Nuke

Nuking is a term used in gaming for causing great amounts of damage to a number of enemies. This is normally done with using high-damage area of effect spells (like Meteor Shower) to take out a group of enemies at once. A player who Nukes is referred to as a Nuker. The term originates from the devastating real-life nuclear weapons. A nuke contrasts with a spike in that it focuses on dealing damage to multiple opponents instead of one.

Elementalists have access to a large and diverse array of such skills, so are usually favored to fulfill this role in a party. When asking for a Nuker, players almost always mean pyromancers who inflict highly damaging AoE spells such as Searing Flames and Meteor Shower. However, some Necromancer builds match the damage dealing potential of Elementalists, and are sometimes called Nukers, these builds take advantage of Spiteful Spirit, Reckless Haste, Desecrate Enchantments. Rangers using Barrage could also be considered as filling a nuker role, though are unlikely to be referred to as such in game. Ritualists are also potential nukers.

Counters

 * Many powerful AoE spells have long cast times, making them vulnerable to interrupts. Rangers and Mesmers are crucial counters to nukers, and disrupting a nuke will prevent a team from being devastated.
 * Nukes require targets to be close together for maximum effectiveness. Teams should spread out in order to prevent all team members from being hit by a nuke. A coordinated team will be able to determine if an opposing team is using nukes and take preventative action.
 * Most nukers use Fire Magic. Using skills such as Mantra of Flame and certain armor types can reduce a significant amount of damage.
 * A team can also use the Ranger spirit Winter to change damage type to cold damage and adapt their skills and equipment accordingly. Conversely, some teams will use Winter to change the damage type to counter a team using fire-protective skills and equipment.
 * Nukes usually require large amounts of energy. Energy denial skills can reduce the number of nukes cast or even prevent a nuker from successfully casting a single nuke.
 * Most nuke teams are kept alive by dedicated healers, as Elementalists have poor self-healing ability. Eliminating the healers first will increase the likelihood of the nuker(s) being killed in turn.