Guild Wars 2

Hi there

This is probably the only build I’ve never effectively played. The main problem is that I can’t seem to put enough pressure on people and my survivability is always kinda meh.

I’ve tried going with this build http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqalIqSXnvy3F17IBoH5Vv4VkiHX5PKoPbB-jUyAItASBAoFg5wioxWw0YLfCRaGMVKRUtPoIa1CBsYPA-w which kind of works but is less satisfying than any other build I’ve played so far.

What to run if I wanted to play with pistols and condition damage? I saw other engineers running with only pistols and doing very decently, so I guess there is a way to run this set up. Considering that burning is a huge source of damage, I either run with dual pistols, or go pistol/shield and get incendiary powder from explosives or use flamethrower toolbelt skill.

Also, is it really necessary to go with full elixirs and HGH? I tried it out but can’t keep those stacks of might up for enough time and I need the elixirs to get out of hairy situations, can’t waste them just to get might, and rocket boots saved my kitten many times.

I currently have:
full rabid gear
full soldier gear
full berserker gear
and would like not to spend any other money, if possible

Thanks for your attention, hoping you can help me out

seems fine to me. i;‘d use 409 instead of self regulating defenses. and i’d use the toxic focusing crystal and change sigil of agony to earth, blood, or torment. that way you keep your bleed duration for your autos and sharpshooter, gain an extra effect from your sigil, and ups your incendiary powder to a full 8 seconds. also rocket kick and blowtorch get an extra second of burning each.

your survivability is going to be an issue but that’s the life of a kitless build.

I say this not to be obvious, but if you go the Condition route, then you should trait for durability. Add as much Toughness as you can. For your Conditions to work, you need to out last your opponent. Once they’ve exhausted their Condition Removal’s, they tend to melt like butter on a skillet. But you have to last. It takes more time than a power build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqalIqSXnvy3F17IBoH5Vv4VkiHT5PKoPbB-jUCBYhBkWAg8GMFtIas1gFRjVJjIqWpEzcWQ2iWZVIgHrBA-w
from what sudjested
now all build are focused on cond dmg and and cond dmg slow duration
just make high cond dmg for a short period is great, clean is useless and u can spam condition every time (bleed, burn and torment)
rememeber to run away when u need to clean conds on u or stealth for that
accessory:
20 lawrel+ 250 badge of honor = amulet
20 fractal relics (token at the end of fractal) = 2 rings
24 guild commendation = 2 earrings
45000 karma poits = exotic rabbid back from lyssa temple vendor
just take some time to collect token (more or less 2 weeks)
rune set u can use your actual rune set, it’s just a sudjest
for take all equip from zero u spend more or less 20 gold, if u want only dmg u spend less, if u want to be beaty to u spend more XD

not sure if this is for wvw or spvp, the following tips are with wvw in mind.

you don’t realy need the extra range on pistols, its a useful trait sometimes but it’s too situational justify using it at all times.

napalm specialist is also dubious. you already have 20 points in explosives, assuming you use +40% condition food, thats already 60%. that extra 33% on burn is puting you at 93% which is good on paper but won’t really work in wvw, as it will almost always be clansed before, unless you can continuosly overload the target with conditions so you hide the burn, somethign that wont happen well with a 0 kit build.

with those extra 20 points you can go 20 in inventions for any two of protection on crit, stabilized armor, cloaking device, power shoes. or go 30 in explosions for grenadier.

self regulating defenses is a self inflicted death sentence alot of the times. it will lock you out of your utilities and leave you to die from conditions, especially since you dont run 409. I’d drop that trait and ht for elixir h and go 409. if you do go that way, rocket boots has less effect since you dont really have fields to blast, so you’d be better off with something else: EG, toolkit, ft or grenades if you go 30 points in explosions.

since you are not running kits, I’d suggest a mix of carrion and rabid gear, the extra power will improve your pressure by alot.

cheers

The build looks more like a duel build, sind it lacks AoE and direct damage for zergs, aswell as support for small groups (only elixir b and HT). for solo roaming grenade/bomb kit is imo really strong against NPC’s, and i wouldn’t want to miss that out. but that’s fine.

my suggestion:
leave out burn on crit, you already have alot of burning (pistol: 12s for 11.5s , f4: 17.5s for 9.75s)
Add in kit refinement with med kit, which is both a better healing (double heal with tools 15) and instant casted magnetic aura for 5 seconds with 25% uptime.

switch sigil of agony to either hydromancy, geomancy, earth or smoldering.

It would result in this Build

build is just theorycrafting. didn’t test it.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqalIqqbnqy3F1LJxoCdGki8qXRKyv+/ogusF-jkCBINBkWAk8AIHqIaslgBp8MsVRRTzATliIq2joIa1SBsoyK-w

Here’s my theory crafted idea for you. E-gun gives you a ton, stun break, on swap procs, condi-clear/heal, blast finisher, and has a better auto attack than pistol. Flame Turret gives you more burning and a fire and smoke field and a blast finisher, all on a relatively short cooldown. Rocket boots is just plain awesome and with more fields gives it more utility.

I also changed your runes to give you a more general 97% condi duration, also the slots on your trinkets to exotic jewels for more stats, but I would recommend getting ascended amulet/rings at least.

Also if you go HGH you need at least 3 elixirs and runes to support might like noble runes and probly a sigil of battle/strength.

EDIT: Undead might be better choice for runes, cheaper as well.

Thanks for the replies

I’ve read all your tips and tried to make a build that took into accout almost anything you have said, like focusing on being though, going for condi damage rather than duration etc

The build is meant for wvw roaming. I usually play SD rifle or SD grenadier.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqalIqyanvy3F17IRoH2/+FG0j8yX8Kqg+B-jEyAItASBApFA5wioxWNLiGrmBTlSEV7DKiWtQAL2DA-w

I chose sigil of agony because, with the 40% duration from food, I can up my pistol’s bleed from 2s to 3s and get another tick.

Picked FT because of the toolbelt skill and on-demand burning, which would be 15s (4k x3 = 12k), saving 20 points. I only use the kit itself when destroying siege or for the occasional aoe blind.

Went deep in inventions tree to get more toughness and more defensive traits (and giving a bonus to condi dmg as well because of undead runes) and 10 points into alchemy for even more protection procs. I have a base permanent 1973 condition damage.

I tested it yesterday, very early in the morning when there was barely anyone and destroyed a guardian. I saw him buffing himself A LOT, trying to cleanse, but getting melted while I received little damage and could easily disengage with rocket boots. I just might have been lucky tho and have met a bad one. I noticed that I get kited easily by GS mesmers if they manage to stay at 1.2k range from me

I noticed that I can’t keep the bleeds up for long though; if I stop autoattacking for 3-4s in order to cast poison dart volley or blowtorch, I lose all my stacks. I have no problem keeping up burn and poison on the other hand, so maybe I should really go for the “on crit sigils”.

If you got something else in mind, it’ll be very welcome. My focus is to make a sturdy condition pistol-based build for wvw roaming.

Thanks again for your replies

just one thing now, instead of agony you should try geomancy or battle or chill on swap or something else and use a givers pistol which has 10% condition duration. It should work alot better.

10% bleed duration =10% bleed damage.
10% burn duration = 10% burn damage.

Which one is better is only is defined by which one deals more damage in each case. I doubt youll be doing great bleeding damage, not more than burning. I didnt take into account caps, because its difficult to compare since very often enemies run condition duration reduction through melandrus or food.