Guild Wars 2

I’ve just finished the game and am now going around doing the lower areas i missed. But after seeing how much more powerful warriors and elementalists are compared to engineers i cannot bring myself to play this game anymore. I use pistol pistol because i enjoy the abilities on it and im constantly told by engineers in my guild im useless if i dont use grenades. Thats all i see now from engineers, grenades! I should be able to use whatever weapon i want and be able to compete with the power of other engineers and other classes.

I just want this game to be the balance MMO that arena net said it would be and not have to be forced to play one of two overpowerd classes. What are your thoughts on this?

I am quite a rebel in that sense, I don’t use grenades. even though they are not especially viable I use a rifle and turrets (yes I do) and I don’t have a problem playing like this. this is what I enjoy. it doesn’t matter to me that its not particularly powerful, I enjoy it. that is the main thing here. if you enjoy using pistols, and are good at playing the game, why does it matter what others say or think. just enjoy it how you want to, play how you want to, because after all is said and done, who’s the one playing?

I have trouble accepting your use of elementalist and power in the same sentence. I have yet to see an ele that can solo most of the mobs I can. And I do not use grenades either.

I also have trouble taking you seriously to a point after you literally claimed to have “finished the game”……….That is a contradictory term for an MMO.

Now warriors on the other hand, are indeed OP.

I enjoyed the engineer class befor this last patch. No i didnt use pistols although i wanted to.
I enjoy WvW battle the most, but as you said if your having fun it doesnt matter what others think right? Well if you cant play the way you want to then i guess it isnt fun anymore is it?

So if i want to use pistols and play WvW, i cant unless i like getting beat down every 10 feat in there because my class is limited in power. So now im forced to only play PVE or use grenades in WvW, BUT WAIT , aww i cant use grenades in WvW now either because we got kittened on the last patch hmmm.

Oh well , lets all roll warriors and guardians and just play those. Hey we could all just make 1 character type of every class and work them to lvl 80, then no matter what they nerf, we have a class to play.

But then again you will have to LEARN to like playing something you dont really like. Makes sense??

Oh come on. Of course you can use grenades in WvW, they’re still extremely powerful if you can hit with them.

Turrets for leveling
Elixar Gun for support
Grenades for WvW

Pistol/Pistol is designed to be an attrition/damage over time weapon set. I agree that you should be able to play how you want and be as viable as any other profession, but you should make weapon/trait/utility choices that make sense with the style you want to play.

In other words, someone else might want to play an attrition style, and they should probably use pistol/pistol or pistol/shield. Why would you deny them the ability to play their style by making pistol a power weapon with similar output to a greatsword warrior?

static discharge builds destroy low level pve

go pistol/pistol for the aoe

condi/power/precision ish focus
grab 3 utility skills with low toolbelt cds (rifle turret ought to be 1 of them, because u can shoot, drop turrent, overload turrent, and then explode turret (getting 2 static discharges quick and massive dmg)

Cosmos.1628:

I’ve just finished the game and am now going around doing the lower areas i missed. But after seeing how much more powerful warriors and elementalists are compared to engineers i cannot bring myself to play this game anymore. I use pistol pistol because i enjoy the abilities on it and im constantly told by engineers in my guild im useless if i dont use grenades. Thats all i see now from engineers, grenades! I should be able to use whatever weapon i want and be able to compete with the power of other engineers and other classes.

I just want this game to be the balance MMO that arena net said it would be and not have to be forced to play one of two overpowerd classes. What are your thoughts on this?

I completely agree. Warriors in the same gear as me three shot or one shot enemies while I’m still firing my pistol like a mad person trying to kill just one.

It’s ridiculous how imbalanced this one class is. Sure it’s a support class with lots of options but when those options DON’T WORK what are we left with?

Pigeonholing us into a single play style because kits miss, don’t buff us, don’t scale with gear, pistols don’t do any damage, rifles do little more but our ammo on rifles don’t hit multiples. The list of inconsistencies goes on and on.

I posted here many times about this. STOP nerfing what little abilities we DO have in the one single viable spec we DO have to play with and fix the ones that don’t work ANET.

What is the point of having a class that has sooooo many options but then making it so that we HAVE to play with only 1 option end game because all the rest are broken or nerfed into oblivion??? Someone at Anet explain to me how that works please.

