Guild Wars 2

Hi

I recently decked out my engineer with gear after levelling a few other characters, and have a build as per the following link.

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-V;4sPVv0u53Ukw0;9;5J-TJ;137;258B59;72DsV2DsVNpkr0;5VW-a0f1kYq3w_7iWA-5VW5P;07VP

When playing in WvW I find myself being killed so fast it’s not funny. Is this build bad? I thought that with knights gear I would at least have some toughness but i’m becoming depressed in the speed in which I die.

The idea is to have a somewhat tanky rifle/FT build, but perhaps I failed. Is there that big a gap between exotics and ascended gear?

Really appreciate some tips on making me not die so fast. I have maybe enough gold for one other armour set if it’s the way forward.

As a note I play Spvp and do reasonably well.

Appreciate any help.

Cheers

Hello.
The gap btwn ascendent and exotic consist in around 10% more points in your stats.
That told, it can make difference yes, but basically in 1 vs 1 (in my opinion).
In what kind of content do you die fast? 1vs1 or zerg vs zerg?
With a rifle build 1vs1 flamethrower it’s useless.You need burst, and the flamethrower #2 is not flexible enough (as the whole kit itself) to perform well in 1 vs 1.
Also you need burst.kill your enemy faster is the better defence if you go with a rifle build.
Go full knight will leave you with no burst, low hp, and just more toughness that with the actual state of balance it’s useless.
I would go for something with crit dmg if i use a rifle, together with a good dmg kit (nades), or static discharge build.

If your problems are about zerg vs zerg, you must go for more vitality with PvT gears : power vitality toughness and saw your traits i’d suggest melandru runes.Your build/traits are perfect from what i see in a zerg vs zerg scenario.You just need PvT gears.
The flametrhower and toolkit should perform better there.just spam 1 like every body else and follow the melee train.
Keep in mind flamethrower can kill you if enemy use retaliation.you will die really fast against retaliation+ enemy melee train hits.
But it’s factible….i’m able to do it and i have only 2700 armor….and 120% crit dmg in zergs too :p.
In the end, flathrower is tge worst kit for 1 vs1 unless you run a 3 kit build with a lot of versatility.
It’s good for zerg vs zerg but you need MORE vitality.
In both cases if you play an engineer, conditions are the way easyer to play in WvW.Less risk, more profit.
Rifle/power builds require a lot more effort than just spam condis, and here again due to balance issue, you will have hard time vs other classes fotm builds (invincible and unstoppable regen warriors, permastealth thieves and mesmers, condi/power necros bomber).
If you want to perform better in 1vs1, condispam engy is our actual fotm build.

It’s not a good build. You’ll be dying to conditions I expect, which don’t care about toughness, as you don’t have much condi removal.

Automated response doesn’t remove them, it only stops new ones after the threshold. Without adequate removal they’ll just keep melting you.

Flamethrower also isn’t a great choice for WvW, unless you’re in a zerg wanting to tag. Personally, while I used to run FT for fun and it’s great for attacking siege through gates, I now use grenades.

They take some getting used to because of the targetting but have a look at grenade builds. A lot of people also have success with condition builds of various types or power rifle.

I think two of the easiest changes you can make now without destroying your build is to 1. stop using flamethrower and 2. get some -condi duration food. You got some defense against power hits but conditions will eat you up if you are only using Automated response. (As op as some players make it seem, its not the one trait end all condition problems magic fix).

Oh and consider taking healing turret for some extra condi removal

ft is bad damage and is the first of your problems. you have a utility/burst weapon and a utility kit and no damage kits. bombs or grenades are our damage kits.

secondly, your traits are pretty bad, you definitely dont need the soft cc reduction… and juggernaut is a self contradiction (you dont ever wanna sit around in ft for longer than it takes to use like 2 skills), so thats 20 points you oughta do something else with. imo, whats mandatory is protection injection and either speedy kits or power shoes, which you have, so keep those for sure and move those other 20 for sure (prolly to explosives so you can improve bombs/nades). imo, as a bruiser, you also have a choice between automated response and -duration food, but definitely use 1 or the other. the main issue here is the +duration food your opponent will have, conditions will eat you up before you hit 25% and then just last long enough to kill you since engi has fairly weak removals. thats why i dont really like autoresponse for wvw. melandru runes would also help, theyre not that mandatory but there isnt really a good set of power runes that i personally like besides centaur.

next, having either 15 tools or 15 inventions is pretty desirable, so try to work that into your build… if you go for tools id recommend medkit, healing turret in about any other situation.

finally, forget S. its total crap. try rocket boots, bombs, grenades, ft, or elixir gun. pretty much anything but S. you have tk and thatll get you in towers 90% of the time and you wont have a 1 min cd.

personally i run knight/cav/zerk mix and do just fine with a grenades build.

oh and im a big fan of rifled barrels but honestly its the first thing to go when i need to get something else out of my build.

