Guild Wars 2

Afternoon Engineer forums.

I recently rolled an Engineer because I was bored (I have 3 other 80s), and almost immediately fell in love. I am now on the verge of scrapping my other characters and focusing almost exclusively on my Engi. I honestly have not ever had this much fun in the game, bugs and “viability” issues notwithstanding.

I am in a fairly effective WvW guild and typically run “vanguard” for the zerg or havoc squad, depending on what we’re doing at the time. My War is a hammer/axe/mace disruption bot, my Ranger is a regentank that sometimes runs spirits but most often just leaps into groups and causes havoc, and my Guard is your standard Hammer/AH unkillable jerk. I tell you this because this is my preferred style of play: disruption and tankiness, sometimes to the point of ludicrousness, but with respectable damage as well (not going to burst anyone down, but I can’t very well be ignored either).

I would very much like to do the same on my Engi, and I would like to do it with the FT. I was looking at the trait that gives regen while using a kit, but there aren’t enough other regen options in the trait trees (that I could find, bear in mind I’m pretty new to the class) to make a regentank out of it. So I thought I might use elixirs and HGH, with a mix of P/V/T and Berserker or Knight’s gear and Sigil of Might for stupid amounts of Might stacks. However I was also looking at potentially using the EG to have a bit more support and switch between EG/FT frequently to create their “extra abilities” on swap.

Basically, I’m curious as to the opinion of people with a vastly higher time investment than myself as to builds/gear/playstyle/etc.

I appreciate the time and consideration put into any responses that aren’t “FT SUX” or “GO SOMETHIN ELSE MANG”. I’m not asking for your opinion on whether or not I should play FTank, just the best way to go about it.

There are a lot of ways to go here, and many previously posted builds in these forums already.

I would probably go P/S with Juggernaut as a start and maybe Kit Refinement as well.

Runes of the Dolyak, Sigil of might swapped to other Sigils (Flame Blast and Regen) once the might stacks are maxed.

Or for damage maybe this with P/TV armor mixed in:

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VVRR;2Z-Vv0l6FQFx0;9;49T-T-4;046A;1568;1EF0;3SoG6SoG61FFm

Add a Sigil of Corruption on a different weapon to stack 25 +Condition damage then swap in the life steal.

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I cannot wish you enough luck. I rolled a FT Engineer who is now my main…watching the world burn is so beautiful. Still too new to really know what really works but you got great ideas. Ones I might borrow…I can’t decide if I like the control the shield gives me or the extra burn and cripple the second pistol provides. Let us know how it goes.

A lot of very good dialogue here: http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/72009-a-comprehensive-look-at-the-flamethrower-and-elixir-gun/

On the second and third pages there’s a prolonged discussion of the Juggernaut/Healing Kits/Elixir build that looks like it has potential. With the fixes to the FT, and the recent patch to stack weapon stats with kit damage, it’s definitely do-able.

Thank you very much for all the replies, the Engi community is so much more…helpful. Than many of the others.

As far as P/S v Rifle, I was reading somewhere that the Rifle gives more damage to kits than Pistol does, and the armor/toughness from the Shield would be largely negligible, no?

@Tyaen: That’s an interesting build….I assume the Tool Kit is there for the Guardian Runes. And I like the fact that it’s hybrid damage between condi and power.

FT in WvW (when being used as a main weapon) is very bad sadly. It has a weird hit system, and not a whole lot of DPS. The xtra toughness with jugg is nice however. The problem is that with FT you’re going to specialize with close quarters. So sticking inside keeps, caves, etc, is where you will excel. However the lack of high DPS, the kit is not used by many in Wvw. sPvP it is pretty good and PvE. I’ve been wanting to try a glass cannon stats with jugg/FT

Deified.7520:

FT in WvW (when being used as a main weapon) is very bad sadly. It has a weird hit system, and not a whole lot of DPS. The xtra toughness with jugg is nice however. The problem is that with FT you’re going to specialize with close quarters. So sticking inside keeps, caves, etc, is where you will excel. However the lack of high DPS, the kit is not used by many in Wvw. sPvP it is pretty good and PvE. I’ve been wanting to try a glass cannon stats with jugg/FT

You weren’t a kitten about it, so I won’t be either: I explicitly asked for no “FT sucks” posts in my OP, but I understand your point. That being said, I play this game for two reasons, in this order: 1) to have fun, 2) to be effective enough to not be a hindrance to my partymates/guildmates/squadmates. FT is exceedingly fun, and as I’m not autorunning into a wall, the second reason is largely fulfilled.

