Guild Wars 2

And as a note, feel free to mess around wherever you see fit to make the Charr look more Guardian-y (if that makes any sense). I’m terrible at clothing design, so I feel like I’m not doing myself a favor by just buying out a T3 set and calling it there.

I’ve got a clothing request. I’ve got a Charr Guardian running around with complete T3 armor (with helm hidden). He’s got mainly Midnight Blue dyes with Celestial Dye highlights. I like most of the T3 armor except for the shoulder and feet. Do you think you can toy around with different shoulder and feet armors that make him still look bulky and symmetrical? (The ones I had thought of were T1 and Armageddon, but I’ll leave the choices up to your discretion). Also, if you could maybe toy around with colors just a little bit and keep the cool color pattern going, I’d appreciate it. (If you want any pictures, let me know.

Todd.8162:

It absolutely makes sense that the OS is pulling clock speed to cool the CPU during high temperatures. That’s your answer.

Laptops are not meant for hours of high CPU load. That’s not at all what they are designed for. You can’t expect your laptop to perform well when being used for a purpose that it’s not made for.

Also, throw the “cooling mat” in the trash. All they do is suck on the laptop battery, increasing load and causing more heat. Keeping the laptop on a flat table top with airspace underneath is the best option.

Will some sort of laptop stand do the trick? Not sure how you can keep it on a tabletop AND have airspace underneath it at the same time….

But thank you. I thought this was the answer but a lot of other people seemed to think it was more software related. I guess if there’s anything else I can do to keep the game running smoother, I wouldn’t hesitate to try it.

FlamingFoxx.1305:

And you don’t experience any other kinds of graphical issues in other games?

Nope, no graphical stutters in other games, just GW2.

FlamingFoxx.1305:

Can you do me a favour and check that you don’t have super-sampling enabled in the graphics settings.

It’s set to Native Render Sampling, not Supersampling.

Video link to game performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwIu0RFJ3yU&feature=youtu.be

Sorry for potato quality, I thought it would turn out in something more decent than 360p. I can try reuploading for better quality, otherwise let me know what you think. Read the video description for how I explain the issues I’m having more in depth.

mikeew.8607:

Also do you have Apple care?

Yup, I have AppleCare. I just finished kitten ing on EoTM, but I can go back on and try to record it when it’s happening. I’ll update this with that as soon as I can.

It’s a 128GB Solid State Drive, and I already own a 1TB external. I ran the game off the external for a while, but found out it wasn’t helping load times at all. I would Bootcamp my solid state, but it’s a lot of hassle just to split how much memory my Mac side (which I use for everything else) can use. Plus, I tend to pass games back and forth between my external and my internal a lot to conserve space, so I don’t want to end up boot camping my hard drive, decide not to play GW2 for a while and end up with a useless Windows component on my comp.

Arzo.8671:

Depending on your server, you may have havoc teams or solo/duo players who just run around and mess with the other teams.

I’m on JQ which no doubt has a lot of that running around. I’ll check my guild and see what’s going on there.

Another part of it, I suppose, is that there used to be a group of me and about 5 other friends who would log on on a regular basis and mess around. These days I’m the only one who’s still a loyal fan (since GW days sigh) and they’ve all moved on, so karma and gold farming isn’t as fun as it used to be.

I suppose if I was with a group of friends (even guildies, per se) who were all gold farming, I would have no problem with that, that would be fun, but…meh, what to do.

So…90 degrees Celsius isn’t bad? I heard that’s a bit high for a CPU temperature.

And update on my FPS: when I first logged in, I hovered around 40 FPS. As the game progressed (maybe about 10 minutes into the game) it dropped to about 30, and then to 20. It wouldn’t go any higher, even if I was standing still.

I was still experiencing drag and stutter every now and then (where the graphics would slow down and speed up in small micro-bursts) but they didn’t seem reflected in the FPS count in my options menu.

