Guild Wars 2

Turrets
*I feel that turrets are far too weak in their current state to warrant their use. Being immobile and easily destroyed even with traits makes their value questionable at best. True they are supposed to be supplemental damage, but with the amount of point investment to bring them up to their best makes the player very weak and the turrets still lack the “oomph” they need.

Weapons
*I won’t go into weapons because I feel that they are in a good spot. I will say that I think that the rifle’s hip shot should do slightly more damage at closer range to better compliment its “Shotgun” style attacks.Perhaps give it to us as a trait?
*I would also like to say that condition damage doesn’t work for bosses and most dungeon PuGs, but I understand that this is being looked at.

Traits
*This is probably the biggest issue our class has. Not even counting all of the buggeds traits, we have many traits that aren’t very good, and even less build support for our class.

Traits: Explosives
*I dislike how our power tree lacks support for anything that isn’t the grenade or bomb kit outside of the first tier. Where’s the HE ammo trait for rifle? Or a trait that makes me want to invest points in it without being forced into bombs/grenades? Other classes get that kind of support, why don’t we?
*Plenty has been said about the bugs, but what about the less useful traits like Autodefense Bomb Dispenser, Enhance Performance, Accelerant-Packed Turrets, and Acidic Elixirs?

Traits: Firearms
*Our Precision tree is probably our best designed tree, but the lack of a Grandmaster trait for the rifle is disappointing.
*Sitting Duck probably needs a rework given that it has such a small uptime.

Traits: Inventions
*I am fine with the traits in inventions. The tree is survivability oriented and does its job well. I don’t know how this tree fares compared to other classes, however. I would like seeing Energized armor bumped up to 10%.

Traits: Alchemy
*Again, another well designed tree. The only problem that I have, and that others will agree with me on, is that the 15 point trait, Transmute, has such a low uptime that it will almost never be seen. 3% is rather weak for investing ~21% of our traits into it.

Traits: Tools
*Here’s where the problems resurface.While the 5, 15, and 25 point skills are well done, the main traits have many issues.
*I have heard that the Elixir Gun/Flamethrower from Always Prepared is not usable by other classes. I haven’t tested this myself, but I have never seen anyone grab the flamethrower that I dropped. Seems kinda useless, especially if I already have a Flamethrower on my skill bar.
*Kit Refinement has no explanation of what it does. It is a confusing trait and might not be noticable unless you already know how it works.
*Packaged Stimulants should be in the inventions tree as the medkit is for quick healing. Regardless, the amount of damage output by enemies makes the healing from the medkit completely unnoticable even with full Cleric’s gear.
*Power Wrench should be improved as it really only benefits the #3 skill. #2, and #5 are not used enough to make the cooldown reduction worthwhile, but I feel this is partially due to the poor damage output of the Wrench. Additionally, the healing on turrets is not valuable due to the poor health of turrets.

I feel that I am just reiterating what others have said on this forum, but I think it would be better to have everything put into one big thread. Again, this thread is not for bugs, but mechanical design grievances with the class.

Not problems like “What is fun?” Because that would fall within the purview of your conundrums of enjoyment.
I have practical problems.

TF2 referencing aside, the Engineer has possibly the greatest versatility and complexity of all the classes. However, design and mechanics-wise, the Engineer has some severe issues that need to be addressed. Let me first state for the record that this thread is not for bugs.

Kits: General
*For starters, not having weapon stats and sigils work for kits/abilities automatically kills Flamethrower, Bomb, Tool Kit, Elixir Gun, Elixir X and the Mortar before they are even used. The only way that Grenade Kit is worthwhile is due to the ridiculous power of the Grenadier trait. What motivation do I have to use a kit when I’m losing 179 power, ~7% crit, 9% crit damage, and ~240 weapon damage?
*I understand that adding weapon stats would cause some balance issues, especially for the Grenade Kit and Flamethrower Kit, but it doesn’t feel right that I could potentially cruise through the game without ever equipping anything other than my starter pistol and being no worse for the wear.

