SPVP Build Tankcat Variation(Kinda?)
I’ll bite how are you playing and what type of equipment are you using? I play tankcat and my only problem with it is lack of damage. I see your using rifle, how have you implemented it?
Ferguson’s Crossing
Zaragoz[SS] – 80 engineer
Zaragoz[SS] – 80 engineer
I played Tankcat as well, and also agree that the damage was lacking. Tankcat is excellent, but its much more passive and responsive play then the build provided above.
The play style is extremely aggressive. I am using:
-3 runes of warrior
-3 runes of hoelbrak
-Sigil of force
-Soldiers Amulet
During combat I’d say my time fighting is spent 60% using the Rifle and 40% with the Tool kit. The toolkit is used primarily for the crow bar and shield. I will state that the magnet is BY FAR my FAVORITE skill to use, it can interrupt, pull, and bring an opponent right next to you to crowbar smash/blunderbluss.
Box of Nails is nice, but good luck timing the casting and positioning it to hit your opponent. A smart opponent will note that you are using an animation and will most likely dodge.
Rifle rotation is simple, and depending on the opponent you have a nice bag of tricks to be mobile while dealing massive damage. I find that Jump shot is relatively hard to land, but if you overcharge shot its always a perfect sync. Net is amazeballs and if used in combo with blunderbuss then a quick switch to crowbar and throw wrench, your dealing massive damage in conjunction with Static Discharge.
Mind you HGH and 409 compliment each other, throw your elixir B tool belt skill OFTEN as well as elixir H as this will provide stacks of might while removing conditions.
Ideal rifle scenario:
1) Blunderbuss ,overcharge, jump shot, throw wrench, crowbar, magnet (interrupt, depending if you feel like you are just kitten face so they can’t start their rotation), space yourself net shot then redo the entire thing again.
I personally find that im having to play very defensively versus mesmers, EXCELLENT necros, and PHENOMENAL rangers, and believe it or not this build has great survivability. Constantly throwing down my elixir toolbelt skills is an optimal way to stay in the game while ruining theirs.
I will say that speed is an issue, so if you like to roam you may switch to swifty kits (I use this exact build in WVSW and just implement swifty kits instead of static discharge)
Hi!
First post on the forum, and I wanted to share this, as I’ve had quite a bit of luck in SPVP.http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mzMM9VMvCo0MvCo9MG0xGosoaqmR
I can see on these forums that engineers are under quite a bit of fire, and although there are relatively few people that have luck with the engineer, I was at one point one of those frustrated individuals that thought “ @#!$ you ANET, engineers are nothing but a bag of broken foam hammers and kittens”, but the build provided above has made me quite a nuisance on the field….
1V1’s are almost a cake walk, EXCEPT against a VERY skilled mesmer, as they are STILL the absolutely most ridiculous excuse of a profession. Sorry, but stacking confusion and watching your opponent die is not skill. (Rant).
Please comment and feel free to ask questions, I am kind of lazy to explain the play style, but I am willing to elaborate if anyone has a question.
I hope not to come off as pretentious, and I HIGHLY doubt this is the first build of its kind, but I just wish to share it so that people can see that the engineer can be a destructive force in SPVP.
Best!
No, you’re on the right track, and are learning what a lot of other Engineers just don’t want to to know… if you put the time in, you can be just as deadly as any other profession. I’m not saying it’s fair we have to try harder, but we are by no means league below other profs as far as PvP goes, we are right on par towards the top of the bell curve.
Jumzi (Ranger), Tarnished Coast
I posted a build that’s fairly similar to yours in a thread the other day – it’s very much a tank, able to hold 3v1 for quite a while, but it’s not helpless when the time comes to fight back. Here it is, if you’d like to swap notes, so to speak (copy/paste the link):
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcIQJAqelspicnvSdF17IxIFdW0hUgfDL6xjp8kB;TsAA1CtoQygkAJLSOkkINW4IyUEA
The big difference in our builds is that I stuck to the Pistol/Shield, and I made that choice for two reasons. The first is that I find the Shield skills to be a major part of the Tankcat build’s defense and control, and I frequently use them to fill in the gaps when my other defensive skills are on cooldown (the extra armor is a bonus). The second is that Pistol/Shield lets me bring along 2 Sigils. I wanted some sort of passive damage boost (I chose Corruption, though this may change), but with the Engi’s flexible weapon swap mechanics, the Sigil of Superior Battle is too much to pass up on in a Might-stacking build, so having 2 slots solves the problem. The build can easily climb to and maintain 15+ stacks of might in battles, and I usually top out somewhere in the 17-20 range by the time I kill my opponent or get overwhelmed. All that Might makes my direct damage hit hard (4k Prybar crits), but it also pumps my condition damage from Bleeding and Confusion up to respectable levels.
Other notable differences between our builds:
-I opted for Elixir S over R. Both are good choices for the build, but I find S invaluable for its invulnerability, which allows me to stomp and rez very easily (the former is especially important when fighting multiple foes), and which also just helps me tank.
-I specced into Inventions to synergize with P/S, though Firearms makes sense for a rifle variation. I’ll have stronger overall defense, while you’ll have a better base crit (I can still get decent crit with Elixir B and Hidden Flask, but I’ll never rise above 24%).
