Guild Wars 2

With the changes to kit refinement in bombs, I want to give it another try. However, to maximize the elixer-infused bomb traits, I want to get as much healing as possible (and probably get elixer gun for second kit for more support). Anyways, I was wondering what prefix would you suggest? Apothecary or Cleric? Or a mix of both? I generally use pistol/shield (working towards quip).

The current engineer meta revolves around going mixed condition/direct damage. So, whereas a few months ago you were best off with explosives, rifle and cleric gear, now you scale much better with condi HGH builds.

I go for rabid gear and cleric trinkets now. I wouldn’t want to go full Apothecary gear because you’d definitely kitten your already low damage (Thanks versatility tax ). I’ve found that for PvE bombs it’s a good mix for survival (vit+toughness), damage (power+Condi) and healing.

Recently though I’ve wondered if it’s worth it when I compare my build to HGH builds. The thing is, healing bombs don’t scale too well with healing power (only ever getting them up to 340 with healing gear) and burst is key in this game. In open world PvE you’ll never die with my set up (especially if you cart around med-kit), but in dungeons you lack damage and burst heals.

I’ve always been of the opinion that healing bombs are still a little lackluster (even though I’ve used them for months on end). I’ve come up with stuff like this:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/nerf-healing-on-bomb-1/first#post1711329

So if I’m honest, I’m probably going to drop healing bombs within the next month. They’ve formed my favorite builds since before the grenade nerf, but are too weak to justify. You’re better off just avoiding damage all together than trying to heal it, so I’d suggest trying out a HGH condi-nades build and getting really good a dodging.

I used bombs a few times in dungeons, but eventually just went guardian.

It wasn’t too bad. I didn’t have the protection buff hammer guards get, my self healing was way behind warriors and guards, but as a support/off tank it was more than viable.

but without kit refinement/elixir gun it’s just one more spec that they ruined.

Hammer guard plays almost the same way if that’s your playstyle.