Q:
Class Picking: Engineer or Elementalist?
I am told that either of them is very good at being a support/healer in PVP if you are into that kind of thing. For my money I guess it would come down more to what I felt I was a bigger nerd about, Tech or Magic.
ele is pretty much the king of self combos. Engi does have access to some but it’s not a main focus.
I personally prefer the engineer since having to do fancy 12 button combos just to kill a pack of mobs isn’t really my thing.
I’ve played an Elementalist to 80. I like it, and it’s got it’s place in WvW. So does the engineer though.
The most important thing for you to do is play what you want to play. There aren’t class specific roles here, as you can do almost everything on almost every profession. Here’s a list of what can be done:
Support:
Both have offensive and defensive boons they can grant party members.
Both have blocking.
Elementalist gets Invulnerability.
Control:
Elementalists have sink/float.
Both have cripple, chill, immobilize. Elementalists get more.
Both have AoE
Both have Blind, Weakness, and Daze. Elementalists get more.
Both have Push, Pull, and Launch. Engineers get more.
Both have Daze and Immobilize. Engineers get more.
Both can summon clutter. Engineers get more.
Damage:
Both get AoE damage.
Both get direct, single target damage.
Both get Conditions builds.
Both get Ranged damage.
Elementalists get melee, but only barely.
Long story short, if you want to play a controller with more ability to throw enemies around, go with an Engineer.
If you want to play a controller with more hindering conditions like cripple, chill, and weakness, go with an Elementalist.
If you want to do anything else, they’re both pretty much tied, so pick based on armor/weapon skins you like the look of better.
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
- William Shakespear
why not play both?