If anything, I’d say they (failed to) incorporate community suggestions a little too much.
Fixed that for you. The real issue is that some adjustments have been taken to extremes. When the community asks for shaves we are instead provided decapitations in a bloody sport fashion.
if u take tools and power wrench block every 13.5 secs is quite strong … add elixir S to the build and it seems to me not bad.
Elixir S seems counterproductive to AED as the two could interfere with each other. Unless you have an unnatural sense of prediction, S could trigger after you pop AED in extended fights and cost you dearly. AED needs that pseudo-death trigger in order to cleanse.
I have been pulling at this thread for a while now and am glad to see that it has finally come to fruition. The change to AED was much needed, although I think with competent players we might see a slight increase on the cd to 35s due to the combination of gadgeteer overcharging it to a 33% uptime “you can’t attack me” button. I already developed a prototype a while back that would look something like this. This would need some minor tweaking here and there, but prove fun and challenging overall despite some of the overly dramatic nerfs to hammer.
This is really just another shining example of how the forums are not being utilized to their fullest. We STILL have many unresolved issues regarding shield, most of which would be completely eradicated by moving the protection buffs AFTER (READ THIS PARTICULAR SENTENCE MODS/DEVS) the skill has been completed. The individual who was high when developing this trait should be immediately relieved of their duties, and subsequently everyone who passes it as a subject that is unimportant. It is essentially telling the Engineer community that dead traits are supposed to be that useless, in this particular case on an epic scale…
I dislike that we are continually being stripped of damage roles in pvp, forcing us deeper into bunker town and being subsequently ridiculed for it. The end result has been drops in sustain and damage potential with no compensation. I concede that we are exceptional at bunkering and the adjustments to such are completely justified, but the loss of damage is only going to force the profession into dedicated tank/res bots or some form of cancerous condie bunk.
I was remaining optimistic that many of our remaining bugs/dead utilities would have been ironed out when I saw “For the baseline engineer, our goal was to improve lesser-used abilities and adjust cooldowns where appropriate”, but that really only boiled down to 2 useful skill changes, AED and Net Shot. Everything else can be chalked off as spitting in the face of Scrapper, while simultaneously farting on core Engineer.
The reality is that you can use anything that you feel is optimal for you to function optimally. I personally see nothing wrong with starting a profession, or the game for that matter, with survival based gear in order to better learn your role and combat potential.
In regards to what you mention about being a viable option, it most certainly is; remove expectations of being received as the best performance. When HoT was released I converted my gear into Cavalier in order to gain my bearings and had no regrets in doing so. The damage is fairly comparable to the Berserker, but obviously needed supplemental crit chance in order to function in such a way. Something along these lines provided me with that option. Obviously you are not going to reach the reliability of full damage potential that Berserker would instill, but you could certainly use sigils/runes to effectively allow the offbeat sets like Cavalier and Valkyrie to function well, which I assume was the intent.
Just wanted to touch base on a couple points. When I speak of build variety, I mean that we have free reign to openly choose from a trait pool consisting of MORE than 3 mandatory lines for competitive play. To a lesser extent, this also means we need more utility from our poorly functioning gadgets/turrets.
- I consider FT Flame Blast to be minor, as a competent player needs only to strafe for the effect to miss entirely due to poor tracking. The buggy behavior when the blast interacts with invisible or physical barriers is problematic as well and has needed correcting since launch. In general it is not a poor choice, just easily out performed by other options that don’t require you to be point blank.
- Super Elixir only converts 1. Alchemical Tinctures operates separately by removing the condition.
Nothing I said was meant to be argumentative, so hopefully it was not taken in such context. I was merely trying to demonstrate to those who do not partake in coordinated arenas that this would not be designated for their use. Granted, it should also be noted that while Inversion Enzyme does provide some form of boon production, the loss of personal survival from either Backpack Regenerator or S-RD would be felt by many.
I’m going to be honest with you. You only served to prove the point with lack of build variety available. What you have presented is just another variation of what has been demonstrated as our most competitive trait setup in this Meta. Whether or not we are able to use 3 kits is NOT the issue at hand, but rather we are pigeonholed into running some combination of Inventions/Alchemy/Scrapper in order to maintain an acceptable level of survival AND damage production.
I have run similar setups before and can only make my own observations about the build’s workings.
- The additional CC from taking FT is not really worth the loss of Gyro utility through Final Salvo. Granted you have better blast potential and some minor pressure through Flame Blast.
