Which build?
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/83597-an-engineer-build-for-anything-and-everything-pve/
That should answer your question.
if you are out for the maximum damage possible, you should use a mix of assassin’s and berserker gear and grenades/bombs/rifle.
at all costs leave the flamethrower at home, if you want to deal damage. it won’t help you maximize your damage output since it’s overall damage ist pretty crappy. i see berserker engis use ft now and then and mourn over the lost damage potential for the group. ft is a neat kit, but doesn’t contribute much to a damage focused build. it looks kitten (<-i don’t get the point of censoring words that even 5 years olds hear the whole day on the cartoon channel, but well, let’s call it “ungood buttocks”), though, which i think is why people use it. conditions also don’t bring that much benefit, since the dps from conditions (even under ideal circumstances) more or less equals the grenade autoattack. and even if using conditions, eg isn’t the best choice for applying damaging conditions.
since crits and aoe are what’s needed in pve i recommend this build (more or less, you can and should tweak your utilites anytime you need it. f.e.: goggles->elixir b for less vunerability [stun break isn’t that great in pve, you only need it in very specific situations] and more stability; tool kit -> bomb kit for less block [block is amazingly neat in some dungeons, though] and more aoe damage, etc.):
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/engineer/?2.2|4.5l.h8.d1a.0.0|0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0|1l.a5.1l.a5.1l.a5.1l.a5.1l.a5.1l.a5|2s.d1a.2s.d1a.3s.d1a.2s.d1a.3s.d1a.2s.d1a|u48b.f5.0.0.p26|2e.d|2c.2x.2f.2p.30|e
(edited by zaced.7948)
if you are out for the maximum damage possible, you should use a mix of assassin’s and berserker gear and grenades/bombs/rifle.
at all costs leave the flamethrower at home, if you want to deal damage. it won’t help you maximize your damage output since it’s overall damage ist pretty crappy. i see berserker engis use ft now and then and mourn over the lost damage potential for the group. ft is a neat kit, but doesn’t contribute much to a damage focused build. it looks kitten, though, which i think is why people use it. conditions also don’t bring that much benefit, since the dps from conditions (even under ideal circumstances) more or less equals the grenade autoattack. and even if using conditions, eg isn’t the best choice for applying damaging conditions.
since crits and aoe are what’s needed in pve i recommend this build (more or less, you can and should tweak your utilites anytime you need it. f.e.: goggles->elixir b for less vunerability [stun break isn’t that great in pve, you only need it in very specific situations] and more stability; tool kit -> bomb kit for less block [block is amazingly neat in some dungeons, though] and more aoe damage, etc.):
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/engineer/?2.2|4.5l.h8.d1a.0.0|0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0|1l.a5.1l.a5.1l.a5.1l.a5.1l.a5.1l.a5|2s.d1a.2s.d1a.3s.d1a.2s.d1a.3s.d1a.2s.d1a|u37b.f5.0.0.p26|39.d|2c.2x.2f.2p.30|e
Maximize nade damage its better to take 20% reduced CD over 10% dmg, and explosion radius only affects mines and bombs ur better off getting the bleeds or burns on crit.
and i second Soymilks post
@ baron: absolutely right, i experimented a little with percental damage traits and forgot to switch back, though i’d rather take the 5% damage over bleeds or burn (so you only lose 5% if you dodge, which you will have to at some time). i edited the corrected link in my post.
still, if you switch to bombs you should also get this extra range. the 20% cd on the other side are crucial.
i’ve seen that build soymilk has posted making it’s round, but i really can’t tell, how it would be that great damagewise. i also would recommend healing turret over med kit since it’s direct healing is definately higher (+ reg + 2 water combo fields which everyone else in the group can trigger, though the tb-skill-field only lasts 1sec) except if you actually switch to the kit and start planting those packs which keeps you from making damage. the only reason to pick the kit is the 15sec fury, which is still inconvenient to use. and as i said condis lose to crits anytime when it comes to damage (even if you’d stack bleeds up to 25, which is nasty/time consuming it would give what, about 1.5k dps? that’s the damage of one single grenade on autoattack. you’d need 25 stacks of bleeding at 2.5 – 2.7k condidmg just to match the autoattack, come on …to be fair i have to say that this gap slightly decreases with very high armor [f.e. high level fractals] but never so far that condidmg would exceed critdmg), so i’m not sure about eg (and the gear except the trinkets) being the best choice for a “pure damage” build. sure, it gives some healing but in the end it’s better to block/dodge damage, than being bound to a certain location if you actually want that skills to heal you.
if you actually do the math aim’s claim with the “highest dps” is nothing more than hot air.
(edited by zaced.7948)