Guild Wars 2

Hey y’all, I got a rifle engineer build that is extremely fun, and it’s viable! Yaaaayyyy!

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQFAEnUUBtbhdeBEqilKji+tj77O86KmuScZCgwD-TJBHwAAeAAq2fYwFAAZZAA

As you noticed, the last utility slot is open, there are TWO options that you could use.
1. Flamethrower kit: has cc, a blast, an aoe blind, and a fire field which can be combo’d with cc such as Slick Shoes or Net Shot to get the max amount of burn stacks, the fire field is also good for cleave.
2. Blast Gyro: aoe cc, great for down state management since you can knock the downed body back, it also adds a stun break and another Super Speed!

But how do you play this? Well, there are multiple ways to do so!
1. Play decap engi: combo your cc’s to get a decap, or stealth with Stealth Gyro and rotate to decap.
2. Team utility: combo your cc chains with your teams burst combo and cc chains! You can downstate manage pretty good with Overcharged Shot and Blast Gyro knocking the downed bodies back. Stealth Gyro is a great utility to stop your team mates from getting stomped and to get the rez.
3. Fight 1v1s: you can fight a 1v1 with this build and sustain for a long time!

Let’s look at the highlights of this build! Because of Rapid Regen, Bunker Down, Adaptive Armor and Stimulant Supplier you have amazing regen and sustain! You can troll 1v2’s with this set up.

Counters? So far the only two counters I have experienced are:
1. Condi revs, you can sustain this fight for a long time, but he’ll probably get the best of with all the condi spam… ResidentSleeper
2. Bunker mesmers, do not fight these on a node you do not own… ResidentSleeperResidentSleeperResidentSleeperResidentSleeper

Anyways, I’ve been using this against high tier players and have done great with it, Enjoy!

-Mortal Wombat X

Umm, isn’t this just the cele meta scrapper build, but with a rifle instead? =P

Not saying it’s a bad thing, but it just seems like it’s not really crossing the line from “Hey, try out the meta build with a rifle!” into “Hey, here’s a brand new build!”, hehe.

Dahkeus.8243:

Umm, isn’t this just the cele meta scrapper build, but with a rifle instead? =P

Not saying it’s a bad thing, but it just seems like it’s not really crossing the line from “Hey, try out the meta build with a rifle!” into “Hey, here’s a brand new build!”, hehe.

Nope, there are few trait differences and utility difference.

hammer ist just better than rifle in spvp.
more dmg, more sustain, more viable.

mov.1246:

hammer ist just better than rifle in spvp.
more dmg, more sustain, more viable.

Hammer requires Melee, Rifle doesn’t. So training down a running Revenant or a Mesmer trying to escape is a lot easier.

Your sustain may be good but your keep up game is pretty weak.

Dirame.8521:

mov.1246:

hammer ist just better than rifle in spvp.
more dmg, more sustain, more viable.

Hammer requires Melee, Rifle doesn’t. So training down a running Revenant or a Mesmer trying to escape is a lot easier.

Your sustain may be good but your keep up game is pretty weak.

If you are chasing someone off of node(almost exclusively melee range) you are spvp’ing wrong. Hammer is far more powerful and way easier to manage multiple opponents. The keep-up game as you refer to, should be played on the score board, not chasing kills.

Well in my opinion if you take rifle instead of hammer, you’re forced to take nades and explosives traits to have enough cleave, which just isn’t a tradoff I’d be willing to make.

Mostly because nades give you carpal tunnel and explosives GM traits suck without mortar.

Had a match earlier against someone with a build similar to this. Really impressive his skill at it; lots of survivability and movement, but lackluster with damager. Completely unable to push someone off a node though – he ended up trolling point to point.

He took HGH and elixir R for quick revives/self.

Hammer vs rifle in usefulness depends on matchup. Vs rev and necro rifle is better without a doubt. Sometimes hammer is more helpful but it’s really not all it’s hyped up to be. Rifle builds can deal with hammer builds fairly easily as well in my experience. Rifle doesn’t need nades, egun and toolkit compliment it perfectly as it gains a ton of hard cc for decaps and damage combos (way more than hammer could give). Combined with mortar and your cleave is insane, I’d argue in most cases better than that of hammer. Cele rifle built right has insane damage, and better sustain than the meta hammer build plus in a point fight it will win every time provided the player knows how to combo and doesn’t waste skills.

