34 replies to this topic

[Zodiacrat22]

Ok, I tried really, really hard to like my Elementalist. I tried every different spec that was suggested on the forums. I tried all the different weapon options, Dagger/dagger, Scepter/dagger, Scepter/focus, Staff (my least anoying choice), etc..
I tried teaming as much as possible and running dynamic events hoping the faster leveling would help; not terribly fast by-the-way.

I just can't stand constantly trying to damage things even though my damage output is pretty bad.
Constantly trying to absorb damage even though most anything will 2-shot me.
Constantly trying to kite everything because honestly, that is the only way this character has a chance to live through anything; but you better have a LOT of room room to run around.

I think I've just exhausted all my options and just can't do it anymore. I hate having to watch my screen like an eagle just incase I make a wrong move ONCE and it kills me. I also hate having to change attunment 15 times in every fight to have a snowballs chance in hell of winning; (exageration I know).

I decided to put my Elementalist on the shelf for now and forget about her, but I feel bad that I wasted so much time and effort to explore the map, find dyes, collect gear, etc.. just to abandon her. She's level 52 if you were wondering. I level pretty slow because I just can't play all the time and I've had her for about 2 1/2 months now, so that shows how slow I level.

I decided to give the Guardian a try. I liked this idea from the start, but because of my awkward playstyle (keyboard movement!...shocker, I know!), I thought it would be better to get used to the game with a ranged caster instead. Thinking I would have the power to kill most things at maximum range before they reached me and limit the kiting to just the tough fights; boy was I wrong!

So far I'm really enjoying the Guardian a lot more. Seems a more solid class all around. I can take a few hits, heal a lot better, and I can provided things to a group with healing, buffs, shields, etc.. I actually feel like once I get the movements down, I can contribute something to other people!

So is it just my imagination that the Elementalist just.....umm... sucks or have other people come to the same conclusion?

Constructive and useful criticism please. I don't need rabid fanboys getting all crazy-town here.

[Aetou]

Elementalist is generally considered the hardest class to play.  If you are a clicker then you're going to really, really struggle with it.  It's also one of the many classes that only shines at high levels (60+ minimum.)  In the right hands, however, Elementalists are very deadly - albeit very complex to become that deadly.

If you want a ranged nuke-it class then play a Ranger.  If you want to be able to semi-afk through most fights play a Guardian or Warrior. I find Elementalist very fun because my other 80s are all too easy and, frankly, rather boring to play while on my Ele I have to have constant awareness of not only the fight but also my allies to get the most out of the character.

[TGIFrisbie]

My ele is currently 65.  Had her about a week now, I had given up on the profession several times before with gripes like yours.  Then I went Tough/Vit armor early on, stayed with that til 65.  Switched from Staff to Scepter/Dagger at 60 and went full berserker armor with 4 Dolyak and 2 Fire runes (testing this for now) at 65.  I haven't ever been 2 shot by anything less than 7 levels higher than my character.  Ever.

I tend to find it rather boring to level as their damage really does not work out with their squishiness compared to other professions.  However I am on a binge to get the last 3 slots to 80 before I am done with this game.  5 down, 3 to go.

I think you need to reevaluate your gear and the content you must be doing in order to be getting 2 shot with any "often'ness" to it.

[Khlaw]

I go through phases with most of my scholar classes.  I always seem to go back to my soldiers (primarily my Guardian).  I don't find elementalist difficult or sub-par, and it should technically be more dynamic and engaging than guardian, but for some reason I find it repetitive.  I'm not sure why because there really is more meat to the class.

I had the same issue with my mesmer, which I benched for a while at 52.  I've started playing him again and am having fun, but who knows how it'll progress.

I will say, if your main issue is that your ele isn't doing decent damage, then there is probably an issue with your playstyle, build, or gear.  Ele does great damage when done right (this is not an insult, just an observation).  FWIW I run dual daggers, and mainly bounce between air and fire, focusing mainly on Power and Precision (followed by condition).

