Guild Wars 2

Hey community,

Was wondering what are some ways to beat condi engies in the open world scenario as good ones seem almost impossible to chase / burst before getting kited to hell.

I’m currently running runes of the pack, mix of knights and zerk for stats, running GS (air fire) + Sword/sceptre Focus (Air+ energy). They’re the only class I seem to be having any major trouble against so any kind of tips and hints would be nice.

I occasionally run hammer, but usually only when in a small party.

kiters will always be a hard fight. asuming you are a medi guard, use your JI to teleport to them but dont open with GS 2. Use GS 5 instead when you JI on them. So that even if they dodge, you can still pull them back and follow up with GS 2.

If they try to move further, use GS 4 then GS 3 for retaliation to close the gap. Then swap to hopefully a scepter and bind them.

After that it is just range them as much as you can before going back to GS ONLY when your JI has finished its CD.

If you switch back to GS with your JI still unavailable, you will probably fail to sustain any sort of damage on them.

Might be good to know your traits/utilities as well.

Knights and zerk stats will give you a low vitality, so you’re naturally weak to high condition pressure. As such, you’ll need to make sure to get the most out of your condition cleanses. If you’re running a typical meditation setup, you’d want to keep an eye out for when the burning from the engineer procs. If you pop your CoP too early, it could lead to them just reapplying the burning almost right away.

You’ll also have to pay attention to what sort of utilities they use as there’s quite a few varieties of condition builds. In particular, you should probably note whether or not they have the bomb kit, grenade kit, or slick shoes, as you might not want to approach all those with the same strategy.

Also watch out for things like perplexity runes. Typically the engineer will be using a shield if they’re using perplexity runes, so just keep an eye on your confusion stacks. As with burning, just try not to pop your condi cleanses too early since the confusion can last a long time.

Other than that, just get your self some of that overpowered soup to counteract their overpowered pizza.

Traits I’m running the balanced set up
2/1/6/1/4 for the Absolute resolution’s better passive regen and condition clear.
Although sometimes I go 4/0/6/3/1 when running a sceptre.

Thanks for the feedback btw. Also, I was thinking of Switching runes of the Pack to Traveller’s or Hoelbrak. Is that a good move? Packs gives me the occasional combat boost in speed/ fury, but even then I find myself struggling to keep up to the better kiters. Should I disregard the sword altogether?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQNAR7flsApaodDxcI8DRR8gkTlBmgXyr/FMHA-TlCFABAcFAKUVjrUCikyPBeAAGqWQN7PkmuhEVBZhDCApAiYZE-w

Traveller runes might not be a bad idea since you get the reliable passive movespeed instead of having to rely on swiftness procs, though the pack runes are still a good choice. I’m not sure how Hoelbrak runes would really work out since you’d lose all your movespeed, although it would depend on the particular encounter. Either way, the engineer will still likely have perma stability, so it’ll be tough to keep up with them either way. Only other thing you could do is try to save your immobs for when they’re trying to back off.

As for sword vs. scepter, I haven’t really played with the scepter enough to really give a recommendation there. It would allow you to play in a more defensive fashion, whereas using sword and greatsword both require you to be going in all the time if you want to do damage. So if it’s kiting that seems to be giving you trouble, that might be the better choice. If nothing else, the immob can allow you to set up more reliable JI-BB combos.

Easy answer?

Don’t chase them. If they’re running from you, its because they nearly died and know they can’t fight you. Don’t let it phase you and move on.

Better answer?

Never. Ever. Use. Sword. Ever. This is because it is so kitten easy to kite. The scepter, on the other hand, is very reliable up until 6-700 range which when strafing our shots becomes very possible. Also, never open with JI or even with your GS. I’d recommend you always start with your scepter/focus. Drop smite without chains and dps for a bit and then move closer. Once you’ve gotten close enough, drop chains and swap to GS and pop WW. If they haven’t cleansed the immob/leaped away, keep auto attacking. They’ll eventually try to use a gap opener, which is when you use JI + BB + SoW + WW. If you time your blocks and blinds properly, you can more or less walk out of this fight without even having to use renewed focus.