Hey guys, I’ve been playing Engineer since launch, have multiple hours logged on this profession, tried everything from condition pistols, to 100 nades, to tankcat, to might stack FT, to…well you get the point.
The one unique mechanic I’ve always enjoyed about the Engineer is the static discharge trait and the surprise burst it is capable of. After toying around with Static Discharge builds for a few months I’ve finally come up with a build I really enjoy.
I’m posting this because I would like advice as to where else I can take this, comments on how to refine it, suggestions, criticisms, etc. I don’t profess this to be the end all build and still feel it can be toyed with. So without further adieu:
Traits
0/20/0/20/30
Trait Selection
Firearms
-Increased Range on Rifle
-10 % Damage to Rifle
Alchemy
-Elixir S at 25 percent
-Protection buff for 3 seconds when CC’d
Tools
-Static Discharge
-Speedy Kits
-50 percent endurance regen
Reasoning behind choices
Firearms is pretty self explanatory. I basically take the two traits that have the largest impact on Rifle, range and damage. Cooldown reduction is something I tried for a bit, but I felt that the increased range was too much to give up when chasing people down, defending keeps, general siege, etc. The 10 percent increased damage is something I couldn’t live without so it stays.
Alchemy
Self regulating defense is a lifesaver. There is nothing more annoying to your enemy then having them blow all their cooldowns on a midget engineer. It has a 90 second cooldown but it goes by quick. Just remember, when it’s down take a more cautious approach. Protection Injection is something I debated with a long time over the vigor for five seconds trait. I observed as I was playing that I had plenty of endurance regeneration already with 30 in tools and the 50 percent regeneration trait. Switching to tool kit or med kit mid combat to proc vigor was a little to overwhelming for me so I started playing with out it. I have yet to notice a massive difference and never think, “boy if only I had perma vigor I could survive longer.” Also, 33% damage reduction is nothing to sneeze at when a thief opens up with venom and starts critting you for 4k instead of 8 or 9k.
Tools
Static Discharge is the bread and butter of the build, there is no alternative. Speedy Kits is also very necessary as it gives you perma swiftness while you run around the map. The grandmaster endurance trait seems weak, but it’s always up, and you will notice the difference between 0 percent endurance regen and 50. If you are going the perma vigor route with the alchemy trait then there are several options you can take instead of this one. The retaliation trait is nice against thieves, the power wrench trait is nice for the additional cripple.
Gear
Armor = P/V/T armor head to toe including backpack. Socket everything with Ruby Orbs. I experimented with plenty of different rune types including Scholars, Dolyak, Vampirism, Rock Dog, etc, and found that Orbs end up giving you more stats and you already have PLENTY of tricks to make up for the lack of unique rune bonus. For example, you might see some Mesmer’s run with full centaur not because they WANT to but because they HAVE to if they want any sort of semi-permanent swiftness buff. You’ll probably find more discussion on Orbs on the Warrior forum and how they are better if you are going for Stats over Tricks.
Jewelry = Berserkers socketed with Ruby Jewels. No long winded explanation here.
Weapon = Berserkers Rifle socketed with sigil of air or fire, both are great choices.
With this gear set up you will have ~19.5k hp, 1200 toughness, ~40 crit chance, and above 80 crit dmg (I run with butternut squash soup all the time so It’s 90 for me).
Skills
Med Kit – The best way to keep perma swiftness as it has no stow feature when you press it again. I forget the name but the little potion it drops that gives you swiftness and fury is amazing. It has a condition removal too just in case, but remember it only clears ONE condition. At first this felt clunky as I was so used to just drinking Elixir H, but after a few weeks I couldn’t live without it and could never see myself going back to one of our other two heals.