Guild Wars 2

Kenshi Maru.5489:

draxynnic.3719:

Kenshi Maru.5489:

I feel like changing pistol skills 3 and 4 is one of the changes we need the most.

I think they’re probably thinking about future weapons there. Sure, you might think that swapping them would be an indirect buff to shield now, but you might be glad to still have access to Blowtorch when a mainhand melee weapon gets introduced. Conversely, you might be glad to have Static Shot on the pistol when a new offhand is introduced that is more oriented to midrange damage rather than the relatively close-in nature of offhand pistol.

Granted, mainhand pistol could probably do with some buffs so it’s less of a case of being carried by Blowtorch, but I don’t think that simply swapping over Blowtorch and Static Shot would prove to be the right decision in the long run.

I kinda gotta disagree now because shield is just not used because it’s bad and main hand isn’t either because it’s also bad. They’d have to make an offhand that is very, very broken to be used with main hand pistol. You have no other choice there, just main hand pistol. So you need to have a better DPS than kits and blowtorch. Nothing will ever be better than this unless it’s stupidly broken.

This is mostly due to the auto on main hand being horrible. Also you assume that if they ever release a really good main hand weapon people would ever use shield. They won’t. It’s just bad in every case. And even if it was better it would have to be better than blowtorch.

The season why swapping the skills is good and important is that we have “purity of purpose” as the term the devs misused a while back goes. Because right now P/P is a closed package. It’s hard to imagine running one without the other, even if main hand is bad. And if main hand is actually bad there can never be another offhand that makes up for that.

Same with offhand. You can use blowtorch condi. But then what do you want for main hand? More condi? You already have kits. Power? Nothing really good to use with it. Utility? Eh, off hand also already has utility and a lot of dps.

The thing is, we need to bundle stuff on one or the other weapon so we go for exactly what we want when we choose weapons.

We don’t have many weapons, so being free to switch them around and not feel like missing out would be priority on elites

To add to this… unless ANet changes how they are handling new weapons, then there’s never going to be any new weapon combinations of value. We get a new mainhand, ok… well unless your using the new elite spec you’re still stuck with pistol… a melee main hand might make shield look more appealing due to the close range nature, but in the end the damage and control from offhand pistol is still more reliable thanks to Blowtorch. Oh a new offhand from a future elite? well too bad the only mainhand you can use is Pistol, and unless that new offhand offers something that’s more valuable than blowtorch, good luck seeing it used. Perhaps the mainhand and offhand from 2 new elite specs might make an amazing combination to rival P/P but since ANet seems stubbornly intent on locking all new weapons behind slotting elite specs, you’ll never get to use such a combination.

Kenshi Maru.5489:

This is mostly due to the auto on main hand being horrible.

You’ve identified the real problem here. We could add to that that Poison Volley and Static Shot could probably also use buffs.

Despite your claim that they’re a closed package, mainhand and offhand pistol actually do have different themes:

Mainhand pistol is a standoff weapon. Since the grouping of Poison Dart Volley was tightened, every skill can be used to full effect at the pistol’s maximum range of 900 units.

Blowtorch makes offhand pistol a close-in weapon.

For completeness, shield is a defensive weapon which is designed to be useful regardless of whether you’re fighting at a distance or in close. If you’re at a distance, you can get a reflect from shield 4 and throw shield 5. If you’re fighting in close, you can use shield 4 as CC and shield 5 as a block with additional CC. (Come to think on it, shield 5 also acts as a block when ranged – the skill doesn’t end when you block a non-melee hit.)

MH and OH pistol interact together as a set that is mostly standoff, but which rewards getting in, letting off a blowtorch, and getting out again. (Or you could use a melee kit and switch back to pistols every so often.) If you want to stay at range indefinitely, shield is your better choice, but being a defensive weapon comes at a stiff cost in damage.

You can claim that MH and OH pistol is a package because engineer currently only has the pistol as a mainhand weapon, but that will change as soon as an elite specialisation for engineer comes out with a new mainhand option. When a mainhand melee weapon comes out, I expect everybody will be glad to be able to pair it with Blowtorch which is most effective at melee range, rather than pairing a melee weapon with Static Shot.

Now, it’s harder to imagine what an offhand ranged DPS weapon for engineer might be… but if one does come out, it would be better paired with a pistol that has the 900-range Static Shot over the 600-but-you-really-want-to-be-200 Blowtorch.

