I should specify that I'm referring to the flame variation.

I didn't get to high level on my DK pyromancer in the beta but from what little I saw of it the damage and duration of the ability was COMPLETELY laughable. Over the whole duration it did about as much damage as 1 light staff attack.

I tried to play different classes with a destruction staff as main weapon last beta and i agree with you. I tried wall of elements with my first character and found that it wasnt effective at all compared to any of the other skills (fire or ice) available. I simply didnt bother getting it with any other characters after that. Perhaps its mechanics should be changed: ice could block the way/protect from projectiles (or root players), fire could do heavier DoT damage and lighting shock and burn mana/stamina maybe?

I read that the cost was reduced in the .18 patch but its not going to change my mind if the damage or utility isnt adjusted.

Wall of elements = garbage = my least favorite spell by far. Totally agree.

I thought it was terrible at first, but for solo sorc PVE, it's not bad. Whenever I faced 2-3 enemies, I would run up, hit lightning form and throw down a wall of fire. The dps when used on multiple mobs who stay in the field for the entire duration actually isn't bad. It was a lot more effective than hitting groups from afar and trying to cc/kite.

Low level destruction staff abilities feel very lackluster in general, really. At least the actives. The passives (especially the snare) are pretty good.

I'm still torn on bow vs destro staff for my artillery mage. In terms of responsiveness the bow "feels" more crisp and direct. The abilities available also seem more powerful.

Let me tell you a story about Wall of Elements.

Once upon a time it used to do 6k damage per cast.

Now it barely does 300 at VR10.

The end.

I haven't gotten a high enough level yet to see all the AOE spells, but yeah, wall of elements seemed pretty useless, it just doesn't last long enough.

It does look very cool though so I give points for that, it would be nice to see either a longer duration (my preference) or a higher damage output from it.

I hope 300 is per tick.....

Haha, no. Total. If something is braindead enough to stand in it for the full duration.

I've only gotten decent utility out of the frost version. I use it to slow down groups of mobs that gang up on me when I'm sloppy.

why does they always nerf things into total uselessness then they nerf? Not targeted at ZOS but it looks like its an common thing.

Like this sounds more like an panic act than something calculated.

Yes AoE is hard to balance, its obviously situation dependent but should start to make sense if you can hit more than 4-6 target at once.

I did not try it in the beta as I found the description damage to low also you don't need AoE much in solo play.

Don't need AoE much? What planet did you come from XD