Guild Wars 2

I run similar builds and have the same thoughts. Glad to see other power/rifle engies out there. Rifle is just my favorite weapon besides the bomb kit, and would like to be able to run with it without being pigeon-holed into ONE SD build. Seems like SD is the only way to generate enough damage to burst em down while staying out of range. Otherwise, using Blunderbuss or Jumpshot you have to sacrifice some burst for some sort of survability…

I’ve been thinking about the new Power shoes, Speedy Kits and Rocket boots for the ultimate roamer and maybe orb runner. With the added mobility, perhaps another role instead of pure damage where the engineer can shine….

Drek Thalon.5490:

You say “Viable pvp build” and then I open it up and see “serker amulet (ofc)” and /facepalm.

I don’t use the Berserker amulet in most PvP builds b/c it doesn’t fit my playstyle….but just b/c someone uses one doesn’t make their build unviable. You have to look at the build as a whole.

But as with anything else in life, if you write something off due to one thing without actually thinking about it…..yea /facepalm.

Tankiness or survivability maybe what you prefer (I know I do) but is not the definition of viability. It depends on your role and what you are trying to accomplish in team and individual fights. It obviously helps in GW2 pvp in most cases…or you need ‘just enough’ for the more bursty playstyles.

Not to say THIS build is completely viable either or doesn’t completely suck. Point being, I’m going to look at it first and see what he’s trying to accomplish and to see how well he’s covered some of the weakpoints of rolling with a ’Zerker amulet and reserve my /facepalm until I know the facts…

Interpret Interrupt.3824:

100lbs with frenzy is fully executable after a shield bash, if your shield has the +15% stun duration sigil attached.

FYI-this would also depend on what other condition duration you have. You would need at least +10% more condition duration to get up to +25% stun duration and get an extra 1/4 sec on your stun. To get to 1/2 sec you’d need +35% condition duration which would require a full 30 pts in the power/condition duration tree (which you might have) and also another 5% elsewhere (maybe some runes?).
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Condition_Duration

My question is why does everyone shorten the “Hundred Blades” skill to “100lbs”? Isn’t that 100 pounds? :P

Yes, but has A-net confirmed this? The language of the tool tip makes it sounds like the crit chance is a flat 50% after a stun, but everyone seems to interpret it the other way.

But other traits, such as Heightened Focus clearly use the word “gain” to imply additional crit chance. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Heightened_Focus

Just b/c you crit after a stun doesn’t mean you had a 100% crit chance. You would have to see if you don’t crit, with at least 50% crit on you. Probably the 3 second mace stun is the best way to test.

It would be great if A-net could confirm how it works.

“30% crit chance (50% with fury, 100% while enemy is stunned from pommel bash, shield bash, skull crack, earthshaker)”

Is it known that Unsuspecting Foe works this way? From the way it reads:
“50% critical-hit chance against stunned foes.”

That doesn’t say “+50% critical-hit chance against stunned foes.” It sounds like a flat 50% crit-hit chance against stunned foes, not plus 50%.

I know it would be hard to confirm since it wouldn’t update on your character sheet.

I’m trying something similar. The playstyle is definitely fun, especially in group fights, being that I’ve played the similar ‘healing bombs’ bunker build in sPvP. Of course, for a number of reasons, WvW is very different.

I wanted to come up with a Bomb based WvW build and it eventually morphed into this exact same idea. I didn’t want to stand back and throw grenades and wanted to be more on the front lines. First I was going to stack Power/Tough like everyone else, I thought of using the healing bombs and regen for more survivability on the front line, due to our lack of heavy armor…now I’m wondering if stacking Cleric’s and +healing gear and being a front line medic would be survivable. In my first rough pass at a possible build, I figured I wanted to stack at least 1000 healing, which effectively doubles the base regen you get (130/tick >> 260/tick). With healing bombs, plus some burst healing the blast finisher procs (healing turrent+blow up turrent), that’s from fairly decent sustained healing.

How viable has this been for you in WvW? I’m not geared well at all but tried it and didn’t do too well, but it was probably more of an issue of lack skill than anything else. :P And also a need to focus on the support/healing role if deciding to do this. You definitely need to stay with a group and focus on healing, proc’ing combo effects with Big Ol’ Bomb, removing conditions with Elixir gun, etc. This is not a solo roaming build as your primary goal is not damage. Right now I’m still kinda hybrid, still stacking a good amount of power from soldiers trinkets/runes, etc and using the rife (mainly for control). But feel I would need to focus on healing to make a healing bomb spec truly effective in WvW.

I also agree with the awesome power of Kit Refinement. Most engies put 10 in Tools for the Speedy Kits for the free sprint, but now that I’ve seen the light. If I only have 10 to spend here I now take Kit Refinement. I didn’t even use it before, if there was a change to the cooldowns, it doesn’t effect me (it sounds like some got reduced by the flat 10 sec cool down for all kits). Since the Feb 26th update, I can confirm that the Super Elixer removes a condition, in addition to the heal and light combo field. With Kit refinement, you can effectively case Super Elixir twice and wipe to conditions immediately. Flame thrower also removes a condition and burns near by enemies.
If you are more offensive, the free cripple from the Box of Nails will keep those kiters from kiting. The only lack luster one seems to be the the free bomb from bomb kit. It is just a normal bomb, so a little extra damage. I have not confirmed whether or not if you are traited into Elixir-infused Bombs, whether or not the free bomb from Kit Refinement also heals.