Guild Wars 2

I’ve been reading a lot in these forums and I haven#t found a satisfying answer, yet, so please excuse me if this has been asked before. (Probably has, but maybe in a different way.)

My Question, I been thinking about starting a engineer a lot (again, already played one up to lvl 25 but ddeleted cause I was stupid). Since I’ve got into dungeons with my main recently, I’ve been wondering, how goes it with PvE Support abilitys without using either the bomb or the grenade kit.
Or rather, is it possible to build a decently working support focused build around P/P, Rifle and/or with flamethrower kitten I love this thing), if possible using standart weapons, flamethrower or elixier gun (I think the elix.gun might be good on support aspects?)
I’d love to play a support but reading around the engineer forum, most people seem to use grenade kit over everything.

I basically just want to know if this goes well, but I’d also hapilly accept any suggestions on where to focus planning my build.

Thanks in advance.

I use a build with flamethrower/EG and rifle as main weapon supporting my party and I do fine, you wont have any problem with it.

I use FT and elixers (not EG) with a crit heavy build that is also high on toughness. I end up carrying most of the aggro in dungeons.

I always have Utility Goggles equipped, with the FT kit, and I swap out elixers based on need. Typically I have R for dungeons and S or U for wuvwuv.

The more important question is “HOW do you want to support?” People throw the word “support” out left and right without actually defining what it is they want to do. For example, EG.
- You provide 1(2 with kit refinement) aoe condition removals and healing that stacks over the regen boon and itself.
- Then there’s fumigate providing a mobile pulsing condition removal aoe

That’s defensive support. It is also possible to do offensive support (but really only via vulnerability stacks). I think vulnerability is the only way to increase the damage a target takes.

It has been said that spreading vulnerability is a good way to go with the FT. To clarify, FT1 does 5 attacks per sec (10 attacks per breath over 2.25sec).

Consider this, in 1 sec you can provide 5% more damage at 50%x50%x50%x50%x50% (lets assume 100% crit rate to make things simple). That’s roughly 0.2% every sec. You can later multiply that by five in a group of 5 for 1% more damage per sec. It’s something right? IT lasts 3 sec so you can stack it up to 3%.

Now consider that you are doing melee damage that is 1/2 what you should be doing at melee. Your group just lost half of your damage for an increase of less than 3% (since your crit rate will be less than 100%).

Do note that this does not consider bleeds via sharpshooter yet.

Seetoo.9316:

The more important question is “HOW do you want to support?” People throw the word “support” out left and right without actually defining what it is they want to do. For example, EG.
- You provide 1(2 with kit refinement) aoe condition removals

You provide 3 with kit refinement, FT spell remove conditions too.

I am also wondering what exactly do you mean by support. Do you mean like..using flamethrower to kill support? or buffing or healing people?

I could be wrong but, I believe the FT kit refinement condition removal is for you only. I never really checked.

honestly, i don’t know why everyone says things like FT is kitten dps. I am *constantly* drawing aggro and controlling groups of mobs in dungeons with the FT while watching 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 roll and stack through the attack (obviously im rounding, but typically i get 3-4 strikes sub 1k, 2-4 around 1200-1500, and 2-4 at +2k dmg ... PER STRIKE for a total of nearly 5-6k dmg every 4 seconds ... thats roughly 1250 dps which is good for a non dps build), and a bit less on targets not dead centre of the jet. It is such a powerful weapon and isn’t limited by LOS or even the 5 mob rule.. sweep that jet through a zerg and it hits EVERYTHING.

i only wish that the burns were applied through the whole attack and not just the last tick.

For my build, support means mitigating the aggro of the encounters so people can just dps willy nilly (and it works fine, i’ve never had problems).

tweaking the build and gear to make sure i am tough enough to take aggro took some tinkering, but that was the fun part of building the build. i am still tinkering with it and always will be.

