Guild Wars 2

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUlspSXnvSyF17IRIF4/+gUkX/K6xjp8kB-j0xAYrgQFCS2rIasVuioxqXwUlER1e8ioVLDg+CA-w

I did no more than a few hours of sPvP with Rifle so very little experience but I found it nice as a front line sustained DPS with burst, all be it very hard to setup, and elixirs are a wonderful group utility.

Why and how would you rifle when you could P/P?

I’m not sure what you are asking. Anyway…

I’ve tried using P/P and and P/S on my PVP turret build, however I’ve found the rifle to be much more effective for several reasons:

#1: The auto attack has higher single-target damage with pretty much any build you make. When lining up shots to pierce it does quite a bit of damage. In fact, the rifle’s auto attack is one of the strongest ranged auto attacks in the game. Also, I’ve seen the pistol without coated bullets suffer from body-blocking issues.

#2: The net shot is better as a single target immobilize than glue puddle. The glue puddle only works for a moment, and most people just roll out of it before anything meaningful can be done. Net shot lasts longer and also is on a shorter recharge, which lets it sustain better control pressure against any single target.

#3: Blunderbuss is a high damaging PBAoE cone skill. The best advantage to it is that blunderbuss is also nearly instantaneous with a really short activation time and aftercast, letting it combo seamlessly with any other skill being used. I guess the closest comparison is the Flamethrower off-hand on the pistol, which is a really nice skill as well, but it also misses for strange reasons, and the majority of the damage done is through burning, so it can be redundant if permanent burn is already achieved somehow.

#4: Overcharged shot has saved me from numerous occasions. The ability to cure soft controls is the best use, but the skill is an excellent control and distance creator. Even though it has a self knockback (except with stability, which then it pwns), that is advantageous when functioning as a distance creator, since it will put a stop to bursts and ambushes. The control on opponents is longer, and this is useful for turret builds, which lay down damage without the engineer’s direct involvement.

#5: Jump shot is a leap finisher that is also a movement skill as well as a fairly high AoE damaging skill. The utilities are endless, from closing gaps to creating them, to just doing a lot of damage while in someone’s face.

So it has a lot of high damaging skills on fairly short cooldowns with a lot of utility, and it isn’t dependent on conditions for all its damage. Another thing is that the functionality of P/P can be achieved with kits, most notably the bomb kit. The bomb kit causes AoE burning, AoE confusion, glue puddles, and also can cause AoE blinds. The only thing lacking is the poison, which can be done using the grenade kit if one really desires it. The functionality of rifle, that is, the two movement skills + light control cleanse + high single target control pressure, can’t be readily achieved with any kits. The most you can do is use the elixir gun with acid bomb as a distance creator, rocket boots as an AoE + distance closer, and the net turret for immobilizes, but this is a lot okittenward kits just to mimic the rifle’s functionality.

In PVE I tend to use the rifle against a few strong enemies, but the pistol against hordes of weak enemies. I also use the rifle where conditions won’t matter (environmental objects and dragon champions), and I need to attack at maximum range.

Magnet—→Blunderbuss—→Net Shot—→Jump Shot—→Overcharge Shot

Is that the burst?