Thank you for all of your replies. All of you are right and i think my mistakes stem from trying to copy what works in sPvP and mix it with half a WvW build.

I find my biggest problem is 1v1 or 1v 2-4 where I was being downed before i could even react.

I have changed the the build to http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VV;4cP-p226FQFx0;9;49OJE-3;058-47-5;9;02DsV2DsVNpkr0;5VW-a0f1kYq3w_7iWA-5VW5P;07V;9;9;9;9;9;54-6v

And would appreciate comments on this.

I think I will also get myself a condition armour set as well to see if that works, but will have to look at that build. The thing is I really don’t like using bombs, and am ok with nades but they get annoying after a while. I much prefer, rife / pistol shield, elixir gun, tool kit and FT.

As you all pretty much said FT is mainly good in zergs, and I think my wish of making it work in the world of roaming might be overzealous

Thanks again.

its not your build its condition damage being broken

with dire gear

my condi damages so far are around this

12-15 bleed=2300 damage per second
burn=2000-2500 damage per second
confusion 10-12 stacks =2000-2500 per action(as engi this is bad cuz kit swap,and tool belt count as actions ontop of all other actions)
poison 500-700 damage per second+ 33% heal reduction
Torment 5 stacks=9k damage in 7-8 seconds

this numbers become way ridiculous when you got 2 guards empowering condi users

Luku.6542:

I have changed the the build to http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VV;4cP-p226FQFx0;9;49OJE-3;058-47-5;9;02DsV2DsVNpkr0;5VW-a0f1kYq3w_7iWA-5VW5P;07V;9;9;9;9;9;54-6v

And would appreciate comments on this.

I am confused, why PI, wouldn’t Tool kit be a lot better?
You said yourself you like tool kit better as well.

Rezzet.3614:

its not your build its condition damage being broken

with dire gear

my condi damages so far are around this

12-15 bleed=2300 damage per second
burn=2000-2500 damage per second
confusion 10-12 stacks =2000-2500 per action(as engi this is bad cuz kit swap,and tool belt count as actions ontop of all other actions)
poison 500-700 damage per second+ 33% heal reduction
Torment 5 stacks=9k damage in 7-8 seconds

this numbers become way ridiculous when you got 2 guards empowering condi users

Even with 3k condition damage Burning doesn’t even get close to 2000 per tick. Poison doesn’t get anywhere near that amount either.

Not to say condition damage isn’t crazy, but you went a little overboard here

@OP Self Regulating Defenses might be a good trait for this build. That’s a great trait to help survive zerg spikes. I would also use Healing Turret for better removal.

No… The OP build ain’t that bad. It’s probably FT that’s tripping you up. The problem with flamethrower in zergs is that you die to area retaliation, which is probably what is happening. Retaliation procs horribly with FT #1. And per Phineas Poe’s suggestions, turn off the auto-attack for FT #1 and use only the camera to aim it. I use Omnomberry Pie, Backpack regen, Super Elixir, and the toolbelt skill from Healing Turret to mitigate that. I also don’t bother to get Juggernaut since I’m usually with a group and getting at least 12 stacks of might from a guardian. With a knight’s FT/EG build I go full tank 0/0/30/30/10. The damage ain’t too bad and I can stay up in a melee train for a little bit before I gotta move back to mid-range.

P/S is not bad for WvW since the shield blasts and healing turret provide good group support.

JoxerNL.3752:

Luku.6542:

I have changed the the build to http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VV;4cP-p226FQFx0;9;49OJE-3;058-47-5;9;02DsV2DsVNpkr0;5VW-a0f1kYq3w_7iWA-5VW5P;07V;9;9;9;9;9;54-6v

And would appreciate comments on this.

I am confused, why PI, wouldn’t Tool kit be a lot better?
You said yourself you like tool kit better as well.

Yeah this was an error, i did mean to put tool kit there.

