Guild Wars 2

Hi guys
As the title says…

I´m kinda new engineer. So far, I like the playstyle very much. But conditions are really a big problem for me. I understand, that they are meant to be our weakness. But I don´t get it – how do you deal with condition-based specs? Not only necro, but ranger, thief etc.
Any help appreciated, thanks in advance. Have a nice day

Hello frands! Vee Wee here, #1 Engi NA and world first rank 80!

The most important thing is to make good use of your heal! Since generally Healing Turret is the Engineer’s only form of condi removal, you need to play smart! Other forms of condi removal that Engi has are plain ole junk! Yippee! Sometimes you need to fall back to cleanse a long lasting weakness or chill or burning! If you try to fight with these conditions you will probably lose! So the short answer is: you don’t! Run away and live to fight another day!

The next option is to get really good and just predict when the bad guys are going to use strong condition moves like Necro condi transfer or Ranger torch burn or Warrior longbow fire field. lol jk you can’t dodge the fire field because balance. Outplay them! Engi is a great 1v1 fighter!

Wahoo! Bye frands!

ArrDee.2573:

Hello frands! Vee Wee here, #1 Engi NA and world first rank 80!

If you have conditions on you – run away.

Wahoo! Bye frands!

Wow, that’s horrible advice.
“Average” build has 4 condition cleanses in 20seconds – that will do.
Transmute trait covers one.
Healing turret covers two and here’s the important part – if you see yourself having eg. 5 stacks of torment (from warrior/mesmer)/few stacks of confusion/ burning or dozen stacks of bleeding from condi proffession, yet still nearly full health, the best way to deal with them is just use heal to get rid off of two of them. Might be little “waste” of heal, since it can recover eg. only 3k health out of ~6k, but it will prevent you from wasting 10k or more suffering from these conditions.
Last is EG#5 – cleanses one condition tho description doesn’t show it.

Along with all that it’s important to have healing parts in your build. Regen, backpack regenerator and staying on EG#5 field (even excluding heal on impact) is already 500hp/sec.

Last thing (cleansing and regen being primary) is to know when to fall back a little. If your enemy seems to be full and your health is around 50% + you’re sufferring from conditions and got skills on CD, then it might be good to leap back for few seconds.

In fairness to Vee Wee. . .

The key to condition removal is getting rid of “the big one” on command. A good condition player will drop the big ones first then cover them with “junk”. Think LIFO. last condition in is the first one removed. Long duration big damage skills which are covered are tough on the engineer.

Trouble tends to be that you will remove “junk” with transmute and even super elixir. That leaves the heal for the important removals.

A couple tricks make us better at condition removal/prevention.

1. We have a good reflect and a lot of projections come in on projectiles.
2. We have a good block on shield and if you take tool kit 2 blocks. That can avoid a lot of conditions IF you can guess them. Lots of big conditions have small tells.
3. Interrupts are something we do well which can mess up the enemy’s ability to dump conditions.
4. We get a far number of dodges with the right spec.
5. In small settings, the light field will remove several conditions with projectile finishers. We have only a few but it can help. . . Some.

Ok, note we do well 1v1 with avoiding conditions and really managing them. In bigger settings, our active play (save dodges) really let’s us get over burdened.

Darius the Prime.2137:

Hi guys
As the title says…

As with most questions of this nature, the answer depends on your build and to a lesser degree what game type you’re in. Assuming you mean PvP/WvW here are my opinions…

Glass cannon builds like SD burst don’t have much of any defense against conditions. Glass cannon builds in general are really just about blowing up your opponent before they have time to react. There’s not much defense in these builds, and if you’re using something like this the question isn’t “how do I deal with conditions” so much as “how do I kill my enemy faster so I don’t get so many conditions”.

Other than that, the majority of Engineer builds will use Healing Turret. That’s 2 conditions removed every 15-20s, depending on how you use it. More all around builds will also go at least 3 points into Alchemy, that’s a free condition convert (changes an incoming condition to a boon) every 15s. Elixir Gun is also a very popular kit to supplement most builds, that has a skill Super Elixir (#5) that will remove 1 condition on impact. These are the most common condition removals that Engis use.

Also worth considering are deeper Alchemy builds that choose the trait Cleansing Formula 409, this makes every elixir cleanse 1 condition. The Grandmaster trait Automated Response has received significant nerfs, but it can still help. Elixir C is not often used because our other utilities bring a lot more to a build, but it’s pretty good when you have conditions on you.

Some skills remove only certain conditions. Rifle #4 Overcharged Shot will remove crippling conditons. As will Rocket Boots. Med Kit #4 is not very good unless you can stack them up ahead of time in sPvP or you’re running away and removing a poison will save you or something.

