Guild Wars 2

I made an engineer just 2 days ago and have played with him for about 12 hours, and i freaking love it.
I main a guardian and also have a warrior/elementalist/mesmer/thief, but the feeling that i get from an engineer is amazing! Its so much fun, its what i’ve been looking for!

So I want you veteran engineers to enlighten me about this class and clarify some questions that i have.

1. condition vs power/crit : this is for wvw/pvp, i really like playing with conditions cause its so much more fun than the classic other classes builds, with power/crit.
I also love confusion and want to figure out how to apply it correctly.
So my question is this: are conditions viable or should i switch to another build?

2.grenades vs bombs : i run bomb/grenade/tool kit for the little pvp i played, am i doing it right? I really like how the grenades work with 30 in explosives, but can’t seem to land many of them, but then again i can’t seem to work well with bombs either, any tips?tricks? should i focus on one of these kits and master it?

3. which healing skill? : i usually work with elixir H for easy heal, i really like the med kit but i haven’t figured out how to use it correctly, and the healling turret doesn’t seem that good to me when i don’t have many blast finishers on me.
I’d really like to make the med kit work, but is it really as good as it seems? should i focus on learning to cope with turret?

4.how can i use the supply crate correctly? it seems like a decent skill, but i can’t find the right moment to put it out. any tips?

5. perplexity or undead? i really like confusion but perplexity requires a lot of interrupts, how can i maximize my interrupting skills with kits? or should i work with undead?

6. rabid or celestial? it seems that most of you guys use rabid,but since engineers use all of their stats i thought i’ll try out a celestial build and these two came out:

• http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqOlIq6ZH5i6lEZUhODUh8Ski8zy+8QuYLIE-j0xAItASLAIPg5wioxWNLiGr6GTHTEVLFAMzBA-w
• http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqel0p6ZH5SiF1LJyoCdGoC5lIF5nl95hcxWQIA-j0BBoeBkiAg8AM5rIasVTFRjVVjIqWlETKAYmAA-w

celestial seems to have some decent healing power , while also having great critical damage. what do you guys think?

7. rotations? what is ideal/ what do you suggest, any tips are welcome

bonus!
8. how can i position my skills on my keyboard to help me get better?

Edit: any tips and tricks will be appreciated, give me as much info/feedback as you can!

1) Just what you want to play

2) I dont like bombs so never used this. I use only grenade Kit with Pistol Shield, and it makes a lot of fun. And is still effective.

3) med kit ist good for solo, turret nice for group play. But I use turret for solo because i need the condi remove and f1 and shield 4 is a good kombo.

4) i wait until the other player has no stub breakers. Then supply crate and give him all my grenades.

5) its easy: if you want to say: i am a good engineer, i win because of my skill. Other runes
If you want to say: my build is op, i win because of my build. Perplexity

6) i run rabid and i am happy with it.

7) sorry my internet is bad, i am writting this with my mobile phone ^^

8) thats individual.

Only WvW !!

1. Both work but right now condition engis are incredibly strong in small group encounters.

2. They’re both good. Grenades pretty much require the Grenadier trait. Landing them just takes practice. I shied away from bombs for a long time due to the fuse delay, but now I’ve got it down. Trait for increased bomb radius for an easier time hitting your target and practice on dummies in HotM. The range is actually better than you think.

3. Elixir H is actually our worst healing skill (not even counting AED) unless heavily traited. If you’re running an elixir build with 409 or HGH and reduced cooldowns, then sure, it’s pretty nice. But Healing Turret cleanses conditions and doesn’t need traits to work well. Drop it, overcharge it, then detonate it. Even without using your shield, etc to blast it more, you’re going to get a good heal, lotsa regen, and cleanses. MedKit takes some practice but is nice. The #5 is a wonderful boon stacker. If you trait into Tools you’ll get a reduce cooldown on the toolbelt heal and that’s your bread n’ butter heal with the MK. Also, it works fantastically well with any “on heal” sigils/runes since it has no cooldown.

4. When the situation requires more than your average attack sequences, drop it. It’s pretty strong and offers a good amount of point control.

5. They’re both good. Perplexity on engis are strong thanks to our multiple interrupts. Accelerant-Packed Turrets trait will make each of your turret detonations an interrupt too. Synergizes well with Healing Turret.

