Guild Wars 2

I was curious what you guys thought of this. I’m new to engineer, but I’m not big on the whole kit thing, and turrets seem fairly weak to me (totally subjective opinion!). Can this be an effective build in PvE and WvW, or is the damage versus utility too low? I figure the heavy use of elixers (+F1-F4 throws to give these buffs to party members when the situation dictates) would offer solid damage. Is this going to be incredibly weak, damage wise, compared to flamethrower/grenades/elixer gun? If not, what kind of gear would best suit this build (my guess is either Power/Precision/Crit dmg or Power/Precision/Condition damage).

http://tinyurl.com/ck57yog

Unfortunately your link doesn’t work.

Are you trying a rifle + elixirs build?

Karast.1927:

Unfortunately your link doesn’t work.

Are you trying a rifle + elixirs build?

Updated. Yes. 10/30/0/30/0.

It’s not a bad build but at the same time without a lot of power or crit damage the dps from rifle on it’s own would be really low.

With a 10 30 0 30 0 build pistol / pistol condition damage would work a lot better dps wise with the same amount of utility from elixirs.

Keep in mind that rifle is not a ranged weapon, but a melee weapon. If your looking for a ranged build with good dps and utility. You might be better of going 30 10 0 30 0 and using grenade kit with elixirs.

You lose an elixir but you’ll do much better damage with grenade than rifle if you want to play from range.

Currently, kits just are the way to go for power dps. You could probably go for condition damage to use pistols, but just your rifle alone is pretty weak. This does not mean you shouldn’t use your rifle at all, it’s just that the rifle’s auto attack is really bad compared to just about everything else, and it is the only ability you can actually use at full range.

The best ranged damage you could get in wvw is grenades, they are so far ahead that everything else the engineer could bring just pales in comparison. And that’s not because grenades are teh imba (they definitely pack a punch though), it’s because rifle is just that bad at range.

I wanted to run a full Rifle only build, but I felt it just needed something more. I currently run 30/20/0/20/0 and it is working out great. I have my ’nades for long range pulls, clustered enemies, poison, blind, etc. (Rifle skill #4 + #2 and then Grenade Barrage is a deadly combo.) I run with Elixir H, and U with Cleansing Formula 409. So, I have 6 sources of condition removal. (I love popping Elixir B + U and then unloading rifle shots like a mad-man.)

My build:
http://www.gw2db.com/skills/calc/engineer#14|0|2729|2454|4053|253|4065|30|1422|1417|1885|20|1866|1429|0|0|0|0|0|20|1470|1033|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|2|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|

Define “viable”.

As it stands right now, Grenadiers just laugh at everybody else with their AoE damage, 1500 range, vulnerability stacking, and variety of conditions.

But if “viable” just means capable of doing well – Then the Rifle will do you just fine.

Hello,i’m a rifleman.
I don’t like kits,because seems i lose a lot of survive ability without my elixirs.
I don’t use turrets, because of their long cooldown(compared with their utility),and because they target random mobs/enemy if my target use any stealth ability(mesmer/thief/engineer) or simply go out from turret range.For example vs rangers or mesmer,turrets will focus on pet/illusions,ignoring my target.

Anyway,i play rifle and full elixir utility,and i’m happy.
I use 2 kind of exotic set: power/prec/tough, and also prec/tought/cond damage.
I read someone say “low damage if not in berserk gears”,not true!
I use on 1 set the runes of the Air,and on rifle a sigil of the air.
I do a lighting strike every 5 seconds or so,and..they hit around 2000+ sometimes over 3500 dmg, + my hits and the control that rifle gives.

On my condition gears,i use sigil of the earth (60% chance bleed on crit,cd 5 sec) ,and on my armor,a mix of rune that give +% bleed duration.
I usually make my enemy have around 7 stacks of bleed for the whole combat duration.Ofc,at this add my great control from rifle skills + traits ability.

I run 10/10/20/30/0 on BOTH my armor set.
My damage?hight..my survive ability?Endless.

This,is valid for my WvW experience(i run WvW in solo going around capping points and looking for some 1vs+ enemy).
I tend to don’t play sPvP cause of the mesmer+ thief spam in there,and the different dinamics of combat.If you try my set there,you will get shotted in few seconds.

Oh,mesmer and thief,strangely,are a problem only in sPvP,in WvW it’s rare encounter one of them that beat me easly.

Sorry for my english.
Regards.

Here is my thoughts on the glass-cannon Rifleman (imho a close range fighter) in WvWvW, you’ll mainly be useful for taking out stragglers, assaulting camps with small numbers, etc. I mean that stuff is very useful. But if you were thinking of using the build in a zerg vs zerg battle, or doing any kind of hard-fought sieges, you’re going to have a tougher time than the glass-cannon grenadier who is effective at max range. If you want to fight close range in a mass battle, you might want to consider switching over to some of the defensive traits and get more escape utilities.

DreamOfACure.4382:

Define “viable”.

As it stands right now, Grenadiers just laugh at everybody else with their AoE damage, 1500 range, vulnerability stacking, and variety of conditions.

But if “viable” just means capable of doing well – Then the Rifle will do you just fine.

I survive zergs of 10+ people in WvW with flamethrower spec. thieve’s aint 2 shotting me

@ OP

the advantage you’ll have over everyone else atm is that sigils work for you. GLHF it’s completely viable cause with precision and utility goggles you can cap vulnerability quite quickly!

I think my point was that when you say “Rifleman” you picture a more ranged setup like warrior rifle, rather than engi’s “Shotgunner” style. Which is way I suggested grenades for ranged combat.

And as Tigger and a few others pointed out there are a few FT or Rifle / FT builds that play well in the mid range – melee that are fairly competitive with grenade depending on the situation.

I’m really liking 0 30 10 0 30 with rifle tool kit, FT, and utility goggles. Use Tool belts at range, close in use FT / build might / vuln. Burst with blunderbuss + jump shot, and then repeat.

You get a good mix damage, control, and survivability.

one thing i wish is that they made another weapon arch type, instead of having a rifle, be named a rifle, and have most of its damage if not all have super short range, i think lots of people get confused when they see rifle and think that you can do good from long range, when if your using a rifle you need to be in the combat, so if you want to use a “rifleman” style of build i would change to pistols because rifle at range pales in comparasen to pistols, and is even further behind grenades, but its still fun no doubt.