Guild Wars 2

Im beginning to think I am hopeless at Engineer. Sure I played it during beta, sure ive been playing mmo’s since EQ in 99 and then straight to Daoc.
But in WvW when I come up against virtually any class of max lvl it ends up with me /release.
Oh I managed to beat a warrior tonight, he charged me and fell off a cliff……
Rangers run around me 3x doing quick shot and im dead, Thief = too quick I have to read the combat log to see what killed me, Mesmer 80% to them, maybe I could bore a Guardian to death with my pee shooter.

If your winning out there when it becomes 1v1 for the love of pete… please whats your build and how the heck are you doing it?

Rule 1: If its a fair fight, you are already doing something wrong.

That said, could you give some more information about your build/gearing?

30 firearms/30 explosives/10 tools
lvl 76 1500 power / 25% crit / 442 cond damage.
I generally run nades/bombs/ff
as the nades are great for large skirmishs, the bombs is more about big ol for control and glue bomb for snare and i use rifle as net/overpowerd shot seem to work well for me as glue shot lets me die even sooner.

So you have no points in inventions or alchemy and are complaining about dying fast as a glass cannon?

Also, you’re not max level and complaining about dying to 80’s in full berserker gear?

You have a keep defense build with lots of long range and close range aoe. Of course, you will get wrecked by anyone build for dueling.

If you really want to go into some dueling, try pistol/shield, elixirs h,b,u and ft. Get the on crit burning from explosives, cdr and piercing for pistol and make sure to get cf409. For gear: just get a few carrion pieces.

This build gives you lots of pressure through conditions and consistent damage output (don’t forget to use the incendiary ammo).
The shield gives you way better cc and defense than the glue shot. It potentially gives you projectile reflection (srsly: learn to use this, it can totally turn the tide of battle), aoe knockback and a stun or multiple dazes on multiple targets. It’s actually awesome.
You also got another short cd knockback on the ft and two blinds from the pistol and the ft.
You also have a 2/3 chance for stealth through elixir u. If you get the mesmer wall, just walk through and if get the smoke screen, blast combo it with your shield. Also: smoke screen and guardian wall will help a lot against ranged. Against melee, blast combo the guardian wall for retaliation or kite through the smoke screen for blindness via projectile finishers. The mesmer wall allows you to stack some more confusion.

You also have five condition removals through cf409 and three elixirs, making you extremely difficult to cc through chill, cripple, immobilize. Just learn to time your removals properly.

And don’t forget that flame wall. You can kite melees through it, projectile finish burning on ranged and blast finish it for three stacks of might.
And you got elixir u for some small burst. It has a short cd and removes a condition. Use it liberally.

The only thing this build is missing is stability. But then again, getting stability with the engineer is pretty much a lost cause anyway.

Given that, I win the vast majority of 1v1 engagements and even a considerable number of 1v2s. I found it to be a very versatile build and competent in almost any matchup.

Of course, you will suck in WvW keep defense. But then again, there is no magic build that will do everything for you.

Yep, what Andaza said.
I’m a big fan of elixirs. 409, H.G.H. Elixir H, B, R. I don’ really recommend 30/30 explosives/firearms for anyone. The boon/might stacking you get for 30 alch probably is larger damage gains then firearms gives a grenade spec, or explosives gives a rifle/p/p spec.
I’ve done 30/30 firearms/alch, and 30/30 explo/alch. 10 in tools each time. 1v1’s are a joke for me. And I’d say most 2v1’s I win as well. (supply drop is completely and utterly op)
Current build is firearms/alch. p/p build: 30 firearms: coated bullets, cdr pistol, range pistol. 30 alch: H.G.H, 409, cdr elixirs. 10 tools:discharge.
Elixir H, grenades, Elixir B, Elixir R, supply drop.
Stat priority, cond/crit/crit damage/vit.
Occasional swap to elixir gun. It scales with cond well. And heals nicely. And mortar. Swap with supply drop in some siege situations.

You built glass cannon with a focus on grenades which are a weak 1v1 weapon. Anyone gets up in your face, you are going down.

You can do a glass cannon with grenades, but really need to understand it. Do your 30/30, then focus REALLY heavy on crit/crit damage. In this case, what you will need to do in 1v1 is knockdown,stun or immobalize your target, then unload on them with toolbelt skill/burst. grenade toolkit with full glass cannon, will do like 9k minimum to a target. Add in discharge, and a shrapnel grenade you probably can burst someone from 100% to dead in the span of one hard CC. Supply drop is obviously godmode for this.
Dont use bombs in WvW honestly. grenade, elixir b, elixir r.