- Tool Kit has lost favor since HoT because Hammer out performs it in every way. It is a sad, but undeniable truth that I will not go into length as to explain.
- Inversion Enzyme only sees use in the manner this video displayed, team based play with active condition cleansing (fumigate) directed towards your team, yet only has 1 means of performing for the user through super elixir.
- This is the reality of our current situation. We can literally take anything we want as long as we rely on those 3 trait lines and the combined cleansing potential between Healing Turret and Elixir Gun.
I feel bomb kit lacks a purpose.
Your next comment IS the purpose.
All it do is spam aoe, which is one of the most boring things you can do in gw2.
If you’re spamming, then you’re doing it wrong. AoE happens to be extremely powerful in GW2 specifically due to the fact that each effect produces results unique to that field.
It sees almost zero use in any gamemode.
The ONLY mode where this would have a far less encompassing role would be in PvP, which is largely due to the terrible stat combinations that would be necessary to make it work as effectively as PvE.
So my suggestion is: Let us detonate bombs.
- All bombs have infinite duration.
- Can’t place more than 10 bombs.
- Big ol’ bomb remains unchanged.
1) NO. Mines work similar to this.
2) NO. Bombs aren’t mines.
3) Yes. BoB is fine.
New skill: Detonate
- Replaces glue bomb.
- Detonates all bombs.
- Has 1 second cast time (plays detonate animation).
- Bombs show red circle while detonating.
- Cooldown 1 second.
1) NO. Glue Bomb needs QoL adjustments, not gutting.
2) NO. Bombs aren’t Mines.
3) NO. See 1.
4) NO? The AoE from bombs already have rings. Giving the vanilla Bombs rings would be too obvious and remove their appeal altogether in PvP. Regardless of whether this applied to only your changes or not.
5) NO. See 1.
Short Fuse
- Detonating is faster.
- Can place 5 more bombs.
- Reduce recharge of bomb skills by 20%.
1) NO. Refer to bombs aren’t mines.
2) NO. This should be extremely obvious, but I will explain in a bit.
3) Nothing changes here… so yeah.
This way bomb kit is more fun to use. I can already see hundreds uses for it.
Thoughs?
I can already see hundreds of complaints about this. What you wholeheartedly believe to be a positive change to an already decent kit, which really needs some trait adjustments instead, is actually detrimental to the balance of Bombs in EVERY game mode. With the ability to set 15 bombs out at one time and blast them on demand you have created a HUGE power creep problem, as causing 50-60k damage instantaneously is not healthy for the game. The only solution to such is an extreme drop in power scaling, which instead makes them worthless to power builds.
The functionality you desire from Bombs in this discussion is one that is already present when using Mines. The only difference is that Mines happen to be relatively balanced for what they provide, despite not seeing a lot of active play in WvW or PvP.
Or… y’know, maybe rebuild it as something that actually resembles a kit. kitten , even elixir gun has offensive capabilities. What we need is a reason to bring the kit that also allows it to function thematically.
A few things need to happen here:
- Med Kit needs an AA weapon (giant syringe?) with animation(s)
- Skills 2-5 need to offer offense/support on par with E-Gun.
- Med Kit needs to function selfishly baseline, traiting for party support (build diversity).
- Medical Dispersion Field needs to be adjusted to uniquely improve Med Kit functions (per #3).
Kits have always been considered the pinnacle of Engineer utility, which leaves me wondering why it has been so kittening hard for the Devs/Balance teams to get this one right. Every Engineer in their right mind would pick ANY other form of healing above Med Kit in its current state.
Make turrets great again
Have the sudden urge to build a wall… of turrets!
I see your point, but how about a little icon above your skill set that shows if the trait is off CD, like streamlined kits.
There is an icon, it just isn’t present when you approach a fight off CD as it MUST be triggered in order for the icon to present itself. Go into Heart of the Mists and test this and you will see that it is true. The icon displayed above your skill bar matches the very same image paired with the Kinetic Battery trait. This cannot be changed as the prerequisite to trigger KB is that you must first dodge an attack, meaning you are actively engaged in combat, something Streamlined Kits does not require. To have an icon display in the manner you desire would only cause confusion, unless the trait was to be reinvented to behave statically rather than actively (bad idea).
Again. This is a trait that is based upon High Risk/High Reward. It takes patience and skill to have it function effectively as it not only requires situational insight, but also the correct mentality to obtain optimal results.
