Guild Wars 2

What is Engi’s best ‘role’. Or are they the epitome of jack of all trades class? What is the best thing they can bring to the table in the dungeon setting that no other class can do better? (Warrior brings DPS, Necro brings AOE Condi, Ele/Guard brings party heal/support etc). Every class I’ve played has at least 1 perk that makes them stand out, but I am having a hard time figuring out my last class.

We’re the CC specialists. We also bring support although not as much as a Guard or an Ele can do without trying. What I mean is that a Guard or an Ele can concentrate on other things (like damage) and still bring support, we need to concentrate solely on support (or tanking/support) and what we bring is still not essential.

We can bring dps, but not as much as a warrior. If we go full GC we have much less defense than a thief or a mesmer (this doesn’t matter if you’re a really good player that can avoid getting damaged).

For the longest time I embraced the fact that we’re CC specialists and provide support. I would go around providing constant regen (with on heal runes+med kit), chilling/crippling champs, with some immobilizes thrown in (to reduce defiant stacks) along with super elixir. No one would use the condition cleanse fron SE and it’s heals were wasted because no one would be dumb enough to stand still for it’s duration. On top of that, any elementalist on the party would provide regen anyway as he would dps everything and provide other boons.

In the end, I’ve gotten blamed when parties would fail due to lack of dps, even though I would be the last to fall due to kiting/chilling/cripples.

So out of damage/support/CC were really good at the one that’s not so great for dungeons, and provide less than other classes when we spec everything into another.

The best I’ve managed is to take advantage of lopsided aggro to kite the hell out of things.

You’ve answered your own question.

Zerker Rifle Engi can bring ranged, burst damage. (Yeah yeah I know it’s not Warrior damage but for pete’s sake I can’t stand seeing Greatswords in every corner)
Carrion+Rabid or Rampager Grenade Engi can bring massive condition damage aswell as 25 Vulnerability stacks.

And it is often brought with small but useful tricks such as AOE regeneration, condition removal, pulls, Anti-agony revive Elixir and a Supply Crate. On top of this, the class is fairly solid and will be able to take care of itself.

I run a p/s bomb-tanky build. I’ve never ran into another tanky-bomb eng like me though so probably no one else can comment on this, but I’ve had success running this build in dungeons. (not fotm, that’s a diff matter imo). Your role (or my role) is an off-tank, and a trakittenank. With access to BoB and glue bomb, you can kite a group of mobs quite effectively, probably more effective than any other class can. The only downside is you don’t have a reliable way to get stability apart from toss elixer tiny, so a guard with stab shout might be beneficial.

You also provide might-stacking with BoB + fire bomb for most of the fights (ask permission to use BoB as some people might get annoyed at its knockback), and aoe stealth if you guys need it. Anyways, the point is to keep mobs entertained and engaged at you so other people can hammer away at it. That BoB is the perfect breather skill, like “omg i’m getting over whelmed here… bob explodes… whew, now let me catch my breath”.

Thanks guys for your answers.
In conclusion it’s as I suspected, they aren’t nearly the ’optimal ’class for dungeons. Despite being versatile, versatility is rarely an element of concern in a 5 man dungeon group.

I haven’t really had the chance to run any dungeons yet as an Engineer myself. Needless to say I am not looking forward to having to figure out a balance between what I can do and what a group expects.

It really depend on how you design your build, for me, I run a kitmaster build (The “sickman” syndrome) so I can provide cc, dps, condition support, healing and condition removal. I think Engineers are definity strong in cc, lot of our weapons and kit have at least a cc skill.

Shoyoko.7309:

It really depend on how you design your build, for me, I run a kitmaster build (The “sickman” syndrome) so I can provide cc, dps, condition support, healing and condition removal. I think Engineers are definity strong in cc, lot of our weapons and kit have at least a cc skill.

Lol just posted there and mentioned something similar.

But I agree with engineers current state is like a jack of all trades and the build the shoyoko mentions definitely fits and takes advantage of that.