Actually all of our rifle attacks hit multiple enemies except net shot and overcharge, which are, to my knowledge, the lowest cooldown ranged immobilize and blowout in the game, respectively.

They’re extremely powerful in PvE, PvP, and WvWvW.
Those that says otherwise clearly has no clue how to play, this is a fact.

Engineers are about versatility and you have to get creative to win. Why do you care about what other people say so much? Grenade builds are usually support fire and suffer in terms of overall durability. Pistol/Pistol builds aren’t really good for pvp anyways.

If you are interested to improve your build, why not post it and let people critique it?

Warriors are not that great, i just killed one recently in WvW by switching between bomb kit and rifle.

I just put together a 30/0/30/0/10 Bomb Kit build that works quite effectively in sPvP. Definitely better than my P/P Static build I was running.

Engineer rifle autoattack is the most damaging direct damage ranged autoattack in the game IIRC. In general Engineer damage is pretty sweet except for a few things (elixir gun sucks).

The main problem with engineer is survivability, especially against ranged opponents. Engineer is inverse mesmer.

ManCaptain.3154:

Engineer rifle autoattack is the most damaging direct damage ranged autoattack in the game IIRC. In general Engineer damage is pretty sweet except for a few things (elixir gun sucks).

The main problem with engineer is survivability, especially against ranged opponents. Engineer is inverse mesmer.

I have to disagree; Elixir gun is awesome, just not as a direct damage output. It’s very much a support-orientated utility, much like, say, water-attuned staff eles, but way more than just healing.

1: Dart can keep weakness up on non-champ mobs, does mediocre damage, and applies a bleed. Fire rate isn’t anything to scoff at.
2: Apply cripple to multiple enemies and/or swiftness to multiple allies without having to aim or be right next to them? Yes please.
3: STRIP ALL THE CONDITIONS!!! The poison and vulnerability stacks are awesome as well.
4: Excellent skill for putting some distance between you and your opponent. Or if they’re stationary or otherwise mostly still, the damage patch can rack up some good numbers.
5: Even with no healing power, this gives a pretty good chunk of health, AND takes off a condition from whoever it lands on. Plus it’s a light field, so more condition removal for the team, or retaliation! Plus, if you trait for it, switching to the elixir gun will drop one of these at your feet automatically!

I’m using a dual Pistols&Elixirs build at 80 (Pistol/Shield&Elixirs in PvP) and I don’t feel at all underpowered compared to my 80 Warrior or Ranger.

Try a different build? Stack different stats? (Pistols need condition damage and precision to be effective.) Try different tactics? Not sure what else to suggest.

ManCaptain.3154:

The main problem with engineer is survivability, especially against ranged opponents. Engineer is inverse mesmer.

You mean your build lacks survivability. My build thrives at survivability, particularly against ranged.

Galador Dux.6359:

ManCaptain.3154:

Engineer rifle autoattack is the most damaging direct damage ranged autoattack in the game IIRC. In general Engineer damage is pretty sweet except for a few things (elixir gun sucks).

The main problem with engineer is survivability, especially against ranged opponents. Engineer is inverse mesmer.

I have to disagree; Elixir gun is awesome, just not as a direct damage output. It’s very much a support-orientated utility, much like, say, water-attuned staff eles, but way more than just healing.

1: Dart can keep weakness up on non-champ mobs, does mediocre damage, and applies a bleed. Fire rate isn’t anything to scoff at.
2: Apply cripple to multiple enemies and/or swiftness to multiple allies without having to aim or be right next to them? Yes please.
3: STRIP ALL THE CONDITIONS!!! The poison and vulnerability stacks are awesome as well.
4: Excellent skill for putting some distance between you and your opponent. Or if they’re stationary or otherwise mostly still, the damage patch can rack up some good numbers.
5: Even with no healing power, this gives a pretty good chunk of health, AND takes off a condition from whoever it lands on. Plus it’s a light field, so more condition removal for the team, or retaliation! Plus, if you trait for it, switching to the elixir gun will drop one of these at your feet automatically!

