Guild Wars 2

I’m only a level 14 Engineer, and have played the game for about a week just to get that out of the way. So far I’m loving engineer despite some obvious issues, when I first unlocked the FT kit I instantly loved it mostly due to it’s art assets, however I was also rather disappointed in its actual functionality. It seems very weak, I’m pretty sure my rifle is actually a better weapon, and it did not have the properties I would have expected. Note, damage numbers are taken from what my skills currently say.

So with that said, here are some things I would change if I could with no idea how it would work out in later game PvE (and not really caring about PvP):

Flame Jet: Damage 10x, Burning 1 second 64 damage, 5 attacks per second, range 425.

The art for this attack is great, it’s awesome but it’s more then underwhelming in effect. It inexplicably misses all the time despite bathing the target in flames, it applies a pitiful 1 second burning dot and the cumulative damage is not that great.

I’d rework it, leave its ticking damage the same (10x) but massively boost it’s DoT. Instead of a laughable 1 second (feels like .5 seconds really) burning dot that is only applied with the final tic of the attack – every tic causes DoT burning, every tic refreshes the dot and the dot stacks up to 5×. This feels far more like how a flame thrower should function, it’s not just a jet of fire – it’s a stream of flaming liquid that sticks to any surface. The strength of the DoT would give you much greater sustained damage and allow kiting kills similar to other classes that can bleed kite.

Flame Blast: 88 Damage, 206 Blast Damage, 240 radius, 600 range.

This ability seems fine for the most part, however I would add utility to it. The Flame Thrower kit is close range, yet engineers are not exactly the toughest out there – thus it seems like the kit is in bad need of crowd control. There are several ways to go about this, I’m not sure which is best but Ill just list the ones I’ve thought of here:

Add a short duration AoE stun to the detonation portion of Flame Blast, this one seems the least fun to me but possibly the better balanced and gives the kit a ranged interrupt. Alternatively it could apply a slightly longer duration cripple effect, slowing enemies but not stunning or interrupting them.

Napalm: 1s Burning per pulse: 64 damage, 10s duration, 600 range.

I would change this abilities effect from a very thin wall to a larger rectangular shape, reduce it’s damage (potentially, don’t know how hard this hits really at higher levels) and give it a snare effect – any mobs moving through the napalm would be crippled while also having any burning stacks refreshed (making this ability a fire themed variant of thief caltrops essentially).

Air Blast and Smoke Vent seem fine if a bit dull, the only other thing I’d change is the toolbelt ability Incendiary ammo, just because a few seconds of burning dot seems kind of dull for a kit special ability. Especially since, in my new player opinion, burning DoT should be a massive focus of this kit instead of the seemingly incidental side effect that it is.

Thoughts, opinions, flames? Again I’m a new player, I just also happen to love fire and while the art assets of the FT are awesome – most of it’s actual effects seem weaksauce. (unrelated topic, I also feel like the sound assets to most of our explosions are very very anemic, I have fireworks with more oomph to them then our bomb kit).

FT is weak at low levels. It gets a lot better when its traited but is still a bit underpowered IMHO.

It doesn’t show it in the tooltip or the wiki, but FT#1 does +10% damage against burning enemies. Use the Incendiary Ammo toolbelt skill to apply more burning at the start of the FT #1 attack. 1s burning on the last tick is both too weak and too late.

Flame Blast needs to explode if it hits an object. Some control on this would be awesome, but with two other control skills (4 and 5) I’m not holding my breath on this.

FT#3 Napalm doesn’t do any base damage (if it seems somehow underpowered, this is why) and is a small area. It could do with being be bigger with some base damage and longer burn (it’s a napalm after all). Cripple would be a nice.

Air Blast is ok. I’d love to see it get a stun break, but so far stun breaks are restricted to single utility skills (rather than 1/5 of one).

Smoke Vent is an AoE blind which is useful sometimes but not a lot for a #5 higher CD skill. There are regular requests to make it a short duration smoke field.

Flamethrower used to have a very overpowered trait that made you immune to all stuns/knockdowns while using it. It was nerfed a time or two before the trait was finally removed, but unfortunately, the nerfs remained even after the offending trait was taken care of. So yes, it is mostly used for the visual effects/concept now, although there are still a few people who swear by flamethrower builds.

Quxudais.5142:

Instead of a laughable 1 second (feels like .5 seconds really) burning dot that is only applied with the final tic of the attack – every tic causes DoT burning, every tic refreshes the dot and the dot stacks up to 5×.

Flame Jet doesn’t burn every tick because that would mean you would literally perma burn without any trait dependency. Do you know how ridiculously overpowered that would be? No other class has that type of burning damage capability without constructing an entire build around it (i.e., Sword/Torch Guardian).

Flame Jet could use a boost in DPS certainly, but the burning proc should be left alone—or fire off at the beginning of the stream and not the end of it.

Recommended skill changes:

1. Ignore, auto attack is useless unless you’re trying to die fast from retal.
2. Increase damage, reduce dmg by 50% if detonated
3. Same :]
4. Add a damage-over-time besides burning ( 40-50% of Acid bomb)
5. 2-4s Smoke Field.

There, flame thrower fixed :p

The base damage is fine, just make every tic inflict .5 sec of burning. Or have the end tick last for 3 seconds. Or have a shorter proc at the beginning of the stream.

