Guild Wars 2

So, I’m a firm believer that Anet’s vision for this profession is running multiple kits, with multiple functions going off in between standard damage… I’ve seen my playstyle gradually develop from refusing to run kits, to running with just one, then two, now 3… and I’ve seen my usefulness and viability increase as I’ve learned to do so, especially with Sigils now functioning on gear swap, and Kit Refinement.

And when we get stats to kits, even better. Here’s my dilemma…

I WANT to run a 4 kit setup now… seems that if 2 was better than 1, and 3 was better than 2, 4 would be best… but the problem is stunbreaks.

To all you 4 kit engineers… what do you do to offset the lack of any real stunbreak while using 4 kits? FT smokescreen? Cloaking Device? I’ve been hesitant to run a build seriously without one, but maybe they aren’t as needed in a pinch and I’m not seeing it yet?

Bounce some ideas around, or explain why it works for you.

I’ve been using 4 kits since the beginning

All the Gadgets suck and torrents are so situational you just change to them when you feel the need.

Since Nadespammers were all the jazz since I started an engi, I did Med/Nades/flamethrower/Bomb

Bard.7215:

I’ve been using 4 kits since the beginning

All the Gadgets suck and torrents are so situational you just change to them when you feel the need.

Since Nadespammers were all the jazz since I started an engi, I did Med/Nades/flamethrower/Bomb

By the way, I should also clarify I’m speaking in terms of sPvP, I only mention this because Grenades are one of the least used kits for this so I’m not sure if I was clear, as well as being stunned not as big a deal in WvW or PvE.

I spvp as alchemist and only use the elixer gun.

Honestly, after watching your video of your 3-kit build I think your build is already pretty sweet. I do regularly run four kits though, with (I feel) good success in free tournaments.

I almost always use elixir gun and bombkit, and switch between flamethrower and toolkit for the third utility, depending on whether I’m planning to harass the far point (flamethrower for the extra knockback) or bunker the mid point (toolkit for cripples, block).

I do use cloaking device and find it helpful. Good players aren’t fooled, but it’s still worth it for the target loss and misdirection. When I’m using flamethrower, the blind helps a little when stunned. Protection on being cc’d is a must, of course.

I don’t think it would be a good idea to go 4-kit with a condition build—soldier’s amulet is the only thing that allows us 1 mistake instead of 0. I also like using runes of melandru when I’m playing without a stunbreaker.

Basically, though, I figure that engineers can take at most 1 stunbreaker, and no stability. If you get chain cc’d as an engi, you’ll die whether you have a stunbreaker or not. 4-kit engies have a lot of good tools for avoiding that opening combo, and after that, it’s pretty much an awesomely-ridiculous typewriter dance as you try to keep yourself alive.

Bottom line—go for it, you’ll be glad you did. Elixir R is pretty nice as a stunbreaker and self-rez, but I go 4-kit just because I love playing that way—no two fights are the same. You can definitely be viable going 4-kit, although you (of course) will have to work your fingers off to make that happen.

One last word of advice: don’t bother testing a 4-kit build in 8v8, it will give you a bad impression. It seems to shine in 1v1, 1v2, and 2v2 situations best. It can’t stop the zerg.

I’ve gotten by in WvW running without a stun break and relying on auto-elix S to bail me out of bad spots. It’s not as bad I thought it would be, but you will die occasionally (1 in 30ish fights I’d say) solely because you don’t have one.

I would run 4 kit but elixir R is just too kitten sweet to drop!

Recursivision.2367:

I would run 4 kit but elixir R is just too kitten sweet to drop!

This!

I love me some R. Of course, I’m mostly a dungeoneer, but I run rifle, healing turret, flamethrower, toolkit, R, and supply drop.

It terms of stun break, the only one skill that does that is elixir S. With 4 kits you will sacrificing other really good skills but that has always been the case with engie builds.
I been using 4 kits for a while and its amazing in pve and dungeons but you have to be adept in using all 4 kits you choose and find different combos.
Right now I am using med/eg/ft/nades, with pistols. For more control I use rifle instead.
Whenever I need healing, speed, or to skip to the next part of dungeon, I use med kit.
Range damage=grenades, flamethrower for kiting and elixer gun for healing and condition support. I use kit refinement trait which gives me extra skills by just switching the kits. And elixir gun kit-swapping skill is awesome, when i switch it automatically removes conditions and then I press the 5 skill to give team regen.
This build offers a lot of condition support, both high damage and versatile in most situation + deadly amounts of heal with med kit and eg.

I think there’s a lot of promise in using 4 kits and it seems to be a viable build, the only thing is that it can be confusing when switching to different kits and I wouldn’t recommend anyone trying it as their first engie build.

