Guild Wars 2

Hello all,

Since the new patch has came out, I was wondering how is the current Engineer doing? I have only one character since launch, which is a Guardian, but now I want to try something new and Engineer looks fun.

So yeah, I’m a huge fan of PvE/Dungeon/Fractal, not so much on PvP, very occasion WvW, so main focus is PvE/Dungeon.

How is Engineer right now in those departments?

Thank You all!

Gadgets are pretty nice, Turrets are ‘fixed’ (Many minor issues and some big ones with traits), etc.

Anything that relies on critical damage does less damage, but still hurt like hell.

Um…

I think bombs and nades are still superior in terms of practical damage/utility.

Thanks WEXXES!

I just made an Engineer, let’s see how fun he is

Even stronger than before.
With the change to sigil cooldowns an engineer can easily maintain 20-25 stacks of might on himself.
Blast finishers (BoB, acid bomb and shield 4), strength runes, sigil of battle and strength is all one needs.
I’d say the current engineer is fairly solid, even if there’s still some outlying issues.

That’s great to hear.
I had a lot of fun with Guardian, but I’m a bit worn out on the same class since launch, I find Engineer to be one of its kind play style, all the gadget. kits, etc. Very interesting class.

Currently, I’m thinking about using Pistol/Shield and Flame Thrower, will this combo be a decent PvE combo?

Thank You,

Depending on what game mode.

For Spvp, Engi condis have gotten a huge buff thanks to Runes of Balthazar (7 s burning from incendiary powder anyone?). They’re still hard countered by condi necros but nonetheless are still very strong.

Engi knockback bunkers are a little on the opish side.

For WvW roaming, Engi condi is really getting op especially since direct damage builds have gotten a pretty substantial nerf with the crit dmg changes. Perplexity runes are still as strong as ever.

For WvW zerg fighting, Engis still don’t really have much of a role. Sure you can try to make something work, but in general another class usually provides what an engi provides but better.

PVE wise, Condi is still trash even with the crit dmg changes. Full Zerker is still the optimum way to play. Nades/Bombs are still your bread and butter power sets. Overall Engis are on the low side of the spectrum when it comes to maximum damage.

The thing with full zerker engineer is that we have more CC out of everyone for a zerker, hence why so many people say engineers are pretty good for PvP.

In PvE, CC isn’t that helpful on a regular basis.

For zergs, some of the new healing runes and elixir filled bombs make you extremely valuable.

I frequently swtich between the healing GM and the boon GM depending on whether we are pushing (healing) or the sieging/defending (boon).

The reflective shield on turrets can be hugely important in a siege fight, but you need to be able to switch your builds a bit faster IMHO.

The current engineer is really strong for a couple of reasons:

1) Engineers have always had top-tier support (all the vuln and might lawl) but their DPS has been slightly on the low end (below warriors but above rangers), and there was a small reliance on condition damage that meant that bleed capping could potentially cut out about 20% of your DPS. With the Ferocity change, though, the condition damage output wasn’t touched so Engineers got comparatively less nerfed than other classes that relied exclusively on direct damage.

2) Ascended weapon damage applying to kits is basically a straight 5% buff to all kit damage. On top of that, Rifle has a number of burst damage skills that allowed it to deal more than pistols, but the loss of the sigil usually meant it wasn’t worth it. With the dual sigils + ascended-tier kits, though, Engies got a massive boost to effective DPS.

3) The two new turret traits allow engineers to sacrifice DPS to add in projectile sheilding and extra boons, as needed. This means they can swap to fill holes in pugs super easily in conjunction with the new trait system.

The end result is that Engineers now deal above-average damage (rather than below average) and their support is just as good, if not better, than before. The fact that bombs are comparatively more viable now too (although still not as good as grenades) also means that the class might also look more appealing to the “but I don’t want to have to manually press grenades all the time” crowd.

In general there’s no real downside to playing the engineer at this point in time.

PVE wise, fun and ok. PVP wise very little build variaty to stand on equal grounds with other classes strongest builds. WVW pretty good.

AsmallChicken.9634:

Depending on what game mode.
For WvW zerg fighting, Engis still don’t really have much of a role. Sure you can try to make something work, but in general another class usually provides what an engi provides but better.

It breaks my heart to hear you say that. Do other people feel this way also? I’ve mained an bunker/flamer Engi in wvw since launch doing zergs, and I have to say that I literally destroy enemy zergs with the disruption that an engi can bring.

The amount of punishment an engi can take is quite insane. And my favourite thing to do is break away from my own zerg and hit the enemy from the back or side with supply crate, then my flamethrower and watch them scatter like scared rabbits. Our zerg meanwhile is stacked up and buffed and just tears into the scattered enemy and destroys them. The feeling of knowing that you created that chaos just by running among the enemy and sending them fleeing is immense.