When I went into combat, my FPS dropped a little more to 15 FPS and hovered around there. They would then return to 20 and not rise or fall at standstill.

Picture at 15 FPS.

IrishPotato.6327:

Legendaries & Ascended Weapons/Armor

Anything that doesn’t require an insane amount of gold farming beforehand? Sure, I can farm about 100g, but then I become really bored with the game (which is where I’m at right now).

Alright, some updates:

1. My stronger video card is running when I play GW2, even when it is stuttering.

2. I have iStat on my MBPro, so I can see how fast my fans are going and what temperature my components are while playing. In mid-game, each fan runs at 6k+ rpms, and my CPU seems to be the overheating culprit. It runs around 80-90 degrees whenever I am in-game, while all others remain in the 30s-40s range (I believe that’s Celsius, no?). I use a cooling mat which runs before and during gameplay. Stuttering seems to appear later into the game. A couple thoughts:

- My CPU is overheating too much and causing sluggishness on my computer.
– Seeing as my fans re running at 6k+ rpms during the game, is it worth it to get SMC fan control? I don’t know if my fans can run any faster.

Hey PHP! This is an odd topic, but a serious one no matter, I want your opinions on it.

I’ve been a GW2 player since the game came out. I’m not a hugely avid player, I usually play in short binge bursts at a time with pauses between, but over time I’ve racked up maybe 600 hrs. of gameplay (not sure if that’s commendable at all or not). But in that time, I’ve gotten 3 lvl 80s (which at this point is enough for me) with two of them fully geared-out. I’ve finished the main story twice, and have gotten lvl 400 Crafting disciplines about 5 times now. I’ve completely explored the map with one character, and explored all WPs on the other two. Nowadays, I either zerg around in WvW or do karma/gold trains in Orr, mainly as a ploy to grab gold and luck for magic find. As I said, I binge play for a few weeks at a time, and then leave the game sit for a couple weeks.

At this point, I’m asking myself “What’s next? What do I want to achieve next?” I’ve become a little bored of hitting all the main bosses, running karma trains or zergging because it’s not gaining me much except gold. Yes, I know that gold can be used for making legendaries, but at the rate I play, it would take way too long for me to make enough gold to start attempting to make a legendary.

So…what are your suggestions for how to keep the game fresh? I do Living Stories and DLC, but that doesn’t usually take too long to complete. Any achievements I should be working toward? Any items or titles worth getting?

I’m not incredibly tech-savy, so advice geared towards a computer novice would help the most.

The problem I’m facing is that I seem to run into random moments of graphical stuttering and glitches that seem to happen sporadically. It’s not like the frame rate drops, but instead frames come in flashes of motion. One moment it will be doing this, the next it won’t.

I’ve tried changing around my graphics settings, using both “Auto-Detect” and “Best Performance” but the issue happens with both regardless. The issue also occurs regardless of server load, so it’s happened in maps with dense player populations, and in maps with no other players. I have very decent internet (12MB/s) so I don’t think that’s the issue.
If you have any good or general fixes that will help the performance of the game, I would greatly appreciate it. I’m more than welcome to answer any specific questions you might have about my game or computer.

I play on a MacBook Pro (late 2011), here are the specs:
2.5 GHz Intel Core i7

8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM

AMD Radeon HD 6770M 1024 MB

Running OSX 10.9.4

128 GB HD (but I barely have anything else on the HD so there’s still lot of free space)

Thanks for your help!

Sure, why the heck not. Let’s go!

Jeknar.6184:

Entaurrus Silver.3820:

I’d like to nominate Juggernatman from Eredon Terrace. He’s from the guild I’m a part of, [KWBH], and when the Juggs gets on, stuff gets done.

As long he’s not drunk…

Indeed.

I’d like to nominate Juggernatman from Eredon Terrace. He’s from the guild I’m a part of, [KWBH], and when the Juggs gets on, stuff gets done.

NevirSayDie.6235:

That was actually a really cool story!