No reason to feel bad about benching a character; it'll always be there for you later and it's more important to have fun than play with a sense of obligation.

[TGIFrisbie]

Forgot to mention just before I posted this I was doing the Krait event in Sparkfly, took on 5 krait at once, twice, solo.  I got downed in the second fight since my Elite was on CD and they got lucky with the poison pool spam, but I didn't get taken out, and defeated both groups.  I believe they are level 64 mobs, and my character is 65 (not downlevelled in this particular area).  Also as I stated I went from Tough/Vit armor to full Berserker, so she is even squishier.  I also went from using a pair of Soldier runes to the 2 Fire runes.

The fact she did not die in this back to back encounter should go to my point being 2 shot isn't common unless you have something not setup correctly.

Also, about d/d, did that.  Overall there isn't a lot (read that as notable during game play) difference in damage between Staff, d/d and s/d.  It depends on traits and even then it's not as huge as some think it to be.  Staff gives a lot more mobility so doing things like kiting numerous mobs at once is more viable....oh and mentioning kiting...I don't kite with s/d or stick to range, generally I am up in their face.

Benching characters is fine, most of the time objectiveness is lacking and taking a break and then returning can bring some objectiveness into defining whatever the issue is you were having.  Did that on a Ranger recently, swapped weapon choices and levelled to 80 enjoying every minute.

Edited by TGIFrisbie, 28 November 2012 - 06:40 PM.

[Zodiacrat22]

Yeah, I see where some of you are coming from. I do find the Elementalist to have some serious potential, but it may be that my playstyle severely hampers my ability to play the class well.
Since the lack of toughness really requires precision movement, I definitely see my handicap here. I'm pretty good at keyboard movement (move with my right hand on the number pad, press abilities with my left hand), but for some reason in this game your character turns god-awful slowly and reacts poorly. Is there any way to speed this up?

Maybe I also have bad misconceptions about the class, I don't know. I feel like I geared her as best I could for the type of build I was currently using. Everytime I changed traits, I changed gear, so I always had the best I could afford at the time.
I feel like this class should have a power-house of spell ability to destroy things quickly since they sacrifice health and armor, but it just never seemed to be the case. Always felt like I was a glass-cannon, with no actual cannon....more like, squirt guns!

Anyway, I think I'll keep plugging away at this Guardian. Aside from the annoyance of things moving away from me and I have to chase them all around to hit them (no real range), I think that is the only real issue I have at the moment.
At least it's a lot more forgiving of my movement style then the Elementalist was.

Any advice you may have for me on the Guardian would also be appreciated. Thanks for the replies.

[No Galatea]

Hello Zodiacrat,

I'm not sure why you're having so much trouble with your elementalist.
Mine is currently level 78 and although it's a low armored profession with light armor, I still enjoy it a lot because of the damage it does. This being my third character, I can honestly say I have zero issues leveling this alt.

For leveling I keep it pretty much in Fire 24/7 and only kite when I have to fight a group or veteran.
I use double dagger as my weapons. I use Toughness on my gear and some of my traits in Earth Magic.

I hope it becomes more fun to play if you use it as an alt when your Guardian is level 80.
There's nothing wrong with switching classes. You just can't use "Ride the Lightning" anymore

Edited by No Galatea, 28 November 2012 - 07:28 PM.

[AzureRogue]

I joined the forums specifically to reply to this post.

After all that I'd read about elementalist, when I decided to make mine my "main" (I'm short on time these days and really want to focus on a single character when possible) I was afraid I would regret the decision.  As someone who hasn't played many MMOs, really just GW1 and even then I mostly played Paragons and Monks, I was especially worried that being so squishy would be hard for me to deal with.

