Guild Wars 2

Reading through the thread I was struck by this:

I want more traits to affect Gadgets. Currently, the only trait that affects them is the reduced cooldown one. Right now Gadgets are overshadowed by other utility skills we have that have equal or greater use.

and

Injecting some of my own ideas here. Skill type; “Augments”. Arms, legs, chest and head (chest = healing augment).
……

(sorry just trimming for sake of space).

I thought that the body augments is a cool concept for the engineer so why not combine the two?

Idea: steampunk exoskeleton components that get damaged and less effective as the engineer gets hurt. (It would be awesome to have the visual components show damage).

Mechanics: Make gadgets into the engineer’s form of signets, with important differences.

First, the passive effects are only gained via traits. Second, the passive effect is always active, unlike signets. However, the passive effect’s magnitude is linked to three different mechanics 1) the engineer’s current health, 2) the ability cooldown, 3) the toolbelt cooldown.

My reasoning is that the gadgets are already balanced for the current numbers, so by adding on all of these requirements for the additional effect it would avoid making them overpowered.

All the numbers and effects below are just my initial guesses. The main core of the idea is just to add more depth, complexity, and flavor to the gadgets which are my personal favorite parts of the class.

Inventions
Stabilized Armor: You take 5% less damage when your endurance is full.
Slick shoes passive: Grants 15% faster endurance regeneration.

Energized Armor: 5% of your toughness is converted to power.
Throw Mine Passive: 25% chance to drop a mine when hit

Power Shoes: 10% faster movement speed in combat.
Rocket Boots Passive: 50% chance to grant 2 seconds of stability after dodge

Tools
Speedy Gadgets: Gadgets recharge 20% faster.

Always Prepared: Drop bandages and a flamethrower or elixir gun when downed.
Personal Battering Ram Passive: +10% condition duration

Scope: Gain 10% critical hit chance while standing still.
Utility Goggles Passive: Engineer Projectile finishers gain +80% combo chance