I mean, it’s easy to mess it up you know ? It pops in the middle of a fight and if you used up all your tool belt skills, this trait is wasted for no reason and goes on 40s CD
The most effective application here is to LoS/Block key skills during the first few actions of an encounter and trigger it using a free evade, like Rocket Charge, then follow up with a dodge bait such as Thunderclap. During the 2nd half of their dodge you can hit them with a free Moa; causing many to believe it has been wasted, but leaving a 2nd or even 3rd available to turn many fights in your (team’s) favor.
But that only works at the start of the fight, and then what ? The fight goes on and you can’t just save your skills hoping that KB is recharged
I answered that in the second half of the response. Engineer has always been about a string of actions combined in unison for additional effects. Having access to this larger than normal volume of skills on your bar means that you need to either have an extreme innate sense of time, or the more realistic approach of using specific skills as a landmark for when your rotation is ready. The CD for this landmark skill needs to ballpark to +/- a couple seconds of ALL skills in that combination. In this particular case, you would be designating a keystone skill to represent the impending return of KB.
(instead of vulnerability 5x application for both condi and power) and 5% damage decrease (instead of super strong weakness which also reduces endurance gain) makes it a bit too much of a massive nerf to a trait that is already not exactly meta material if im not mistaken.
Completely disagree on this front. The damage increase from vulnerability is only useful to a power, since hammer is essentially required to activate EE in its current state as well as reliably follow up with instant reapplication(s) of the trait. At this point you have wasted a few seconds of that precious vulnerability stacking, unless you are coordinating team spikes; highly unlikely due to the extremely situational context of the skill and combined stab abundance/cleanse. Regarding the weakness application, something that is indeed a strong mechanic, but one that is easily reproduced through our endless application of blasts inside poison fields and something that is simultaneously provided freely by Elixir Gun.
If you want to make scrappers more attractive in pve why dont we start with the elephant in the room (our primary mechanic) instead of making revamps affecting all modes for the sake of giving us the golden ticket for dps rac- i mean raids. People complain about nerfs in pvp affecting pve right so lets be better than arenanet and not make the same mistake.
Nothing about this change has negative applications to PvP or WvW, while EE in its current state is remarkably easy to neuter both actively and passively; making it a poor choice for any environment. As for our Scrapper mechanic, I can honestly say that no one has ever complained about our ability to resurrect twice as fast in PvE, while also providing remarkable utility in PvP using this very simple mechanic.
I mean, it’s easy to mess it up you know ? It pops in the middle of a fight and if you used up all your tool belt skills, this trait is wasted for no reason and goes on 40s CD
The point of using this trait is that you need to be an active thinker in order to fully capitalize on its full potential. This trait is a more refined and concentrated version of Chrono’s Continuum mechanic. The most effective application here is to LoS/Block key skills during the first few actions of an encounter and trigger it using a free evade, like Rocket Charge, then follow up with a dodge bait such as Thunderclap. During the 2nd half of their dodge you can hit them with a free Moa; causing many to believe it has been wasted, but leaving a 2nd or even 3rd available to turn many fights in your (team’s) favor.
The possibilities are astounding really, but it is an excellent example of mechanics that require active (preemptive) play. This is something we need more of, not less imo. If timing is an issue for you in this case, try anticipating its return by placing another skill on cool down as an indicator.
While I do feel that this would be a relatively good change, I also feel that there are some oversights that would allow this to be equally viable for PvP and WvW environments. In particular, a 10% cd reduction to AED would be proof of a synergetic combination through a (now) realistically applicable heal and a tool belt that sees no use for lack of incentive + difficult utilization. This would in turn help pave the way to more active combat for us; resembling something along these lines.
TLDR:
A good change that would definitely help pave the way for other minor “adjustments” and save us from bruiser town.
It produces an invisible “tag”, if you will. This has been in effect for as long as I can remember and actually has tactical applications, provided you use it accordingly. Exceeding many applications by a wide margin would be the fact that this “tag” acts as a free blind clear for us; an ability that is undoubtedly the unsung hero of our nearly forgotten Tool Kit. Provided with the means to not only cleanse a blind, but doing so in a simultaneous offensive/defensive manner is something I do not believe should be adjusted due to a minor inconvenience. If anything, other mechanics should mimic this effect due to the extreme abuse that has been witnessed through lazy methods like Trapper runes. There is your consistency solution.
