Guild Wars 2

Disclaimer…. I hate spamming nades. I understand it may currently be our best dps option but its a playstyle I am tired of and dislike.

I mostly run instances and do WvW. I am currently running a pistol/pistol condition build stacking might around HGE.

Am I going to get flamed in harder EM dungeons/FOTM?

What other options do I have? any of you running pistol condition builds for FOTM and/or the harder EM dungeons?

Right now there aren’t any other options and that’s one of the reasons you’ll see so many people posting here in these forums about it. we’re being bottlenecked into a single spec, all because someone complained in pvp that grenades were op. Now instead of throwing 3 grenades and watching enemies die, we throw 12-15, we’re talking regular mobs here too not vets or champs or dungeon mobs.

I don’t do dungeons myself but i can imagine what it’s like for most who do. I have to have a pistol setup to get any kills in Orr.

tigirius.9014:

Right now there aren’t any other options and that’s one of the reasons you’ll see so many people posting here in these forums about it. we’re being bottlenecked into a single spec, all because someone complained in pvp that grenades were op.

Well, this is a dangerous outlook. I mean, in the sense that no matter where I go, I keep seeing ‘go grenadier to do damage or engineer isn’t the class for you’.

I’m coming up to 80 on my engineer, 133 hours in. The last thing I want to see is this sort of thing, where apparently if I’m not a grenadier (and like the OP, I hate grenades), I’m doing it ‘wrong’.

ANET needs to take a long look at these forums, see just how common that sentiment is, and then work to fix it, because this sort of thing is poison to an otherwise very fun class.

If anyone else has more constructive advice for viable endgame pistol, rifle, or flamethrower builds, I’m all ears.

go Grenades if you want to be a glass cannon. The people who tell you its the only path put too much emphasis on dps. Frankly noob grenadiers will just require people to rez them all the time.

There are still many viable builds if you are creative. Do people really flame you for not using grenades? I only have problems with people who dont stick with the group and people who afk for a long time. If you prefer, just ping your skills (tell the group you dont use grenades) before starting. Theres no point playing if you cant have fun.

Swap out grenades for bombs, spec into healing, grab an elixir gun, equip your Gear Shield and go kitten some fools up

Personally, I’m a fan of the elixir gun. if you spec for heals (cleric or apothecary) you can be a great force multiplier in dungeons. and fill a very rare role and one that engis can do fairly well. Fiddle around with specs, you want at least 10 in tools for kit refinement, and 20 in firearms for range and cooldown reduction on the elixir gun is nice.

Inb4 Flamethrower might stacking all day every day.

I personally hate switching between so many kits. I use pistol and shield with the elixir gun and stack on condition damage/toughness/precision. I do like explosives so I carry mines as well.

Grenades are doubtless the highest DPS the engineer can do. But if you are playing in dungeons DPS isn’t really all that important. Dungeon groups are full of morons who spec glass cannon. The last thing most groups need is another one.

There are several viable support builds for engis that can add a lot more to the average dungeon group than yet another glass cannon dps hero.

Engineer is extremely fun!
I dont use Gernades though. I use tons of other skills but Gernades just doesnt fit my playstyle. It doesnt have the skills I need, specially for Solos when fighting multiple enemies.

Anyways, Your not looking for high DPS for any class. You are looking for skills that can help u with “Control” & “Support” while dealing a decent amount of “Damage”.

=)

I run Pistol Shield elixir gun bombs and toolkit. Nice thing about speccing bombs is you can grenadier yourself at a moments notice. For the normal fights where the boss isnt standing in 1 place for the entire fight, I find that having bombs plus toolkit and elixir gun helps the group far more then just standing way back and watching the rest of my group facepalm while getting beat on. Its also a lot more fun and requires a lot more skill.

Be malleable, for example in condition heavy fights ill load up on some condition removal, Some fights healing turret works others your better off with med kit. Grenades works great on some bosses others it doesnt. If you are trying to do swamp fractal running with grenades and 3 elixirs…. you are doing it wrong.