Cheers

Adamantium.3682:

Rezzet.3614:

its not your build its condition damage being broken

with dire gear

my condi damages so far are around this

12-15 bleed=2300 damage per second
burn=2000-2500 damage per second
confusion 10-12 stacks =2000-2500 per action(as engi this is bad cuz kit swap,and tool belt count as actions ontop of all other actions)
poison 500-700 damage per second+ 33% heal reduction
Torment 5 stacks=9k damage in 7-8 seconds

this numbers become way ridiculous when you got 2 guards empowering condi users

Even with 3k condition damage Burning doesn’t even get close to 2000 per tick. Poison doesn’t get anywhere near that amount either.

Not to say condition damage isn’t crazy, but you went a little overboard here

i run 2000 condi damage without might but yes i did miss the burningand poison damage however other than that the rest where not too far off from the damage i get burning is till over 1k per second and poison is about 200

however get some might goin on and this numbers escalate oscenely might does add 875 power and condi at 25 stacks

Rezzet.3614:

Adamantium.3682:

Rezzet.3614:

its not your build its condition damage being broken

with dire gear

my condi damages so far are around this

12-15 bleed=2300 damage per second
burn=2000-2500 damage per second
confusion 10-12 stacks =2000-2500 per action(as engi this is bad cuz kit swap,and tool belt count as actions ontop of all other actions)
poison 500-700 damage per second+ 33% heal reduction
Torment 5 stacks=9k damage in 7-8 seconds

this numbers become way ridiculous when you got 2 guards empowering condi users

Even with 3k condition damage Burning doesn’t even get close to 2000 per tick. Poison doesn’t get anywhere near that amount either.

Not to say condition damage isn’t crazy, but you went a little overboard here

i run 2000 condi damage without might but yes i did miss the burningand poison damage however other than that the rest where not too far off from the damage i get burning is till over 1k per second and poison is about 200

however get some might goin on and this numbers escalate oscenely might does add 875 power and condi at 25 stacks

Would you be able to link me to your amour stats to get that much condition dmg?

Thank you.

Iv’e been running my updated spec over the last day in WvW, and the changes have made an improvement. and I’d say mainly in my escape ability through rocket boots which in turn help me last longer. I still get chewed up by some players and conditions are still a problem.

I’m not sure on healing turrent, as I find it locks you down to one place so have been switching between a the healing types to try and find a sweet spot. I have not bought AED is this worth looking into?

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

For sPvP the engine is a lot of fun especially with the balances that are set up in that style of play. Warriors are still stupid hard to kill, but I know this from playing my warrior.

Cheers

Luku.6542:

Rezzet.3614:

Adamantium.3682:

Rezzet.3614:

its not your build its condition damage being broken

with dire gear

my condi damages so far are around this

12-15 bleed=2300 damage per second
burn=2000-2500 damage per second
confusion 10-12 stacks =2000-2500 per action(as engi this is bad cuz kit swap,and tool belt count as actions ontop of all other actions)
poison 500-700 damage per second+ 33% heal reduction
Torment 5 stacks=9k damage in 7-8 seconds

this numbers become way ridiculous when you got 2 guards empowering condi users

Even with 3k condition damage Burning doesn’t even get close to 2000 per tick. Poison doesn’t get anywhere near that amount either.

Not to say condition damage isn’t crazy, but you went a little overboard here

i run 2000 condi damage without might but yes i did miss the burningand poison damage however other than that the rest where not too far off from the damage i get burning is till over 1k per second and poison is about 200

however get some might goin on and this numbers escalate oscenely might does add 875 power and condi at 25 stacks

Would you be able to link me to your amour stats to get that much condition dmg?

Thank you.

Dire/Rabid with Undead runes and Sigil of Corruption and/or Bursting are where you want to be looking for max condition damage. Here’s an example of where you would need to start.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqOGBCVAAQPAAAA+8AAAAA-jkBBYhBkkGITtIasVTFRjVJjIqWpETKAYmGB-w

Luku.6542:

Iv’e been running my updated spec over the last day in WvW, and the changes have made an improvement. and I’d say mainly in my escape ability through rocket boots which in turn help me last longer. I still get chewed up by some players and conditions are still a problem.

I’m not sure on healing turrent, as I find it locks you down to one place so have been switching between a the healing types to try and find a sweet spot. I have not bought AED is this worth looking into?

