Guild Wars 2

In general engineers do not have much to complain about. That said I’ve spent several hours trying to come up with builds and I keep coming across this issue.

What this causes is a tendency to need to select either Elixir S or Tool Kit in most PVP / WVW builds.

Static shield could help remedy this if it were just a bit better.

I think it needs a twofold improvement, better block duration (eg 2s), and shorter cool down (eg 32s). With that though I think the stun affect could be toned down just a bit (eg 1s static aura).

Block duration is already 2s, the CD is at that if you get the reinforced shield trait, and the stun doesn’t need to be 1s.

People choose Elixir S because not only is it a stunbreak, it’s also an invuln and gives you 5 seconds of stealth.
People choose Tool Kit because of the pull, prybar, and gear shield. Box of nails is also useful for condi masking and getting rid of pesky blinds in melee.

VitalSuit.1980:

Block duration is already 2s,

No. No it isn’t. It is 1.5s.

VitalSuit.1980:

the stun doesn’t need to be 1s.

It currently is 1s.

static shield is rly awesome, stuns ALL meele opponents if anyone atks u, can stun the sword 2 of mesmers making them vulnerable if catched out of guard(or pistolwhip)

also good for quick interrupts if u dont wanna waste ur shield 4 (like a necros heal)

and:

VitalSuit.1980:

People choose Elixir S because not only is it a stunbreak, it’s also an invuln and gives you 5 seconds of stealth.
People choose Tool Kit because of the pull, prybar, and gear shield. Box of nails is also useful for condi masking and getting rid of pesky blinds in melee.

Wyrden.4713:

static shield is rly awesome, stuns ALL meele opponents if anyone atks u, can stun the sword 2 of mesmers making them vulnerable if catched out of guard(or pistolwhip)

also good for quick interrupts if u dont wanna waste ur shield 4 (like a necros heal)

and:

VitalSuit.1980:

People choose Elixir S because not only is it a stunbreak, it’s also an invuln and gives you 5 seconds of stealth.
People choose Tool Kit because of the pull, prybar, and gear shield. Box of nails is also useful for condi masking and getting rid of pesky blinds in melee.

This ^ and I’d kill for my guardian to have shield skills this useful that actually block & reflect.

Shield 5 is pretty OP when facing thieves, and great for interrupting heals or stompers/resurrectors without stability. If anything’s a little weak, it’s the pistol mainhand you have to take with it.

I agree. It should also apply some torment. Or fear!

robertul.3679:

I agree. It should also apply some torment. Or fear!

not sure if sarcasm or not

Of all the skills that could use improvement, people think Static Shield is weak? Geez…

Not only this skill has already been buffed already, it was a rather tremendous one. Do you know initially it will end upon receiving one single melee attack? And now we can keep it up for its whole duration while stunning potentially multiple targets.

Not to mention you can also use it for interrupt that has the potential to hit multiple targets, TWICE.

It’s exactly because it’s such a good skill that it’s got longer CD, honestly I think every Engineer should learn to cope with its default CD instead of relying on the trait, it can’t save you forever. (it might screw you over when one day your build has to forfeit that trait)

Ragnar the Rock.3174:

This ^ and I’d kill for my guardian to have shield skills this useful that actually block & reflect.

I am OK with them just swapping shield skills if engies aren’t happy with it.

Wyrden.4713:

robertul.3679:

I agree. It should also apply some torment. Or fear!

not sure if sarcasm or not

It’s just a duration block that stuns and also can be thrown to a decent range to daze twice. Quite lackluster.

robertul.3679:

Wyrden.4713:

robertul.3679:

I agree. It should also apply some torment. Or fear!

not sure if sarcasm or not

It’s just a duration block that stuns and also can be thrown to a decent range to daze twice. Quite lackluster.

idk , but it seems that u think that a 2 s block + / or a 1 s (potential double) daze is weak.

u may want to take a look at guardian shield skills, or any weapon skills at all…

Shield off hand is super strong especially since they made it so you can walk whilst reflecting projectiles with Magnetic Shield now… daym that skill is good.

