Shugenja Element choices?

[Chilingsworth]

My question is simple: Which of the four element choices are the best for a shugenja? This character will be played from level 1, hopefully into high levels.

What are you guys' opinons on this?

[Shade Kerrin]

This help? (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4367.0)

As it says, which element is best depends on what you want to do:
Blast(Fire), decieve(Air), heal(Water) or buff(Earth)

[Xuc Xac]

So... You just assume the designers didn't even try to balance them? One of them must be better than the others? I don't get the question.

[FMArthur]

So... You just assume the designers didn't even try to balance them? One of them must be better than the others? I don't get the question.

Given the D&D 3E system's rough start balance-wise, the apparently gradually-developed understanding of game balance over its lifetime, and the fact that the Shugenja is a fairly old class relative to the other splatbook base classes (hailing from 3E Oriental Adventures), it's a pretty reasonable assumption to make that they must have failed at balancing them in some way.

[Zaq]

I remember reading that Fire is a good choice, not because it's actually good in and of itself, but simply because Water is the element you can most afford to lose. I do not, however, remember where I heard that, so take what I'm saying with a big [citation needed] attached.

EDIT: Skimming over the spell list, I actually don't see any Fire spells I couldn't live without, while Water has some goodies like True Seeing, Scrying, Heal, and things like that. Based on a two-minute reading, I'd be tempted to go with Water, just because I don't think I could give up either Earth or Air spells. Maybe I was remembering the advice in reverse? As I said, big old [citation needed] label.

[Psyren]

So... You just assume the designers didn't even try to balance them? One of them must be better than the others? I don't get the question.

It's not so much the Shugenja designers' fault, as it is system failure. Water is the weakest element not so much because of the class itself, but because dedicated healing is simply bad in D&D.

If you had, for comparison, a Water Shugenja equivalent in WoW then it would be considered a great class, because dedicated magical healing is both required and useful in that system.

A good way to strengthen the Shugenja without homebrew is to follow the suggestion from Spell Compendium pg. 4, adding select elemental-themed druid spells to their list.