If you are adamant about a solution to your personal dilemma, then it would simply be best to wait 2-3s before using nails during stealth (when this is no longer an issue). Doing otherwise is like shooting a signal flare prominently at your current location/direction. I realize you want a “Get out of Jail, free” monopoly style skill combination, but this is not the method you seek. Learn to appreciate it for what it can provide, instead of focusing on what it might cause to a specific trait, in regards to a very specific scenario, which will undoubtedly snowball into breaking (sorry, “fixing”) it beyond any serious tactical applications.
If you are trying to base a build solely around the idea that this will provide some additional sustain without reasonable access to and upkeep of superspeed, then you would be wasting your efforts.
If nothing else works for you on the master tier traits, then there shouldn’t be a problem with taking it; don’t expect much.
Fully traited and with gear/utils its about 2sec immob.
make it apply immob on each pulse instead of just the first impact. (its a total of 4 pulses)
Don’t forget to give that love to Glue Bomb.
Couple of notes:
- I noticed that it’s getting harder and harder to kill things. Warrior passives just adds to the annoying auto pilot gameplay this game has.
I believe the PC term is “skilled” now.
Havent you all seen the posts. They say direct damage is worse becouse once you get hit you take all the damage at once.
This is basic math. There is no debate to be fought there.
With condition damage you can dodge/block/evade it, you can cleance it and you can outheal it. We who complain about condition damage right now just have to L2P.
For the most part it is. There are certain exceptions that are ridiculously over the board in regards to how efficiently they can incapacitate you and overload your immune system. Obviously, having a balanced amount of Stun Breaks, Damage Mitigation, and Cleanse is going to help combat this, but only if you can capitalize on their mistakes.
Is it fun? Not really…
Is it balanced? Depends on what you play.
Is it healthy? Certainly debatable. Generally speaking… No
Don’t go for the trapper/nightmare rune combo as an Engi. That’s super wasted! The Engi has even as condi a decent (20%) power damage output, aswell two great duration traits. You get more damage with Berserker runes since they flat out boost your total damage by 5%.
Toxic Crystals are over-priced and unnecessary, unless you plan on running with a team that is hellbent on breaking world speedrun records. If you want to go with absolute top damage necessary, then yes you should go that route. Overall, the damage difference between these 2 variations is negligible with mine being the affordable variation for anyone just getting started in the Raid scene. If one wants or can afford to maintain the upkeep associated with the latter, then yes it will yield a slightly higher dps.
Streamlined Kits vs Takedown Round. What’s your take between the two?
Streamlined Kits is necessary for Condition Engineer to maintain the swiftness necessary to get between fights and re-position during combat effectively. If there is a situation where you feel that you won’t need that speed boost, then you could feel free to swap them out, however the damage boost would be unnoticeable and mobility in/out of combat would be felt.
So let’s remove Marauder since it’s the go to amulet for power builds. Solid logic right there.
Marauder does not provide TWO DIFFERENT forms of damage. Ferocity is tied into both power and precision, while condition can function independently from Expertise without consequence. This is not an argument over removing the most effective Amulets per play style or profession, but rather one that illustrates a particular situation where too much was given at no expense.
My apologies! It appears the link that was originally provided somehow swapped the gear I had intentionally placed with some very strange substitutes indeed. This has been corrected and the link appears to be in working condition. Should it not look correct for whatever reason, you should be using a combination of Viper’s weapons/armor and sinister accessories. I have 2 Trapper runes and 4 Nightmare runes for a 25% base condition duration increase, putting me at a resting 66% duration through food/gear/runes and 100% duration bleed/burn with traits.
How do you get 100% swiftness out of Elixir B?
Just by equipping Alchemy and HGH you will have ~50% swiftness uptime with 1 use of Elixir B. When you consider that at 75% health the minor passive kicks in and you consume ANOTHER Elixir B for free, you bump that uptime to 100%. Granted this would be in regards to combat triggering the passive Elixir B consumption.
There is really only one good way to optimally run Condition-based Engineer for PvE content. This is what you should be running. The objective for Engineer in these situation is to allow your gear/traits/food to bump Bleed and Burn to the 100% duration cap while simultaneously dumping as much into Condition Damage that you can. I have taken a cheaper and more sustainable route to the Condition Duration aspect of this and provided it through the link, but you can tinker around with it to min/max how you desire; provided you always have 100% duration for bleed/burn. “Good” is relative in this particular situation because it all hinges upon the user’s ability to discern what is most necessary for the current combat circumstance. If you feel that you are unable to provide blinds/knockbacks/blasts appropriately, then it is entirely possible that Condition Engineer is simply not for you as these are more necessary to this aspect of the profession more so than it is for Power. Having the flexibility to switch between offense and defense is what sets Condition apart from Power, mostly due to the fact that when Power builds stop their assault they have no DPS.
