I couldn't agree more with you.
I always thought of elementalists as sort of specialized wizards that deal specifically with the namesake elements and focus on those - as such they should get additional +damage to elemental spells, with each PC level.
Additionally, considering that elements actually consist of fire, water, air and earth, adding extra spells to the auto-learn list for elementalists would be lore-friendly and a clear improvement for an otherwise enjoyable but slightly limited class, that doesn't really trade those limits for advantages. Nothing an elementalist does cannot be done equally well or better by a wizard.
The ability to get spells without having to read spellbooks is nice but as a sole redeeming feature, I think it's not enough.
Class powers are nice for elementalists but they are hardly exclusive since resistances are easily obtained at the respective levels, water breathing can be obtained via items, weather effects mitigated by blankets.
Elemental storm is very dangerous if cast indoors due to unpredictability and it's impossible to effectively use it against diversified monsters with different resistances.

The spells I would see as viable for elementalists would additionally include all air and earth elements, so aside from earthquake:
Lightning bolt, mystic shovel (since it is undoubtedly related to earth), teleportation (arguably air spell) and petrification as the ultimate offensive earth spell.

I believe these should become available for elementalists, but all class spells should have more initial charges and cost a bit less, to be on par with wizards' 40% spell cost reduction for elemental spells.
At the same time, to further distinguish between wizards and elementalists, they should receive significant penalties to casting spells from other schools of magic, to reflect their narrow specialty in the elemental area.
As a last note, summonable elementals should not be random, there should be a menu to choose from the four types.
Also greater elementals should become available at lvl50, similarly to necromancer's constantly increasing list of undead slaves that eventually culminates with liches at lvl ~45 (not sure exactly).
Perhaps at the cost of 5-6 mana points, a power-adjusting greater elemental of chosen kind should appear?

I believe this would greatly improve the class without making it overly powerful and reflect its specialization in elemental magic.

Elementalists definitely always struck me as a 'handicapped' caster class. I would like to see them get a bit more diverse, perhaps learn a spell that nobody else has? I would love to see a summon vortex spell.

And I bet you do not want to get hurt when your pet vortex explodes on the square next to you?

I would order them to attack monsters and watch the glory unfold at a safe distance ;)

And I wouldn't even be mad if it meant getting rid of a feline, I do that all the time

bump this one - more castings and different spells is really a must for this class.

Thanks for bumping this, I somehow missed it. I rather like how Elementalists are somewhat limited. It does make them feel unique. I find them rather challenging to play and would hate that to dissapear.

Their spells do make them a rather strong class early game. In my westside story challenge they were one of the better classes at surviving harsh times. I am surprised that somebody would want more castings, they already receive so much.

I would also hate to see them become just like wizards.

Also when character levelling is fixed in the near future their class powers will become more relevant and they will have more castings anyway as they will level faster.

It does make them unique, but sometimes i just feel that they aren't "elementalist" enough. My suggestion would be more focus on ball spells which makes them more of a "close and dirty" fighter?

Burning hands does a good job at the 'close and dirty' element of their spells. I see the balls, complimented with the storm, as simply an emergency option when surrounded. And improved ball as an option, say maybe against a tension room of ghost lords, for example.

Any spellcasting class is going to end up worse than a wizard in the endgame; that's because wizards are so freakishly strong and get all of the spells as late game class powers. Wizards aren't supposed to be the baseline balance point, though.

That said, elementalists could in fact do with more lightning in their diet. They do learn Lightning Ball, as far as I remember (only a couple castings per level, though), but no Lightning Bolt.

Petrification seems alright to add - it's not a very good spell to begin with.

I already said this in another thread but I'll repeat it: At level 50, elementalists should be able to ignore walls - like ghosts, earth elementals or stone grues - at a cost of power points (depending on danger level of the current area).
That would make them truly outstanding as a class, while not overpowered, since anybody reaching lvl 50 is already powerful and walls don't really present much of an obstacle with numerous means of digging or teleporting.

I do think elementalists need some mid- and late-game buffing, not due to difficulty (they're not among the most difficult classes) but to make them more distinct, not only poor man's wizards.

However I think in a large part, this might fix itself if the leveling system is improved as often mentioned in the forums, so that characters don't typically reach D:50 being level 30 or so, to gain all the rest of the levels there with the balors.

Someone brave should make that an RFE.

here's an idea, give them more castings of their natural spells and mindcrafter grade book learning