1: the bleed is nothing spectacular, if you’re running a cond dmg build you’d be better off in some other weapon. I generally switch to this kit to drop the cooldown abilties, I don’t stay in it to autoattack. Because autoattack isn’t as good as other autoattacks.
Against players weakness does way worse than expected because it doesn’t affect crits, which most damage builds will do 50% of the time (70% with fury).
2: Can you speedboost when there are no enemies around? Last time I played with this kit it wasn’t the case. You also need to be within 400 units of said enemy and so do all your allies. This ability was quite a disappointment for me.
3: Situational skill, unfortunately it aims at the enemy so it’s hard to hit a lot of allies with it. Most of them aren’t standing that close to the enemy than you probably. Use it if it works for you. It never worked well for me.
4: The distance isn’t that large and since it has a very high trajectory it takes a bit of time to execute, the enemy closes some of it while you’re jumping. The damage is nice but I have hard time keeping the enemy in that small circle, especially considering I’m no longer there.
5: is fine, but I’d rather use my utility slot for something else tbh.

ManCaptain.3154:

Galador Dux.6359:

ManCaptain.3154:

Engineer rifle autoattack is the most damaging direct damage ranged autoattack in the game IIRC. In general Engineer damage is pretty sweet except for a few things (elixir gun sucks).

The main problem with engineer is survivability, especially against ranged opponents. Engineer is inverse mesmer.

I have to disagree; Elixir gun is awesome, just not as a direct damage output. It’s very much a support-orientated utility, much like, say, water-attuned staff eles, but way more than just healing.

1: Dart can keep weakness up on non-champ mobs, does mediocre damage, and applies a bleed. Fire rate isn’t anything to scoff at.
2: Apply cripple to multiple enemies and/or swiftness to multiple allies without having to aim or be right next to them? Yes please.
3: STRIP ALL THE CONDITIONS!!! The poison and vulnerability stacks are awesome as well.
4: Excellent skill for putting some distance between you and your opponent. Or if they’re stationary or otherwise mostly still, the damage patch can rack up some good numbers.
5: Even with no healing power, this gives a pretty good chunk of health, AND takes off a condition from whoever it lands on. Plus it’s a light field, so more condition removal for the team, or retaliation! Plus, if you trait for it, switching to the elixir gun will drop one of these at your feet automatically!

1: the bleed is nothing spectacular, if you’re running a cond dmg build you’d be better off in some other weapon. I generally switch to this kit to drop the cooldown abilties, I don’t stay in it to autoattack. Because autoattack isn’t as good as other autoattacks.
Against players weakness does way worse than expected because it doesn’t affect crits, which most damage builds will do 50% of the time (70% with fury).
2: Can you speedboost when there are no enemies around? Last time I played with this kit it wasn’t the case. You also need to be within 400 units of said enemy and so do all your allies. This ability was quite a disappointment for me.
3: Situational skill, unfortunately it aims at the enemy so it’s hard to hit a lot of allies with it. Most of them aren’t standing that close to the enemy than you probably. Use it if it works for you. It never worked well for me.
4: The distance isn’t that large and since it has a very high trajectory it takes a bit of time to execute, the enemy closes some of it while you’re jumping. The damage is nice but I have hard time keeping the enemy in that small circle, especially considering I’m no longer there.
5: is fine, but I’d rather use my utility slot for something else tbh.

He’s talking about PvE

i play pvp node defending CC engi condition damage p/s

it’s weak 1v1, it’s weak in team fights with a necro/thief. it’s just weak.

we need a damage buff.

I am afraid I am going to have to agree, Engineers are joke when it comes to PvP.

Potions take to long to hit the ground in time to counter a burst, compare to a player hitting a single button for instant cast.

There are way to many delays when using Turrets, Potions, and Kits when compared to an instant class. Why does everything take 0.5 seconds to 1 second to cast, the takes another 1 second for: a potion to the ground target, a turret to react in time to a target, and a kit to place down something?

What’s worst is that the farther you place your ground targeting or the target, for the turrets, the longer it takes for the ability to react and activate.

Elixirs are the worst joke of them all. You cannot control what the outcome is and that’s just too much RNG compare to a game that is against RNG.

Look at [Elixir U], there are major issues with it.

One gives a mesmer’s invis line which you can walk threw to become invis, however the problem is if you place it on top of you, you wont get the invis. If you throw it too far ahead, while moving, the actual area of the Elixir, you wont get the buff and then you have to guess where the line is at to get the buff, even though graphic part is in the wrong…. place.

