Guild Wars 2

what do you think of toolkit ? sometime i find it difficult to use except for combo 5,3 and block 4 but in every build i do i take it with me becouse i feel i need always it. what are your feelings ? (pvp /pve )

#1: Does okay damage but nothing rifle can match and useless without power. The only time I do prefer it is when I know a thief/mes is near me invisible and I need a chain attack to smack em.

#2: At one time used to be worth the long cast time but became horrid when its bleed/cripple duration was halved. Easily the worst tool kit skill.

#3: The almighty pry bar works wonders in both power and condition builds. Speaking against it is sacrilege.

#4: Awesome block is awesome.

#5: Good range, can be used to interrupt, or pull back fleeing opponents or even both at the same time. Its obvious animation leaves room for counter play though.

Overall I think the tool kit’s pros outweight its cons. 3/5 useful skills and one mediocre skill is not shabby at all. I just wish #2 would be underfed though.

i prefer it to ft and i prefer it to eh too even if i prefer eh to ft

Penguin.5197:

#1: Does okay damage but nothing rifle can match and useless without power. The only time I do prefer it is when I know a thief/mes is near me invisible and I need a chain attack to smack em.

#2: At one time used to be worth the long cast time but became horrid when its bleed/cripple duration was halved. Easily the worst tool kit skill.

#3: The almighty pry bar works wonders in both power and condition builds. Speaking against it is sacrilege.

#4: Awesome block is awesome.

#5: Good range, can be used to interrupt, or pull back fleeing opponents or even both at the same time. Its obvious animation leaves room for counter play though.

Overall I think the tool kit’s pros outweight its cons. 3/5 useful skills and one mediocre skill is not shabby at all. I just wish #2 would be underfed though.

I still think Box Of Nails has a lot of good uses in PvP and WvW. It’s a great escape and on point snare.

It’s utility is great, I admit its auto attack has no functionality aside from cleaving through clones or whittling away at stealthed thief’s. But every other skill has its purpose, even if it is a mild one for example Box of Nails has decent synergy with Explosive shot when set on a point because of its poor bleed application and Explosive Shots poor bleed application you combine them and almost have a decent condition. The Box of Nails also is fantastic to lay before you Magnet Pull as well as when kiting several pesky foes/pets because this is one of the few fields in the game that has NO effect circle display. So on most terrain enemies won’t even know there’s a crippling bleeding field in front of them making it invaluable for quick escapes.

The tool belt ability, although seemingly less useful in condition heavy builds is a great way to put on Vulnerability onto foes as a means to cover up your more valuable burns and Poisons. It’s unique projectile path enables you to strike enemies who hide behind obstacles and cleave several opponents across uneven grounds, hell it’s even possible to hit enemies who have fallen into a platform completely below you as the Wrench will stay at the lowest point of its flight path dropping off ledges and striking foes beneath.

In conclusion: All in all the Tool Kit is just defensive enough to take while also added a walloping Pry Bar giving it a very moderate position in most builds as like its name suggest.. It just brings vague tools to every fight, how you utilize them in every situation is up to the Engineers. Tool Kit is easily a staple amongst many popular Hot Join/Tourney Builds where versatility is more important than raw damage increases.

I use it for my condition build and I like the toolkit. Great defense, nice damage and a lot of utility

I use it with my power build (only kit I actually run). really like how it works for me in wvw

I can only speak to the usefulness of it in PvP, but here are the reasons I use it on most of my Engineer builds:

- Escape & Fight Reset. A well-placed Box of Nails (in a bottleneck such as narrow path or doorway), particularly when combined with Speedy Kits, means you should be able to get away from almost anything. Gear shield completes the escape to negate any ranged damage your opponent might do while they’re busy eating your dust.

- Gear Shield. This block is invaluable both for bunkers and glass alike, and I use it on both for the burst protection it offers.

- Magnet is essential in my main (Static Discharge) build. Though its knockdown is usually less ideal than what is available from Overcharged Shot, the latter cannot be used in all situations (and Magnet doesn’t punish with a self-knockback). Minionmasters, Mesmers and the like need to be placed in front of their clones and minions rather than behind for an SD combo to work, and generally Magnet is the only way to achieve this quickly and efficiently. It also cancels out almost all shield block abilities, including other Engis’ Gear Shield. Useful for yanking down free-casting DPS from ledges above-point, interrupting stomps, revives and heals, etc.

- Pry Bar smack hurts like hell. Five stacks of Confusion is pure gravy.

- Overall CC on this kit compliments Rifle builds in every way — for the rifle’s push, TK offers a pull, for its immob, TK offers a cripple. Most bases are neatly covered between the two with regards to CC type.

- It works as an effective cleave on stealthed enemies, and is great for body-beating when someone is attempting to revive a downed opponent as the chain smacks will hit both at once. It also rips through enemy trebs and gates faster than projectiles (assuming you’re not using Nades or Bomb Kit).

- Worthwhile for both power and condition builds, as opposed to other kits which heavily favour conditions over direct damage.

- Skyhammer trolling. ’Nuff said.

