Guild Wars 2

Hello fellow engineers, I’m still fairly new to the game and the Engineer class. I’ve been messing around in the calculator trying to find a build to fit my playstyle so I’ll start off by explaining how I like to play! I play exclusively WvW first off. I currently run a hybrid grenadier(rampagers/rabid). I enjoy the versatility to roam if there aren’t any commanders around, I thoroughly enjoy tower defense, especially as a grenadier. Raining death from above, destroying their flame rams etc. I also thoroughly enjoy zerg groups/SM captures, massive fights, clusters of enemies to spam grenades on, down someone, and spam some more as they try to revive him/her HA! I haven’t yet tested this in WvW because I wanted it critiqued before buying all the appropriate gear.

So PLEASE, critique it up, comments, concerns, and otherwise!! Thanks!

SO, the build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUlspSXnvSiF17ICoCAmoHPGlNZfewWPIEC-j0yAYMAKDQyLiJwhsW5CSpLaVwwqWwUmCp6zI7NKiWtQAimAA-w
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/engineer/?2.0|4.1n.h1b|0.0.0.0.0.0|1n.7d.1n.7d.1g.79.1n.79.1g.77.1n.77|1p.67.1i.67.1i.67.1p.67.1p.67.8g.67|u3ab.a5.0.u2ab.0|3a.8|2b.2g.2j.2f.30|e

Provided both links for different perspectives.

Why Power?
I want to make a transition from condition/power hybrid to full power/crit due to the fact that conditions last MAYBE 2-3 ticks in a zerg, less than that in an organized zerg, maybe more than that on an unorganized one but that’s beside the point. A full burst/power build will allow me to single out targets and burst them down, or in this situation, AOE them down with grenade spam!! Conditions vs Power in roaming may be a closer match up, but I still believe that burst reigns supreme, against the condi/regen warriors for instance, running all over the place who out-regen your conditions, how about being immobilized by my rifle and eating a full barrage of grenades? You get my point. Plus the condition meta can’t touch the amount of toss elixirs/active elixirs that will be “cleaning” my conditions constantly

Stats:
~20k hp
~2500 armor
~3400 power WITHOUT might!(with 15 stacks which is easy to obtain/maintain in combat, it’s ~3900)
-40% crit chance
-52% crit damage

All of this is after food buffs so don’t forget to take that into consideration! I’m poor so I chose the next step down in consumables rather than the top tier stuff

Traits:
The last 10 points are pretty interchangeable I feel, I chose to put them in Firearms for the Vulnerability stacking as well as the extra precision to get my crit right at 40% which is a comfy amount of reliable crit, add fury on top of that which brings you to 60% and is up every 32 seconds for a 13 second duration so it’s only down in 20 second increments(duration-cooldown on Elixir and let’s face it, between vuln, might, and fury you’re going to be hitting like a truck, they may be down in the 13 second window, if not you have sustainability to last until it’s up again and it’s not a crutch for the build, merely an added bonus. The 30 in Explosives are optional, I enjoy the extra grenade, the minor trait Steel-Packed Power that allows Vulnerability stacking and the extra range from Grenadier for that extra range when sniping people on walls with your nades or the opposite, sniping their zerg from your tower wall! 30 in Alchemy are a complete must for both HGH and 409 Cleaning Formula. Conditions aren’t a problem with this build at all which is nice in the current meta.

Armor/Trinkets:
Kind of quickly toyed around with these. I don’t believe in “full knights, full this, full that” I believe in the fact that there are stat thresholds with every aspect of the game that you want to meet and this is the combination that got me fairly comfortable for a versatile power/crit grenade/rifle build for WvW!

Runes/Sigil:
The choices are obviously for might stacking duration, I would go for boon duration but I can’t be asked to pve for superior monk runes. With the traited +30% boon duration plus the +60% total might duration from the runes I’m sitting at +90% might duration, the take a little while to fall off and I find myself easily capped at 25 each battle especially thanks to my sigil, which is invaluable due to the frequency of grenades critting and works while my grenade kit is equipped(this was a revelation for me, I’m still fairly new to engineer).

All in all, I’m sure it could use some minor tweaks but I’m pretty happy with the outcome! Let me know what you all think, I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Thanks in advance,
~Mord~

I’ve run both power/crit and condition nades. And while I enjoy might as much as the next guy, I’ve begun to despise HGH. So I’ve come up with an alternative way of stacking might, instead of stacking crazy duration its more bursty, abusing the fact that med kit swaps trigger on-heal ability. Basically you take Enhanced performance as I see you have, along with 2x runes of altruism and a sigil of battle. That’s 9 might for you and 3 for 4 other ppl around you for a quick swap to med kit. This allows you to get away from elixirs, freeing up utility slots for kits (moar skills!) or utilitys ( Rocket Boots!)

Here’s a balanced approach to the idea that I might give a try
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUl0p6dX3SiF17IyoHd2otZiKoffewWPIEC-j0CBYLAkIAJPQZPEZsFhDRryJsKGY6ToKXA6XKyeDZVGglJA-w

So pretty much a standard hgh nade build, can’t go wrong with it decent condi removal decent might application all around solid build. The one thing to consider is incendiary powder, is only effective versus a single target. Also of course retal, in a organized group is going to ruin your day if you are not extremely careful. Consider getting a pistol shield combo as well, I know you mentioned the immobilize from the rifle but as you said conditions don’t last all that long at times and to do any kind of damage with the rifle you really need to be up close. At least with the pistol shield you get a second sigil a additional source of poison (not for the damage but for the -33% heal on target) and have some additional defensive options in the form of block/daze/interupt, reflect/kb, a additional blind. It is of course largely user preference I realize and doesn’t change much with the build. Just my 2c happy, engineering!

