Guild Wars 2

Hey guys, I’ve been considering rolling an Engineer for a little while.

The problem I have is that, from previous attempts, I feel Engineer is very lacking in damage. It’s a damage dealer I really need.

I am a pure WvW player, so I need to know if Engineer can put out some serious numbers at max level. Runes and exotics are no issue, they’ll be maxed.

In WvW the PvP always comes in a group. This means anything from fighting five players to fighting thirty.

Can I do real damage against a small number, and make the difference in a 5 vs 5?

Can I blast an enemy zerg and help push them back?

Any help on this matter will be really appreciated. I need to know, ofcourse, if it will be viable and furthermore on roughly how it can be viable – gear, skills, traits. It’s all good for me.

Cheers.

Grenades can do pretty beefy damage, but they suffer from issues in combat featuring movement on either side of the battle, so they are best for keep defense. My tests with rifle show like, 1.5K crits per standard shot, 3K+ crits with blunderbuss(in an AoE cone) and jump shot is a massive damage dealer provided you can hit with the lanuch and the drop. Furthermore, there are some weak tool belt skills with short CD like rifle turret and tool kit which give you “surprise shot”(10 second cd) and (throw wrench) which is a boomerang of decent damage on 20 second CD, any tool belt skill can activate our static discharge train which basicly sends out a chain lightning, effectively making your short CD moves do double the damage.

I wouldnt say Engineer is your flat out balls to the wall damage dealer, but it has tools to accomplish this, though you will find net shot and over charged shot to be valuable friends, Engineers can’t really take much punishment and have to rely on enemy control, especially if you are gearing for damage.

I guess a good sigil would be Superior Air i guess, i think that gives change to cast a chain lightning, 30% every crit. depending on your traitage, you can also cripple someone for 5 seconds every time you immobolize (have a 2 second immob on 8 second CD with traits), and bleed + burn on crits.

One heavy engineer problem, though debatable, is our trait lines are kind of stupidly placed, rifle skills are in the condition tree even though they rely on power, while bomb healing is quite rightly in the compassion tree, but every other bomb is in power, the list goes on. I guess best thing i can suggest is to roll one and try it in SPvP.

I would suggest a full set of Knights gear for power, precision and toughness, but this is only my spec, not some universally decided PvP spec. Med kit for heal, grenade kit and rifle turret for burst tool belts, elixir R for stun break and endurance regen, as well as a throwable self rez, and supply crate for elite because quite frankly its the best all purpose elite.

Graywolf.6513:

One heavy engineer problem, though debatable, is our trait lines are kind of stupidly placed, rifle skills are in the condition tree even though they rely on power, while bomb healing is quite rightly in the compassion tree, but every other bomb is in power, the list goes on. I guess best thing i can suggest is to roll one and try it in SPvP.

I would suggest a full set of Knights gear for power, precision and toughness, but this is only my spec, not some universally decided PvP spec. Med kit for heal, grenade kit and rifle turret for burst tool belts, elixir R for stun break and endurance regen, as well as a throwable self rez, and supply crate for elite because quite frankly its the best all purpose elite.

No issues with the rest of your post, but i thought all the traits were rightly placed, and am liking the engineer traits more then the traits for other profs because of how well the trait lines all synergise together. (PS: If you take a closer look at the firearms traits it’s all about getting crits, having things proc off of the crits, and then gaining more damage while those proced effects are on the target REALLY fun tree with the rifle.)

I roll as turrets + rifle (net, rifle and rocket) in SPvP, and with the exception of not having a spin-to-win button (100 blades, unload, pistol whip, yada yada), I do pretty good damage AND control. Due to my turrets not benefiting from my stats at all, it gives me the opportunity to pile on defensive stats to my char without effecting most of my damage (rifle is the only impact, but I use it for control anyways).

right now i’ve made a berserkers set with rifle, you can kill people in less than 5~3 seconds and manage to kill people with defenses too with a bit more effort.

The problem is because you are squish as hell but you can have Vigor almost everytime and 15 CD heal. Its like go kill one guy in seconds, retreat to recover and do that again.

LoreChief.8391:

I roll as turrets + rifle (net, rifle and rocket) in SPvP, and with the exception of not having a spin-to-win button (100 blades, unload, pistol whip, yada yada), I do pretty good damage AND control. Due to my turrets not benefiting from my stats at all, it gives me the opportunity to pile on defensive stats to my char without effecting most of my damage (rifle is the only impact, but I use it for control anyways).

Omg… they don’t scale on our stats? YESSSSSSS!! I didn’t know that!! With this knowledge i can now go full D with turrets…

PS: What do you do for your heal? I tried healing turret but it turned out fairly lack luster in fights that i kept getting wailed on, however in fights where i could have it up for a good amount prior to the fight it was significantly better due to the constant regen ticking.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fcEQJAqalspSXHvSfF17IBoH6Nv8V0jHDZA8pAbB;TsAg1Cqo8xAjAGrXOfkeNq4UxsCA

copy and paste link. Damage is insane. you won’t die in 1v1s, either.

