I think its because elf characters are so easy to play… particularly WS. Despite being a bit squishy and not particularly amazing at everything … but the right load out makes them quite versatile in utility against most everything. (Glaive for the win)
Actually all the elf character careers have their strengths and weaknesses.
Shades can be super squishy and appear somewhat terrible if not played correctly… which is quite often. WS elf tends to be way more forgiving. Staying mid group or a bit more reserved or careful with an average party, WS elf tends to shine. Played aggressively by a bad player, well tends to underline her squishiness. Aggressive play by a good player, well then people might complain that the games no fun because WS chasing kills. But from a strategic perspective WS elf can be played well from pretty much any position in the party, front, back, mid… doesnt really matter too much.
HM is also pretty amazing in the hands of a good player that has kite/block/dodge/attack game down packed.
A little off topic here, but the one career thar stands out as being played the worst in practice is probably shade. This class takes some skill to play, but at the hands of a bad player the badness outshines all the other bad players. To play shade well, must know your role. Shade is somewhat bad against mixed armor with hordes so placement and kite/dodge skills with those daggers becomes absolute necessity.
I dunno I’ve played with some Huntsman who appear to have unbound their block button while repeatedly jabbing themselves in the eye at the same time as a badger savages their gentleman’s sausage. This can be the only explanation for their play.
Also several RV shotguns to the back of the head aren’t too fun either…
Elf is the most balanced character in the game. She has 2 very good weapons, and all the rest are useful even in legend or at least decent. Her ranged weapons are good as well, making her an easy choice. Unfortunately, most of the elves I play with in QP are extremely bad lol. So I don’t usually like playing off Kerillian.
hmmm i seem to be able to get the slot i want whenever i select a character and click quickplay. maybe it’s just my area doesn’t have a lot of players playing in general
That would be my experience too. That or I wind up starting a game and watch as other players join.
Which is a good point never be afraid to bot solo the start of a map, take your time and it will be fine, the bots are remarkable good at working with 1 real player. Make sure your running the tanky bots. IB Dwarf, Merc or FK Kruber with a hand gun, he is very good at sniping specials, Handmaiden Elf with LB, Unchained with any staff other than either Conflag or flamewave (never tried flamewave so it might work I suspect not though). Zealot Saltz with crossbow.
In comparison to what? Most characters can out perform her is some area, Saltz Zealot/BH, Wizard, Pyro/Unchained, Dwarf IB/Slayer/RV shotgun, I don’t think on the whole kruber out shines in anyone area, but he brings a lot to the team with all of his careers that the elf does not match…
Even the careers I’m not mentioning, like Hobo Kuber (Huntsman), have builds, like with a blunderbuss which are monster in the hands of a skilled player.
In comparison to the general difficulty of the game and the general difficulty of the other heroes. Yes, other heroes can be super effective, but (with the exception of BH and Pyro), they have to work for it. Ironbreaker CAN solo a map, but do it again with your elf class of choice and tell me which one is harder. Even Pyro and BH have the limitation where if they get overrun, they’re dead. Not so with Shade and Handmaiden, and nothing even gets close to the waystalker unless she wants it to.
My experience is that nothing outperforms a BH at range. The Zealot is a tank of supreme ability too.
I’ve played every class though every legend map, perhaps not well for all of them but I have done it, I’d consider myself an average legend player, I can’t comfortable true solo with any one character. The Handmaiden and shade both have invisibility which would be a useful crutch for someone of my ability level trying to true solo.
However if I’m trying to solo with bots? I no longer need nor particularly want the invisibility, I don’t want bots being a primary target, and the rest of the elf loadout is just preference based so the other classes are just as, or more viable. The Zealot and Slayer jump to mind, perhaps Foot-knight or Unchained. The Waystalker is not on my list of Bot’s or classes I want to play in this situation.
For me the waystalker is one of the weaker careers I can select., up there with the WHC or battle wizard. (Who I quite like to play.)
If you’re trying to solo with bots then the shade is hands down the best option for you to play, purely because she effortlessly does the one thing that bots consistently suck at: Killing bosses. (well, not ‘purely’, since she can pretty easily solo a level without bots).
Waystalker has one of the highest potentials for burst damage in the game. Try this: Use longbow. Line up on your boss of choices’ head. Fire a charged headshot, immediately followed by an ult, immediately followed by an uncharged shot. That’s a whole [blank]ton of pinpoint, headshot multiplied damage in a split second, since the animations cancel eachother.
She’s definitely not a weak class.
I wouldn’t use the shade or waystalker as a bot. The shade just mindlessly stealths at random and gets the rest of the team killed and the waystalker is just too good at pulling things before you’re ready to fight them.
If you fight the Chaos spawn sure, bots only really suck vs that. (this is largely hypothetical for me as I don’t play for solo games most of the time. ) But I’ll happily play any class. The main thing I find about shade is it’s very unforgiving, you can make a mistake with the tank(ier) classes and still be ok, 1 mistake with the Shade and it’s run over, the bots are terrible at picking a downed player up in any situation where specials are up, and the Shade’s ranged options are frankly average for killing specials, the repeater crossbow while unique is slow off the mark with it’s zoom and has some funky mechanics with it’s zoom locking.
I’ve not found the WS to be as damage loading as you’re suggesting, the BH/Huntsman can both load more upfront range damage in my experience. I’ve not tried the method your suggesting, but then I find my headshot percentage lower than I would like. Which is something I don’t have to worry to much about with some of the other classes.
They have problems with trolls and stormfiends too.
I’m not a fan of the repeater crossbow because of the slow reload speed. I use the longbow on all of my elves.
Anyway, I’m not saying that the elf classes do literally every single thing better than every other class in the game. I’m saying that, compared to most other classes, they’re all very easy to do big things with.
I get that, and I don’t disagree with it. My point would be, that while the elf has a lot of potential it’s not the end of the story in any one area, for instance the elf is usually my last preference to carry a grim. , and yes, my one of first recommendation for a new player along with IB, but I say that with some wariness, I don’t recommend shade to new players and I don’t deny that the handmaiden can make a great grim carry.
And if you play the elf for what most people see as it’s strengths then one day you’ll meet a good BH/Pyro and you will be sad. (edit: for the record, I don’t mean you specifically here, I mean players in general.)
eh? only really applies if you’re running a shade. the other 2 are very viable for grim carrying (ranged shooter staying in the back that regens hp, and a tanky clutchy class)
shade/handmaiden i agree, wouldn’t recommend at all for new players, but then again that’s already built in the game as part of level progression!
hehe it’s opposite for me, good bh/pyro meet my elf and they will struggle to keep up.
sorry, i love playing keri too much. wish they made a new class to fool around with.
I have to disagree, I’m talking PUG’s here, but even out of them in groups you know, WS only regenst to 1/2 health and 1 sneaky clan rat will pretty much drop a WS in1 hit when you have 2 grims let alone 1 at 1/2 health.
Lol while I will recommend a handmaiden to a newer player, I think its one of the easiest classes to survive with. Ult/dodge/stamina regeneration insanity.
I’m yet to see that, A good bounty hunter just melts , and a good pyro while not quite as effective vs armour does the same. And I’m not talking about wiggle-mancers play style here.
