Guild Wars 2

The “Sickman” syndrome:
Definition: “where an engineer is reliant on medication”

*note: Even though I made this build a long time ago, I thought I might as well put up my revised version if anyone is still interested

Hiya everyone, there’s been a lot of recent post of four kit users which was grateful to see since I have been using kitmaster build for a quite a long time. I feel it really is a viable type of build that engineer can show their “versatility” and be helpful in both support and damage.
I usually play a glass cannon kitmaster build but couldn’t help to try tweak a build that has some sort of stunbreak. As a result, I made a build that not only has a stunbreak but good survivability, decent dps and extra boons as well. I mainly play PvE but this build may also work for PvP with a few tweaks. I would really like to get some critique on this build.

Armor and Weapon:
I use berserkers p/s with medkit/elixir gun/flamethrower/grenades and supply crate.
I just love playing a ranged engineer, I prefer kiting with some distance or bombarding with grenades at 1500 range; it’s just too good for me to see the point to go melee o.O! Although I could use tool kit for more control and the shield would be nice, I just love my flamethrower and grenades and elixir gun is a must.
I wear full knight armor for toughness; this really helps with my survivability. I tend to find that our base health pool is quite high so there is not much need for vitality.

Traits:
30/0/0/20/20

Here’s the link to have a better understanding of my build.
http://www.gw2build.com/builds/the-sickman-syndrome-four-kits-9906.html
note: the stats shown in the link is incorrect, you will find the actual stats in the post below

30 in explosives (300 power and plus 30% condition duration)
shrapnel/enhance performance/grenadier
20 in alchemy (200 vitality and plus 20 boon duration)
self-regulating defense/deadly mixture
20 in tools (+20% critical damage and plus 20% toolbelt skill recharge)
speedy kits/leg mod

Runes, sigils and trinket:
For runes and upgrades, I actually decided to use 2x Altruism and 4 rare emerald orbs that give me precision, power and toughness. I just needed more precision and it had the right combination of stats for this build, it’s cheap and I get three main stats instead of two and an effect.
I use superior sigil of battle (Gain 3 stack of might in combat when swapping weapon) and force (5 percent increase in damage) and exotic berserkers accessories for more damage output.

Summary:

Survivability:
The self-regulating defense trait is a great way for kitmasters (probably the only way) to have some sort of stunbreak, although you have to be reduced to 25% health for it to activate, it really does help in difficult situations. This trait also coincides with inertial converter trait which recharges all tool belt skills, allowing you to heal straight away with “bandage self” and “healing mist”, if that’s not enough 3 bandages from medkit and 2 constant pulse heals from double super elixirs. That’s a total of an average 9000 hp you could instantly heal yourself within seconds.
The kit refinement allows you to have double instant condition removal with EG and FT kitswap, plus with 20 alchemy trait also gives traits transmute and hidden flask which allows you gain extra boons that help both in overall defense and offense and surprisingly procs more often than I thought.
*note: you can also use the medkit#4: drop antidote to to also remove condition, more details are written in later posts to go around the kit refinement latest changes- this is another way to also get double instant condition removals. Please use Ctrl F to search “04/03/2013- Post KR Change Tip” for more details.

Damage:
I really liked my high damage output I used to have in my glass cannon build so I spec this build focusing on crit-damage which is why so much precision is needed. This build is all about compensating damage by traiting towards might-stacking and this is where the “sickman” syndrome comes into place. I use the obvious shrapnel and grandmaster grenadier traits for grenades.
In place of Juggernaut, I use the trait deadly mixture which gives me 15% more damage with elixir gun and flamethrower.
The trait enhance performance give 3 stacks of might from pressing the healing skill; swapping to med kit automatically procs this and with sigil of battle, you gain 6 stacks of might instantly in combat.
The sigil of strength will help to maintain the stack of might as you would have 45% crit chance, with “drop stimulant” (no.5 skill of med kit) you also gain 12 seconds of fury raising your crit chance to 65%.
Overall when timed correctly, you can have a constant stack of at least 6 might with given high percentage of critical damage.
note*: 09/03/2013 Update- 9 constant stack of might with 2x Altruism.

