Guild Wars 2

Hi guys I just made a new engineer and my question is aside from weapon kits, how viable is the shield/pistol in terms of general pve and dungeons/fractals?
I see a lot of rifle engineers and rarely shield/pistol. What is the best build for it and gear wise should I go for all condition damage gear? Thanks XD

It’s sort of game play preference, if you like pure power, and alot of in and out combat, or if you like to have some utility along with your gameplay. Honestly, any engineer should have both a rifle and pistol/shield in dungeon game play, PVE, or even pvp if it calls for it. Change based on the situation. I, myself, enjoy pistol/shield for the blocks/reflect it gives me. the damage is significantly less unless you spec for some condition damage and what not. But the blind on pistol # 3 is a very nice add to dungeon play me thinks.

Just my two cents though

Shield is pretty good for a condition build, but it has one major weakness: you lose your reliable burning on your main hand weapon. Considering burning is where a lot of your Condition damage comes from, you’ll need to make it up with your traits and utilities. I recommend taking incendiary power (explosives adept trait) and probably also bomb kit if you use a shield.

Since I already have a DPS warrior, I don’t really care much for DPS for my engineer as I would like to play a support role for a group. So let’s say I trait as what Saki Asakura suggested and go for rampager/carrion gear plus maybe dolyak runes for survivability, does that kinda kitten the condition I deal on pistols/bombs? Also playing engineer feels very technical which makes it hard to decide on an elite whereas the warrior is very straight forward >.<

mazingerz.8631:

Since I already have a DPS warrior, I don’t really care much for DPS for my engineer as I would like to play a support role for a group. So let’s say I trait as what Saki Asakura suggested and go for rampager/carrion gear plus maybe dolyak runes for survivability, does that kinda kitten the condition I deal on pistols/bombs? Also playing engineer feels very technical which makes it hard to decide on an elite whereas the warrior is very straight forward >.<

Our only elite is Supply Crate.

There’s another thread similar to this one, but I’ll lay down my $0.02.

I love the shield, it is my weapon of choice, not only is it protecting me, but gives me control over my foes. In fractals, the shield is a personal support unit. For example, in the harpy level Magnetic shield allows me to reflect arrows and knock-back orbs and in the dredge level Throw shield is an interrupt for the ice/dredge boss healing. In dungeons, static shield allows you to preform other actions, while still blocking, such as ressing, running , or shooting, etc.

My problem lies with the pistol. AoE auto-attack does not mean it should have lower damage, sure Poison Shot Volley does a nice amount of damage, but sometimes it does not hit at far ranges. If I want to do damage though, I’ll gladly rely on my kits rather than my main weapon set, if anything the main set is more for support, ironically.

While leveling I find P/P to be better than P/S just because #4 deals a crap-ton of damage and #5 lets me kite. I never felt that I needed the extra defense from shield while leveling open world. Especially after you unlock Tool Kit and have access to its gear shield. I can see the shield being much more useful in dungeons and WvW for reliable projectile defense. Even then, I find things like thrown Elixir U to be better, since it doesn’t hamper your damage output while still offering defense.

I level using P/P conditions rather than rifle and have a ball. Spread the conditions, use aoe attacks, kite away, watch em drop.

Shield is definitely the best option if you want to play a support role. The #4 is a reliable blast finisher and with elixer gun it’s number 5 skill you can get area of retaliation 2 times (EG 4, and P/S 4).

Plus you get an extra (stunning) block, especially nice in dungeons and 1v1 in WvW, where the enemy will be stuned for 2 seconds after they hit you (and you block there attack).

Gearwise, Rabid or Carrion are pretty good mixtures of offense and defense, it really comes down to the details of your build as to which one is better (do you use crit procs like earth sigil or incendiary powder? Do you have a power based kit auto attack you like to use? how much fury access do you have? etc). Using Rampagers is comparable to using berserker’s: you’ll die very quickly if you get hit.

I personally use a full set of rabid armor, a decent amount of points in alchemy, and toughness runes (Engineer, saving up for guardian). This gives me a lot of survivability, while still letting me keep up a lot of condition damage.

Another good rune set is altruism, which turns every single heal into “For Great Justice”. Engineers have an advantage with this rune because medkit has no cooldown, so we can use altruism whenever the internal cooldown ends.

With your elite, definitely choose supply crate. It is much stronger than either of our alternatives offensively, and it stuns, and it drops health packs!

Also consider looking into elixir gun if you’re leaning towards a support role. EG 3 clears 5 conditions from allies you hit, EG 4 is a blast finisher and and AOE attack, and EG 5 is an AOE heal.

Saki Asakura.6479:

Gearwise, Rabid or Carrion are pretty good mixtures of offense and defense, it really comes down to the details of your build as to which one is better (do you use crit procs like earth sigil or incendiary powder? Do you have a power based kit auto attack you like to use? how much fury access do you have? etc). Using Rampagers is comparable to using berserker’s: you’ll die very quickly if you get hit.

I personally use a full set of rabid armor, a decent amount of points in alchemy, and toughness runes (Engineer, saving up for guardian). This gives me a lot of survivability, while still letting me keep up a lot of condition damage.

Another good rune set is altruism, which turns every single heal into “For Great Justice”. Engineers have an advantage with this rune because medkit has no cooldown, so we can use altruism whenever the internal cooldown ends.

With your elite, definitely choose supply crate. It is much stronger than either of our alternatives offensively, and it stuns, and it drops health packs!

Also consider looking into elixir gun if you’re leaning towards a support role. EG 3 clears 5 conditions from allies you hit, EG 4 is a blast finisher and and AOE attack, and EG 5 is an AOE heal.

Ooh thank you…this is quite helpful XD

If you’re going condition heavy, as others have said, you’ll lose access to a really good burn. Personally, I always keep a shield in my inventory, and I prefer shield aesthetically (dat clumsy p/p Charr animation).

Shield is great for dungeons imo, as it offers up to three interrupts, which can really cut down on damage from trash and vets in particular. And don’t discount the amount of damage the reflect can save you from. Shield also offers another blast finisher. I still prefer rifle for actual bosses though, because of that low CD immobilize plus the self knockback is amazing.

Pistol MH will definitely be your go to for AoE however (aside from kits), due to the low cd Static Shot, and, if traited, coated bullets.