I'm assuming pistols are alright
I ran with a Cond Build and dual pistols for since release, just recently changed for something different, though most of the traits are in the same line so I can switch back as needed.
Pistol is medicore, but shield is great.
Debatably, the burning and immobilize on the off-hand pistol aren’t worth not taking the amazing utility behind the shield.
Pistols are mostly made for damage, all its traits are meant for that, the only utility you could get would be from shield, but those skills are kinda sub-par, the main problem about condition pistols (which is the only viable build for that weapon), is that you need multiple condition active, frequent procs and all your skills to keep a DPS that other classes easily reach with 2 skills, without traiting for’em.
In the best scenario you could keep burning, poison and 3+ stacks of bleeding on a big group of mobs, which IS useful, ‘coz it means roughly 1k-1500 AoE dps after you’ve managed to put all the conditions, but still it takes all your build to achieve max damage, and that damage isn’t really high either, if you still want to go for it I’d suggest using static discharge anyway to proc more, with Throw Napalm (flame turret toolbelt) you can keep the burning with ease, but I feel you should switch to elementalist at this point…
It feels so hard to spell the truth… ugh
(edited by Rfreak.6591)
I’m thinking of switching to dual pistols to take advantage of the sigils-on-kits thing by arranging it so that I have Lifesteal and an AoE heal effect available at all times – simultaneously, if using kits, particularly Grenade, Elixir Gun, or Flamethrower (as these have attacks that hit several times). The damage from Blowtorch was also amazing, at least early on with a Condition Damage build. There’s something to be said for everything.
off hand pistol blows kitten use shield
pistol autoattack damage is crap compared to rifle
2 has ridiculous accuracy problems
BUT RIFLE DOESNT GIVE YOU 2 SIGILS!!
head here to discuss wvw without fear of infractions
Pistols/condition build is viable. It’s not very good for high-level PvE. It’s okay-ish for PvP because it can deal bleed, burn, and confusion at the same time, but it can’t stack more than 4-5 bleeds without some major help from kits/sigils.
Edit: forgot to mention that all main-hand pistol autoattacks in the game are currently slower than the tooltip states. Basically, the pistol autoattacks at the same speed as the rifle, even though the tooltip says pistol is faster.
off hand pistol blows kitten use shield
pistol autoattack damage is crap compared to rifle
2 has ridiculous accuracy problems
BUT RIFLE DOESNT GIVE YOU 2 SIGILS!!
You do know only ONE sigil procs at a time then both go under cooldown?
wich makes having 2 sigils near useless.
off hand pistol blows kitten use shield
pistol autoattack damage is crap compared to rifle
2 has ridiculous accuracy problems
BUT RIFLE DOESNT GIVE YOU 2 SIGILS!!
You do know only ONE sigil procs at a time then both go under cooldown?
wich makes having 2 sigils near useless.
I thought having 2 of the same sigils with the same cool down procs the cool down, but having a sigil proc every 2 seconds and another that procs every 5 seconds work? Correct me if I’m wrong.
Unfortunately:
A single cooldown is shared by all sigils. While the cooldown is active, no other sigil with a cooldown can have any effect.
Sigils will enter cooldown even if they have no actual effect. For example, a Sigil of Purity will trigger and enter the 10s cooldown even when the wearer has no conditions.
The mainhand sigil triggers before the offhand sigil.
So sayeth the Wiki.
off hand pistol blows kitten use shield
pistol autoattack damage is crap compared to rifle
2 has ridiculous accuracy problems
BUT RIFLE DOESNT GIVE YOU 2 SIGILS!!
You do know only ONE sigil procs at a time then both go under cooldown?
wich makes having 2 sigils near useless.I thought having 2 of the same sigils with the same cool down procs the cool down, but having a sigil proc every 2 seconds and another that procs every 5 seconds work? Correct me if I’m wrong.
Sadly I am pretty sure you are wrong. As far as I’ve tested and read, all Sigils that have a cooldown share the same cooldown. When both Sigils can proc at the same time, the Sigil in the main hand will apply first. Therefore if you’re using the Sigil of Frailty in the main hand and the Sigil of Strength on the off hand, even though both have a one second cooldown, the Sigil of Fraility will apply almost every time with the Sigil of Strength rarely applying. For this reason I suggest using a Sigil with a cooldown alongside with a Sigil that applies a continuous effect like the kill stacking effect Sigils or the Sigils of Accuracy or Force.
after browsing this corner of the forums for a while ive noticed that there arent that many threads about how a pistol condition build is bad so am i too assume that there is no major problems with this build.
If you enjoy shooting about 30 shots per mob yeah. That’s been my experience.
pistols condition build is good, check https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Video-WvW-roaming-engineer
my advice is not to go overboard with cd and get some power too.
engie roaming vids: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9NnXVfY4vRU1F-X7b1Oorw/videos
Pistols are their own are not good. Anyone who says otherwise has no idea what they’re talking about. At best, and in a condi build, duel pistols are used for the burn, blind and rarely the immobilize or poison.
Our buddy John sharp admitted that the engineer’s main hands are purposely terrible because we have kits. That’s despite the fact that kits have been repeatedly nerfed to kitten and take up a utility slot.
@$20 an hour! It’s worth it!