Guild Wars 2

Made and equipped this back in November mostly in EoM, meaning my engi skills are basic which relegates me to zerging while learning.

Here is the current build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fdAQFAUlUUpErlcxvLseNSbBNywsGRuxp85CEgjC-TVCBABxs/QXKzIV9HFMNBwFAwjHAQe6AmQJISKNCAgAczbGAG6QH6QH6QbnpzhmUAMpMC-w

I have a set of Hoelbraks, but I’m not sure I see the cost/benefit other than the Might they give. I see Pack runes mentioned also, and thought seriously about Melandru.

Yes, more power to be had but at the expense of a lot of other stats (78 pts in vitality, condi, toughness, healing, precision, etc. Speedy Kits gives me the mobility I want. I’m ok with swaps and Battle gives Might so there’s that.

I just never see Divinitys mentioned, probably for good reason, but I don’t want to spend the Hoelbraks in ascended gear without good reason.

Similarly, I currently use an accuracy sigil for the precision boost but made a cleansing last night as it seems wise for mitigation given that I swap a lot.

As usual, per noob questions, any advice would be appreciated and helpful. Have both Guard stacks for added power and vitality.

Lastly, looking at the two ring slots now with enough laurels. I’m thinking Celestial, but Soldier might make sense as well since toughness seems a bit low. Maybe Knights as crit and toughness seem low per my necro/guardian/warrior experiences with the cleansing sigil equipped.

Last but not least, since I have a full set of ascending Rabid rings, accessories, etc, Divinity gives the best option to push condi up simply by equipping these along with food and crystals.

1st: utilities
as a cele zerger you rather not want to run nades
reason:
- no decent soft-cc
- no firefields
solution:
- run bombkit instead
- also rocketboots are fine to escape while roaming, but in a zerg there are only two reliable ways for the engi to save his kitten Toolkit – which you already have – and Elixir S.

2nd: traits
explosives, master tier
- switch from explosive powder to short fuse.
reason:
in a zerg dmg is determined by the skill of your commander in terms of positioning and timing, therefore having your utilities ready on demand is way more important that 10% more personal dmg.
- consider taking out 10 points from explosives to either get self-regulating defense in alchemy or leg-mods in tools
reason:
If you follow my advice to run bombkit, you don’t need grenadier anymore and can focus on improved mobility or survivability. Alternatively, go for automated bomb-dispenser, to increase your blind-spamability

3rd: gear
celestial is fine for roaming, but for zerging you want to be more tanky than your current setup, especially since we are a medium armor class.
consider full knight, knight/berserker hybrid, full clerics (with elixir-infused bombs-setup) or clerics / knight hybrid.
Other setups might work, and given that your zerg has a hunting party going, even full zerker setups have been proven to be viable, but if you ever want to take a step into the melee-train, the above mentioned setups are your best shot.

and now to your original question: runes / sigils.
melandru is your best friend, or eagle if you play a berserker s/d sniper. Hoelbrak may gives longer might duration, but since a zerg keeps 25 stacks up in combat permanently anyways, you would only profit from runes strength on that regard, which in turn provides nothing in terms of survivability.
Decent alternatives: Vampirism gives a nice fail-safe, altruism is nice boon-support, monk works wonders in a cleric healing bomb setup, grenth brings nice synergy with sigil of hydromancy, mad king is a impressive load of dps, added to your crate.

sigils:
stamina is impressive survivability in bigger zerg fights, restoration as well. for smaller engagements, doom and hydromancy togehter are a nice way to disrupt your opponents, and for that extra “oomph” on your attacks, battle and strenght will provide decent outcomes (given that your zerg fails to keep might up reliably).
For cleric bomb-healer, benevolence is worth to be considered as well.

Any of these sigils or runes mixed will provide your with at least a decent level of effectiveness within your zerg.

Arantheal.7396:

1st: utilities
as a cele zerger you rather not want to run nades
reason:
- no decent soft-cc
- no firefields
solution:
- run bombkit instead
- also rocketboots are fine to escape while roaming, but in a zerg there are only two reliable ways for the engi to save his kitten Toolkit – which you already have – and Elixir S.

