Guild Wars 2

Hi everyone!

I’m not much of a min/max type player – it makes my head hurt – but I still like to make sure I have my build set right to maximize what I’m doing.

Currently I run rifle/elixir.

My accessories are berzerker and my main set is knight’s. Power/Precision/Toughness.

I run six runes of the traveler.

I run Elixir B, Elixir H, Elixir S, Elixir U and Elixir X.

In Alchemy, I run Cleansing Formula 409, Fast-Acting Elixirs and Potent Elixirs.

On my weapon, I have the 5% increased damage rune.

What can I change/switch around to help maximize this build? What food would you recommend?

I appreciate the help all, thank you.

If you’re loading up on all those elixirs and not bringing HGH it’s a waste imo. You can stack might very well. I’m assuming you’re also traiting 30 into Firearms to buff your rifle since that’s the only thing you have that deals damage. Remember to always throw elixir B for stability before using rifle#4.

When running an HGH build, most people go either with bombs or grenades because they deal more damage than rifle, or they go pistol/pistol condition spec (but not in dungeons obviously). I’m assuming you’re using rifle because you like the playstyle and not for max damage. You’ll got much more damage and utility by dropping an elixir (probably U) and bringing grenade or bomb kit.

Sadly I’ve never thought about tossing Elixir B before using rifle #4. Ugh.

I’ll try dropping potent elixirs for HGH then and see how that works.

I’m using rifle because I enjoy the playstyle. I know there isn’t a build that really succeeds everywhere, but I’m sort of looking for one that can get me through any area I plan to play in without changing it up too much.

Why grenades or bombs if I’m not traited for them though?

Stark.1350:

Hi everyone!

I’m not much of a min/max type player – it makes my head hurt – but I still like to make sure I have my build set right to maximize what I’m doing.

Currently I run rifle/elixir.

My accessories are berzerker and my main set is knight’s. Power/Precision/Toughness.

I run six runes of the traveler.

I run Elixir B, Elixir H, Elixir S, Elixir U and Elixir X.

In Alchemy, I run Cleansing Formula 409, Fast-Acting Elixirs and Potent Elixirs.

On my weapon, I have the 5% increased damage rune.

What can I change/switch around to help maximize this build? What food would you recommend?

I appreciate the help all, thank you.

While it’s totally possible to play Engineer without any kits, it’s very difficult.

The only abilities you can use on cooldown as offensive attacks are Blunderbus and Jump Shot. If you use them on cooldown, it’s only occupying 12.50% of your time, lol. I personally cannot play the game while auto-attacking 87.50% of the time when attempting to focus a target down. Of course Elixir plays help to cut down on the time you’re spamming Hip Shot, but it’s still unbearably boring, in my opinion.

If you don’t run Grenades (as I do) or bombs, or any other kits as a side-arm to the Rifle, I feel that takes away a lot of the positive Engineer experiences when fighting.

If you aren’t a fan of Grenades, I recommend you try this build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUlspSXnvSyF17IxIFdW0gUkX/K6xjp8kB-TkAg0CnI0RFkLIjOycs5MEB

You can throw the 10 pts from tools back into Firearms if you desire, that’s up to you. The traits are not super important.

Toolkit is an amazing aid to Rifle. Throw Wrench is extremely effective when dropped on enemies knocked down by your Overcharged Shot, as it hits them twice – Guaranteed. The block makes you a lot more survivable, and your Magnet will at worst force dodges, and at best, pull people out of position, and into lethal combos.

Try: Magnet → Prybar → Overcharged Shot → Throw Wrench → Net Shot → Jump Shot in, → Blunderbus.

This combo is much easier to succeed with, as opposed to just going ham with the Rifle alone. It’s going to up your damage more than you could imagine when done right, too.

I think having two weapon skill bars is the minimum to enjoy any profession in Guild Wars 2 – I was always confused why Anet allows potentially new Engineers to be able to build without the option of switching weapons. So whatever kit you decide to use, I recommend you always have one with Elixir builds. Good luck.

Stark.1350:

Why grenades or bombs if I’m not traited for them though?

Well, you’d obviously trait for them, haha. Here’s what a common PvP HGH Rifle build looks like:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUlspSXnvSiF17IyoCdmoHPGlNZfewWtFEC-TkAg0CnI0RFkLIjOycs5MEB

I’ve recently taken a liking to Elixir X, and Lyssa runes when used Together. You can wipe conditions and seriously demolish people 1v1 with Rampage. After considering Elixir X a joke for about a year, I’ve recently tried it in this build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUlspiYnvSdF87IyoCdmoHPGlNZfewWtFEC-TkAg0CnIKSVkrITRyisFNEB

And found it very strong variant, except against D/P or S/D thieves.

Alright, I’ll take a look at those – I appreciate the help!

On another note, how do you feel about those builds in PvE? Dungeons and the like?

Condition builds are not often viable for dungeons due to 25 stack caps. If you are the only condition build in your group (which you can’t ensure in pugs) then it’s not bad. But condition HGH pistol builds are designed for PvP.

If you really like the rifle, I suggest a Rifle/SD build. It’s designed around the Static Discharge trait (SD) and can pump out some very nice burst. The idea is to pair jumpshot and blunderbuss with unloading your toolbelt skills on your target. Sample build below:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUl0pqdH5y3F1rIyoHkWnJageYX51IC-jACBYLAEBAJPFRjtIMItBTjVtATViIq2boIa1A-e

Last 10 trait pts to your liking; either Explosives V for offense or whatever you want for defense. Change Sitting Duck to Rifle Mod for bosses. Swap Rocket Boots and Rifle Turret as needed; I prefer RB for the escape and hard hitting Kick, but many prefer the range and low CD on the turret’s toolbelt.

