User:MintyDemise/Minty Elite Specs/Maelstrom

“

Flow and overrun, none can escape.

— Maelstrom

Continuing to develop their ability to not only overwhelm but keep pace with their enemies, elementalists developed the path of the Maelstrom. These specialists draw upon elemental energies to corner their enemies akin to an whirlpool with no escape with manipulations and a horde of Spellsprites. To the Maelstrom, change is constant, the flow ebbs from one attunement to another empowering their spellsprites and making them all the deadlier to encounter. Though more powerful still are the Maelstrom's sword techniques, enhanced by magic and ever versatile on a battlefield.

Maelstrom skills

Profession mechanic

Maelstroms utilize the left over energies utilized to change attunements to summon Spellsprites. These creatures act as independent pets much like a Necromancer's minions but differ in that when an elementalist exits an atonement they absorb lingering elemental energies to create spell like attacks or effects. Doing so, however, will consume a portion of each Spellsprite's health. Entering an attunement grants 2 spell sprites, and at any time a Maelstrom can only have a maximum of 8 spell sprites.

Skill	Type			Description
Fire
Fiery Convergence	Spellsprite Command	1		Command your Spellsprites to converge on your target dealing damage inflicting Burning (2s). Leap Finisher.
Water
Tidal Whirl	Spellsprite Comamnd	1/2		Command your Spellsprites to converge on your target and spin outwards, dealing damage and inflicting Chill (4s). Whirl Finisher.
Air
Thunderous Rush	Spellsprite Command	1		Command your Spellsprites to rush towards their current targets striking them multiple times with lightning dealing damage. Projectile Finisher.
Earth
Earthen Splintering	Spellsprite Command	1 1/2		Command your Spellsprites to burrow into the ground and burst forth dealing damage and inflicting Bleeding (4s). Blast Finisher. (Chance per Spellsprite)

Weapon skills

Maelstroms utilize swords and operate in melee to 600 range.

#	Skill			Description
Fire Attunement
1	Burning Slash	1/2		Slash your foes inflicting burning (2s).
1	Fiery Lacerations	3/4		Slash your foes twice inflicting burning (2s).
1	Molten Slice	3/4		Slice into your foes dealing more damage if they are burning.
2	Burning En Guarde	3/4	4	Gain might (6s) and inflict burning (6s) to surrounding enemies, briefly block incoming projectiles.
3	Volcanic Eruption	1	12	Thrust your sword into the ground channeling volcanic eruptions around you, dealing damage.
Water Attunement
1	Frost Strike	3/4		Strike your target with steel and permafrost.
1	Icy Lunge	1/2		Lunge and strike your target and any enemies behind them.
1	Misty Evasion	1		Evade by turning yourself into mist and strike your target.
2	Winter's Embrace	3/4	6	Surround yourself with whirling snow dealing damage and inflicting Chill (6s). Whirl Finisher.
3	Ice Shackles	1/2	12	Strike your target and chain them to the ground with icy shackles, immobolizing (4s) them.
Air Attunement
1	Sprite Strike	1/2		Quickly stab your foes.
1	Pillar Strike	1		Pierce your target 3 times in rapid succession.
1	Thunderstrike	1/2		Stab into your foe with thunderous force dealing damage and inflicting daze (1/4 s).
2	Arc Flash	3/4	8	Teleport to target location (300 units) dealing damage. Striking more than one foe grants shocking aura.
3	Stormpiercer	2 1/2	12	Strike your target and any surrounding foes with rapid piercing strikes, dealing damage and inflicting vulnerability (6s).
Earth Attunement
1	Granite Arc	1		Attack multiple foes with wide sweeping earth magic enforced strike.
2	Rockcrusher	1/2	6	Strike your target with an overhand smash, if they were using an ability or attacking gain access to Glowstone Strike.
2	Glowstone Strike	1/2		Strike your target and gain vigor (6s).
3	Magnetic Guard	1 1/2	8	Gain magnetic aura and block the next attack against you.

Slot skills

Maelstroms cast quick fast elemental manipulations to produce instantaneous results.

Healing

Skill				Description
Arcane Prism		1 1/2	30	Heal yourself. Enter a blocking stance, if an attack was blocked, heal an additional amount and gain retaliation (4s).

Utility

Skill				Description
Fiery Repercussion		1/4	15	Gain retaliation (4s) the next hit against you releases a giant plume of fire that deals damage and burns (6s) foes.
Tidal Burst		1/4	25	Cause an eruption of water at target location that knocks down enemies.
Cyclonic Pull		1/4	30	Call upon the wind to sheer enemies, damaging them, and pulling them to you in a frontal cone.
Earthen Shackling		1/4	35	Entrench target location into the earth slowing (3s) and crippling (6s) enemies.

Elite

Skill				Description
Icy Reflections		1/4	90	Manifest 3 icy mirrors around you that blocks attacks and reflect back part of the damage that would have been dealt to you.

List of Maelstrom traits

See also: List of elementalist traits

Tier	Name	Recharge	Description
Minor Adept	Storm Heart		You can equip swords and gain access to Maelstrom manipulations as well as Spellsprites. (Max: 8)
Major Adept	Ether Conversions		Convert conditions to boons whenever you use a manipulation. Manipulation skill recharge reduced whenever a condition is converted.
Major Adept	Liquid Courage		Periodically gain aegis (5s) when attacking in Water Attunement with at least 6 active Spellsprites.
Major Adept	Mystic Wrath		Retaliation damage is increased. While under the effects of retaliation take less damage.
Minor Master	Ferocious Gale		Chance to gain swiftness when you land a critical strike.
Major Master	Dynamic Spellblade		While wielding a sword, swapping attunements grant retaliation (4s). Sword skill recharge is reduced.
Major Master	Elemental Retribution		Killed sprites cause a small explosion, inflicting a damaging condition based on your current attainment.
Major Master	Lighter Sprites		Spellsprites are summoned with less health but have more damage.
Minor Grandmaster	Ether Focus		Gain additional attribute adjustments based on the number of Spellsprites currently active.
Major Grandmaster	Sprite Mischief		Condition duration increased for allies and you based on number of active Spellsprites.
Major Grandmaster	Protector's Overflow	3	Maximum Spellsprite amount is reduced to 6 if you would summon any Spellsprites beyond the 6th, gain protection (4s) and retaliation (4s) instead.
Major Grandmaster	Storm of Vengeance	45	Upon summoning your 8th Spellsprite cause an extreme storm at your location based on your attunement. (Storm effects are more powerful and damaging than those summoned by Glyph of Storms.)

List of Maelstrom equipment

• Sword: Earthencraft
• Runes: Superior Rune of the Maelstrom - Precision (1,3,5), Ferocity (2,4), Toughness; Manipulations heal allies. (6)

Design Notes

Elementalists are hard to build elite specs for, partially due to the number of skills you have to add and on another factor due to how much versatility they bring. Originally in the very beginnings of Maelstrom design it was thought that they would conjure storms upon creating different combination of attunements, much like how Invoker from DotA or DotA2 work. Though in the end after designing about 8 different combinations of storms, it started to feel like they were not different from each other. The core idea that the Maelstrom should reward attunement dancing remained though as a central concept. So with everything an elementalist can do or bring to the table, one thing they seem to be in a lack of is pets/companions. Thus, the current version of the Maelstrom was born. Very tangentially each sword attack pattern is based on real world fighting styles, saber for fire, foil for water, and epee for air, earth however, seemed to have gotten stuck with a defensive role again.