2nd: traits
explosives, master tier
- switch from explosive powder to short fuse.
reason:
in a zerg dmg is determined by the skill of your commander in terms of positioning and timing, therefore having your utilities ready on demand is way more important that 10% more personal dmg.
- consider taking out 10 points from explosives to either get self-regulating defense in alchemy or leg-mods in tools
reason:
If you follow my advice to run bombkit, you don’t need grenadier anymore and can focus on improved mobility or survivability. Alternatively, go for automated bomb-dispenser, to increase your blind-spamability

3rd: gear
celestial is fine for roaming, but for zerging you want to be more tanky than your current setup, especially since we are a medium armor class.
consider full knight, knight/berserker hybrid, full clerics (with elixir-infused bombs-setup) or clerics / knight hybrid.
Other setups might work, and given that your zerg has a hunting party going, even full zerker setups have been proven to be viable, but if you ever want to take a step into the melee-train, the above mentioned setups are your best shot.

and now to your original question: runes / sigils.
melandru is your best friend, or eagle if you play a berserker s/d sniper. Hoelbrak may gives longer might duration, but since a zerg keeps 25 stacks up in combat permanently anyways, you would only profit from runes strength on that regard, which in turn provides nothing in terms of survivability.
Decent alternatives: Vampirism gives a nice fail-safe, altruism is nice boon-support, monk works wonders in a cleric healing bomb setup, grenth brings nice synergy with sigil of hydromancy, mad king is a impressive load of dps, added to your crate.

sigils:
stamina is impressive survivability in bigger zerg fights, restoration as well. for smaller engagements, doom and hydromancy togehter are a nice way to disrupt your opponents, and for that extra “oomph” on your attacks, battle and strenght will provide decent outcomes (given that your zerg fails to keep might up reliably).
For cleric bomb-healer, benevolence is worth to be considered as well.

Any of these sigils or runes mixed will provide your with at least a decent level of effectiveness within your zerg.

Great stuff, and thanks for taking the time. Upon some self-reflection (No, not that!, I realized I tend to run up front on all my toons. Not much for backline I guess, except when necessary.

And so, I looked around a bit for an elixir-infused bombs build to reference. I mostly ended up adapting Misha’s commander build at Wolfineer’s site mostly because it applies celestial armor, which I have, and has reasonable stats besides what with the Knights jewelry:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcEQJAqelIqSX3zylF1LJxIFce0hUY/7LSh+t8nCyF-jUDBYfI4fAoigkDgEEA0HIJqFRjtMqIasKbYaYER1WdAWzKaG0pWKgiEGB-w

I changed a few things but noted also this recent post from Wolfineer on bomb builds. https://i.reddit.com/r/Gw2WvW/comments/2ruhpi/engineer_in_zvz/

For a bomb build you go with Bomb Kit (obviously) and I like to take Elixir B with me for Stability (very important)…

Now for traits I would go with 2/0/6/2/4 (or 2/0/6/4/2) for the Healing Setup and 4/0/2/4/4 (or 6/0/2/2/4) for the Damaging setup. Gear would be Cleric/Soldier with Healing Setup and a mix of Knight/Soldier/Berserker for the Damaging setup.

Throw Mine is nice but requires a strong coordinated group and you’ll lose your stunbreaker (unless you wish to lose stability). It’s kind of the same story with Thumper Turret but requires simply a little bit more coordination and placing your mine correctly to remove stability from your opponent. Pick it if you like it a lot I guess.

Wolf’s build suggestions abandon celestial gear (not that I can’t buy or make exotics of whatever flavor if necessary) while stating a bit less for toughness.

Not being familiar with engineer traits makes it all a bit of a mystery, but I can guess what the traits suggested likely are. I don’t see giving up the defense in Inventions a good idea though.