Thus the “sickman” syndrome is a variation of the kitmaster build where the engineer must take it’s timely medication to gain the potential damage it had lost in order to gain survivability. Also swapping to medkit is very efficient for perma-swift as the med kit refinement skill has a very small aoe and no cooldown allowing you to save the effort of swapping to EG/FT/TK/nades/bomb which all have effective skills to use for another situation.

Final Stats (unbuffed with exotic gear):
Power:2140
Attack:3108
Precison:1776
Crit Chance:45%
Toughness:1329
Armor:2393
Vitality:1134
Health:17,262
Cond. Damage:148
Boon Duration:20%
Crit Damage: 55%
Tool Recharge rate:20%

Pros:
• Extensive range of skills that provide condition support, team support, damage, healing and CC.
• Conditions( confusion, immobilise, cripple, blind, chill, burn, poison, vulnerability and bleed)
• Perma swiftness
• Good Survivability (with minor stunbreak at 25% health)
• High percentage of Critical damage.
• Instant stack of 6 might. (or 9 with 2x Runes of Altruism)

Cons:
• This is a four kit build, so there is a steep learning curve.
• The self regulating defense is not good when you are holding an object as when you shrink you also drop the item you are holding. It was really bad when I was doing the giant fractal ><! -for this I switch this trait for Invigorating speed for perma-vigor ^^=.

Overall, I found it a really good kitmaster build that covered almost all the point when looking for an all-round “highly versatile build.” I haven’t covered all the other benefits of this build such as support and would add more info soon, but for now, it would be really nice to get some feedback and see what you think. =)

Combos:
With four kits, there are many ways to attack or deal with any type of situation. These are some of tips of combo I learned with this build that are effective and will help strategize how you can maximise your attacks and support.

Since this is an all range build, creating distance is important; Skills that provide CC and distance are:
Glue shot (immobilise and cripple)
Air blast (knockback)
Acid Rain (makes you leap backward and at a perfect distance to shoot FT#2: Napalm blast for maximum damage.)
Elixir F (cripple)
Chill Grenade (Chill)

Flamethrower combo:
This Combo is to help set you up at a perfect distance to do napalm blast as when the second blast deal the most damage (average: 3.5 k damage crit)
FT#3:Air Blast and then FT#2:Napalm blast, move in with FT#1:Flame jet, EG#4:Acid rain to push back and then FT#2:napalm blast and then move in with FT#1:Flame jet and repeat.
*note: With the 26th feb patch, this is now not as necessary to Napalm blast as we now are able to denotonate it. However this combo is still viable and works to provide the best distance for a Napalm Blast.

Healing Team Combo:
EG Kitswap: Super elixir, place another EG#5: Super elixir on top and EG Tool belt: Healing Mist This is great to heal the whole team with a pulse heal and regen of around 300-400 per second. You can also put down supply crate and spread bandages with medkit for additional heal.
You can apply swiftness for the team with Elixir F (has to hit monster) and also remove conditions with fumigate.

Most effective combo to control mobs:
Static shot-Glueshot-Flash Grenade –Freeze Grenade. (Confusion-Immobilise-blindness and chill)
And then spam grenades ftw =D
You can also use Elixir F to add more cripple to mobs and continuously add conditions from then on.
Supply crate can be used in the beginning for more support but I usually save it for emergencies and “just in case” moments.

If you are in melee range:
FT#5: Smokevent ,FT Kitswap: AOE Fireblast, Nades Kitswap: Grenade barrage, Nade Toolbelt: Grenade Barrage and then EG#4: Acid rain and EG#3: Elixir F, from there you can use FT Napalm blast and close in or pummel the poor thing with nades.

Team conditon remover:
EG#5 kitswap and continously spam EG#1: Tranquilizer Dart or Pistol#1: Explosives Shot or FT#1: Flame Jet to remove team condions.
Fumigate is also one of the best skills to remove team conditions as long as they are aligned with enemy. So handy for TA exp.

Will update more with more combos as soon as I remember them XD

Food and Bonuses: 09/03/2013 Update- Food and Bonuses are mentioned below
Use Ctrl F to find “09/03/2013 F&B Update” to see food and bonuses.

