Guild Wars 2

And i’m like WoW That’s what versatility means, not surprised they are the kings of versatility. Having huge ammounts of boons(permanently), huge mobility with at least 3 leaps, lots of self eal and lots of condition removal, and still carying three stun-breakers, one that teleports, one that removes condition and one that gives invulnerability(that’s 2 of our elixirs right there).

Ok, I raged a bit, I’ll try to keep calm and seriously list the differences that makes eles so much stronger and versatile than us.

They have class mechanic and traits that makes the wanto to keep switching atunements while we have traits that makes us specialize in one or 2 kits. Their versatility does not cost their utility skills. Our tool-belt skills wich should compensate for our loss of utility were designed to be weaker that real utilities, thus not really compensating. We have to lose all our utility in order to have the same ammount of skills they have.

We can’t possibly be as versatile as they are because our traits and our class mechanics force us to specialize and remain in a single kit. Our tools line which should improve our tool-belt only has two traits related to it(Adrenaline Pump, Static Discharge and Inertial Converter).

They say we are versatile but punish us if we try to do so. Then when we finally give up and say “You know what? I’ll do just this” we are punished again because we pay the versatility tax. I really love this class and i want to keep using it, but i fell like the middle kid that can’t do anything as well as his older brother(Warr, Guardian, Thief) and doesn’t get the things the parents(Anet) gives to the younger brother(Ele).

If we are supposed to be versatile we should not be punished for that, but encouraged to do so like the Eles.I hate to make QQ threads but that’s how i felt after seeing those videos.

You should perhaps link the video so that the rest of us can see what you’re talking about. That said, I agree with your overall assessment. If you compare us to other classes we do mediocre at best. Since our parents (anet) seem to have no clue what they actually want us to do yet, the whole class suffers. There are builds out there that make our class shine. Most of them are very creative, and work very well; but since they are not another thread complaining about the class, they don’t get much attention. (Not trying to sound like a kitten) I’ll link a few for you.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Time-to-see-a-doctor-it-s-the-STD-Build/first#post1370848

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Five-Gauge-s-100nade-Guide/first#post1273845

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/A-viable-build-Not-another-rant-post/first#post1355475

I have not played an ele beyond level 15, but I’ve seen a bunch of D/D ele videos and they all play the same. No build or gameplay variety. Our forum seems to have a larger influx of potential builds recently, and one could argue build variety is one alternate definition of versatility.

‘Can only specialize in one or two kits’

Kit refinement, power tools, grenadier. That’s 3 kit specializations, if you count the only good part of Elixir Gun (dem healz, and I admit acid bomb and Elixir F are awesome too, but going into a health/boon duration tree for 15% more damage isn’t worth it). Power tools lets you prybar and gear shield that much more often, and giving a six second cripple to throw wrench is pretty awesome (eight seconds if you are managing grenadier).

^ For above, yea thats about the only viable options. Like the OP said, one or two kits. He means actual kits not Traits. What kits are actually good to use? Grenade, Elixir Gun (Mediocre mostly), and Flamethrower? Which is highly situational and requires a TANK build. Toolkit is also highly situational, and needs tanky-ness. Youll always get bested in Melee by Warriors, And Guardians, and Thiefs. Engineer melee is really bad due to Toolkits auto-attack being SLOW.

I rolled engi BECAUSE I didn’t want to swap all the time, I find it boring, I prefer being more if the one man army, a tool for every occasion sort of guy…

And I CLEARLY missed the memo that grenade and flame thrower are the only “good” kits, I’ve been using the ball breaking wrench and the bombs quite often, as don’t get me started on my baby, the elixir gun…. But yeah I -normally- only take one kit, if that.

PS: I played d/d ele, got bored, rolled staff, had more fun, was told by a friend I should roll an engi “For Science!” (Science major), did so, haven’t played another prof since.

Eviator.9746:

I have not played an ele beyond level 15, but I’ve seen a bunch of D/D ele videos and they all play the same. No build or gameplay variety. Our forum seems to have a larger influx of potential builds recently, and one could argue build variety is one alternate definition of versatility.

If we do have a larger influx of build idea, it’s probably because people are still trying to figure out what the hell they can do to compete with something like a D/D ele. It’s basically a watered down evolutionary process.

Engineers may have difficulty living in a competitive space, and so people need to constantly explore and adapt existing ideas in order to find new ways to excel and thrive.

In contrast, the D/D elementalist may not see much challenge in regards to its competitive dominance, and so there is neither force nor incentive that would promote evolution.

I’ve seen a few good D/D Ele videos, and one D/D Ele in particular really impressed me with their knowledge of their class. But like any class, you watch few videos of a D/D Ele and you’ll start seeing a pattern even among different players. They’re not as versatile as you think.

In the end I currently hold the opinion that a D/D Ele played by a good player is impossible to kill(they’ve just got too many escape/survival tools). But they’ll also never kill a well played engineer either.

And if you feel locked into one kit as an Engineer, you’re not approaching the profession with the right perspective. Because I’ve never felt like I was locked into a kit. Even the popular builds you see on these forums: P/P, Static Discharge, 100nade, etc have flexibility inside their build to suit different playstyles.

BrimstoneAshe.5043:

Because I’ve never felt like I was locked into a kit. Even the popular builds you see on these forums: P/P, Static Discharge, 100nade, etc have flexibility inside their build to suit different playstyles.

Um if pick 100nades you are locked into having grandes equip hence the build. 100nades kinda does not work all that great with anything but grenades.

Moddo.7105:

BrimstoneAshe.5043:

Because I’ve never felt like I was locked into a kit. Even the popular builds you see on these forums: P/P, Static Discharge, 100nade, etc have flexibility inside their build to suit different playstyles.

Um if pick 100nades you are locked into having grandes equip hence the build. 100nades kinda does not work all that great with anything but grenades.

And if you only had one skill slot you’d probably have a good point.

Moddo.7105:

BrimstoneAshe.5043:

Because I’ve never felt like I was locked into a kit. Even the popular builds you see on these forums: P/P, Static Discharge, 100nade, etc have flexibility inside their build to suit different playstyles.

Um if pick 100nades you are locked into having grandes equip hence the build. 100nades kinda does not work all that great with anything but grenades.

100nades entire burst is really only from the double grenade barrage, other than that you’re free to do as you please, i know i’ve seen several variations of the build on the forums alone.

I have both an 80 Ele and 80 Engi (and warrior, thief, guardian and ranger) the two are both very flexible and both tend to do crap for damage unless you GC them which is a death sentence when you get caught. The main place they differ in my opinion is that the Engi can be built to stand in place and hold an area really well as opposed to the Ele that has to get away and re-engage all the time. So tankiness goes to Engi, mobility goes to Ele. Then, you compare either to a thief, warrior or guardian and and you are left with 2 subpar classes and ranger just still blows worse than all IMO.

Yes the FoTM D/D Ele.
They can ride the lightning into a zerg, do nothing, then flash back out and run.
Previously the FoTM was the twirly-twirly Thief, who could stealth into a zerg, start doing their ice dancer impression, then re-stealth and run away.

New FoTM Engineer build:
Use Flameturret Overcharge to stealth Jumpshot into a zerg, plant BoB & drink Elixir X and distract everyone around you, wait for Self-Regulating Defenses to kick in, use bombkit smoke bomb and Rocket Boots to stealth jump back out of the Zerg.

Ya now we can be as annoying and mostly useless as the other more popular professions.

^ I really want to try doing that now….