=)

I run a 3 kit build.
I wouldn’t switch out my stunbreaker for any other kit.
It just isn’t worth the risk imo.
There are some good players out there who will have their way with you if you can’t break their stuns. Such as good mesmers, thieves and even warriors.

And there are some lesser players out there who’ll macro you to death with thief if you can’t stunbreak out.
I wouldn’t risk getting killed by any of those for the sake of having another kit.

From a PvE perspective, take all the kits you want.

Kit refinement procs when stunned, simply because you can swap kits when stunned.
This and the use of Flamethrower #5 blind when stunned, is what I see as my ‘poor man’s stunbreaker’ when using 4 kits.

I often use the odd runes of Grenth with that: swap to med kit and get an aoe chill proc, than swap to other kits for kit refinement procs:
- cripple – bleed them since I always use Tool Kit
- put down a weak bomb or a fire aoe and try to use FT #5
- aoe heal yourself and remove conditions if you swap to Elixir Gun

And use some defensive swapping sigil if you can spare it. Like another chill or something.
The kit swapping counts as weapon swap, so you’ll get at least 1 proc of the sigil (most have 10 ssec cooldown).

It’s not a bullet proof strategy, but it does save you to some extend.

My current set-up
- Med Kit
- Tool Kit
- Bomb Kit
- Flamethrower OR Elixir Gun

I run med kit, nades, elixir s, and tool kit, primarily for WvW. Unfortunately I’ve found that Elixir S is irreplaceable for any type of PvP. Not only for the stun-break, but for the guaranteed stomp on guards, warriors, rangers, necros, and other engis. The toolbelt toss is also invaluable in stomping, escaping, or rezzing team mates.

I have tried a 4 kit build in WvW, and the only thing I really liked was the kit refinement condition removal on swapping to elixir gun or flamethrower. But it won’t save you from a zerg like elixir S, nor help you at all when stomping opponents.

as a small asura, elixir S bugs out for me.
It’s terribly annoying to use it. My character sort of glitches and I barely can do anything smoothly.

I’ve been running 4 kits for months and doing fine. PvE and Dungeons.
-Med Kit
-Tool Kit
-Elixir Gun
-Grenade Kit
The key is to avoid being CC’d of course lol. I mainly stay at 1200-1500 range and try hard to land those kitten grenades on targets.
An ally down in a herd of mobs? Save yourself. I ain’t going sparta in my squishy zerk gears to ress you.
Allies got inflicted with conditions? Fine. I’ll just go use elixir gun #3 and #4 to retreat quick.
Oh-kitten, an attack is aiming at me! Ninja swap to Tool Kit and block them while running away.
I can switch between kits fast because my mouse has 2 extra keys on the side.

1st things 1st: don’t run kit refinement if you use the flamethrower because the trait activates skills that consume incendiary ammo’s usage so, unless you don’t pay much attention on incendiary ammo… I think it’s either FT or EG, so you want a stun breaker? It’s obvious you want this for pvp (‘coz I think in pve the condition removal’s already enough, being the EG’s kit refinement AND, if you rly want it, FT’s kit refinement as it removes conditions too).

The best of the best you could get is without a doubt Elixir S, because it breaks stun, grants invulnerability (canceling your 1-2-3-4-5 bar but still allows access to your kits)
AND helps for stomping, a lot, with its toolbelt AND with itself.

(Note: You might wanna read this aloud in the voice of the most awesome MONSTER TRUCK ADVERTISEMENT ANNOUNCER!!!!)

If you’re a Charr, you could be a 4-kit engie and wield an awesome CHARRZOOKA!

You’d have your stun-break getaway ability and be able to shoot out MONSTER ROCKETS OF DOOM!

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Watch as you ’nade them into submission then humiliate them with a SUPER ROCKET BARRAGE!

Seriously, the only thing devs can do to make the Charrzooka more awesome is to substitute one of the attacks (not sure which one) with a baseball swinging CHARRZOOKA TO THE FACE!!!

So. . . . end the announcer talk . . . Charrzooka anyone?

Sporadicus.1028:

(Note: You might wanna read this aloud in the voice of the most awesome MONSTER TRUCK ADVERTISEMENT ANNOUNCER!!!!)

If you’re a Charr, you could be a 4-kit engie and wield an awesome CHARRZOOKA!

You’d have your stun-break getaway ability and be able to shoot out MONSTER ROCKETS OF DOOM!

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Watch as you ’nade them into submission then humiliate them with a SUPER ROCKET BARRAGE!

Seriously, the only thing devs can do to make the Charrzooka more awesome is to substitute one of the attacks (not sure which one) with a baseball swinging CHARRZOOKA TO THE FACE!!!