Other notes: Other details are mentions in later posts, please use Ctrl F to find “09/03/2013 Other notes”

Gratitude & Thanks to :
Halcyon.7352, Macha.9160, Lady Vireo.5189. da KunG.8701, senseidan.2036, Llanowar.1603, @burgeranacoke.2093 and Schixeno.8596
Would like to give thanks to all these people for trying out my build and providing feedback. Making this guide for this build wasn’t easy and the critiques/comments was more than I had ever expected ^^= I’m really glad I did this =p

Hi there,

looks interesting, I’ve became quite attached to the FT/EG as well.
Would you mind to tell me how your underwater combat looks like?

My underwater combat at the moment is all about turrets control and grenades spamming. I tend to find that most traits and skills are buggy when you go in underwater so I ended up switching EG and FT for net turret and rocket turret for immobilize, stun and interrupt. It’s pretty much op with the grenades as the skills are all auto attacks (no manual targetting) so you can spam all day looong =D

More or less the exact build I’ve been using since Elixir build has gone down the toilet.

I can’t really recommend this build more! Great for solo and group play.

Damage, imo, is still subpar to other professions, but I’m still getting used to proper timing and boon stacking, so the build name is quite accurate. (Curse you altitis). Also need to get into the habit of using FT a lot more.

Still quite viable with Rifles, I might add.

Just started using this build last night. I will say…holy learning curve. I’ve found myself really fumbling with the rotations and making sure I keep my buffs up. But….on the other side of this, I have never felt more powerful as an engineer.

The only thing I miss from my previous build is the ability to use Elixer R for self rez, but the added survivability from from this build makes up for that. I can’t wait to see what I can do when I get a full set of gear to compliment it. (right now I’m just wearing MF gear while puttering around in Orr).

Thanks for posting this!

Thanks so much @Halcyon.7352 and @Llanowar.1603. I was getting slightly worried about not getting critiques but it’s really nice to hear that you both like my build ^^=. This is better feedback than I expected. I would appreciate any more feedback and opinions to help further improve the build if needed.

Thanks for sharing your build! I’m enjoying using your multiple kit build I was using multiple kits before but your build definitely takes advantage of the engineers unique kitswapping ability.
I’m enjoying it alot since I seem to fill any role in a dungeon group, damage, survivability and support is all there! The skill cap is high but if utilized correctly can be very effective. One thing I like about this is I can adapt to how a party plays for example if it were a melee focused group I would use flamethrower to get in close with them and use all support cooldowns with elixir gun (toolbelt regen and super elixir heals x2), but in a ranged squishy group there is enough control and support(chill, pushback, cripple, swiftness, blind) to keep them and myself alive (even without having reflect projectiles)

I feel engineer has great potential and has many effective combos using multiple kits similar to elementalist attunements and similarly to elementalist attunements each kit has a similar function be it support buffs and heals(elixir gun and medkit), 1500 huge range damage, control and burst (grenades) tanky lifeleech close range damage(flamethrower used with omnomberryghost).

I really see the appeal of your build, and I especially love the detail in which you presented each part of it. Unfortunately I’m wondering if the -Grenade Kit- aspect of it is my speed in relation to PVE. I need a solid PVE build and I think kits are the key, but I really do suck using the Grenade Kit in close range.

Flamethrower is good close range ^^=

Shoyoko.7309:

Flamethrower is good close range ^^=

You think that your build would still work okay if I just swapped Grenade Kit for Flamethrower?

Well it would change the build itself, I traited it so that the damage is emphasised with those particular kits. You can always try a EG/FT build as both kits have great synergy together.
You just need to get used to playing with grenades, it will get easier plus 1500 range, 3 bombs with a given each given average crit damage of 700 damage- Thats 2100 damage! And then shrapnel grenades 1000 damage each, far superior dps than any kit we have. Mastering grenades is worth it, and then with close range you always have flamethrower and when you can’ be bothered =p.
But how long have you been playing engineer? cos this build has a very steep learning curve since you need to be familiar with all four kits in order to play it well. If you only used one kit before, try two first and then 4 once you feel confident in rotating kits.

