Guild Wars 2

Honestly, I’m ashamed and depressed. As a level 60 engineer i find my self incapable of clearing areas 10-20 levels lower then me. Five minutes ago, i was killing some creep, then i saw a warrior level 40 few steps from me killing the same monster in like 3-4 seconds. Just WOW!

The question is, should i wait for some POSSIBLE engineer buffs or should i start a new character (guardian or a warrior) and play this game without frustrations?

I’ve been playing an Engineer since launch and I never had problems with killing mobs. Ever. Our DPS is amazing, and not to be a kitten or anything, but you’re probably just doing it wrong, or you suck. Try finding a new build, or actually tinkering with your skills.

It’s very possible that said warrior is infact a downscaled level 80.

Warriors and thieves have great burst damage, but engineers are just as capable. Engineers shine in terms of sustained area damage, in particular.

I’d take a bit of time to better understand game mechanics, including reexamining your build and gear, judging from your other post. You’re not gonna be doing a lot of damage with flamethrower, as it’s a control weapon mostly.

I play a Flamethrower build, and i don’t think i suck, it’s just that heavy armor makes a HUGE difference. Warriors have larger damage output too! So what are we talking about here again?

If you have to ask that question…yes. Roll something else.

For those that like the engineer it’s a fun class but if you are looking to kill things as fast as a warrior, you should play a warrior.

Engineer is the spice of life you can play roles as support, dps, tank…so many options. Spicy food isn’t for everyone though. It’s not the “best” at any one role but the classes that are the “best” at any of those roles typically are only good at one thing. At least from my point of view.

Complaining about flamethrower damage being subpar is like complaining that a warrior with a shield doesn’t do enough damage.

well is your gear up to your level? if you are not wearing lvl 60 gear and get downscaled to 40, no matter what profession you play you will be weaker than anybody that is lvl 40 wearing lvl 40 gear.

People keep saying, “Engineer is fine! Our DPS is great!”

Do not listen to these people. Engineer is not “fine.” It’s not actually “done,” to a degree that seems greater than most other classes. About half the engineer’s utility is completely divorced from gear choices that other players can make. For example, certain minor and major weapon sigils make leveling much easier, but Engineers are only just going to get access to them in the next patch (we hope).

It is absolutely a harder class to world PvE grind (pre-80) with than many others (possibly excepting mesmer, which is quite hard to work with pre-L40). I have done that grind and I am still wondering what the “right” way to do it is. I suspect anyone who tells you otherwise is not objectively assessing the class, and is instead saying “I enjoy the playstyle.” Engineer has the potential to be a very fun and powerful class, but is currently limited pending patches and balance tweaks.

In sharp contrast to this: power dagger+well+vampire necromancers can basically carve a bloody swath across any map. Warriors are unstoppable engines of destruction. Greatsword Guardians are not terribly exciting, but basically trivialize anything but veteran adds. Shortbow rangers with tanky pets are seldom in any real danger.

One thing that you can do well pre-80 as an engineer is in PvE dungeon runs for support. A lot of the story mode dungeons have many enemies susceptible to knockback, and you can design dungeon builds with plentiful blast finishers that the earlier, easier content rewards heavily. This in addition to WvW zerging (even post tweak, grenade engineers make sieges way easier) is where the bulk of my levels came from on my engineers.

Yup! and by the way I’m following this build http://www.gw2build.com/builds/engineer-pve-flamethrower-5716.html

Also, check your stats. When I started playing an Engineer, I thought rifles were absolutely terrible. They didn’t do much damage, and when they did, they only did it to one target. Pistols were so much better. Of course, I was geared almost entirely for condition damage, so the rifle should’ve been terrible! It got much better after I switched my stats. If you want the flamethrower to do reasonable damage at a reasonable rate, gear yourself out with Power, Precision, Crit dmg, etc. The burning is nice, but it’s not fast, and you might have better luck with direct damage.

SkyFrog.9742:

Honestly, I’m ashamed and depressed. As a level 60 engineer i find my self incapable of clearing areas 10-20 levels lower then me. Five minutes ago, i was killing some creep, then i saw a warrior level 40 few steps from me killing the same monster in like 3-4 seconds. Just WOW!

