Guild Wars 2

Greetings!

I’ve been wanting to make an Engineer for a long time. How do they perform in higher end PvE areas? Can they hold their own pretty well if played right? Take on a couple mobs and survive pretty well while putting out decent damage?

Any recommendations on what weapons to use to start with?

:)

Why not try all the weapons available….lets see, pistol, shield, rifle and harpoon gun.

I personally like dual pistols or pistol and shield.

The definition of ‘higher end PvE areas’ can vary widely.

For general PvE play in the open world, engineer has always been one of the stronger professions for solo play. Good access to boons, a variety of healing abilities, and damage prevention abilities are just a few reasons why. (Blocks, invuln, vigor)

For dungeons: engineers when played right can definitely hold their own. It’s rare to see them in high level fractals for the very reason that they do take more effort to play well. Also, other professions have better ways to provide better direct benefit to a group, be it raw damage, group saving boons or utilities. (Engi can do all of these, but just not as well individually as some). Engineer is not a low APM class.

I feel I should also note that engineers are great for mob/event farming, as they are far from lacking in the quick hitting and AoE areas.

Engineer damage can be lackluster unless you build properly for it. And even then, don’t expect to match a zerker warrior. Check out the HgH build that’s been popularized – there are both condition and power varieties, though the class has a natural affinity for conditions.

On the subject of weapons – do keep in mind that kits are considered to be weapon ‘sets’ for the engineer. There are traits and builds centered around them, and it’s honestly pretty difficult to play engineer well without the use of a kit or two.

Pistol/pistol is best for condition builds, shield offers support and utility, while rifle offers better power scaling and some control and utility. Grenade is our best (condition) damage kit, with the longest (traited) range, though they’re best at medium-short. Elixir Gun is great for support and healing, some conditions. Flamethrower scales well with power and offers some degree of control. Toolkit offers utility and is a strong melee kit. Finally, bomb offers a variety of conditions, but also scales fairly well with power.