Interesting build. FYI, I’ve heard numerous people report that on-crit and on-swap sigils share the same cooldown, and thus one can’t be triggered while the other is on cooldown.
There’s also a somewhat similar bug covered briefly by the wiki: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sigil_of_Battle

it’s true. any “proc” sigil will share cooldown with a swap sigil.

it’s been theorycrafted to death on the elementalist forums.

This is why the ele guides suggest a stacking sigil to go with their sigils of battle.

plasmacutter.2709:

it’s true. any “proc” sigil will share cooldown with a swap sigil.

it’s been theorycrafted to death on the elementalist forums.

This is why the ele guides suggest a stacking sigil to go with their sigils of battle.

Have to say I completely agree, tried this myself the Air on the second pistol never went off so I switched to a stacking condi damage for my dps pistols and the quickness one on my second pistol for my healer set.

@TimeBomb.3427 @plasmacutter.2709 @tigirius.9014
Good points.
This is actually something I have been testing for a while and was a bit wary of, I have read a lot of posts on this. However upon testing it and using it in the build, I haven’t had much trouble with the procs of both sigil to create a consistent might stack.

As in this build, you would proc sigil of battle straight away to gain 6 stacks of might and the cooldown seems to vary 10-15 seconds before you see sigil of strength some into play. And from the given high percentage of crit damage, it easy to maintain the might stack or even stack up to 5 might within that time frame.
The only other sigil I would consider using would be sigil of bloodlust however I find that not great in many situation, it’s great in PVE roaming and farming but in dungeons and fractals when there is a likely possibility that you can be down- not so much.
I have also tried sigil of quickness but find that even by itself- it doesn’t proc as much i wanted it to even with so much crit.

Have you considered 2xRune of Altruism ? More might on medkit swap.

blurps.2340:

Have you considered 2xRune of Altruism ? More might on medkit swap.

Another great point.
I actually have =D! I was recommended by another player and it also piqued my interests in the forums but it fell short due to unwanted stats (the healing power). In terms of runes and upgrades, I needed more precision and other key stats to help reinforce the main areas of the build (survivabilty and dps).
But the idea of providing might to nearby allies is still really awesome ^^=, o’ I be such a useful engineer “starts dreaming…” sigh.

Hello again,

I’ve spent one week with this build and it suits me very well.
Thanks for sharing it, it’s great!

I had problems to maintain the might stacks so I sided with the following rune set:
2 x Superior Rune of Fire (+25 Power / 20% Might Duration)
2 x Superior Rune of hoelbrak (same as above)
2 x Superior Rune of Altruism (25 Healing Power / 3 x Might for Allies)

It’s not so well rounded, as the emerald orb set but you can’t have anything

@da KunG.8701 @senseidan.2036
Thanks so much for your feedbacks guys, it so great to hear that you both enjoyed my build too.
^^=
let me know how it goes with your variation with the different runes. I keep this thread up to date if I find anymore tips and tricks with this build.

First of all, thanks for posting this build. I tried it out in PvE the other day and had a great time! I play engineer and ele mostly, so all the kit switching felt pretty natural to me, and I enjoyed the active play style a lot. Made a nice change from my usual pistols and elixirs condition/support build!

My question to OP is, have you tweaked this build since the recent change to kit refinement and if so, what do you suggest to make up for the new cooldowns on FT/EG condition removal?

Thanks again for sharing the build and any post-update tips you have.

@Lady Vireo.5189 ^o^! Thank you too for trying out my build and I really appreciate your comments ^^= It really made my day since kit refinement “to the ground” nerf.

At first I really hated the change, but I couldn’t let go of my build and found it more manageable (is it because I am an engineer?…ah the curse.=_=?). Did a lot of testing and when I played, I found really good alternatives to help with kit refinement skills.

