Guild Wars 2

Hey guys,

I’m new to the game and have been leveling a few classes over the past weeks. Decided to stick with the engie, got a few question though.
I’m not sure what I will be doing most of the time while at 80 ( PVE or WvW), which makes it hard to choose a single build that would cover both options. I know that respec is cheap, my concern is the gear (I’m poor).
What exotic gear would you guys recommend for a first time engie?

rabid gear with rabid pistol and shield go 30/10/0/15/15 with the medkit as heal, grenade kit for aoe condi pressure and elixer gun for combo field and heal, bomb kit for smoke field with point defence for camps and close proximity (aka warriors) at 25% health your toolkits reset meaning you can use your 5k heal again

overall the build is tanky and does amazing condi damage, oh and im weird so for runes i use rune of the inflicted as i use poison and bleeds more so got those instead of nightmare.

im not going to mention perplexity runes as theyre more than likely gonna get nerfed :P

Thought id post a quick synopsis of my build
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VW;4sP-9-f67QFx0;9;4T9-EE42A5;30;05;04o0;0w0-H9dZH9dZp-ki-M;17a;0aVdWjXn2v3-a0q-JF2e;5V05NV05N;9;9;9;9;7V6s5u
youll have to copy and paste into your URL bar

Here’s an edit of what I posted to a similar thread a while back:

-PVT gear, also known a Soldier’s or Invader’s, is a good defensive option. If you are looking to survive melee combat, this is the best option. It synergizes most with the Flamethrower, Bomb Kit, and Tool Kit.

-Rabid gear is your optimal condition-based damage gear. Also, for engineers, there is no excuse to ever pick Carrion instead of Rabid, for a number of reasons. If you’re interested in the reasons, I can explain further. Rabid synergizes somewhat with the Flamethrower if you focus on a crit and proc based build, but it works amazingly with grenades due to the Shrapnel trait. While using pistols for DPS isn’t as effective as other damage sources, if you wanted to do it, you’d use Rabid.

-Berserker gear is your optimal direct damage gear. It is the absolute highest damage output available. Unlike any gear aside from Rampager’s, it has only offensive stats. Furthermore, unlike Rampager’s, its offensive stats are all completely synergistical with each other. Berserker gear is decent with any offensive kits.

-Celestial gear, only available through crafting, provides every stat, and is actually quite valuable to engineers. I personally do not like or use it for a number of reasons, but I will not deny that it works well for some people. It would work equally well with almost any build.

Overall, I would steer you towards PVT, unless you are extremely confident in your ability to dodge incoming damage. The defensive stats give you something to fall back on, and the damage isn’t too poor either (though it certainly is less). The current meta in sPvP relies heavily on conditions, but because there are limits on the number of conditions you can apply to a target, large-scale fights (such as open world and WvW) strongly discourage condition damage builds. As such, I would not recommend Rabid gear. If you just hit 80, chances are you won’t have the capacity to create Celestial gear, so that’s also out. Finally, as I said, Berserker gear is extremely risky, so I wouldn’t advocate it for a fresh 80.

TL;DR: Go PVT.

wvw: try a knight/cavalier mix or any combo of mixed or pure rabid + dire, depending on whether you feel like a power build or a condi build. but dedicate yourself to being either a power or condi build, youll be more effective.

pve: zerk, rabid, rampager, carrion, dire…

Engi are one of the very few classes that can benefit from Celestial gear. And while you won’t be maxing any dps meters, you’ll maintain damage, stay alive, and offer support. If you can afford to sub in & out various trinkets you’ll have a lot of variability.

insanemaniac.2456:

wvw: try a knight/cavalier mix or any combo of mixed or pure rabid + dire, depending on whether you feel like a power build or a condi build. but dedicate yourself to being either a power or condi build, youll be more effective.

pve: zerk, rabid, rampager, carrion, dire…

This is good advice, but for dungeons, stick with direct damage for the most part. Knights armor with zerk jewelry to start with, then move toward full zerk as you learn each encounter in each dungeon.

I would recommend Sup. Runes of Earth for your best defensive option in a rune set at the moment, and run with the 2 protection proc traits. At least until you get your feet under you in instances.

As far as insanemaniac said, Rabid is amazing in wvw, but you have to get used to kiting, small number crits, and using defensive options while your bleeds and burns tic.

Dire.