Guild Wars 2

So before everyone kills me, this is seriously an honest question. I see the elixir gun being taken often in builds and I’m positive I’m missing something in my own personal playstyle that is causing me to overlook its value. To put myself in a context, I’m level 40 running map completion, dungeons, and personal story.

Basically, it doesn’t seem like it does a whole lot of damage compared to bombs, nades, or rifle. Maybe I’m underestimating the condis? And it doesn’t seem to give as much utility as the Tool Kit (which has great damage as well).

So I mean yeah, if someone could kind of just give me a brief overview of why the Elixir Gun is actually pretty good, I think that’d help me to look outside my own playstyle to see its value.

Edit: I do realize the Tool Belt grants a stun breaker, but there are other skills that do that better if that’s the Elixir Gun’s only value. (Elixir S for example).

EditEdit: Maybe to specify more (and after asking some engis ingame), I’m primarily seeing the Elixir Gun in sPvP. What makes it a good grab?

2 things, as you pointed out the stunbreak is nice. Second would be the damage on Acid bomb, and I guess you could say a third/fourth being the heal on the Super Elixir and condi cleanse on Fumigate.

For PVE though it’s generally just the Acid bomb that is the reason you take it. If you hit acid bomb, wait a quarter-half a second, then spam your swap weapon button you’ll do the acid bomb /jump but cancel it early enough that you don’t really move.

Acid bomb does roughly the equivalent of a 100blades from Warrior but with partial the cast time thanks to that cancel.

The key to doing good damage with Engineer is juggling your kits and getting out all the big damage attacks you can before going back to your spam key (typically grenade in PVE).

To note, it is a field that drops, so targets that are chasing you will run right of it nullifying much of the damage. But either way, thtat’s the reason people use it.

Flame Blast on FlameThrower, Pry Bar on Toolkit, Shrapnel and Freeze Grenade on nades, Jump Shot and Blunderbuss on Rifle. Bomb doesn’t really have burst damage but Fire bomb and Smoke Bomb have their purposes.

Thank you that’s very helpful! And thanks for also listing some of the heavy-hitters from other kits.

My only other question is that does fumigate work on yourself? I just tested it and it wouldn’t cleanse any conditions for me, but I’m also currently playing at high ping so it’s hard to get real estimates.

Nope it’s only for who you hit, so more to help the party (why it’s not a main thing, just a side benefit). I’ll generally use it on either heavy condi NPCs to help the group, or when coming into a fight in PVP when I see my buddies lit up with condi’s.

Gotcha. Thanks!

For PvE: Acid Bomb is a blast finisher that does loads of damage, and you can cancel the leap portion (with ` ). After that would be the high AoE condi remove from others from Fumigate, and the AoE condi remove/heal from super elixir and the stun break on toolbelt. The 2nd skill can be decent dps in the right scenario but generally isn’t worth using (like the autoattack).

For PvP: It’s a stunbreak, brings excellent downed cleave if you have any power (cele), brings heal/condi remove on super elixir, as well as a blast for your healing turret f1 when needed, a halfway decent escape, and a more reliable autoattack than pistol 1 for condi builds. Honestly it isn’t worth using if you don’t need the condi remove (sometimes even then) when you could take slick shoes instead, get a superior stunbreak, superior escape, and great CC as well.

Acid bomb is also a usefull gap closer. Theres a hotkey to turn 180 degrees, so you can turn → acid bomb → turn to do a 900 range forward leap, like a mini version of rocket boots. In pvp, this will often make the difference about getting your node neutralized or not, but can be useful in wvw/pve as well(dungeon skipping parts i.e.).

Super elixir also provides a light field, which cleans 1 condition on impact. You can further combo finish it with projectile finishers for even more condi remove. Super elixir + throw wrench for example will remove 3 conditions from you.

For PvE, the stunbreak is good and Acid Bomb is a blast finisher that deals tens of thousands of damage to a target standing still! Acid Bomb is also an okay movement ability! Everything else is pretty meh!

Also Throw Wrench will not remove any conditions off you if thrown in a light field!

Wahoo! Bye frands!

