Guild Wars 2

Note: I am a WvW focused player. My setup and tactics may epic fail for endgame PvE.

Turrets are tricky to get down right. You must spec into invention line so they are any bit useful at all. Like everyone said, their long CD makes them a tough use. With some skills, turrets can become a nice addition to your DPS.

I use rifle because of the quick CC options it has to counter any stealthers I run into. A ranged KB and ranged root has a lot of utility that I just don’t find in pistols.

I normally run with a Rocket Turret and Rifle turret ( decent range and DPS) , Elixir B and the supply drop elite skill for the healing turret and flame/net turrets. Rocket and rifle add 2 more burst DPS options in your hotbar when the turrets aren’t built. If I am roaming and not setting up an attack or defensive positions I love the extra DPS skills added. Although if I know I will be part of a roam I just swap to flamethrower for laffs.

I use Elixir H instead of a healing turret because I feel the healing turret is just still too weak to be useful. Elixir H’s random bonus can really help out. If need be, I will drop one down with my elite skill during some WvW to get some heals up. Elixir H also has a gtaoe skill so you can throw the potion to heal some allies in its splash radius.

Lastly, It really is about positioning. In WvW I cant just slap down some turrets on the front line and afk. Our guild has been using engies to “entrench” a flank against an enemy force. You can drop up to 4 offensive turrets and 1 support turret that have decent tank ( if specced). All that extra firepower and CC going downrange and weak heals can allow a small group to hold out longer against a larger force.

Story Time
For example, One of our keeps was under siege, we were just roaming to take down other players and supply convoys. We decided to go and help because they seemed to be losing it and we were nearby.

We got there and the enemy zerg (of about 30) was still pounding on the outer door and just put a ram up. Being the old DAOC (dark age of camelot) veteran, I saw a golden opportunity. The 5 of us ran at their rear, I threw down turrets, our mesmer did that weird clone thingy and the 5 of us started to take down their rear casters and healers.

We only maybe killed 2 of them before the front line noticed their heals have stopped. The friendly dozen or so inside the keep took this moment to rush out and take down their front. Eventually our combined force of ~15 players took down a siege double the size. At the end of the battle my rocket turret was still standing. It truly brought me back to the days of DAOC when my small hit squad could take down double our numbers just by using tactics instead of l33t skillz.

Here is the build I am running: http://www.gw2build.com/builds/gw2-engineer-turret-build-best-pvp-tournament-5357.html