(edited by Mnemesis.8257)
Another key component to all of this so to have a firm understanding of what reactions leaps/blast/projectile finishers will have in regards to the combo field used. In particular, Final Salvo provides both a lightning field in which you can use blasts/leaps inside to stack free swiftness as well as superspeed upon their death. What no one has mentioned yet is the importance of Final Salvo and its impact upon Function Gyro through the free stability generation (necessary for res/stomp) upon each Gyro’s creation.
The problem with Elixir U is that its main appeal as a quick stomp was gutted. What we are left with now is something that should be used offensively, but is tied defensively as a long CD stun break that is easily replaced by Elixir Gun. That being said, if you are intending to run a p/p condition build it would make more sense to take Elixir Gun regardless due to the superior bleed stacking and weakness generating potential from the auto attack. The fact that you would be using such a build in either PvP or WvW would essentially mean that you are very likely going to want to bring Elixir S, both for the intended purpose of stealthing and safety (stomping/burst).
I realize that this does not break the mold for the current p/p variant predominantly in use, but that is with good reason. If you intend to take both Elixir C and U, then you are gimping not only your survivability, but also your damage potential. Elixir C is too defensive of a utility (with no offensive benefit) and becomes obsolete with battle experience and innate prediction capability. Elixir U is too unstable for a reliable utility, you either save it for the stun break and hope your retaliation pays off or bust it early and hope your pre-emptive strike plays out. As it stands, I personally don’t see either of these as being dynamic enough to sacrifice Elixir S or a kit.
There are really only two avenues one can make when following the path of Engineer, Power+Condition or Power (zerker). Core Engineer is renowned for its ability to unload sustainable condition pressure and power combinations both separately and together. Neither of these builds changes too much, the only exception would be minor trait and utility changes. As you are leveling up you will most likely want to max out your kit variety utilities first, as this is where the vast majority of your damage (and survivability) will be coming from. Combining Bomb Kit and Grenade Kit with another of your choice should get you through most of, if not all, the PvE content through level 80 and beyond. Your basic role in parties is to kitten the situation and adapt your play style to what is currently needed most. The combination of Grenades and Bombs will provide some of the highest Vulnerability stacking potential from a single profession, while the very generous amount of Combo Fields/blasts at your disposal will allow you to fulfill a variety of needs that range anywhere from stealthing, might stacking, swiftness etc. Take the time to discover which skills provide you with Blast Finishers and know what the results of using them in each field would result. If you do this, you will find that you are one of the most dynamic and universal professions available.
(edited by Mnemesis.8257)
Final salvo is pretty wasted by only having a single gyro.
Bulwark and Function makes two. Function is the one that arguably needs it the most for those resurrects and long range stomps. The additional stab generation from Salvo is also a very useful commodity.
I’m not sure about the rest of you, but a recent discussion lately has enlightened me as to the fact that for nearly two years now we have practically been enslaved to the Alchemy line in order to obtain a level of survivability that is deemed necessary to our overall performance. Having become bored/numb to the bunkerish direction that we have steadily been steering towards, I wanted to try something that was out of our current comfort zone. After quite a few bouts, both in single combat and team based, I have noticed that I was actually enjoying hammer for the first time since HoT release. It is my hope that those of you who gives this build a try end up experiencing the same thrill that it is currently providing me. I present to you Not for the faint of heart.
Unfortunate as it is, I realize that Tools is a pale shadow of what it once was after the vigor nerf. However, this is providing a rather pleasant amount of synergy with the offensively oriented side of Scrapper through a free stun break outside of stab generation and the ability to easily reveal an opponent through cleave and aoe; meaning you can drop Stealth Gyro in favor of Mortar Kit for more active play. Reluctant as I was to pick up Gadgeteer, it actually turned out to be the best option available for me as utilizing Elixir R frees up a slot for the improved version of AED (longer duration, shorter CD). At first glance AED appears to be more pain than what it is worth, but considering the sickening amount of condition bombing that is occurring the super cleanse is actually… surprisingly helpful.
The objective here is rather simple. You are a roaming +1 that is intended to not only offensively assist your team, but to also instantly res your party members. This is made possible through abusing the recently reduced CD on Toss R, Funtion Gyro and physically ressing (possibly with Bulwark if necessary). Combining the Demolisher amulet with toughness to power conversion and reliable might stacking means you are going to hit for a more than an acceptable amount. Rune choices are still up for debate, but I have been hovering between Leadership and Lyssa, which basically comes down to either higher boon upkeep or greater cleanse potential through Mortar Kit swapping.
