Guild Wars 2

I want to start a new toon as an Engie and build him into condies to accomodate all the positions where condies are required (TT husks say hi). What would be the optimal way to level a fresh engie, preferably with no EotM (not fuuun)? Are there any good condi builds I could follow? Should I go celestial?

Hello frands! Vee Wee here, retired #1 Engi NA and world first rank 80!

Leveling an Engi with condi is the same as leveling one with power! This is because the best power kits are also the best condi kits! First grab two pistols because that’s the most potent weapon set you have for spreading conditions! Then you’ll want to unlock Grenade and Bomb Kits! These are your offensive kits and the best way to apply many condis! From there it’ll be easy to just run around completing hearts and grabbing map completion! With both Grenade and Bomb Kits you can just mob up 10 different things and AoE all of them down! Simple! And you’ll have an easy time kiting them around with your various chills, cripples, and immobilizes! Your last slot can be something like Elixir Gun for a stunbreak and movement, or Rocket Boots for movement, or even Tool Kit for extra kiting potential and defensive cooldowns if you really need it! Flamethrower can be good too! The main thing is to practice swapping in and out of kits/weapons! That’s what makes a good Engineer!

For traits, you’ll want to put 2 points into Tools for Speedy Kits! Get that first! It will give you permanent swiftness and the faster you get to places, the faster you can level! Even though Explosives is the stronger tree, if you plan on leveling as condi, grab 2 points into the Firearms tree first for Hair Trigger before you go into Explosives! This will give you additional condi damage and reduce the cooldowns for your Blowtorch and Static Shot! From there you can put all your points into Explosives for Forceful Explosives/Shrapnel, Incendiary Powder, and Grenadier! Incendiary Powder is what makes a condi Engi strong and all condi Engis should run this trait!

For gear you should obviously just get condition damage with condition/precision at 20! Then at 55 grab power/precision/condition damage gear since, again, Grenade and Bomb Kits deal high power damage as well as condi! For leveling, I like to always have a Minor Sigil of Corruption and Geomancy in your weapons for extra damage! At 80 if you wanna gear for just the husks, Sinister stats would be the best! If you want to share condi gear for WvW, Vee Wee personally runs Dire armor and weapons with Rabid accessories with Geomancy/Energy sigils and Adventurer Runes! Celestial stats are better for a more power oriented hybrid build! Don’t use celestial for a condi focused build!

If you want a build, this is Vee Wee’s PvP build that Vee Wee made over a year and a half ago! Vee Wee also uses this for WvW with great success!
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fdAQJAqalUUp+qlcxELseRCbBNqxAqNIyOWlPfgAkUA-TJhHwA82fAwDAAZZgAnAAA

Hope that helped! Wahoo! Bye frands!

PS: If you’ve never played Engi before, learn how to use the Healing Turret! It’s easily one of the best heals in the game! You should place it, overcharge it immediately, and then either pick it up for a shorter cooldown, or detonate it immediately for a larger heal!

I’d give you about 100 rep for this post if there was such a thing.

Leveling with condi is slower than with power. Grenades aren’t as good as bombs because you won’t have grenadier.
You won’t need incendiary powder and shield offhand is better cuz of the blast finisher.
Basically 99% of what vee wee said doesn’t apply to pve at all.

Hello frands! Vee Wee here, retired #1 Engi NA and world first rank 80!

• If someone wants to level as condi, they should be allowed to level as condi! I leveled a Necro as condi and it was super fast! This was even before they added Tainted Shackles! It’s like some people just enjoy sapping the fun out of everything other people do! Crazy!
• Incendiary Powder is what turns condi Engi from a mediocre condi build to a condi powerhouse! Burning is the strongest condition if you don’t count traited fear! More burns = faster kills!
• I fail to see how a single blast finisher that pushes the bad guys out of your Bomb Kit burning AoE with an extremely long cooldown is better than an Engi’s strongest form of AoE burning with a really short cooldown and extra kiting potential for leveling!
• You can absolutely use Grenade Kit for leveling! Sure it’s not as potent as it can be without the Grenadier trait, but it still applies bleeds, blind, and chill for kiting! You don’t have to pick Grenade Kit or Bomb Kit! You take both for leveling! It’s what I did and leveling was a blast! Pun intended!

Wahoo! Bye frands!

I’m currently lvl 33 and I love the Engineer’s gameplay right now. You haven’t specified where to put 4 more trait points though, so I’m thinking it should go into Firearms, with Modified Ammunition and Precise Sights/Coated Bullets. Would that be worth it? Modified Ammunition seems crazy even if it does not count every stack, with that >10% dmg bonus.

Incendiary powder is strong because in pvp people cleanse. In pve mobs don’t cleanse and the burn from bomb is more than enough. Traited fear is literally useless in pve too. I never said IP and offhand shield are related in any way despite the fact I mentioned both in the same sentence.
Taking short fuse is way better.
Oh and modified ammunition and precise sights are more for berserker builds.