There’s also food and runes that reduce condition duration on you. Those won’t remove the conditions, but it will make them shorter and easier to live with.

If you’re in sPvP and your build doesn’t rely on a specific sigil, try running Sigil of Generosity and/or Sigil of Purification. That’s pretty good passive condition removal independent of whatever else is in your build.

With all that said, Engineers are designed to be weak against conditions. Relative to other classes, we have a lot of trouble with conditions. It’s really our main weakness.

Probably not the best way but personally I just carry a large health pool, usually between 33-35k, and automated response. Of course healing turret is a must. On my standard build I use elixir infused bombs along with backpack regenerator, which slows down the hp I lose by a significant amount.

On most occasions I have enough room to fight back, even if I get condi bursted it usually leaves me at around 17k but once in a while I’ll find someone who drops me to 5k and I just have to run

Penguin, try settler stats.
Max Tougness + healing power and more condi-dmg as celestial. mix that with rampager or celestial trinkets for the crits and you will have so much sustain that you literally can outheal most of the conditions you get applied on.
Bonus points for running backpack regenerator and elixir infused bombs.

healing turret, transmute, dodge, but best is super elixir+projectiles.

as option for elixir builds is “formula 409” ofc.

Food.
Runes.
Generosity sigil.

Hvaran.6327:

healing turret, transmute, dodge, but best is super elixir+projectiles.

as option for elixir builds is "formula 409" ofc.

Food.
Runes.
Generosity sigil.

. ^^ This http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wNEAqkpVdaQ my engi my vs a good condi necro.

Runes of Hoelbrak are pretty legendary at the moment. Generosity is also a good sigil option if you’re really looking to invest.

Arantheal.7396:

Penguin, try settler stats.
Max Tougness + healing power and more condi-dmg as celestial. mix that with rampager or celestial trinkets for the crits and you will have so much sustain that you literally can outheal most of the conditions you get applied on.
Bonus points for running backpack regenerator and elixir infused bombs.

I actually do have a settler set too and yeah its pretty good but I just love having high hp lol

vincecontix.1264:

Hvaran.6327:

healing turret, transmute, dodge, but best is super elixir+projectiles.

as option for elixir builds is “formula 409” ofc.

Food.
Runes.
Generosity sigil.

. ^^ This http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wNEAqkpVdaQ my engi my vs a good condi necro.

Awesome video. What a tool that guy was.

Just to note, the projectile finisher + light field removes 1 condition from an ally closest to the target hit, within a small radius. In other words, it does nothing for you if you are shooting people at range sitting in a light field. You would have to be right on top of them while using the projectile finisher through a light field. Very unreliable, but nice when it randomly works.

I tried running a condi bunker build which the elxir trait that removes coniditions. I used exlir gun, elixir r, and elixir c. Also I went 4 intro explosives to get IA which procced easily with sigil of intelligence. I was able to go toe to toe with everything except this one necro who just spammed fear on me and instantly got 10k fear damage in on me while his condis ticked for an additional 5-8k.

So if you trait for it you can handle everything except condi necro, they’re a hard counter to our class no matter what you do, unless they’re really bad. Automated Response used to deal with them but not anymore.

Darius the Prime.2137:

Hi guys
As the title says…

I´m kinda new engineer. So far, I like the playstyle very much. But conditions are really a big problem for me. I understand, that they are meant to be our weakness. But I don´t get it – how do you deal with condition-based specs? Not only necro, but ranger, thief etc.
Any help appreciated, thanks in advance. Have a nice day

HGH, clear condis with elixers, gain might and boons while doing so and then just shoot away at them with the rifle. Rifle auto-attack is actually quite good.

If you are new to engineers you probably don’t know the in and out of many builds yet, so healing turret + transmute is your easiest go to condition cleanse.

Be aware that Transmute doesn’t turn an entire incoming stack of intensity-stacking conditions into a boon.

For example, if you get hit with Prybar (5 Confusion) you will still end up with 4 Confusion and only one will be transmuted into Retaliation.

It is however still a very strong trait, especially if it procs for Fear (which transmutes to Stability).

I view transmute as a way to get a random boon versus a real source of condition removal. It just is unreliable as Untimely points out.

You really have healing turret, elixir gun and the ability sometimes depending on kits/number of players etc to get a projectile finisher off the light field of elixir gun 5 Super Elixir.

You are weak on condition removal unless you spec for it or gear for it.

By spec, elixirs. Downside. . . fewer kits.
By gear, condition reduction. Downside. . . less condi damage
By food, -condition. Downside. . . no +duration.

In short, this is why I keep several sets of armor and several types of food available at all times. If the going gets really condition hot in WvW particularly, I swap out at the first opportunity. In sPvP, you just have to find your comfort zone.