Ario.8964:

Hammer vs rifle in usefulness depends on matchup. Vs rev and necro rifle is better without a doubt. Sometimes hammer is more helpful but it’s really not all it’s hyped up to be. Rifle builds can deal with hammer builds fairly easily as well in my experience. Rifle doesn’t need nades, egun and toolkit compliment it perfectly as it gains a ton of hard cc for decaps and damage combos (way more than hammer could give). Combined with mortar and your cleave is insane, I’d argue in most cases better than that of hammer. Cele rifle built right has insane damage, and better sustain than the meta hammer build plus in a point fight it will win every time provided the player knows how to combo and doesn’t waste skills.

Can I see your build? I would love to try something other than the meta Mara Hammer build. I fear its the only viable thing right now.

displacedTitan.6897:

Ario.8964:

Hammer vs rifle in usefulness depends on matchup. Vs rev and necro rifle is better without a doubt. Sometimes hammer is more helpful but it’s really not all it’s hyped up to be. Rifle builds can deal with hammer builds fairly easily as well in my experience. Rifle doesn’t need nades, egun and toolkit compliment it perfectly as it gains a ton of hard cc for decaps and damage combos (way more than hammer could give). Combined with mortar and your cleave is insane, I’d argue in most cases better than that of hammer. Cele rifle built right has insane damage, and better sustain than the meta hammer build plus in a point fight it will win every time provided the player knows how to combo and doesn’t waste skills.

Can I see your build? I would love to try something other than the meta Mara Hammer build. I fear its the only viable thing right now.

It is. I get excited when I see an engi with rifle, easy guaranteed kill.

Titan, here’s the build, similar to meta setup but has some traits swapped around for what serves the build better. Also made to have rifle swappable with hammer depending on your matchup, just gotta know which wep is better for which scenario. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQFAUlUUh2tYJXw6KQ7FLTGF9cn37d42lMhl4zcABAA-TJBHwAAuAAGeAAl2fAZZAA
And ignore the narrow minded meta followers who say hammer is the only viable thing, they are wrong and their narrow mindedness will screw them over eventually. If you’d like me to explain choices let me know and I’ll give you a full run down.

Basz, I’d like to see your silly meta hammer take me down. Never lost to a hammer engi while playing my build, in fact I love fighting hammer engis because they think the same way as you and then they get destroyed and wonder why they didn’t win only to realize that hammer is NOT the only viable pvp weapon for engineer.

Ario.8964:

Titan, here’s the build, similar to meta setup but has some traits swapped around for what serves the build better. Also made to have rifle swappable with hammer depending on your matchup, just gotta know which wep is better for which scenario. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQFAUlUUh2tYJXw6KQ7FLTGF9cn37d42lMhl4zcABAA-TJBHwAAuAAGeAAl2fAZZAA
And ignore the narrow minded meta followers who say hammer is the only viable thing, they are wrong and their narrow mindedness will screw them over eventually. If you’d like me to explain choices let me know and I’ll give you a full run down.

Basz, I’d like to see your silly meta hammer take me down. Never lost to a hammer engi while playing my build, in fact I love fighting hammer engis because they think the same way as you and then they get destroyed and wonder why they didn’t win only to realize that hammer is NOT the only viable pvp weapon for engineer.

I tried out a build with basically the same kits and cele rifle pre HoT but I found It to suck a lot. Though with scrapper traits giving more sustain I think it’s worth revisiting.

I guess the main reason people like hammer is that it’s a simpler weapon to use than rifle and bundles might stacking together with the utility you’d lose by not having tool kit for the block. I like rifle a lot, but I can see this build being a keyboard cruncher for sure.

Nearlight, it was bad pre HoT. But now scrapper has given it the might stacking it needs to do significant damage as well as a ton of extra sustain to carry its hp throughout teamfights and 1v1s in practically any situation.

Rifle is definitely more methodical than hammer, you’re right in that respect but rifle also has a better ability to combo people’s hp down and cap over a sustained fight. It does require a great deal of button pushing for maximum results but it pays off.