The question is, should i wait for some POSSIBLE engineer buffs or should i start a new character (guardian or a warrior) and play this game without frustrations?

Nope not doing a thing wrong, the rest of us who are experienced engineers in pve know exactly what you are talking about. When it takes 25-30 bullets from pistols, 30 grenades to kill individual mobs while being specced for those weapons, and having appropriate gear there’s definitely something wrong. Nerfs to cond dmg aside when you’re pistol fires as slowly as your rifle does and does half the damage there’s definitely something fishy going on.

I think everyone should step back and ask themselves, what would happen to their favorite show or movie if these weapons were really this weak in those shows or movies? Like if you got to Orr, imagine Orr being the Walking Dead? What would happen to the characters in those shows if they had to unload 30 bullets per individual zombie? Or how about throwing about 26-30 grenades just to get them to die?

Despite the trolls coming here it’s definitely NOT your imagination there bud.

@OP: I’ve played both Warrior and Engineer to Level 80 and will say that it is easier as a warrior, however Engineer shouldn’t be exponentially harder to level. Maybe a bit of insight into your build and gear would help?

@KirinDave and tigirius: Not sure if this is the place, but was wondering why you have such a hard time killing things with an engineer? I have never had a problem before? Nor does it take “25 – 30 bullets from pistols, 30 grenades to kill individual mobs.” I guess I’m a troll for thinking this way, but it seems you grossly exaggerate the short comings, at least from my experiences. Not trying to start a fight here, just curious what the differences from you and I are?

tigirius.9014:

I think everyone should step back and ask themselves, what would happen to their favorite show or movie if these weapons were really this weak in those shows or movies? Like if you got to Orr, imagine Orr being the Walking Dead? What would happen to the characters in those shows if they had to unload 30 bullets per individual zombie? Or how about throwing about 26-30 grenades just to get them to die?

Despite the trolls coming here it’s definitely NOT your imagination there bud.

What would happen to your favorite MMO’s if one rifle shot killed every man sized target in pve and pvp? Or one grenade took down everything in a 15 meter radius? :P

Dustfinger.9510:

tigirius.9014:

I think everyone should step back and ask themselves, what would happen to their favorite show or movie if these weapons were really this weak in those shows or movies? Like if you got to Orr, imagine Orr being the Walking Dead? What would happen to the characters in those shows if they had to unload 30 bullets per individual zombie? Or how about throwing about 26-30 grenades just to get them to die?

Despite the trolls coming here it’s definitely NOT your imagination there bud.

What would happen to your favorite MMO’s if one rifle shot killed every man sized target in pve and pvp? Or one grenade took down everything in a 15 meter radius? :P

Well two other classes can easily 1 shot anyone in WvW why not? What do the Charr have to discover nuclear bombs in order for their grenades to work properly now? is that it?

It’s just ridiculous to expect people to play a class or a game where it’s outrageously off by a huge margin in the damage department. Do what you want to pvp but definitely definitely fix them for pve. There is sooooooo much wrong with this class right now outside of the bugs that it bears a very large consideration before anything is done.

People have stopped logging into their engis en masse because of it.

So I take it you’re one of those who thinks it’s perfectly fine to throw 30 grenades at a mob, that’s not underpowered to you huh? completely normal? yeah. Suppose while fighting a champion we should have to get twelve of those gun vehicles Charr developed to all fire 30 tank shots each right? yeah that’s normal.

It is common knowledge that warriors have the easiest time to level. Heck, even a leveling guardian with greatsword can spin-to-win faster than your average leveling engineer.

Now… the build you’re linking…
a) It’s not a leveling build. It has some kind of purpose I’m sure, but leveling isn’t it.
b) You can’t have both juggernaut and H.G.H at level 60. That means you’re kittened by half of the potential might stacks. Probably more since I doubt leveling people would spend gold for runes. (I don’t agree with the selected rune as well…)
c) IMHO a condition build like the one linked will never beat a zerker geared toon in killing-speed unless you can AoE a bunch of things together. Tbh I don’t agree with condition-based flamethrower anyways, so maybe I’m biased.
d) For a build with so much focus on burning… it’s pretty ironic that P/P is much better for burning things than the flamethrower. Maybe you should stick rocket boots in there, the toolbelt skill burns things pretty good.

