Guild Wars 2

Hello,

Recently I’ve played these two classes quite a bit. I don’t really have time to focus on two characters, so I kind of have to limit myself to one class. I’m also a completionist so I’d feel bad if I had a character that didn’t have highest tiers of armor and world completion. That’s just the kind of MMORPG player I am.

However, I’ve been stuck picking between Warrior and Engineer to play as my main. I plan on PvEing and WvWvW roaming mainly, although I won’t say no to sPvP either. Here are some personal pros and cons of these classes:

Warrior pros:
+ Melee and more action-y
+ I feel the class has a lot of “hidden” depth and a high skill ceiling (i.e. amount of potential)
+ I like the active mobility a lot
+ Active playstyle without button mashing

Warrior cons:
- Little active defense/recovery (just a single skill)
- Worse at taking on groups (although still not bad)
- Most weapon skills are generic and signets are good and popular for PvE but are kind of boring

Engineer pros:
+ I’m good at playing the class. From knowing how to properly heal and how to land long distance grenades, I have a much better sense of what I’m doing with Engineer than with Warrior. As such I’m also better at doing PvE content with this class than with Warrior. WvWvW is still up in the air.
+ A lot of active defense and recovery – I usually run grenade-bomb-flamethrower with a power build, which is 3 blinds, or grenade-bomb-elixir gun with a condition build, which is 2 blinds and an extra heal from elixir gun
+ Variety – whether it’s conditions or sustained power or burst power or support, Engineer has options
+ Amazing AoE – with grenades and bombs, there’s basically no damage dropoff for multiple enemies
+ Aiming grenades can be fun – grenades are definitely my favorite skill set for this class

Engineer cons:
- Lots of keystrokes to do something – some people like this, I don’t
- Lots of skills basically do the same thing and only have different stats/animations (i.e. elixir gun 3 and pistol 2 both spread poison over a cone)
- Relying on fields and kiting isn’t as fast or exciting as Warrior’s playstyle

TLDR: Basically, to me, Warrior has one playstyle, which I’m not very good at, but I like a lot and want to become good at. Engineers have a lot of different playstyles, most of which I’m pretty good at, but none of which I like as much as Warrior’s playstyle.

The main gripe I have with Engineer is that, rather than being active and mobile yourself, you excel by taking away the other person’s active and mobile abilities. This is fine for PvP, but I find it quite lackluster in PvE, particularly because Engineer is mostly ranged. I know a lot of people will point out bombs and toolkit being melee for engineer, but bombs are hit-and-go weapons and toolkit is short and bursty, and usually initiated with Magnet (which also ensures the Engineer can pull a melee-range combo off). When I’m using conditions (which I usually do), I usually blind the enemies with grenades, get close while throwing out other conditions, throw out a blinding bomb, throw out bomb conditions, then dodge/jump out (with elixir gun) and use my pistol or elixir gun conditions (depending on the CDs). At no point in this rotation am I in any danger of getting hit. With a power build I usually just kite in circles and lob kitten at the enemies, and slow them if they get close. Just as effective but usually not as fun. When I first played Engineer, I was told you had to have a plan since you had so many options and devices. The problem is, it’s always the SAME plan. I do really like the animations, the smoothness of combat, and watching hordes fall before your explosions. I just wish playing it out were more exciting.

With Warrior, I kind of go in with a semblance of a plan, but it changes rapidly because I have to do stuff like dodge and escape to wait for CDs on major skills. It’s a lot faster paced and action-y. And I kind of suck at it, possibly because I’ve played so much Engineer. Melee combat especially with 2H weapons feels really meaty as well, which I like a lot. I think people think Warrior is really simple, but only because most of the time it doesn’t hurt to play Warrior simply. But I can’t fight the fights I can on Engineer with Warrior, because I make mistakes and get punished greatly for them. It’s frustrating, but it’s also fun.

What class should I stick with?

In general, the consensus on the differneces between those 2 are that a Warrior can be kept alive in most GW2 environments by a blindfolded monkey dancing on the keyboard (ok, I’m exaggerating….a bit) while the Engineer actually requires some thoughtful work to be effective (tho it can be built for VERY good survivablity).

Note that I play both classes and feel the “EASY BUTTON” and “SIMPLISTIC” rap given to the Warrior has been earned by the way LOTS of players use the class (not that it has to be played that way). This is s similar parallel to the classic “BEARBOW” Ranger general feeling in the game (the difference is that even a lazy played Warrior should be able to survive and possibly contribute while a poorly played Bearbow will fold like a house of cards when pressured a bit or their pet goes down).