The problems with this kit have already been mentioned — the final stroke of the chain autoattack is slow and cumbersome, the animations are glaringly obvious, and cast times on all abilities are sluggish. Still, this kit is a favourite and incredibly versatile once you’ve grown accustomed to it, and I believe its pros more than outweigh its cons in most situations.

(Sorry if this post seems out of date for the replies, my internet was out all day after I wrote it and I had to wait…)

I like the kit.
5 stacks of confusion and a big hit is great.

But, overall, I just don’t enjoy melee (maybe because I am old and slow or slow and old hmmm).

Plus, in terms of play, while it is a great kit with an exceptional block and attack in pry bar, it just never really makes it long on my toolbar because:

1. Bombs are better (and you can drop them farther back)
2. Grenades are just amazing with condition builds (and even power builds) when you finally learn to throw them where the target will be vs is.
3. E- Gun is another really good kit with an insanely good autoattack.

Ultimately it is about what is best at which range. Toolkit is a melee range kit. I find the defense of the shield (not gear shield) adequate. And I find that bombs are more flexible in playstyle. Hard smack. . . bomb auto. Need to escape, glue bomb is better as is a smoke for blind/stealth on blast combo. Burning and freezing. Plus, so much procs off explosions vs tools. But the key is that bombs are AE and still serve most of the core functions of tool kit (and the F2 is sooo much better with bombs).

In fact, if I had a 4th utility slot, I am not sure I would run toolbelt over say rocket boots. But that is where the real debate for me would be.

Now, can you make a great build with tool kit and say SD? Absolutely.
Is the magnet a whole lot of fun when ganking stragglers? No question.
Do I love a 4 second block? Panting like a dog.

Ahh, engineers and opportunities!

Bombsaway.7198:

1. Bombs are better (and you can drop them farther back)

What does it mean, drop them further back? Further back than what?

“Better” meaning what, exactly?

Bombsaway.7198:

3. E- Gun is another really good kit with an insanely good autoattack.

No argument, stacking Weakness and Bleed is awesome. Except try and kill an enemy treb in SPvP, or a quest object in PvE with only an Elixir Gun and a pistol. See you next year! ;P It also lacks the cleave that Engineer cannot achieve with any of its held weapons (choices being only rifle, pistol and shield — no true melee without TK, Bomb or Nade Kit).

Bombsaway.7198:

Need to escape, glue bomb is better as is a smoke for blind/stealth on blast combo.

Except that combo blast finishers are on longer CDs, Box of Nails recharge is at 10 seconds — compared to Glue Bomb’s 25 seconds, and Glue Bomb does not apply the additional condition damage via bleed. Smoke Bomb also has a 25s CD and a 3s blasted stealth combo still isn’t likely to put as much distance between you and your enemy as the cripple off Nails, especially when used in conjunction with Speedy Kits. Hell, even Gear Shield is on a lower CD than the 25s Glue and Smoke bomb that you recommend — GS only has 20s CD.

I’m not trying to poo-poo Bomb Kit, Elixir Gun, or any other kits available to Engineer by any means. Bomb Kit is awesome for AoE condi pressure and combo field setup. Tool Kit is for high CC, modest cleave on builds with no other cleave, and a wicked 5x confusion wallop. Saying one is “better” than the other shows a lack of understanding of the roles of these kits.

Both kits are good and you can build on either. I just personally find that a lot of what I could accomplish with the toolkit, I can do better with bombs save the defensive/trick pull side.

With larger radius trait, I can run outside melee range and drop bombs while running in and out of potential harm’s way. Toolkit’s damage is really smackdown melee range. Both do high damage so I find being able to stay out of combat a bit more is better.

The key to the difference in box of nails vs others is looking at all the ways you have to slow down the enemy. You really have to look at what you across the kits you take.
For me, the difference is whether I take bombs or toolkit.

1. Glue shot (pistol 2 if you take it). I do not.
2. Glue bomb
3. Elixir F (8 seconds with bounce is my primary get out of dodge skill). You can use that with the leapback. Very similar benefit to box of nails for me.
4. You also have a chill with grenades.

Blind works because you have both Grenades and the bomb blind so it works into providing a quick 2 blind combination and that really helps with getting away at least when you are slow like me

So I feel that I have quite enough ways to slow down the enemy without box of nails which is a fine skill.
I feel I get a bit more help with a second blind (I would use the grenade blind either way. Now I have 2 upfront).

The key in my opinion is how do you want to do damage? I just find being out of melee is better and having burn (which puts a large hurt on even in a power build because it stacks duration not intensity) is extremely beneficial.

What I definitely feel I lose with the toolkit is the 4 skill. But I feel largely ok because I have a shield and can block non-melee.

The pull skill is great in so many special circumstances (keep you out of keep, knock you off wall, pull you to group ganking). But in general, I just want you to stay away from me.

Blast finishers are on a longer cooldown, but how many times do you need to blast thru smoke or fire to have an impact on a fight or to get away? Sure stealth for 3 seconds isn’t by itself going to be an escape, but when you blind them 2x, or cripple them and then smoke out it works better. I tend to smoke out when I am a bit away from the enemy but fearing they may have a ranged CC and I need a bit of extra room.