FT#1 strikes up to 10 times each cast (2.25 sec duration, 5 strikes every second) and applies a 1sec burn at the end of the cast. With a crit heavy build, you then use +33% burn, +50% vuln, and protection injection traits mixed in with fireforged trigger, jugg, deadly mixture, and speedy gadgets (for keeping up fury with goggles). then, with accuracy and battle sigils, you have limitless might, ~64% crit WITHOUT fury (2001 pre currently, will go up when i get fractal rings on this alt), 2800 attack (with might stacks, it goes higher) and 1800 tough. vita in my build is lacking, but in a way it is comforting because medkit heals make it "look" like im getting a big heal ( placebos ftw ) *every* strike from FT#1 can crit and proc sigils and what have you.

With FT, Goggles, I then add elixir R (for dungeons) or S / U (for pvp). The R toss rocks in pve, plain and simple, even accounting for other players who teleport when downed out of your area, the other people who aren’t completely oblivious to their surroundings make mad use of it. Also, with Goggles and R you get 2 stun breaks.

it’s not about being carried by better players, this is a myth, a lie, a sham .. good groups are good because all players pay attention and work with each other’s strengths and weaknesses. it requires at least a base knowledge of every profession so that you know what to use when. you should be playing IN your group, not just being there WITH a group.

THIS is what support means .. be supportive.

(PS to the best of my knowledge, the FT kit refinement cond removal is self only)
(PPS i recently switched from melandru to rage runes, ill keep y’all posted on how that goes, but i realy think the fury up time and crit dmg will be super beneficial)

FYI aggro in this game is random. Any guy doinkittenage can suddenly take aggro from a guy doing the most damage. I’ve seen it. Just look at the plinx end event in the chain. That abom will chose 1 guy to follow for the majority of the fight regardless of how much damage he is doing. Hell the poor guy could run all the time and never hit back and he will still get chased. There are no taunts here. There is no way to control who a target attacks. You pulling aggro has nothing to do with your dps.

This means “pulling aggro” as a role is out the door.

BTW how bout a screenshot of those numbers. Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal.

Oh yeah. A unique role I’ve played (dungeons only) with a crit FT build is being “the wall”. You basically block projectiles (that don’t pierce) using your body because you know you can leech back the life really fast.

This build is my general FT/EG build:

0/30/0/20/20

Firearms: Precise Sights or Rifled Barrels (just to give pistols/eg some more range), Fireforged Trigger, Juggernaut
Alchemy: Invigorating Speed, Deadly Mixture.
Tools: Kit Refinement, Speedy Kits.

Utility: Med Kit, Utility Goggles, EG, FT, Supply Kit.

Foods: Maintenance Oil and Omnom/Mixed Berry Pie for lifesteal on crit (With the armour stats I have I tend to have between 50-70% crit chance)

I tend to use dual pistols for sigils (one fire and one bloodlust). Armour is up to you but I run with PVT armour with ruby and emerald orbs slotted and a mixture of valkyrie, beserker’s and knight accessories (I think I’ve got 3 beserker pieces, 1 valk, 1 knights and the karka event accessory that gives +25 to all stats).

Most of the time I just run around flaming groups of mobs until crispy, shifting to the medkit when I need fury and goggles are on cool down. EG gives me AoE regen from the toolbelt skill along with an AoE condition removal and stackable pulse heal. Super Elixir also provides a light field to drop Supply Crate into to throw a bit of retaliation into the mix. Also don’t forget the 10 stacks of vuln you can apply by using the goggle’s toolbelt skill.