Ario.8964:

Titan, here’s the build, similar to meta setup but has some traits swapped around for what serves the build better. Also made to have rifle swappable with hammer depending on your matchup, just gotta know which wep is better for which scenario. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQFAUlUUh2tYJXw6KQ7FLTGF9cn37d42lMhl4zcABAA-TJBHwAAuAAGeAAl2fAZZAA
And ignore the narrow minded meta followers who say hammer is the only viable thing, they are wrong and their narrow mindedness will screw them over eventually. If you’d like me to explain choices let me know and I’ll give you a full run down.

Basz, I’d like to see your silly meta hammer take me down. Never lost to a hammer engi while playing my build, in fact I love fighting hammer engis because they think the same way as you and then they get destroyed and wonder why they didn’t win only to realize that hammer is NOT the only viable pvp weapon for engineer.

I never once mentioned anything about “the meta”. And the scenario with you destroying me or any engi, using hammer, that plays alot of pvp, with rifle engi; is hilarious. The hammer offers cc, shield, reflection, passive and active support, short cooldowns, and so many might stacks, I could throw you a few since you are obviously in need. Oh and it hits like a truck and synergizes with super glass dd builds, condi kit set ups, and node bunkers. It gives us versatility with a real melee option, along with our already-powerful kits. Rifle does…. same old meh cc, same dmg, doesnt have traits in multiple skill lines that work well for different play styles. Rifle just doesn’t do it anymore, barely in napkin math world, and not in execution.

Friend, I use my rifle in pvx, and I enjoy it. I find my pvp build boring and time consuming when put into play with gear options, food, and npc’s. The fact remains hammer>rifle, for spvp. But by all means, plox tell me more about what you think you know about pvp rifle engi>hammer

I’m not sure if I’d say hammer is always better than rifle for sPvP, but it’s certainly better in my experience at hanging with all of the tankier builds that are being played right now. Rarely when I fight someone while I have a rifle do I want to be farther than practically melee range, and hammer has a lot of responses that I’m hesitant to give up in favor of those rare situations where I really really need to chase someone down. Even then, between super speed and Rocket Charge (and the stun on Thunderclap) I can usually catch up to people, not to mention the cripple on EG’s 2 if you’re playing the marauder build.

The cleaves and defenses on hammer make it great for what engineers are best at: holding the fort. Thunderclap is a monster, Rocket Charge can save your skin if you un-target, and in hectic teamfights being able to briefly reflect a pile of ranged attacks is super useful. Not to mention that the auto-attack hits like a truck and stacks might, and a damaging block is great.

I think the most important thing, though, is that the hammer is better at supporting a team than the rifle. Ranged builds in sPvP aren’t much in favor right now, so you’ll tend to be in the thick of things with the hammer side by side with the usual builds your allies are using. Sure your rifle can net someone—rarely—or do some knockback, but at least right now people are wary of scrappers when they see the hammer. They know what Thunderclap does, they know they have to be careful to unload ranged attacks, and they know that they have to hold back their big hits to get around the triple-evade and damaging block. If they ignore you to fight your teammate, you’ve got solid healing and support in your healing turret, bunker down, dazes, and sneak gyro (or mortar). If they go for you, you can turtle up for a while and let your teammate do work.

I’m not sure how much EXACTLY it comes down between hammer and rifle, since engineer is in a pretty good spot right now in general, but it’s my impression that the meta build and the way sPvP fights tend to go have a lot more synergy with the hammer. And if you’re taking scrapper why not use the hammer? Particularly because you can hold up defenses while critting, proccing bunker down for healing kits (and regeneration and more healing power…) and mines, while running circles around enemies that are probably incidentally hitting you because melee is messy, proccing more toughness which in turns gives you more power, while retaliation from your elixir procs more often……

Alright basz, lets say we settle this with a friendly duel. You beat me I’ll own up to my wrongness and if I beat you then I’ll sit here with a smile on my face knowing I was right all along. Plus let’s be real engi duels are life. At least it’s somewhat interesting to watch unlike the trap and well spam we see so much of nowadays.