My personal rules for when I’m solo roaming: kill anyone who attacks me, don’t kill anyone running by. Duel anyone asking for one (bowing or jumping) but leave them downed afterward. Take camps and kill anyone who tries to gank me in the back while I’m doing it.

I figure if they don’t want to duel I won’t make them. If they’re out looking for easy kills I feel no remorse killing them. I’m also competitive so I want to play well for my server, but killing RPers doesn’t seem like it needs to be priority 1.

I have to say that now that map exploring isn’t a priority anymore, this is exactly how I play WvW. Territory and server gains are #1. I agree with all you points on meeting other players when roaming.

BUT WHAT IF THEY’RE CARRYING SUPPLIES!?!?!?! Big woop, 10 supplies doesn’t build a ram (a hypothetical point, yes, but one player carrying supplies isn’t a game-changer). I’d rather not waste time with trying to battle an enemy player (and risk dying) when possibly trying to make my way to my own server’s zerg train or to help defend an area from a large enemy group.

And if they’re scouting? Meh, yeah this is true, but think of it this way: if a scout spots a train at a certain tower, they can notify a server commander who can try to catch up with said zerg train. A couple possibilities could play out: 1.) The train can stay in one place, and when the enemy commander comes, slaughter ensues, 2.) The two groups run at roughly the same pace and it takes a bit for the enemy commander to get to the zerg train, or 3.) the scout tries to keep up with the moving train, gets spotted, and slaughter ensues. With the first case, no zerg train is stupid enough to stay in one spot. With the second case, sure we might be trying to take over territory when the enemy commander finally makes it to the train, but don’t we have scouts, too? Shouldn’t we see that commander advancing and be able to adjust movements accordingly? And case three seems the most fun and most likely. So, back to my original point, what if who you pass is an enemy scout? What happens when it’s just a 1v1 situation? Doesn’t seem to make a difference whether you kill him or not. The only way an enemy scout can make a game-changing difference is if your own commanders and server players are completely incompetent, which rarely happens.

TL;DR: addressing those people who claim that being a “care bear” and passing up enemy players instead of taking them on 1v1 for sake of letting a scout or supply-carrier by, those players are not game-changers! Little can be done by one person in WvW!

If you need to pass enemy players in order to join up with a group or a zerg, you maximize your chances at gaining territory and ultimately winning WvW. Just sayin’.

DeWolfe.2174:

WvW isn’t about killing, it’s about territory. It’s about obtaining, building, and defending territory. If you are going to WvW expressly to kill things, then you might be missing the spirit of WvW. Try sPvP as I think you’ll like it more.

….Oh wait, does thinking about what another may enjoy more make me Carebear too??? Oop’s! ;-) haha

You, sir, have it right.

I wouldn’t necessarily agree with those who are bloodthirsty enough to kill anything in their sight. Yes, that IS indeed a method to go about winning WvW, but it isn’t the ONLY effective method. WvW is about territory, not slaughter.

That being said, under its strict definition, I would not call myself a “carebear.” If I find myself with a group and/or against a group, I will fight to the death no matter if we cross paths or if we’re in front of a tower. I still fight in WvW, and I enjoy the mass-scale aspects of WvW.

Just a clarifier, I wrote this article when my main goal was to finish World Map Completion. I have since completed exploration of the World Map, and so since then I have focused less on wandering and obtaining map points while passing other players and more on running with teams to gain territory.

If I wanted 1v1, I would go to true sPvP, not WvW. Well put, DeWolfe.

I’ll admit, I used to hate WvW because I felt stuck in a world full of strangers who wanted to kill me at all costs. And for the most part, that’s true.

One day when I was exploring an enemy borderlands by myself, I came across a boss skill challenge that an enemy player was already attacking. I had made it exceptionally far from my garrison and I didn’t want to die right there when there was so much more to explore. So I tentatively walked up and started killing the boss, too. When the boss died, I had done no damage to the enemy player, and he had done no damage to me. We just stood there.