Not sure if Reinforced Shields beats Cloaking Device or Energized Armor, but that’s just inexperience. Similarly, not sure about Bloodlust, but adding some power generally seems a good idea. Same for Slick Shoes vs. Mines, etc.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fdQQJAqelUUpPrVXx+KseRicBNyqMmQmwUIyImkPFAA-TlSDAB5s/Qf6AoS5HdaB2U9nAOBAnqEEENEAYCagHAQAAEgb2mBwQH6QH6QHaX3mD9mDNpAYSZE-w

Thanks again though. I’ve enjoyed the day researching some of this stuff.

This new build of yours definitively looks better than your previous one, and is reasonable enough to survive in the front-row, while also dealing enough dmg to justify its presence there.
The reason wolfrar did choose elixir B over toolkit is because he already utilizes elixir S as failsafe (and secured stomp if needed) and for most people 1 panic-button is enough. Elixir B provides 4sec of stability so you have the option to get at least a small amount of stability to embrace the first dive.
I personally prefer toolkit over elixir B for its pull, cripple and block, and I guess after some time on playing engi, you will develop your own preferences as well.

Also, make sure to choose speedy kits instead of speedy gadgets, since your build contains no gadgets. I guess that was just a missclick on your side.

edit: avoid bloodlust or other sgils that stack charges on kill. you loose them as soon as you switch to underwater-combat, which is a deal-breaker in my eyes. Benevolence is the only exception for healing bomb setups, since it’s just too good to pass up on it.

Arantheal.7396:

This new build of yours definitively looks better than your previous one, and is reasonable enough to survive in the front-row, while also dealing enough dmg to justify its presence there.
The reason wolfrar did choose elixir B over toolkit is because he already utilizes elixir S as failsafe (and secured stomp if needed) and for most people 1 panic-button is enough. Elixir B provides 4sec of stability so you have the option to get at least a small amount of stability to embrace the first dive.
I personally prefer toolkit over elixir B for its pull, cripple and block, and I guess after some time on playing engi, you will develop your own preferences as well.

Also, make sure to choose speedy kits instead of speedy gadgets, since your build contains no gadgets. I guess that was just a missclick on your side.

edit: avoid bloodlust or other sgils that stack charges on kill. you loose them as soon as you switch to underwater-combat, which is a deal-breaker in my eyes. Benevolence is the only exception for healing bomb setups, since it’s just too good to pass up on it.

I know that Elixir B isn’t used that much by the skilled players. Here it just seemed a no-brainer for the retaliation/stability it offers. Maybe too much duplication with Guardians around though.

Yes, Speedy Kits, not gadgets.

Hate the underwater thing. Downs, yes. I get it, but underwater? Why? I’ve learned how to stay up enough to keep sigil stacks and aoe skills (bounces also) make them 25 relatively easy. Water though is a big annoy.

Lastly, made a set of the new Defender runes last night. Trying those with the cele set. Seems like “heal skills” come primarily from the elixir gun and turret burst rather than bombs though, unless Elixir Infused Bombs makes deploys count as a skill (along with med kit deploys maybe) , in which case this could be a fun support build to run.

EDIT: lol… Stats aren’t exact. Site doesn’t have the Defender rune yet, but looking forward to giving it a try. I may need to swap Purity or Cleansing for Water sigil. Maybe Slick Boots or Rockets rather than Elix S, maybe defensive rather than Energized Armor. We’ll see. Power isn’t bad though. Mostly a key masher build. Not sure which will prove better, Kits each deploy a heal skill? or Turret.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fdQQJAqelsTpPrVXx+KseRiaBNqzE6MG1AIyQmlPFBA-TVSDABOcCAQUJIM7PklSFqUWtp6PkoFAgHAQK6ACAgAYoDdoDdoDtdO0dO0duzSBwkwI-w

You don’t lose sigil stacks if you go underwater, as long as your underwater weapon has one. On the other hand, due to engineers only having 2 sigils, you usually are better off with something else. Classes with 2 slots can choose to put bloodlust on their less important weapon set, but in the case of engi, you’d be better off with something like battle. I would suggest renewal over life.

Also, use a stone instead of oil. You don’t have anything that procs on crit, and elixir B gives you lots of fury anyways.

Med Kit can be really good for self-heals or group heals,, but in general, healing turret’s frequent batch of 2 water fields is superior in zergs.