Guild Wars 2

Am I doing something wrong? I have been playing an Engi in SPvP for quite some time now, but I finally decided I want to really be able to engage in WvW. So I have started leveling my Engi, and am now at level 35. Whenever I go into combat, it just doesn’t feel right. I mean, it made sense to run in circles dropping bombs as a bunker Engi on a point, but in PvE I find I have to do this OVER and OVER again, just running around in circles, rolling, taking damage, popping some elixirs occasionally. My problem is not that its hard, I am fine with hard. My problem is it feels so… dumb.

I have also leveled a Ranger some, and combat is completely different. Your bear tanks and you bleed the enemy to death. With a guardian, you can usually stand still for the most part, healing yourself and killing things. Warriors are similar. Obviously there’s more to them, but it makes sense. NONE of these PvE strategies, involve running around in circles, dodging, dropping bombs and slowly killing the enemies that chase you.

I have tried bombkit, grenadekit, flamethrower, heck even toolkit, but I could never just sit there and eat the damage, or have my pet take it at that. I thought with flamethrower I could, but it just ended bad.

So please tell me, is this how it is for everyone, or what am I doing so terribly wrong?

That’s what I’m experiencing. I hate the grenade kit a lot when it comes to leveling with it. It’s only fun if your using it in WvW with the grenader perk.

Yeah and don’t level with the flamethrower. You have next to none kiting options because if you move your camera slightly you’ll miss every damn attack.

The perma swiftness is nice though, but that’s about it.

Well in wvw I have fun when I go. I play with rifle/net turret/tool kit. Usually when it ends up in group vs group Ill use magnet pull to pull someone to our side and once there I quickly use the nets tool belt skill and switch to rifle again and do a net shot, all the while my zerg hammers on that unfortunate soul. So fun and it doesnt feel dumb at all if thats what your looking for lol And with a soldier built I can take care of 1v1 battles too.

For leveling you will propably want 10fire arms for reduced rifle cd, 10explosions for bomb range if you use them, 10 elixir is nice for elixir H + B & reduced cd plus 10 tools for speedy kits and can swap static discharge or kit refinement if you want.

Those will cover most needs for engi least until 60 when you can get grenadier or juggernaut for FT fun.

FT is still viable earlier too for fire field, blind and knockback as extra tools along rifle&bombs. Unless you stack a bit tou/vit you can’t tank mobs much and have to bomb/rifle kite quite a bit.

Once you can afford juggernaut and backbag regenerator from elixirs you can start tanking mobs quite well couple with elixir gun (kit refinement from tools is superb for this too). FT does have obvious issues with missing and #2 skill but mostly its fine.

rifle + static discharge and some turrets work wonders too. You just need to find out style that fits you best.

Crows, I appreciate the help but I don’t see how this results in any truly different play-style. Even with the rifle, combat still feels chaotic. Especially with the Static Discharge bouncing to neutral mobs.

Well take 10explo for bomb range, 20 elixir for backbag regenerator and invest a bit for vit/tou and you can facetank just fine with chugging elixirs. Slightly boring maybe but works and when crap hits the fan just kite a bit.

Crows.2764:

Well take 10explo for bomb range, 20 elixir for backbag regenerator and invest a bit for vit/tou and you can facetank just fine with chugging elixirs. Slightly boring maybe but works and when crap hits the fan just kite a bit.

bomb range 10Explo is bugged, it decreases the range of some bombs (ir the bomb on dodge). Better take burn on crit…

I leveled pistols+static discharge+ grenade barrage. (didnt even use the grenades, just the barrage toobelt. which will nearly 1 shot most npcs.)

Pistols have since been nerfed a bit, though.

Kits while leveling have the advantage of always being max level.
While pistols or rifle, you might fall behind. be level 35 and have a level 20 rifle.

Blinds are awesome. Use them properly and you should be able to facetank most stuff.
Pistol is great for this.
FT can as well.
See an npc winding up their big attack? blind. no need to dodge.

Rifle is less directly reliable, but the random procing will still reduce overall damage taken.
Rifle also does not rely on a massive level 60, 30 point trait. aka juggernaut, coated bullets, grenadier.

TK has its power trait at level 40, or 20 points. FT has 2 power traits at level 40, 20 in alch, 20 in firearms.

Static discharge. 10 in Tool is extremely powerful. You could just go TK and rifle turret, and annihilate with that. (purely for the toolbelt skill on a 10s cd, rifle turret itself is bad.)

First and fore most, experiment. It reads to me, that possibly your biggest problem is that you went from sPvP to PvE and possibly some WvW. Your playing every day with lesser stats do to level, gear available at your level, less trait points then your used to, different stats due to weapons stats mattering now, and an all together different style of play.

I could be wrong, but I suspect making the adjustment alone, accounts for much of the displacement you feel. You probably spent a lot of time in sPvP and the mist , adjusting your build regularly until you found the builds you prefer. Essentially you will be doing so again until you are 80 and have all the trait points available to you.

Welswift.9813:

I have also leveled a Ranger some, and combat is completely different. Your bear tanks and you bleed the enemy to death. With a guardian, you can usually stand still for the most part, healing yourself and killing things. Warriors are similar. Obviously there’s more to them, but it makes sense. NONE of these PvE strategies, involve running around in circles, dodging, dropping bombs and slowly killing the enemies that chase you.

I think part of the problem is you’re comparing apples to oranges. Warrior, Guardian, and Ranger (bears at least) are designed around tanking and taking some hits while dealing damage. Engineers are not. You can spec/gear for it, but medium armor is not built for facetanking. Without your skills, you’re like a ranger without a pet, more like a slightly more resilient Thief or Elementalist. Kiting is just something you have to do as a pet-less, sub-heavy armor class, and dodging is an integral part even for those professions.