And then, we started to dance.

While both of us ran off in opposite directions probably saying “Oh God, that guy almost killed me,” it was the best moment I’ve ever had in WvW. I think a lot of times people are so worried about killing each other that we end up ruining someone’s day or making someone ragequit just to get a measly amount of experience or coin.

When I play WvW, here’s how I play it:
- If I am alone and I pass another lone player, I walk right on by. I never instigate, and if they start attacking, I just keep running.
- If I am alone and I pass a small group (2-5), I keep trying to run by, hoping for the best. It’s more likely they’ll kill me. But I wish they didn’t: what could I possibly do to threaten them or any of their team settlements?
- If I am alone and I pass a zerg train: take me, PLEASE. The kill was well deserved.

As such, when I overpower someone, or I am in a group passing a lone player, I will stand back or tell my group to stand back out of respect for someone who’s probably just joined the game and is just looking for some action. Let’s face it: how much experience or WvW points could you possibly hope to get from someone traveling alone?

I want to make WvW an enjoyable place for everyone. A place that’s challenging but exciting, not tedious and impossible (because that’s not fun). This is how I see it: I would rather fight someone who is a part of a zerg train and experience the challenge than fight a lone player for the cheap kill and reward.

I have been playing WvW for a while now: I’ve experienced ups and downs, good times and bad times. WvW CAN be fun. I’ve figured out how to work the system a lot of times, and I’m familiar with good strategies. But I find a lot of times that there’s just a general lack of…recognition. In WvW, we fight other people, not bots or NPCs. Those other people are trying to accomplish things, too. Wouldn’t you hate it if every time you tried to get to a vista, a group camping there kept killing you? Annoying, right?

WvW is about siege and the big battles, not cheap kills. I’m not saying everyone does this, but I’m saying that WvW requires a bit of an..honor code, if you will, to remain enjoyable.

TL;DR – Met enemy player, we danced, respect yo enemy.

Here’s an update for everyone. Go, Eredon Terrace! And thanks to Fergs and GoM for being such good competition!

Cantur Soulfyre.5409:

Good work old frenemies! Is ET going to be green this next reset?

Haha, as much as I love finally having a chance to win in WvW for once, I’ve always associated the ET’s blueish hue with the PvP underdog. I wouldn’t mind staying with blue.

Entaurrus Silver, the Guardian. Definitely my favorite char/charr to play.

I just got finished with an Engineer (with very little satisfaction) and decided to start a Guardian character. I’m mostly running PvE right now, but I plan to go to WvW once that is all said and done.

What are your tips for a Guardian starting out? What traits should I worry about? What builds should I think about running? What strategies should I use? Any general Guardian tips are welcome!

samski.5194:

Here are my two fav grinding spots in game right now….

I can remember visiting both places and noticing a lot of grinding potential…I’ll go back and check them out!

What Orion said i think is right. Do you have the title? Like in your char select screen, does it say you have the World Map Completion title in the top right?

PinCushion.7390:

-Check the Trading Post price for EVERYTHING! You never know when one of your little bags or drops will sell for a lot more than the vendor will give you for it.

This is another good tip that I utilize very often, though I very rarely come across valuable items. How could I ensure that I get more valuable items: magic find? dungeons? WvW?

PinCushion.7390:

-Erase the word “Legendary” from your brain.

Will do. I suppose it pays better to invest in more quality weapons and gear than the shiny ones.

PinCushion.7390:

-If you don’t have a decent job, or are morally against paying money to a “free to play” game, grind out some gold and buy enough gems for a spare bank slot and perhaps a spare bag slot. You’ll be glad you did, as it’ll open up how much junk you can store up until it’s time to sell it or throw it away.