What I want to see buffed is pistol off hand so I can finally give myself a reason to dual wield pistols and spit fire out of them like a kitten.

VitalSuit.1980:

Block duration is already 2s, the CD is at that if you get the reinforced shield trait, and the stun doesn’t need to be 1s.

Show me a good WVW / PVP build that has Reinforced Shield and I’ll show you my surprise. In fact a good build that picks up that trait would be a big surprise.

I think the wiki is wrong on the block duration, skills tool tip says 1.5 of holding up the shield, but then again tooltips are often not accurate.

VitalSuit.1980:

People choose Elixir S because not only is it a stunbreak, it’s also an invuln and gives you 5 seconds of stealth.
People choose Tool Kit because of the pull, prybar, and gear shield. Box of nails is also useful for condi masking and getting rid of pesky blinds in melee.

Yes I am familiar, I’m just comparing their uses as a method of damage avoidance. I feel that static shield is a bit lacking.

I just updated the wiki on block duration. It correctly had 1.5s as the duration in the pictorial and visual on the right. The numerical value in the main page description simply wasn’t adjusted. I corrected it so that it would be correct. Sorry about that. I try to stay on top of all of the engineer changes when it comes to the wiki, but occasionally I miss them. Most of those who used to help me keep it updated have kind of disappeared on me.

coglin.1867:

I just updated the wiki on block duration. It correctly had 1.5s as the duration in the pictorial and visual on the right. The numerical value in the main page description simply wasn’t adjusted. I corrected it so that it would be correct. Sorry about that. I try to stay on top of all of the engineer changes when it comes to the wiki, but occasionally I miss them. Most of those who used to help me keep it updated have kind of disappeared on me.

Thank you for your service.

I’ll just say, i love my engi’s shield in many situations, and i consider the engi’s shield skills to be the most useful out of the three professions that can wield shields. It’s by far the most representative of what wielding a shield should be like, for me.
Yes, the engi’s shield 5 isn’t the best skill in the world, but honestly, its not bad. You have to look at shield as a whole, and as such i think Engi shield is definitely still strongest, because warriors and guardians have an equally weak shield skill, if not weaker.

First off, i believe i should mention, i run a condi nade/bomb build, with elixir S and pistol/shield.
Now.. shield 5. As an engi, at least in my build, i spend very little time not wielding a kit, so the relative use of shield skills is very high compared to the other options.
Then.. It’s a block, for starters – 1.5 second block isn’t particularly good, but it’s not bad either, especially if you can see a particularly annoying attack coming. It also stuns your attacker, giving you plenty of time to chill them with grenade 4’s or catch them in your bomb 5, usually, making them easier targets afterwards. On top of that, it’s a double daze, allowing you to interrupt stomps from a distance even when faced with Aegis.
Plus, wielding your shield brings your shield 4, which is honestly one of my favorite skills in the game. 3 second reflect on-the-move plus blast finisher and knockback. I love it, and i save people from stomps in the most heroic fashion possible with it on a daily basis.

The Baws.5164:

Shield off hand is super strong especially since they made it so you can walk whilst reflecting projectiles with Magnetic Shield now… daym that skill is good.

What I want to see buffed is pistol off hand so I can finally give myself a reason to dual wield pistols and spit fire out of them like a kitten.

In total agreement. Offhand Pistol needs some buffs to bring it up to par with the likes of our GODLY Shield. Don’t get me wrong, Blowtorch is in amazing skill with killer condi damage, but it’kitten detection is always clunky and Glue Shot just ‘feels’ weak-ish. I feel that they need to increase the impact immobilize to 1.5 seconds. AND, they need to make Coated Bullets actually do something :/ Like adding an extra bounce to Static Shot and making it so using Blowtorch on a Glue Shot’d enemy applies 3-4 seconds of Weakness. ANYWAYS, our Shield is absolutely incredible and SUPERRRRR versatile, it doesn’t need anything else. Perfect just the way it is, cooldowns and all. And besides, what else is gonna give me the opportunity to yell out ‘CAPTAIN AMERICA!’ while tossing my Shield? Xp