Guild Wars 2

Hey guys,

I created a guide awhile back for my guild/server and just recently revised it and posted it to guru.

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/74468-art-of-the-spanner-a-comprehensive-engineer-guide/

It seems alot of people are having trouble acclimating to the amazing synergies of the engineer, so hopefully this guide will help. You can also ask me anything, and I will try to help. Most of my experience with engineer has been in WvW, so I am not terribly knowledgeable about the sPvP metagame atm.

Thanks for the guide!

Looking forward to watching your stream & youtube vids, so hurry up and make them!

Will do! There should be a couple of them already available, but I didn’t make them permanent so they may have been removed already.

Ill try and get twitch to cooperate tonight (low upload to their servers).

Fantastic guide!

Could you add a second build example for your “Tank” category please? You mention “unless you are going Juggernaut with Flamethrower,” but don’t mention what you recommend giving up for it.

Here is an example Flamethrower build. I will also put a link in the guide. EDIT: Having trouble with link… will post in guide.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqelspyaH5SfF17IxoCdG0j6D47K6h+pcjB;ToAA2CoogyAlAKLUOokQNsYCB

Remember that knights armor in WvW/PvE is toughness instead of Vitality. This build will have huge toughness, and good sustainability / condition removal. You could replace the toolkit with Elixir-R, but you give up some good utility for it. It also does a hefty amount of damage with the flamethrower. The bloodlust sigil will work once you stack it up with the flamethrower for additional damage as well.

Juggernaut is better the longer you stay in flamethrower. For this build you would want to primary the flamethrower, and only swap out for utility here and there (P/S for shield skills etc).

Thank you! I’ve been experimenting with these builds and I was surprised at how much of a difference they make.

For example, I went with the first “tank” build (the one without the FT), and my survivability skyrocketed in WvW. I had no idea that much toughness could help so much… I didn’t even care that I was doing a bit less damage than usual. Admittedly, I stayed with the rifle (I just know it better), but really need to give pistol/shield another “shot” (pun intended). Even the wrench kit surprised me.

Glad you tried it out Elias! The pistol / shield can be difficult to get used to at first, but it’s utility is unmatched. I think I mention in the guide that the shield is my favorite weapon (across all classes). It only has 2 skills, but each one of them is very powerful, and useful in any given situation. The only thing I can wish for is for the cooldowns to be lower (yes… sadly that would be OP).

The tool kit is amazing as well for survivability. The block is awesome (combine it with elixir-s for a bunch of blocking woot!), the box of nails helps you get away from a group, pry bar hits like a truck, and the pull is great CC (and a good setup for pry bar).

I did try pistol / shield last night and found it makes turning the tables on those annoying thieves a lot easier. I’m missing the CC abilities of the rifle though (I love stopping a big Charr in his tracks and raining fire down on him). I’m guessing that’s where the tool kit comes in, but I’m not very adept at using it yet either.

I am a Turret using, Pistol/Shield Engineer. My focus is PvE. What is recommended in terms of gear? Currently I use vit/cond/pow I believe. I like to be a bit tankier, otherwise I go down in the blink of an eye. I am not a huge fan of the kits, although sometimes I use them, but it depends on the situation.

I use a Rocket Turret & Rifle Turret. The 3rd utility is either the Elixer that gives might etc etc or any other turret, depends on the situation here as well.

Also what is better, toughness or vitality to be a little more tankier?

Direksone.3867:

I am a Turret using, Pistol/Shield Engineer. My focus is PvE. What is recommended in terms of gear? Currently I use vit/cond/pow I believe. I like to be a bit tankier, otherwise I go down in the blink of an eye. I am not a huge fan of the kits, although sometimes I use them, but it depends on the situation.

I use a Rocket Turret & Rifle Turret. The 3rd utility is either the Elixer that gives might etc etc or any other turret, depends on the situation here as well.

Also what is better, toughness or vitality to be a little more tankier?

Last time I checked, turrets do not gain stats from gear, and a decent amount of your damage is coming from them. I would focus on either Prec/CritDmg/Pow (mixed with a healthy amount of toughness) or Prec/ConDmg/Tough/Vit. Really a mix of toughness and vitality is your best bet for tankyness, but I would lean towards toughness moreso.