I guess i had never thought of this…I suppose when it comes time to sell, there’s a greater payout, right?

draakdorei.9436:

Gather at every node you see….sell mats once you go over 250 (this is a personal choice as I like to have mats on-hand for crafting items as they go up in value and for stuff like the crafting Monthly)

I assume by “mats,” you mean materials? Like resources for crafting (Side question: is building up crafting abilities worth it?)

draakdorei.9436:

Don’t waypoint around a zone to attend to events after level 50. The WP cost starts getting too expensive for a 3m walk to the next area and you could be gathering mats along the way, killing mobs for random drops or finding other events that suit your purposes better.

I do this all the time and find it’s how I keep gaining money instead of losing money. Still, a very good and easy tip to keep in mind.

draakdorei.9436:

Invest in blue/masterwork MF armor/jewels…4 major/2 minor runes are more cost-effective than a full superior set.

Do you think you could expand on this option a bit? How would I profit from this?

draakdorei.9436:

Talk with your guild leaders about dropping banners for MF, karma and other boosters.
Convert excess karma into 68+ armor/weapons, dump into mystic toilet, sell results on TP.

And maybe this one, too? I’m not too familiar with this method.

Thanks for the great advice!

Fred Fargone.3127:

Well, more stuff for level 80 characters is on the works I think, but meanwhile:

• Fractals & other dungeons
• Legendaries
• Alts
• Crafting
• Ascended stuff (need to do decent amount of dailies / monthlies)

The last thing I want to do is grind and grind all day long. I mean, sure, the payout of Ascended or Legendary gear is always nice, but is very far away.

I have high hopes for what ANet has to bring to lvl 80 characters to keep people interested in the game after they’ve reached that point. Maybe more quests, challenges, and other aspects to narratives that are easy and fun yet challenging to participate in.

What else would you guys like to see available for your lvl 80 characters that might keep you interested?

Do you think you could expand a little more on your Grenades build? Like what other skills your using? I think that could help me better understand what kind of stat boosts would be best.

Also, are you thinking this gear will be for PvE, WvW, more dungeon running, something else?

Good luck on your adventures,
Z

Take a look here:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Map_completion
I think it explains the problems you’re having.

Good luck on your adventures,
Z

I’ve seen compendiums of calculations, logging how to make the best profit selling a head of lettuce. But quite frankly, I would rather spend my time grinding than calculating max profit. Unfortunately, for grinding as a money-maker to work properly, there still requires some savvy marketing skills in order to make the best of the money and items you get in-game.

What are some simple tips you could give players (novice or experienced) that could maximize their in-game profits without making them go insane over calculations?

Fred Fargone.3127:

Entaurrus Silver.3820:

I’m bringing my main character to endgame

You mean “I exited the first town my main character was in”, right? The whole point was that the entire game is “end game”. So people do not need to grind levels to get to the actual content, but rather it is offered since level 1.

Oh, sorry for the misunderstanding. By “endgame,” I mean my char is lvl 80, I’ve nearly completed personal story and I’ve almost achieved world map completion.

I’m bringing my main character to endgame, and right now I’m a bit disappointed with the endgame. Sure, there’s PvP and WvW for those competitive types out there, but what about PvE endgame? What can be done to improve the variety, playability and excitingness of PvE endgame?

I’m dangerously close to, in my opinion, completion of my character. He is level 80, world map completion is almost done, and my personal story is almost over. I’m preparing myself for endgame. Here are my options:

1. Grind for money to get better armor and weapons
2. Play in dungeons.
3. World vs. World vs. World
4. PvP

So…that’s it? The last thing I want to do is grind, there’s not always enough people online to do dungeons, and WvW and PvP get boring after a while. I suppose I could potentially start a new character…but that would only be half as exciting as it was to bring my first character to completion.

First, am I missing anything? Is there more to do in endgame than I have listed?

Second, shouldn’t there be more variety in endgame? Isn’t that where the fun should really start? When you’ve got great armor and weapons, you have a strategy, and it’s time to test the experience against quests that take you all across Tyria? Quests you can do by yourself or with groups of friends? Something more than Dynamic events which, at this point, I’ve come to realize are just like quarters on the ground: lucky if you find them, but it’s not worth your time searching for them. Maybe a merchant in Lion’s Arch wants to do business with…a vendor in Timberline Falls!