As much as the FT isn’t living up to it’s full potential (I still think that it could do with some tweaking both damage wise and mechanics wise) it’s still fun to bring along since the traits you use also benefit the EG.

nakoda.4213:

honestly, i don’t know why everyone says things like FT is kitten dps. I am constantly drawing aggro and controlling groups of mobs in dungeons with the FT while watching 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 roll and stack through the attack (obviously im rounding, but typically i get 3-4 strikes sub 1k, 2-4 around 1200-1500, and 2-4 at +2k dmg … PER STRIKE for a total of nearly 5-6k dmg every 4 seconds … thats roughly 1250 dps which is good for a non dps build), and a bit less on targets not dead centre of the jet. It is such a powerful weapon and isn’t limited by LOS or even the 5 mob rule.. sweep that jet through a zerg and it hits EVERYTHING.

I thought that the damage from the FT that you see ticking is a sum of what you’ve done on that burst. I use the FT a ton, I love it, but I’m thinkin your maths are a bit off (unfortunately). [(edit): made this ^^ less sure because I can’t check it for myself right now]

What would be amazing is if it did exactly what you said (it makes sense, you’re heating them up then burning the s*&t out of them), or added 1 stack of vulnerability for 1-2s (idk what would be balanced) per hit. This would make the FT a helluva good support tool and would make up for the poorish dmg.

hmm, you may be right, perhaps my maths are off, and im just making myself feel better (i cant rule that out now that youve given me some actual feedback to chew on)

regardless of the dmg though, the real meat and potatoes of the build is the crit chance. you strike 10 times in 2 seconds, and every one of them can crit.

omnom ghosts, crit traits, battle sigil, etc, your analogy of heating up the opponent over time holds true. self justification never works on forums, but im not being a dick when i say i use the FT a lot and i dont find it substandard. though i do have issues, like lack of continuous burn on #1, and stationary missing, same issues everyone has, i do not find it weak and i do rip through zergs of foes in both pve and pvp.

sorry, (no lie) but my PC *is* substandard or i would twitch the day away for you all.

nakoda.4213:

hmm, you may be right, perhaps my maths are off, and im just making myself feel better (i cant rule that out now that youve given me some actual feedback to chew on)

regardless of the dmg though, the real meat and potatoes of the build is the crit chance. you strike 10 times in 2 seconds, and every one of them can crit.

omnom ghosts, crit traits, battle sigil, etc, your analogy of heating up the opponent over time holds true. self justification never works on forums, but im not being a dick when i say i use the FT a lot and i dont find it substandard. though i do have issues, like lack of continuous burn on #1, and stationary missing, same issues everyone has, i do not find it weak and i do rip through zergs of foes in both pve and pvp.

sorry, (no lie) but my PC is substandard or i would twitch the day away for you all.

Absolutely, the hit rate is what makes it great. I’m afraid for the day where they put a cooldown on those food effects… (I think its coming). Oh, no worries man, I use the FT in WvW a crapload, I find it works phenomenally and I do not find it substandard either

I had some time before the reset, so I did some simple math to compare the FT to it’s other options (rifle for ranged and bomb for melee) using only the 1 skill. Take it with a grain of salt.

Uses http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQBgEYUBAA9AAAAQkCAA4TBAA
10/30/0/20/10 in favor of FT
2959 attack
50% crit 160% crit damage
bleed damage = 51
burn damage = 464

Assuming a really long time frame
(x stacks of bleed for y sec) = (y stacks of bleed for x sec)
(x stacks of vulnerability for y sec) = (y stacks of vulnerability for x sec)

Sharp Shooter ~ 1 stack 3sec bleed at 30% chance on crit (0sec icd, meaning “per attack”)
~ 51 × 3 × 0.3 x 0.5
~ 23 dps per attack
Incendiary Powder ~ 2sec burn at 33% chance on crit (3sec icd)
~ (464 × 2/3) x 0.33 × 0.5
~ 51 dps
Precise Sights ~ +1% direct damage for 3sec at 50% on crit (0sec icd , means “per attack”)
~ 3% x 0.5 × 0.5
~ 0.75% more direct damage per attack
Shrapnel ~ 1 stack 13sec bleed at 15% chance (0sec icd, means per attack)
~ 51 × 13 × .15
~ 99 dps per attack