Look, if you really want killing speed you should try some form of static discharge builds. I understand that you may like the flamethrower, but from my experience even with all those might stacks it still kills slower than other “DPS” builds engineers have. The flamethrower build has its merits, but optimized DPS isn’t it right now. Maybe it’ll be better when sigil effects kick in.

Engineers damage is fine. I had no problem leveling easily. I recommend the rifle, very legit to solo mobs. There are other problems with the eng but dps isnt one of them

KirinDave.6451:

People keep saying, “Engineer is fine! Our DPS is great!”

Do not listen to these people. Engineer is not “fine.” It’s not actually “done,” to a degree that seems greater than most other classes. About half the engineer’s utility is completely divorced from gear choices that other players can make. For example, certain minor and major weapon sigils make leveling much easier, but Engineers are only just going to get access to them in the next patch (we hope).

It is absolutely a harder class to world PvE grind (pre-80) with than many others (possibly excepting mesmer, which is quite hard to work with pre-L40). I have done that grind and I am still wondering what the “right” way to do it is. I suspect anyone who tells you otherwise is not objectively assessing the class, and is instead saying “I enjoy the playstyle.” Engineer has the potential to be a very fun and powerful class, but is currently limited pending patches and balance tweaks.

In sharp contrast to this: power dagger+well+vampire necromancers can basically carve a bloody swath across any map. Warriors are unstoppable engines of destruction. Greatsword Guardians are not terribly exciting, but basically trivialize anything but veteran adds. Shortbow rangers with tanky pets are seldom in any real danger.

One thing that you can do well pre-80 as an engineer is in PvE dungeon runs for support. A lot of the story mode dungeons have many enemies susceptible to knockback, and you can design dungeon builds with plentiful blast finishers that the earlier, easier content rewards heavily. This in addition to WvW zerging (even post tweak, grenade engineers make sieges way easier) is where the bulk of my levels came from on my engineers.

Yes, engineer skills and traits are broken at most… but many people like me reached 80 without any problems at all. Seriously, you can’t just blame how broken a class is. If you’re having a hard time rolling an engineer yet other people aren’t, doesn’t it simply mean YOU are the one incapable of utilizing the class?

Finish your engy, eventually the devs wil fix it. As it is now it is a mediocre class that has no direction, a testament to programming or brainstorming ideas when drunk.

I have a warrior also, though low level it is a pretty fleshed out class compared to the engineer, again, the devs may fix the engineer in the future they may not, your choice as to what you want to make next. Personally i would make a guardian as that class is near perfect in both pve and pvp.

I absolutely love seeing a warrior bull rush me in spvp because I find its the easiest class to tear to pieces. Learn to cc and add more tough/vit and you’ll be just fine.

I agree with HenryAu the build your trying to use is terrible for lvl’ing. Just go with grenadier and rifle with mostly zerker gear till you hit Orr or lvl 80

Genesis.3295:

I absolutely love seeing a warrior bull rush me in spvp because I find its the easiest class to tear to pieces. Learn to cc and add more tough/vit and you’ll be just fine.

Unless he has a rifle and knows how to use it. In which case I hope you packed some vasoline.

@ OP. Engineers are more fun than warriors IMO and are capable at doing most things at least at a mediocre level, we are kings of CC above all else.

But saying that, if you want something that’s easy to play, will do more damage than anything an engineer can do with 2 buttons alone and generally have a far easier time wrecking people then warrior is definitely the way to go.

And yes from a PvE perspective warriors are straight up better than engineers, but that is true for pretty much every class compared to a warrior in a PvE scenario.

edit: Not being able to kill mobs your own level tells me there is something off about your playstyle or something. Make sure you are using kits a lot as our main weapons do pretty bad damage and are more used for utility.

nofo.8469:

Genesis.3295:

I absolutely love seeing a warrior bull rush me in spvp because I find its the easiest class to tear to pieces. Learn to cc and add more tough/vit and you’ll be just fine.

Unless he has a rifle and knows how to use it. In which case I hope you packed some vasoline.

@ OP. Engineers are more fun than warriors IMO and are capable at doing most things at least at a mediocre level, we are kings of CC above all else.

But saying that, if you want something that’s easy to play, will do more damage than anything an engineer can do with 2 buttons alone and generally have a far easier time wrecking people then warrior is definitely the way to go.