However, I'm loving my elementalist.  I play a glass cannon staff build (albeit at around level 50 right now) and enjoy every minute of it.  I've completed a number of level-appropriate maps, and have kept up with my personal story thus far.  I have not run any dungeons yet, however, but that's just because I haven't had enough time to play an entire dungeon at once.  I enjoy having to watch out for danger, kite around enemies, creatively use snares and AoEs to manipulate mobs, etc.  Maybe, like others have said, you should bench it for now and them come back - maybe in that time you'll appreciate it more.  Maybe not.

Nothing wrong with deciding you don't like a class.  My Mesmer has been benched since level 40 and I have no desire (yet) to go back.  Same with my Engineer.  I have an 80 warrior and 60-something Thief that I enjoy playing, but I picked Elementalist (admittedly) because I like the look of light armor and wanted a character to wear it.

[Drekor]

Elementalist is actually one of the easier classes to level if you build it right. The trick to elementalist leveling is focusing on toughness then power and using a lightning hammer while staying in water attunement for soothing mists. The combination of constantly regenerating health, good toughness, and constant AoE damage and blinds makes leveling a breeze.

Things do change at 80 though.

Edited by Drekor, 28 November 2012 - 07:19 PM.

[TGIFrisbie]

Drekor, on 28 November 2012 - 07:17 PM, said:

Elementalist is actually one of the easier classes to level if you build it right. The trick to elementalist leveling is focusing on toughness then power and using a lightning hammer while staying in water attunement for soothing mists. The combination of constantly regenerating health, good toughness, and constant AoE damage and blinds makes leveling a breeze.

Things do change at 80 though.

I've seen lightning hammer builds mentioned often in the Ele forum.  I don't know about the OP or others, but if I want to go around slinging a melee weapon, I play a profession that deals damn good melee damage.  When I play an Elementalist, I prefer to sling hash.

[Drekor]

TGIFrisbie, on 28 November 2012 - 07:21 PM, said:

I've seen lightning hammer builds mentioned often in the Ele forum.  I don't know about the OP or others, but if I want to go around slinging a melee weapon, I play a profession that deals damn good melee damage.  When I play an Elementalist, I prefer to sling hash.

Because swinging a weapon made out of pure elemental power and calling down lightning doesn't scream elementalist.... ok.

[blindude]

TGIFrisbie, on 28 November 2012 - 07:21 PM, said:

I've seen lightning hammer builds mentioned often in the Ele forum.  I don't know about the OP or others, but if I want to go around slinging a melee weapon, I play a profession that deals damn good melee damage.  When I play an Elementalist, I prefer to sling hash.

well it has lightnin on it..

Op you should try it before benching her.
The good thing of that conjure is that the 3 dtep of chain of the autoattack has a huge aoe blind and since mobs till endgame zones hit at a slow rate you can mitigate almost everything this way.It really trivialises many encounters earlier too .
Btw the mage of my dreams is certainly not a boring scholar sitting on the background swinging a wand.Wth even gandalf used a sword to fight

Edited by blindude, 28 November 2012 - 07:36 PM.

[kidawk]

Elementalist doesn't have the CC/DPS it should have for being the squishiest class in the game. Every patch it is mostly bug fixes (mostly minor) that are worked on and barely ever any improvements to current abilities.

Heaven forbid we let Elementalists have any sort of good DPS. I mean they only manipulate the elements....

[Zodiacrat22]

blindude, on 28 November 2012 - 07:36 PM, said:

well it has lightnin on it..

Op you should try it before benching her.
The good thing of that conjure is that the 3 dtep of chain of the autoattack has a huge aoe blind and since mobs till endgame zones hit at a slow rate you can mitigate almost everything this way.It really trivialises many encounters earlier too .
Btw the mage of my dreams is certainly not a boring scholar sitting on the background swinging a wand.Wth even gandalf used a sword to fight

I actually did try the Lightning Hammer build before. I'll admit I was able to slam things fairly well and did a lot of damage; however, my problem with it was the entire concept of swinging a hammer in melee range as a ranged caster. I didn't like it. Plus I really hated having to summon a hammer every 2 minutes to be able to fight. Half the time I'd have to wait on my summon cooldown to start the next fight because someone almost ALWAYS picked up my other hammer on the ground. So annoying.
I just really couldn't get into that play style at all.
I think if the concept of the class was more a Fighter/Caster that used medium armor and summoned weapons, plus had the defenses to justify it, I might like it, but as it stands, it's a cloth-wearing, low-health, ranged caster; so not my cup of tea.

