I’m curious if anyone has come up with a build that uses Bunker Down to decent effect. The downsides I immedietly see with a bunker build is that it requires too many trait points (6 in Firearms, some in Explosions, doesn’t leave you with much for bunker), but has anyone found a decent build that uses it?
In PvP I have made several attempts at maximizing this trait being that I love to experiment. But sadly it really offers nothing, and I am at a loss for why it was implemented in the first place..
Aside from the 1k+ crits in power builds when aggressing a heavily contested point or helping proc on hit effects (although there are much more lucrative and easily obtainable alternatives) it provides no true pressure and absolutely no utility. Perhaps if it removed boons, deployed multiple mines or could synergies with the trait Elixir-Infused Bombs it might raise an eye brow. Most Engineers stay at a safe distance from their opponents and must persistently kite their foes making the fact the mine appears at your feet a gamble for its usefulness given that they have such short durations on the field.
I have heard stories of Engineers getting some uses out of it in PvE but I never leave The Mists so my experience with his trait comes exsclusively from SPvP. That being said I always encourage other Engineers to experiment into off the wall builds and innovate their own combo’s and synergies but as for this trait I would recommend simply choosing another.
Aside from the enjoyable quirky chirps they emit while they lay lonely blinking farewell with their sad red eye, they offer very little in terms of effectiveness for a grandmaster trait and would seem more suited for a minor trait.
This is just from my experience however.
Veteran of The Mists & Professional Engineer
Dingo King-Hound King-Coyoti King-Thylacine King-Hyena King
It could be better, but if you have 6 points in Firearms and you’re not targeting something with lots of conditions you might as well use it. I don’t even base my use of it on whether I’m in melee, or kiting, or whether I can know if my targets will hit the mines. I only use it when Modified Ammo is pointless, which is not very often.
The downside is not the trait investment. It’s about it being broken. The way it procs is weird and the detonation of said mine requries movement from mobs. Even if the mobs move it still doesn’t detonate reliably. Compare that to modified ammo which is a 2% dps boost per condition.
It’s just too much of a hassle in pve. It may have uses in wvw/pvp with certain rifle builds but it still is quite wonky.
I’m using Bunker Down in my current build; the greatest issues I’ve found are mostly ‘I kill small mobs too quickly for it to be useful, and for big mobs it’s almost nothing.’
If you’re a condition engineer it’s not useful to you all. If you fight in close proximity bomb/rifle/nade build then it can be a decent DPS boost for sure, more so than Modified Ammunition for sure. You won’t land every mine, but the odd mine every here and there is the equivalent to an extra Sigil of air/Fire proc which is always handy. Where Bunker Down really shines is kiting. Bunker Down is something like a 20% DPS boost in zerk bomb builds against mobs that want to get up close and personal. Even for mobs that don’t want to get up close and personal, if you can effectively kite them around a single corner/wall/or any sort of obstruction then you’ll see a significant damage boost. In most dungeons you will be stacked, but personally I enjoy soloing a lot of dungeons on my own so I have the freedom to easily kite corners and such without having to coordinate with teamates.
Chances are, if you’re running a zerk engi build you’re already 30 in Firearms so it’s a trait that can easily be swapped in/out for modified ammunition where it’s appropriate.
To give you a recent example of where bunker down was AMAZING to have (I could have killed them twice as fast had I mad some more intelligent utility decisions and I wasn’t using all 6 gambits like a dummy, especially squeamish) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnRs-DOvOTQ
I’ve used it in PVE and I’ve written many a post on the current lackluster state of explosives in this class. The trigger range is still buggy after 2 years I’ve had mobs dance all over these things and look at me right in the eye.
They need to make them bigger, they need to make their trigger range 360 with Forceful Explosives (240 standard) and they need to improve the mine skill. I vote for them to make the mine utility skill to be exactly like Aerin’s mine skill where he throws out three instead of 1 and I vote for the Toolbelt Mine skill to make a difference like making it throw mines in an arrow formation in front of the Engineer because we all know what it’s for it’s to keep enemies back or killing them in trap fashion they should behave that way.
As a healer I also vote for them to expand the Elixir Bombs to include all explosives that the character must toss out including the downed state 1 skill.
This class would improve immensely overnight with these changes in PVE.
My observations:
- Great for fighting anything that occasionally comes at you in melee range.
- Not great for fighting classes that tend to stay away from you in the first place (Rangers, mesmers, necros, Staff Eles etc)
- Great in combo with drop bombs on dodge and Citadel runes or Air runes. Passive damage everywhere!
- A build with this trait will have few defences but would be fun to play nonetheless.
Subject alpha in coe triggers it reliably every 15sec or so by spawning his grubs. each mine will hit with around 2 – 2.5k which is a reliable 10-12k additional burst every 15sec (given that you currently have all your mines on the field).
Tough they don’t rip boons, they work with explosives grandmaster minor and since I like to run BK + googles + throw mine for zerging in wvw I’ve already naturally traited for everything to boost bunker down even more.
The trait is very situational, but a definitive bless for BK/power-builds.
In pvp it’s less effective since people try to orbit you when you try to melee them rather than going full facetank.
No, firearms is not a great trait line and the most I find myself putting in it is 2. The skill is 2 for rifled barrels. The trait would be much better if it was a “throw mine” mine or at least stripped boons, but at the moment it seems rather useless, giving no incentive to put 6 trait points into a bad line. Just stick with explosives line for damage.
No, firearms is not a great trait line and the most I find myself putting in it is 2. The skill is 2 for rifled barrels. The trait would be much better if it was a “throw mine” mine or at least stripped boons, but at the moment it seems rather useless, giving no incentive to put 6 trait points into a bad line. Just stick with explosives line for damage.
They’ve needed to move condition damage enhancement from Rifle to Explosives for a long long time now and Bunker Down needs to be placed in the Explosives line or they simply should allow what I’ve suggested since they put out the XIII traits to occur which is allow these traits to float in the Grandmaster Column so they can be placed anywhere on any build.
A quick and easy fix for just about all PvE related content would be to make them explode when they expire after the 5 second (or however long it was) life span of the mine. The way mobs standing on-top of the mines but down trigger them will still get hit.
I forgot to mention, but this trait is also pretty useful when fighting on points.