And yes from a PvE perspective warriors are straight up better than engineers, but that is true for pretty much every class compared to a warrior in a PvE scenario.

edit: Not being able to kill mobs your own level tells me there is something off about your playstyle or something. Make sure you are using kits a lot as our main weapons do pretty bad damage and are more used for utility.

You don’t even need the rifle for warriors with all the stun breaks, blinds, and the shield. Or you could just dodge. You can also roll without kits and still do solid damage, the rifle hits like a truck, and the pistol(s) is some of the best condition spam in the game.

nofo.8469:

Genesis.3295:

I absolutely love seeing a warrior bull rush me in spvp because I find its the easiest class to tear to pieces. Learn to cc and add more tough/vit and you’ll be just fine.

Unless he has a rifle and knows how to use it.

Warrior rifle is all about single target. It would make my day to see a rifle warrior go against a bunker engie with a shield. Especially in group scenarios with multiple teammates for that warrior to have to focus on. So I really don’t know what you’re saying here.

tigirius.9014:

Well two other classes can easily 1 shot anyone in WvW why not? What do the Charr have to discover nuclear bombs in order for their grenades to work properly now? is that it?

It’s just ridiculous to expect people to play a class or a game where it’s outrageously off by a huge margin in the damage department. Do what you want to pvp but definitely definitely fix them for pve. There is sooooooo much wrong with this class right now outside of the bugs that it bears a very large consideration before anything is done.

People have stopped logging into their engis en masse because of it.

So I take it you’re one of those who thinks it’s perfectly fine to throw 30 grenades at a mob, that’s not underpowered to you huh? completely normal? yeah. Suppose while fighting a champion we should have to get twelve of those gun vehicles Charr developed to all fire 30 tank shots each right? yeah that’s normal.

Not sure how this relates to my favorite shows.

Would being OP by one shotting mobs be an acceptable substitute? becasue your example of favorite shows was kind of rediculous. Now, if there is a valid complain then cool, but comparing mmo play to television shows isn’t valid since they need to fulfill diffrent aims. But to answer your question,“No”. Taking one extreme and responding to it by going to the complete impractical opposite extreme isn’t the answer. but neither is being able to kill any mob with one gun shot just because it happens in RL or shows. that wouldn’t work for an mmo.

Numot.3965:

nofo.8469:

Genesis.3295:

I absolutely love seeing a warrior bull rush me in spvp because I find its the easiest class to tear to pieces. Learn to cc and add more tough/vit and you’ll be just fine.

Unless he has a rifle and knows how to use it. In which case I hope you packed some vasoline.

@ OP. Engineers are more fun than warriors IMO and are capable at doing most things at least at a mediocre level, we are kings of CC above all else.

But saying that, if you want something that’s easy to play, will do more damage than anything an engineer can do with 2 buttons alone and generally have a far easier time wrecking people then warrior is definitely the way to go.

And yes from a PvE perspective warriors are straight up better than engineers, but that is true for pretty much every class compared to a warrior in a PvE scenario.

edit: Not being able to kill mobs your own level tells me there is something off about your playstyle or something. Make sure you are using kits a lot as our main weapons do pretty bad damage and are more used for utility.

You don’t even need the rifle for warriors with all the stun breaks, blinds, and the shield. Or you could just dodge. You can also roll without kits and still do solid damage, the rifle hits like a truck, and the pistol(s) is some of the best condition spam in the game.

He was talking about rifle warriors not rifle engineers.

I have a warrior and it feels pretty useless compared to my engi. It can do more damage, especially burst, but it’s utility is absolutely awful compared to engi.

Losing 50% utility for a 20% DPS gain isn’t that great imo. (Random numbers, do not represent reality)

Dustfinger.9510:

What would happen to your favorite MMO’s if one rifle shot killed every man sized target in pve and pvp? Or one grenade took down everything in a 15 meter radius? :P

So… Like playing a thief with a ranged cloak+dagger/backstab combo, then? :-]

LegoTechnic.5910:

So… Like playing a thief with a ranged cloak+dagger/backstab combo, then? :-]

yeah what’s up with that? usually when i stab people in the back irl they flail around for a bit first :P

There’s this wonderful thing called your toolbelt.
It’s pretty awesome, you should check it out.