Also when you shoot threw this spell, you don’t get confusion, as said by Devs.

Then you get a Shadow Mist line which if an enemy is on top of it, they get blinded for the entire duration, however… if you throw it on top of the enemy, the target does not become blind unless the target moves forward.

It also is the same issue if the projectiles that were shot at you, will reach you, head on, when you get this line.

So like in detail, lets say I threw the vial and got this mist during a channel projectile state. If half of the projectile channel goes threw the mist while the mist just formed, it doesn’t stop the rest of the projectiles, you receive the full damage. Yet if I used a shield and activated [Magnetic Inversion] at any time during a projectile channel, it will reflect any “New” projectiles coming.

So why cant the shadow mist, cause the other half of a projectile channel, miss, like its suppose to do?

You also get a Guardian ability that reflects projectiles, however like the shadow mist, if you cast it at any time during a projectile channel and a single projectile, made it threw, it doesn’t matter, you still get the full damage. Which is crazy since it suppose be the same ability like [Magnetic Inversion] but in a different form.

Here’s my favorite, there is a 4th ability with this potion, apparently it was scrapped during BWE, because when I throw it, nothing happens…. Go Figure! And its Cool Down stat starts.

Turrets are by far, the most useless thing ever! They have their own set of rules. They don’t have to assist you on your target and they will attack something that’s magically underground. You can actually see this happens when your “Rocket” or “Net” turret turns magically and faces down towards the ground and shoots.

Not only that they have very low health, even when traited, to make them useful.

Flame turret doesn’t work unless close range, which in melee can spam AoE cleave type ability to kill it. The Blind smoke it offers, yeah what a joke and they nerfed it to make it even a more of a joke.

Mine Kits are pathetic, you can throw down all the mine kits you want before you, and even trait to increases its damage, still doesn’t provide a fraction of damage compared to a thiefs burst and are easily able to avoid.

Bomb Kits and Healing kits, Bomb when speced, does way to little damage and takes way to long to cast multiple in time. Healing kit takes way… to long to cast all the abilities. Again when combine with mine kits, anyone would know, why melee the engineer, just range it.

Thief, double pistols, invis, double pistoles, invis, double pistols. Game over. Same tactic can be used with warrior, bam head shot!

Flame thrower is way to low in damage and there is nothing to increase the range of the FT, same goes for elixir gun, all that’s useful is the AoE heal, everything else is a joke.

[Slick Shoes] is again useless because chasing people is bad and even so, why bother to chase when you can stack condition damage while they run away, let that finish them off and just snare so you can refresh it.

[Rocket Boots] and [Overcharged Shot], seriously I used them both, and both abilities are crap, while in knock down stat, I can still be attacked by other players, unlike…. Thiefs who can teleport jump you or warriors with double axes can just jump to slash you and keep on attacking.

[Utility Goggles], I never found once… any use out these things for any situation. Never once. Not to mention the [Battering Ram], I mean you pretty much dead if you are in close combat melee, how the hell is this suppose to do any good?

Finally we have the [Tool Kit] way to kitten slow when using [Thwack] chain, [Box of Nails] really… the bleed damage is so…. low it would make any pvper cry. [Pry Bar] would be useful, if you didn’t miss. Even at close range, a player can strafe left or right, doesn’t need to dodge, and this ability misses.

Arenanet claims they are going to play a major part in E-sports? Don’t make me laugh!

This class is nothing more than a JOKE to bother to take this into account for any serious PvP.

Forget to add a comment on grenade kits, I HATE grenade kits, even though they actually work, sorta.

The main reason I REFUSE to go back to the grenade kit is the spamming and left click of the AoE ground targeting, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over…..!!!!!!!! For crying out loud, if you give it auto targeting then you cant control where it goes but if you go manual you get this boring spamming of ground AoE targeting.

On top of that if you target something under water, which has auto targeting, and you switch to another target, it will attack your last target first, even if there was no cast time, then switch to the new target to attack automatically.

Also the same with Bomb kit, the spamming of bombs and even though you can turn on auto targeting for close melee range bombs, its still taxing when moving around.