-I took reduced Elixir cooldowns for more Might stacking and defense, and considering how many CC’s I manage to block outright with things like Elixir S, I found it more useful than Protection Injection.
-The final trait difference is that I run with Speedy Kits, which basically serves the same role as Kit Refinement for you – better kiting, though SK also gives me high general mobility, and I’d actually recommend swapping to it for your build to take advantage of the extra utility it offers.
-Last thing: Ogre Runes are usually my preference for damage. Might-duration boosters are tempting, but honestly aren’t necessary with 20+ seconds base durations, you get a flat +4% damage boost with Ogre, and the Rock Dog can add a lot of damage over time while tracking down stealthed characters for you.
Anyways, hope this was helpful! I personally think it’s one of the more entertaining Engi builds to play, so I wish you the best of luck with whatever you come up with.
1V1’s are almost a cake walk, EXCEPT against a VERY skilled mesmer, as they are STILL the absolutely most ridiculous excuse of a profession. Sorry, but stacking confusion and watching your opponent die is not skill. (Rant).
Simply watch your conditions and pop an elixer when the stack goes up. I have never had issues with confusion as I simply stop attacking and cleanse it. Even all those silly princess dolls people complain about. If you pay any attention to your conditions, you should KNOW when you have stack of confusion on you and work to rid yourself of them. That’s the beauty of stacks, the whole stack goes when you purge the condition.
I posted a build that’s fairly similar to yours in a thread the other day – it’s very much a tank, able to hold 3v1 for quite a while, but it’s not helpless when the time comes to fight back. Here it is, if you’d like to swap notes, so to speak (copy/paste the link):
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcIQJAqelspicnvSdF17IxIFdW0hUgfDL6xjp8kB;TsAA1CtoQygkAJLSOkkINW4IyUEA
The big difference in our builds is that I stuck to the Pistol/Shield, and I made that choice for two reasons. The first is that I find the Shield skills to be a major part of the Tankcat build’s defense and control, and I frequently use them to fill in the gaps when my other defensive skills are on cooldown (the extra armor is a bonus). The second is that Pistol/Shield lets me bring along 2 Sigils. I wanted some sort of passive damage boost (I chose Corruption, though this may change), but with the Engi’s flexible weapon swap mechanics, the Sigil of Superior Battle is too much to pass up on in a Might-stacking build, so having 2 slots solves the problem. The build can easily climb to and maintain 15+ stacks of might in battles, and I usually top out somewhere in the 17-20 range by the time I kill my opponent or get overwhelmed. All that Might makes my direct damage hit hard (4k Prybar crits), but it also pumps my condition damage from Bleeding and Confusion up to respectable levels.
Other notable differences between our builds:
-I opted for Elixir S over R. Both are good choices for the build, but I find S invaluable for its invulnerability, which allows me to stomp and rez very easily (the former is especially important when fighting multiple foes), and which also just helps me tank.
-I specced into Inventions to synergize with P/S, though Firearms makes sense for a rifle variation. I’ll have stronger overall defense, while you’ll have a better base crit (I can still get decent crit with Elixir B and Hidden Flask, but I’ll never rise above 24%).
-I took reduced Elixir cooldowns for more Might stacking and defense, and considering how many CC’s I manage to block outright with things like Elixir S, I found it more useful than Protection Injection.
-The final trait difference is that I run with Speedy Kits, which basically serves the same role as Kit Refinement for you – better kiting, though SK also gives me high general mobility, and I’d actually recommend swapping to it for your build to take advantage of the extra utility it offers.
-Last thing: Ogre Runes are usually my preference for damage. Might-duration boosters are tempting, but honestly aren’t necessary with 20+ seconds base durations, you get a flat +4% damage boost with Ogre, and the Rock Dog can add a lot of damage over time while tracking down stealthed characters for you.
Anyways, hope this was helpful! I personally think it’s one of the more entertaining Engi builds to play, so I wish you the best of luck with whatever you come up with.
Cheers! I will take your rune reccomendations into account as I had not necessarily thought to use Ogre’s, and also look into your idea with swifty kits. I personally chose discharge for raw DPS output, but in WVSW I find speedy kits INVALUABLE.
1V1’s are almost a cake walk, EXCEPT against a VERY skilled mesmer, as they are STILL the absolutely most ridiculous excuse of a profession. Sorry, but stacking confusion and watching your opponent die is not skill. (Rant).
Simply watch your conditions and pop an elixer when the stack goes up. I have never had issues with confusion as I simply stop attacking and cleanse it. Even all those silly princess dolls people complain about. If you pay any attention to your conditions, you should KNOW when you have stack of confusion on you and work to rid yourself of them. That’s the beauty of stacks, the whole stack goes when you purge the condition.
Slowly the more i start playing this build the easier it becomes at dealing with Mesmers. I’ve been playing this build for roughly a week now, and I am being much more conscience of confusion stacks. But yes keeping an eye out for conditions and dispelling them is definitely the key to dealing with confusion.
Nice build! What trinklets do you use for pve/fractals?