Guild Wars 2

I am quite tired of them – up to the point where I went ahead and created a thread on the forums despite my general dislike of QQ-ing about a class/mechanic…

Decap engineers, I get why you run it, I really do, but you (they) ruin my fun much more than any class will ever do… They are getting more and more popularity each and every day, and now it has came to the point where I see an engineer, I simply wanna forfeit the match… My insentive to play, gone in less than a second… And yes, again I get why you play it…

So instead of whining about it some more, desperately asking for more nerfs than you deserve I ask you, people of the PvP forums and more specifically decaps themselves: What is the answer to a decap engineer?

I can adapt, I play a variety of classes in PvE and am usually the one trying different things in PvP despite the established meta – so what can I do/play to counter a decap engineer despite running one myself? Or getting a teammate in that respect…

If anyone has an answer, please tell me… I want to enjoy PvP, and I usually do, but I also like my hair and do not want to get bald just because I encounter a decap engineer…

Specs I tried myself, with little succes, are:

- Burst ele with fresh air, S/D
- Axe warrior
- Power Necromancer, only works if you got Lich Form (stability and a lack of it)
- Condi Necromancer, though this will not do you much good at 25% health
- Bunker Guard, to decap back… don’t ask me why
- Thief, but I will already admit that I kind of suck with them

The only reliable answer to fighting a decap engi is really team support. I’ve played a bunk guard for a good while and even with high stability uptime, you’ll eventually get decapped by any engi that knows to wait for your stability to use their knockback cooldowns.

Since it takes so much longer to re-capture a point vs the time it takes to decap, even if you knock a decap engi off more than they knock you off, they can still decap your point.

i can hold a really long time as warrior vs decap.

Do not pop your stability or berserker stance at first. The first time you get controlled the Last STand trait will kick in. make sure you notice that. Once stability is off, try to dodge/blind his knockbacks, but be ready to quickly hit balanced stance if a knockback lands on you. With a little practice, you’ll be able to stun break before it gets you off the point. You’ll get immobilized now but who cares you’re on point, so use your AoEs and kill his turrets. Repeat with dolyak signet instead as your stun break, but this time also use berserker stance and since his turrets are gone, burst the hell out of him.

Gotta be fair, I did not expect replies this nice and quickly – especially when looking through other threads, so my thanks in advance ^^

Generally holding the point long enough for the decap to not being able to cap, especially on my axe warrior, is not the problem – I still have to thank you Solstice for the information about the utility rotation, that is mighty useful…

My issue is that most of the time at the start of the game, the most valuable points gets denied since the decap engineer is also standing on the point and occupying me… His purpose isn’t really to cap our point, but to deny our point income, and as it stands they usually “win” unless it turns into a 2v1 at home (which is not desirable)…

Not meant to be rude of course, tips are welcome as well – though my aim was more to “get rid” of a decap engineer without varied results… Not like a 1 build to rule them all exists, but realistically speaking there should be a class or setup able to counter them no?

There are two hard counters to a decap…

1. Stability based hambow – You won’t get them off the point, and they hit hard.
2. GC ele – That burst (in a team fight, not 1v1)
3. Condi spam necro. Remember what AR does…. it doesn’t allow you to get new conditions. It does nothing against existing conditions. A smart necro will condi bomb the engi before AR kicks in.

Solstice.1097:

i can hold a really long time as warrior vs decap.

Do not pop your stability or berserker stance at first. The first time you get controlled the Last STand trait will kick in. make sure you notice that. Once stability is off, try to dodge/blind his knockbacks, but be ready to quickly hit balanced stance if a knockback lands on you. With a little practice, you’ll be able to stun break before it gets you off the point. You’ll get immobilized now but who cares you’re on point, so use your AoEs and kill his turrets. Repeat with dolyak signet instead as your stun break, but this time also use berserker stance and since his turrets are gone, burst the hell out of him.

gg having a triple stability bd just to fight a decap engi, but still you cant rng yolo dodge that insta push back all the time. and good luck killing that engi without cleansing ire or merciless hammer while the engi probably have cc gain protection and cc – 20% income damage.