Rifle does more damage and the cc imo is better in every way on the rifle. In a mode where point capture is key and you have every build being played as a bunker build it’s not likely that you will kill anyone quickly, being able to knock them off point and gain decaps and full caps throughout the course of a fight is unparalleled in it’s value. Not saying hammer isn’t wonderful because it is definitely a solid weapon and is an exceptionally close second to rife but I don’t think it is good enough to replace rifle completely. Unless you are basing the statement on teamfights where hammers aoe access would prove much more helpful, then I disagree with you. The only thing hammer can offer that my build doesn’t is a small projectile reflection but seeing as how you don’t need it, it’s irrelevant.

Another part of it is situational usage (i.e what matchups each weapons fare better in which matchup) Rifle is better against necro, rev, etc. where the hard cc exploits their lack of stability giving you a capping edge and more combo opportunity (overcharged has a smaller cd than thunderclap). Builds that do not have many unblockable skills or require you to stand and trade damage are probably best fought with hammer (i.e warrior and guardian). More often than not you will see more uses for rifle in pvp with your matchups as most builds you encounter can easily be countered by the rifle’s constant knockbacks and high aoe burst damage.

So please insult me all you want, doesn’t make me any less right.

1v1 me bruh, lol. Sure if I run into you bud. Lol

I don’t see why not. You on NA? Cause I’ll hit you up in game for a few fights sometime if you are, could be fun.

Ooh post results and what went wrong/right ya.

Trying to learn this scrapper biz here and wants to knowz

hammer puts out a bit more pressure when they stand still ish
rifle gets them off the point and keeps them there long enough to decap

the problem is the new specs have random stability/evades/blocks/reflects without trying, so they spam all the things and sit on point and cant be strategically knocked off

its just power creep

so as long as theyre already sitting on point, you might as well have hammer i guess. but rifle is still good. its arguably poor perception is just symptomatic of this bunker meta.

I still prefer rifle but probably just because I’m resistant to change and so use to my old ways. I’ve been trying this out…. it’s for solo queue where you’ll be expected to provide your own might. Has AOE options, spews conditions, and does damage.

Note this build does not play like the current engi never die tendency these days. Its squishy. You stand more behind the front liners, provide your area might boosts, condi remove, at times. you drop AOE poison, blind, chill fields on contested point. You then can do bombing runs, leaping in with rifle 5, dropping BOB, fire field, glue bomb, then leaping out with acid field. When you do the bombing run you pop stabi. It should be quite reasonable to keep your might at near 25 and do significant help to others.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQFAUlUUh+sY7Ww6KQ7FLpFF4J2iHg4IdjVx3GGAhIA-TJRGwAAuAADeAAg2fYZZAA

Maybe, MAYBE, a very specific support focus rifle build would be viable in full man premade. Provided said premade had perfect composition. I feel like 2 bunk mes/ele and 2 revs would be enough heals and deeps to carry a glassy rifle support set up. If you are solo queue with rifle, and no scrapper tanking utility, please please please stay out of ranked.

Well it’s not that glassy, has great condi remove, Good mobility to get out of tight situations with acid bomb and rifle 5, and has regen mist, heal potion, EG heal field, and mortar heal field. Plus its cele. I seem to be doing OK with it even in ranked Though have no idea my MMR, so maybe I’m not, lol

I’d be happy if you’d give it a shot. Just remember that to take a point you soften them with mortar on point, rifle skills, then move in for the kill (as opposed to most metas which is appear on top of them immediately and thwump). If defending point, predict the teleport, lay down your mortar fields on your self and run around bombing and BOBing like a mad man throwing in some rifle jumps and acid bomb to keep them off balance. Never toe to toe.

I do have to side with basz this time, it is tanky sure but scrapper with tk over bombs will offer a ton more defense, cc, and burst damage. Not that your build doesn’t work but it could be more effective with scrapper and inventions over explosives and firearms. And it’d still play very similar to your build so you wouldn’t have to do insane adjustments to be effective.

I want to believe rifle engi isn’t dead, though I’ve had more success using hammer of late. But from the way you’ve described it, I think your build is actually pretty solid shion… at first I wasn’t too sure about bomb kit + rifle, but paired with acid bomb on elixir gun I can see why you’re having success with it. I used to run a similar build with rocket boots and E-gun (and pistols) where I would blast onto a point drop my bombs and blowtorch (and sometimes glueshot) and blast out with E-gun or rocket boots (combo-ing with healing turret or regenerating mist for the area heal).

