Guild Wars 2

I am new to the game, but have over 10 years of MMO experience (started with DAOC). I am determined to stick with the engineer because engineering is dear to my heart IRL, and I love the theme.

I have been reading a lot on the forums and have started theorycrafting some builds.

Have anyone tried a build like:

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mcMzM9mmlLvMmlLvM0xaaGoRqommo8khk7khA7070c7kIQ70V7owY

Essentially I open with pistol #2 and #3 with the flame ammo. I then switch to Flamethrower.

I try to also use Elixer Gun with the healing field, but this field seems pretty mediocre. I am considering switching to toolkit to get shield and magnet along with the confuse before switching back to flamethrower.

Elixer R is mainly for the self rez and as a “stun trinket”.

I seem to die pretty fast, but I am currently attributing that to the fact that I am a noob, and with abilities “hidden” inside kits I frequently find myself with the wrong kit equipped.

Basically I want this build to be all-around decent survivability and decent damage. Built for solo roaming and sPvP.

I was really hoping turrets would be viable, but it appears in pvp they are rarely used, but this build also excites me that it may have potential and it seems relatively versatile.

Actually tweaked it a bit. Swapped Flamethrower for toolkit and removed 10 out of Firearms to pick up Kit Regenerator.

I try to keep confuse up as much as possible. Alternate between Pistol 2/3, EG 2, and TK 3. I don’t have burst, but seems like solid damage along with good survivability.

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mcMzM9mmlCvMmlCvM0GaGGoRomsmo8khk7khA7070c7kIQ70V7owY

Engineer is really hard to theorycraft, so my hat’s off to you for creating a build that’s a thousand times better than any of my first half-dozen attempts were.

The healing field on elixir gun has a similar healing power as the regeneration boon—nothing too exciting. I like it for the condition removal, though.

What amulet/runes/sigils are you using?

Now, brace yourself for some hard news…

Balanced builds in general are unfortunately very difficult to make work for PvP right now. Basically, a few professions have full glass cannon builds with enough escapes to outsurvive and far outdamage any balanced build.

The flamethrower in general is unfortunately very difficult to make work as a main damage kit.

Hopefully that’s not too discouraging—I love playing my engineer in PvP, even though it’s generally considered one of the weakest professions. I also use pistol/shield, elixir gun and flamethrower, but give up the stunbreaker for bomb kit and take full defensive traits/amulet.

Edit: Ah, just saw your last update. Box of nails is also decent for condition damage.

If you use might stacking and might duration runes (2 strength, 2 hoelbrak, and 2 fire) along with HGH (alchemy master trait), then you can stack might instantly fast with flamethrower. Also with 30 in firearms you can get juaggernaut for defense and EVEN MORE MIGHT STACKING! Maybe 10 in whatever you want depending on your style. Also with a rifle and the might swapping sigil (battle I think?) you can swap from your flamethrower and do a MASSIVE amount of burst. Not to mention the FT #2 skill does about 9k on its explosion with all the might. If you want me to make the build on guilf head I can tomorrow, but I think you get the gist of the build. PM me ingame if you have any questions about engineer for s/tpvp. I’ve been playing only engineer since launch and im currently one of the few decent (imo) competitive engis in tournaments. I also have 62 QP to back up my statement. Hope the build works out!

Cheers and best of luck as an engi,
Vöz

Thanks for the advice. I actually just tried that on a target dummy.

Even after popping Elixir B and having tons of Might stacks best I could hit for was about 2k on the Mists target dummies with FT 2.

FYI the main damage from the #2 attack on the FT comes from the explosion, not the initial hit. What I normally do is use the knockback first, then 2. The #2 explosion explodes at the exact distance the 3 knockback does. Also, after stacking 20-25 stacks of might from the flamethrower, switching to the rifle and using elixer U can do a kittenload of damage in under 2 seconds. If anything, put on a berserker amulet and the extra crit damage should help with the dps. Give that a shot and tell me how it goes ^-^

Gratz on rolling Engineer, despite the numerous whines and actual bugs I think its by far the most fun to play.

Don’t give up on the FT, specially in PvE. It is an awesome kit for mob farming if you can just adjust to some of its bugs.

Some tips for the FT:
Skill #1 attacks in the direction of your camera not the actual flame so its better to strafe around in a stop sign pattern then actually circle.
Skill #2 gets obstructed alot and almost always right after using #3, when you are using it in PvE wait a second after the knock back before firing, or what I do is knockback then dodge back once then #2.
Skill #4 is a blast finisher for might and with shield and a thumper turret you can get 9+ stacks fast and easy.
Skill #5 can be used at any time, even while gathering, downing or rezzing ppl or casting another skill (like Golem) so its nice to stop interrupt.

In WvW you can shoot through gates and walls and knock ppl back, but since they changed FT few months ago its not really a good option for PvP.

So I have been doing sPvP with the second build I posted above, and I am having a blast.

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mcMzM9mmlCvMmlCvM0GaGGoRomsmo8khk7khA7070c7kIQ70V7owY

It feels like a bunker build due to so many heals, but with my auto Elixir-R and confuse damage, and it seems like people are dying slowly, but surely in a 1v1 due to confuse and retaliation. When two people come and I purely focus on surviving I can usually do it, but I always get blasted off points.