Guild Wars 2

So, turrets are unpopular, I get it. They don’t scale with stats, they’re flimsy, they’re a gimmick for point defense, etc etc.

But I love them.

Here’s the build I run: http://en.gw2codex.com/build/20513

The fact that they don’t scale with stats means that you don’t lose any damage by building tanky. So, soldier’s amulet, defensive runes, etc. And those 10 pts in Alchemy, even though you don’t slot elixirs, means you become invincible at 25% health, and at 75% you get loaded up with nice boons.

I don’t take anything that boosts the survivability of the turrets because there’s nothing very good that does. The autoheal pulses every 10 seconds, 30% DR is minimal given their small HP pool, but most of all I WANT THEM TO DIE. The 20 pts in Explosives means every turret is a big ol’ knockback just waiting to happen.

I originally went 30 Firearms to help with personal damage in addition to the turrets, but I found when building for vit/toughness, the returns weren’t great enough. And the power from Soldier’s and the Explosives tree makes your rife shots pretty adequate. You’re no glass cannon thief, but you can whittle one down while it fails to kill you. (Overcharged rocket turret is great for nixing thief openers.)

Also, everyone knows about the water field blast finisher with healing turret (best is when you manage to blow all four turrets and spam the point with AOE heals)… but my favorite trick is using the net turret to keep people off points for a very long while. Net shot them, overcharge net turret them, blow the turret to knock them off, net them immediately with the toolbelt net (which is a very long duration immobilize.)

And the build can go so many different ways. If you want more damage when your turrets are down, 10 points in Tools will get you Static Discharge, which with Rifle Turret’s toolbelt skill can add a lot of burst when you want it. I’m pretty sure Rife Turret has the fastest recharging toolbelt skill in our repertoire, and it can be cast while you’re firing another shot or skill. Lots of chain lightning.

I also don’t think I can overstate how satisfying it is to set up all four turrets + three more from a supply drop on an important point. Lots of automatic damage, permanent regen and potential condition removal, 4 knockbacks on demand, and powerful CC in the form of overcharged rockets (knockdown) and nets (daze.)

I love turrets. :x

I also don’t think I can overstate how satisfying it is to set up all four turrets + three more from a supply drop on an important point. Lots of automatic damage, permanent regen and potential condition removal, 4 knockbacks on demand, and powerful CC in the form of overcharged rockets (knockdown) and nets (daze.)

Which is almost as good what you get on a Mesmer, WITHOUT using up any utility slots, leaving them free for stun breakers, mobility, buffs, etc.

I’m sorry, but comparatively speaking turrets suck. Look at Guardian spirit weapons – good attack speed, totally indestructible, auto-CC AND they’re mobile. Come on dude. “De Nial” is a river in Egypt.

“Also, everyone knows about the water field blast finisher with healing turret (best is when you manage to blow all four turrets and spam the point with AOE heals)”

enlighten me? I am aware that the healing turret’s toolbelt skill is a water field, but I feel like you’re referring to something else. Especially as that toolbelt water field doesn’t last very long, so there’s no way I could blow up the other 3 turrets and get continual AOE heals off one toolbelt water field.

edit: nm, I found the answer here https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Healing-Turret-creates-a-water-field

I like your build. the closest I’ve come is running with 3 turrets and it was different. This is one of the things I love best about the engineer class, so many different ways to play. The utility skills are all so interesting. Ever try the flame turret? I haven’t yet.

It crossed my mind that the exploding thing might make them more useful, but honestly, I wanted to use turrets for the sake of them being turrets – not mildly offensive land mines.

It seems like you’re trying too hard to make it work.

Personally, I just want the turrets to have higher health. I don’t always want to detonate, I want them to sit and shoot for a while too.
Maybe a static discharge too, so people are less inclined to attack them. Like retaliation for machines.

I tried the trait that allowed the turrets to knock people back.

Am I the only one who noticed that the knockback was an incredibly small radius? Or did something just go wrong?

I love turrets when I’m playing for fun. I also find some niche uses for them in PvE. But when I am playing for effectiveness they are not justifiable to my team. It is literally a kitten move to roll a turret build in tpvp.

I got into Engineer because I loved it when I played BETA but typically prefer melee classes. Still, I’ve been playing a bunker Guardian for my tournament team since release and wanted a change.

I tried lots of different specs, but ended up settling on a few variations of a turret based spec… I was nervous at first about the lack of stun-break but found the build to be much more proactive than re-active, and since I adapted playstyle to fit, I’ve been consistently moving into final round tPvP matches with it, though admittedly yet I have not run it with my usual tourny team.

Why is is a bad move to roll a turret build? As a roamer or DPS I get it, but combined with rifle, the CC of the build is amazing… and unlike other bunker builds, since the turrets are not affected by your power stats, they are just as viable in a tanky build.

I would venture to tell the OP not to question his build if it’s working… especially if people are trying to compare spirit weapons on a CD to turrets. So far I’ve had lots of success, as long as you play pro-actively, actively snaring/knockback/regen rather than trying to react to stuns and burst.

Glad to see you are enjoying the turrets- alot of negativity here regarding them.
Based on what I read, and trying to understand the purpose of the build, I was wondering if you had tried thumper in place of rifle. Seems like the knockback would fit better with your theme.

The negativity is basically just because guardian spirit weapons are better in almost every way – do more damage, can move, invulerable, etc.