Sannhet.8745:

Deified.7520:

FT in WvW (when being used as a main weapon) is very bad sadly. It has a weird hit system, and not a whole lot of DPS. The xtra toughness with jugg is nice however. The problem is that with FT you’re going to specialize with close quarters. So sticking inside keeps, caves, etc, is where you will excel. However the lack of high DPS, the kit is not used by many in Wvw. sPvP it is pretty good and PvE. I’ve been wanting to try a glass cannon stats with jugg/FT

You weren’t a kitten about it, so I won’t be either: I explicitly asked for no “FT sucks” posts in my OP, but I understand your point. That being said, I play this game for two reasons, in this order: 1) to have fun, 2) to be effective enough to not be a hindrance to my partymates/guildmates/squadmates. FT is exceedingly fun, and as I’m not autorunning into a wall, the second reason is largely fulfilled.

I did answer your question actually. You asked how to go about it, I’m saying that. I’m not saying FT sucks. Im say that when using in WvW as a main hand, it wont be as effective. So instead kit swap for its utilities. Such as using napalm bomb, flamefield, smoke screen, backblast, etc. I mean if you want to go for using it as a main weapon and stacking that might, you’re gonna need a lot of escapes incase you get caught in a zerg. So elixer S, toolkit or rocket boots might be ideal. I never said you should go something else.

running a ramp/rabid cond FT build atm and its stupid powerful in small fights…with fury i have 100% crit chance and have won every 1v1 and some 2-3v1’s

Poizie.5187:

running a ramp/rabid cond FT build atm and its stupid powerful in small fights…with fury i have 100% crit chance and have won every 1v1 and some 2-3v1’s

Would you mind elaborating on this? I’m curious how you run it, since the only conditions inherent to FT are a 1s burn at the end of a 2.25s channel on FT1, and the burn from FT4. Bleed/Burn on crit traits/sigils? Swapping between Pistol and FT?

Currently I’m running around with the FT in WvW using this build:

0/30/0/20/20

Firearms: Rifled Barrels (for that extra pistol range), Fireforged Trigger, Juggernaut
Alchemy: Invigorating Speed, Deadly Mixture
Tools: Speedy Kits, Static Discharge/Kit Refinement.

Utility: Med Kit, Utility Goggles, Elixir Gun/Toolkit, Flamethrower Kit.

Armour is P/V/T with 3 melandru and 3 lyssa runes (orr karma vendor)
Accessories: Beserker ring, back and amulet. Knight ring, Valkyrie earring and the Karka event earring.

Consumable: Omnomberry Pie and Master Maintenance Oil

With this set up I’ve been amusing myself with how tanky it is. Normally I wouldn’t really use the FT in WvW but because of the hit rate the FT has, the life steal from omnomberry pie becomes rather effective. I get around 300ish for each lifesteal and roughly get between 3-7 triggers per target. It won’t make you a true damage sponge but does help in surviving against groups.

0/30/0/30/10 here with rampagers and rifle. Using HGH to stack up might.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUlspyanuSgF17IxoCdG0DAj37K6Rlb8kB;TEAg1A

It’s worked out pretty well so far in WvWvW.

While I wish what I had to say was more constructive, it’s a sad, depressing truth about the flamethrower:

The only time you should consider using it in WvW is when you’re behind a keep or tower door fwooshfwooshfwooshing the enemy from a safe distance, and using Air Blast to keep them disoriented. The damage is pitiful and the control it offers outside of AB is miserable. The only good damage on it is the 2, and that’s if both components hit. Every time I see an engineer using flamethrower, I have threads like this to thank for it. So I’m speaking up now so I can have less bad engineers flooding my groups and squads.