Can I go without Bomb and Grenade kit?
As the game is now, yes, grenades and/or bombs are the best damage you can get on an engineer. The flamethrower will join them once the announced changes have been implemented.
If you are not level 80 yet you can skip on grenades, as they are too weak without the grenadeer trait.
That being said, open world pve is easy enough to play any fun spec you like, so feel free to test everything to your hearts desire. If you plan to run dungeons you should get accustomed to blowing things up though.
Bill Kilgore – [BIER] –
Pretty much this yes. Mork said most of the things. Grenades and Bombs are still the best option, by far. There is the possibility to go for a SD build with the rifle, but you will just be weaker than an explosive engineer. Not useless, but like a full Zerk Necro.
“Mentoring engineers / mesmers and showing you what you can do with your fantastic class!
Just pm me for my advice! Always eager to help!”
For pve open world it doesn’t mind, but for dungeons yeah, not using nades or bombs ( or both) will seriously put you behind, both in terms of damage and support.