Guild Wars 2

Hi, I’m sure this question has been asked in other topics, but it’s really confusionary to try to find the right build.

I’d like to have some ideas on a build for PvE (events and perhaps dungeons too) using pistol/shield (or pistol/pistol, no rifle) with grenade kit and in case elixir gun (I find that very useful for skills 3 and 5 mostly).

I usually play alone so I need a bit of tankiness well, just meaning I could withstand some mobs or veteran without dieing.

What other utilities (grenade kit is a must)? Elite I use supply crate (but I rarely use that), because I can’t see any usefulness in other Engineer elites.

Healing I use Med kit (healing with F1 seems to me the best Eng. healing skill) but I could use turret too.

I am not sure about what traits put, I think condition damage with pistol, but grenades seems better with critical and power, and reading it seems to me that power is very useful for pistols too.

Thanks in advance for any good advice / build.

Grenades are used by 9/10 engies for a reason.
And gain a good 80% damage increase with 25 and 30 points in explosive. In fact, increase everyones damage on target by 24% pretty much.
If you want to use grenades, its really hard to justify not going 30 explosives. Steel-packed and grenadier are simply. way too good.
They out damage everything else by a very significant amount.

Where to put the rest?
I honestly feel the Alch line is also, much much better then the rest.
formula 409 is god mode. conditions become a thing of the past when you have it.
H.G.H is also quite good. It can be good, or really really good. 30% boon duration just by going 30 in alch. 10-20% boon duration on food. 20% boon duration on rune, or 20% might duration. (probably can 2piece for even more.)
Then elixir up. Elixir H by itself isnt very good. As you say, medkit or turret. but with 409 cleansing, its now 2 cleanes. and with hgh. its 2 mights.
The throw is prot, regen, or vigor. 2 out of 3 are useful under fire.
Elixir B is pretty fantastic. 2 stacks of might on use. fury, swift, and ret. 13,15,or 17s durations depending on +boon amount. The use elixir B at 75% gains from hgh, and 409 as well. it will give you 2 stacks of might, and cleanse you. the throw B is completely unreliable as it only gives 1 of those buffs. But with 409 and hgh, its now reliable might and cleanse.
Elixir R. Break stun. (fear, kb, kd, stun) refills end, for 2 more dodge rolls. And throw is res. you can res yourself. Also pulses cond removal.
Elixir U. Utility. While B is supreme buffs. Giving you raw power. U gives you some nice options. The self use gives quickness. Note also gains 409 and hgh. but lets you burst a TON of damage. spamming g1. Toss Elixir U is very underrated. The randomness scared many away. It will drop 1 of 3 walls. A mesmer Viel. A thief smokescreen, or a guardian wall of reflection. 2 of the 3 have similar functions. Smokescreen blocks projectiles, while wall of reflect reflects them. so that is what its used for, pretty reliably. Veil, stealths those that enter it. A totally different need, unfortunately, and one you can’t control. smoke is a smoke field, for blinding/stealth on combos as well, while veil and reflect are light field.
Alch’s base is +30% boon duration, and +3000 life.

Most gadgets are terrible. Ram gives a KB if you really need it. though, you could just kit FT, for a KB and other skills.

I dont think there will be an viable build for this set…
Grenade need 30 Explosive, Pistol need 30 Firearm. You wont be using both as 10 more point needed for speedy kit in Tools with other traits remain untouched. This will get you into a vulnerable position.

I dont see why you need both Grenade and Pistol anyway, they are both doing the same job. You get to choose which one you want to enhance.

This is the build I am using right now.
http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mcMzM9Mz0mlGvomlGvo0x0GGombzsom8kiT7kin7070z7khT707kuW70V7owX70m

I use a bit of both and switch between the two.

I use 20/30/10/0/10. I chose invis when immobilized because Orr is horrendous to gather anything in. Running along and bam something stops you and pulls you back.

Also, I keep the faster gadgets handy and the run speed increase from equipping a kit.

I use the bomb kit and sometimes the charr hidden pistol depending on solo or not the goggles and the Elixir U I have the rune of rage on my main weapon and rune of the pirate on my shield.

So basically I get a random quickness buff when fighting, i crit on one of the mobs usually setting it off, when that one is done I use the hidden pistol unload toolbelt ability with my manual Elixir U or if soloing i switch to my bomb kit blind and then use it.

I chose specific things like 2% fire on crit, 20% longer burn times, piercing bullets and 10% more damage on explosives. I’m a bit in between. Seems to work tho.

I also use the supply crate elite alot. Keeps me free to do other things instead of trying to manually control a mortar with limited range or having my war party die almost instantly after a summons.