Playing an Engineer well is a LOT of work. Only a good Ele will work harder (and potentially require more actual skill).

I guess my answer to you is BOTH….forcing yourself to “choose” is not a choice you MUST make. I simply change my “main” from week to week or month to month.

From the sounds of it, warrior would probably be a better fit for you on the long term because getting better at it is something that you’ll be able to work on and feel progress for, which I think is a good part of making play rewarding.

That said, a couple words on engineer – yes, the class is technically ranged, but it also is most effective at mid-range-to-melee.

Taking the standard power build for example, you’ll be wanting to use rifle 3 and 5 while basically standing on top of the enemy for maximum damage & bleed/vulnerability, use EG acid bomb (which is basically equivalent in damage to a warrior’s 100B if landed on a target who stays in the spot) then cancel it the moment it’s been cast to abort the leap back so you can chain up with a bomb or grenades, that work best at close range to mitigate the fact that as projectiles they move very slowly. That’s when active defenses/dodging becomes a lot more critical, IME.

The versatility of engineer comes up a lot more in dungeons or PvP, where there’s more to adapt to than open world. You definitely have your must-haves (grenades are always nice to keep on your utility bar) but depending on party comp you’ll very likely have to switch something out for extra blasts/projectile blocks/CC/mobility.

jackaljag.8637:

From the sounds of it, warrior would probably be a better fit for you on the long term because getting better at it is something that you’ll be able to work on and feel progress for, which I think is a good part of making play rewarding.

That said, a couple words on engineer – yes, the class is technically ranged, but it also is most effective at mid-range-to-melee.

Taking the standard power build for example, you’ll be wanting to use rifle 3 and 5 while basically standing on top of the enemy for maximum damage & bleed/vulnerability, use EG acid bomb (which is basically equivalent in damage to a warrior’s 100B if landed on a target who stays in the spot) then cancel it the moment it’s been cast to abort the leap back so you can chain up with a bomb or grenades, that work best at close range to mitigate the fact that as projectiles they move very slowly. That’s when active defenses/dodging becomes a lot more critical, IME.

The versatility of engineer comes up a lot more in dungeons or PvP, where there’s more to adapt to than open world. You definitely have your must-haves (grenades are always nice to keep on your utility bar) but depending on party comp you’ll very likely have to switch something out for extra blasts/projectile blocks/CC/mobility.

Yeah, I got most of Engineer’s combos and stuff down. And I know that they’re more of a close or midrange class. However, unlike Warrior, they don’t have to constantly be within hitting range of the enemy they’re fighting. That’s why I feel like Warrior is a lot more action-y. I’m just worried that Warrior will feel boring too after I learn it and get decent at it. I don’t really ever play a class in the “simple” style (like bearbow ranger or facetank warrior) and usually actively put myself in situations where I have to use better playstyles (like fighting gigantic groups or multiple veterans or something).

I mean, yeah Engineer uses a lot of movement stuff for positioning. Avoiding hits while using certain skills as close as possible requires a lot of positioning. On Engineer I don’t dodgeroll hits most of the time (except for massive ones) because I have other options and save dodging for movement and positioning. I guess it just feels almost second nature now. If I had to pick a class I naturally felt smooth playing (and the most “natural skill” at playing) it’d be Engineer. I’ve tried every class, and I’m certain of this.

But there’s also a thrill in having to dodge with Warrior, especially against multiple enemies, or to use whirlwind attack properly. Warrior also has to position stuff like Bladetrail and Hundred Blades properly, and in some cases Whirling Axe too (I run GS/Axe+Axe). But I can’t fight the same groups or multiple vets with Warrior as easily as with Engineer, or as successfully (I die much more often). I really do think playing a Warrior well is hard in its own way that’s just as “skillful” and “difficult” as playing an Engineer; most players just don’t see it because it usually doesn’t matter if you facetank most content or do something more complicated.

I guess I also favor Warrior for melee because I don’t like a lot of the other melee-focused class’ mechanics like Thief’s stealth or Mesmer’s phantasms or Ranger’s pet and ridiculous number of dodge attacks and Elementalist’s combo fields. And I hate Guardian’s ranged options and really long CDs on some of their skills.

I run on my warr when I am on vacations from my engi.

Keep in mind that the Warrior has the largest selection of weapons to use of any Class….unless you lock yourself into a set of weapons (mentally), you shouldn’t get bored.

Per above I never get bored as I have one of each class to play and just swap to a different character if I feel like I’m in a rut.

I just don’t have time to tend to 2 characters and do everything I want. I’m a bit of an altoholic so I kind of limit my playing especially since I’m busy now. I really want to just stick with one class.