This is merely a build for those who are looking to try something new and have a little fun in the process. I hope that those of you who give it a test will have a positive experience.
I wouldn’t say Hammer is the “only problem”, but it is indeed the leading contender in this issue. In order for additional weapon choices to become a realistic goal they not only have to be brought up to par, but their respective traits and trait lines need to become more appealing vs current bunkering options.
Welcome to what is currently the stagnant world of Engineer/Scrapper. You’ll notice a similar effect when you attempt to fight that isn’t an NPC without the Alchemy line and HGH.
The purpose is for diversity updates to all classes, please.
I am all for the possibility of improving diversity. However, leaving this simply to a hail mary in regards to weapon QoL adjustments is a mere band-aid that has left many professions in these supposed “good place” assessments for too long. Having identical builds, save for a simple weapon replacement, is hardly what we could call a diverse play style. Scrapper AND Engineer are at the mercy of Alchemy due to the sheer amount of condition generation and random CC currently in use, something that has not changed since the massive trait overhaul. True diversity means that we need to look beyond the weapon availability and factor in trait/utility diversity, which is what will truly drive this pseudo Renaissance.
It’s impossible to balance core and elite specs, if we could horizontally expand the compatible play styles with elite specs, that’d be hella awesome, and worth doing as a priority now.
If this is what you truly believe, then it is impossible and simply futile to even propose changes in the first place. The elite specs ARE TIED to their core counterparts. This is something that is not going to change any time soon. Voting to abandon positive adjustments to the core professions is (in essence) requesting no change.
I understand your position that a quick and easy change would go a long way to ease some of our immediate concerns on the matter, but it is also the same mentality that has gotten us into this position time and time again, from beta through today; thus my unusually bitter reluctance for it. I want more than anything in this game to see a period where each profession is not provided a suicide notice every time they try to jump out of those keystone traits/utilities. I concede that you are right on that account, as it is unlikely to (fully) come to fruition. Weapons ARE a good launching point, but one that I do not want to be seen as the cure-all by those concerned in the balancing department.
P.S
My apologies if you were looking for a simple “yes man” mentality. I realize that my opinions are often construed as combative and somewhat offensive, which is not the direction I intend to take. I simply prefer to observe things from a macroscopic vs microscopic view. [/hijack]
Also, Elixir C is noticeably awesome now that the CD of the toss is 16s with HgH.
Medic Gyro and Elixir C combination is highly effective.
Many utility slots are dedicated for basic survival, Engineer needs to have strong base weapons now to be competitive.
Judging by the blatantly myopic changes recently, when considering the current mainstream builds both present and likely to be near future, it becomes evident that we are going to be left behind. The very fact that we are forced into supplementing utilities in order to overcome poor healing options is tantamount of poor balance, especially when this is considering that our current weapon options are stale and underwhelming. I maintain my opinion on the matter, which was described in great detail during the so-called “initiative” to reach out to the community; with only 1/2 of (viable) utilities to draw upon =/= a “good place” for us, as it was shamelessly proclaimed.
I am not here to refute your claims. As it is indeed possible to find ways around many of our current faults, but as you boldly revealed in your opening statement this is counterproductive to our infamous role as a traditional bruiser, severely gimping our damage potential and pushing us further into the realm of tanks. Something weapons alone are unlikely to fix, but will serve as a platform for more advanced corrections.
Main goals to achieve are to increase Melee up-time/pressure which is currently below par
I am just attempting to shine some light on the farther spectrum of this issue you illustrated. Rather than a melee centric balance, we need to pressure the devs into conceding IT IS NO LONGER OK TO PICK THE “LOW HANGING FRUIT”. The majority of the harvest has been left to rot for nearly 4 years now. This is unacceptable, unprofessional and a blatant slap to the face to every player that purchased this game. There comes a time when you have to accept that you kittened up and begin SERIOUS attempts to correct the problems that are abound; the product of pure negligence on their end. It is one thing to make simple corrections via time constraints, but another to entirely abandon mechanics through lack of imagination or willpower.
Herein lies the heart of the issue you detailed. We witness an omnipresent quantity of “available” options, but are severely lacking in the department of viable ones. That is not to say that everyone else is not in the same position, but rather the core professions as a whole have a lot of catching up to do before we see any more balancing concerning the HoT counterparts. However, having “fun” with what we currently have appears to be a novelty only experienced between PvP seasons and the occasional hotjoin that doesn’t instantly succumb to the Mad Hatter’s game of musical chairs.