Remember, with condition damage it will take longer for you to kill things, so you must balance it with good survivability. Also, make sure not to stand still, dodge and kite things around your turrets. You might have an easier time with the rifle, so I suggest trying it out.

What are you trying to do in PvE? Are you running with a group or solo farming stuff? What role would you prefer in a group environment? It is hard to recommend things without some background =)

I really like running dungeons with an engineer in the group. They always seem to help me get out of a bind lol

Small nit here but this is not really a guide but more of an overview of the class. Also, after reading a lot of it some of the abbreviations are unclear.

Just updated the guide to include a Combos section. Also, I added an acronym decrypter!

It may seem like just an overview, but when you read the build section it gets a bit more “guidey”

Primalpat.1026:

Direksone.3867:

I am a Turret using, Pistol/Shield Engineer. My focus is PvE. What is recommended in terms of gear? Currently I use vit/cond/pow I believe. I like to be a bit tankier, otherwise I go down in the blink of an eye. I am not a huge fan of the kits, although sometimes I use them, but it depends on the situation.

I use a Rocket Turret & Rifle Turret. The 3rd utility is either the Elixer that gives might etc etc or any other turret, depends on the situation here as well.

Also what is better, toughness or vitality to be a little more tankier?

Last time I checked, turrets do not gain stats from gear, and a decent amount of your damage is coming from them. I would focus on either Prec/CritDmg/Pow (mixed with a healthy amount of toughness) or Prec/ConDmg/Tough/Vit. Really a mix of toughness and vitality is your best bet for tankyness, but I would lean towards toughness moreso.

Remember, with condition damage it will take longer for you to kill things, so you must balance it with good survivability. Also, make sure not to stand still, dodge and kite things around your turrets. You might have an easier time with the rifle, so I suggest trying it out.

What are you trying to do in PvE? Are you running with a group or solo farming stuff? What role would you prefer in a group environment? It is hard to recommend things without some background =)

Well I am still exploring the world! But since I am lazy I can do that in my Dungeon orientated build/gear. So a build for Dungeons really. Currently running this:

http://www.gw2db.com/skills/calc/engineer#10|9|0|0|0|0|0|10|1422|0|0|30|1419|1866|1426|30|988|1860|1784|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|

I might take out 10 out of Inventions and put them in Explosions for exploding turrets!

Vit/Cond/Pow gear with Sigils of Undead (Tough+Cond) or at least that is my aim, is this a good aim?

EDIT: Also in a group/dungeon I remain in the background with my turrets, pewing at the enemy, using my Supply Drop on the melee/boss and Healing Turret to help my party members out! Sometimes I have an Elixer in my 1st Ulitlity slot and I use the Toolbelt skill also to help out my partners.

I would like to be a supporting person, that is beefier (I already die so quickly), but can still pack a punch, if that is even doable!

EDIT TWO: I looked into your guide: you are mentioning +healing for a supporting character, but I heard that it is not really viable, how true is this?

Also: I am not a fan of using Kits really, I might here and there as I HAVE to sometimes, but I stay away from it. I have 2 Turrets (Rifle and Rocket) always in my utilities and the 3rd is situational: Elixer or a 3rd Turret, depending on the situation. I like Elixer R though, but I am not sure if that is really viable, I might be overdemanding :p

EDIT THREE (can’t write it at the same time for some reason!): This is basically the cookie cutter build I want with the rest of the traits allocated to what suits best to what I’ve been describing:

http://www.gw2db.com/skills/calc/engineer#10|9|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|30|1419|1866|1426|20|988|1860|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|

Direksone.3867:

Well I am still exploring the world! But since I am lazy I can do that in my Dungeon orientated build/gear. So a build for Dungeons really. Currently running this:

http://www.gw2db.com/skills/calc/engineer#10|9|0|0|0|0|0|10|1422|0|0|30|1419|1866|1426|30|988|1860|1784|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|

I might take out 10 out of Inventions and put them in Explosions for exploding turrets!

Vit/Cond/Pow gear with Sigils of Undead (Tough+Cond) or at least that is my aim, is this a good aim?