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

For sPvP the engine is a lot of fun especially with the balances that are set up in that style of play. Warriors are still stupid hard to kill, but I know this from playing my warrior.

Cheers

the key to healing turret is spamming 6 till you see your health go up the 2nd time (or when you see 2 condis fall off), then punching f1. the water field is huge and the blast centers on you (not the turret), so you can be moving the whole time.

i preferred med kit for a long time too… learning to use healing turret is much easier when your on-demand swiftness doesnt come from med kit. i was so used to punching 6 constantly for swiftness. pretty bad habit.

aed is kitten. do not buy. you wait till youre at 30% to start healing, instead of 75%, so you lose anywhere from 3-10 secs on the cd, which is hella long w/o the gadget trait. and then if you cant predict hits correctly you can miss out on the big heal or the reset. turret/kit are so much more reliable.

Hey Luku , you stated your problem are in 1 vs x .
I’ll reapeat you something but i don’t want to descourage you , so keep testing things untill you find what you want.
That told , power rifle for roaming and 1 vs x is really the last thing you can do.

Rifle , coupled with flamethrower and elixier gun (like in your build preview) is the worst choice you can do.
If you want to go roaming with rifle you need BURST.
You have to add some critical dmg to your build/gears :
-(cavalier/celestial/berserker/beryl jewerly);
- coupled with some +precision/crit dmg rune OR something that keep you safe from condition like malandru runes(toughness and -condition/stun duration)
- + precison and crit dmg food OR – condition duration food(if you go for melandru runes)

There are ppls that are able to roam with rifle,like Ukuni and many others.
Here is the link of one of the funniest Ukuni’s video with rifle/granades and HGH:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/HGH-power-nades-wvw-vids/first#post3344443
check it out.
Ukuni also tested some hybrid rifle/condition dmg build and made some video too.
Check his youtube channel , he published more than 1 videos with rifle builds.

Another way to roam with rifle should be rifle/nades 30/10/0/0/30 with melandru runes and leg mods(the X trait in tools you already use in your preview).
You will have a lot of crit dmg , and survive ability.
When i use it i equip my slef with full zerker (or celestial) , cavaliers trinkets , melandru runes , -condition duration food (coupled with the X trait in tools you will be immune to immobilize,chill and cripple).
My utility are healing turret , rocket boots, granades ,elixier S(despite someone told you to don’t use it , if this is the first time you approach WvW i’d suggest you to use it , his toss elixier S with rocket boots is a GREAT way to escape dangerous situations).
It works,but as i already told you , roamers in WvW now use all fotm builds that are really overpowered and Anet is too busy counting the flying sheeps in the sky to fix the balance problems with the right ammount of decision.
Also their update based on sPvP aimed to increase build diversity basically reduce EVERY CLASS build diversity.
The first time you will meet a regen warrior ,a PU mesmer,a condition dmg OR permastealth backstab thief, a condi/ppower bomber necro , you will be death.

In the end : if u want to roam with engy , use a fotm build like other classes do now:the fotm engy build consist in heavy condition spam and the forum and youtube are full of videos of engy condition spammers that roam “like pros” .

Sorry for my english and the wall of text.

theres no reason to be fotm condi build if you dont wanna.

ukuni makes celestial hgh look good

…oh and 1vX is mostly kiting. it can take a lot of practice to figure out what exactly “in too deep” means… you generally only get kills against baddies.

some change sudjested help u
i see to use HT than med kit
change rune and sigile setup
change 10 traits on tool to add on invention to gain some toughness and healing power
change some trait to gain more defensive power (alchemy IV its a life saver)
pistol+shield give 2 sigil on swap (with FT+ TK u swap faster) sigil of energy or hydromancy can do the diference in a fight

Hoelbrek runes, automated response, and lemongrass poultry soup will alleviate any condi concerns you have. Hoelbrek also has great synergy with juggernaut for might stacking.

I would also recommend healing turret, it’s a bit awkward at first but is by far our best heal. And don’t forget about flamethrower 5, it is your best burst defense if elix s is on cd.

And for toss elixer s be crafty… as you toss it strafe one direction then once it lands B -line the opposite way, 99% of players will “chase” in your original direction.

Power wrench might also be a nice option over leg mods, 3 sec block on a 16 second cd is amazing.

Rezzet.3614:

burn=2000-2500 damage per second

You would have to have over 6.5K Condition Damage in your stats to reach this amount of burning per second. Simply not possible.