There should still be PvE action even in the endgame for those of us who get bored too easily of PvP and WvW. Something more regular than monthly events and narratives.

What do you guys think?

Navarat.2649:

Just want to share my screenshots from Black Citadel

I nearly made this photo my wallpaper: it’s just so boss.

Something goes bump in the night.

Your first couple points are a lot of bugs that I’ve noticed as well. Combat in general still needs a lot of work, but Flamethrower seems at a disadvantage in terms of intuitiveness. Also, I notice, with stationary objects that take damage, that the Flamethrower misses after a full auto-attack, even if it is aimed directly at the object. It will continue to do damage after this, but it is still annoying. Really needs to be fixed.
I’m bad at aiming in mid-combat, so I don’t use grenades (I feel like it takes my focus away from mobility). I never understood bombs much….
CC or more power. With less bugs. I think Flamethrower would be much more enjoyable this way.

My Engi: Val Ekk. He loves Golems and Flamethrowers. A lot.

Fun Fact: He still refers to his Golem as the “M.O.X.”

I like the armor mod idea. It’s more akin to what an Engineer would do: wear strange mechanical devices for armor that have a special ability when you press a button. That would be a great fix.

So, based on your logic…the flamethrower shines when dealing with groups of enemies, which, ironically, is where the Engineer performs the poorest and dies the fastest. So, if I understand you correctly, it’s a great PvP and WvW weapon in big crowds, and improves upon one of the Engineer’s greatest weakness?
I’m not sure I quite follow your logic on the first part….

I agree with some of your fixes. It would be nice if #2 was a blast finisher, and I suppose #4 could use some help. But I see it more like this:
I still use skill #5. A lot. Whenever I get stunned, paralyzed or dazed, #5 is usually my savior from being totally suckerpunched. It kind of stalls the battle for me so I’m not at a disadvantage. Instead, I would say that the elements of your “Melting Ground” idea would be a great fix for the Napalm Wall. I feel very limited trying to set a straight line as an AoE on an enemy, one which it is very easy for NPCs to maneuver out of. Instead, I like the idea of a burn AoE that has at least a wider radius (and maybe still potential for combos…?).
In terms of burn overlap from the Flamethrower main attack and Napalm Wall: yeah, that kind of sucks. I wish burns would stack, honestly. That would make the Flamethrower a boss. But as for right now…I kind of see the main attack as a broken-up series of burns, and the Napalm Wall as a continuous burn. I guess the wall is just a step up in burning abilities is all (provided the NPC can stand still).

I’ve been playing PvE for a long time with the Engineer, and while I’ve settled on a strategy that I can be proud of, there’s still some tweaking that I feel need to be made. Below is a link to my build (please copy and paste into a new tab/window):

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fcQQJAqelspicnuSrF19ISIFS49B6BghX31HF038B;T8AAzyrEWJtSdlyKqvMfJ+y+l7L5XDCOEMzA

My general strategy revolves around Flamethrower and the Juggernaut. I use this a lot to boost Toughness and Might during the game. In battle, I will usually only switch out to my pistol or Tool Kit for protection (shields n stuff), CC (Static Shield), or Confusion (Static Shock, Pry Bar). I’ve become very used to Flamethrower skills, and I like how it takes care of groups of enemies a lot better than other kits do (sans Grenade Kits, but I’m not good at aiming).

I’m an Asura, so I use the D-Series Golem. For a non-Asura, I would suggest Supply Crate. I use Elixir B just as a general quick stat boost, a lot of times in succession of Pry Bar or Static Shock.

I’ve been going back and forth between Elixir H and the Healing Turret: I like Elixir H because of its stat boosts, but I don’t like its long cast time or cooldown time. I like the Healing Turret because, if I pick it up right away, it only has 15s cooldown. Any input?

