Hello, this is my first time posting here, but i’ve been reading the forums for quite some time and, well, I have a sort of problem.
Long post ahead.
My main character is a Charr Engineer and I seek some guidance from fellow engineer players. Since I reached lv80 I’ve been looking into various builds, but none of them seemed to suit my playstyle. I tried condition, grenades, bombs, but in the end I decided the Flamethrower was the weapon that suit my playstyle the “best”. Thing is, the more I kept reading into the numerous FT builds around, the more confused I got. Many builds advocate the use of berserker equipment, others say Knight, some even say to use Rabid or Carrion (and any combination of those). Some focus on certain aspects, like stacking vulnerability and dealing high crits and +% dmg, others on conditions.
Asking in-game got me nowhere, when it comes to equipment, everyone tells me to use berserker’s. Dealing high-damage and being at risk of dieing to the first attack I fail to dodge (which happens a lot due to my usual latency, random spikes, relatively old computer, simple lack of foresight or sheer bad luck) is not what I have in mind at all.
I chose the FT because Juggernaut adds to my survivability while also aiding my power, and that’s what I’m looking for. FT is my base weapon already; I use a Pistol/Shield setup, but I rarely ever fire a shot. As soon as there’s the possibility of combat, first thing I do is pull out the FT automatically. Bottom line is, I’m looking for a sort of tanky FT build and gear recommendations.
Keep in mind this is for PvE (If it ends up working in WvW as well I won’t complain).
As for my current setup it goes like this:
1. My current skillbar is comprised of Medkit | Elixir B | EG | FT | Supply Drop. I use Elixir B at the start of combat, pop EG momentarily for Super Elixir every now and then to remove conditions or heal while kiting a mob, and keep hitting with the FT. Medkit for heals when necessary.
Should I change anything here? Use other Elixirs, other Kits? Should I use the actual Pistol/Shield along with this or swapping to a Rifle or P/P setup would benefit more?
2. Traits… I used to run 10/30/10/20/0, but changed to 10/30/0/30/0 with:
Incendiary Powder, Precise Sights, Fireforged Trigger, Juggernaut, Self-Regulating Defenses (I’ve been saved by that one more than I’d like to admit), Deadly Mixture and Backpack Regenerator.
Gained a bit more vitality as conditions were giving me a hard time. I’ve been using it, but I still feel I’m lacking either in health (with about 18k) or toughness (or actual ability to play it). I do run with ~50% crit chance for a good chance at the crit Vulnerability.
Is 50% crit too much/too little? Is there another Trait setup I should use? Is there a certain amount of Vitality/Toughness I should aim for? I know the whole 1:10 Def/Health, but wouldn’t I lose a lot of Power or Precision with that? (my apologies, but i’m quite bad at math… also seems there’s gonna be trait changes in the future, might have to rethink it all again later :/ )
3. Lastly, well, I suppose Runes and Sigils would be what I need. I’ve been thinking about Hoelbrak/Strength/ect to keep Might up, but some suggest Monk, Water and even Altruism runes. I tried Forge runes to help with the “tankiness”, but decided it wouldn’t work without a reliable Protection source. As for Sigils I thought about Sigil of Battle so I could switch out of the kit for a second, proc the might, then go back into the kit and repeat once the cd period was over, but never got around to actually try it.
These are probably a lot of questions and I may come off as a noob or something, but I really don’t know where to go from here. I might just end up changing my playstyle and join the herd of zerker builds, something I’d really like to avoid :/
Overall, what are your suggestions?
Thanks in advance.