[TGIFrisbie]

No, sarcastic ....., slinging a melee weapon is slinging a melee weapon, whether it has lightning on it or not.  Do we call Guardians the Burning Melee profession cause they cause burning on melee hits?

If I want to melee I play a profession that does FAR more melee damage than some craptastically gimped out Elementalist with a "Lightning Hammer".  The hammer's damage is crap, you have to stuff a bunch of survival skills in to make it even work out.  Why?  Why do that when you can do far better with a melee profession?  I know, cause you want your Ele to work and it just doesn't do it for you.

Great.  Play your gimped melee Elementalist.  It will never measure up to the dps dished out by Warrior, Guardian, Thief and probably even a melee Ranger.

The OP has a guardian, why would he want a gimped Lightning Hammer ele?

Edited by TGIFrisbie, 28 November 2012 - 08:06 PM.

[blindude]

TGIFrisbie, on 28 November 2012 - 08:06 PM, said:

The OP has a guardian, why would he want a gimped Lightning Hammer ele?

cause in pve its at least as easy to play as a standard melee character?
Because he can drop the hammer and have 20 more skills to play with?
Because he might like the concept?
Btw the damage on it is not crap.I see the coefficients right now and it has higher autoattack than warriors hammer while still having 1 aoe stun ,blast finisher,a blow out ,a leap and a cool lightning storm attack that hits ..nothing

[Nonlinear]

I like being super squishy it makes me feel leet when I don't go down in a dungeon and am the one rezzing the heavies.

If you need to survive something in PvE just summon an earth elemental or two and let them take the hits for you.  They will take the agg off you while trivializing a lot of stuff.

[Drekor]

TGIFrisbie, on 28 November 2012 - 08:06 PM, said:

Great.  Play your gimped melee Elementalist.  It will never measure up to the dps dished out by Warrior, Guardian, Thief and probably even a melee Ranger.

The OP has a guardian, why would he want a gimped Lightning Hammer ele?

You obviously haven't tried it, I would suggest you do so because for general PvE the build is absolutely amazing. It does incredible damage(easily on par with warriors) and is virtually indestructible(above a guardian in survivability) and can match a thief's mobility. It's not a dungeon build for sure but for someone just leveling up? It's top tier.

[Valkaire]

I stuck exclusively to staff while I was leveling and barely died because I utilized all of the utility based skills eles were given.

If you want a straight up, glass cannon, heavy hitting character then I'd suggest going to play a different profession. Especially if you don't like the attunement aspect of elementalists (which is a HUGE part of being an ele). Also, obviously playing a squishy caster (that relies on movement and positioning) isn't going to be the best idea if you're unable to use a mouse and have to keyboard turn.

If you really want to try to keep on with your ele I'd suggest a condition damage based build with carrion stats (Power, vitality, condition damage) with traits into Fire and Earth (for condition damage and duration) and arcana. I find with all the kiting ability eles have, condition damage works great with minimal risk. As for pulling other mobs if you're trying to kite? Try pulling them away from a group before going in, or utilize the many AoE utility skills on the staff (chills, blinds, immobilize, cripple, stun).

If you REALLY have a hard time staying alive, load up your utility skills with defensive abilities/cantrips. Mist form, armor of earth, cleansing fire, etc. are all really good defensive skills. And if you still don't like it then just stop playing an ele. It's not the end of the world if you don't like a profession. Hell, I've gotten my ranger to 80 (second after Ele) and haven't touched it except for ori runs since because I can't stand how boring the playstyle is to me.

