Guild Wars 2

few quick ideas that might spark viability or at least give other options baseline comparibility to the current scrapper meta build.

#1: Revert Grenade range and (maybe) revert the speed of the throw to previous velocity and radius. This “nerf” of range was of no real validity considering it limited engineers range yet necros can still spam marks at a further range as well as many other classes. In trade off I feel that the engi community would be ok with the revert of the velocity of nades to counteract this “increase” in range of nades. This would still allow for range yet gives other players counterablity at range because of the reduced velocity of the projectiles coming forth towards them.

#2: Make Grenadier a baseline trait: This would open other options in terms of trait lines and would prevent people taking nades from being tied to taking explosives just because of Nades. This would allow builds using nades to take another trait line, thus making condi engi and hybrid mercenaries builds more viable and able to take another defensive trait line instead of having to take explosives.

#3: Fix Magnet (PLEASE): Allow the skill to function as it is actually intended by pulling people from the max range inward without having them desync or go half the distance. This change would give quality of life to builds that arent using the same cut and dry elixir/gyro meta.

#4: Remove the Stability on evade from perfectly weighted: I just threw this in here because I hate hammer builds and this trait in general. A removal of this part of the trait would make a hammer scrapper slightly more susceptible to being chain cc’d while not completely gutting their counters to it.

1. Remove cast time from toss elixir B: Brings the skill in line with other utilities and abilities that grant stability. This is a nice little quality of life change that would give elixir b a bit more viability versus other 3rd utility choices. With this change I would also suggest removing cast times from stun breaks on engineer and on other classes including the DragonHunter F3 and on bypass coating the toolbelt skill for blast gyro.

Overall these are changes I feel would allow for a more balanced selection of builds on engineer and would help combat the one build meta mindset of the current state of the game. These changes might be a bit biased as I have been an engi main since i began playing and I still play rifle engi whilst clinging to the hope that nades someday will be ok again but I honestly tried to make changes that would be balanced and not harm the upside of the game.

BertBoy.9031:

I just threw this in here because I hate hammer builds and this trait in general.

when you say this the only thing i can think is “thats a really bad reason. why should i take the rest of it seriously?”

There will always be an optimal build for different situations.

Currently it’s Condi (and whatever traits max out your condi damage) for PVE.
And a certain bunker Scrapper build for PVP.

One thing I will also say is, you do not want Scrapper nerfed. PVPing as condi is impossible against necros. Necros are a super hard counter to condi. The pure existence of necros makes condi a death sentence in PVP. Rifle/Nades is also impossible, not because of rifle or nades being in some way bad inherently, but because they are projectiles. Projectiles in general are really bad in the current meta, there are too many people with reflects.

Scrapper was basically made specifically because the changes to the other classes screwed projectiles. And there is no class that as heavily relies on projectiles as a non-Scrapper Engineer.

I like the ideas. Scrap the Scrapper. Bring back the (Grenade) Kit Engineer.

1# Velocity of nades is only acquired through the trait. Go firearms and use nades if you prefer oldschool. Range decrease did not impact the usage of nades in any significant way. Nades were never effective at 1,5k range because the travel time of projectiles was very slow, in pvp you’d never hit anyone that was aware of you at 1,5k range. Furthermore it would impact the usage of Mortar kit because at it’s current stat it suffers from the same thing nades did. They’re too slow. DPS output of nades is much higher and that of mortar, it would make mortar much less effective (only keeping it for fields for utility) if not obsolete and everyone would pick Stealth gyro instead because that would be the only pick.
2# From what you’ve suggested it would further nerf explosives trait line and it would only be picked for vuln stacking and slightly more dps output. It wouldn’t have anything worth having. Not to mention that in Pvp it’s not used to begin with.
Condi builds don’t use it and the current Scrapper builds don’t require it.
3# Agreed. The pull isn’t working properly for well over half a year now. That being said the pull needs to have a follow up skill to be efficient. Gyro/elexir gun is designed for sustained fighting. You may still swap bulwark gyro for tool-kit. Pull a foe (then jump cause otherwise it doesn’t work properly) follow up by slick shoes then Pry-Bar, hammer 5, switch to e-gun use acid bomb then hammer 3, hammer 2.
4# Nobody uses perfectly weighted in pvp. 3s of stability does not add much to survivability which is why Recovery matrix is favored. 5s protection from using your heal turret and picking it up is more cost efficient than 3s of stab with 5s ICD.
Not to mention that it goes well with protection injection and stacks in duration.
In PvE the added 10% damage on hammer is nice.

I do not feel like these changes would impact scrappers in a meaningful way. It would further bolster the current meta of defensive trait-lines, only adding a few worthy skill swapping options.

Still waiting for the magical day when i can auto-attack with nades without having to use Action camera…. because it’s not worth playing with in pvp/wvw. For fun sure, but for competitive no.

Nerf all hammer skill damage by 50%. Change traits to have some damage modifiers that compete with Rapid Regen and Adaptive Armor. Rework all gyros, especially function gyro. Boom. Fixed.

nerf necro and you will have many different condi builds viable and also rifle . otherwise you have no way

Renny.6571:

Nerf all hammer skill damage by 50%. Change traits to have some damage modifiers that compete with Rapid Regen and Adaptive Armor. Rework all gyros, especially function gyro. Boom. Fixed.

Lets not ruin my pve build by nerfed hammer skills kthx

on WvW mace shield with a lot of blocks guard build can stale a fight with a scrapper, use jumpdodges to get out of scrapper red circles and save blocks for heavy hits, shelter to use on a burst evasion fail.

But anything besides this, mace guardian is easy killable by any other class injust a few seconds but just those scrappers and a few other builds like DH nabtrapper, need to burst well at close range and guardian skills can hold it a bit, not perfect and not a counter but can hold it if player manage use well its dodges.

Funny how scrapper/eng suviability surpasses a guardian/dh and sacrifices much less output damage, due how amazing skills and waterfield combo thay can have..

Aeolus.3615:

Funny how scrapper/eng suviability surpasses a guardian/dh and sacrifices much less output damage, due how amazing skills and waterfield combo thay can have..

as it should.

elite specs are op when compared to core specs, and dh is a damage focused spec while scrapper is a defense focused spec.

insanemaniac.2456:

Aeolus.3615:

Funny how scrapper/eng suviability surpasses a guardian/dh and sacrifices much less output damage, due how amazing skills and waterfield combo thay can have..

as it should.

elite specs are op when compared to core specs, and dh is a damage focused spec while scrapper is a defense focused spec.

the irony is that the scrapper also dishes out way more damage than a DH on a consistent basis

#BRINGBACKNADES and rework the traitlines explosions is sooo bad imo

Darknicrofia.2604:

insanemaniac.2456:

Aeolus.3615:

Funny how scrapper/eng suviability surpasses a guardian/dh and sacrifices much less output damage, due how amazing skills and waterfield combo thay can have..

as it should.

elite specs are op when compared to core specs, and dh is a damage focused spec while scrapper is a defense focused spec.

the irony is that the scrapper also dishes out way more damage than a DH on a consistent basis

probably because scrapper doesnt sit in a conquest point all match spamming bow #2 waiting for a free kill to land on their trap nest