Ben.3760:

So you have no points in inventions or alchemy and are complaining about dying fast as a glass cannon?

Also, you’re not max level and complaining about dying to 80’s in full berserker gear?

Bolster in wvw is very strong, and pretty effective.
As long as you are level 30 for every slot skill, you will be pretty close to effective.
Traits are the largest factor not considered.

And if you let your gear fall behind. A level 40 in level 40 gear, will be nearly as effective as a level 80. A level 70 in level 40 gear, will not be. Which is really easy to happen, you do level faster then you can get gear really.

you can be effective but generally no way u r gonna win 1 on 1 with 80s geared .

Disagree. as long as your gear is appropriate for level. Player skill is a much larger factor. (With traits being #2.)

Seriously. Make a level 40, gear them in level 40 gear. Green top is likely. though I suppose level 35 dungeon gear might be better.
Then compare the stats to your level 80 in WvW.

Its going to be pretty close. Bolster favors lower levels. As in, a level 40 in greens will have higher stats then a level 80 in greens.

The best advise I can give you is; go to the mists and practice building your Engineer. It sounds like your having problems with your defense.

My build isnt too far off yours and I rolled a pretty good thief earlier.
The only exception is I have 30 in tools, mostly for the increased refresh on the medkit f1-heal.

He tried to stunlock me but I had rocket boots. I simply used frost grenade, rocketboots, and glue shot to keep out of his range while my conditions killed him.

Stacked up blow torch and rocket kick, threw poison volley and booked using one of the three controls. Then I grenaded him till he got close, and did something else.

He really did not last long at all. I was holding on to my supply crate for an emergency escape if I needed it, and it never came to it. Looking back at the fight, I probably could have done it without the glueshot too if I had played it better.

Melee are the only real threat. None of the ranged classes have the dps at extreme range that grenade kit does, and they cant catch me with speedy kits if I dont want them to. If they want to chase they have to choose between eating nades chucked over my shoulder or dodging them and falling further behind. Same in reverse if they try to disengage.

Also, lol if there is water nearby and they are dumb enough to follow me into it.

lol tbh i usually aim for those bolstered ppl first [ easy kills ] . u dont have any stats close to guys with full exotics.

Strangely I had no problems with 1 vs. 1 in WvW. And I am using turrets which a lot of people say are bad in fighting against other players. Turrets and rifle with the 20 percent cooldown reduction on rifle skills using knockback stuff and the net shot pretty often.

I like it and you can move a lot because of the open area.

In sPvP it sucked. Small areas. Lots of buildings. Changed completely and I don’t even like to switch kits all the time and trying for rifle + elixirs only there now. Still not good at it but I am trying. A bit fun with all the elixirs giving might and cleaning conditions and stuff and a high crit rate on rifle and the quickness elixir.

/tagging great thread

Ben.3760:

So you have no points in inventions or alchemy and are complaining about dying fast as a glass cannon?

Also, you’re not max level and complaining about dying to 80’s in full berserker gear?

I was asking for help and advice, not a tired rhetoric of (you can’t play don’t complain)

Also you say
you have no points in inventions or alchemy
Care to be more specific? As that would actuallybe constructive and helpfull.

I was initially excited when I tried exlixirs but the randomness was what put me off. I’ve also been trying to kite players rather than stun. Some awesome suggestions that I’m going to try. Up untill now I’ve been practicing on the chieftains in the mists.

How much Toughness and HP and +Healing do you have?

Some great tips here, helps me keep my engineer alive!

Kabooky.8071:

Ben.3760:

So you have no points in inventions or alchemy and are complaining about dying fast as a glass cannon?

Also, you’re not max level and complaining about dying to 80’s in full berserker gear?

I was asking for help and advice, not a tired rhetoric of (you can’t play don’t complain)

Also you say
you have no points in inventions or alchemy
Care to be more specific? As that would actuallybe constructive and helpfull.

Each trait line improves different stats by 10 per point spent in the trait line.
Explosives improves Power and Condition Duration
Firearms improves Precision and Condition Damage
Inventions Toughness and Healing
Alchemy gives Vitality and Boon Duration
Tools gives Crit damage and Toolbelt recharge rate.

