Guild Wars 2

i started reading the forums lately to become a better engi, a faster combo dropper, a more optimal kit switcher. but i keep reading that the one thing standing between me being a fearsome engi and just a trigger happy drunk is that i “learn the game inside out”. that is, for those whom the concept of “fearsome engi” isn’t directly opposing their religion.

well, fine. let’s learn this game inside and out then. but all of the lemming zergs, all of the glitch exploiting pugs… fearsome engis, is there a better way to learn this class than exploding / setting moas on fire in-between build resets?

It’s pretty much experience, in my opinion.
Get in over your head, and learn to thrive in situations you wouldn’t expect to survive to begin with. Learning the game inside out is nice and all, and maybe it’s important for, say, sPvP, but theory does nothing if skill is lacking.

Yea the best way to “understand” the class is to play arround with the skills, kits, traits and weapons, see what they do in action and combine skills. Like one of the things i learned to love is my rifle´s “net shot to keep the enemie in place\jump shot a little bit before it.. but still in the aoe radius\blunderbuss right in the face\overcharged shot to send em flying” combo. Hits like a truck.. tell ya XD
Experience comes with the time, just enjoy your game and experiment till you find what works best for you… or look up some vids how the pros do it or look up builds that work for a lot of people and salvage what you need from them. Rest comes natural over time. I had the fortune to level up with friends that all picked different classes for their mains.. so we had a lot of fun trying stuff with the combo fields and blast finishers and how they can affect the group or just a different class with that you work together. Just take it easy and play along

Look for challenges that you know you could overcome if you do it right. Megaserver population might make it a bit hard to find and solo content, but there is something to be learned in teamplay too. Avoid zergs if you want to learn.

Harder to reach champions, elites and veterans are a good start. Or larger nameless mobs where your AoEs shine best. Look for enemies that do more than just rush up to you and try to hit you in melee.

Giants are usually strong enough to keep you challenged. Slow enough to dodge their attacks, telegraphed well enough to know what move killed you. Risen giants also summon grubs, so you have a bit of crowd-fighting as well. With the living giants, they are mostly champions tied to events, and as such you will probably get help before you take them down to 50% health (with megaservers you will get help without asking for it) Risen giants are mostly veterans, and can be solod easily, few stop their usual mining routines to help with them.

Experiment with builds. You can do that freely now, and you dont need to change gear for the learning process. Once you have a circulation spot on, challenge it with more daring solo attempts. Or move on and make another build. While you practice, dont use meta builds. Creating your own builds, planning ahead what synergizes with what (and seeing it work or not) will teach you better.

Thats my advice. Works with any profession tbh.

I think the best way to “master” a class is to put a lot of time into it. And use diffrent builds/traits/skills to find out what works well. Putting a lot of time in it probably doesnt mean 1 month. This can be up to several months and it probably never ends in getting better with your class.

Recently i started pvp ing with a mesmer instead of always going with engineer. But im playing so horibad, i cant seem to do anything right But i guess thats normal. Just need to learn how and when to use skills and how and when to move/dodge. When you can/cant engage and all those tiny things togehter that make you “master” any class.

Well what i really can suggest to try is the queens gauntlet while its open. Get yourself a bucket of the tickets and then go in and fight the guys. Compared to the other content (atm) these guys kick you so hard into the balls till they are swollen like melons if you cant dodge roll, know how to use your kits and other stuff and dont use the right traits. But the good thing is, you get insta rezed there by an NPC, a blacksmith is a few steps away, you fight harder and harder guys, the arena is yours and yours alone for the battle and the enemie delivers more then a champ.(in my opinion atleast)

The ‘fearsome engineers’ don’t play so well because they know their class so good, they play well because they know the enemy’s builds. The Engineer profession isn’t that hard in the end, it just feels hard because you need to be able to respond to an enemy’s his moves while with (some) other professions you can simply continue your combo and still do well.

smallbears.6402:

i started reading the forums lately to become a better engi, a faster combo dropper, a more optimal kit switcher. but i keep reading that the one thing standing between me being a fearsome engi and just a trigger happy drunk is that i “learn the game inside out”. that is, for those whom the concept of “fearsome engi” isn’t directly opposing their religion.

well, fine. let’s learn this game inside and out then. but all of the lemming zergs, all of the glitch exploiting pugs… fearsome engis, is there a better way to learn this class than exploding / setting moas on fire in-between build resets?

How I learned to play the Engie was to grab a tanky build and go to town on the 5 Lord NPCs in the mists. I kept throwing my head at them until I killed all of them whilst surviving their attacks. This will help you learn to play tanky builds but also teach you how to position yourself in a fight. It will also tell you who is the most dangerous when it comes to targets you should focus. (
That’s step one. Step two is taking a build and learning all it’s tricks. For instance; With a Rifle, you can cancel cast jump shot by equipping and un-equipping a kit and with a Rifle/Bomb Kit combo, you can jump shot out of a smoke bomb and still be invisible even if you hit someone with it. These little nuances will differentiate you from a normal everyday spamming engie.