Kits: Grenade Kit
*The Grenade kit has some severe issues. While I respect that it works for both condition and power builds, I feel as though I am shoehorned into the Grenadier trait due to it having much more power than any other build even without a weapon. I don’t think that Grenadier needs to be nerfed, however, as it is a payoff for hitting your target in PvP. I do think that the other DPS specs need to be brought up closer to Grenadier’s level.
*Many people complain about a lack of autocast for the Grenade Kit on land and I have to agree with them. However, I believe a better solution is needed for PvP. Therefore I would like to see the ability to hold down the “1” key to automatically recast. This alleviates the “super carpal tunnel syndrome mode” of grenades, without killing targeting for moving targets.

Kits: Flamethrower Kit
*I want to love the Flamethrower, I really do. However, it has some issues that prevent reliable use. For starters, the constant missing of Flame Jet whenever you and/or your target move.
*Flame Blast suffers from the “obstructed bug” wherein it will sometimes fire straight into the ground; usually after using the #3 skill.
*Flame Blast is currently a high risk, low reward type of skill. The projectile is highly difficult to aim, travels slowly, and doesn’t output enough damage to reward a well, placed shot. My solution to both of these would be to make Flame Blast a ground targeted ability, or make it explode on impact with the ground or an enemy.
*I would like to see Backdraft come back as our #5 skill, but I understand why it was removed. Our current #5, however doesn’t see much use due to its small AoE.

Kits: Elixir Gun
*I feel that this kit would be in a good place if it had its associated bugs fixed along with the weapon issue.
*I do not like the jump back portion of Acid Bomb. It usually makes me aggro something else, and the enemy runs off the pile of goo before it does its full damage. Adding an immobilize would aid this ability.

Kits: Tool Kit
*Quite definitely the weakest kit, the Tool Kit feels like it doesn’t know what it wants to be. It definitely does not have the damage of melee abilities, despite being both slow casting and melee range.
*I think that my biggest gripe is the #2 skill. An enemy can easily walk out of the AoE before you finish casting, and the bleed+cripple feels very weak. It does not feel like a satisfying skill to use.
*I also feel that the #5 skill could have its range boosted a little, but it is fine right now.

Kits: Bomb Kit
*I haven’t had enough time with the bomb kit, but It does have some good abilities and its numbers would probably be right where they need to if the weapon issue is fixed. I do like combining it with the Pistol and Tool Kit to stack confusion.

Grenades have always been the best way for engineers to deal damage. The problem is that we’re practically shoehorned into this since the alternatives simply can’t give a comparative DPS output.

The fix to kits is simple: Make a hidden armor slot for your weapon to go into when you use a kit. It’s not elegant, but a bandage fix might be necessary since it seems a rewrite of the bundle code would be needed.

The problem is that it is more of an internal mechanics issue. Bundles were not designed with these nifty features, and that issue gets passed down to kits and transformations. which I assume must also be bundles or inherited from the bundle code.

A simple fix would be to have a hidden equipment slot specifically for weapons when you transform. Not exactly elegant, but it doesn’t require massive modifications to the bundle code.

Numbers-wise, with the bug fixed, FT would probably be right where it needs to be, Grenades would have to come down, and EG/Wrench/Elixir X would have to come up.

Wouldn’t the sales tax be taken before I picked it up? Regardless, the pick-up box said ~83 silver, I had ~3.80 gold, and after picking up I had ~3.90g. Where’s the rest of the money?

I just lost approximately 70 silver when I picked up my trades after work today. What reason is there to have faith in a trading post system that clearly doesn’t work and regularly loses my money? And that’s not even including having to log out and log back in every once in a while so that I can even buy or sell things.

What build are you using? I’m using a elixer-chugging rifle build, so since I have a permanent 100% uptime on fury, I plan to use Runes of Rage. Generally, people go into Rune of Divinity, however, but I like having some tankyness in my damage spec.

Found a new bug with Elixir X.

If you equip a kit while the SECOND castbar of Elixir X is casting, you will have that kit equipped in that form. It works with rampager form, but I have to go to work so I haven’t yet seen if it works with tornado or the underwater forms. Seems to work with any kit, at least grenade kit and medkit.

To reproduce:
1. Have no kits equipped.
2. Begin casting Elixir X.
3. Wait until after the first cast bar finishes, then equip a kit DURING the second cast bar.