Traits are a little bit of a wash for me: I’ve been trying to go for a Precision-Toughness-Condition Damage build, but I’m not too confident in it. I welcome any and all feedback on how I should change it to help the strategy I’m going for.

I would also suggest a cooling mat (preferably with fans). This draws a lot of the heat out, and not only boosts performance but also your computer’s lifespan.

My advice is to find a strategy that works for you. The one thing I hate most is when people suggest a strategy and the only reason I can’t use it well is because I struggle to perform the strategy. No strategy is good without good execution. This is especially the case with Engineers, who have many potential strategies at their disposal, but none is really “meta,” OU or prime. Find a good strategy that you can be comfortable with and you can execute to it’s full potential without troubles, and run with it. That’s my advice.

This is how I see it:
In a dungeon, Engis are the unfortunate souls who aggro. Simple as that. This means we’re probably downed first. CC is where we must shine in order to let other more powerful classes (Ele, Guardian, etc.) do their work.
My tips are this:
1. Toughness, Vitality, Healing Power. You can’t choose all of them, but really focus on one or two of them. You’re going to need as much bulk as you can get when aggroing out there. In my opinion, I’d much rather prefer Toughness, especially because maxing out the Toughness trait not only gives good trait abilities, but also grants nice Healing power as well.
2. Engineers have the great potential to inflict A LOT of conditions in a short period of time. This being said, it helps in the long run to focus on Condition Damage and Condition Duration. While being somewhat tank-ish yourself, you save yourself a long, grueling battle by constantly crippling the foe (DPS becomes key when dealing with bosses in dungeons).
3. Work out your own strategy. There’s no guaranteed method to winning: every Engineer needs to find the way they play best and most comfortably. You can focus on another trait (Precision, Power), focus on a certain tool kit (Flamethrower, Elixir Gun) or a combination, or go all-around. I’m working on a Juggernaut Flamethrower Precision and Toughness build: while not practical for normal PvE, it comes in quite handy for CC in dungeons.
4. Be smart. Play smart. Know ho to move in battle. Dodge actively and effectively. Use skills at the right time. Swap kits a lot to take advantage of a large and easily accessible skill set. Jump out of that AoE! Run when it is necessary, and stand your ground when you need to finish to the end. In GW2, timing is key in big battles, and it pays to be an active participant in battle, as strategies become more effective, and you’ll find yourself lasting much longer in battle.
Hope this helps!

nakoda.4213:

/facepalm

it’s “make do.”

one is a noun, the other a verb.

I was never good at grammar. Nice catch. ;D

Let’s face it, fellow Engineers: we’re not getting any significant upgrades or fixes anytime soon. That means it’s our responsibility to fabricate from what we have strategies that can tackle the major problems we’re facing. I want to make this a major discussion thread where I get your feedback on these issues and then add good strategies to the top post for everyone to see. Here’s some of the problems I have been experiencing in general:

PvP and WvWvW:
I’m not big into the PvP scene, but I know a lot of other Engineers are (or try to be). With a lot of bigger classes out there, mainly Thieves, Guardians and Eles, it’s hard for Engis to compete.
1. What the heck do we do? What kind of builds can we use to keep competitively sharp? I’ve seen a good Pry Bar Tank build out there that could be somewhat useful, but only to a certain extent.

2. What is our place as an Engineer in PvP? From the abilities and perks given to us, where do we best perform on the battlefield to help our team, and when do we know to let other classes take over the fight?

- aydenunited says: Engineers should invest their time and resources in crowd control, roaming and bunkering when it comes to PvP.