One final note, regeneration can mean you don’t have to cleanse the little stuff (if you can actively manage to know what you have on you) and dodges can keep you from taking conditions but you have to time them well (and it is harder to time dodges for conditions than physical damage with an easier tell).

If you are using bomb kit, one way to reduce the amount of conditions you take is to go into stealth mode upfront (see how Yishis did it) or go into stealth mode soon after you are engaged.

Getting the feeling that engineers are much better avoiding conditions in small 1v1 or 1v2 situations but could easily get “overloaded” in larger settings? Yep. It’s true!

Don’t think condition removal is something engineers are suddenly good at with anything but the most unbalanced build to focus on it (e.g. right gear, food and elixirs as utilities). If you are not THAT build, when in doubt, run and come back.

HGH Elixir build with Cleansing Formula 409. Not only do I stack Might but every utility I have also cleans up conditions. You could use Pistol, Rifle, Grenades, Bomb Kit, Elixir Gun, or Flamethrower and still use Elixirs.

Elixers are weak imo. Too slow casting/animation time. 1 sec for throwing a potion on the ground? rlly? Guardians can spam 6 skills in 1 sec why do we need to be nerfed with slow animations and cating times.. Really if you like elixer engineer, try playing shout guardian. You wont roll back to engie.

Grenix.1576:

Elixers are weak imo. Too slow casting/animation time. 1 sec for throwing a potion on the ground? rlly? Guardians can spam 6 skills in 1 sec why do we need to be nerfed with slow animations and cating times.. Really if you like elixer engineer, try playing shout guardian. You wont roll back to engie.

I play 7/8 professions including shout-guardian yes they are supperior but that doesn’t immediately mean that HGH’s condi removal is useless its just harder to pull off and not as effective…

Grenix.1576:

Elixers are weak imo. Too slow casting/animation time. 1 sec for throwing a potion on the ground? rlly? Guardians can spam 6 skills in 1 sec why do we need to be nerfed with slow animations and cating times.. Really if you like elixer engineer, try playing shout guardian. You wont roll back to engie.

I play them both. you can’t really compare them, their roles are vey different.

/cry

Good old times when engineer used to have kittenEFUL trait called “kit refiniment”.
Do you guys remember the condition remove on equipping the FT?
And the auto elixir F on equipping elixir gun?(ok elixir gun was OP with this kit refiniment).

The fact is engineer must be vulnerable to something(told by devs).

I usually never engage on 1 vs 1 if my enemy is a conditin spammer.Especially because i run a power based build,and it’s not bursty like static discharge:that means my duels have usually a long duration;long duration fights are all in favour of conditions builds.
Well,actually the whole PvP it’s in favour of extreme condi builds.

So , or you waste tons of gold to equip some rune,buy some super costy food with – condition duration , or you set yourself super bursty (condi or power) killing your enemy before he can apply tons of conditions on you,or you do like me:run away using all the sill you can to block/slow down your enemy like there is no tomorrow.

I like to run Elixir R when going with at least 3 points in the Tools Traitline.. then I can toss for condi removal if I desperately need and it resets cooldown when i hit 25% hp to toss again for self rez attempt (obviously you use on a teammate if necessary). You can run Elixir C I suppose, but I feel if I am going to slot an elixir for condi removal then it might as well be elixir R for the endurance gain + rez utility. Thats just my opinion.

Healing Turret is nice too, but keep in mind the burst with condition removal doesn’t always fire right away (annoying), so don’t detonate or move out of the field too quickly.

Going three points into Alchemy gets you 1 condi turned into a boon every 15 seconds. Also, some builds are run with Sigil of Generosity to give 1 condi back on crit (60% chance) every 9 seconds.

Lastly, elixir gun skill #5 actually removes 1 condition upon initial heal, which is not stated on the tooltip.

Kuju.2153:

I like to run Elixir R when going with at least 3 points in the Tools Traitline.. then I can toss for condi removal if I desperately need and it resets cooldown when i hit 25% hp to toss again for self rez attempt (obviously you use on a teammate if necessary). You can run Elixir C I suppose, but I feel if I am going to slot an elixir for condi removal then it might as well be elixir R for the endurance gain + rez utility. Thats just my opinion.

Healing Turret is nice too, but keep in mind the burst with condition removal doesn’t always fire right away (annoying), so don’t detonate or move out of the field too quickly.

Going three points into Alchemy gets you 1 condi turned into a boon every 15 seconds. Also, some builds are run with Sigil of Generosity to give 1 condi back on crit (60% chance) every 9 seconds.

Lastly, elixir gun skill #5 actually removes 1 condition upon initial heal, which is not stated on the tooltip.

you sir are a genius