Guild Wars 2

Hi all!

I lurk like a pro, but now it’s time to engage the community

Like subject states, I will be duo with a thief and trying to theorycraft an appropriate build.

I used to run with moderate success a grenadier/rifle build with runes of svanir – mostly power/toughness oriented with elixir r for svanir stun break/easy rez and elixir c for condition removal. this made me really pretty tanky enough to survive for a long enough time and dish out enough dps aoe with almost perma frost with the runes. This is no longer viable in my opinion because of the nerf to runes of svanir being unable to elixir r out of the iceblock.

My main and most important part of the build is to be survivable, with a secondary emphasis on utility. lastly, dps.

I’ve considered the build from Maskaganda see here which is a pistol pistol build focusing on elixirs and survivability/cond dmg.

Also considered was the tankcat build While this build is great for survival, there is a moderate amount of utility and some dps but in my view high cost for gearing (all invader or cata gear)

Static discharge build seems very difficult to survive with. Healing bombs build seems to do too little damage and I feel doesnt give me much for utility or mobility which is essential for small group.

Does anyone else have ideas about how to gear for this duo that would require me to soak up plenty of damage and provide utility while main dps guns down enemies?

Would love to hear about your builds and how they do in reference to small group or solo play in particular.

============

Would love to see videos in addition to theorycrafting advice, this is one thing that I have not seen a lot of on youtube, a small amount on the boards but I assume is probably just due to lack of popularity playing engineers compared to some other classes?

CHEERS!

Just like to emphasize, in order to maximize play when running small man/solo in W3, dmg is not the priority, survivability is. You will be facing groups of varying sizes (some much bigger than your own) and you need to be able to gtfo or kite-to-fight (rinse and repeat). You will be able to play longer and fight more while you’re still alive.

I small man usually with just a thief on my engineer. Is an interesting duo. He is p/d spec and focuses on condition dmg from bleeds while maintaining almost full stealth which leaves me the primary target vs groups of varying sizes that we attack.

I’ve used a few builds, mostly centered around grenades/rifle. I did try using EG spec with small group, and I found that it’s too unreliable. It’s wonderful for solo/small group if the only enemies you see are solo or duo but I tended to get overrun really easily by bigger groups without my chill/blind grenades. Also, the thief I run with is also condition dmg so I wanted a power build.

This build fully synergizes with my rune set and gives me incredible survivability while still maintaining a decent amount of damage.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcMQFAUlspSY38SiF1LJyoCdGoC5lIFPGl95BblWQIA

While I will eventually switch to power/toughness/vit gear, I’m currently using a full set of carrion gear. I maximize vitality with my carrion gear as well as power. Condition dmg is just a bonus.

My jewelry is all emerald (power, toughness, precision). This mixes me a decent amount of toughness/vitality with gear without grinding for badges for Invader gear or dungeon badges for catacombs gear.

I use the full set of Runes of Svanir. These give me additional toughness and a proc at 25% health. The proc stuns me and makes me invulerable for 5s. Might seem stupid to just stand there stunned, but any skill that broke me out of stun would still maintain the invulerability for the remaining 5s (more dmg while invulerable). This recently got nerfed (if stun gets broken early, we lose the remaining invulerability too – although I haven’t personally tested if this did indeed change) so I may switch out my rune gear (possibly divinity but not sure)

Abilities:
#1 I used elixir R because in a small group or solo, being able to rez yourself or your ally vs varying numbers of enemies (from 1 to multiple full groups) is imperative. The actual stun break is important too as that let me un-stun myself through runes of svanir proc, but also works well against most melee classes or big groups where a stun can be life or death. Yeah, the recharge rate got increased, but it’s still a great skill.
#2 I use slick shoes (I think imperative in small group) which once activated leaves a trail of oil behind you which makes enemies fall when they walk through it (or chase you). The toolbelt gives you an automatic double speed boost for a limited amount of time. This is nice because it ignores combat. Pop the toolbelt and you have immediate speed compared to enemies, and pop ability and when they are chasing you all of them fall anyway. Automatic getaway.
#3 Grenades – With runes of svanir this gave my chill grenades 13s in duration on a 15s cooldown. Great for small groups so you can keep a large number of people chilled/slowed almost at will as long as you can aim correctly. Other than chill grenades, the toolbelt skill grenade barrage (which got a slight buff last patch) is awesome. Lots of dps. People always complain that grenades are hard to use but if you understand that people you’re fighting are trying to engage you and kill you then you can funnel your enemies appropriately and make it really easy to land grenades in the first place (ignoring dodge mechanic).

I use elixir H for heal because it synergizes with my trait spec (20% reduced elixir recharge rate)

Lastly, I use rifle because of the disruption it provides. Having a net shot on a super low cd is amazing for small groups. Also the overcharged shot (knocks backwards). These two abilities are all I use for rifle (sometimes blunderbuss if not too many people). Most time is spent in grenades and I only switch out for net shot or overcharge shot someone and then quickly switch back (can do this like every 5s). Increases your survivability a ton.

Mention about random trait choices:

Speedy kits are a must for the permanent swiftness it provides. Small groups have to have really good mobility in order to stay alive vs all the zergs and bigger roaming groups. Also just helpful for getting around faster.

409 is nice, but has limited effectiveness if you don’t use a full alchemy build. Each throw or elixir use only removes one condition. Elixir R is a get out of jail free and not to be used willy nilly to remove a condition (same with toolbelt ability). This trait can actually be substituted for something more appropriate for your build. — I sometimes switch in cloaking device (first trait line in tools). Adds survivability in small groups when you are the only target.

Would love to hear some feedback if anyone else is running small group/skirmish exclusively. I’m interested in trying bomb/grenades but would miss my elixir R or slick shoes

awesome thread. have been looking for something to get me pumped up about ele again. will try this out. way in depth – really appreciate the effort you’ve put into this