Guild Wars 2

I would love to have some no-pet options, as my version of ranger also isn’t a “hunter” or “beastmaster.” And because I spent 95% of my playtime on my ranger wishing my pet was gone (not taking a huge chunk of my dps with it) because it is really, really stupid. I mean, if I was stuck in the wilds trying to survive, and ended up with a companion this unintelligent, I’d leave them in a heartbeat as so much dead weight. Just as necros can choose to go with a pet build (and don’t we see soooo many of them?), I wish rangers had that same flexibility.

EMAN.6190:

OP made some valid points which I heavily agreed with. Hopefully Anet notices the flaws that the Engineer class still has and fixes them up. As of this patch do Kits scale with our current weapon stats?

Nope, this patch added in the sigil effects, and they are working on weapon scaling for some future patch.

Travail.7390:

It would have been better if the “toolbelt” was the place where we equipped kits, and then got to choose whatever elixirs/gadgets we wanted in our utility slots.

-Travail.

I think this would go a long ways towards giving engie the true versatility they tout. The rough mechanics already exist in the game with the ele prof, so I don’t think it would be a major overhaul. Even if they cut it back to 4 kits like 4 elements (support kit, a control kit, a dps kit and a bunker kit?), then we could have clearly defined roles to spec into, and could adjust damage on those kits accordingly.

Or add a longer cd on kit swapping if that is so omgOP. Coffee is still only trickling into my veins, I’m sure there are some other innovative ideas out there on how to make engie competitive in all the endgame options.

Realistically, I don’t think they are going to do kitten to engie for a good long while now. Maybe some bug fixes will get handed around. Maybe…

The fact that we give up versatility (utility skills) to gain versatility (kits) should be enough of a balance. Using that as a reason to lower our damage output is just illogical.

I find my ele easier to play than my engineer. I feel like I have a lot more tools to handle pretty much anything that gets thrown at me. Both require (I’m paraphrasing something I read elsewhere) playing your keyboard like Beethoven. But the payoff with ele is huge, and with my engie it never feels epic. Surviving versus thriving kind of deal. In groups with an ele, you can make a huge difference, and you can tell. My engie is just kind of there, doing a few cool things, but never feels like I’m actually making a difference. Postponing wipes, or helping a boss die a minute faster, but I can’t change a predetermined outcome.
That’s how it feels to me, at least. I love the crap out of support classes, they are always what I gravitate to in games, but why would I bother with engie when I can get a more enjoyable and more productive experience from guardian and ele?

Blix.7691:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/news/Game-Update-Notes-December-14-2012/first#post999247

Engineer

The Engineer is a highly versatile class. While it doesn’t have the long range capabilities of the Ranger, or the melee capabilities of the Warrior or Guardian, they are comfortable at medium ranges in most fights. They have a lot of control, and use their boons to keep themselves (and allies) alive in a fight. They can use different kits based on the situation, but this extreme versatility comes at a cost in damage on their main hand weapons.

Now read the blurb for ele and tell me that engie didn’t just get screwed over a bit.

I just hit 50 and it felt like slamming into a brick wall. I’m going to just play my guardian and ele to get mats to craft up a few levels I guess. Or go back and complete low level zones I’ve already done on other characters until I hit 60. Fuuuuun.

“The Engineer is a highly versatile class. While it doesn’t have the long range capabilities of the Ranger, or the melee capabilities of the Warrior or Guardian, they are comfortable at medium ranges in most fights. They have a lot of control, and use their boons to keep themselves (and allies) alive in a fight. They can use different kits based on the situation, but this extreme versatility comes at a cost in damage on their main hand weapons.”

“We see the elementalist as the king of versatility. The skill ceiling for the Ele is exceptional, as the ability to leverage all four attunements at the right time is crucial for understanding the elemetnalist. The Ele boasts some of the best team support and control abilities in the game, as well as some great area of effect damage.”

Reading that in the class balance notes was a bit of a stunner. I mean, they directly reference the engie versatility as a reason for having low damage, but ele is king of versatility, and suffers no dmg reduction as a consequence? The skill ceiling on engie is high as well, so why not reward the players who have mastered the class with powerful build options?
Man, I dunno. I just don’t understand what niche they want engie to fit into anymore.