Again the Engineer is bad class. Its very taxing and requires alot of manual work outs with RNG involved, compare to other classes that can TAB target and click one button to auto hit the target 100% and only have to worry about dodging or moving,

Arenanet did not clearly…. thought out this class well and its still a slap together class. It requires alot of work to even bother to make this class half kitten work, and even the over all looked, its not even that rewarding and its very non-forgiving.

Engi is in a solid place balance wise. But it is one of the classes that requires some thought when building it. Definitely has a higher skill floor to be effective than something like a thief or warrior or guardian.

P.S. Whoever said elixer gun is bad for damage in PVE is smoking something. EG 2 and 4 have excellent power scaling when used correctly. The auto attack is not great but it’s surprisingly decent when you figure in the weakness + the bleed. It’s overall dps (when you figure in the bleed) is higher than pistol auto attack on a single target IIRC, and isn’t THAT much less than rifle.

@ Yukishiro.8792

This isn’t about thought, this is plain fact of instant cast versus 1-2 second cast time. This affects both PvE and PvP. Clearly you have not had much time or experience in understanding its flaws fully.

Why the hate on grenades. They are decent and its fun to use them.
However I agree that broken mechanics do not let us to explore other styles of engineer.
In wvw engineers are one of the most welcomed class, we are usefull and rare.
1v1 is joke like you have said but we can get away from it quite easily
If anyone want ot be op in small scale pvp why does he play engineer anyway.

Shadowlancer.7102:

@ Yukishiro.8792

This isn’t about thought, this is plain fact of instant cast versus 1-2 second cast time. This affects both PvE and PvP. Clearly you have not had much time or experience in understanding its flaws fully.

I don’t know what to tell you. You are obviously doing it wrong. Engis are fine in both PVE and PVP. We’ve still got a multitude of bugs to work out but balance wise the class is in a pretty good spot. You just can’t spam 1 button and do well like you can on a thief or warrior. Maybe those classes are more your speed.

@ Yukishiro.8792

Like I said, this is a disagreement and you are on the wrong thread to express your ideas, that its balance, since you have no proof. However, with that said, I know what’s wrong with the class and the class is indeed not enjoyable anymore and its far beyond balanced.

When you actually can prove to me how the class is balanced to what I have indicated in previous post, then and only then you may have any credit in your opinion, until then, you are wasting my time and there is nothing further to explain about something that is as clear as water.

Have a nice day.

Final Note: Also please don’t twist my words at any time to make yourself appeal to be correct or a victim, thanks.

In PvE you’re going to find that mob that you just can’t kill easily.

As a condition EG/FT/PS eng, I use my abilities to slow and push away enemies that come at me. I know that eventually I’ll find that guy who can’t be slowed. I have to fight him as intelligently as possible.

Veterans should be a challenge for us to kill, and champions a threat to our survival. If I encounter a Champ who can’t be pushed around or slowed (there are plenty), then I will most likely die if I engage him. But that’s the way it’s supposed to be, even in lower levels.

Also, the reason you see lower levels (Especially ones less than 30) not holding up to difficulty for certain classes is that the expectation is set for exactly that level. Just because you’re dropped to 15 doesn’t mean you lose the extra two skill slots (third and Elite skills), but they don’t want to chase away the folks that are trying to level in the level 14 zone.

Engis are fine from a balance point of view. I’m sorry you can’t recognize it. Talking about proof is silly. Nothing you’ve written in ths thread is proof that engis arn’t balanced. Your comments on overpowered shot and rocket boots for example show you really don’t have a clue about how either of those abilities should be used. Ditto for your comments about elixer gun, and for tool kit. You get some stuff right (FT being junk except for utility, for example) but it’s probably just a case of a broken clock given how much you get totally wrong.

We could go back and forth but what’s the point? More skilled players know the problem is you not the class. Engi has lots of issues at the moment but overall underpoweredness is not really one of them. Certain builds could use a buff but the class overall is in a pretty good place and really about where all classes should be.

Engineer is by far one of the best best/strongest in pvp/pve hands down. This comes from my own experience and gameplay, and you must be very good to bring out their true potential. Ever imagine what it would be like if you could hit any moving target with grenades? I can, that alone turns the tables and is only the beginning.

To add more to the flaws of this terrible class.

Why is it that Elixirs and Potions, share the same Cool Down interruption with that of your healing ability?

Like I understood that you get penalized if your enemy manages to interrupt your healing skill but should it also interrupt Elixir and Potions that have the same cast time bar with the same penalty? That’s just stupid.