Iluth.6875:

AsmallChicken.9634:

Depending on what game mode.
For WvW zerg fighting, Engis still don’t really have much of a role. Sure you can try to make something work, but in general another class usually provides what an engi provides but better.

It breaks my heart to hear you say that. Do other people feel this way also? I’ve mained an bunker/flamer Engi in wvw since launch doing zergs, and I have to say that I literally destroy enemy zergs with the disruption that an engi can bring.

The amount of punishment an engi can take is quite insane. And my favourite thing to do is break away from my own zerg and hit the enemy from the back or side with supply crate, then my flamethrower and watch them scatter like scared rabbits. Our zerg meanwhile is stacked up and buffed and just tears into the scattered enemy and destroys them. The feeling of knowing that you created that chaos just by running among the enemy and sending them fleeing is immense.

Or you could have been an ele and dropped a static field on them. Static field not only has a shorter cooldown than your supply crate, but its not target capped to only 5 like supply crate is.

And if enemy zergs are running from your flamethrower, they must be the trashiesht uplv’d zerg wearing no armor. Flamethrower damage especially on a bunker engi is beyond pathetic. Better off just rifle auto attacking. Not only that, any sources of retal will absolutely destroy you if the enemy zerg had any sort of guardians. Then again sounds like you are fighting some of the trashiest zergs around, so you could have just been a warrior, charged in there and hundred bladed and down’d like 5 ppl. Or even better be an ele, static field them then drop a meteor shower/sharknado and down the entire zerg.

AsmallChicken.9634:

Iluth.6875:

AsmallChicken.9634:

Depending on what game mode.
For WvW zerg fighting, Engis still don’t really have much of a role. Sure you can try to make something work, but in general another class usually provides what an engi provides but better.

It breaks my heart to hear you say that. Do other people feel this way also? I’ve mained an bunker/flamer Engi in wvw since launch doing zergs, and I have to say that I literally destroy enemy zergs with the disruption that an engi can bring.

The amount of punishment an engi can take is quite insane. And my favourite thing to do is break away from my own zerg and hit the enemy from the back or side with supply crate, then my flamethrower and watch them scatter like scared rabbits. Our zerg meanwhile is stacked up and buffed and just tears into the scattered enemy and destroys them. The feeling of knowing that you created that chaos just by running among the enemy and sending them fleeing is immense.

Or you could have been an ele and dropped a static field on them. Static field not only has a shorter cooldown than your supply crate, but its not target capped to only 5 like supply crate is.

And if enemy zergs are running from your flamethrower, they must be the trashiesht uplv’d zerg wearing no armor. Flamethrower damage especially on a bunker engi is beyond pathetic. Better off just rifle auto attacking. Not only that, any sources of retal will absolutely destroy you if the enemy zerg had any sort of guardians. Then again sounds like you are fighting some of the trashiest zergs around, so you could have just been a warrior, charged in there and hundred bladed and down’d like 5 ppl. Or even better be an ele, static field them then drop a meteor shower/sharknado and down the entire zerg.

The damage isn’t the point of the flamethrower, it’s a disruptive tool and it works every time. If I get focused (rarely) I’ll just switch to my wrench and block my way out.

You’re also forgetting about airblast and smoke vent. An aoe blind dropped in a blob, airblast a bunch out of the stack, red circles on the ground as your zerg begins blasting and yeah people just panic and dont know what to do.

Heck you can screw up a zerg just by running through them blocking and healing, you dont really even need to do anything. It’s natural that they’re going to retreat and lose cohesion as someone runs through them. It works every time, hilarious!

Special mention to the ele though. I’ve had a lot of fun vs zergs on my ele, and I feel like its a great little support class, but for my money it’s second rate when it comes to disruption.

The psychology of being attacked by the two classes is just different. A zerg expects to see red cirlces on the ground coming from range, what they don’t expect is some lone maniac running into their flank. So either they reposition to focus on you, or they reposition to get away from you, any repositioning aside from the normal retreating from aoes is 90% fatal. Like scattering or splitting in half.

It’s just basic strategy. Flanking works so beautifully even if it’s a single person causing the distraction. You get an enemy zerg where 50% of the people are facing behind them or to the side and they’re just dead.

Illuth makes many good points about disrupting other’s play and how Engi’s excel at it. When the enemy persistently sees 3, 4, 5 conditions stacked on them, they begin focusing not on dishing out damage, but rather on saving themselves. This is every bit as valuable a contribution in a group vs. group encounter as direct damage. Engi’s excel at this.

You can do the same thing you’re trying to accomplish with you’re engi with a plague necro. Except the necro is even more effective at that role and tankier.

Again anything the Engi can do, another class can usually do it better.