Guild Wars 2

Hey all,

I played GW2 a bit at release, and am starting fresh as basically a true newbie now. I’m interested in mesmer, engineer, and guardian as professions, and especially interested in engineer due to how complex and multifaceted it seems.

At the same time, I remember hearing earlier on that it was rife with bugs, and that the complexity of the profession really didn’t amount to much – that it was a lot of work for little reward (i.e. that a face-roller of a warrior would be more powerful than someone who really learns the engineer). I’m sure this is an exaggeration, but my question is – how much of an exaggeration?

Is engineer really as complicated as I’ve heard? For those of you who started with this profession as newbies, did you die a lot early on? Any particular advice you’d have for a new engineer starting out, something you wish you knew earlier?

Thanks!

p.s. I’m on Sanctum of Rall – if any of y’all know of casual/friendly guilds recruiting there, let me know!

I don’t know if I would say Engi is all that complicated, but it is quite high in the actions per minute compared to other classes. So yes there is no press #2 and collect loot going on with Engi. As far as being rewarded for playing an Engineer, I suppose that depends on what you want to do and what you find rewarding, personally for me it is my favorite class but there is a reason why so many people like to have warriors along in dungeons. It definitely takes more effort on your part (in the amount of keypresses needed and situational awareness) to be able to function at a level where you are not hindering your team. A well played Engi is certainly a welcome addition to any dungeon run, a poorly played Engi is a hinderance. There seems to be (this is just my opinion), much less wiggle room for mistakes when playing your engi as compared to some other classes.

P.S One of the things I wish I would have known early on was do not bother with condition dmg builds in pve (this rings true for every class really though) and many of the weapon kits for engineer that seems like they should be condition dmg benefit just as much if not more from power/precision. The reason for this is simple especially on large events bleed stacks hit their cap at 25 on a target which gets reached easily, other condition effects get overwritten so your damage can really suffer in large groups or even in running dungeons.

On the topic of death, someone who had been extensively playing other professions (particularly warrior and guardian, but also to some extent thieves, mesmers and rangers) will generally die a lot more often starting an engineer. This is because an engineer isn’t quite as resilient as these professions, and if control skills and dodges aren’t used effectively your character will die. You quickly learn, though (especially if you’ve not been conditioned that you can take several hits with no issues), which skills should be best used when, when you ought to dodge and in which direction, how to immobilize, blind and knockback where applicable, and ultimately this means that an engineer is generally slower at killing any particular mob, but can do so more effectively than players who just take hits. This becomes particularly useful towards the later stages of the game like Straits of Devastation, Malchor’s Leap, and Cursed Shore, where multiple mobs per pull is pretty much a guarantee – by controlling one or even several of the mobs we can handle the pull more safely than a warrior who charges in and instantly gets beaten to a pulp by five undead.

My best advice is to go to the PvP lobby first of all, and take a good look at all of your skills, particularly the weapon kits. In the lobby you have full access to all skills without having to unlock anything. Try kits out on the practice dummies, see how the flamethrower works, how the grenade kit feels, if the elixir gun is to your liking. Plan which skill points you’re going to invest for your leveling. Get at least one weapon kit you enjoy along with your rifle / dual pistols / pistol+shield.

Last tip, get used to the quick combo Deploy Healing Turret → Overcharge Healing Turret → Detonate Healing Turret. One of the most powerful heals in the game, IMO, simple combo to learn, clears conditions, and as you get more proficient you can fit one or even two more blast finishers in between the overcharge and the detonation, for even more healing.

One of the things about an Engineer is that many of the Kits appear to be utterly useless at lower levels (and are somewhat). Kits which you think you’ll never use, later turn out to be indispensable to your late-game/post level 80 build.

It’s not till you get to higher levels that your Engineer’s true abilities will become apparent.