FT ~1400 normal damage at 50% crit + 464 burn damage over 2.25sec
~ ((1400 × 0.5) + (1400 × 1.6 × 0.5) + 464)/2.25
~ (700 + 1120 + 464)/2.25
~ 1015
With sharp shooter +23 dps per attack 5 attacks per sec
~ +115
With incendiary powder +51 dps
With precise sights + 0.75% x 5 attacks x (1820)/2.25
~ +30dps
Total FT dps ~ 1211 dps

Rifle ~ 750 normal damage at 50% crit over 0.75sec
~ ((750 × 0.5) + (750 × 1.6 × 0.5))/0.75
~ (375 + 600)/0.75
~ 1300
With sharp shooter +23 dps per attack 1.33 attack per sec
~ +30
With incendiary powder + 51 dps
With precise sights + 0.75% x 1 attack x 1300
~ +10
Total rifle dps ~ 1391 dps

Bomb ~ 1000 normal damage at 50% crit over 0.5sec
~ ((1000 × 0.5) + (1000 × 1.6 × 0.5))/0.5
~ (500 + 800)/0.5
~ 2600 dps
With sharp shooter +23 dps per attack 2 attacks per sec
~ +46
With incendiary powder + 51 dps
With precise sights +0.75% x 2 attacks x 2600
~ +39
With shrapnel +99 dps per attack 2 attacks per sec
~ +198
Total bomb dps ~ 2736 dps(incendiary powder) 2883 dps (shrapnel)

FT: 1211 dps
Rifle: 1391 dps
Bomb: 2736 or 2883 dps

Please note that both the rifle and bomb are lacking their +10% damage traits.

This is why everyone says things like FT is kitten dps. It is melee dps that does less than ranged dps (with the philosophy that melee damage = 2x ranged damage for the risk involved with being at melee).

i think the part that isn’t being calculated in is that rifle is against one target, bombs up to 5 in melee range, FT#1 has no limit sweeping through a zerg, single target dps is low but in large groups, the spread of dmg is significant, this is what i’ve been advocating.

5 foes groups up = 1211x5 because it is independently damaging each foe, so the more foes, the more dmg. a rifle would get overrun, bomb fares very well with large groups as well, but it is no secret that bomb kit (a damage kit) is stronger than ft (a support kit) at direct damage.

(support vs damage is based on how i see people using the kits, not the tooltip "device vs weapon" designations)

(ps, im glad your numbers fall close to my guestimate of 1250 dps, the ninja cast doubt on my assertions)

The rifle pierces (for up to 5? with good aim), bomb hits 5, while FT hit 3 (yes 3 not 5, 3).

FT 1211 × 3 = 3633 total potential damage
Rifle 1391 × 3 = 4173 or 1391 × 5 = 6955 total potential damage
Bomb 2883 × 5 = 14415 total potential damage

3633 dps is from hitting 3 targets 10x each for a max of 30 hits. Hitting 5 targets means you are distributing 30 hits at most to 5 targets (instead of doing 10 10 10 0 0, you are doing 5 5 5 5 10 or 5 6 6 5 8 or 6 7 7 6 4 you get the picture). That means you are doing less than 1211 dps per target (guarantied).

This is why people say what they say about FT (and tool kit, but that’s a whole nother can of worms). Bomb kit adheres to the philosophy anet gave us that melee = 2x range due to risk. Bomb adheres to the standard. It was only recently that I understood why bomb did the same damage as other melee weapons from other classes since bomb has additional risk (time delay between action and damage). Bomb hits 2 targets more than regular melee weapons to compensate for that time delay risk factor.

ft hits 3 mobs in a vacuum if the engie stands still and the foes dont move.

try using it sometime out in the open when you are mobile and the foes are swarming around you.

theorycraft vs experience.

also (edit), FT is most effective with the foe kept at bay within the 425 range, not right beside you, so even though it is "melee" because it is short range, it isn’t meant to let your foes stand beside you.

and (edit), hitting multiple targets with sustained dmg from the FT#1 attack isn’t a multiplier, it is an additive, and each mob is independent. If one foe is targetted, and the engie keeps focus on it the whole time, that is one mob getting hit 10 times, and the rest of the dmg is certainly spread around the milieu, but

if 3 mobs were to stand still on one spot, and an engie opened up with a flame thrower, all three mobs get hit ten times (this is back in a vacuum scenario) while any adds running between you and the three will still take dmg from the jet stream.