So. . . . end the announcer talk . . . Charrzooka anyone?

the one and only reason I’m considering making a flee bugged furry coated engineer…

I thought my MONSTER TRUCK ANNOUNCER VOICE would inspire furry engineers to use the CHARRZOOKA more often.

My engie may be scratching at fleas and sweating profusely during the summer, but he sure does look awesome when he carries his charrzooka.

Not having a stun break is kinda dumb in SPvP and probably in WvW too. Updraft has a 3 second “stun”. Good warriors will always hit you with at least one stun between bulls charge, shield rush and all the other things you should be dodging (eviscerate, rush, blade trail).

It’s just too punishing. It’s nearly impossible to play without one and you’ll just be toast under any good player or focus fire. Alas, the life of an engi makes us forced to take at least 2 kits in most builds leaving room for only 1 utility.

I’ve run the course in regards to kits and versatility in WvW. The one thing I found that will push a zerg back is a Flamethrower. Drop the Fire Field, then let the Auto-Attack do the work. They back up. Swap to Pistol/Shield, and let that Guardian/Warrior/D/D Ele hit you with Static Shield, Static Shot, swap to Tool Kit and Prybar, along with Elixir B.

That’s been the course for me lately.

Started to look at kits, and the FT/EG/TK setup is nice. Still can’t get rid of P/S, though. I like the Shield Functions(Magnetic and Static).

I find myself swapping between tower rushes, e.g. if there is siege being laid down, swap to Elixir H and Elixir B, keep EG and TK(for YOINKING those foolish enough to stand on the edge of the keep). Run around and drop Super Elixir. For the Elite ALWAYS Mortar. More often than not, because you are close, you will be targeted, and the siege not. Thus you are doing your ‘Support Role’.

As for the future of Four Kits? I am starting to look at a Bomb Kit/Tool Kit/Flamethrower build(because darnit, I love to blow stuff up). Just wish the Mine was better…

Personally, I’d never PvP without a stun breaker, or some way to get Stability. For the Engineer, the only way to get Stability is Throw Elixir S, which comes with a stun breaker on Elixir S.

I always take either Elixir S or Elixir R in PvP. With one, you’re getting a stun breaker, invulnerability auto-stomp, and a chance at Stability. With the other, you’re getting a stun breaker, extra dodges, and an auto-rez for yourself or others.

IMO, either of those is more powerful than any third kit, especially without taking any of the traits for that kit (and how could you, already traiting for 2 kits and a main weapon?)

-Travail.

When I run a bunker build in sPvP I run with 4 kits. Med (obviously), Bomb, Elixir Gun, and Tool Kit. Each Kit offers several very nice, and very complementary, tricks to assist in taking or keeping a point.

Bomb Kit is almost essential for a point-focused Engi bunker. We don’t have stability on demand, but we do have access to knockbacks. Traited, built, and geared for it, an Engi can be quite a point-grabbing force. Able to knock people off consistently to cap, and stay alive long enough for reinforcements to arrive. I found that with the proper traits and build, not having a stun-breaker isn’t that crucial: being tough lets you weather the alpha-strike, and double Super Elixir, Healing Mist, Med packs, Gear Shield, Bandage Self, and Elixir Infused bombs let you recover/stay alive long enough for help to arrive. Obviously, that isn’t always the case, but I’m still waiting for a “perfect” build.

The lack of a stun breaker isn’t as big a deal when you have Smoke Bomb. It just turns everything into preventative care rather then reactionary. You need to dodge or blind all the troublesome stuff. It’s not really that hard to accomplish either, given everything we have.

I’ve been sPvP’ing with Grenade Kit, Bomb Kit, and Elixir B for ages. No stunbreak. Given, I have 25k health with Protection Injection just in case. Even without Protection Injection you should survive a burst combo, I just find it really helps out in 1v2 situations.

NevirSayDie.6235:

Honestly, after watching your video of your 3-kit build I think your build is already pretty sweet. I do regularly run four kits though, with (I feel) good success in free tournaments.

Which video are you referring to? I don’t think I ever seen a video that has a Engineer using more than one or two kits. Could you please share again so I can take a look at it?

I think you were referring to a video by Aydenunited.

Xruptor.3965:

NevirSayDie.6235:

Honestly, after watching your video of your 3-kit build I think your build is already pretty sweet. I do regularly run four kits though, with (I feel) good success in free tournaments.

Which video are you referring to? I don’t think I ever seen a video that has a Engineer using more than one or two kits. Could you please share again so I can take a look at it?

I think you were referring to a video by Aydenunited.

Yes, I was referring to this video: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/v2-0-Rifle-AoE-conditions-build-video/1178409

He also uses several other 3-kit variations.