6. I use celestial because it offers a great baseline gear set to build on. In WvW you need survival stats and celestial offers that. I slot in various trinkets to supplement my build. A celestial set with 6/6 Travelers runes is mad versatile.

7. There are no rotations. It’s all about what the situation calls for. In that respect, you’ll have to get very familiar with all of your skills so knowing when to use them becomes 2nd nature. Don’t be afraid to swap kits like a speed freak. Need to escape? Shield knockback > Swap to BK > Smoke Bomb > Swap to EG > Acid Bomb > Swap to MedKit > Drop #5 for swiftness > Swap to BK > Glue Bomb.

8. That’s all personal preference man. I know many people rebind the F1-F4 skills to easier to reach buttons on the keyboard, ADZC for instance (since keyboard turning is awful anyway, why not remap those keys?). I like having my #6 heal skill on one of my extra mouse buttons.

Seras.5702:

1. Both work but right now condition engis are incredibly strong in small group encounters.

Why specifically condi in small group encounters? Not disputing the claim, just curious what the reasoning is (and it would help the OP too).

Thanks for the informative answers in this thread.

I prefer bombs always over grenades.

If you like confusion than you should take bombs

i run Healing turret/elixirs/toolkit/bombs

perplexity rune is good for build around confusion so you like confusion take perplexity rune.

Condition in Zergs useless to much condition removal.
Condition in smallscale really strong.

Qaelyn.7612:

Seras.5702:

1. Both work but right now condition engis are incredibly strong in small group encounters.

Why specifically condi in small group encounters? Not disputing the claim, just curious what the reasoning is (and it would help the OP too).

Thanks for the informative answers in this thread.

Conditions work best when you can load up a single target with them. A major strength Engi has is constant reapplication of conditions. Being able to focus on a single target and keep the pressure on is something Engi does very well. In zergs with so much aoe condition removal, you’re better off going power imo.

They shine in small roaming groups.

Louk Tsoup.2108:

I made an engineer just 2 days ago and have played with him for about 12 hours, and i freaking love it.
I main a guardian and also have a warrior/elementalist/mesmer/thief, but the feeling that i get from an engineer is amazing! Its so much fun, its what i’ve been looking for!

So I want you veteran engineers to enlighten me about this class and clarify some questions that i have.

1. condition vs power/crit : this is for wvw/pvp, i really like playing with conditions cause its so much more fun than the classic other classes builds, with power/crit.
I also love confusion and want to figure out how to apply it correctly.
So my question is this: are conditions viable or should i switch to another build?

2.grenades vs bombs : i run bomb/grenade/tool kit for the little pvp i played, am i doing it right? I really like how the grenades work with 30 in explosives, but can’t seem to land many of them, but then again i can’t seem to work well with bombs either, any tips?tricks? should i focus on one of these kits and master it?

3. which healing skill? : i usually work with elixir H for easy heal, i really like the med kit but i haven’t figured out how to use it correctly, and the healling turret doesn’t seem that good to me when i don’t have many blast finishers on me.
I’d really like to make the med kit work, but is it really as good as it seems? should i focus on learning to cope with turret?

4.how can i use the supply crate correctly? it seems like a decent skill, but i can’t find the right moment to put it out. any tips?

5. perplexity or undead? i really like confusion but perplexity requires a lot of interrupts, how can i maximize my interrupting skills with kits? or should i work with undead?

6. rabid or celestial? it seems that most of you guys use rabid,but since engineers use all of their stats i thought i’ll try out a celestial build and these two came out:

• http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqOlIq6ZH5i6lEZUhODUh8Ski8zy+8QuYLIE-j0xAItASLAIPg5wioxWNLiGr6GTHTEVLFAMzBA-w
• http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqel0p6ZH5SiF1LJyoCdGoC5lIF5nl95hcxWQIA-j0BBoeBkiAg8AM5rIasVTFRjVVjIqWlETKAYmAA-w

celestial seems to have some decent healing power , while also having great critical damage. what do you guys think?

7. rotations? what is ideal/ what do you suggest, any tips are welcome

bonus!
8. how can i position my skills on my keyboard to help me get better?

Edit: any tips and tricks will be appreciated, give me as much info/feedback as you can!

1. Either is fine, although our condition builds are more common in tournaments. There are some nice celestial builds for WvW.

2. Grenades and bombs together are very strong for PvP. It is pretty difficult to land them; most of that is just practice. Make sure you have fast ground targeting on and then get used to staying at around 300-500 units of range, as that’s where engineers are most effective.

