I’ve levelled 5 classes to level 80 so far (guardian/thief/mesmer/elementalist/engineer), but engineer seems to be the least straightforward of them all (though that isn’t perse a bad thing).
I need your advice on how to gear when using a Grenadier/Modified Ammunition build for PVE (roaming/worldbosses/dungeons).
Traits:
I have picked Shrapnel and Incendiary Powder in Explosives as they seem best for a condi build.
I am wondering what to pick in the first 2 major trait slots of Firearms, as they seem kind of pointless in combination with Grenadier (except for Precise Sights).
Gear:
Currently I am using Rabid armor, Carrion weapons and Rampager jewelry.
Though I feel I got far more precision than what I need for this build.
What are your thoughts on this?
Utility slots: Grenade kit, Bomb kit and Elixir gun.
Rampager will give you the highest damage output with Grenades. Rabid is pretty low but has defense. I’d go Carrion over Rabid personally if you don’t want Rampagers.
In group PvE Zerker and Rampagers are almost equal due to how conditions work. On world bosses conditions are terrible so Zerker/Knights is much better here. I think of conditions as extra added damage when they work, I won’t count on them as my main damage source in anything PvE.
GL
Blood~
“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance”
Rampager will give you the highest damage output with Grenades. Rabid is pretty low but has defense. I’d go Carrion over Rabid personally if you don’t want Rampagers.
In group PvE Zerker and Rampagers are almost equal due to how conditions work. On world bosses conditions are terrible so Zerker/Knights is much better here. I think of conditions as extra added damage when they work, I won’t count on them as my main damage source in anything PvE.
GL
Blood~
Thanks, though it feels kind of counter-intuitive to go for zerker when you got a condition heavy trait build. Especially since some grenades and bombs don’t even have a base dmg. But I guess I have to play around with it a bit.
Rampager will give you the highest damage output with Grenades. Rabid is pretty low but has defense. I’d go Carrion over Rabid personally if you don’t want Rampagers.
In group PvE Zerker and Rampagers are almost equal due to how conditions work. On world bosses conditions are terrible so Zerker/Knights is much better here. I think of conditions as extra added damage when they work, I won’t count on them as my main damage source in anything PvE.
GL
Blood~
Thanks, though it feels kind of counter-intuitive to go for zerker when you got a condition heavy trait build. Especially since some grenades and bombs don’t even have a base dmg. But I guess I have to play around with it a bit.
With full zerker and buffs you can reach 8k bomb autos. Thats 16k DPS, and on top of that youre stacking vuln for your team.
I like it when people misread the tooltip startup as overall attack speed even though it’s super obvious just by looking at it that the bomb doesn’t hit twice a second. I wonder what those people think about skills like warrior axe auto that don’t even have startups listed. Do they just assume they’re instant?
I like it when people misread the tooltip startup as overall attack speed even though it’s super obvious just by looking at it that the bomb doesn’t hit twice a second. I wonder what those people think about skills like warrior axe auto that don’t even have startups listed. Do they just assume they’re instant?
What I meant was that some grenades and bombs just apply conditions and thus not profit from power. Or am I overlooking something?
I like it when people misread the tooltip startup as overall attack speed even though it’s super obvious just by looking at it that the bomb doesn’t hit twice a second. I wonder what those people think about skills like warrior axe auto that don’t even have startups listed. Do they just assume they’re instant?
What I meant was that some grenades and bombs just apply conditions and thus not profit from power. Or am I overlooking something?
Bomb auto attack scales the best with power of any skill in the game. You shouldn’t use anything other than 1 and 2 to stack might in PVE anyway
I like it when people misread the tooltip startup as overall attack speed even though it’s super obvious just by looking at it that the bomb doesn’t hit twice a second. I wonder what those people think about skills like warrior axe auto that don’t even have startups listed. Do they just assume they’re instant?
What I meant was that some grenades and bombs just apply conditions and thus not profit from power. Or am I overlooking something?
shrapnel and freeze grenade both do high damage physical damage. flash grenade blinds which is very useful. poison grenade reduces healing on bosses that heal or have regen. fire bomb and smoke bomb stack vulnerability per pulse. glue bomb can stack vulnerability if you trait for sitting duck and it’s great for kiting. concussion bomb is the weakest out of the bomb skills for a power build but it gives you a 2% damage boost for 5 seconds because of modified ammunition. modified ammunition gives you an extra 2% damage per condition so having all these conditions on our attacks is actually a bonus.
I use a combination of Power + Prec + Crit Dmg / Power + Prec + Cnd dmg. I mainy use Grenades (because IMO I am a bad/mediocre player and I don’t dodge very well, so I try to stay alive @ range);
I use the bomb kit depending of the boss we are facing(any boss that requires stacking see CoE / etc) / the party composition / etc.
No one says not to have more than 1 set of gear in your inventory: If your party is full of zerkers you can use a few pieces + cnd dmg. If you have 1-2 cnd specced people, you could switch to full zerk; In a fight that needs a lot of AoE healing/cnd removal you could equip your +healing armors and blast your HT every 16s. I pug 99% of times for dungeons and sometimes the mighty guardians are missing.
Thanks for clearing a lot of things up for me. No more gear with condi as main stat then. I guess a combination of zerker with a few rampager seems like a solid choice then.
This sums up maximizing DPS currently in PvE, and can be used as a base to tweak to personal preference. I usually take bomb and nade kit to go in and out of melee and stack up a ton of conditions to maximize modified ammo. Full zerker exotic with ruby orbs is very cheap i suggest giving it a try. I am addicted to the damage now. Also I have a feeling this build will get even stronger from the crit damage nerfs (by that I mean it won’t lose as much DPS as other professions)
Thanks for clearing a lot of things up for me. No more gear with condi as main stat then. I guess a combination of zerker with a few rampager seems like a solid choice then.
Conditions are still useful in WvW. Rabid is a good set for that.
Last I checked Poison Grenades drop a field that ticks multiple times. Each tick applies vulnerability too. Its a good way start off. I think other grenades/bombs that give multiple ticks do the same. The Vulnerability from Grenades is the major strength of the kit IMHO, along with good damage. If you have others in group applying Vulnerability run Bombs, they’re higher scaled DPS but less Vulnerability. Sitting Duck is a good trait with Bombs/Rifle, it applies on Net shot and Glue Bomb.
Blood~
“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance”
Sitting Duck is a good trait with Bombs/Rifle, it applies on Net shot and Glue Bomb.
Blood~
I have only been disappointed by this trait except in specific 1v1 encounters (rare). It has a cooldown and if your Glue Bomb hits 5 targets it’s only proccing on 1 of them before it goes on cooldown.
It’s not awful, but when a good chunk of our immobilize is AOE this trait doesn’t really add up IMO.
Sitting Duck is a good trait with Bombs/Rifle, it applies on Net shot and Glue Bomb.
Blood~
I have only been disappointed by this trait except in specific 1v1 encounters (rare). It has a cooldown and if your Glue Bomb hits 5 targets it’s only proccing on 1 of them before it goes on cooldown.
It’s not awful, but when a good chunk of our immobilize is AOE this trait doesn’t really add up IMO.
Good to know, I usually only run it in PvE and only pay attention to stacks on bosses.
“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance”
Net Shot on rifle is on a relatively low cooldown, especially when traited. Hit a target with it or Glue Shot and you’ve got +6% damage on them. I love it in WvW and PvP, and it’s a staple combination in my rifle/SD build.
And Mod Ammo against a dungeon or world boss is like free +10% or more damage. Those guys are loaded up on conditions.