MikeT.9428:

For those that like the engineer it’s a fun class but if you are looking to kill things as fast as a warrior, you should play a warrior.

^QFT

However OP should keep in mind that all builds are not created equal. If you cannot make your flamethrower build work for you (as much as I like the style of the FT, I never could), try something else.

I started as a turret-lovin’ (thumper, rocket) pistol condition engineer. Then around level 40 I found I was struggling so I went back to the drawing board and tried other things. I dumped the turrets, switched to a power-based rifle/grenades/elixir gun build and found that I wrecked havoc once again.
The price of green gear on the AH is so low respecc’ing costs next to nothing. Experiment with things before you hit 80 !

tigirius.9014:

Nope not doing a thing wrong, the rest of us who are experienced engineers in pve know exactly what you are talking about. When it takes 25-30 bullets from pistols, 30 grenades to kill individual mobs while being specced for those weapons, and having appropriate gear there’s definitely something wrong. Nerfs to cond dmg aside when you’re pistol fires as slowly as your rifle does and does half the damage there’s definitely something fishy going on.

Pistols are geared towards causing Conditional damage, regardless of the nerfs. Higher Pistol base damage actually has a negative impact on the amount of Conditional damage caused over time, and the ability to wield two weapons opens up additional options in terms of stat spreads and sigils, etc. Comparing Pistol and Rifle damage/firing speed isn’t advisable, as they’re suited to different things.

I love my Engineer. I have to actually pay attention to things to play effectively and the skills are thematically interesting. However, if you don’t feel comfortable playing one or you get class envy, then it might not be the best class for you. If feeling like an Ultimate Superman is important to you, then maybe a class that contains options to fire such a powerful shot that you fall on your butt or hit people with wrenches isn’t the best class for you either.

Chase your dreams, OP. Get that Warrior toon, that giant suit of armour and a big honking sword, and never look back. Or accept that playing as an Engineer isn’t Easy Street and that you’ve got to be on the ball to actually succeed.

Kyon.9735:

Yes, engineer skills and traits are broken at most… but many people like me reached 80 without any problems at all. Seriously, you can’t just blame how broken a class is. If you’re having a hard time rolling an engineer yet other people aren’t, doesn’t it simply mean YOU are the one incapable of utilizing the class?

The class is not “broken.” It’s incomplete. In terms of buggy skills, I think the engineers are actually in a better place compared to many other classes I’ve played. See mesmer phantasms and necromancer minions for examples of really awkward bugs.

I have an engineer at L80, and I can kill things with it. I just know that with my necro, mesmer and thief I have a much easier time of things in solo world PvE. A much easier time. And while you might say, “That is because thief damage is broken!” and that could be argued (I don’t agree, in PvE or PvP) you certainly can’t argue that about necromancer or mesmer.

And if I hadn’t decided to roll a mesmer and necro and elementalist, I wouldn’t have known this. A lot of people I talk to on my server asking for help with engineer don’t have any grounds for comparison, and when they see what the situation actually is they get a bit upset about it (like the OP).

Engineer is playable, but needs a lot of ongoing work to be competitive. Maybe I am just a terrible player, but I do a lot more than I see most engineers trying to do. I set up blast chains for my groups, I pre-set turrets… I do all these things and more. It is a lot more effort than other classes have for world PvE and dungeon PvE, and the results are not really “better.” In many cases they’re actually worse. And there is only so far that an argument of “skill diversity” can go.

At least ANet has told us they agree that the class needs work, and told us what’s next and what’s ongoing. I have a lot of character slots, but right now my engineer stays towards the back of the list unless I feel like tankcat-ing around WvW.

proxy.7963:

Chase your dreams, OP. Get that Warrior toon, that giant suit of armour and a big honking sword, and never look back. Or accept that playing as an Engineer isn’t Easy Street and that you’ve got to be on the ball to actually succeed.

This “I am better than you” mentality is not great, because it gets in the way of discussing what and how the Engineer needs upwards tweaking. It’s a class that can’t interact important stuff like sigils (so excited to see this on Wintersday) and who’s abilities by and large do not scale with gear, and everyone knows that has to change.