04/03/2013- Post KR Change Tip
So for instant double condition removal, I found that you can always rely on Medkit#4 skill: Drop Antidote after EG/ FT Kitswap. Very easy to do and it has a 15 seconds cooldown so it not so bad. I’ve just played against the fire imp boss in fractals and found myself removing conditions just as fast as I was before.
Plus you can stack the Drop Antidote in a place you prefer, each vial last 50 seconds before it disappears, meaning you can stack up to 3 at one time.
And don’t forget we still have another super elixir that also removes conditions (EG#5: Super Elixir)

Other tricks I learnt, to go around the new kit refinement (buggy) change is:
Grenade to FT/EG (2 KR combo)
You can tell when the global cooldown is finished from what i call the “medkit timer”. Medkit KR is also bugged from this trait as it also receives the global cooldown. Therefore you can determine when you are able to use your KR (after internal cooldown of course) by spamming your medkit until the KR skill procs.

I hope this helps.

Shoyoko, thanks so much for your detailed response! I was really frustrated by the kit refinement change just days after I discovered and learned to love your build. It’s great to hear you haven’t given up on it! Yes indeed, that is the mark of a true engineer, determination, adaptation, improvisation! ^^ We always have a new trick to pull out of our toolbox!

The detailed advice is great and I’ll do as you say, relying on good ol’ medkit 4 to supplement KR condition removal. That’s also a really good point about how medkit can work as a timer for the global cooldown! It would be great if we got a fix for the bugs in the new KR, but oh well, in the meantime we’ll keep being creative!

Just one more question, this time about gear. What accessories are you using with the knight’s armor and rampager pistols? Am I right to assume Berzerker to get that 55% crit damage you listed in the stats?

Thanks again for all the great info!

@Lady Vireo.5189 yep all berserkers accessories. Need those crits and damage =p

After experimenting with your build, i think it is better to run 2x alturism 4xemerald orbs^^

But that could be for me ’caus i do fractals most of the time and the 3 might to nearby friends are just sweet

played such builds since beta mostly in WvW.
Every single build i liked used Kit-Refinement and E-Gun.

Now i barely play at all because of the last changes, tried different builds and all are complete horrible. The best build for solo roaming was with e-gun and flametrhower condition spec. Elixir S is a must for stomping/rezzing and the key to win if youre outnumbered.

I could face everything and it was awesome and unique compared to the 90% lamebad ele/thief/mesmers. This class and so the whole game died for me in the last patch. I try every day to login but after a couple of minutes i just get angry and ragequit.

I love the Altruism suggestion. I myself tried 4x Lyssa and 2x Altrusim for all the boon goodness with medkit and weapon swap, and additional precision.

With Elixir B, I’m getting 1-6 stacks of might, random protection, aegis, regen or retaliation outside of combat. And that’s without the in combat Strength and Battle might stacks.

Kontrolle.3514:

played such builds since beta mostly in WvW.
Every single build i liked used Kit-Refinement and E-Gun.

Now i barely play at all because of the last changes, tried different builds and all are complete horrible. The best build for solo roaming was with e-gun and flametrhower condition spec. Elixir S is a must for stomping/rezzing and the key to win if youre outnumbered.

I could face everything and it was awesome and unique compared to the 90% lamebad ele/thief/mesmers. This class and so the whole game died for me in the last patch. I try every day to login but after a couple of minutes i just get angry and ragequit.

Still trying to cope with Kit Refinement nerf too… It’s like, I go to the old faithful E-gun to remove that immobilize or fear and… nothing happens. Suddenly I realize I’ve triggered cooldown with nades or something, and I feel dazed and, well, screwed. =/

I suppose the suggestions on mitigating it’s effect help (ie, not switching to certain kits til you need it) But…. 10 seconds is rediculous, imo. Should be 3-5 at the most as it already has individual cooldowns.

09/03/2013 F&B Update: Lots of foods and bonuses to help adjust this build in a way it fits your situation. I’ve experimented with lots and these are probably the only ones I would highly recommend anyone to try with this build. So lets start customising your sickman build!
*note: Still testing all food mention below and seeing any other options are viable. Do post your findings in anyways that you think would help improve this build.

For more power:

• Superior Sharpening Stone (30m- recommended): Gain power equal to 6% of your toughness; Gain power equal to 4% of your vitality; Gain 10 Experience from kills

• Plate of Truffle Steak Dinner: +200 Power for 30s on kill; +10% Critical damage (tested: duration does not stack)
For situation where you are fighting mobs, you may find this very handy. Still testing and will update my findings

For more precision:

• Master Maintenance Oil (30m- recommended) – Gain precision equal to 6% of your toughness ; Gain precision equal to 4% of your vitality; Gain 10 Experience from kills.