Linc.6834:

I’ve run both power/crit and condition nades. And while I enjoy might as much as the next guy, I’ve begun to despise HGH. So I’ve come up with an alternative way of stacking might, instead of stacking crazy duration its more bursty, abusing the fact that med kit swaps trigger on-heal ability. Basically you take Enhanced performance as I see you have, along with 2x runes of altruism and a sigil of battle. That’s 9 might for you and 3 for 4 other ppl around you for a quick swap to med kit. This allows you to get away from elixirs, freeing up utility slots for kits (moar skills!) or utilitys ( Rocket Boots!)

Here’s a balanced approach to the idea that I might give a try
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUl0p6dX3SiF17IyoHd2otZiKoffewWPIEC-j0CBYLAkIAJPQZPEZsFhDRryJsKGY6ToKXA6XKyeDZVGglJA-w

ive run something similar before it works very well and with your sigil/rune setup you can get around 15-20 stacks of might, however you need to take the trait that proc’s vigor on swiftness, its a very good trait to take with speedy kits, you can also take the food that gives you might on dodge roll and it will jump you over the 20 might mark and keep it there

I don’t know how much you roam with this, but for zerg/group play the “problem” with hgh is that might is capped at 25 stacks, so you will only get half the benefit from buffing up for a fight. Plus this build offers next to zero support (apart from some buffs/single might stacks from thrown elixirs). HGH is imo only effective in small scale, where you benefit from might’s power AND cond damage increase while conds hardly do any damage in zergs, like you already mentioned. I’d advise you to forget HGH and tunnel-visioning self-might-buffing, get some more useful skills and focus on raw power. You’ll be able to do similar damage without relying on might and get some slots for better utility/support.

e.g.:
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/engineer/?2.0|4.1c.h17|0.0.0.0.0.0|1n.7b.1g.7b.1n.7b.1g.7b.1n.7b.1g.7b|31k.0.1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.1c.67|u48b.0.0.k14.k69|2e.1|2c.2f.2j.2v.30|e

The direct damage you get out of this build without any might/fury is comparable to yours with ~13 stacks and ~40% fury uptime (comparing the buildcraft’s effective power calculation). I think with sigil of fire the damage is at least comparable.

So, what you get is:
+ much higher raw power (no reliance on might, higher damage potential with fire field buffing)
+ 220 armor
+ a low CD water field
+ 2 medium CD blast finishers
+ AoE healing capability
+ another “lifesaver”: elixir s proc
+ perma swiftness and vigor
+ another stunbreak
+ grenade cd reduction
+ more AoE cond removal
All in all more sustain, more support, more utility.

What you pay for it:
- self buffing capability
- elixir s CD decrease
- 1000 health
- a bit self cond removal

Well, decide for yourself

I do really like your build, unfortunately I’ve already built for mine tonight and roamed all night with great success, 2k+ crits consistently on the rifle auto attack, condi removal like no other, and consistent might stacking from 15-25. I really enjoyed it and its definitely what I’m looking for. I like yours as well, though the condi removal is somewhat lacking, I understand your group perspective and yes I agree mine is pretty selfish but I’m rarely with a large group on this toon unless its a massive zerg on SM, most of my time is spent roaming/flipping camps and defending towers against ridiculous odds by picking a target, nuking and making them focus on reviving, rinsing and repeating. It’s still a work in progress and the main reason I went HGH versus speedy kits/invigorating speed/other utilities was for the condi removal. It was between HGH or an SD variant with Melandru runes and lemongrass poultry and the stat comparison wasnt even close!

The condition remove might not be as lacking as you think. Assuming both builds use everything they have to remove conditions on cooldown (and I didn’t screw up the math) yours averages at 1 cond remove every 4,9sec (~12 in a minute) and mine at one remove every 5,45sec (~11 in a minute).
If you want to stick to your build I’d take hair trigger instead of Precise Sights, since you lack other control/mobility tools the Rifle skillset is probably pretty crucial to keep the upper hand in a smallscale fight.

By the way, for roaming you might as well go for conditions, their pressure can be quite amazing, even in a balanced build. Just don’t stick to HGH forever, you’ll miss the chance to play some of the most wonderful engi builds out there.

Definitely, is that assuming I keep my healing turret up and nearby in order to cleanse until it expires or is that even if I explode it/use it as a water field for extra healing? I’m getting ready for work, it’s four in the morning and I can’t be asked to do math at this hour lol. I really do like the utility yours has, the bad part is I’ve already expensed all my gold on my current build, doh! Maybe I can rework it to my current gear set and see what I come up with! Haha plus I’d need to either save more badges or pve, I agree though, my entire point was to get far far away from HGH but a everytime I worked the calculator my condition removal never added up nor did my stats but a non HGH build would have SO much utility! I’ll see if I can possibly rework it without the soldier piece! And with my current exotics. I appreciate it Silinsar! Any others with suggestions please don’t hesitate!

Mord.9237:

Definitely, is that assuming I keep my healing turret up and nearby in order to cleanse until it expires or is that even if I explode it/use it as a water field for extra healing?

Healing turret has 15sec CD if you pick it up, so you can double tap it for placement+overcharge and pick it up right after for 2 cond removes every 15sec. So you do not have to keep it up.
Another remove every 20sec comes with elixir gun’s super elixir, which removes one on impact (think the tool tip still doesn’t show this).

Gotcha! I’ll have to mess around with it and see what I come back with!