Actually, you can do really well in WvW with all elixirs and no kits.

The thing is, on the engineer forums, there are so many with blinders on, that you cannot even discuss it. Its a crying shame that the OP asked for improvements on a all elixir/rifle build, and so many cram bombs/grenades down his throat.

I have yet to a single thread with a build in it, that didn’t have grenades/bombs in the build, in which multiple posters do not derail the thread completely into a bombs/grenades discussion.

coglin.1867:

Actually, you can do really well in WvW with all elixirs and no kits.

The thing is, on the engineer forums, there are so many with blinders on, that you cannot even discuss it. Its a crying shame that the OP asked for improvements on a all elixir/rifle build, and so many cram bombs/grenades down his throat.

I have yet to a single thread with a build in it, that didn’t have grenades/bombs in the build, in which multiple posters do not derail the thread completely into a bombs/grenades discussion.

Actually, I didn’t notice any posts telling the OP he needed to run bombs/nades. One poster said most engineers run nades with their elixirs, another gave a nice rifle/toolkit build, another suggested SD. I agree that sometimes engineers get too obsessed with explosives and miss some other good, fun builds, but that really hasn’t happened to this thread.

Chaith.8256:

If you don’t run Grenades (as I do) or bombs, or any other kits as a side-arm to the Rifle, I feel that takes away a lot of the positive Engineer experiences when fighting

Well comments of this nature appear that way to me.

Granted, I know chaith was being genuinely helpful, why are we so quick to push everyone in that direction when the OP and certainly the title, were pretty clear in defining an elixir build?

Stark,

Unfortunately Rifle/Elixirs does pretty low damage, especially without HGH. I’m personally not a fan of HGH because it takes so long to use elixirs and throw them that what you gain from the might stacks you more then lose in DPS down time.

Rifle/SD does quite good damage though, like the one Seras posted. I like to run Rifle Turret, Tool Kit and Personal Battering Ram or sub out PBR for Elixir Gun’s Acid Bomb. The damage is competitive and its and easy/fun build to play. TK gives you a lot of tools, no pun intended. Turret and PBR have low cooldown Toolbelt skills for more Static Discharges. It’s nice burst but its also competitive sustained DPS.

TL;DR If you want Rifle try Rifle/SD, if you want Elixirs try Grenades/HGH.

GL out there,
Blood~

Try it with elixir H, B, S and tool kit, similar to what chaith posted. Stability > blunderbuss > overcharged > throw wrench/net > jump shot > crowbar can do a ton of burst, maybe not AS much as a grenade spec but close and you dont have to spec 30 into explosives (0/10/0/30/30 is pretty fun) and tool kit is a nice mix of offense/defense/cc. Your autoattack is pretty mediocre inbetween that rotation but that seems fair considering the utility you get from elixirs, especially when you can toss elixir S and restart that rotation right out of stealth if you didnt get the person downed the first time.

I just wish H and X had less randomness in them. The changes to S and B last patch were a huge buff to this type of build and if they fix rng a little more these builds will be pretty competitive.

Also to the OP, try using a sigil of battle instead of the 5% damage one, with boon duration from alchemy and +might duration from rune sets it can add up to more damage overall as long as your boons dont get stripped. The gear setup on chaiths build is pretty good, though I like 6 piece hoelbrak to help vs conditions.

PvE, PvP or WvW?

It’s not hard to play without kits, in fact, it’s much much easier – but the damage will be pathetic. I tried different rifle builds, but even full buffed the damage was terrible. The auto attack sux so hard, Kits are simply required. And instead of focusing on the rifle and go for kits aa, better focus on kits and go for 2345 rifle attacks if needed. However Pistol Shield is better due the fact of a combo finisher explosion and 2 sigils.

I use a SD rifle build 0/20/10/10/30 for pvp/wvw I’ll switch it up too 10/30/0/0/30 for pve (picking up IP and mod ammo)

With SD you kind of “need” to run Rifle Turret, Tool Kit, & Goggles (pve) or RT, TK, Rocket boots (my personal fave for pvp/wvw. So no room for elixers, if you really love elixers then the above posts are very helpful. If you love the rifle and are trying to make it viable without kits, then my friend Static Discharge if the way to go.

Edit: oh and btw, my burst is far better than the grenade builds out there. 2k+ crits from rifle #1 #3 hits for 5k and #5 hits for 4k on the way up & 7-8k on the way down, the you still have my tool belt skills wich all hits for around 2k with another 2k SD proc. now my gear is maxed out atm but even in full exotic the numbers are nice. I can chain CC and burst just about anyone down in 3-5 sec and if they have stability I’ll just rocket boot away untill it drops then, boom! Ot just kill me the old casein way.

coglin.1867:

Granted, I know chaith was being genuinely helpful, why are we so quick to push everyone in that direction when the OP and certainly the title, were pretty clear in defining an elixir build?

I consider builds with Elixir H, Elixir B, Elixir S, and a kit to be elixir builds. So I’m not pushing him away from Elixir builds? I’m pushing him away from 5 Elixir builds.