Simon.3794:

Solstice.1097:

i can hold a really long time as warrior vs decap.

Do not pop your stability or berserker stance at first. The first time you get controlled the Last STand trait will kick in. make sure you notice that. Once stability is off, try to dodge/blind his knockbacks, but be ready to quickly hit balanced stance if a knockback lands on you. With a little practice, you’ll be able to stun break before it gets you off the point. You’ll get immobilized now but who cares you’re on point, so use your AoEs and kill his turrets. Repeat with dolyak signet instead as your stun break, but this time also use berserker stance and since his turrets are gone, burst the hell out of him.

gg having a triple stability bd just to fight a decap engi, but still you cant rng yolo dodge that insta push back all the time. and good luck killing that engi without cleansing ire or merciless hammer while the engi probably have cc gain protection and cc – 20% income damage.

oh sorry lol i should have clarified i am running condi war sword/sword longbow. i have cleansing ire, dogged march, and last stand, plus balanced, zerker stance, and dolyak signet.

the stabilities aren’t just for fighting decap. having an extra stunbreak and always being able to stability-stomp is more useful imo than endure pain or retaliation.

if i was running hammer i would need merciless hammer which means i’d have to give up last stand because cleansing ire is always a requirement obviously.

but if the enemy team is mostly squishies i’ll swap dolyak for endure pain (or fear me on skyhammer) and last stand for defy pain.

If you think the other team is running a decap, then send a glass cannon to cross play and intercept the engie. It will slow him down enough to allow you to cap the point. Additionally, you should be able to get him low enough such that your home capper can kill the engie if he arrives.

Assign your roamer to drop the decap every time he spawns.

Place your home bunker far outside your point to intercept the decap early and deal damage.

sometimes your team simply won’t have the firepower to take down the engi without 2-3 people on him. in those cases, leave him alone and let him afk on your close. go outnumber the enemy 5v4 on the rest of the map and play mid, far, and map mechanics. You’ll lose if you are constantly fighting the engi on a point that you don’t own.

Thedenofsin.7340:

If you think the other team is running a decap, then send a glass cannon to cross play and intercept the engie. It will slow him down enough to allow you to cap the point. Additionally, you should be able to get him low enough such that your home capper can kill the engie if he arrives.

Assign your roamer to drop the decap every time he spawns.

Place your home bunker far outside your point to intercept the decap early and deal damage.

I like the sound of this strategy… As it stands, I usually play with my guild, so this should be doable… I mean, if we capped the point then the decap engineer is a liability himself considering I can hold him from capping the point at the very least… Slowly but steady we are comming to a solution I think

Solstice.1097:

sometimes your team simply won’t have the firepower to take down the engi without 2-3 people on him. in those cases, leave him alone and let him afk on your close. go outnumber the enemy 5v4 on the rest of the map and play mid, far, and map mechanics. You’ll lose if you are constantly fighting the engi on a point that you don’t own.

And I was afraid that this is the “most viable” option for a team that is not able to excecute the previous tactic… Well then, time to learn to adapt and let the decap rot on our home I guess

A very glassy full phantasm specced mesmer can take a decap engie apart fairly rapidly. You’ll most likely get decapped, but the engie won’t last very long.

The best answer? Wait one more week.

thief shadow trap can be hard to use but it can also be extremely useful. similar to if a mesmer portal was personal use only on a 45 second cooldown, lasted 2 minutes, and had a range of 10,000 and when taking it you are stealthed and gain 10 stacks of might + fury.

thief can drop shadow trap on home point and go fight like normal. engi shows up to try to decap your close point defender, you activate trap and 2v1 him down real fast.

but to do this you have to give up your signet so it’s not always worth it. look at all the factors and make your own decision.

Pyroathiest.4168:

A very glassy full phantasm specced mesmer can take a decap engie apart fairly rapidly. You’ll most likely get decapped, but the engie won’t last very long.

Solstice.1097:

thief shadow trap can be hard to use but it can also be extremely useful. similar to if a mesmer portal was personal use only on a 45 second cooldown, lasted 2 minutes, and had a range of 10,000 and when taking it you are stealthed and gain 10 stacks of might + fury.

thief can drop shadow trap on home point and go fight like normal. engi shows up to try to decap your close point defender, you activate trap and 2v1 him down real fast.

but to do this you have to give up your signet so it’s not always worth it. look at all the factors and make your own decision.

