Guild Wars 2

Hello! After a time playing a hybrid engi I decided to post not the build I’m using, but the build I’m aiming to achieve. All suggestions that can improve this build are appreciated. It’s hybrid, but still more focused on power.

The build’s link:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fdEQJAqalUUpWr9dxALseRydBNqmA6CEgsKqh8x8FTA-TByCABAcCA2TLQkq/IlyvCVCKnOA92fY6HAApAWUZF-e

Pros:

• It can apply 8 conditions out of 12, and if some skills are switched it can go up to 11 out of 12;
• It’s not melee, but you’re still in your group’s range (sharing buffs);
• It’s awesome against tough mobs (eg. Husks);
• Has at least 1 AoE heal and 1 Condi removal;
• Good amount of power while still hurting with condis;
• Provides a long duration fire field with at least 1 blast finisher;
• High mobility for PvE;
• Very good for solo PvE content;
• Extremely efficient in tagging mobs (eg. Events in Orr, millions of centaurs at Ulgoth the Modniir, etc).
• Not too much squishy;
• Easy to play;
• Does damage versus players;
• Doesn’t take forever to kill a mob;
• Constant AoE fire auto-attack to satisfy burning cravings (Willow approves it!).

Cons

• Really squishy for WvW, so proper adjustments and improved gameplay are required;
• Damage is not the highest provided by power – it’s compensated (not fully balanced out though) with conditions;
• Depending on the utility skills it can be very poor at breaking stuns;
• May not be able to support your group that well.

Requirements

• Must equip flamethrower as one of the utility skills.
• While not ignoring power, a decent amount of condi damage is needed so that your large supply of condis can be noticeable.

Reasons:

I came up with this build after asking on forums about hybrid builds that wouldn’t use bombs or grenades and not getting any satisfatory answer. I’m not really interested in the parrot speech that condis on pve are useless or that the meta is power – if that is the only thing you can add, then I thank you but you can save your time and mine. Engis can provide almost all conditions in the game, and I can’t simply ignore it.

The idea behind this build is having a nice amount of power while being able to hurt with conditions. It’s a very simple build with easy gameplay, there are no complicated moves – perhaps only when it comes to stacking might which may require a bit of practice for engi starters.

*On my engi I mainly play open world PvE, like Orr events, Silverwastes and World Bosses.

“Why not bombs and grenades?”
I had another lvl 80 bomb Engi. I simply got tired of that gameplay and I wanted something different. I totally dislike grenades despite the fact that they CAN do tons of damage – I only use grenades underwater.

“Why flamethrower?”
Flamethrower when traited is able to stack might alone just by equipping it. It also provides fire field and a blast finisher. Another thing is that it’s mid-range so you don’t stay away from your group and the speed of its autoattack is fast enough to crit a lot triggering some conditions.

Alternatives

Utility skills
You can equip what you need for the moment.
I usually have Elixir Gun on instead of Elixir C for extra conditions/control and stun breaking/heal. For World Bosses I highly recommend having Elixir Gun on and/or Firearms IV.

Armor and Runes
When building it I targeted at least 2k Power and 50% Crit with Condi damage not being less than 800. I have not done any Math about it, it’s just a sum of the material I found on interwebs. Any theorycrafting source around the best match for desirable amounts of power+condi on PvE will be immensely appreciated.

Armor:
The armor I’m currently wearing is Rampager. I have not tested Sinister. Celestial is not good enough to reach the target I set.

Runes:
I put Aristocracy because it helps with stacking and keeping might on while focusing on condi damage. Runes of the Adventurer seems to be a good alternative (and much easier to obtain).
Divinity runes are acceptable (I’m running them atm) as are many others as well: Elementalist, Balthazar, Torment, etc.

Weapons and Sigils
I have not tested with Rifle, just keep in mind that Rifle doesn’t have access to confusion and poison.
Off-hand shield does work as well (even for PvE).
I have Sigil of Torment for personal taste, it can be switched for many other sigils. Sigil of Corruption is almost a must, when it reaches its 25 stacks the condi damage becomes really noticeable – and mobs start to melt in front of you.

Gameplay tips

• Don’t auto-attack on flamethrower forever (rotate your skills!) if you don’t want to be kicked from groups;
• Learn to time Detonate Flame Blast on fire fields (eg. Flamethrower #4 Napalm) to generate might;
• Don’t use flamethrower skill 3 (Air Blast) and Pistol 5 (Glue Shot) just because they’re up; They mess with mobs defiance stack.
• Always rotate skills, remember to use your pistols for poison, confusion, burning and control.
• Even if you’re not using it for fights, Elixir Gun #4 is a blast finisher.
• When fighting waves of mobs, pay attention to their health bar, once they have a good stack of condis and around 75% health, you can move to the others since the condis will finish them.

“Don’t auto-attack on flamethrower forever if you don’t want to be kicked from groups”

Thanx for your info. I’m playing Engineer for the first time. Why would I get kicked if I auto attack with flamethrower? It was keen on using one because I see a lot of people using that. It was one of the main reasons for choosing an Engineer.