Maybe you’re way more awesome than the OP. Maybe not. But no one in this thread is saying, “Engineer is too many APM.” We’re saying, “Even if I do what the engineer asks me to do, the class is still lackluster.”

KirinDave.6451:

People keep saying, “Engineer is fine! Our DPS is great!”

Do not listen to these people. Engineer is not “fine.” It’s not actually “done,” to a degree that seems greater than most other classes. About half the engineer’s utility is completely divorced from gear choices that other players can make. For example, certain minor and major weapon sigils make leveling much easier, but Engineers are only just going to get access to them in the next patch (we hope).

It is absolutely a harder class to world PvE grind (pre-80) with than many others (possibly excepting mesmer, which is quite hard to work with pre-L40). Stopped reading right there. bla bla bla

Funny. I tell people not to listen to people like you who just don’t seem to understand how it all works.

I do pretty much everything with engineer.
I can switch roles on the fly for dungeons (dps/tank/support) and I most of my time I roam solo in WvW.

I’ve played 6/8 classes for a decent amount of time in PvE and played everything in sPvP for a day or two.
Engineer was the only class that really stood out to me.

Perhaps you should just come to grips with the fact that engineer is not for you.

KirinDave.6451:

This “I am better than you” mentality is not great, because it gets in the way of discussing what and how the Engineer needs upwards tweaking. It’s a class that can’t interact important stuff like sigils (so excited to see this on Wintersday) and who’s abilities by and large do not scale with gear, and everyone knows that has to change.

Maybe you’re way more awesome than the OP. Maybe not. But no one in this thread is saying, “Engineer is too many APM.” We’re saying, “Even if I do what the engineer asks me to do, the class is still lackluster.”

I’m legitimately confused as to where you thought I was boasting O.o I’m terrible at this game. You seem to be fine with the concept of the class being less effective in situations than others, but that doesn’t precluded me from enjoying it regardless.

I accept that Engineer might not be living up to the current standards of other classes, but it’s by no means impossible to succeed. By holding it to the standards of other classes as it currently is, you’re likely to end up being disappointed – which is what the OP appeared to be doing. Broken/incomplete things can still be fun, but if you don’t get along with them then that’s fine.

What I was attempting (and apparently failing) to get at is that you can get along with the class if you accept that you’re just not going to be as tooled-up as others and, perhaps, if you enjoy any associated difficulty there might be when comparing it to a Warrior. The idea that the class needs to be ‘competitive’ isn’t something I’m personally bothered about – it succeeds in being engaging for me. If that’s good for others – great. If not and it’s being looked at – super.

Ahlen.7591:

I have a warrior and it feels pretty useless compared to my engi. It can do more damage, especially burst, but it’s utility is absolutely awful compared to engi.

Losing 50% utility for a 20% DPS gain isn’t that great imo. (Random numbers, do not represent reality)

Given the amount of damage, defense and mobility Warriors have, their utility is pretty amazing. Like everything else about the class it’s kinda rugged rather than flashy though.

Siofra Crumble.2098:

Funny. I tell people not to listen to people like you who just don’t seem to understand how it all works.

It’s not like I haven’t asked how it all works, or given it a solid try. I just watch even classes that people say are not good at pve grinding tear through Orr and know that I have no idea how I could possibly replicate what they’re doing as quickly with my engineer.

I do not have a full set of exotics for it yet, but throughout my engineer leveling process there has been “kill the veteran and friends to get to x” content that I couldn’t solo reliably. It wasn’t necessarily dying, sometimes the respawn rate simply forced me to retreat.

For example, here is a necromancer demonstrating melee and life drain in Orr with a pretty ambitious pulls. (it starts off slow but ends up pretty impressive). And Life Drain? Currently doesn’t scale right.

If you can replicate this feat reliably and as quickly, please post somewhere about how. If I am just not smart enough to be an engineer–so be it. I’ll lean on your brain. Please tell me. The best I’ve ever seen for mass pulls is to blind tank with the smoke turret and flamethrower then kite with the rifle; and many people I’ve shown that technique to say it’s much more reliable than what they were doing.

Siofra Crumble.2098:

I’ve played 6/8 classes for a decent amount of time in PvE and played everything in sPvP for a day or two.
Engineer was the only class that really stood out to me.