EDIT: Also in a group/dungeon I remain in the background with my turrets, pewing at the enemy, using my Supply Drop on the melee/boss and Healing Turret to help my party members out! Sometimes I have an Elixer in my 1st Ulitlity slot and I use the Toolbelt skill also to help out my partners.

I would like to be a supporting person, that is beefier (I already die so quickly), but can still pack a punch, if that is even doable!

EDIT TWO: I looked into your guide: you are mentioning +healing for a supporting character, but I heard that it is not really viable, how true is this?

Also: I am not a fan of using Kits really, I might here and there as I HAVE to sometimes, but I stay away from it. I have 2 Turrets (Rifle and Rocket) always in my utilities and the 3rd is situational: Elixer or a 3rd Turret, depending on the situation. I like Elixer R though, but I am not sure if that is really viable, I might be overdemanding :p

EDIT THREE (can’t write it at the same time for some reason!): This is basically the cookie cutter build I want with the rest of the traits allocated to what suits best to what I’ve been describing:

http://www.gw2db.com/skills/calc/engineer#10|9|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|30|1419|1866|1426|20|988|1860|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|

Elixir-R is awesome. If you are rolling with a group, or even solo it can save you from some encounters. Using it as a stun breaker on knockdowns or roots as you are kiting is good too (plus the endurance for more dodges). I am assuming you are kiting things around your turrets while you shoot and dodge correct? Trying to tank mobs in this game is pretty futile.

The build you linked with the gear you are talking about doesn’t seem to synergize that well. You have 2 “on crit” traits, but not taking advantage of a high crit chance. The runes of undead give you extra condition damage based on your toughness, but your gear doesn’t give you any.

I take it that you want to support without going with a bomb kit? If thats so, I would use Elixirs and Crowd Control abilities to prevent damage. Healing power works better with a bomb support build (I don’t consider it un-viable, but it takes a special build).

Alright, so I am going to throw together some sample builds for you to test out in the mists. It seems like you want to remain versatile with your build to be able to perform all the roles in one package. Without kits, this may be pretty difficult… but I will give it a whirl and you let me know if these work for you:

Here is your build with a bit more optimized gear (imo): http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-VRw;2cPkq0W6VQFx0;9;49TT;04;054B26B;9;1jwmAjwmA2Vp
Use your many blast finishers with water combo fields for lots of AoE healing!

Here is a build I think would work better for what you want to do: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-V70;2Z;0g0c-VQFx0;9;49-TT-2;348A19A;9PcW5PcW53ND
It has over 18k health, over 3k armor, and healing power for huge durability. Using runes of earth, you gain protection when you are hit, and magnetic aura (reflect all projectiles) when you hit 20% health. It also has high power for decent damage. You can pump stacks of might up with your elixirs, while also curing conditions for allies. For raw healing, you can drop bombs near you allies to heal them, while also dealing damage to enemies. Elixir-U gives a good damage boost for you, and the toss blocks or reflects projectiles (and gives combo fields) which is good versus ranged PvE mobs.

I would go to the mists and try the second build out to see if you can handle the bomb kit. If not, we can change it up to have more focus on elixirs. Let me know how it works for you!

Primalpat.1026:

Direksone.3867:

Well I am still exploring the world! But since I am lazy I can do that in my Dungeon orientated build/gear. So a build for Dungeons really. Currently running this:

http://www.gw2db.com/skills/calc/engineer#10|9|0|0|0|0|0|10|1422|0|0|30|1419|1866|1426|30|988|1860|1784|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|

I might take out 10 out of Inventions and put them in Explosions for exploding turrets!

Vit/Cond/Pow gear with Sigils of Undead (Tough+Cond) or at least that is my aim, is this a good aim?

EDIT: Also in a group/dungeon I remain in the background with my turrets, pewing at the enemy, using my Supply Drop on the melee/boss and Healing Turret to help my party members out! Sometimes I have an Elixer in my 1st Ulitlity slot and I use the Toolbelt skill also to help out my partners.

I would like to be a supporting person, that is beefier (I already die so quickly), but can still pack a punch, if that is even doable!

EDIT TWO: I looked into your guide: you are mentioning +healing for a supporting character, but I heard that it is not really viable, how true is this?