Let it be known, that generally speaking, I am inclined to your position as to increasing the appeal of those options that we could consider “available” to us right now, but would choose to ignore instead because of their deplorable state. I would like to state directly to the mods/devs/gods or whoever the kitten reads this that this DOES NOT mean reducing the functionality of what is currently popular to the level of everything else currently avoided. As that IS NOT conducive of how reworking the overall performance of professions should be approached. More options vs more mandatories.
People still use Grenade Kit… o.O
At this point I think it is a fair assumption that Engineer =/= Scrapper. Treating them as synonymous is the root of the problem that resulted in Healing Turret being “adjusted” as a measure to bring Scrapper’s sustain in line (somehow?). Meanwhile, none of the other healing options have even been hinted at being brought into line as more reliable healing alternatives; disturbing, considering the very noticeable lack of condition removal or extreme conditional factors imposed. If I am to believe that you would implore for Engineer to be brought up to pace, then I am all for having the core mechanics being revisited; 2 utterly useless utility lines is appalling and MUST BE CORRECTED. But at this point in time, I feel that Scrapper needs to receive less attention than our core profession, which would allow us to escape from 2 nearly mandatory trait lines that only serve as complimentary aspects of our powerhouse alter-ego.
4FS, we either need turrets/gadgets removed entirely or given a complete overhaul. If the mods ever read our side of the forum, they would see some of the reasonable ideas we have tried to propose over the years… YEARS! As you suggested. A positive adjustment to our standard weapons would be the first step in this VERY lengthy and LONG OVERDUE process.
People complained about the offensive capabilities of Turrets in PvP (in conjunction with defensive amulets), which is why they are in the terrible state they are now across the board. Rather than make adjustments to AI in general, such as stat scaling based upon that of the character, it was easier to effectively delete them from the game entirely. Those of us who have mained the profession since release would likely agree that allowing the scaling of offensive stats would provide much needed leverage that would at least help compensate for their poor utility and performance currently. Something that is intended to be played as a “set and forget” mechanic should be vulnerable to focused fire, which is why defensive scaling would be out of the question. These changes would help across the board for AI builds, the coefficients of which would be adjusted based upon the AI of the profession. The alternative would be to turn them into glorified versions of banners instead… as no one seems to have a use for them in their appalling state.
It has already been suggested before that Glue Shot receive a buff that would allow it to function in the manner that you desire. A ground-targeted aoe that not only immobilizes enemies, but would also grant stability to allies standing on the glue.
overcharged shot, evade backwards instead of falling over.
This is a much needed adjustment to the skill that would single-handedly make it a more competetive power option over hammer in PvP situation.
improved net shot that wont fail 50% of the time and a knock back that can be used for more then just controlling your target
My proposition for adjusting net shot would be something similar to the way that most walls currently function. Net Shot is now a ground-targeted net “wall” that immobilizes anyone trying to pass through. Raise the cd for this adjustment and make it something reasonable like 3-5s duration.
Personally, I like to use something along these lines for PvE content. I am rather cheap when it comes to food/utilities, so I just use whatever I can make or is cheapest. In addition to being cheap, I am also lazy, which is why I chose to maintain a higher condition duration minimum through runes/gear as opposed to the over-priced toxic utility consumables. Feel free to use this if you so desire, or just as a stepping stone in the right direction (for you).
Something along these lines is best for PvE content. It allows you to maximize your condition duration potential for our intense condition application, while simultaneously utilizing our hybrid capabilities with decent power/precision. If you don’t like the concept of being a glassy hybrid, there is always the option of going for a more “tanky” condition set, such as Rabid. The basic idea of this is simple. You need to maintain your highest damaging conditions (and most frequently applicable) so that you generate great sustainable damage, unlike most power builds which stop dealing damage while you do something as simple as res a downed ally.
hard to play? engi was over the top man
Scrapper =/= Engi
hammer is a much better weapon than anything else the engineer can bring to the table.
Bit of an exaggeration, but it does provide a level of functionality and utility that is lacking in the core weapons; none of this provides an answer the OP’s original question.
