With engies, the general rule of thumb is that if you can justify your choices logically and run the build acceptably, it’s a viable build. There aren’t any engie skills considered worthless, and its very easy to put together a build suiting any particular skillset.
In general, I advocate focusing yourself on one area: choose between bunker, support, cc, crit damage, or condi damage. Pick a weapon that is applicable to your role (shield is amazing for bunker, pistols pack a punch with condis, rifle is godly for cc or crits) and in general, you’ll also want at least one kit that fills a similar or synergistic function. Toolkit is the canonical bunker kit, bombs function well with bunker and support if you take Elixir-Infused Bombs in the invention line, elixir gun works well with support, flamethrower works well with bunker or crits, and grenades work ok with crit or amazing with condis.
Once you’ve got that, you’re half done. Pick your utilities to complement your function: gadgets give cc and mobility, elixirs give damage buffs and support, turrets give CC and meh damage, and an all-kit build has crazy versatility but might not use a kit as well as a more specialized user.
Your elite skill, 90% of the time, will be supply drop. It’s too good of a skill to pass up, and is a really wonderful elite. Elixir X is unreliable, and the mortar, while a lovely idea, is extremely bugged (don’t use it).
Got this far? Now you’re in the home stretch! Choose traits to complement the big parts of your build. Focus on damage with grenades? Take explosive traits. Focus on damage with anything else? You’ll want firearms. Use elixirs? That’s what alchemy’s for. If you do WvW, I’ll strongly strongly recommend that you put 10 points into tools and take Speedy Kits, since it allows you to keep 100% swiftness on yourself.
As far as gear goes, see the same guidelines as the traits. Take what most enhances your primary focus.
Here’s what I post in response to “How do I build my 80”. Individualized response below:
-Bomb kit requires practically nothing traitwise to be fully functional. It hits hard, provides utility, and lets you learn to self-combo effectively. It is primarily a power weapon, but does have condition damage routes as well.
-Flamethrower is more trait dependant, but not extremely so. It requires both t2 firearms and t2 alchemy to be optimal, but is viable without. It’s also fun, and works well as both a direct damage and a crit-procced condition damage weapon.
-Grenades, while the optimal level 80 damage kit, are poor until you can get explosives t3 at level 60. However, at 80, the shrapnel trait makes grenades godly at condi damage.
-Toolkit requires nothing to be good. Bop some stuff with a wrench.
-Elixir gun requires little to be good, but is mainly useful in group play. It’s very much worth having available to you, but I’d only recommend pulling it out in group events. It could do condi damage if you built for it, but that’s like going to McDonalds for a salad: it isn’t that great, and you could get it a heck of a lot better elsewhere.
-Turrets are weird. One alone is useless, but a certain two (rocket and net) together plus the right weapon (rifle) can permalock a single target. In general, you won’t want them, but they’re not worthless. They are functional with conditions.
-Speedy Kits (10 points in Tools) is a must: it provides permanent swiftness uptime.
-Rocket Boots are extraordinarily useful, as your movespeed when using them increases the distance traveled. With swiftness or Super Speed, you go far!
-Elixirs are primarily powerful when they have full trait support. At lower levels, they’re good, but they don’t have that extra oomph that HGH brings.
Keep in mind that a levelling engineer, due to trait limitations, won’t likely be able to fully specialize in one area the same way a level 80 can. At 80, condition builds are both easy to make and powerful to use, but before then, they are usually somewhat lackluster.
Talia Gallowglass [Few] ~ Sylvari Engineer Main
Ferguson’s Crossing