So I can see this build being effective, I may try it out since I’m getting tired of the rifle/nade/mortar and hammer/toolkit/crate builds I’ve been running.

As far as general playstyles, I feel like the rifle is generally a better 1v1 or 2v2 weapon, especially in open areas, while hammer is more useful for staying alive and dealing damage in a team fight, especially at the smaller mid points at khylo and forest.

I will say I don’t think you need the intelligence sigil on rifle, especially with no scope.

hotcarl.8621:

I will say I don’t think you need the intelligence sigil on rifle, especially with no scope.

intelligence goes really well with 3, 5, pry bar, BoB… plus just use it with no scope for more reliable crits.

crusader rifle with pack, int, and no scope would be decently viable if there werent about 1000 elite spec builds running around being ridiculous. nothing but cele/marauder scrapper can compete. i used to love playing a valk (old pvp valk = crusader) engi variant of cele rifle during the cele meta days.

Yeah, I used to love running my cele rifle engi.. it was a pretty straightforward build, Elixir H, B, U, ‘Nades and Mortar, but it seems like it just can’t hang in there long enough in team fights to be useful. It’s still great for decapping a point or getting a quick kill while fighting 1v1, but it goes down too quick in team fights now to be reliable. I still run it for roaming in WvW, and have success with it there, but I miss being able to play my engi competitively in PvP.

Maybe I’ll try pistol/pistol again and see if I can make that work for me, but I think scrapper just outshines vanilla engi now for PvP. Makes me kind of sad.. :/

The old marauder meta with rifle is really strong even now. you find it on metabattle. I don’t say it is stronger than/as scrapper … but it is quite strong. Scrapper is more bunkerish ok , but old marauder rifle build with nades have something that scrapper has not : Great aoe damage. In some match i prefer scrapper , especially for going 1 vs1 .. .but on other hand in teamfight rifle with nades ( the elder meta ) is really really strong. It depens on your role and your team. In general , for soloing perhaps scrapper is a little better

hotcarl.8621:

Yeah, I used to love running my cele rifle engi.. it was a pretty straightforward build, Elixir H, B, U, ‘Nades and Mortar, but it seems like it just can’t hang in there long enough in team fights to be useful. It’s still great for decapping a point or getting a quick kill while fighting 1v1, but it goes down too quick in team fights now to be reliable. I still run it for roaming in WvW, and have success with it there, but I miss being able to play my engi competitively in PvP.

Maybe I’ll try pistol/pistol again and see if I can make that work for me, but I think scrapper just outshines vanilla engi now for PvP. Makes me kind of sad.. :/

I tried quite all condi build around and i relly really love pistol pistol … it is fun and i love it … ok but … it is really weaker than scrapper meta or the old rifle nades marauder meta

PierPiero.9142:

The old marauder meta with rifle is really strong even now. you find it on metabattle. I don’t say it is stronger than/as scrapper … but it is quite strong. Scrapper is more bunkerish ok , but old marauder rifle build with nades have something that scrapper has not : Great aoe damage. In some match i prefer scrapper , especially for going 1 vs1 .. .but on other hand in teamfight rifle with nades ( the elder meta ) is really really strong. It depens on your role and your team. In general , for soloing perhaps scrapper is a little better

I might try that build with scrapper instead of tools so I too can be a bunker in marauder stats.

nearlight.3064:

PierPiero.9142:

The old marauder meta with rifle is really strong even now. you find it on metabattle. I don’t say it is stronger than/as scrapper … but it is quite strong. Scrapper is more bunkerish ok , but old marauder rifle build with nades have something that scrapper has not : Great aoe damage. In some match i prefer scrapper , especially for going 1 vs1 .. .but on other hand in teamfight rifle with nades ( the elder meta ) is really really strong. It depens on your role and your team. In general , for soloing perhaps scrapper is a little better

I might try that build with scrapper instead of tools so I too can be a bunker in marauder stats.

for that build i prefer tools. The reason is simple : the reduction of toolbet skills and of toolkit is really important in that build ( more stealth , more damage , more defense ) . I suggest you to begin trying as "it is " and then to change it if u need .