I can understand thinking that MH pistol is underpowered (shield, I’m not so sure about – the skills offer good defences and CC, but aren’t much help in the current meta), but I think ArenaNet is thinking towards the future with the current setup. Putting blowtorch on the MH would make it unavailable to future melee MHs, and would lock every future offhand to needing to work with a pistol that is expected to get in close every dozen seconds to let off a blowtorch. The weakness of MH pistol is better solved by buffing them to be competitive again, not switching them around and making the choice of OH one of deciding which of the options is less bad.

So yeah, here’s my idea for how to redesign Engi that’ll never happen.

Changes

• Kits are fused with the Toolbelt to become the new Profession Mechanic, using Weapon Swap and F1-F4, freeing up the F5 slot for future ESpecs.
• Kits are merged together, becoming a total of 4 kits with 5 Swap-to Weapon Skills and 4 Always-available Toolbelt skills each, but the Engineer can only choose 1 new Kit to equip out-of-combat, similar to Legends for Revenant.
• Replacing Kits as Utility Skills are new Gadget and Munitions skills.

Kit Changes
With kits being merged into the Engineer’s Profession Mechanic, they’re merged down or expanded upon in order to make each kit impactful and specialized within its area.

• Mortar Kit and Bomb Kit are merged into the Demolition Kit which focuses on Direct Damage, Hard CC and Combo Fields.
• Flamethrower Kit and Grenade Kit are merged into the Specialist Kit which focuses on Condition Damage, Soft CC and AoE Denial.
• Elixir Gun Kit and Med Kit are merged into a Medical Kit which focuses on Healing, Condition Removal and Boon Support.
• Tool Kit is expanded upon with the Mechanic Kit to be more involved with the use of Turrets, focusing on Personal Sustain, CC and Stalling.

Demolitions Kit
Equipping a powerful Mortar, the Demolitions Kit turns the Engineer into a master of all things explosive. The mortar fires explosives shells across long distances, while their plethora of Bombs can be used in close range to keep enemies at bay while Sustaining Allies. With this mastery of range, the Demolitionist controls the battlefield and the enemy’s movements through constant barrages of explosives.

Weapon Skills

• Mortar Shot – No Change
• Gas Shell – Reduced Poison Duration to 2s per pulse, but now Additionally pulses Weakness as well. Still acts as a Poison Field.
• Endothermic Shell – No Change.
• Magnetic Shell – Replaces Flash Shell. Causes Vulnerability and Immobilizes all enemies on Impact, acting as a Blast Finisher.
• Orbital Strike – Replaces Elixir Shell. Mark the target area for an Orbital Strike that will severely Damage and Knock Down enemies within. Acts as a Blast Finisher.

Toolbelt Skills – All Toolbelt skills now acts as a Blast Finisher in addition to any Combo Field they might create. Cooldowns adjusted accordingly.

• F1: Big Ol’ Bomb – No Changes.
• F2: Concussion Bomb – No longer causes Confusion. Now Stuns all enemies on Impact, creating a Lightning Field that pulses Damage to enemies.
• F3: Smoke Bomb – No Changes.
• F4: Elixir Bomb – Replaces Glue Bomb. Heals allies on Impact and creates a Water Field that pulses Healing to allies.

Specialist Kit
The Specialist is a combat veteran that will take down their targets by any means necessary. They come equipped with a Flamethrower and a cluster of grenades, specializing in attrition to stack loads of Conditions on their targets to wear them down quickly before they knew what hit them.

Weapon Skills

• Flame Jet – No changes.
• Flame Blast – No changes.
• Air Blast – No changes.
• Napalm – Additionally Cripples enemies who pass through it.
• Smoke Vent – No change.

Toolbelt Skills

• F1: Shrapnel Grenade – No Changes.
• F2: Flash Grenade – No Changes.
• F3: Freeze Grenade – No Changes.
• F4: Incendiary Grenade – Replaces Poison Grenade. Each grenade causes 1 stack of Burning for 3s (base) on Impact.

Medical Kit
The Medic employs an alchemical Elixir gun in order to support, heal and protect their allies, while also coming equipped with specialized elixirs they can throw at allies in order to support those even further out of their reach. With a watchful eye, they aid allies in need whereever they might find themselves on the battlefield.

