Guild Wars 2

So, after trying out every class, I have become undecided bewteen the Ranger, and the Engineer for my last character slot.

Yes, I know I can buy more, but for the time being, one of these two classes need to occupy this slot.

So tell me, what can the Engineer do well, and why should I make one?

The Engineer is a jack of all trades class due to its Weapon Kit system. Each of the Kits basically gives you an environmental weapon to replace your standard weapon set. (For reference, an Engineer only has x1 standard weapon set instead of the usually x2 sets.) Most players will end up using 1-2 Kit weapons to augment their combat options.

However the main selling point for me has to be the Tool Belt skills. Basically you get a bonus skill slot (F1 thru F4) power that is based off of which skill you’ve got slotted in your Healing and Utility slots. Though these bonus skills are meant to balance out any potential skill slots that you’re spending on Kit weapons, the Tool Belt bonus skills also have special results from using Racial skills. This makes your race choice for the Engineer rather important and it can bring some real flavor to your playing experience.

Similar to a Ranger, you’ll have a mix of attacks and abilities which encourage a continual jousting in and out of melee range. While you can go with a quasi-pet route using the various Turret powers, they really aren’t the strongest choice and they’re a poor cousin to any kind of Ranger pet spec.

All things considered, Engineer doesn’t feel like any other class that I’ve played.

Eng makes me want to play everyday. Ranger not so much. But I can tell you this, How I play my Eng at 80 is very different the how I play from 1-70. I love how much CC I can do to a single target. I love how my survivalbilty in PVE and WWW. You just need to bring the right tool from the job and you have to understand how and when to use that tool.

Of course you can go bigger hammer method nothing wrong with that except the eng does not have the biggest hammer :/

Wiser with Age.3714:

The Engineer is a jack of all trades

I agree with the majority of what you are saying. I do not believe the engineer is any more a jack of all trades then several other classes though.

If Batman played this game, he would be an engineer.

You get to drink a potion and turn into Mr. Hyde withg a flamethrower.

flamethrower

i kill it with fire. all day everyday

The last three posts have instantly made me create an Engineer.
Well done.

I have an 80 Ranger and an 80 Engineer and I regret my choice in making a Ranger. The Engineer can do everything the Ranger can do but is is more fun.

The engineer in Guild Wars 2 is a bit like a Frankenstein monster made from bits of Team Fortress 2 classes.
- Burn down and airblast like a pyro (flamethrower)
- Build turrets and whack like an engineer (turrets, tool kit)
- Rocket jump like a soldier (rifle, elixir gun, rocket boots)
- Blow stuff up like a demoman (grenades, bombs)

The list goes on with somewhat less correlated skills (overcharged shot = force-a-nature, tranquilizer dart = syringe gun, thrown elixirs = jarate…)

Also, like in TF2, the grenades are harder to use but most devastating in the right hands.

flamethrower

i kill it with fire. all day everyday

Its too bad the flamethrower at higher levels becomes more like the mild discomfort-thrower.

Oh, as to why to play the engineer- well.. if the grenades, bombs, turrets, flamethrowers, darts, ‘boomstick’, and quaffing crazy alchemical concoctions doesn’t seem like enough, then you can always finish off an enemy with a battering ram from your crotch.

flowcyto.5671:

Its too bad the flamethrower at higher levels becomes more like the mild discomfort-thrower.

This cracked me up, though not entirely true.

Trenchcoats…no that won’t work.
Throwing glass bottles full of strange liquid at people.
Engineer toys to place down/throw at people while in town.
Cheating at jumping puzzles.
Guns.

enjoy

What about using a shield as an off-hand weapon? I don’t really see many engineers using them. Are they a viable option?

Mad scientist pyromaniac with unlimited access to explosives.

Varqov.6984:

What about using a shield as an off-hand weapon? I don’t really see many engineers using them. Are they a viable option?

I love the shield. We can reflect ranged attacks and do an AoE knock back in one ability. In the other, we can block multiple attacks and stun once if melee attacked or stun in an AoE with the shield throw. It is great with a condition build in my opinion.