Hm, considering I do have a mesmer, though play a phantasm condition build, I might try and go glass+portal just for the sake of dealing with them…

As for the thief, it would seem to be indeed less desirable – portal is more often used in a teamfight than Shadow Trap would really, so trying a mesmer would be more “safe” I suppose

I’ve 100-0 them on a glass ranger before.

That stuffs all pretty niche though..

Phaeton.9582:

I’ve 100-0 them on a glass ranger before.

That stuffs all pretty niche though..

Yea, a ranger using a bow can generally counter most engis pretty well in my experience, but doing so often involves standing off point a good bit to avoid AoEs.

Maybe the buff to power rangers will help tone down decaps a bit when the new meta establishes. I’m not holding my breath on this though. =P

My way of dealing with decap engis – mace/sword + longbow on a condi warrior build. I keep spamming with conditions (mainly longbow) and when his health reaches 30-40% (ideally 30%) I use offhand #4 on sword for Torment because whatever conditions he takes before AR kicks in they will stay on him (AR only insta-removes new conditions once health reaches 25%). Just don’t use the chained attack (Rip) on him because it will stop Torment build-up. It usually is enough to bring him down to 10-15% after which I either switch to ranged longbow or if in melee range just Skullcrack him (3s of stun on full adrenaline). Yes it can be a pretty cheap combination against other professions but hey… So is a decap engi

However, this doesn’t always work because so many things can go wrong against a decap engi, especially on Skyhammer. If he proves to be to problematic then I have to agree that its perhaps best to simply avoid him because there are other ways to make points.

GoogleBrandon.5073:

I am quite tired of them – up to the point where I went ahead and created a thread on the forums despite my general dislike of QQ-ing about a class/mechanic…

Decap engineers, I get why you run it, I really do, but you (they) ruin my fun much more than any class will ever do… They are getting more and more popularity each and every day, and now it has came to the point where I see an engineer, I simply wanna forfeit the match… My insentive to play, gone in less than a second… And yes, again I get why you play it…

So instead of whining about it some more, desperately asking for more nerfs than you deserve I ask you, people of the PvP forums and more specifically decaps themselves: What is the answer to a decap engineer?

I can adapt, I play a variety of classes in PvE and am usually the one trying different things in PvP despite the established meta – so what can I do/play to counter a decap engineer despite running one myself? Or getting a teammate in that respect…

If anyone has an answer, please tell me… I want to enjoy PvP, and I usually do, but I also like my hair and do not want to get bald just because I encounter a decap engineer…

Specs I tried myself, with little succes, are:

- Burst ele with fresh air, S/D
- Axe warrior
- Power Necromancer, only works if you got Lich Form (stability and a lack of it)
- Condi Necromancer, though this will not do you much good at 25% health
- Bunker Guard, to decap back… don’t ask me why
- Thief, but I will already admit that I kind of suck with them

Delete conquest as a game mode, specially conquest as poorly designed as GW2. Add something better (most pvp modes I can think of). Then that sort of stupid build is no longer a factor.

Julius.1094:

Delete conquest as a game mode, specially conquest as poorly designed as GW2. Add something better (most pvp modes I can think of). Then that sort of stupid build is no longer a factor.

Then you’re just substituting decap engies for thieves. Not a solution.

of all my characters the one i seem to find best when facing decap is my full glass axe warrior,
you can deal colossal damage with reckless dodge+whirling axe (you can dodge while channelling it) and follow it up with an eviscerate.

in short the only way to beat a decap is to bury them in damage.

Liewec.2896:

of all my characters the one i seem to find best when facing decap is my full glass axe warrior,
you can deal colossal damage with reckless dodge+whirling axe (you can dodge while channelling it) and follow it up with an eviscerate.

in short the only way to beat a decap is to bury them in damage.