• Bowl of Curry Butternut Squash Soup(recommended)- Gain 100 Precision; Gain 10% Critical damage

• Bowl of Curry Pumpkin Soup- Gain 100 Precision; Gain 70 Vitality

For more Might:

• Ghost Pepper Popper(recommended)- Day: 40% Chance to gain might on crit; Night: 40% Chance to cause chill on crit
During the day, this, with FT or nades, the might stack is amazing. Is like the trait juggernaut all over again. And then in the night, do extra chills, nice.

• Bowl of Orrian Truffle and Meat Stew- 100% Chance to gain might on dodge; plus 40% Endurance regeneration (tested: gain 1 might for 5 secs)
This one is not as great and I wouldn’t highly recommend it however I don’t really dodge too much to make this viable. On the other hand, this may be applicable to someone else. If you ever using perma-vigor from the “invigorating speed” trait or elixir R, this might be a nice bonus.

For more Tankiness:

• Bowl of Truffle Ravioli- Gain 100 Toughness; Gain 70 Precision
With this, you would have more than 2450 armor, which is just the minimum to be pretty tanky

Extra Condition Removal:

• Bowl of Saffron-scented Poultry Soup (update- highly unrecommended)- Gain 70 Healing power; Gain 100% Chance to remove a condition on heal (cooldown: 10 seconds)
Since the last changes, I had my eye on this food and been testing it every now and then. It does work and does what it says however with this it is difficult to proc it as you would be constantly relying back on the medkit for perma-swiftness, heal and might.
However for some people this may be the answer. Let me know your findings on this food if you ever use it.
note": Just did further testing, extermely unviable- only works when you are standing still (bugged? =/)

09/03/2013 Other notes: When i first made this build, I wanted to make sure the base stats and equipment was enough to make a all-round highly versatile build. Now with my new finding of food and bonuses use. I now believe this build can be tweaked and can be customised to anyone’s specification while still following the original build concept.

The following changes that is still viable with this build:
• Using berserker pistols ( I use rampagers for precision but you can gain precision with food and bonuses listed )
• 2x Altruism (for 9 stacks of might in combat and provide 3 stack might to nearby allies, I would like to thank everyone for mentioning this. I have tested it and it is really great and it awesome to know it works well with this build)

Other Findings:

The critical chance rate: I always get stuck with the crit chance rate and would always bother me when I am making changes to this build ><! . From my findings:
FT works well with crit rate with 40% and over but I find the sweet spot for nades is 45% and over. To everyone else who has tried this build, what are your findings?

And another question i like to ask everyone: What is more important, the final unbuffed stats or the final buffed stats?

Halcyon.7352:

Kontrolle.3514:

played such builds since beta mostly in WvW.
Every single build i liked used Kit-Refinement and E-Gun.

Now i barely play at all because of the last changes, tried different builds and all are complete horrible. The best build for solo roaming was with e-gun and flametrhower condition spec. Elixir S is a must for stomping/rezzing and the key to win if youre outnumbered.

I could face everything and it was awesome and unique compared to the 90% lamebad ele/thief/mesmers. This class and so the whole game died for me in the last patch. I try every day to login but after a couple of minutes i just get angry and ragequit.

Still trying to cope with Kit Refinement nerf too… It’s like, I go to the old faithful E-gun to remove that immobilize or fear and… nothing happens. Suddenly I realize I’ve triggered cooldown with nades or something, and I feel dazed and, well, screwed. =/

I suppose the suggestions on mitigating it’s effect help (ie, not switching to certain kits til you need it) But…. 10 seconds is rediculous, imo. Should be 3-5 at the most as it already has individual cooldowns.

I totally understand this frustation, I have a new finding that I think that might be helpful. I wonder if these tips might help:

Extra Condition Removal:
• Bowl of Saffron-scented Poultry Soup (update- highly unrecommended)- Gain 70 Healing power; Gain 100% Chance to remove a condition on heal (cooldown: 10 seconds)
Since the last changes, I had my eye on this food and been testing it every now and then. It does work and does what it says however with this it is difficult to proc it as you would be constantly relying back on the medkit for perma-swiftness, heal and might.
However for some people this may be the answer. Let me know your findings on this food if you ever use it.