I like the Engineer class too. Its why I haven’t cleared the slot. I’m just not going to pretend that things are okay as they stand. There is a reason that you hear so much more talk about support and tank engineers compared to dps engineers; the healing and support skills scale properly and are much more finished than the dps side of the kits.

Siofra Crumble.2098:

Perhaps you should just come to grips with the fact that engineer is not for you.

The engineer not having reliable access to sigils is not my personal failing. You know what makes leveling a whole lot easier for warriors? Sigils of Bloodlust. Engineers having some very very very weak damage coefficients for some skills is not me failing; it’s a lack of balance tuning. The engineer’s offensive turrets not scaling in health and output with character stats is not my personal failing.

proxy.7963:

You seem to be fine with the concept of the class being less effective in situations than others, but that doesn’t precluded me from enjoying it regardless.

I enjoy my engineer time as well. I just wish it was more effective.

proxy.7963:

I accept that Engineer might not be living up to the current standards of other classes, but it’s by no means impossible to succeed. By holding it to the standards of other classes as it currently is, you’re likely to end up being disappointed – which is what the OP appeared to be doing.

These are not unfair standards. Why would you hold them to any other standards? What other standards could you possibly hold them to? I submit it’s possible to have fun with every class, race, and gender choice.

proxy.7963:

The idea that the class needs to be ‘competitive’ isn’t something I’m personally bothered about – it succeeds in being engaging for me. If that’s good for others – great. If not and it’s being looked at – super.

The only time it bothers me (in PvE) is when I go into explores with my guildmates or go into WvW. For explores, I’m just a wee bit tired of how pigeonholed I am. The Engineer class has a ton of diversity but most of what actually helps is grenades and light fields and if you’re lucky (or doing lower level content), CCing some trash.

KirinDave.6451:

These are not unfair standards. Why would you hold them to any other standards? What other standards could you possibly hold them to? I submit it’s possible to have fun with every class, race, and gender choice.

I’m not saying that they are unfair standards. I’m not telling you to do anything other than what you’re currently doing. I’m not even saying that I disagree with your assessment of the class as it is. What I am saying is that it’s possible for someone to enjoy something for what it is, regardless of effectiveness. But if you don’t and you feel that things need to change, that’s fine.

KirinDave.6451:

The only time it bothers me (in PvE) is when I go into explores with my guildmates or go into WvW. For explores, I’m just a wee bit tired of how pigeonholed I am. The Engineer class has a ton of diversity but most of what actually helps is grenades and light fields and if you’re lucky (or doing lower level content), CCing some trash.

I don’t really know how I can help you here. I don’t even know if you actually want my input into any of this, or you just want to say what you feel. All I know is that it’s not impossible to enjoy the class for what it is at the moment, because I do. There are an awful lot of people trying to tell folks that they should be enjoying X for Y reasons, or that they should hate A because of B. But there’s nothing wrong with accepting something’s faults and finding something enjoyable in there regardless – and I fully accept that sometimes other people can’t do that, or they don’t appreciate the things I see (or that I don’t appreciate the things they see). That’s all I’m trying to say.

If they changed burn and position to stack intensity instead of duration, engineer would automatically be fixed.

:(

Bring Pistol back up to pre BWE3 levels! DO IT ANET.

SkyFrog.9742:

Honestly, I’m ashamed and depressed. As a level 60 engineer i find my self incapable of clearing areas 10-20 levels lower then me. Five minutes ago, i was killing some creep, then i saw a warrior level 40 few steps from me killing the same monster in like 3-4 seconds. Just WOW!

The question is, should i wait for some POSSIBLE engineer buffs or should i start a new character (guardian or a warrior) and play this game without frustrations?

Spec for Bomb Kit (30 in Explosives, and as much as possible in Firearms) get some power/prec gear. Run towards a target with bomb kit on, click #4->#1->#1->#1 change target, rinse and repeat. It’ll make you kill a mob without getting hit.

@OP i find bombs for PvE make everything a breeze. I have 100% exploration. AoE+High Damage (early confusion+ burn)+ Blind.

Now that i’m done exploring i use either Grenades for dungeons or Tool kit for PvP.