I’d also like to point out the elixir X potion the eng uses. you get a bump in HP and attack power. however, at level 40, i can’t say how effective a build revolving around X can be.

I’m rather happy with throwing down my rocket and rifle turrets along with a supply drop, with my flamethrower equipped. I’ve beaten back up to 5 mobs doing this since they LOVE gunning for my turrets while i light em up with epic fire. but this is strictly my opinion, i’m not experienced enough to say anything for certain.

@Bahamadude,

I’ve only done sPvP with elites (to low lv in PvE to have an elite skill =( ), but i don’t even touch supply drop, i’m to big of a fan of Mortar and Elixir X, Elixir X only has like a 90 second CD, lasts for like 20-25 seconds everytime you use it, and doubles your health and gives you a TON of damage and control… it’s well worth the slot, however i’d say make sure you are using it when you can use rampaging brute BUT tornado would also be helpful, because rampaging brute seems to be what you get about 75% of the time or so…

Strictly WvWvW, eh?

Spec up for dmg and condition dmg, get the traits relating to the effects by critical hit, such as Incendary Powder, get runes which also trigger under critical hits and whip out the Flamethrower.

Since it’s main attack hits 10 times every 2.5 seconds, that means you will get a critical hit almost every time. Added with the Juggernaut spec, which increases toughness and gives constant might, you havee a very powerful, close-range weapon with the ability to hit multiple enemies. Perfect for WvWvW.

Mortar sucks. Just putting it out there now, it sucks. Way too short of range, plus it has a minimum range as well, aaaand.. It sucks. Only good button on it, honestly is the clusterbomb, but with the way that works, it’s not as likely to get a full hit in because the first hit can jettison the target away. Now, on a keep siege defense, mortar can be useful with that.. Or you can supply drop them and arrow cart them while they can’t move.

Elixir X, while it may seem good, is too random to be used regularly. Whenever I’ve needed tornado, it gives me brute. Whenever I need brute, it gives me tornado. And as with the rest of the engineer kit [ or at least, a lot of it ]… Random things suck. I hate trying to throw down a projectile-stop or reflect wall and get.. A stealth wall.

Supply crate gives you a bunch of bandages, which heal for a decent amount each. A net turret, which is self-explanatory, nets things. Flamethrower turret, also obvious, and a healing turret which.. Heals. A pretty strong regen heal, actually. Even more useful, if you’re specced for it, these turrets can blowout explode when they die. Or they can take -forever- to die. On top of that, the drop itself is a stun, which opens the enemy up for plenty of damage, or even more cc.

Mostly pointing this comment at Durzlla.

@Heartling i use both mortar and Elixir X in tPvP, i am a fan of RNG because i know how to use RNG skills, a lot of players don’t seem to grasp the concept of how to use RNG so it turns out to be more of a hinderance then a blessing.

HAH! mortar sucks funny… i use mortar all the time with me on the mortar and my turrets up on the point me and my thief friend can hold a point just us 2 from 5 people, sure if they all zerg the mortar we’ll be in some issues, but if they zerg the mortar they’re not going to be on the point, you gotta position the mortar, positioning can make or break it, if you’re a dumb kitten and put it in the middle of a point it’ll be worthless, however if you put it on an overlook of the point then congrats that point will get completely devastated.

My tPvP group said the same thing as you, “Oh bring supply kit, it’s the only viable one.” i proved that wrong pretty quickly!!

Durzlla.6295:

LoreChief.8391:

I roll as turrets + rifle (net, rifle and rocket) in SPvP, and with the exception of not having a spin-to-win button (100 blades, unload, pistol whip, yada yada), I do pretty good damage AND control. Due to my turrets not benefiting from my stats at all, it gives me the opportunity to pile on defensive stats to my char without effecting most of my damage (rifle is the only impact, but I use it for control anyways).

Omg… they don’t scale on our stats? YESSSSSSS!! I didn’t know that!! With this knowledge i can now go full D with turrets…

PS: What do you do for your heal? I tried healing turret but it turned out fairly lack luster in fights that i kept getting wailed on, however in fights where i could have it up for a good amount prior to the fight it was significantly better due to the constant regen ticking.

I use healing turret. However, I pretty much just throw it down and immediately pick it up so that I have it on a 16s cooldown.

@Durzlla Yeah but Grenades > Mortar, easily. More damage, more range, quicker ability to throw. Thats the primary basis of mortar not being good, the grenade kit outdoes it amazingly. However that is also meaning you have to spec into grenades, so your call.

And ‘I know how to use RNG…’ is like saying ‘I can use a 20% chance to be kittened if i walk down this alley’. Changing your tactic from “kick its teeth in with fury” to “run away with swiftness” is not mind blowing, but if you’re trying to run away and get might, then you can’t “use” that, its just dead weight. Use you can do a little more damage when you hit something, but if what is important at that moment is running, 35 more power isn’t going to shatter the foundations of our theory crafting.

