who intend to keep the more powerful enemies away from others.
draxynnic
On glyph comboes:
Glyph of Force (Earth or Air): 5e, 1s, 15r (for example)
Glyph. On the next spell you cast that causes knockdown, the knockdown time is increased by one second (to a maximum of three seconds). Glyph of Force has a 50% failure chance with Earth/Air magic less than 4.
Could make Ash Blast a lot more useful. At present, the only ways I can see it working without coordination with long-duration knockdowns from party members (or VERY good coordination with regular knockdowns) or summoning an Earthbind spirit (yay! Five second lead time!) are:
1) Start with Gale, and suffer the appropriate exhaustion penalty, then Ash Blast
2) Start with a water magic hex, then Gust (costing your elite slot), then finish with Ash Blast. Requires three attribute lines, which may or may not be a problem depending on your build and whether you are a primary or secondary Elementalist (I don't know about anyone else, but I rarely find it justifiable to have more than two secondary attributes, more commonly just one - runes make a difference, after all).
3) Lead with Grasping Earth, then Gust, then Ash Blast. Requires getting close to start off with (although hopefully, after being slowed, knocked down, and finally blinded, your target will let you get away with it).
4) Lead with Iron Mist, then Gust, then Ash Blast. Say goodbye to the damage from Gust and Ash Blast, and wonder why you didn't simply use Blinding Flash.
5) Lead with Lightning Surge (elite and exhausting) and timing appropriately
There may be others, but generally to get the blinding from Ash Blast you need to either be using Fast Casting (something I haven't been able to pull off yet myself, but maybe with more practise...) or be using a skill that has a long knockdown such as Gale or Gust, have a delayed knockdown or one from someone else's action and timing appropriately (this could be entirely third-party or from something like Thunderclap or Shield of Judgement which you can place and then expect someone else to set off for you) or extending the knockdown length to more than the one second casting time. It would also, for instance, help with the utility purpose of skills like EQ/DS, increasing the damage mitigation and strategic benefits from the area knockdown.
Glyph of Force (Earth or Air): 5e, 1s, 15r (for example)
Glyph. On the next spell you cast that causes knockdown, the knockdown time is increased by one second (to a maximum of three seconds). Glyph of Force has a 50% failure chance with Earth/Air magic less than 4.
Could make Ash Blast a lot more useful. At present, the only ways I can see it working without coordination with long-duration knockdowns from party members (or VERY good coordination with regular knockdowns) or summoning an Earthbind spirit (yay! Five second lead time!) are:
1) Start with Gale, and suffer the appropriate exhaustion penalty, then Ash Blast
2) Start with a water magic hex, then Gust (costing your elite slot), then finish with Ash Blast. Requires three attribute lines, which may or may not be a problem depending on your build and whether you are a primary or secondary Elementalist (I don't know about anyone else, but I rarely find it justifiable to have more than two secondary attributes, more commonly just one - runes make a difference, after all).
3) Lead with Grasping Earth, then Gust, then Ash Blast. Requires getting close to start off with (although hopefully, after being slowed, knocked down, and finally blinded, your target will let you get away with it).
4) Lead with Iron Mist, then Gust, then Ash Blast. Say goodbye to the damage from Gust and Ash Blast, and wonder why you didn't simply use Blinding Flash.
5) Lead with Lightning Surge (elite and exhausting) and timing appropriately
There may be others, but generally to get the blinding from Ash Blast you need to either be using Fast Casting (something I haven't been able to pull off yet myself, but maybe with more practise...) or be using a skill that has a long knockdown such as Gale or Gust, have a delayed knockdown or one from someone else's action and timing appropriately (this could be entirely third-party or from something like Thunderclap or Shield of Judgement which you can place and then expect someone else to set off for you) or extending the knockdown length to more than the one second casting time. It would also, for instance, help with the utility purpose of skills like EQ/DS, increasing the damage mitigation and strategic benefits from the area knockdown.
lishi
[Note: all with 12 to fire magic, not 16!]
Rodgard invocation is aready a very good skill , big area , 3 second of burning(42 damage) no need for the buff.
i will rather make it a non hex so can be removed.
i rather have exaustion and the cool down reduced.
at 12 fire? what at 16 fire should do? 60 damage each second? overpowered.
Fireball is aready a good skill no need to change it
Attunement are very good skill , since they are one of best energy management on the game. their long recharge, relative long cast time and easy stripment are a drawback of their power.
Plus if fire attument is a stance why not elemental attumenement? in this way no double attunement and infinite energy.
it will be a better fix a duration of 25 sec @max fire , recharge 20 , cast time 0.25sec.
70 ranged damage each 1.75 second at only 12 fire? why someone shold use a ranger anymore?
yes increasing the range to nerby foe will be better.
it will unbalace many ranger , warrior build.
flame burst is fine as it , dont overpower it.
will still pretty worth less for many build.
fine
now it look like the poor version of Flame burst i rather change the skill completly
overpowered.
meteor give a unconditional AoE knockdown, if you look at kd skill all of them
1) cause exsaustion
or
2) are conditional
or
3) they make ppl lose all the adrenaline
or
4) are elite.
so meteor are fine , a small increase of damage are fine but not much as you say.
near 180 damage for hit at 16 fire ?
with a right build cast it any 7-8 second with griph of renew?
each(15 without support from a party member)
no thanks.
making the first kd instant will be enough
fine
too much damage increase
too much damage increase
too much damage increase
fine..