Also why is [Elixir S] prevents you from attacking? Just because it removes stun and prevents all damage towards you for for 3 seconds, that it prevents me in causing damage as well? That’s a bit too much. It’s annoying re-clicking the kits, Flame or Elixir Guns, or my normal weapons again, to continue attacking, compare to other classes that have the same support ability offered in their class?

Also why does [Elixir S] offered in trait [Self-Regulating Defenses] fail to trigger every time? I have been in issues where the 90 second Cool Down is up, and Thieves and Warriors have manage to throw me into a “Down State” by causing more than 25% damage? I mean, it completely defeats the whole purpose of this trait to even exist.

Note: Also, to know that I have gotten this, I received, heard, and seen myself shrink, right when I got into down state, and actually have the [Elixir S] trait buff, during down state.

Also why does the trait “Scope” exist? (Gain 10% crit when standing still.) This defies the entire game and your claims about penalizing those that are standing still and should be moving.

@ Yukishiro.8792

If you can’t prove your statements, what good are you. You have shown me, more than enough, you are not able to conclude different situations at hand, and your answers are that of generic situations, not special cases or certain exceptions.

You also are not aware of the limits of the survivability issues of those situations. I tire reading your post and just like block, you have nothing worth reading. Thank you for the amusement.

What’s the point in typing anything out? You’ll just say the same thing you have.

But just to humor you, I’ll take just one of your silly assertions:

You claim EG is bad except for super elixer. This shows you have no idea how EG is supposed to be used. EG 4 is an excellent movement skill that also deals very good damage. EG2 has excellent power scaling if used right, i.e. by bouncing it off yourself so it hits the enemy twice.

Or your comment about overpowered shot. Overpowered shot has one of the lowest cooldowns on the game for a knockback, and the KD on them lasts longer than the KD on you. It is of less use in a 2v1 but in a 1v1 it’s one of the more powerful skills out there, especially when comboed into a net shot which then becomes undodgable.

I could go on but I dont’ see the point beause the only reason you would write some of the silly things you have is because you don’t understand the class at all. Me telling you how you are wrong probably isn’t going to help that. I don’t flatter myself that I am some super genius.

We have lots of annoying bugs, not balance issues.
I would chose a thief or warior if it was all about dps

I agree to yukishiro about EG, its skill are very usefull if you know when to use. if its not dealing good damage that does not mean its bad, in terms of usability I like it more than grenades. Other mentiones “bad” skills are more usefull than you can imagine and if you can not find a way to use them I suggest you change your class or playstyle.

I don’t think Engi is weak.

For PvE the bomb/EG build is amazing. It has great AoE DPS and decent healing and utility.

For WvW a bomb/grenade build is still pretty good. Grenades for siege and bomb/rifle for zerg.

For sPvP either pistol or rifle elixir builds work pretty well. My own build is completely unable to deal with mesmers, but other classes are okay. If Net Shot worked more reliably, I would say we are a good sPvP class.

These are not the only viable builds but are the ones I prefer. We have as much flexibility as other classes. It not possible on any class to just pick a random mix of weapons and skills and say “These should be viable.” You have to have a build that fits its context. Surely that’s just common sense.

Engi’s are still fun and can be viable

all i’m reading is that you want to do lolwtf burst damage, but don’t want to use the burst weapon. seriously, don’t use a condition set and complain that your ‘playstyle’ doesn’t deal enough damage. pistols are condition weapons, and they’re not supposed to 2shot enemies like a GS warrior.

engineer has plenty of burst, you don’t need grenades for it either. grab static discharge, then use rifle turret and toolkit and spam throw wrench and surprise shot. equip a rifle, and use the old 5 3 4 combo to burst someones face off. grab the bomb kit and just run circles with slick shoes spamming bombs.

engineer isn’t imbalanced or weak, you’re just trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. don’t use your refusal to use the classes capable burst damage tools as a reason to say they have no damage output.

either accept the fact that pistols are for a slow burn playstyle, or use something else

If you want burst damage, use a rifle and spec for crit. Use the grenade pack in WvW when protected or safe on a wall/in a mob.