Edited by Valkaire, 29 November 2012 - 01:32 AM.

[Bloggi]

There's usually one profession in the game that would appeal more to one player compared to the rest of them. In that sense, your first choice need not be your last. IMHO the middle levels (ie. 30-60) seem to have been the most challenging for me, out of the mere two classes I have ever played to those levels. Initially I rolled a necro, got it to 80 and did a lot of DEs with it. Then decided to have a change of scenery and rolled an elementalist. I couldn't be happier with the choice and now use it for just about everything I wish to do...the elementalist requires an active playstyle and takes considerable skill to master.

What server are you in? Is it easy to find a party in your server? Or is it too quiet to find folk to party up with? Change servers if necessary.

[Zodiacrat22]

I'm on Stormbluff Isle (is that the right name?) Since there was no information on what the servers were at release, I just randomly picked it because it had a cool name. It seems populated enough, but I don't really get the vibe most people are interested in grouping.
When it does happen, if it happens, it's really only events and even then no one speaks until its over, just to say good run or bye, then disband.
If I were to change servers does that mean I have to start all over or can I transfer my characters?

[MisfitAndy]

I really hate to say it, but... see ya crybaby.  You ask for constructive criticism after you say that my class sucks?

If you can't do it anymore, stop being an elementalist.  We are frail, yes.  Our dps isn't the greatest, right.  But there is something about the class that makes it so that I don't want to play any other class.  If you don't feel the same, jump ship to another class.  The reason that I happen to like it is because of the class quirks... the difficulty to master, the frenetic play style.

Do you actually want other people to talk you into playing a character that you don't enjoy?  I don't see the purpose of this post.  If you wanted tips on how to play your elementalist better, look through the myriad of advice topics in the elementalist forum.  Are you going to die a lot while leveling up?  Yes.  Will any advice that we give you change that?  Probably not.  By the way, lightning hammer builds are not going to help you in the long run.  You need to learn to live and die by your mastery of attunement swapping/utilizing every ability that you have.  But why bother, as you have already found a class that you DO enjoy in the guardian...

Ironically, it was mentioned that this class is not for clickers.  I am a clicker and I do pretty well at it :-p  Some things I will use number keys for, like ground targeted abilities, but otherwise I find I have enough time to fire off abilities with my mouse.  Bad habits die hard!

[Bloggi]

Zodiacrat22, on 29 November 2012 - 04:44 AM, said:

I'm on Stormbluff Isle (is that the right name?) Since there was no information on what the servers were at release, I just randomly picked it because it had a cool name. It seems populated enough, but I don't really get the vibe most people are interested in grouping.
When it does happen, if it happens, it's really only events and even then no one speaks until its over, just to say good run or bye, then disband.
If I were to change servers does that mean I have to start all over or can I transfer my characters?

Sounds alright then. In general when people group up, it's only brief, and as you say, usually there's hardly any exchange of words. So in that sense changing servers isn't really going to help. I just thought that if perhaps your server was particularly quiet, then you may have better luck at a busier server. Yes you can transfer your characters over when changing servers, no need to start afresh.

[deitiesforce]

tbh it's better the shelf it earlier than later...i shelf mine like a week after getting it to 80. switched to mesmer and absolute love it. People just can't understand that elementalists don't suck but it sucks big time compared to other classes. if i wanna spend 100 times more concentration on doing one thing when i can do it like 100 easier on the other class, i wouldn't be playing this game.

[Zhahz]

Zodiacrat22, on 28 November 2012 - 06:02 PM, said:

Constructive and useful criticism please. I don't need rabid fanboys getting all crazy-town here.

I have a friend who plays using a controller and large tv and then complains that he can't jump well (while admitting that it's because he lacks the finer control of keyboard/mouse and thinks the resolution/display of his TV don't help).  Ie, while a game like this might let you control your character and play in a variety of ways it is ultimately designed to be played most effectively with keyboard/mouse and the expectation of using them efficiently/effectively.  If you choose to play in a different way than what is ideal, that doesn't mean certain classes suck!