You won’t bury anything if you can’t hit it because a proper decap engi will have access to so many cripples, blocks, pulls and knockbacks that you won’t even get the chance to get in range with your axe.

mechanic wise, all else been considered and assume equal skill.
you Never win against a decap engi, it’s the said fact, unless you decided to be always prepared to fight one and get on those special builds at any moment.
even that will net decap engi enough time to at least decap you once, if you don’t know in advance that there is a decap engi.
the talk about bring more than 1 person to kill decap engi are as bad, since that’s exactly what decap engi wants you to do, remember it only take 5 sec to decap , but 13 sec to recap, a smart decap knows when to retreat and get back.
so, what’s the only sound and viable option for counter play a decap?
like someone else said be4, go take far and mid and play 4v5 on the rest of the map.
Decap engi is an IQ check basically as long as you dont get irritated and set on the wrong course of attempting to kill one

The key to countering a decap engi is teamwork. With good teamwork, you get 5 free points every time the decapper goes to your close. A thief rotating quickly to close always with an eye on the decapper will take him down as soon as/before he gets to your point. If the opposing team sends him repeatedly, they will lose since those 5 points build up quickly.

In soloq on the other hand, people have the attention span of a moth. It’s not very glamorous for a thief to keep rotating close and if you tell them to do that before the match, either they won’t listen to you or they may do it once and forget about it the next time, or they may take too long to come.

With good communication, a decap engi is actually a handicap for the other team since they’re so predictable.

Elfindale.4836:

mechanic wise, all else been considered and assume equal skill.
you Never win against a decap engi, it’s the said fact, unless you decided to be always prepared to fight one and get on those special builds at any moment.
even that will net decap engi enough time to at least decap you once, if you don’t know in advance that there is a decap engi.
the talk about bring more than 1 person to kill decap engi are as bad, since that’s exactly what decap engi wants you to do, remember it only take 5 sec to decap , but 13 sec to recap, a smart decap knows when to retreat and get back.
so, what’s the only sound and viable option for counter play a decap?
like someone else said be4, go take far and mid and play 4v5 on the rest of the map.
Decap engi is an IQ check basically as long as you dont get irritated and set on the wrong course of attempting to kill one

bhagwad.4281:

The key to countering a decap engi is teamwork. With good teamwork, you get 5 free points every time the decapper goes to your close. A thief rotating quickly to close always with an eye on the decapper will take him down as soon as/before he gets to your point. If the opposing team sends him repeatedly, they will lose since those 5 points build up quickly.

In soloq on the other hand, people have the attention span of a moth. It’s not very glamorous for a thief to keep rotating close and if you tell them to do that before the match, either they won’t listen to you or they may do it once and forget about it the next time, or they may take too long to come.

With good communication, a decap engi is actually a handicap for the other team since they’re so predictable.

I like how you both give insight about a decap engi in both a premade team perspective as well as a random team…

Generally the conclusion I can get from all this is to either assign a burster in a team (say glass mesmer, ele or thief) which can easily rotate between mid, or simply let him cap home and play mid/far – thus making the decap engineer a liability…

I thank you once more for the replies so far ^^

MM necro is funny against the engi. The meat shield helps to prevent the decap and the direct damage ist nice to kill the engi alone.

As a warrior, the only way I can deal with them is shoot them up from range outside the circle.

If they are dumb there come at me, if they are smart they stay in the circle scoring points. Eventually 30 secs or so later, I weaken said Engineer enough with my longbow, that I can use the stance that gives me 10 secs of condition immunity and finish Engineer in melee.

But by then the de-cap engineer has won because he/she kept the point capped for so long. So wins on points.

If I don’t use longbow to soften him up and just dive into melee, well its my warrior who ends up dead.

Use the walls/fences and whatever else is available on the map (it’s not available on all maps/sides) to make their decap engi completely useless no matter what profession you are playing.

Try using axe/shield and hammer, run endure pain, dolyak signet and balanced stance on a warrior. Time your blocks and stances, use high stability up time and try to get an earth shaker, staggering blow and backbreaker on them in between cooldowns to give you a chance to get stability back up. You can also use the 4 on the shield to get an extra stun in. Basically use stability and time your stuns. Even then sometimes if they are good enough they can get you with good timing but it makes it much harder and usually I can hold a point pretty well.