Weapon Skills

• Med Blaster – Replaces Tranquilizer Dart. Heal allies in a cone in front of you while Weakening enemies in the blast as well. Heals more for each Boon on allies deals more damage for each Condition on enemies.
• Glob Shot – No changes.
• Fumigate – No changes.
• Acid Bomb – No changes.
• Super Elixir – No changes.

Toolbelt Skills – Thrown medkits are merged with Thrown elixirs for these Toolbelt skills.

• F1: Throw Elixir H – Throw Elixir H at the target area, Healing Allies and randomly granting them Protection, Regeneration or Vigor.
• F2: Throw Elixir B – Throw Elixir B at the target area, Curing 1 Condition and randomly granting them Might, Fury or Retaliation while always granting them Swiftness.
• F3: Throw Elixir S – Throw Elixir S at the target area, granting Stealth to allies on Impact and Blinding Enemies hit.
• F4: Throw Elixir R – Throw Elixir R at the target area, creating a Light Field that Pulses Resistance to allies and slowly Reviving Downed Allies.

Mechanic Kit
The Mechanic is an enduring architect that builds to last. With their trusty Tool kit at their disposal, they have access to a myriad of odd tools that can be used to slow down enemies and stand tall against whatever they throw at them. With their tools, they can also repair their turrets and maintain them.

Weapon Skills

• Smack → Whack → Thwack – No Changes.
• Throw Wrench – Replaces Box of Nails. Now Additionally Destroys Projectiles.
• Pry Bar – No Changes.
• Gear Shield – Duration increased to 3s, up from 2.
• Rapid Repair – Replaces Magnet. Flurry with your wrench, Damaging and Crippling enemies while rapidly repairing the nearest Turret. Overcharges the Turret on a full Channel.

Toolbelt Skills

• F1: Surprise Shot – Fire a Bullet from your Belt. Now Additionally Cripples the target. (Same as Rifle Turret’s Toolbelt Skill.)
• F2: Box of Nails – No Changes.
• F3: Mine Field – No Changes. (Same as Throw Mine’s Toolbelt Skill.)
• F4: Magnet – All active Turrets will now target the Pulled enemy for 5s.

Utility Skill Changes

Gadgets

• A.E.D – Now additionally Stuns nearby enemies when healing you. Stun Duration is doubled if you take Lethal Damage.
• Personal Battering Ram – Additionally Cripples target struck.
• Rocket Boots – Additionally Burns enemies at your position when initiating.
• Slick Shoes – Additionally Grants Superspeed when activated.
• Utility Goggles – Additionally Reveals your target.
• Laser Grid – Create a Laser Grid line in front of you that Destroys Projectiles and Burns enemies passing through it, making them Vulnerable as well. Acts as a Light Field.

Munitions

• Med Pack Drop – Healing Skill. Now only removes 3 Conditions on Impact but Initially Heals the Engineer as well on activation, before scattering Bandages around. Bandages Heal for less but Cooldown is greatly reduced to compensate.
• Incendiary Ammo – No Changes. Same as Flamethrower’s Toolbelt Skill.
• Throw Mine – No Changes.
• Scatter Bombs – Throw 3 special grenades that explodes and scatters into 2 smaller grenades upon Impact. Deals damage equivalent to Grenade Barrage.
• Bear Trap – Set a Bear Trap that will Reveal, Immobilize and Bleed an enemy that steps on it. The Bear trap can be destroyed to remove the Immobilize.
• Napalm Strike – Elite Skill. Channel for a short time, marking your target for a bombing Run that creates several Firefields around them and greatly damages enemies. Up to 4 “runs” will continue to follow enemies as you channel.

Trait Changes
Naturally, some Traits in the different Specialization Lines will need to be modified for this change to work.

Explosives

• Grenadier – Swaps places with Skilled Marksman.
• NEW: Skilled Marksman – Adept Trait. No longer increases Attack Speed. Now Increases the Range of all your Rifle and Harpoon Gun Skills by 300, while also reducing Cooldowns by 20%.
• Short Fuse – Merged with Siege Rounds into Demolitionist.
• NEW: Cry Havoc – Master Trait. Drop a barrage of Grenades around you when you are Downed. Throw Junk is now an AoE Explosion and deals 33% More Damage.
• NEW: Demolitionist – Grandmaster Trait. Combo Fields created by your Mortar and Bombs lasts 1s Longer. Bombs explode faster and Mortar Rounds fly 100% Faster.