Also: I am not a fan of using Kits really, I might here and there as I HAVE to sometimes, but I stay away from it. I have 2 Turrets (Rifle and Rocket) always in my utilities and the 3rd is situational: Elixer or a 3rd Turret, depending on the situation. I like Elixer R though, but I am not sure if that is really viable, I might be overdemanding :p

EDIT THREE (can’t write it at the same time for some reason!): This is basically the cookie cutter build I want with the rest of the traits allocated to what suits best to what I’ve been describing:

http://www.gw2db.com/skills/calc/engineer#10|9|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|30|1419|1866|1426|20|988|1860|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|

Elixir-R is awesome. If you are rolling with a group, or even solo it can save you from some encounters. Using it as a stun breaker on knockdowns or roots as you are kiting is good too (plus the endurance for more dodges). I am assuming you are kiting things around your turrets while you shoot and dodge correct? Trying to tank mobs in this game is pretty futile.

The build you linked with the gear you are talking about doesn’t seem to synergize that well. You have 2 “on crit” traits, but not taking advantage of a high crit chance. The runes of undead give you extra condition damage based on your toughness, but your gear doesn’t give you any.

I take it that you want to support without going with a bomb kit? If thats so, I would use Elixirs and Crowd Control abilities to prevent damage. Healing power works better with a bomb support build (I don’t consider it un-viable, but it takes a special build).

Alright, so I am going to throw together some sample builds for you to test out in the mists. It seems like you want to remain versatile with your build to be able to perform all the roles in one package. Without kits, this may be pretty difficult… but I will give it a whirl and you let me know if these work for you:

Here is your build with a bit more optimized gear (imo): http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-VRw;2cPkq0W6VQFx0;9;49TT;04;054B26B;9;1jwmAjwmA2Vp
Use your many blast finishers with water combo fields for lots of AoE healing!

Here is a build I think would work better for what you want to do: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-V70;2Z;0g0c-VQFx0;9;49-TT-2;348A19A;9PcW5PcW53ND
It has over 18k health, over 3k armor, and healing power for huge durability. Using runes of earth, you gain protection when you are hit, and magnetic aura (reflect all projectiles) when you hit 20% health. It also has high power for decent damage. You can pump stacks of might up with your elixirs, while also curing conditions for allies. For raw healing, you can drop bombs near you allies to heal them, while also dealing damage to enemies. Elixir-U gives a good damage boost for you, and the toss blocks or reflects projectiles (and gives combo fields) which is good versus ranged PvE mobs.

I would go to the mists and try the second build out to see if you can handle the bomb kit. If not, we can change it up to have more focus on elixirs. Let me know how it works for you!

Thanks for all the info, however the builds do not work, could you repost them please?

As you pointed out the gear was not optimal, this was because I did not know at the time I could select that as well, hehe. I was going for Carrion(cond, vit, power) gear with Undead Runes. But I think something else would be in place, something that features healing power, but if your links work then I would be able to see it!

I think I’ll give bomb kit a go again, wasn’t a big fan of them, but perhaps that will change! I think it will be either bomb kit or elixer(s) next to my turrets as I currently use two, but that too might change!

Honestly, this should have been posted in the bold red stickied thread at the top of te page titled " Engineer: In-Depth PvP Guide, Tips, and Tricks." Other wise it will just get buried with similar guides.

Direksone, I don’t think I can post them here because it tries to send us to a “you are leaving gw2.com” page. You can copy / paste them and it will work. Otherwise I am not sure how to send them to you (lol).

Coglin, I will post a link in the sticky as well so hopefully it doesn’t get buried like you say. I’ve noticed it drops off the first page pretty quickly =(

Ah thanks. They do work, indeed! However your build uses a Rifle, is it viable with a Pistol and shield as well?

Also, is there nothing viable with turrets?

Direksone,

I feel like a hybrid build like you want is very difficult to produce with turrets. The only synergy I see is the blast finishers from them (and of course the healing turret). You can be tanky with knockbacks / CC, but you wont be very effective with heals / buffs / condition removal for allies.