Take farming CS for instance, it is not uncommon to be firing against 20+ foes at once, and the FT user strafing around the group will burn them all down. try farming during low population times for your server where you face the zerg alone and youll see what i mean (and make money doing it).

in wuvwuv the same holds for player foes, although the strategy changes because you yourself must be more mobile and active, and instead of being a heavy dmg dealer, your job is to frenzy the zerg and make smart players avoid you (lest they eat flame and all the fun procs that come with it), wasting their time and cds while the rest of your group hits up hammer time. i do this often, so im not just guessing about it.

in game experience is still the only valid experience.

EG was supposed to be the support but most of it’s damaging effects (3 out of 5) do damage without cures. It would be nice if we could have the #1 ability have a heal on it like the grenades or something or maybe the #3 ability have a stacking heal when blasting players with it perhaps?

Countless tests say otherwise. 1 pulse can hit only 3 at most. 1 breath is 10 pulses. Against 5 targets each pulse will pick 3 random targets. So given the numbers above, while it is possible to hit 5 targets with 1 breath, you will be doing less damage per target

3633 / 30 ~ 121
30 hits / 5 targets = 6
6 × 121 = 726

you basically reduce your dps from 1211 against 3 to 726 against 5

arthur laffer ruined a nation by selling napkin math like this to an aging movie star put in front of cameras while dressed like a president.

sadly, the president’s advisers bought in to the laffer hype instead of paying attention to the real situation in the nation.

nakoda.4213:

i think the part that isn’t being calculated in is that rifle is against one target, bombs up to 5 in melee range, FT#1 has no limit sweeping through a zerg, single target dps is low but in large groups, the spread of dmg is significant, this is what i’ve been advocating.

5 foes groups up = 1211×5 because it is independently damaging each foe, so the more foes, the more dmg. a rifle would get overrun, bomb fares very well with large groups as well, but it is no secret that bomb kit (a damage kit) is stronger than ft (a support kit) at direct damage.

(support vs damage is based on how i see people using the kits, not the tooltip “device vs weapon” designations)

(ps, im glad your numbers fall close to my guestimate of 1250 dps, the ninja cast doubt on my assertions)

The 1250 dps is correct, but remember, its dps (damage per SECOND) and in 1 second, the FT hits 5 times, not once.

indeed, and yet, as we’ve both mentioned, it’s the crits/procs that really count.

Is the math wrong?

All those crit/procs did was add 196 dps (19% of untraited dps) to FT, 91 dps (7% of untraited dps) to rifle, and 283 dps (9.8% of untraited damage) to bomb. Sure FT had the biggest improvement because of those procs, but the end result still shows that even with the proc at a reasonable crit rate of 50%, you are still doing 1/2 the damage you should be doing.

So; in line with the topic, choosing to use FT in a supportive role (in any role: healing, damage, utility, moral support?) is less effective by a huge difference.

The build I roll with includes using primarily the rifle, because the best support an engineer can provide is how many ways he can lock-down/interrupt an enemy, but I also threw the flamethrower kit in there because it’s tool-belt skill applies burning to the next five shots you take. This makes it a nice compliment to Utility Goggles, [It’s tool belt skill analyze,] and Elixir U. You’re shooting super-fast critical shots that burn with each hit at a target that’s taking 10% more damage.