If you want to harry attackers, feel free to keep the pistols and trait to make them pierce like the rifle does. They are adept at applying conditions in a localized AoE with their abilities and explosive shots, and in standard WvW mob warfare a hit-and-run playstyle with pistols can be effective at chasing aggressive attackers back.

For single fights, the rifle probably has better control, but dual pistol glue and pistol/shield blocks are both completely viable.

If you are looking to AoE in PvE, either go with the grenades if you can deal with the targetting or the flamethrower if you can’t. Both are great and perfectly viable for all PvE encounters. Feel free to use the bomb kit when you feel like as well, especially in PvP where the Big Ol’ Bomb is surprisingly fun.

Above all be versatile. You are not restricted to a single playstyle, though obviously some kits are better than others for certain roles, but thankfully there’s nothing really stopping you from using any kit. And don’t underestimate dual-pistols, they are a very mobile and engaging playstyle even if not the best for spike damage.

I agree with topic started, this class is so kitten dmg and survivability wise compared to most other classes, in order for an engineer just to keep up with other classes ( specialy warrior or thief or mesmer) u have to be playing at SUCH a higher skill lvl then them, and whats better engineer is still not the best suport and neither does an engineer stand out in the amount of ccs he has, infact, we have less then some other classes. In any case though i hope Anet dont fail again like in the previous patch and stop killing the least played class in the game alrdy , not gona even start about the bugs . Ofc its understandable since they have like what? 2 ppl working on class balance? But tbh as it was said earlyer, we as players ( and payers for this game )dont rly care what kind of problems they have with highering staff or why dont want to do it. Personaly for me one things clear, they either fix this whole thing or im out. I used to play some korean games and things like this were the exact reason i quit them.
I just wonder how in the world do they plan to make this into an E-sport game like they wanted, in the games current state.

Originally I thought Engineers were fine for PvE, a little broken for sPvP, and pretty much useless outside a zerg for WvW (my favorite play). After doing a bit of work a Necromancer past the usual 10 levels, I am sort of shocked. Dungeon runs are easier with necromancer, power-builds scream through world PvE and handle ads handily, and there are 3 viable builds post-november-patch I can use for all of them. In WvW, Necromancers are incredibly good at both small and large scale confrontation. In sPvP, they’re one of the two textbook bunker builds and have really interesting roamer builds. About the only thing they’re bad at is really big world bosses, but they can re-spec to be useful in a support role for those anyways.

And then I go back to my engineer who I did all this with before and say, “That is not right. That is broken.” I used to think this was just a matter of perception. The people I rolled with were Elementalists and Warriors and those classes are very good. But then I started to realize as I played other off-brand classes that it may not actually be me, it may be the engineer. It is not that I ignore condition damage–it’s that engineers are not very good at that. It’s not that I hate turrets–it’s that turrets are actually worse than the still-buggy necromancer minions. It’s not that haven’t carefully studied the trait lines for the engineer–its that it is a very awkward trait design.

Engineers seem to specialize in the odd things no one else does. For example, a lot of story mode dungeon content is much easier for engineers who know what utilities and traits to swap for. And if dungeons were a bigger part of the game I think you’d see more recognition for that.

Maybe I am just not good enough to play the engineer. Maybe I just want something from the class (a unique, powerful, fun play style that evokes that that “Data” feel from The Goonies or maybe an analytical, reactive play style?) that it cannot deliver right now. But even the famously broken necromancer feels so much easier for what I want to do, I find myself being much more eager to log into it.

The necromancer may be famously broken, but it’s still a powerful class. As far as Engis are concerned, grenades are IMHO one of the top three dps abilities in the game, and they’re not as easy to dodge in PvP as people are making it out to be. The class needs to have its weaker builds buffed up, but it’s certainly quite powerful right now.

Edit: actually, all I really want for the class is a decent 10% run speed buff that doesn’t require me to spam anything. Downgrading Leg Mods to Adept level would also do the trick.

you cant compare condition builds with crit/power builds….engineers have very high burst with abilities that have smaller cooldowns then other classes….going static discharge its pretty easy to do 15-25k damage in 1 second to someone who isnt defensive.

Poizie.5187:

you cant compare condition builds with crit/power builds….engineers have very high burst with abilities that have smaller cooldowns then other classes….going static discharge its pretty easy to do 15-25k damage in 1 second to someone who isnt defensive.