And also the “04/03/2013- Post KR Change Tip”, use Ctrl F to find out for more details.
At the moment this is all I can find to help with the instant double condition removal.
=/

note": don’t use Just did further testing, extermely unviable- only works when you are standing still (bugged? =/)

Macha.9160:

After experimenting with your build, i think it is better to run 2x alturism 4xemerald orbs^^

But that could be for me ’caus i do fractals most of the time and the 3 might to nearby friends are just sweet

Thanks again Macha for your responce ^o^=, it seems it can’t be helped the 2x Altruism is really awesome with this build and the constant stack of “9 might in combat” is too good.
My only problem earlier was that I would sacrifice precision hence less crit rate ( I was really fixated on that 45% sweet spot) but now I find there are plenty of food and bonuses to level it out and make this build a lot more viable.

I just did a quick calculation based on my stats ( 3 pieces still missing^^)

I now have, without food, 38% crit-chance.

Together with Master Maintenance Oil and Bowl of Curry Butternut Squash Soup i should have 48%.

The question asked should be: Is it usefull to push your crit-chance above your “sweet”-spot? Do you sacrefice something else if you use it?

I,for myself, am trying to get at least 50% crit ( cause i think this is my sweet spot^^).

I hope i could help you with my thinking…

Ps: If i changed the Curry aganist a 100Power Food, i would gain 10 dmg, but would loose 5% crit… I don’t think these 10 dmg are worth it

Macha.9160:

I just did a quick calculation based on my stats ( 3 pieces still missing^^)

I now have, without food, 38% crit-chance.

Together with Master Maintenance Oil and Bowl of Curry Butternut Squash Soup i should have 48%.

The question asked should be: Is it usefull to push your crit-chance above your “sweet”-spot? Do you sacrefice something else if you use it?

I,for myself, am trying to get at least 50% crit ( cause i think this is my sweet spot^^).

I hope i could help you with my thinking…

Ps: If i changed the Curry aganist a 100Power Food, i would gain 10 dmg, but would loose 5% crit… I don’t think these 10 dmg are worth it

For me the minimum crit rate should be at very least 40% (FT sweetspot) , to do decent dps 45% (nades sweetspot) and to do good dps 50%.
I don’t know why, but it seems to work like that for this build. And I agree more power instead of crit didn’t seem to be worth it when i tried it either. We already got enough power from the might stacks, so I think the precision is really important to make sure we can do a constant crits. That’s where I see all the decent damage is coming from.
Apparently the scale of power to damage increase seems to slow down when you reach more than 2000 power, plus, through my experiments, I just find that any more power I try to squeeze from my base build would not affect much the crit damage, I end up getting the same average figures.
For your question I think 50% is already really good atm and with fury, you get up at max 70-75% crit chance
Still experimenting and going through more tests. I definitely keep this thread updated on this.

Halcyon mentioned that the build worked well with rifle too. I have been trying out this build with newby 80 armor, an unsuitable mish-mash, and I am really starting to like it and I want to stick with it. My questions are ,if I want to stick with rifle instead of P/P: Is this just crazy, and should I consider some condition damage?

@burgeranacoke.2093 Thanks for trying my build, glad to hear that you enjoy it ^o^=.
I don’t think it’s crazy if you want to stick with rifle, more control and really good for soloing.

For me there is one pullback from using rifle instead of p/p, in particular, is that you could only use one sigil (obviously sigil of battle right ^^!). This means, you would need to make sure you are on top of your “medication” (swapping to med kit in a timely fashion) for your 6-9 stacks of might whereas with sigil of battle, helps to keep up the consistency of might stacks. With this, I advise to try “Ghost Pepper Popper” food (press Ctrl F to search Ghost Pepper Popper for description) to help with the might stacking during the day.

Also, rifle skills tend to be more focused for disabling a single target so you would need to rely more on FT,EG and nades for CC and support, whereas p/p is really good for tackling mobs such as p/p#3: static shot- shoots a chain attack of confusion and p/p#5: Glue shot- shoots an aoe of immobile and cripple.