That being said, the flamethrower is nice to have on hand for fighting large groups of trash mobs (such as the Nightmare Pups in F/F of Twilight Arbor.) It also has a blow-back, blind, and even more useful, a flame combo-field. The field adds extra support through finishers, some of which the engineer can use to give Area Might or burning projectiles.

I, too, can also confirm that the flamethrower definitely does not stack it’s damage. It merely continuously adds up to a grand total, so each burst is really doing the end total damage (45 84 140 260 389 450 would mean 450 damage per burst, not 1,368.)

I generally avoid the flamethrower because the time between bursts is longer than that of any other weapon/kit’s auto attack, which on average deals around the same anyway, so I go with the faster (and therefore higher DPS) alternatives.

Hello, hello!

I too play a supporty engineer, but still pack a punch damage wise (or I atleast like to think I do). My build will be posted here, for some reason I can’t copy and paste the link so I will when I get home.

It’s basically 0/20/30/20/0. This is a specc based on preference as I use Pistol+Shield and like to use Elixers (I feel they can support quite well as well, but sometimes you can be a bit selfish and power up your own damage!).

Elaboration:

Firepower:
Hair Trigger and Rifled Barrels are chosen in Firepower because I switch between pistol/shield and EG quite often. I want to have a nice amount of range so I don’t have to, unless I want to, get into the fight. Also the reduced CD seems obvious to me.

Inventions:
Energized Armor: I have Toughness in my gear so extra power is a good thing to me so I still pack a punch and I don’t ‘just’ support.

Elite Supplies: obvious to me as well, it’s my elite and more supplies is only better!

Reinforced Shield: I use one so it seems obvious to me as well, increased toughness for more durability and that also results in more Power (Energized Armor).

Alchemy:
Fast Acting Elixers: Again, I use Elixers so it’s a no brainer really.

Potent Elixers: Increases duration, again, no brainer to me. (Elixer B & U I use very often so it really enhances my damage.

Gear: all my gear is Cleric, Toughness+Power+Healing. I support, want to be beefy, but still pack a punch. Bam. My runes are the new ones: Altruism. Very awesome. On every heal (Healing Turret) I give Fury & Might to everyone. I do not have any good jewelry yet, but that will also be Cleric.

Sigils: I use Rage right now on my MH, because I like the quickness now and again, but I am still checking what I want to use myself here either. Sigil for Life might also be a possibility, but there’s more that’s viable.

What I do throughout encounters is actively switch between Elixer Gun and Pistol Shield, depending on what is needed, but mostly once I use all my CD’s on my pistol/shield I switch to EG and vice versa.

Combofields:

Make sure you make use of these! Another reason to use shield to me is the blast finisher which in conjuction with Regenerating Mist heals for a small amount that’s always welcome. The Healing Turret also has a Blast Finisher and sometimes (it doesn’t always work) when I explode it it also gives a heal.

Do you have anything you would like to use in your own build? Perhaps I can help you with creating one to your own needs and preferences and also I can answer any questions. (I feel like writing a guide when I post stuff like this :p).

Wow. That is a lot… a whole lot of information. Took me a while to go through. Thanks to all who replied giving me their advice.

Since it was asked, support for me means boons and condition removal, not vulnerability stacks, as in this case. Stil, I could have specified that.

Well in that case the Elixer Gun helps with removal: Fumigate and Super Elixer allow for that. Elixer F also gives swiftness.

Giving boons: the Runes of Altruism do that, apparently they work very well with the medkit as that has a lower CD I think than the medkit. I have not used it yet so I’d have to test myself how exactly it works. Throwing elixers like Elixer C removes conditions, but there’s also a trait that allows every elixer to do this and throwing elixer B for instance can give a random boon. You can also use Elixer H as your heal and throw that for boons. So I think you’ll have to trait quite some points in Elixer at least.

What weapons do you use? And is there a special weapon kit or something you really wanna implement in your build? We can always speculate and experiment! I think in general you will want to go deep into Elixers and perhaps medkit, but tell me first what you want!

