Guild Wars 2

New 80 Engineer mostly for WvW pug zerg/havoc play. Trying to balance crit/ferocity/power with toughness to survive a bit better while still doing reasonable damage.

I liked Divinity runes for stats and price, but could go Melandru or Pack. (Not sure why I’d want Pack or Strength really.) Assassin’s pistol was a drop so using that but not opposed to rifle (Berserker?).

And so, is it better to give up a bit of crit for power, etc? Similarly, 1750 toughness has long seemed a baseline for WvW in my experience. I just seem to die a bit more on this engi than on my necro (backline) even with the increased range grenades offer.

Any build/play help or suggestions much appreciated.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fdAQJAqelUUp+qlYxdLseRSbBNqwEqYIyNOlPXgAcUA-TlCBABxs/gh6BIV9HlUesg5BAOBAepEzjHAAFKBbzEEpAYSYE-w

Edit: I can substitute a full set of ascended Rabid jewelry to boost condi. Just seems condi isn’t that great with all the cleansing in zerg play.

you need to get rid of the cavalier no matter what, youll be served better by knight for the toughness.

my own set is currently 1680 toughness, and ever since 4/15 ive felt like i no longer need to run ~2k toughness. for a while i had it down to 1574, the difference in damage is very noticeable and it just takes some getting used to, but you start getting very susceptible to high dps toons with large amounts of active defenses, not to mention that you cant stay on a ram in full zerk.

frankly i wouldnt use anything but melandru. my pve set is strength ofc, and ill occasionally go take a camp with it, and i dont really notice appreciable time gains for having the extra dps because of the stuns and harder hits you take. but in duels pack/str wont do a kitten thing for you, and melandru will save your kitten .

zerk vs assassin doesnt really make a difference. one is as good as the other, unless you cant crit (siegekilling) or if youre getting tons of might from allies (more crit scales better with might, marginally)… but give rifle a shot if you havent, personally i wouldnt give it up.

personally i dont like S, but thats my roaming playstyle creeping in… cant give up rocket boots for it.

insanemaniac.2456:

you need to get rid of the cavalier no matter what, youll be served better by knight for the toughness.

my own set is currently 1680 toughness, and ever since 4/15 ive felt like i no longer need to run ~2k toughness. for a while i had it down to 1574, the difference in damage is very noticeable and it just takes some getting used to, but you start getting very susceptible to high dps toons with large amounts of active defenses, not to mention that you cant stay on a ram in full zerk.

frankly i wouldnt use anything but melandru. my pve set is strength ofc, and ill occasionally go take a camp with it, and i dont really notice appreciable time gains for having the extra dps because of the stuns and harder hits you take. but in duels pack/str wont do a kitten thing for you, and melandru will save your kitten .

zerk vs assassin doesnt really make a difference. one is as good as the other, unless you cant crit (siegekilling) or if youre getting tons of might from allies (more crit scales better with might, marginally)… but give rifle a shot if you havent, personally i wouldnt give it up.

personally i dont like S, but thats my roaming playstyle creeping in… cant give up rocket boots for it.

Thanks!

My warrior survives by Melandru. I’m able to get by with Travelers on my necro, so long as I’m eating lemongrass soup anyway, but that may change with a new build.

With kits perma speed I figured I could go with Divinity instead, eat the lemongrass soup and trait for mitigation on stuns, etc while using an elixir B/C/S (probably S or C mostly since necro and warrior have taught me to value stability and condi removal.) Rocket Boots sound good though. So does the Generosity sigil, but 40G. ouch!

I get that going Melandru means swapping to Knights on trinkets since I lose both Ferocity and Precision on the rune swap (for that condi/stun mitigation and goodness instead). I assume the math says the cost in lost crit and power is greater than the cost in lost ferocity (since Cavalier gives vitality rather than precision).

Anyway, I did a Melandru build earlier, but since I had the Divinity equipped already used those. Here’s the Melandru. I swap the defenses #1 trait to give power based on toughness instead of damage reduction on crit since there’s 100 more toughness with this rune set.

I appreciate the time and advice. Thanks again.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fdAQFAUlUUpEr9Zx6KseRSbBNqwEqlKyNOlPXgAcUA-TVCBABCt/gh6A6SJ2sKBJV9HlUesg5JAuAAe8AAIFATCjA-w

dmbgodzilla.2745:

So does the Generosity sigil, but 40G. ouch!

if you want to try it out, major is perfectly adequate and 10% of the cost. but if you find you like it, make sure you throw a superior on a weapon you can salvage or reuse so as not to be stuck extracting it or letting it rot in your bank. cleansing is also nearly equivalent… you dont get that little extra dps/cc that throws a curve ball but ive found dedicating a sigil to condi cleansing really really helps engi out. (i have literally killed condi wars/mesmers before in like 10 secs because they were not expecting generosity and had their hueg tormentz thrown back at them. i always look forward to a s/s warrior fight instead of crying about impale.)

insanemaniac.2456:

dmbgodzilla.2745:

So does the Generosity sigil, but 40G. ouch!

if you want to try it out, major is perfectly adequate and 10% of the cost. but if you find you like it, make sure you throw a superior on a weapon you can salvage or reuse so as not to be stuck extracting it or letting it rot in your bank. cleansing is also nearly equivalent… you dont get that little extra dps/cc that throws a curve ball but ive found dedicating a sigil to condi cleansing really really helps engi out. (i have literally killed condi wars/mesmers before in like 10 secs because they were not expecting generosity and had their hueg tormentz thrown back at them. i always look forward to a s/s warrior fight instead of crying about impale.)

Yeah, I hear you about salvage. Even with salvage, assuming it’s an ascended weapon (we can salvage those, yeah?), the inscription for the weapon is a 40G loss unless we have a chance to get back. I haven’t salvaged anything ascended yet. Regardless, Generosity is 40G for a reason. Not sure I do enough PVP though.

I got the Cleansing recipe drop last week and made one even though I resist the idea of giving up Battle and Accuracy helps so much with stingy crit stats nowadays. Still, I have it there and the complaints I most often read about engi’s usually involve conditions. Maybe on the rifle I’ve not made yet.