ArrDee.2573:

Also Throw Wrench will not remove any conditions off you if thrown in a light field!

This is wrong, it does remove conditions if your wrench hits.

In order of importance :

1. Breakstun.
2. Kiting AND damage AoE tool on Elixer4.
3. HUGE heal and light field on Elixer5.
4. On demand poison access Elixer3.
5. Bleed/Weakness on autoattack for those pesky rangers while closing the distance.

EDIT :
Elixer S has a breakstun and invisibility, however after breaking stun it prevents you from attacking. It also has zero damage component and generally less utility as well.

In sPvP you generally want it in a condi build to help you at range and sustain while your condis get a chance to damage your opponent.

Mister Fluffkin.7358:

ArrDee.2573:

Also Throw Wrench will not remove any conditions off you if thrown in a light field!

This is wrong, it does remove conditions if your wrench hits.

Nope! I tested it a long time ago and tested it again just now!

Wahoo! Bye frands!

Toolbelt is a stunbreak and unlike elixir s you can do things after you broke out of stun instead of having to wait around for 3s. That doesn’t mean elixir s is not good, it just has a different purpose and usage.

Auto is nice in pvp when chasing or when fighting a highly mobile target like thief. You won’t land your grenades on a thief but you will land elixir autos. The bleed pressure isn’t the best but the weakness is pretty neat.

Elixir F is pretty meh. I guess it’s a good cripple when chasing somebody and can be used against mesmers to get rid of their clones.

Fumigate has many uses. It removes conditions from allies that one is obvious. It also poisons and adds vulnerability to cover it making it harder to remove. Poison is amazingly strong in pvp. It also removes blinds, aegis and burns through duration blocks like guardian focus. All on a pretty low cooldown. It also reliably procs on hit/crit stuff because of the multiple fast hits. Amazing against thieves too!

Acid bomb is great damage, unblockable too. The damage is the highest you can get on engineer but that’s more for pve. For pvp it’s a great way to disengage, deal some extra damage, blast your own fields for heals and whatnot. Toolbelt+acid bomb is a great way to run away and kite.

Super elixir removes 1 condition(and we all know engineer is lacking in that department). It also heals for quite a bit.

tl;dr For pve people use it for acid bomb(dps) and the stunbreak is a nice bonus while for pvp it’s just a nice all around kit but it fell out of favor because of the broken slick shoes.

ArrDee.2573:

Mister Fluffkin.7358:

ArrDee.2573:

Also Throw Wrench will not remove any conditions off you if thrown in a light field!

This is wrong, it does remove conditions if your wrench hits.

Nope! I tested it a long time ago and tested it again just now!

Wahoo! Bye frands!

Hmmm, create a support ticket tho, seems like you need a new wrench.

I just tested it as well and it removed conditions whenever my 100% projectile finisher hit.

Hey just looking at acid bomb, it says it does 210 damage. I don’t see how this is the highest damage for an engi when landing jump shot, for example, does 405.

I do, however, see that acid bomb lasts for 5 seconds. Does that 210 damage pulse every second?

trust me… it can hit like a truck… My zerk build was critting for over 2k a pulse with 75-85% crit chance.

acid bomb away → net shot → cripple, “you aint goin nowhere!” >:D

Narum.7402:

Hey just looking at acid bomb, it says it does 210 damage. I don’t see how this is the highest damage for an engi when landing jump shot, for example, does 405.

I do, however, see that acid bomb lasts for 5 seconds. Does that 210 damage pulse every second?

Yes, it pulses every second. And that 210 is not the actual damage it’ll do. I’ll typically get well over 1k damage per tick with my build. (I don’t remember exactly what it is but I know it’s 4 digits )

Narum.7402:

Hey just looking at acid bomb, it says it does 210 damage. I don’t see how this is the highest damage for an engi when landing jump shot, for example, does 405.

I do, however, see that acid bomb lasts for 5 seconds. Does that 210 damage pulse every second?

I’ll add my two cents. The acid bomb damage crits and is unblockable. I once counted 19 hits for over 21k damage, spread over a Tower Lord and the other NPC (in WvW).