I have watched many, many highlight reels of that build trying to understand how it works. I have never seen anyone approach 25k burst. 15k is the upper end of what I’ve seen from people bragging. I’d have to see it to believe it. That’s WITH the turret pop damage.

Most of the time those big numbers come from WvW where you’re seeing people in exotics vs under-80 glass cannon builds. The competing glass cannons you see in WvW generally have some mechanism besides toughness/vitality to deal with incoming damage and thus are not so scary.

And using that build basically reduces the Engineer to a bad parody of the Ranger class; there are only a few utilities that work well with static discharge. You’re rocking the personal battering ram, toolkit and rifle turret to get that reliability, and you’ll probably never drop the rifle turret except to explode it. About the trickiest thing that build can do is drop nails then use the magnet.

i dont do spvp…i run goggles/ram/wrench….
high end crits on chain lighting from discharge do 3.5k…ram 6-7k….wrench 5-5.5k and can hit twice if u get them cc or they run at u in a straight line

Engineer is extremely powerful and is really well designed.
I have tons of different strategies with different weapon sets and utility sets that compliment each other during PvP and PvE.

In Fact, Anyone who says “This class is useless” are really bad players themselves who dont know anything about this game’s mechanics in general.

Engineers have amazing Damage/Control/Support utility skills and weapons.
I could show you if you are in “Borlis Pass” server. =) I’m always willing to help out.

Extremly powerfull Ya say Dreamy? Explain me then why there is SO FEW engii builds over the internet GW2 sites?
Why there is SO FEW engiiners every PvP match i played, every RvR i ve saw so far?
i can’t say its useless class- it’s just low in everything compared to other dps classes/builds.

Engi isn’t extremely powerful, nor is it extremely weak. It is right about where it should be re: the other classes.

Angewaire.6319:

Extremly powerfull Ya say Dreamy? Explain me then why there is SO FEW engii builds over the internet GW2 sites?
Why there is SO FEW engiiners every PvP match i played, every RvR i ve saw so far?
i can’t say its useless class- it’s just low in everything compared to other dps classes/builds.

Because majority of players I have seen dont know how Engineer works.
Actually, most dont really know the combat system or mechanics by much from what I see in both PvP and PvE.

I sPvP with Engineer a lot before. And PvEd ever so much before no adays.

I have tons of Stratagies using engineer. I use tons of utility skills and weapons for different possible situations. I enjoy getting in depth with all my classes and learn it’s full capabilities. Engineer is no exception.

I played: Engineer, Elementalist, Ranger, Warrior, and Mesmer.

I dont read up “Builds” online to play my class. I work on my own and experiment and challenge myself in combat to learn what works and what doesnt depending on those different possible situations.

Its a skill based game. And that’s the way I like it. =)

DreamyAbaddon.3265:

Angewaire.6319:

Extremly powerfull Ya say Dreamy? Explain me then why there is SO FEW engii builds over the internet GW2 sites?
Why there is SO FEW engiiners every PvP match i played, every RvR i ve saw so far?
i can’t say its useless class- it’s just low in everything compared to other dps classes/builds.

Because majority of players I have seen dont know how Engineer works.
Actually, most dont really know the combat system or mechanics by much from what I see in both PvP and PvE.

I sPvP with Engineer a lot before. And PvEd ever so much before no adays.

I have tons of Stratagies using engineer. I use tons of utility skills and weapons for different possible situations. I enjoy getting in depth with all my classes and learn it’s full capabilities. Engineer is no exception.

I played: Engineer, Elementalist, Ranger, Warrior, and Mesmer.

I dont read up “Builds” online to play my class. I work on my own and experiment and challenge myself in combat to learn what works and what doesnt depending on those different possible situations.

Its a skill based game. And that’s the way I like it. =)

I am on BP, and I WvW fairly often. I’d love to talk to you about it (unless you are in TRI, in which case we already have!)

Its a clunky, fun, frustrating class, no doubt. I keep a rifle, 2 pistols and a shield with me at all times. Plus all slot skills available. I switch around depending on the situation with combos I think will fit…works sometimes..sometimes not.

I’ve been through a dozen builds and all worked oakey…though the static discharge build w/ rifle is proving to be a lot of fun. At least until I get another bee in my backpack for a new build.

I have one of each profession and I find myself going back to this one more often than not.