You should try a warrior if you feel like it. Eventually you will either stick with warriors or go back to engineers. I have 5 guys (3 lvl 80) and engineer is still my fav. We all have our preference.

Edit: You should try exploring PvE with a Mesmer/Thief if you want a challenge.

@KirinDave~“The class is not “broken.” It’s incomplete. In terms of buggy skills, I think the engineers are actually in a better place compared to many other classes I’ve played. See mesmer phantasms and necromancer minions for examples of really awkward bugs.”

Mesmer illusions are mostly ok but OMG im so sick of my necro minions just standing still while i fight and die.

dundle.2937:

I’ve been playing an Engineer since launch and I never had problems with killing mobs. Ever. Our DPS is amazing, and not to be a kitten or anything, but you’re probably just doing it wrong, or you suck. Try finding a new build, or actually tinkering with your skills.

I swear to god if i get one more person saying “ur doin it wrong” ill throw a kitten fit.

Here, let me do it anyways.

I had someone tell me “You are doing your flamethrower build wrong” in a thread, because of that guy i said, hey, what the hell, and went out, bought 20g worth of Rampager’s exotics, runes, sigils, and tested out my FT.

Damage was still abysmal at just 1.8k damage over the whole 2 1/4 seconds it took to Flame Jet. My guardian crits for that in a 1/2 second auto attack. Same with Warrior. Same with every other class that Arenanet actually pays attention to.

It was then i realized that you people will just tell everyone everything about the engineer is “just fine, where it needs to be, ect.” and will PARROT it until we get nerfed to the point of uselessness.

What happened to our 4 second bleed on pistol shot? Hey, guess we didn’t need it. Backdraft on flamethrower? pffft, have a terrible smoke vent instead. Smoke bomb applying blind too rapidly? Here, let us make it 110% worthless and then try to cover it up by saying that “It’s just worse against faster attackers, and better against slower attackers.” And hey, who needs a good array of Elite skills to choose from, one is all you need. Who needs decent turret AI? Who needs decent DPS? Get in line with Rangers.

This isn’t someone who just logged onto Engie on day and said, “This sucks”, this is someone who has 300 Hours on an engineer, this is someone who wants, TRIES, to love this class to death but just cant because of this god awful balancing. This is someone who has tried every unorthodox build, every obvious build, every weapon set and kit, everything. This is someone who has tried EVERYTHING.

This? This is stupid. I’m being endlessly frustrated with the balance of a class in a video game of all things but im still just sad.

So you know what OP? Do whatever you want. Whatever floats your boat. Make anything you want, if Engineer feels weak? Roll a warrior. Grab a greatsword. Cant beat em, join em.

I’ll go down with my ship.

Orion the Cursed.1206:

@KirinDave~“The class is not “broken.” It’s incomplete. In terms of buggy skills, I think the engineers are actually in a better place compared to many other classes I’ve played. See mesmer phantasms and necromancer minions for examples of really awkward bugs.”

Mesmer illusions are mostly ok but OMG im so sick of my necro minions just standing still while i fight and die.

The recent patch a week or so ago pretty well broke Mesmer Illusions. They just stand around doing nothing for several seconds. (Not sure if it’s been fixed)

Halcyon.7352:

The recent patch a week or so ago pretty well broke Mesmer Illusions. They just stand around doing nothing for several seconds. (Not sure if it’s been fixed)

Ok, sorry, i didn’t really touch my mesmer for over 2 weeks now.

Halcyon.7352:

Orion the Cursed.1206:

@KirinDave~“The class is not “broken.” It’s incomplete. In terms of buggy skills, I think the engineers are actually in a better place compared to many other classes I’ve played. See mesmer phantasms and necromancer minions for examples of really awkward bugs.”

Mesmer illusions are mostly ok but OMG im so sick of my necro minions just standing still while i fight and die.

The recent patch a week or so ago pretty well broke Mesmer Illusions. They just stand around doing nothing for several seconds. (Not sure if it’s been fixed)

It’s not entirely true. That delay has been there for a long time. The big problem is the inability to actually hit a moving target despite passing right through them.

As for leveling a necro, stack power, dagger+warhorn, wells. Spec for better vampirc. It’s basically an ambulatory mob blender until Orr. You turn everything into smoothies except for champions and brute-type vets.

i eat warriors for breakfest