Firearms

• Heavy Armor Exploit – Changed Functionality. Increases Critical Hit Chance against targets with Protection by 15%. Critical Hits against targets with Protection stack Vulnerability.
• Grenadier – Moved from Explosives. Moved to Adept Traits. Additionally increases Range of thrown grenades by 150.
• Skilled Marksman – Moved to Explosives.
• NEW: Unstoppable – Replaces No Scope. Increases your Critical Hit Chance by 5% for each Nearby Enemy, up to a maximum of 5 enemies. Radius: 240.
• Juggernaut – Now affects the new Specialist Kit instead.

Inventions

• NEW: Master Mechanic – Replaces Power Wrench. Moved from Tools. Doubles Healing to turrets while wielding your Mechanic Kit. No Longer reduces Cooldown of your Mechanic Kit skills or increases their Damage, but while you’re wielding your Mechanic Kit, 15% of incoming Damage is redirected to one of your Turrets.
• Experimental Turrets – Changed Functionality. Now Overcharges Turrets automatically on a set Intervall after being deployed. When Turrets Overcharge, they grant Boons to nearby allies. Each turret has its own unique ICD on Overcharge. Boon Duration/Intensity changed to match.
• Bunker Down – Moved to Tools.
• Automated Medical Response – Changed Functionality. Moved to Grandmaster. Now releases a Minor Cleansing Burst whenever you activate a Heal Skill. Minor Cleansing Burst Has less Baseline Healing than Cleansing Burst and only cures 1 Condition, but still acts as a Water Field. ICD: 20s.
• Medical Dispersion Field – Moved to Alchemy.
• Iron-Blooded – Moved from Alchemy. Changed Functionality. Protection Applied to you now reduces Condition Damage by 33% as Well.

Alchemy

• Health Insurance – Merged with Backpack Regenerator.
• NEW: Mint Condition – Adept Trait. Healing to allies increases by 2% for each Boon on you.
• Inversion Enzyme – Changed Functionality. When you gain a Stacking Condition over the threshold, convert it into a Boon. Threshold: 10 stacks. ICD: 15s.
• Health Insurance – Merged with Backpack Regenerator. Regenerate Health and increase Healing to allies by 33% while wielding your Medical Kit.
• Elixir of Life – Replaces Stimulant Supplier. Thrown Elixirs now Heal affected allies on Impact. They heal for an additional amount of a Condition is Removed.
• Iron Blooded – Moved to Inventions.
• Medical Dispersion Field – Moved from Inventions.

Tools

• Power Wrench – Moved to Inventions.
• Gadgeteer – Moved to Adept Traits. Changed Functionality. Gadget Skills recharges 20% faster. They recharge 33% faster while you’re below the Health Threshold. Threshold: 50%.
• Streamlined Kits – Changed to function with the new kits. Always grants Swiftness, but only creates an Attack while in Combat.
  • Demolitions Kit – Drops a Magnetic Bomb that pulls enemies towards it when exploding.
  • Specialist Kit – Grants Fire Shield for 4s.
  • Medical Kit – Creates a Water Field that Heals nearby Allies for 3s.
  • Mechanic Kit – Grants Magnetic Aura for 2s.
• Takedown Round – Changed Functionality. Activating a Munitions Skill causes your next Attack to create a delayed Explosion at the target’s feet. The Activated Munition skill recharges 25% faster if the explosion hits a target.
• Bunker Down – Moved from Inventions.

Med kit used to be great. Don’t get rid of it, just make it 10x better than what we’ve got now.

Also, it’s sad that there are way more talented/creative people here on the engi forum than the actual people who design the class.

First thing i’d do, is replacing the hip shot animation with that of the Warrior auto attack. The Hip shot looks a bit silly.

IMO, the biggest issue is that every kit has 2 or 3 useful skills, while the rest is thrash, fix those and we should be golden,

also, i wouldn’t mind having as sharpshooter esque class, where specialized ammo can be used to swap out your basic rifle/pistol skills with more specialized ones.

“How would you redesign the engineer?”, I wouldn’t. However, I would add a tesla kit, because tesla guns are amazeballs, and every steampunk engineer needs one. Oh, and I would re-do rifle, because it’s not very practical.