I have played every class, have multiple 80's alts of all levels, and I think leveling in this game is VERY easy regardless of class.  Some classes can faceroll moreso than others, but it's not like any class is hard to play or hard to level with.

The main thing is that range classes tend to have it a lot easier in many game situations like grouping, events, and even PvP where range enhances survivability.  The trade off by ANet is that melees get to utterly faceroll the solo game.

If all you're ever going to do is solo then you shouldn't be playing MMORPGs...but I digress.  In terms of this game, if you just solo and want to have it easy, then you should be playing warrior, guardian, ranger.  IMO.

[Zodiacrat22]

MisfitAndy, on 29 November 2012 - 10:43 AM, said:

I really hate to say it, but... see ya crybaby.  You ask for constructive criticism after you say that my class sucks?

If you can't do it anymore, stop being an elementalist.  We are frail, yes.  Our dps isn't the greatest, right.  But there is something about the class that makes it so that I don't want to play any other class.  If you don't feel the same, jump ship to another class.  The reason that I happen to like it is because of the class quirks... the difficulty to master, the frenetic play style.

Do you actually want other people to talk you into playing a character that you don't enjoy?  I don't see the purpose of this post.  If you wanted tips on how to play your elementalist better, look through the myriad of advice topics in the elementalist forum.  Are you going to die a lot while leveling up?  Yes.  Will any advice that we give you change that?  Probably not.  By the way, lightning hammer builds are not going to help you in the long run.  You need to learn to live and die by your mastery of attunement swapping/utilizing every ability that you have.  But why bother, as you have already found a class that you DO enjoy in the guardian...

Ironically, it was mentioned that this class is not for clickers.  I am a clicker and I do pretty well at it :-p  Some things I will use number keys for, like ground targeted abilities, but otherwise I find I have enough time to fire off abilities with my mouse.  Bad habits die hard!

I was going to just let this one go, but I changed my mind since you decided to be a complete A-hole, so here goes..

#1. Why you felt the need to come here and insult me personally is uncalled for. I never insulted you or even brought you into this topic to begin with. You think that somehow I attacked you because in my opinion, the Elementalist sucks. Just because you choose that class as your personal favorite doesn't mean anything I say about it has anything to do with you. You don't own it, you didn't create it, and it doesn't belong to you. So take your shitty attitude and shove it straight up your ass.

#2. I never said I wanted anyone to talk me into playing the Elementalist. All I did was state my observations of the class, explain what methods I used to make it better, and conclude that I thought it was not a well designed class, especially in comparison to at least one other. Gathering by your complete lack of comprehension and deductive reasoning, I'm guessing your 3rd grade education gave you some trouble on the big words.

#3. I never said I couldn't play the class, died all the time, or didn't understand how the mechanics worked. I know how to play the class and I'm actually pretty good at it. I just decided that the effort put into the class was not worth any rewards gained from it; which is why I also said that I changed professions.

Since you missed it before, I'll sum up. I posted my problems with the class and asked people if they experienced similar findings. That, basically is all.

Edited by Zodiacrat22, 30 November 2012 - 02:11 AM.

[MisfitAndy]

Zodiacrat22, on 29 November 2012 - 11:10 PM, said:

a bunch of annoying words

You stated that the elementalist sucks, which is a class that I enjoy.  Then, you say, you don't want to hear from "rabid fanboys" who don't agree with your opinion.  So... what is your purpose, again, of your thread?  To insult a class that myself and a lot of other people like.  You weren't looking for advice, or anything else, so you were just trolling.  Go troll somewhere else.

[Rekkwum]

Strangely, I'm at the opposite side of this. After playing Warrior and Engie to 80, I did the same with an Ele, then Guardian. My warrior was my main, and Ele was basically used for crafting for the others, with the other two used to varying extents.