Engineer support is like a cross between mesmer and elementalist support.

Engi’s provide more boons than a mesmer, fewer ranged reflects than a mesmer, but FAR MORE control than a mesmer, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

I think people who consider CC to be useless have been buried in fractals too long or something.

There are quite a few explorables where CC is exceedingly valuable.

I can pick the most annoying targets and “jam” them for very long periods of time on my control builds (on quite a few professions) and it’s worth a heck of a lot more than regen or protection.

plasmacutter.2709:

I think people who consider CC to be useless have been buried in fractals too long or something.

There are quite a few explorables where CC is exceedingly valuable.

I can pick the most annoying targets and “jam” them for very long periods of time on my control builds (on quite a few professions) and it’s worth a heck of a lot more than regen or protection.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Unshakable

Who cares if you can “jam” a veteran that dies in one burst of 100blades? champions/legendaries/other bosses are the only thing worth CC’ing and they are effectively immune.

I have run a grenades/elixirs build through fractals level 30 and dungeon master. In this set up, I believe I am extremely useful in providing solid aoe damage, stacking vulnerability (so your whole group is doing 10-15% more damage), condition removal, aoe rez circle, and short cool down aoe blindness. CC is also useful. I don’t recommend it for speed clearing dungeons, but it’s a great build for higher level fractals and harder dungeons.

If you go Grenadier, you automatically get 20-25 Vulnerabilities. This is 20-25% more group damage. This is a MEGA ability. Groups without Grenadiers do not achieve this kind of Vulnerability unless they are like 4 GS warriors. (Is this accurate? I can’t think of many classes that are capable of this, but I’m not an expert at every class.)

Vulnerability stacking makes bringing along a Grenadier like bringing along a 6th player to the fight. That alone should make the Engineer one of the most sought-after classes in an LFG.

Thiefs bring vulnerability just as quickly along with damage and harder conditions, but it takes a good thief to not get insta-downed and weigh down the team. I like to take theifs as another example of a class that performs stupendously in certain parts of Gw2, but terribly in others (as in a broken class).

Engineers are great for WvW due to food buffs (I can only imagine the outcry in these forums when they nerf food), but I still can’t find a good mix for dungeons. I still try to find a build that works well for me, even though I’ve all but given up internally.

JohnDied.3476:

Engineers are great for WvW due to food buffs (I can only imagine the outcry in these forums when they nerf food),

Please elaborate. Most times on the forums, I hear people complain that Engineers are bad for WvW, though I happen to disagree. But I don’t disagree for food buff reasons. Which food do you like?

Off the top of my head.

Rare veggie pizza makes our condition builds because we have a lot of sources of condition damage, but most are short. So the 40% condition duration goes a long way.

Saffron Scented poultry soup is also a really good food for bunkers that don’t go for formula 409. Synergizes well with med-kit so that every 10 seconds you can cleans a condition (on top of whatever on heal ability you might have).

These two foods are ridiculously good for engineers.

EDIT: I’m trying out new builds (I hate our support options). I’ve tried out a p/p condition build before but found the damage really disappointing, and I’ve recently started partying with a necro so the conditions would be waisted. I’ll probably try out a mixed condi/power might stacking build next, although I can’t figure out if I want to go for p/p or grenades.

