Guild Wars 2

Phineas Poe.3018:

Nietzsche.5870:

Is fury (since I have already above 50% crit chance) really worth it to sacrifice 15% boon duration overall and 35% might duration?

I think the answer to that question becomes pretty clear when you look at how much stacking Might Duration actually adds.

Juggernaut gives 1 stack of Might every 3 seconds for 15 seconds, right?

With 0 Boon Duration, that means you’re getting 5 stacks of Might through Juggernaut.

30 points in Alchemy gives you 30% Boon Duration.

30% of 15 is 4.5; another 15% through Altruism is 2.25 … So together they add another 6.75 seconds to your Juggernaut Might stacks … or 2 stacks of Might (because 1 stack of every 3).

With 30 points in Alchemy + Runes of Altruism, you will have +45% Might Duration where Juggernaut will then add up to 7 stacks of Might.

With 30 points in Alchemy + Hoelbrak/Fire/Strength you have 90% Might Duration. That seems like a lot, right? But really, that’s only 9 sustained stacks of Might.

That’s 2 stacks of difference, or 70 Power/Condition Damage.

Yet Rune of Altruism gives you 3 stacks of Might when you swap to your heal skill such as the Med Kit. So you’re actually giving yourself more Might than you would actually gearing for Might Duration, and actually giving it to your entire party and not just yourself.

Now, you COULD just do 2 Altruism + 2 Hoelbrak + 2 Strength and go for Might Duration if you want to anyway, but I believe that adding a flat 20% critical hit chance across your entire group adds a lot more DPS than just a couple extra stacks of Might.

So … yeah. I do think so. I do think it’s worth it.

Entirely right about the Deadly Mixture. I had used the trait before I obtained any good accessories (couple exotics but mostly rares) but now that i have ascended ones I didn’t realize how large of a dps boost it is. I’m a bit reluctant to change runes though because I don’t want to lose the other 15% boon duration on all of the other buffs that you can gain (regen is my primary concern).

Phineas Poe.3018:

Nietzsche.5870:

Now I have met a lot of Engineers that run Deadly Mixture (VII) instead of Potent Elixirs (VIII) in the Alchemy tree, don’t do it!!! While yes it looks like you will lose out on DPS you won’t!

You really think the extra few seconds of Might/Fury from Elixir B with Potent Elixirs is better than a flat 15% damage increase?

FT/EG Engineers can already maintain Fury through Drop Stimulant, Elixir B, Toss Elixir B, and Runes of Altruism, so no DPS is gained there. And Rune of Altruism giving your entire group Might and Fury is way better than a few extra stacks for yourself through Hoelbrak/Fire/Strength.

The choice of HGH is fine, but you can easily run Deadly Mixture with it at the same time anyway.

Is fury (since I have already above 50% crit chance) really worth it to sacrifice 15% boon duration overall and 35% might duration?

I have been sharing this build with people I do dungeons/wvw with and I want to share it with the Engineer community as a whole because it’s the most fun build I have had the pleasure of playing with so far and Engineers deserve all the <3.

Build (Side note, I use the Southsun Ascended back piece so that’s apoth stats)

Now I have met a lot of Engineers that run Deadly Mixture (VII) instead of Potent Elixirs (VIII) in the Alchemy tree, don’t do it!!! While yes it looks like you will lose out on DPS you won’t!

So without any food or boons you have…

1469 Power
1608 Precision -> 37% Crit
1519 Toughness
1554 Vitality -> 22535 Health
798 Condition Damage
60% Boon duration (80% might duration, and an extra 20% boon duration from elixirs)
29% Crit Damage

So you normally get what, 6 stacks of might from the Juggernaut (XI) trait? Well now you have a base of 9 stacks due to might duration. So you will almost always have 9 stacks of might up bringing up your Power to 1784 and your Condition Damage to 1113. Just using Elixir H, B, and both thrown toolbelt skills you now have 15-18 might stacks.

Now the glorious part of this build, want to hold 20+ stacks like a boss? Lay down Napalm and use Magnetic Shield and Acid Bomb. You can also use Supply Crate as well but I usually reserve this unless I’m confident I won’t need it. Each one of these blast finishers used on your fire field are going to give you and all nearby allies 3 stacks of might for 35s. So within a moment your entire group (if clustered together) now has 9 stacks of might for 35s. Throw down your toolbelt elixir skills and give them two additional stacks so 11 Stacks of might! For your group! Or just for you since you already have 9 base stacks, another 9 from combos and then that what 5-7 stacks from your toolbelt/utilities. So yeah pretty easy to maintain 20+ stacks and buffing your group as well!

Now let’s get crazy and make you more amazing. You’re going to want to run Mater Maintenance Oil and Rare Veggie Pizza

Check the attachment for stats. Not only are you tanky but you release a slew of dps through a fury of pure damage and your conditions on top of that!

Now don’t be lazy and stay in FT all the time either, use your Static Shot and Poison Dart Volley from the pistol, use that Fumigate (Also to clear those conditions from your buddies!) and Super Elixir from the EG! You stack those vuln, bleeds, burn, confusion and whatever else conditions you’re transferring to your foe while cleansing, healing, and buffing your group because you are a gorgeous beast of an engy!

Not only do I run this in dungeons but I also use it as my roaming build in WvW. Just to give you an idea I have lost 2-3 1v1’s in the past month in WvW and I roam in WvW pretty frequently (MOAR BADGES FOR GOLGRUK!!!).

Downside of the build, it’s VERY involved and you lack any real burst. You’re pounding out your elixirs and abilities fast and having to switch in and out of kits on a pretty frequent basis. So this is very far from a lazy man’s build it requires a lot of attention on using your buff abilities as much as you can (Remember 25 in Alchemy is giving you 1% extra damage for each boon on you!).

I was enthralled by the Engineer and how versatile they are and I wanted to take the concept that we are not pure dps, not pure tank, not pure anything but an incredible balance of all of it and I found a way to make my swiss army knife of Tyria work!

• I’m a liar, the trade off for the amount of boon duration that VIII gives in Alchemy is nowhere near the payoff that VII gives to your dps.

I love the new changes to AC personally, you may wipe a few times sure but it’s fun figuring out new mechanics and watching your group become more organized through communication in just a matter of minutes.

Overall love the force of communication (I primarily pug) and the new challenges. I hope they make similar changes to the other dungeons because if they swap out a bunch of mechanics I know a lot of players (by a lot I mean a few, but I like the direction so I’m going to say a lot) that will revisit explorer modes simply for a new challenge.

Sincerely,
Golgruk Steelshaper
That Char with the Quaggan Backpack