Taking the current skill and doubling the damage are not a way of balacing the game.
Quote:
(Rodgort's Invocation) 40-130 basic dmg |
Quote:
(Incindiary Bonds) 2-6 seconds burning |
Quote:
(Double Dragon) no exhaustion |
Quote:
(Fire Breath) 8-48 dmg per second |
Quote:
(Fire Ball) 20-120 dmg |
Quote:
(Fire Attunement) stance instead of enchantment |
Plus if fire attument is a stance why not elemental attumenement? in this way no double attunement and infinite energy.
it will be a better fix a duration of 25 sec @max fire , recharge 20 , cast time 0.25sec.
Quote:
(Flare) 30-70 dmg |
Quote:
(Immolate) 2-6 seconds burning |
Quote:
(Fire Storm) double sized area of effect |
Quote:
(Conjure Flame) 5-20 |
Quote:
(Flame Burst) 20-133 |
Quote:
(Mind Burn) 10 mana, no exhaustion, 2-8 seconds burning |
Quote:
(Smoldering Ambers) 10 mana, 20-65 basic damage |
Quote:
(Inferno) 40-150 dmg |
Quote:
(Bed of Coals) 4-8 seconds burning |
Quote:
(Lava Font) 7-42 dmg per second |
Quote:
(Lava Arrows) 10-35 dmg |
Quote:
(Meteor) 10 mana, no exhaustion, 40-150 dmg, 2 seconds casting time |
1) cause exsaustion
or
2) are conditional
or
3) they make ppl lose all the adrenaline
or
4) are elite.
so meteor are fine , a small increase of damage are fine but not much as you say.
Quote:
(Meteor Shower) no exhaustion, 40-150 dmg per hit, 3 seconds casting time |
with a right build cast it any 7-8 second with griph of renew?
each(15 without support from a party member)
no thanks.
making the first kd instant will be enough
Quote:
(Phoenix) 10 mana |
Quote:
(Searing Heat) 7-42 dmg per second |
Quote:
(Star Burst) 10 mana, 40-150 dmg per hit |
Quote:
(Teinai's Heat) 7-42 dmg per second |
Quote:
(Mark of Rodgort) 15 mana |
Taking the current skill and doubling the damage are not a way of balacing the game.
Cybah
rofl lishi, do you really think a damage increase of only 5% would change anything? I have my ele since a year and even 10% dmg increase won't be enough.
You think Meteor is fine with 30 sec recharge? You are joking. Knockdown for a second and 40 dmg every 30 seconds... wow. Really good skill!
I could counter your complete opinion but I have to eat.
You think Meteor is fine with 30 sec recharge? You are joking. Knockdown for a second and 40 dmg every 30 seconds... wow. Really good skill!
I could counter your complete opinion but I have to eat.
Imp
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sofia Sofia Sofia
1 extra E regen pip for every 4 on Energy Storage
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Cybah
and why not?
Imp
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cybah
and why not?
|
15 energy storage. = 3 energy regen
along with all that extra energy, mix it with -1 energy items and you got 100 energy with more than 2 energy regen, without spells.
lishi
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cybah
and why not?
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that will be too cheap and overpowered
lishi
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cybah
rofl lishi, do you really think a damage increase of only 5% would change anything? I have my ele since a year and even 10% dmg increase won't be enough.
You think Meteor is fine with 30 sec recharge? You are joking. Knockdown for a second and 40 dmg every 30 seconds... wow. Really good skill! I could counter your complete opinion but I have to eat. |
Necro and mesmer have armor ignoring damage but their damage number dont hit the 100+ number.(i can only think 2-3 spell who may do more)
Cybah
well thats maybe ~70 dmg every 30 seconds. warriors do with one adrenaline based skill 70 dmg every ~9 seconds. try to compare. knockdown with 3 second casting time is NOT good. you cant use meteor to rapid knockdown a player.
meteor would be fine with ~20 sec recharge and 1-2 sec casting time.
meteor would be fine with ~20 sec recharge and 1-2 sec casting time.
lishi
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cybah
well thats maybe ~70 dmg every 30 seconds. warriors do with one adrenaline based skill 70 dmg every ~9 seconds. try to compare. knockdown with 3 second casting time is NOT good. you cant use meteor to rapid knockdown a player.
meteor would be fine with ~20 sec recharge and 1-2 sec casting time. |
but i guess 2 sec of casting its fine
Cybah
that's why warriors got an higher armor... they are supposed to be close combat.
exiled mat
When you make all the spells more powerfull tere will be only one problem: Bosses with double damage....
Can you say Outch?
Can you say Outch?
Cybah
Anet should simply remove that bug from the game. Nothing more to say.
lishi
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cybah
that's why warriors got an higher armor... they are supposed to be close combat.
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Cybah
yes but warriors are not supposed to be good against all other classes. imho an ele should outdmg a warrior easily.
lishi
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cybah
yes but warriors are not supposed to be good against all other classes. imho an ele should outdmg a warrior easily.
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