I would suggest either berserker (power and crit) or rampager rifle (more precision).
If you are considering condition damage, a rampager rifle or p/p (128 condition damage) is just enough, since the might stacks would also help boost your condition damage as well as power (with 2xAltruism, you can get an immediate 9 stack of might in combat which equals to 315 power + 315 condition damage.)

However if you use your rifle a lot, then I would suggest going berserkers since there is not much conditions you can do with rifle, and use food plus medkit#5: drop stimulant to increase precision and crit rate for that nice consistent high critical damage ^________^=

I’m loving this build but the lack of a stun breaker is really troubling. I can only stare at the screen helplessly when I’m stunned while my enemies rip me to shreds.
On the other hand, the control, adaptability, damage and abundance of condition removers provided by this build really sets itself apart.

@Schixeno.8596 Once, again I cannot appreciate more that you are also trying my build. Thanks for the feedback and critique XD.
Alas, I understand where you are coming from, that has always been the trade off for kit masters, in return for versatility we don’t have stunbreak.
That’s why I always strive to make this build as abundant as possible in all other areas so the trade off is worthwhile espiecially with the capabilities to heal at max 15,000hp and automatic elixir at 25% with also available immediate heal. Hopefully what you have experienced only happens rarely, once you start to get comfortable, this build can take on almost all pve situation (except cof suicide run- unless its been fixed?).

I’ve been stuck pondering whether or not using sigils of Battle and Might together is the best option. I’m curious as to what others mixing the two have noticed in terms of cooldowns?

I’m aware that PvE and sPvP are different and there are differences in behavior. I did some testing with the Target Golems in Heart of the Mists using Sigils of Battle MH and Strength offhand, achieving a 70% base crit rate with a mix of traits and gear. (Not including fury). I can say this much: The two sigils do not share a 45 second cooldown.

However, it does seem they share some kind of cooldown. It seems to me that the greater length cooldown is the one that is actually used – In this case, Sigil of Battle’s cooldown. During Battle’s cooldown, I cannot get Strength to proc until Battle’s cooldown wears off (Seemingly between 7-9 seconds?)

It’s pretty clearly noticeable, as with FT, you build ~ 7 stacks of might when Battle isn’t activated.

I got the exact same result from testing with Sigil of Fire on offhand – When Battle’s cooldown is up, Fire will not proc.

I’m curious as to what sorta behavior others have noticed in PvE comparatively? I’m currently using Superior Battle MH, and Major Strength OH (I didn’t wanna invest in the Superior just in case, but I intend to keep Battle regardless). Honestly from what I’ve noticed in my time using my Sickman derivative that the behavior in PvE seems very similar to my testing in sPvP.

@Halcyon.7352 This is what I have also gotten in my results as well when choosing sigils, the reason why I stuck in choosing strength with battle is to give more leniency in the might stacking. Like you said the sigils do not share a 45 cooldown and I have commented earlier in thread that it is actually around 10 seconds with battle MH (funnily enough). This is actually really good in my opinion, meaning that if you aren’t consistent in might stack or in a intense battle sticking to one kit, then the strength really helps with nades or FT.
One way to think about it is, battle has 20 secs cooldown before you can proc it again, yet you can proc strength after around 10 secs after battle meaning you can still stack might in between battle cooldown. So either way….=D
However if you are consistent in pressing 6 for might stacking, then I would recommend “superior sigil of accuracy” for 5% more crit chance or “superior sigil of force” for permanent flat out 5% damage increase.
If you have consistent 9 stacks of might, with superior sigil of force, that 5% damage increase would be equivalent to 4 might stack.

This build is really amazing, thank you for sharing this, I was running condition damage build, but it was really boring and only good for WvW.

I would like to mention that I use Invigorating speed instead of Self-Regulating Defenses, that is because we switch kits all the time, and this provides us with almost perma dodge, waiting 90 sec for the Self-Regulating Defenses cd and only 3 sec duration just does not seems worth it.

Please keep updating us with your changes, also it can be great if you can upload a video where you use this build.