Recently though (read : In the last week), I've got way back into my Ele, playing it almost exclusively. I'm having a lot of fun with it, with the need to keep mobile, and the quick attunement juggling, and I'm finding it extremely potent for dungeon/fractal work.

So maybe play some other classes for a bit and come back. Having a range of experience is always beneficial.

As for guardian vs Ele, they both change at 80. Ele gets better, while guardian seems to lose a little of the awesome edge it had on the way up.

[Silinsar]

tl;dr: it's you (no offense).

I'm having great fun with my fire-breathing charr. I play almost exclusively with MH dagger (Staff only in WvWvW at sieges). There were a lot of points mentioned, one I want to add is that a D/X Ele isn't a real melee. As I see it, it's a semi-melee fighter since having an enemy in reach doesn't require you to be in his melee range (300-600 vs. 130-150 range). Once you take advantage of that, melee ele becomes much less squishy. You don't have to stand face to face to your opponent, you can dance around him, switching attunements and hitting him with your attacks while he can't. Earth 2 and water 3 on dagger (both AoE snares) make this "melee-kiting" quite easy. Also, if you use Focus as OH you get a great set of defensive abilities: 6s projectile destruction, 3s projectile reflection, 4s invulnerability and also CC's like Comet, Gale and Freezing Gust.

Seriously, after learning (not even mastering) and getting used to focus I'm having problems with surving in melee combat when playing other classes like Guardian and Thief.
I'm always like
"Why I'm getting hit by melee attacks?"/"Why don't my attacks reach my target?"
"Projectils? Argh, I can't ignore them!"
"Critical situation? No problem, I'm turning into sto... f*."
Of course I know that these classes all have their own ways to prevent damage, but after playing a while, you will really appreciate the additional range from Ele's MH dagger and the vast amount of defense the focus offers.

Damage is not bad when using MH dagger, imo. You can get perma-burning pretty easy, fire 3 is a nice burst, Air 1 is a quite hard hitting (about 1,4 power coefficient, if I'm not mistaken) auto-attack which hits everything in a 300 range in front of you.
Edit: Did I mention that a auramancer has no problems getting perma protection, perma fury and stacking 9+ stacks of might?

Edited by Silinsar, 30 November 2012 - 07:15 PM.

[Black Autumn]

Rekkwum, on 30 November 2012 - 04:04 PM, said:

Recently though (read : In the last week), I've got way back into my Ele, playing it almost exclusively. I'm having a lot of fun with it, with the need to keep mobile, and the quick attunement juggling, and I'm finding it extremely potent for dungeon/fractal work.

So maybe play some other classes for a bit and come back. Having a range of experience is always beneficial.

Funny.  After deciding my Warrior (which I love tons and tons, actually, and my first L80) was a bit of a let down in a few ways, I thought I'd go back to my Elementalist.  First character in GW2 and the only one I played during the BWEs.  I had parked her at 32 for feeling outclassed in almost every way I could imagine.  Anyway, after thinking on it, reading on it, and playing with some options, I decided to get her to 40 before I decided to write off the class entirely.

A strange thing happened: a new spec and a new outlook changed how I played, and it only took me a couple days of casual play to get to 40 and open up my new traits.  I had a lot of fun getting there and now I'm having even more.  Sure, I am still too frail for the in-your-face playstyle I use with pretty much every character I have (it's a personality flaw, I guess, but I like being a rolling explosion of blood and destruction - even if it's my blood), but it's within acceptable limits.  Moreover, I can see how the class is set to just get better and better.

New gear and new traits helped me a lot.

FWIW I just run Sceptre/Dagger (occasional forays into Staff or Lightning Hammer spec), primarily Earth (80% of my time, probably).  I focus on control and bleeds and I have significantly managed to increase my enjoyment of the class.  I'm only 44 right now, but the future of my Elementalist is brighter than ever.