I loooove this thread! It has math, and flamethrowers and stuff!

Right, on subject. I use might stacking FT build, 10/30/0/30/0, omnomberry creams for boon duration, elixirs B and U because I really hate my party, and med kit for the pretense of having condition removal (I really just like making my character bend over… shhhh). Gear is power-prec-condition, with a rifle for those time I can’t get up close/need to cheat on a jumping puzzle. Also, vitality is for weenies, anyone who says otherwise is not a manly man. Now, as to damage… Passively, I gain might every three seconds for 15+7.5 seconds (boon duuuration!). So, that’s about 7 stacks at all times. That’s 35 power and condition damage a stack, so we’re up to 245 bonus (taken from the wiki page). Oh, forgot to mention, with the lovely armor gained from dungeons, we have base stats of 1661 power, 622 condition damage, and 2141 preeecision (61% crit ^^). Now, Paaart 2! HGH and elixer b. Elixir B gives us 30+15 seconds of might, along with 2 stacks of 20+10 seconds of might (thats 3 stacks yall!) on a 32 second cooldown. So now we’re up to 10-11 stacks whenever we drink B, with a bit of overlap in there. Next, we can throw B every 20 seconds for 1-2 more stacks of 30 and 45 second might, which gives us up to 4 if we get lucky, but a low of 1 without the overlap duration. Total is now 11-15. Now comes the sigil! Strength sigil, that is. I has a 2 second ICD, but we can assume it always procs on CD since we crit about six to eight times a second. That’s fifteen seconds of might every 2 seconds, giving us another passive 7 while in combat. We’re at 18-22, and we’ll finish it off with elixir u. 2 more stacks of might, and really fast fire. Brings us up to 20-24 stacks, have a warrior toss us a shout, we’re almost capped. That’s 700-875 bonus power and condition damage, bringing those earlier numbers up to 2361 power and 1322 condition at the low end.

So, damage time. Using more maths, we have about an 80% chance to crit (fury from b), and, assuming the enemy has 2600 armor (because why not?), we have 1258 damage per 2 seconds from the flame component. But wait, there’s more! 80% chance to crit, plus 150% crit damage means we’re really going to average 1509 damage per 2 seconds (that’s 754 dps). Now then, we have a few more sources of damage. First, is 30% chance bleed on crit for 3 seconds. So, .8 times .3 is .24, meaning we’ll get 2.4 stacks of bleed every two seconds, or 1.2 per second. Our bleeds tick for 108, so that’ll be 130.3 dps (because our conditions hit hard). Next is our burning. 33% chance for 2 seconds on crit, cooldown 3 seconds. Our burns hit for 658 damage per tick, and tick each second (we technically get 10% more time, but 2.2 seconds and 2 seconds are the same for damage). .8*.33=.264, means we’d proc it 2.64 times every 2 seconds, but icd puts that at 1 per 3 seconds, so we can assume 66% uptime on that little debuff (up 2 seconds, cooldown… yeah). 434.2 dps from that flame, then another 1 second every 2 seconds (50% uptime) for 329 dps. But wait! There’s more! We also get vulnerability. 50% chance every crit, no cooldown. Means .4 per attack, lasting 3.3 seconds. We get about 15 attacks in 3.3 seconds (.25 second downtime), so that’s 6 stacks up. So, 1.06 times our initial 754 dps, plus 434 plus 329 plus 130 equals 1692 dps with auto attack!

Boom.

I brought my engie out of mothballs and respecc’d to the Juggernaut build for FT. Used it in WvW last night. Something about being on fire just freaks people out. The added toughness is mighty fine too for standing close on the front line a bbq’-ing everything in sight.

Warriors and thieves especially have relatively poor condition removal. I will say, however, that using an FT in WvW really kittens peeps off. I can’t tell you how many times they were dancing on my corpse after I went down, lol.