i posted this question in other forums, but no one could answer me:
I am trying to come up with my own build, and i want to rely heavily on the rifle.
So far, i put 30 points in firearms, and 20 in alchemy.
My question is: where do i put the last 20 points to max out the rifle damage?
As far as I understood, the rifle skills exceptionally with power, on the other hand i see a lot of rifle builds which do not emphasize on power but on the tools trait line.
On a side note: this would also partially determine which weapon kit i chose (tool kit or grenades), so far i like them both, but feel that the tool kit is better for pvp.
Personally, I would say that you should put the 20 points into power to get the Enhanced performance trait as it allows you to maintain 3 stacks of might (105 power and condition damage) if you use the med kit. It comes down to preference but the med kit doesn’t have a recharge on the normal healing skill which the trait works from.
But keep in mind, I do not strive for max dmg, but rather a compromise, because I dislike playing full on glasscannon.
If you wanted to really max out damage, you’d take that build and switch the 10 points from alchemy to 10 firearms (incendiary powder), switch from divinity to scholar runes, from blood to air sigil and ditch the 2 elixirs for the goggles and the ram. Additionally you’d have to switch traits in the tools section – speedy kit becomes speedy gadgets and adrenal implant would make way for scope(IF that trait worked…).
edit:
like this: http://tinyurl.com/glassengi (keep in mind that Scope trait is not working properly atm! oh – and Go for the Eyes should get changed to either Napalm Specialist or Precise Sights, I forgot :/)
Then you’d have the ultimate glass cannon rifle engineer. But I wouldn’t recommend. Play my build instead and pack a little less punch, but loads more survivability.
thanks for all the answers;D
i am starting to feel that it might come down to personal preference, where to put the points if you can only chose between explosives or tools trait line.
still it would be nice to know which trait line raises the damage output more, since i think i would be able to make my peace with whatever comes with it (mastery traits etc.)
even in the answers you guys gave me (which are all awesome:D), it is not clear which way to go, since again some suggested a power build while others suggested the tools (trait line) build.
edit:
it just occured to me: maybe it would help if you guys explained to me, why you took the power trait line over the tools (trait line), or vice versa.
If you’re maximizing damage, you have three trait lines: Explosives (Power and Condition Duration), Firearms (Crit Chance and Condition Damage), and Tools (Crit Damage and Toolbelt recharge).
Toolbelt recharge and crit damage is probably not going to net you as much pure damage increase as the other trait lines. Therefore, generally speaking, maxing points in Explosives and Firearms and then the last 10 in Tools will probably give you highest Engineer damage. (30/30/0/0/10)
Gaining 200 more power does not yield more damage than a static discharge crit damage build (and elixir u is not that strong for engi rifle burst – you’ll just get in 4 shots in the time of 2 every other minute for the expense of a slot skill. We have no channel that profits from it like other professions). Oh – and you put in berserker’s jewels everywhere (as in: not only amulet), which is something you can do in WvW, I guess, but is bad for comparison’s sake
@OP – why don’t you just get yourself some steady weapons (that’s why they’re there) and try both specs at the dummies and check for yourself what comes closer to your goal. From there on, you’ll gradually want to change the spec anyway (if you want to play glasscannon at all).
Gilgamesh’s spec indeed is more of a WvW spec, as it maxes out grenade damage specifically and is stronger in AoE situations. If you don’t use the grenades, there’s nothing to be gained from going more than 10 explosives, really (apart from the power, but that is overshadowed by static discharge and the +critdmg from tools as pointed out above).
I haven’t test Static Discharge much, but aren’t the bolts it generates thrown out in random directions? What’s the range on them? Can you stand fairly far back and still hit enemies, or do you have to be right on top of them?
Unusually for trait like this, it has no cooldown. This makes it better with toolbelt skills that take less time to recharge, with more points in the Tools trait, and with traits that lower the recharge time on skills in your toolbelt.
At the end of each toolbelt skill, you will release the bolt directly towards where the skill was targeted. If you use a targeted tool belt skill, the lightning bolt will hit the target.
If you use an area of effect skill – including an elixir or skill that doesn’t normally deal damage – it will fly towards the center of the AoE and hit anything in a straight-line path.
If you use a skill that doesn’t target, like Incendiary Ammo, the bolt will only go a few steps in the direction you’re facing before hitting the ground, but will hit if there’s an enemy in its path.
(taken from the wiki)
It’s not random no, and regarding the range – I don’t know really, but judging from the above description and personal experience it is tied to the toolbelt skill (if not of longer range even).
Let’s take throw wrench as an example – when you use it with a static discharge build, you not only throw the wrench, but a lightning bolt with it (it’s not a pbaoe if that’s what you were thinking), making it two travelling projectiles.
The static discharge is a 900 range and bounces twice after the initial hit. It goes off your ability target but it’s buggy with elixir’s and some other gtaoe skills.
I play around a lot with swapping from tools and explosives in the build and I don’t really like dropping below 20 in tools.
But that’s mainly since I like having both speedy kits + static discharge, or leg mods + static discharge.
When in berzerker gear I find having swiftness + the passive speed boost with medkit out to be a huge lifesaver.
It’s really my only hope of escaping a zerg in WvW. Either it or thr elixir U tool belt! Come on stealth / wall!
Wouldn’t it have to be 1200 range, according to the wiki’s description on how it works with AoE toolbelt abilities? It also says, it would bounce three times, not two.
I myself couldn’t say from memory/experience tbh, whether the range is 900 or 1200 and whether it bounces 2 or 3 times.
Through testing it seems it is ~900. I noticed that if I fire a rocket at a max range target (1200) the lightning bolt wont reach. It doesn’t really come into effect that often since we only get 3 1200 range tool belt abilities, the rest are 900 or below, and if you play tools as a burst melee type spec, then you may not use the increased rifle range trait so you get use to the 900-1000 default range on rifle.
But the bounces seem to have an extended range from the initial bolt. So you can hit someone at 900 with the first hit and it will bounce further. I haven’t figured out a good way to test this though.
You get 2 bounces after the initial hit. So 3 hits total. It doesn’t bounce 3 times. So it hits your #1 target then bounces to #2 and then #3.