Thanx in advance.

themightycleric.5987:

“Don’t auto-attack on flamethrower forever if you don’t want to be kicked from groups”

Thanx for your info. I’m playing Engineer for the first time. Why would I get kicked if I auto attack with flamethrower? It was keen on using one because I see a lot of people using that. It was one of the main reasons for choosing an Engineer.

Thanx in advance.

Visual spam, can make things hard to see, or so many say. Personally the flame jet has never been worse than the bomb/nade explosions, though I run on minimum graphics so my view may be very different.

Also, using FT for the auto is generally a sign of sub par play. Your ideal in dungeons/fractals will lean more towards Grenades being your “primary weapon” though juggling kits is the name of the game for optimal play in PVE.

Hey Harbinger

This version might be interesting too:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fdEQJAqalUUpWr9dxdLseRydBNqmA6CEgsKqh8x8FTA-TBiIAB2pE8P1f2RpBAPAgt0D4jysx2fg3TAApAWUYE-e

I didn`t change sth. about the traits, but a lot in terms of equipment. This one has ~250 more condition dmg while loosing 30 power, 1% krit chance, 10% krit dmg, and 20% of condition duration. I`d choose condition dmg over duration in pve, cause the mobs won`t dodge or lower you`re condition duration passively, but some have condition removals. So I think it`s more usefull to apply short but intensive conditions.

Furthermore I`d always choose the elixier gun over Elixier C since EG 4 is one of the highest dps skills in this game ( if you trustDNT it`s the highest at all) and it`s an explo finisher saving 3 stacks of might.

In terms of the sigill — I personaly prefer sigil of battle. If you`re running a might duration rune it will give you 9 – 12 stacks alone (since the engineer has no real cooldown on his weaponswap). Meaning you`ll get at least 315+ condition dmg AND power out of this sigill after 30 seconds of fight.
This is not only more bonus than the stack sigil provides – you also don`t have to worry about you`re stacks ( down state, map change, … )
Of cause this is only working if you`re not at the cap of 25 might stacks. If you`re fighting in a group this case will occure – if you are not the only one using explo finishers ^^. Therefore I`d change juggernaut into V precise sight for a group fight. This will grant you`re group more dmg by vulnability, and the sigill saves you`re might stacks.

themightycleric.5987:

“Don’t auto-attack on flamethrower forever if you don’t want to be kicked from groups”

Thanx for your info. I’m playing Engineer for the first time. Why would I get kicked if I auto attack with flamethrower? It was keen on using one because I see a lot of people using that. It was one of the main reasons for choosing an Engineer.

Thanx in advance.

Hey Cleric

I meant with that that you should rotate your skills not ONLY autoattacking and doing nothing else – I’ve seen some engis doing that (and adding what Jerus said, it’s a subpar gameplay). There are more stuff you can do and sure, when the other skills are on cooldown, then auto-attack.

Arleon.5921:

Hey Harbinger

This version might be interesting too:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fdEQJAqalUUpWr9dxdLseRydBNqmA6CEgsKqh8x8FTA-TBiIAB2pE8P1f2RpBAPAgt0D4jysx2fg3TAApAWUYE-e

Hey Arleon

The points you’ve mentioned are quite interesting. You don’t lower the power that much and raises the condi dmg quite a lot. I think I get your point about condi duration on PvE, it makes sense. I like it, overall looks good. I’ll have to spend some time messing with that to see if I can get something else, but so far I’d just switch Maintenance Oil for Sharpening Stones. I guess I’d rather sacrifice a bit of crit rating for more power. Would have to test it though.

Thank you!

Thanx for the info. Make sense about the flame spoiling the visuals. I can imagine 2 people doing that. It would go crazy. The thing with social game is to consider others as well and I tend to forget that sometimes. Good and valid point.

The flamethrower also has one of the weakest auto attacks among all weapons and kits. I think only the elixir gun is worse.

Hey Phineas Poe

I didn`t calculate it, but the FT auto attack is not that weak. The high frequency of hit`s stacks vuln, bleeding, and keeps any on-crit mechanic on cooldown. If you`re playing a hybrid the burning in the end is also realy nice, cause you`re easily able to keep up a perma burning by that ( in pve ). And since they increased the burst dmg of the Flame jet by 33% in the last feature patch it`s definitly worth it. ~10k flame jets are normal when you`re running a full burst build.
So this AA is way stronger than EG, Tools, Rifle and pistol — I`m not shure about bombs, but if you`re attacking 3 or less targets the FT should easily keep up to it.

So the AA is not the worst, but I totaly agree with you if you say that an engineer has to keep his rotations on cd ( eg might stacking ), in particular if you`re running a double pistol hybrid like this build, to keep all the other conditions up.

Now that I think about it, you’re right: they did buff Flame Jet when they added a blast finisher to Flame Blast. My bad.