Scrapper is just another way to play. Nothing more, nothing less. When you go with the Scrapper/Hammer route, you basically sacrifice all hybrid potential that would epitomize Engineer, however you gain superior self preservation skills that require less effort to coordinate and maintain. If you would like to go in a direction that will quickly grow stale due to lack of dynamic play style, then Scrapper will help you lay the groundwork for that path to pursue. If you would like to pursue a path that will enhance your overall potential as a player, then you really should stick with core Engineer for a while longer; using Scrapper as you feel the situation necessitates.
Hammer wasn’t touched at all with the nerf bat and you seriously think that a heal with a 3/4 sec cast time has suddenly become terrible and now scrapper is dead? Last I checked, scrappers have a thing called stability that they have access to, make use of it if you have -that- much trouble getting your heal off.
Herein lies the problem, arguably one that is less troublesome for Scrapper than it is for Engineer. Remove scrapper from the equation and what we have is another blow to seeing the return of more core Engi builds due to a blatant 50% increase in activation time, something extremely noticeable to our previous selves because they have no (reliable) STAB. The kitten of it all is that Scrapper is largely unaffected by this, because everything about the trait line and hammer panders to the lowest common denominator in an effort to draw more sales/players. As a result, the almost forgotten remnants of skillful play returning are nearly gone due to the laziness that is Scrapper dwarfing core Engi.
tldr: This is really just a blow to core Engi, and has virtually no impact at all on the survivability/effectivity Scrapper possesses. Anet has, yet again, failed to isolate the real issue at hand and spun their ACME version of Wheel of Fortune to find anything to nerf and get the plebs off their back.
It just needs to be made baseline, or merged with one of the pistol traits in Firearms. The only effect it will have is making the pistol more capable of sustaining condi pressure against multiple targets that are grouped together. So mostly looking at QoL improvements for PvE with that. And it would only effect pistol 1 and 2, so not really a big deal just, again, a QoL improvement.
I would be on board with seeing it folded into Heavy Armor Exploit, just for the opportunity in having a reason to pick something other than Chemical Rounds. With the recent CDR to (most) pistol skills this would provide a contender against what is currently the only viable adept trait for a pistol build. However, this does nothing to fix Pistol 5 (Glue Shot), which has been effectively useless since release; a product of poor immob duration and lack of reward (allies/foes) for successfully landing the attack. I would like to see a glue puddle that now pulses Immob AND Cripple as cover to better secure targets when it has been skillfully positioned and utilized.
If what I understand from the GW2 wiki is accurate, then this should be the scenario:
“Examples of duration-stacking effects
10 seconds of regeneration are applied to a target from a level 80 player with 1500 Healing Power. 5 seconds later, 10 seconds of regeneration are applied to the same target from a level 80 player with 2000 Healing Power. The target will experience 317.5 health per second for the first 5 seconds, then 380 health per second for the next 10 seconds, then 317.5 health per second for the next 5 seconds."
Basically, the first boon applied is the first boon to be used UNLESS a more powerful version of that boon is applied on top of it. In that scenario the most powerful version takes precedence and is used for its full duration before returning to the original stack. Even though these boons behave in a duration stacking system, effectively creating a hierarchy within itself, they still only count as a single boon and will be removed altogether by boon stripping/corrupt effects.
The problem with “healing build” concepts is that most of the time people end up attempting to specialize as a healer too much. This kills your overall contribution to the party through a MASSIVE DPS loss, which ultimately makes content harder to complete by increasing the amount of time necessary to even kill trash mobs.
One of the biggest mistakes I think most incoming players assume about the game is that unless you completely specialize in Healing Power you will be useless in providing support to your party, which is completely untrue and as I already suggested is unproductive overall. When most of the skills in the game barely break and additional bonus of 15% of your total Healing Power, it becomes quickly apparent why this is largely seen as a poor attribute to invest in.
In general, you provide greater party potential overall by utilizing the supportive skills/traits of your profession with more offensive stat combinations. There is no Holy Trinity within GW2, so most of what you provide to the party is situational and supplementary to their own self sustain. In regards to providing defensive support (specifically), then Ele and Engi are probably going to be the best bets as to overall healing potential to allies. Both of these professions have multiple water fields and blasts finishers to utilize for them, as well as multiple sources of regeneration etc. Ele has rotations that are more set in stone, while Engi happens to be more situational. Hopefully this provides a little bit more constructive feedback, than simply saying try this build.
Why is it that people immediately jump to calling for things to deleted?
Seriously this game’s meta is too unstable for such drastic changes to be justifiable.
Simply put; solving a problem requires too much mental processing when you can just remove an annoyance altogether. Never mind if you can pull a sliver from your finger when amputation is clearly the superior option.