This is how I see it:
In a dungeon, Engis are the unfortunate souls who aggro. Simple as that. This means we’re probably downed first. CC is where we must shine in order to let other more powerful classes (Ele, Guardian, etc.) do their work.
My tips are this:
1. Toughness, Vitality, Healing Power. You can’t choose all of them, but really focus on one or two of them. You’re going to need as much bulk as you can get when aggroing out there. In my opinion, I’d much rather prefer Toughness, especially because maxing out the Toughness trait not only gives good trait abilities, but also grants nice Healing power as well.
2. Engineers have the great potential to inflict A LOT of conditions in a short period of time. This being said, it helps in the long run to focus on Condition Damage and Condition Duration. While being somewhat tank-ish yourself, you save yourself a long, grueling battle by constantly crippling the foe (DPS becomes key when dealing with bosses in dungeons).
3. Work out your own strategy. There’s no guaranteed method to winning: every Engineer needs to find the way they play best and most comfortably. You can focus on another trait (Precision, Power), focus on a certain tool kit (Flamethrower, Elixir Gun) or a combination, or go all-around. I’m working on a Juggernaut Flamethrower Precision and Toughness build: while not practical for normal PvE, it comes in quite handy for CC in dungeons.
4. Be smart. Play smart. Know ho to move in battle. Dodge actively and effectively. Use skills at the right time. Swap kits a lot to take advantage of a large and easily accessible skill set. Jump out of that AoE! Run when it is necessary, and stand your ground when you need to finish to the end. In GW2, timing is key in big battles, and it pays to be an active participant in battle, as strategies become more effective, and you’ll find yourself lasting much longer in battle.
Hope this helps!

Entaurrus Silver.3820:

This is how I see it:
In a dungeon, Engis are the unfortunate souls who aggro. Simple as that. This means we’re probably downed first. CC is where we must shine in order to let other more powerful classes (Ele, Guardian, etc.) do their work.
My tips are this:
1. Toughness, Vitality, Healing Power. You can’t choose all of them, but really focus on one or two of them. You’re going to need as much bulk as you can get when aggroing out there. In my opinion, I’d much rather prefer Toughness, especially because maxing out the Toughness trait not only gives good trait abilities, but also grants nice Healing power as well.
2. Engineers have the great potential to inflict A LOT of conditions in a short period of time. This being said, it helps in the long run to focus on Condition Damage and Condition Duration. While being somewhat tank-ish yourself, you save yourself a long, grueling battle by constantly crippling the foe (DPS becomes key when dealing with bosses in dungeons).
3. Work out your own strategy. There’s no guaranteed method to winning: every Engineer needs to find the way they play best and most comfortably. You can focus on another trait (Precision, Power), focus on a certain tool kit (Flamethrower, Elixir Gun) or a combination, or go all-around. I’m working on a Juggernaut Flamethrower Precision and Toughness build: while not practical for normal PvE, it comes in quite handy for CC in dungeons.
4. Be smart. Play smart. Know ho to move in battle. Dodge actively and effectively. Use skills at the right time. Swap kits a lot to take advantage of a large and easily accessible skill set. Jump out of that AoE! Run when it is necessary, and stand your ground when you need to finish to the end. In GW2, timing is key in big battles, and it pays to be an active participant in battle, as strategies become more effective, and you’ll find yourself lasting much longer in battle.
Hope this helps!

that’s completely wrong & misleading, anyone who believe this is because they have not managed to play the class right and should prob roll warrior to have 1 2 3 fun

this is coming from a frac 50 engi and sPVP r36

Think of engi as a box of fun with possibility of lots of combos! you just have to play them and find them out, no one in forums can show you how to play the engi right, you just have to play it and see for yourself since the class is more deep than just what gear you have or what traits you have its how you use them

I also found myself disagreeing with Entaurrus’s points 1, 2, and 3. To me, 1500 range is a blank check to go glass cannon.

"Engi’s role in dungeons?"
DPS and Tank

You can have 20-25 stacks of bleeding, 25 stacks of vulnerability, 24/7 poison, 24/7 burning with high CD with just grenade kit. That’s pretty good, unfortunately it doesn’t stack with other people who bring conditions, everyone else has to bring non-condition builds.

Another possiblity is going heal power and heal people, though it’s inferior to guardian or an ele doing the same. As for which gear to pick with that I don’t know (cleric? apo? magi?)

Another possibility is to go full zerker FT build with lots of might stacks and heal on crit food.

Grenadier + EG + rifle + proper skill rotation = extreme damage + constant buffs to party members smart enough to use finishers. Nuff said.

just go full damage (berserker’s armor) and one or two team-friendly ultility skills like Elixir Gun, or Elixir U (for faster rezes, more damage and a projectile blocking toolbelt skill)