PvE (and other problems in general):
1. How do we deal with large numbers? Wherever to fight, you’re sure to find out that taking down a single enemy (most likely up to Champion status) is pretty easy on your own. But just adding a couple more enemies with greater DPS power upon you quickly shifts the scales in your opponent’s favor. A couple options:
a. Flamethrower! A good DPS Tool Kit that can deal a lot of damage to many enemies at once. Unfortunately, it is very easy for more active players, especially Thieves, to just dodge around the cone.
b. Splash Damage! Good kits like Grenades and Bomb Kits can easily do a lot of area and splash damage to groups of enemies. It seems, however, that using these alone will not do the trick a majority of the time.
c. Raised Vitality and Toughness stats? It seems like maxing out Alchemy and Inventions, and investing in Superior Runes of the Dolyak and other good item bonuses would help with the whole Tank strategy, but a lopsided Engineer loses a lot of its effectiveness when competing.

- Toolbox says: Tool Kit’s Magnet Ability should help thin out enemy crowds.

2. How do you deal with everyone attacking you at once? It’s bad enough that handling large numbers isn’t an Engineers strong suit, but when enemies decide to target you instead of that awesome Guardian at the front line, you’re pretty much toast. Engineers weren’t built to be targets at all! We’re better at the back of the line, or moving back and forth while varying tool kits. So how do we avoid being a target?

Please leave your questions, comments, solutions, builds and other discussion topics below. I’ll be actively adding your contributions to the top post, so come back often!

I’m really relieved that it can be useful when used correctly. I’m glad I’m headed in the right direction! In response to aydenunited, the pistol/shield is exactly what I’m running, and I’m glad that having to constantly switch back and forth is probably a bad thing when on the offensive.
My other question had to do with the Tool Kit. I’ve been messing around with Pry Bar lately and I like the added advantage I get from Elixir B. Is it probably best that I switch out of Flamethrower just to get the Pry Bar advantage, and maybe a gear shield in a pinch, but switch back right away? Would that be a good strategy?
Also, just curious: how competetive would this strategy be in PvP and WvW?

I am running a 10/30/0/30/0 Engineer right now in PVE and I really like using a maxed out Firearms trait line. One of the traits that becomes available, then, is Juggernaut: “You gain 200 toughness while wielding a Flamethrower. In addition, gain might for 15 seconds every 3 seconds, as long as you remain in this weapon kit.” I like using this trait in PVE every now and then, but I can’t evaluate how useful it is, and whether it’s a good choice to keep the trait or not. Here’s how I see it:

Pros: When I equip my Flamethrower, an integral but not central part of my skill set strategy, I gain up to 5 stacks of Might, and when paired with Elixir B and Hidden Flask, up to 7 (sometimes even beyond that). This will usually put my Engineer at a level where it can handle almost any challenge on its own (aside from Champions and Group Events). In addition, I gain a large amount of resistance with the increased Toughness, an attribute I have otherwise disregarded in an attempt to maintain greater Precision and Vitality.

Cons: I am very limited to the Flamethrower. My Engineer is simply not as effective when my Flamethrower is not equipped. Sure, I can use my Flamethrower up to 5 stacks of might, use some skills, switch around between my Tool Kit and my regular pistols and come back, but by then almost all, if not all, my might has gone away. This seems to be the biggest downside to Juggernaut, as my Engineer loses most of its versatility.

Any thoughts? Should I keep Juggernaut, use it every now and then, or get rid of it completely? Should I be running a different trait (or set of traits) for the Firearms trait line? I appreciate all comments concerning this topic.

I wanted to sell all my Christmas presents on the Black Lion Market (only about a hundred of them) for 1 gold apiece, figuring that I could just leave them there and over time the price of presents would rise. Little did I know that when I had posted this, the listing price was pretty high. I had lost nearly all my money doing this. So, to get my money back, I decided I would remove the items from listing and go pick them up. However, when I went to pick up the presents, I did not get my money back. To me, this is ridiculous. Shouldn’t I get the money I paid back if the items didn’t sell? I realize it is a “listing price,” a price for listing regardless of whether the items get bought or not, but had I known that it would cost so much to list these items and I would be out of a substantial amount of money for a long time, I would not have done it in the first place. Shouldn’t we be reimbursed for these mistakes, at least? Let me know what you guys think.