Guild Wars 2

So in the last few days I found the time to level up an engineer as my first real go at a character, I’m after some tips…

I like to dual wield pistols and I like having 4 turrets at hand. I’m currently lvl 28 and have my healing/gun/flame/rocket turrets ready to drop whilst I use pistols.

Traits… I have the firearms (can’t remember if that’s what it’s called) trait up to 10 pre but not sure which ‘sub trait’ to choose for the 10 points. I have also put 8 points into another trait that gives +crit damage I think.. Sorry, I’m posting from my phone.

Gear wise, I’m focused entirely on +precision and +condition damage (what is that?) as they seem to go hand in hand on gear/gems.

So yeah, is this all workable? Any tips?

It’s workable – I ran that from 5-80, pretty much. Just don’t take it into dungeons – turrets are way too fragile.

For the Firearms trait: I’d suggest Hair Trigger for faster cooldowns on your pistol skills.

If it’s +crit damage, it’s the Tools line; not a bad choice, as it’ll speed up your Toolbelt skill cooldowns a bit, especially handy with the long cooldowns on Turret Toolbelts.

Other than that, you should really take a look at the Inventions traitline – 3/5 Turret traits are in it, with the exceptions only of Accelerant-Packed and Deployable.

I’ll give some advice as a level 38 Engineer who has recently stalked the forums for tips and help.

Condition damage is virtually NEVER good for leveling, as pure power scales better with most abilities and will result in things dying faster.

Turrets are kind of weak, and won’t really result in you killing things much faster. Pistols are nice occasionally, and I switch to them to use the abilities off cool down, but kits generally do much more for me.

I’d put my first ten in explosives, and get the trait that increases bomb explosion radius. Second ten in firearms, and pick which ability suits you best. After that, I’ve put the remainder into Alchemy for the vit and elixir abilities.

I use Elixir B because it’s just plain good. Drink it, get a bunch of boons, etc. Use it for swiftness while traveling. I also keep a Bomb Kit, and Elixir Gun on hand as well. Bomb kit is by far, your BEST source of damage in my opinion.

Run in close range, kite in circles if you have to, and drop bombs like a mad man, blowing things up. Switch to pistols if you’re low on health and/or need attack a single enemy from a distance.

Elixir gun is very helpful and situational. It gives you an F-key option that causes regeneration, and number 5 also creates a field of regeneration. The 1 and 2 attacks have great range, which is nice; use the damaging abilities as you see fit, like causing AoE poison and such.

Remember, there is no cool down for Engineers when switching between kits and weapons so you can do so at your leisure without worrying about being locked into something.

I NEVER have survivability issues. Using the Elixir Gun for regeneration and utility is great; the number 4 on the Elixir Gun will also make you jump back from combat.

With bombs and the number 5 on Elixir Gun, you have a few combo fields to play with. The number four on Elixir Gun is a blast finisher, so feel free to use it to not only get a blast finisher with the combo field, but to jump back and escape from combat.

I use power/prec gear, and sometimes power/vit gear and do fine. Even without condition damage, conditions will still work fine.

After level 40, I plan on re-traiting and putting 20 in Explosives, and working out the rest from there. I might even just put the remaining 10 in Alchemy and forsake Firearms altogether, but I’m not sure yet.

I’ll also add that you should get the Supply Drop Elite Skill at 30. I think that’s what it’s called, but it drops a supply crate with three turrets and a bunch of med packs. It’s great for escaping sticky situations and by far the best elite you’ll initially have the choice of obtaining.

Hi mate, thanks for the advice. Maybe I should swap out that +condition for +power!

As for playstyle, I’m reluctant to change as I enjoy using the turrets but I guess it’s something I should look into if my current playstyle isn’t really viable for dungeons.

Problem I have sometimes is changing between kits quick enough to react to the situation I guess, that’s probably one of the reasons I like to stick with pistols, suppose I should give it a go again…

Thanks again.

Try binding the utility slot keys to something more accessible than 7-9. Personally I have a Logitech G600, so I have it bound to G-shift (modifier on the mouse) + 1-3 on the side buttons, with 4 being the elite, and 1-5 without the G-shift being the default skill selection. If you don’t have an MMO mouse, I’m sure you can find buttons on the keyboard to use – Q, E, R, F are ideal for often-used abilities, T and G work fine as well. Z through B can work depending on how you feel about it, personally I think it’s too far down from the movement keys.

Once your keys are rebound, the keyword is practice, practice, practice! You’ll want to learn how to do this autonomously, so change your weapon kits as often as you can, even if it seems unnecessary. It’ll feel awkward to begin with, but as with any repetitive-in-context action, it’ll soon because autonomous (this is how you learn, say, shifting gears while driving or even walking).

Once you’ve got the weapon kit switching mastered, afford yourself to live a little. Respecs in this game are dirt cheap – I think it’s about five silver at level 80, which is about equivalent to 6-8 grey trash (break to avoid censor) items. You know how to play with weapon kits, so feel free to play with turrets instead. What’s great about the engineer is that despite what people may want to tell you, very few builds aren’t viable if played correctly. Besides, if you want to be certain you’re ready to fit a more effective build in while still running around with your fun-build, just carry a 10-silver training manual on you at all times to instantly respec all your traits.

Just to add – Grenades are by far the best kit/weapon underwater.

Well I respecced, crafted some lvl 30 gear with power & precision on and went with bombs..

Wow, what a difference, I don’t even worry about dying now. I’m chucking bombs all over the place and mobs are just falling around at my feet while I’m barely taking any damage!

Initially I was wary of wearing medium armour and closing to within melee range especially without my healing turret but man, groups of mobs can’t touch me before they’re exploding. I carry my healing elixir but rarely use it, and the buff elixir (is that ‘boon’ in GW2?) comes in handy to speed up killing and increase survivability.

I don’t have the elixir gun yet, I’m a couple of skill points away from my elite skill so I’ll pass on that for now.

As far as my mouse goes, it’s a RAT 5, I should really play around with some keybinds.

Thanks for the advice!