Though i do see the use of Elixir X, maybe not for PvP where a stability user will laugh in your face, but its a great control ability, just better hope you get the right one! Rampage is better for single target control, like tearing defiance stacks off bosses, and tornado is better for mob control.

Also i know the rifle crits a lot too, but i just don’t find it as fun, its a bit of a hinderance that it scales so well on power but doesnt get power in its trait line, and i don’t find much love in passive procs(I like them as a bonus, but yeah)

I do like engineer trees (Though inventions/tools can be hard to put points in for the traits, but turrets annoy me when they go down in a single boss AoE) it is just a slight hinderance that rifle spec does not gain +200 power unless you glass cannon it with grenades, but instead gets +300 condition damage which it won’t use except for the bleed and the burn, both of which have internal CD’s.(not too sure on the bleed, but i will assume so.)

I will agree that perma vigor is a blessing, but i use that with my pistols, i prefer the weapon set of pistols, a bit more fun, though considering my character is a soldier im dying to enjoy the rifle. Wish i could =P

Competitive. Anyone who tells you otherwise simply lacks the skill for the class.

In all honesty, All of our weapons are extremely “viable”. All of our utilities are as well. We still have some broken traits and portions of some kits that have issues, but between the tool belt and utilities themselves, they are all useful.

I have done very well in sPvP with condition focused on my pistol.

Condition pistol or power grenades/bombs both do pretty decent damage. Flamethrower with power does good damage too but it’s very hard to use in pvp of any type.

I’m gonna say this right now – don’t use pistols for sPvP. The mainhand does such pitiful damage, the only time it suddenly becomes meaningful is if enemies cluster up and you can get the explosions to tag one another. You can stack all the bleed buff durations in the world, but it won’t break 2.5 seconds / auto attack in sPvP. Stick to rifle for your mainhand weapon (or perhaps pistol/shield, the shield is.. stupidly good). You’ll get a root, a knockback + root/chill/cripple cleanse, two majorly spike-damaging skills, and a decent auto that’ll never get obstructed. If you want some burst, I’d advise going elixir U, grenade kit, and elixir S (that last one’s your safety net and stomp-guarantee). When someone gets close, overcharge them – net shot them – start running up, pop elixir U, then blunderbuss, grenade barrage (WHILE YOUR RIFLE IS OUT), possibly swap to grenade kit if you’re not close enough yet for a jump shot and throw out shrapnel and/or freeze grenades, then use jump shot on their head. They’ll be dead. So very, very dead. If they’re not, you can guarantee they’ll be dead with a big fat supply crate to let you get in those last few hits.

Going the same direction as Kamahl.

I change build every 2-3 days, and the two best I found for WvW are :

P.S : My gear sucks, your damage might be higher with better gear.

Rifle + Grenade + bomb 30/20/0/0/20 : Jump on somoene (3-4k crit), blunder (2-3k), net shot, Big Ol Bomb (you have to be very fast, you can always use personal ram to win some time), grenade barage (that and big ol bomb should hit about the same time for like 4k each if crits.). That’s about 10-15k damage in a very short time. But you won’t pull it off each time, and you won’t always crit. Still, if they aren’t dead yet, you have overcharge shot to get some space, a third utility skill, youre elite, blunder low cooldown and grenade/bombs.

And WvW with grenade = so much more option. 1500 range grenade = siege ownage.

Pistol + Shield (10/30/0/0/30) Elec Bolt tool belt. You need the electrobolt on tool belt traits for this one. This one is less burst, it’s more about AoE/consistant damage. I use rifle turret, toolkit and I prefer Battering ram as third. They have really short cd tolbelt kit, and are direct damage toolbelt (target AoE toolbelt doesn’t work well with electr bolt, tho Grenade barage is so strong you might want to use it).

Just unload your your toolbelt on them, use static shot. If they close range, use poison shot then use a knockback (shield or battering ram). If they stay range, time your 4 shield ability when they use a strong skill to trow it back in their face (thats the shield best attack, that’s how I win or lose fight).

Toolbelts are back, use them again and continu to kit around. If they come to melee range and you don’t have any knockback, use toolkit prybar and block and run away. Prybar can crit really hard.

This build is really good in team fight, as it does a lot of bouncing in people, and you can keep a good range.

I also tried to find a good Flametrower build for WvW, it’s a lot of fun but still meh compared to my 2 other build. Auto Attack damage are just too weak for being melee and having to stay 5 second on the target ( and missing for no reason). And since auto attack is the only consistant damage tool you have in this keep, it’s hard to build a good dps.

Grenades are a massive help for WvW. 1500 range on an AoE spam? Yes, please.

As for dungeons, I feel I not only do competitive damage, I feel that Engineers are extremely useful with their Vulnerability stacking. My entire group is doing 25% more damage against trash, and around 10-15% (consistent) more against bosses.

At the moment I feel that Grenades are just too useful to let go, though. I feel that I’m stuck in this same build, and that I’ll always have to be.