If you put all your points in Explosives and Firearms you’re sacrificing a huge amount of survivability.
Aside from those stat boosts, Alchemy and Inventions also have several traits that boost your survivability aswell.
Only improving your damage will get you killed really fast.

Kabooky.8071:

30 firearms/30 explosives/10 tools
lvl 76 1500 power / 25% crit / 442 cond damage.
I generally run nades/bombs/ff
as the nades are great for large skirmishs, the bombs is more about big ol for control and glue bomb for snare and i use rifle as net/overpowerd shot seem to work well for me as glue shot lets me die even sooner.

I run a similar build and until your 80 in exotics it’s not going to work well for 1v1 against 80’s.

The problem is that you have no survivability and are a sitting duck for ranged classes. When you do get in melee your going to get gutted by warriors who hit harder and have more HP.

But there are a few things you can do that will help.

1. is you want to drop 10 points from firearms and move it into alchemy for protection injection. The protection on CC skill. Later on you’ll want 20 points to get cleansing elixirs for condition removal.

1. You need to pick 1 kit, be it bomb or grenade. You’ll need the other 2 utility slots for Elixir S / another CC break, and or a condition remover, like elixir C.

If you go 20 into alchemy you can use elixir H as your heal and it with elixir S will give you nice condition removal freeing up 2 utility slots. 1 for grenade, 1 for bomb.

Elixir S is real a life savor though since it can effectively break chain CC, and if you pop it when a ranger or mesmer is starting their dps rotation or using their burst moves you can gut their damage output. Most of the dps will come from 2-3 abilities, once those are on CD they are sitting ducks for 15-20s.

30/10/0/10/20 in full berserker exotics with Melandru Rune set.

Rifle, Med, Tool, Grenade kit and Elixir S.

I’ve yet to lose a 1v1 in WvW. I have 1v2’d and 1v3’d lvl 80s and my record is currently 1v6 vs. non 80s.

helgi.3962:

30/10/0/10/20 in full berserker exotics with Melandru Rune set.

Rifle, Med, Tool, Grenade kit and Elixir S.

I’ve yet to lose a 1v1 in WvW. I have 1v2’d and 1v3’d lvl 80s and my record is currently 1v6 vs. non 80s.

Guessing for tools your using static discharge and speedy kits?

Speedy Kits and Power Wrench actually.

I use Tool Kit for Pry Bar, Gear Shield and Magnet. Nice to have lower cooldowns and a cripple on the Throw Wrench and auto attack.

Pry Bar actually hits like a truck in that gear.

My thinking is that avoidance and blocking is much better in WvW than damage reduction. If 5+ guys focus you, you will die most of the time, no matter how much you reduce their damage by. So avoiding it is much better in my opinion.

Any reason you skip static discharge? The spike damage from it in a power build is intense. Easily 1.5k on crit + with your build + gear.

Karast.1927:

Any reason you skip static discharge? The spike damage from it in a power build is intense. Easily 1.5k on crit + with your build + gear.

Not really. Might give it a try some time.

I took Power Wrench due to the cooldown reduction at first and didn’t even consider static discharge. Hard to argue with a 2s block on 16s recharge :p

helgi.3962:

Karast.1927:

Any reason you skip static discharge? The spike damage from it in a power build is intense. Easily 1.5k on crit + with your build + gear.

Not really. Might give it a try some time.

I took Power Wrench due to the cooldown reduction at first and didn’t even consider static discharge. Hard to argue with a 2s block on 16s recharge :p

Try out static discharge you might really be surprised. It’s a bouncing attack that hits up to 3 targets with a 900 range on all toolbelt ability usage. So it can be devastating damage on pet classes, and small groups. It’d not odd for it do 6k to a ranger bouncing between them and the pet, added to the throw wrench and barrage damage.

yeah, static discharge is the same as sigil of air.
Its pretty op. It is harder to target though. Sometimes it flys off in weird directions. if used point blank, that is your best option.

I would suggest a more balanced build with a good chunk of toughness. I run a rifle Engie spec’d 10/30/10/10/10 with bomb kit (great for big ole bomb, smoke bomb and glue bomb) a turret (rifle atm for the short cooldown) and Elixir S (I have the elixir S and 25% health too). I have amazing survivability and can 1v2 or 3 quite frequently. The only classes I truly have issues with are well played mesmers, busrt thieves and higher skilled engies.

Grimbane – Yaks