Casia.4281:

Grenades are used by 9/10 engies for a reason.
And gain a good 80% damage increase with 25 and 30 points in explosive. In fact, increase everyones damage on target by 24% pretty much.
If you want to use grenades, its really hard to justify not going 30 explosives. Steel-packed and grenadier are simply. way too good.
They out damage everything else by a very significant amount.

Where to put the rest?
I honestly feel the Alch line is also, much much better then the rest.
formula 409 is god mode. conditions become a thing of the past when you have it.
H.G.H is also quite good. It can be good, or really really good. 30% boon duration just by going 30 in alch. 10-20% boon duration on food. 20% boon duration on rune, or 20% might duration. (probably can 2piece for even more.)
Then elixir up. Elixir H by itself isnt very good. As you say, medkit or turret. but with 409 cleansing, its now 2 cleanes. and with hgh. its 2 mights.
The throw is prot, regen, or vigor. 2 out of 3 are useful under fire.
Elixir B is pretty fantastic. 2 stacks of might on use. fury, swift, and ret. 13,15,or 17s durations depending on +boon amount. The use elixir B at 75% gains from hgh, and 409 as well. it will give you 2 stacks of might, and cleanse you. the throw B is completely unreliable as it only gives 1 of those buffs. But with 409 and hgh, its now reliable might and cleanse.
Elixir R. Break stun. (fear, kb, kd, stun) refills end, for 2 more dodge rolls. And throw is res. you can res yourself. Also pulses cond removal.
Elixir U. Utility. While B is supreme buffs. Giving you raw power. U gives you some nice options. The self use gives quickness. Note also gains 409 and hgh. but lets you burst a TON of damage. spamming g1. Toss Elixir U is very underrated. The randomness scared many away. It will drop 1 of 3 walls. A mesmer Viel. A thief smokescreen, or a guardian wall of reflection. 2 of the 3 have similar functions. Smokescreen blocks projectiles, while wall of reflect reflects them. so that is what its used for, pretty reliably. Veil, stealths those that enter it. A totally different need, unfortunately, and one you can’t control. smoke is a smoke field, for blinding/stealth on combos as well, while veil and reflect are light field.
Alch’s base is +30% boon duration, and +3000 life.

Most gadgets are terrible. Ram gives a KB if you really need it. though, you could just kit FT, for a KB and other skills.

For the moment, the bugged elixir gun still the best option for healing and cure~For long term based 409 + elixir H were good conditional removal method. But for the moment, you dont need cure at all…Just spawn super elixir and stay in the condition field freely. Even without the bug, the fear removal ability still better than what 409 can offer. This is PVE we are talking about, you dont really need that much of condition removal. Plus elixir gun+ kit refinement also able to grant you condition cure every 10 seconds. Please note that the 1st super elixir you get from kit refinement can be activated regardless your situation: control, knocked down or in the air(recently fixed)

Woah, lot of great anwers and ideas. Thanks all for great tips, I’m trying to think about a custom build and I’ll try in the field

I’ve been rolling grenades+p/s for a while. It can be a fun build. I built mine mainly for wvw though. I still run it in pve but it’s probably not as “viable” as it can be.

Don’t listen to the people who think that it’s not possible though. A lot of people think pistol = condition damage but I feel that p/s lends itself well to power. Just think of 2 as high damage with a built in poison and 3 is an aoe blind.

Anyway, here is my wvw build first:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcQQJAqel0piY38SfF17ICoH1nexXiKkffewWtFEC;ToAA2CnoqxUjoGbNuak1MqYCB

Essentially, it’s 30/30/0/10/0 for Grenadier and Coated Bullets. The last 10 are up to you. I like the idea of more vigor for increased dodging and I love Hidden Flask. This build has problems dealing with conditions, just an fyi.

Now on to pve:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcQQJAqelspiYnuSeF17ICoH5lexXiK8YfewWtFEC;ToAA2CnoqxUjoGbNuak1MqYCB

Essentially, I switch out my utilities and heal to elixirs and I change Infused Precision to Hair Trigger and Invigorating Speed for Fast-Acting Elixirs. To use it, pop elixirs when you can, use pistol when you or the mob are moving or you need defense. Otherwise, spam grenades. Use F4 and hope you get one of the two light fields if you need condition removal. Just shoot through the field.

I use power/prec/vit gear personally, but I’m sure power/prec/critdmg would work too.

For the curious, I use my wvw build in spvp except I switch out Slick Shoes for Elixir C. Conditions are easily your biggest issue.