Guild Wars 2

So! I’ve been a thief since the launch day, but I’ve always enjoyed the engineer type archetype. I’ve finally caved and purchased another character slot that could fit an engineer, but my question to you all is this:

How does it compare to thief? I’m not just asking “Is it better?” or anything of the sort, but rather, how it performs in a PvE point of view in comparison. Where do its strengths lie? Its weaknesses? Coming from a thief, what sort of things will I have to be aware of that I might not have had to watch for in the past?

There’s a lot of lovely information in your thread (And it’s not as full of Doom and Gloom compared to ours) but I’m looking for a more… Centralized source of information, and any that you lot would be willing to share would be very much appreciated!

Thank you!

Greetings Edelirium, Ziggy here, self-appointed PvE engineer teacher.

Well I honestly have to say that the engineer is better than the thief in everything but single target dps and stealth:

• The engineer also has access to stealth, yet only due combo finishers and elixier S, however he’s still superior compared to all other classes except thief when we are talking about group stealth.
• He has almost only 5 targets aoes, wich also deal good damage in single target combat. He will easily outdamage most classes in dps when it comes to 5+ target fights.
• He also shines when it comes to stack might or stack vulnerability. He’s the top tier champion of vulnerbility, with the right bufffood he’ll keep it up to 25 by himself, wich comes handy at bossfights, where vulnerability has a shorter duration. His passive damage is therefore extremly high.
• Engis are also able to absorb and / or reflect projectiles, yet only limited.
• Sadly the engineer is unable to sustain stability.
• His healing turret is the best party heal in the whole game. It’s healing everyone for a moderate amount and yourself for a high amount. It also cures 2 conditions and grants regeneration, is a temporary water field and has a 2nd waterfield + regeneration in it’s toolbelt wich can become very handy. The cd is only 20 sec.

The engineer is much harder to play (to master) than the thief. You have to almost play piano on your keys sometimes xD I know what I’m talking about since I also play a thief more than just up to lv80.

Greez
Ziggs Ironeye.

(lemme know if I forgot something or mad a mistake)

I see! Yes, I’m not surprised it is better than the thief in many regards. Fast button pressing is no concern of mine, as I’ve practiced having to do that in many other games.

So it is sounding like it has a lot of group support, then, that’s good! How is its solo play?

Still awesome. If you want some tips and ingame demonstration, I’m ready to show you and add you to my firendlist There is much to learn about us engineers

- Ziggs Ironeye

are you asking for just a pve standpoint?

Sorry I was away for so long! But yes, I’m asking from a PvE standpoint. Everything is ‘viable’ in PvE as we all know, but I like to know just what kind of level I’ll be operating at when it comes to being able to help a team in a dungeon. (I hate feeling like dead weight. Conversely, the more helpful I feel towards achieving inevitable success, the better.)

That said! If anyone has any PvP tips to share… I might be interested! I’m not much of a PvPer, but I may poke more at it in the future on an engineer, in which case it’d be handy to know. And I shall keep that in mind, Xyonon! I may take you up on that offer to see some end-game demonstration.

As an engi you have access to different classes roles, including thieves. There’s a few placs where having a thief is better than an engi for stealth ( cm, the long forward ta trash run) but in most places smoke bomb+ elixir s is enough. You’re still supposed to bring blinds and stealth like you did with thief, but you also have to take into account projectile reflection, fire fields uptime, vuln stacking, and group cc. Xyonon covered it all, basically. For solo, engis don’t have the luxury of 15 acro+ withdraw, so they will have more trouble on unblockable fights ( mainly, hotw troll, malrona) but have access to blocks ( toolkit/shield ) personal and group reflects along with blinds for trash, invul, and endurance refill. They are still a bit harder than thief for solo, but I find it more enjoyable. You will also cap vuln and about 20 bleeds on boss fights where you don’t have to dodge much. Engi is top tier in dungeons right now, and I litteraly can’t play anything else ( was playing ele mainly pre patch). Speaking of eles, if there’s one in the group, engis compliment ele pretty well with flamethrower and bomb fire field for a good uptime. The main flaw with their own stack might rotation is the knockbacks attached to most blast finishers. The good grenade range and the delay between their use and the actual hit is great for pulling mobs as well, you can los them before the nades hit and save some time.

Thief is far less supportive than engis, especially outside of trash mobs: keep an eye on condis ( healing turret), projectiles, defiant stacks, and fire fields. Have fun with your engi.

I have been! I really am quite fond of setting up my turrets and luring things over to beat up. It’s been quite a pleasure! And yes, thief has always been a rather… ‘Selfish’ class when it comes to group support. I cannot speak for end game yet, but in the level 20-30s range on my engineer, I’m already getting an idea for how it’ll be at endgame and I must say that I’m rather impressed. And sad that I put it off for this long!

I know a lot of Engies who started out as Thieves. I don’t know why but the crowds that like Thieves naturally seem to like Engies. I think it’s because both classes require you to be active at all times, you’re not really waiting for cooldowns like you would expect to be doing with other classes. Thieves have initiative, and Engineers have a ludicrous amount of skills that they can be using. That’s assuming you’re not playing turret engi, of course.

It’s fine if you are, but please, please make an earnest effort to incorporate at least one kit into your build (grenades/bombs/or even ff is viable now). This applies to HGH builds too. It’s a complete waste to be playing Engineer if you don’t use at least one kit. :P

Edelirium.6824:

And I shall keep that in mind, Xyonon! I may take you up on that offer to see some end-game demonstration.

Just pm me ingame, glad to help and show !!