Guild Wars 2

Hey engineers. I have just hit 80 on my engineer, I love this class because of the different playstyles you can achieve, even though most of them might not be viable (according to this place atleast :p).

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqal0p6ZnvSyF1LJxIFdW0gUkX9KqQ+/oQusF
This is my build right now. I run almost exclusivly WvW, either roaming or in a big guild group.

I have a mix of rabid jewelry with ruby orbs, an all-stat amulet(ascended) and some rampager, soldiers and carrion armor. Basicly I want to do good condi AND direct damage with the bomb/tool kit, stacking confusion along the way. I have 100% condi duration with veggie pizza’s etc. Pretty standard build I think, but I DO NOT want to use grenades. I just can’t handle them, cant be kitten to “learn” them, and I hate the button-mashing.

So onto my question, can a mixed power/crit/condi spec work? I think I have around 1450-1500 power, 700-800 condi damage and 40-50 crit chance+35 crit damage right now. My toughness is abit low in the 1300 region. 19-20k health depending on WvW buffs. This is without any food buffs.

I’m thinking of dropping 10 pts from alchemy for coated bullets when I am zerging with my guild, I can’t always run in with my bombs and I need a ranged AOE option. I do lose the vigor and 1k health though. And yes, I need speedy kits to function properly.

But after all this rambling I can’t help but feel I would be better off just going HGH might stacking? I would also get condi removal that way, since the build I have right now only has 1 condi removal in med kit. But I don’t want to lose bomb and tool kit.

TLDR; Should I give up my “balanced stat” route and focus on condition damage/precicion? And if so would grenades work better with that compared to bomb kit? Or would I be better off going HGH might stacking, losing my kits and gaining condi removal+lots of might/boons.

Would love some input from more experienced engineers on my build and the dilemmas I’m facing.
PS: I do love that 10 second confusion watching thiefs spam 2 theirselves to death.

You do not have to use the Grenade Kit or HGH.

In PvE/WvW there’s three viable builds at the moment that do not use the Grenade Kit:

1. Flamethrower + Elixir Gun
2. P/P Condi (You can go without HGH but it is better with it)
3. Elixir-Infused Bomb support

Use what you feel like. If anyone tells you that the Grenade Kit is the only option we have, they’re 100% wrong.

My opinion is either HGH P/P or HGH nades for WvW. I don’t actually like either, but anything else you would serve your server better being on a different class. Also you’ll need an alternative for skill lag when HGH becomes impossible e.g. 3 way fights where you cannot activate a heal let alone stack utils & double lagged toolbelt.

Some posters will rose tint sugar cost it for you, but that’s my personal breakdown.

I’m not overly fond of HGH period for WvW, but I do find grenades a must. The 1500 range, coupled with the strong damage on what you’re hitting, makes it an incredibly potent siege / large scale battle weapon. Rather than waste my utility slots on elixirs for the sake of buffs, I run tool kit and elixir S (It’s a panic button, not for buffing), alongside medkit (more heals in the short term, and more swiftness/fury). Tool Kit is pretty outstanding, between magnet and prybar and gear shield, as well as a traited throw wrench (100% physical projectile finisher, don’t forget that – twice). However, as a primary means of damage output, to be honest you might as well go with rifle. Net shot helps secure kills, and the 1200 range on a traited rifle is pretty useful. This is assuming you really hate grenades, of course – I use rifle to supplement my grenade kit. I’m suggesting you use it say, in conjunction with static discharge to help stay alive during massive battles, and keep your distance. You’ll be just really thin on AoE.

Well that’s the exact same trait setup as my Standard solo roaming confusion bomb build! It’s an awesome build, and it works more then fine in WvW

You can watch me roaming with it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoReMSCI0js

It’s also a great duel build, for 1vs1, 2vs2 ect, and you can tweak it around a lot, like swapping Elixir S for a Net Turret, Throw mine or even Rocket Boots! You do not have to go HGH nades to do WvW and have succes, running that build I pretty much win any 1vs1 I run into, and most 1vs2 I got a fair chance at winning as well, for not saying it’s a great build for picking of players that get to far away from the zerg! So yeah it works great!

Going the mixed Stat way with power/Crit damage / condition damage is on the other hand something I haven’t tested out much, I focus Rabid gear until I get 40% crit chance and the rest I go into Carrion gear for!!

If you really wanna do a mix of both Power and condition your probaly better of with a HGH build? because Might gives 25 Power and Condition damage!

On the other hand I do have an Engineer friend that run a P/S, Medkit, Tool kit, Elixir gun and Rifle Turret Condition damage and power build , with stastic Discharge build into it, that works great! So Who knows? it might works as well the way you do it! :P I simply just love the big burning numbers to much to lower my condtion damage ^^

I am a Drunken Mechanic in WvW.

I use P/P HGH+TK
With a focus on Condition Duration.

13 secs of confusion in 2 attacks usually buys me the time to apply all the other conditions I have.

In Zergs it is much less effective, but with the way Zergs are in my Tier (Tier 1) most builds are less effective since you can usually only manage to autoattack.

I have tried all the other gimmicky builds focused around a single burst or rotation but always come back to the good ole Reactive Gameplay of HGH P/P.

Every fight is exciting because I am not putting my hopes into a single attack.

Any build is viable if you know how to play the game.

Stop letting cookie cutter people tell you what’s right and wrong. What is the “only” way and what isn’t. Play the way you want to. I haven’t ever gotten a complaint on my build anywhere, ever. And it’s not even a real build. It’s a farming build atm O.o

Wuffles.5319:

Any build is viable if you know how to play the game.

Stop letting cookie cutter people tell you what’s right and wrong. What is the “only” way and what isn’t. Play the way you want to. I haven’t ever gotten a complaint on my build anywhere, ever. And it’s not even a real build. It’s a farming build atm O.o

Don’t listen to the guy who tells you to being a wiffle bat into a major league game.. smh. How he farms/pves is his own bad choice. No one ever said there is only one way to play but there is always a better way because this class is far from balanced looking inward.

I think you have other options especially in a bigger group.

Support with elixir infused bombs, or a very decent WvW FT/EG set up.

It’s when roaming I think your options get less.
There player skill defines what your build can add.

I might go condi-burst HGH and still lose every fight because i’m not used to it.
On the other hand: if I take a FT/EG build roaming, I might still lose because I can’t kill my opponent untill he goes afk to message his Facebook friends about this annoying engineer…

An engineer can support a group in more builds than he can go succesfully roaming I think.