I and other posters have brought this to ZoS's attention through /feedback and by posting in these forums that this skill is just plain bad now. I understand it is not nearly as pressing as the controversy over sorcerers, but having bad skills in the game creates all sorts of problems that are best avoided. We all want diversity and for every loser, that is one (unnecessary) step closer to us all adopting cookie-cutter builds. Moreover, I am of the opinion that many of the "please make X dungeon easier' threads that appear on this forum far too often are from players not understanding the skills they trust Zenimax to balance and be competitive are just plain bad.

Elemental Wall was in a good place in 1.5. It was a useful and flexible spell that served as area denial and, in a pinch, could replace or at least augment something everyone hates: impulse-impulse-impulse-impulse. Because the damage from a single caster could *NOT* stack (as was occasionally erroneously assumed), this spell had a self-balancing mechanism that prevented it from ever being too good (obviously excepting the purge bug, but that was a problem with purge, not wall) no matter how much the player spammed it. If players were caught in a wall and remained there out of their own stubbornness or were herded by other players, any complaints from the former ring hollow and the latter should be applauded as sound and cooperative tactical play. In short, a good and flexible choice for players.

Now all - and I use that word intentionally - of its redeeming qualities are gone. It's damage per tick was decent in 1.5; now it is flat out non-competitive in 1.6. Because we are now restricted to one wall, this spell loses much of the flexibility it had as an AOE alternative to what everyone hates: impulse-impulse-impulse-impulse. In essence what we now have is a slow damage tick that requires opponents to stay in the wall a long time, something compounded by the restriction that if we try to place another wall in 6.5 seconds - actually a long time in battle in which players can potentially cast 5 or 6 spells - we are wasting mana. If the one wall restriction seems consistent, I will point out that most other types of AoE that people use - and if you think carefully, this is why they actually get used in AoE situations - such as impulse, blazing spear, and engulfing flames do not have the majority of their damage disappear when the user casts the spell again. This render Wall to a inefficient DoT that is absolutely outclasses by low cost proper DoTs like cripple or unstable flame, which the target still suffers from even if they move.

In short, in 1.5 when I went into Sactum, I used this spell and I thought it was interesting that I could use a build that was different from the 7 other DPS who did impulse-impulse-impulse-impulse-impulse in AoE situations. I thought it was healthy for the game that people would actually ask why I used a different skill once they that it's use was doing something well. In 1.6, I will not use this skill under any circumstances as it is inflexible and inefficient. Not to mention just plain bad. Even under the most ideal circumstances, against a stationary target that just eats the damage, it is not worth slotting:

1.6:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NdY2_h4zfQ

It took me 73.2 seconds to kill that VR5 mammoth from the Rift. DPS from skill: 461.98

1.5: Against that same mammoth from the Rift, using inferior gear and an inferior weapon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r12dZLNJoic

Killing it took me 34.2 seconds. DPS from skill: 153.66. It should be noted that the disparity is actually greater than this because the 1.6 test benefit more from burning, damage independent from the Wall spell.

With many of the game's numbers being scaled on from anywhere from a 1:6 though 1:11 numerical conversion to the next patch, Wall of Elements is 1:3. This means even if Zenimax did something radically different such as doubling the damage, it *still* would lag behind (and still be a poor choice because of the single wall restriction robs it of its needed flexibility).

Bad spells means people will be wasting their mana, their time, and other people's enjoyment by using them and getting their group members killed. It also means that we have lost the only other competitive AoE option from the destruction staff and I will feel compelled to do what I think we all can agree in undesirable: impulse-impulse-impulse-impulse-impulse-impulse-impulse-impulse-impulse-impulse.