Also change FT 4 so it inflicts a longer burning, like 5 seconds, so enemies cant just walk right through it like it’s not even there. The tiny bit of burning it does is pathetic and barely even serves as a deterrent, especially when you’re getting chased by a zerg in WvW.

FT 1 – Flame Jet. I have no major problem with this skill. I get 10 attacks and crit on 6 of them plus a very good burn. Add in Incendiary Ammo, and that first attack can really put a major hurt on an enemy.

But from a conceptual point of view… It should burn from the beginning. The direct DPS should be lowered and the burn made a 2-second burn of greater intensity (ie, it should be far more condition than impact).

FT2 – Flame Blast: Damage is fine, but it gets bugged. Too many times it shoots into the floor instead of up-the-slope. The DPS of it is ok, though it should be a BLAST FINISHER.

FT3 – Air Blast: It’s bugged or was nerfed without changing the tool-tip. It’s supposed to (according to the tooltip) put a 2-second burn on the target. I spent a good 45-minutes this AM in Frostgorge, Malchor’s Leap and Cursed Shore gathering and killed scores of enemies. Not once did it apply a burn.

FT4 – Napalm: Takes too long to fire. If you fire early, enemies dodge-roll through it or go around it. Therefore, no burn. If you fire later, the enemies have gotten to you before the line of flame gets out there.

FT5- Smoke Vent: It’s probably one of the most worthless skills in game as a single auto-attack from the weakest weapon in the game will negate the 5-second ‘blind.’ Making it worse, it has a TWENTY-SECOND COOLDOWN.

I have 8 characters and I use every #5 skill in every build/weapon set they have and find virtually all of them to be excellent to outstanding skills. Except this one which is as close to worthless as they come and not worth the 1-second animation time.

Bring back Backdraft. Or make it so it makes a 4-second smokescreen that grants protection from projectiles like the thief’s Smoke Screen which is actually useful!

@MosesZD

FT #5 can be useful on PvP to stomp players. you just have to watch their animation and blind them before try to rupt you. that’s pretty much the only use.

MosesZD.7428:

FT 1 – Flame Jet. I have no major problem with this skill. I get 10 attacks and crit on 6 of them plus a very good burn. Add in Incendiary Ammo, and that first attack can really put a major hurt on an enemy.

But from a conceptual point of view… It should burn from the beginning. The direct DPS should be lowered and the burn made a 2-second burn of greater intensity (ie, it should be far more condition than impact).

FT2 – Flame Blast: Damage is fine, but it gets bugged. Too many times it shoots into the floor instead of up-the-slope. The DPS of it is ok, though it should be a BLAST FINISHER.

FT3 – Air Blast: It’s bugged or was nerfed without changing the tool-tip. It’s supposed to (according to the tooltip) put a 2-second burn on the target. I spent a good 45-minutes this AM in Frostgorge, Malchor’s Leap and Cursed Shore gathering and killed scores of enemies. Not once did it apply a burn.

FT4 – Napalm: Takes too long to fire. If you fire early, enemies dodge-roll through it or go around it. Therefore, no burn. If you fire later, the enemies have gotten to you before the line of flame gets out there.

FT5- Smoke Vent: It’s probably one of the most worthless skills in game as a single auto-attack from the weakest weapon in the game will negate the 5-second ‘blind.’ Making it worse, it has a TWENTY-SECOND COOLDOWN.

I have 8 characters and I use every #5 skill in every build/weapon set they have and find virtually all of them to be excellent to outstanding skills. Except this one which is as close to worthless as they come and not worth the 1-second animation time.

Bring back Backdraft. Or make it so it makes a 4-second smokescreen that grants protection from projectiles like the thief’s Smoke Screen which is actually useful!

air blast adds duration to a burn already in effect they worded the tool tip wrong.
I agree with ft5 such a long cool down for such a mediocre ability. I wish the burn on ft1 was with the first hit as well but if they did that might as well get rid of the 10% on burn damage and just buff the damage 10%. Flame throwers biggest problem is retaliation you basically nuke yourself if you hit the max 3 if they have retal up. I’ve did 90% of my health in one burst before I could react and stop.

rivx.3267:

air blast adds duration to a burn already in effect they worded the tool tip wrong.

I agree with ft5 such a long cool down for such a mediocre ability. I wish the burn on ft1 was with the first hit as well but if they did that might as well get rid of the 10% on burn damage and just buff the damage 10%. Flame throwers biggest problem is retaliation you basically nuke yourself if you hit the max 3 if they have retal up. I’ve did 90% of my health in one burst before I could react and stop.

Ah, so that explains it. I kept hitting mob after mob after mob with it so I could see how it was working my (relatively) new flamethrower build and I kept getting nothing.

So, it’s #1/#3 or #4/#3. Not #3/X. Good to know.

I have no issue with FT#1. Yes, it’s rough against retaliation, but so is every rapid firing attack. Pop ret on a thief and you’ll watch them burn themselves down too. It’s all about situational awareness.

FT#2 is great because you can pop it wherever you want. Aim for a group of 3 and 1 runs in front of you, I’m glad it doesn’t auto-pop on the 1.

FT#3 is a nice aoe cone pushback. Yes, it’d be nice to have it deal some damage but it’s a control skill.

FT#4 is the lackluster skill. If it set foes on fire longer it’d be amazing in conjunction with #1’s increased damage to burning foes.

FT#5 needs a wider range and a short smoke combo field.