3. Healing turret is actually our best healing skill at the moment, hands down. Make sure you overcharge it as soon as you lay it down; after that you should usually quickly pick it up or blast it.

4. Supply crate is an awesome skill. Use it at short range. You don’t want to miss with the initial stun.

5. Perplexity doesn’t exist in PvP, thankfully. It’s the strongest runeset for a condition engineer in WvW, but that doesn’t mean you have to run it.

6. In PvP, celestial is kitten. In WvW, both are good.

7. I don’t think there is an ideal rotation.

8. Make your three utility skills the easiest keys for you to reach. You’ll likely use the (7, 8, 9) default buttons more than any other key.

Keybinding engi is a bit tougher due to the four toolbet skills. I have a razer naga and have 5-9 mapped to the thumb buttons. I have the toolbelt skills mapped to E, Q, Shift-E, Shift-Q respectively and elite mapped to C. I have left alt bound to dodge (double tap movement key for dodge is a habit to avoid). Obviously, the mouse helps a LOT!

Seras.5702:

Qaelyn.7612:

Seras.5702:

1. Both work but right now condition engis are incredibly strong in small group encounters.

Why specifically condi in small group encounters? Not disputing the claim, just curious what the reasoning is (and it would help the OP too).

Thanks for the informative answers in this thread.

Conditions work best when you can load up a single target with them. A major strength Engi has is constant reapplication of conditions. Being able to focus on a single target and keep the pressure on is something Engi does very well. In zergs with so much aoe condition removal, you’re better off going power imo.

They shine in small roaming groups.

Thanks.

Of course, now I’m confused again, because in another thread I mentioned I wanted to go power in my healing-bomb / grenade WvW/PvE build … and everyone was recommending condition but when I said I went in small groups someone said power was better there.

You didn’t ask which is better between condition & power. You asked why condition is better for small groups than zerg.

IMHO: If you want to run zergs, go power. If you want to run small group/roaming, you can do either, although condition is better.

Here’s another thing to keep in mind if you want healing bombs. Healing requires 1 stat: healing power. Conditions require 1 stat: condition power. Power builds require 3 stats: power, precision, crit damage. Admittedly, engi has a few crit proccing traits that precision helps. But you can run a more effective healing build with conditions than power because you’ll sacrifice fewer stats. Apothecary or Settler gear will be awesome for that. Pair that with some Rabid trinkets (as you can see) and you’ve got solid condition damage, bombs that heal for 261 a piece, and almost 3k armor.

Right, I understand the 1v3 damage equation. But in my theorycrafting it seems that power by itself does almost as much damage with bombs/grenades as condition damage.

It may be that I’m not working armor into that equation sufficiently, though.

I think there are also some diminishing returns to work into this though. I’m going to have like 1300 power to begin with, which means I need another 1300 to double that. But if my condition damage is near 0, I only need 850 to double that (except for burning).

But on the Nth hand.. I have to take into account the fact that I spam #1 bomb/grenade 10x as much as the ones that apply conditions. That’s the real trump card for going power on a bomb build I think.

Qaelyn.7612:

But on the Nth hand.. I have to take into account the fact that I spam #1 bomb/grenade 10x as much as the ones that apply conditions. That’s the real trump card for going power on a bomb build I think.

Keep in mind though that while you’re spamming #1 and not your condition bomb/grenades, the conditions you’ve applied are still rolling and dealing damage. That’s the nice thing about conditions. You can dump ‘em and then focus on playing defense for a couple seconds, all the while your conditions are dealing damage, even if you aren’t actively attacking. Each dodge roll interrupts your attacks. Each heal does too. So do gap openers. You aren’t attacking if you’re doing those things. But with a condition build, you can evade, run, dodge, and heal all while your conditions continue to tick.

Yep, very valid point. And I do still plan to use those condition-dealers too.

I may just get a set of apothecary and a set of cleric, and try them both and see which I like better.. and also try a mix.

I forgot that celestial requires high-level crafting, which I don’t have (and don’t want to spend the $ on right now.)

Oops, Louk I’m sorry I didn’t mean to take over your thread. I’ll confine further replies to mine.

I’m loving rifle so I’ve gone power mostly. Wolfineer has a great site on reddit that explains many builds.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1qdvqu/wolfineer_build_guides_for_engineers_updated/