The rifle scales better with power than the pistol / shield, which is why I use it in this hybrid build. Pistol can still be good with a power build (in fact my main build uses one) but it requires more than just power to be effective where the rifle can make due.

Engineers are versatile, but to be effective across all roles (Support / DPS / Control) and remain durable you lose some viable options, especially if you don’t like kits!

Primalpat.1026:

Direksone,

I feel like a hybrid build like you want is very difficult to produce with turrets. The only synergy I see is the blast finishers from them (and of course the healing turret). You can be tanky with knockbacks / CC, but you wont be very effective with heals / buffs / condition removal for allies.

The rifle scales better with power than the pistol / shield, which is why I use it in this hybrid build. Pistol can still be good with a power build (in fact my main build uses one) but it requires more than just power to be effective where the rifle can make due.

Engineers are versatile, but to be effective across all roles (Support / DPS / Control) and remain durable you lose some viable options, especially if you don’t like kits!

Yea you’re right. I like to be at the back pewing away, I do like Elixers, but perhaps I would just need to try some kits more to see what I like. Would the Elixer gun+Elixers be viable with pistols?

Would something like this be viable?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqelIqiXnwyuF17ISIFSogB6ReVX6lIFPGlB;TwAg2yrEWJtSdlyKqmMNJay2krJZTA

Use of elixers and elixer guns, condition damage (pistol & elixer gun) with a nice amount of toughness for some tanky ness and healing for healing.

What you wrote about healing i dont get, i only use Elixir-H, Healing Turret and Med kit feels so uslease, you allways are running away or after a enemy so 1sec after you drop the Healing Turret your to fare away from it, Med kit then you cant kill how ever your chasing so that falls there and you need to run back and forward to pic up some bags on the gorund.

Even do something i say were bad things about Anet for fail heal that seem to happen 70% off the time when you really need a heal on Elixir-H.

Then you wrote about Speedy Kits and when i check it is only Elixir B that give you speed, cant find a kit called anything with speed.

Thank you for posting this, I played engineer in the beta weekends and just got back to playing mine. Thanks for putting your opinion in there as well, I was reading some of the kits/tools and I’m like “ooooh that’s good” and you say don’t use it just to spam 11111…lol

Nice guide! Lots of great info the curious or new/ old engineers.

Personal request; it would be nice to see the guide expanded more in the builds section, with some more categories such as PvE, WvW, and s/tPvP.

Perhaps its been mentioned as well, but the healing turret has a reduced cooldown if you pick it up immediately after using it.

I have also found it possible to run a viable build in sPvP with almost continuous combos (to elaborate; you cant stack combo buffs, but you can usually always have a combo buff up), without help from other classes. Just go pistol/ shield, bombs, healing turret, flame thrower, elixir gun, and elite crate.

@Shadow

Speedy Kits is a trait skill, which you can select after spending 10 points in Tools. After than, any kit (bomb, grenade, healing, flame thrower, etc), will you give you a speed boost. If you have 2 kits selected in your skill, for example, flame thrower + bombs, you can have an unlimited speed boost by switching between the two. You can even do it with only 1 kit. Hope this helps!

Direksone.3867:

Would something like this be viable?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqelIqiXnwyuF17ISIFSogB6ReVX6lIFPGlB;TwAg2yrEWJtSdlyKqmMNJay2krJZTA

Use of elixers and elixer guns, condition damage (pistol & elixer gun) with a nice amount of toughness for some tanky ness and healing for healing.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqelIqiXnwyuF17ISIFSogB6ReVX6lIFPGlB;TwAg2yrEWJtSdlyKqmMNJay2krJZTA

Using that right now. I went with the shield trait instead of elite supplies in the 2nd choice because I use my blast finisher in conjuction with my toolbelt abilities and other healing combo fields quite often. Enables me to do the AoE healing more often. The difference really is reduced CD on elixer gun (which I probably wont use as much as staying as pistols) or Elite Supplies out. Went with Elite supplies because that traitline also gives toughness and healing.

I was wondering what gear and runes I would need though. I was thinking of pow/tough/healing and healing runes (like dwayna). Would like to hear your thoughts.

A there not sure i want to lose Static Discharge, but when you need to run fast can be a idea to switch.