Guild Wars 2

I love being able to absorb more damage than any other class in the game. :> Engineers are BEASTS. I feel like a juggernaut every time I stroll into a zerg and get focus fired for 10 seconds while all of my squishy teammates are in the back destroying people.

It’s amazing how people haven’t learned to stop targetting tanks yet! They just look at me all like ‘Woah, lol, look at that stupid engineer, kill him before he gets away!’ NOPENOPENOPE

TANKCAT loves ZAPPLANT! Best buds for life! HAHA, GET IT? BUDS

Very amusing read, and the build looks solid, too! :> Very intriguing, might have to give this a try veery soon.

Hey guys, sorry I haven’t been around to respond for a few days. I’m back, though! More videos soon to come.

Icebane.1426:

My Tankcat story

Haha, I thought this was hilarious. Thanks for the story :>

Entaurrus Silver.3820:

I’m glad to see Engis still have some potential; these days have been dark for the gearheads of GW2….
What I want to know is the effectiveness of this build in PVP vs its effectiveness in PVE. Any insight?
And what would you suggest for armor types, sigils, and trait point distribution?

The build is not as effective in PvE. It may be useful to replace Elixir B with Bomb Kit, and play with the talents a bit to squeeze some into Explosives. TANKCAT can be a pretty decent support character for dungeon running, but i’d grab Elixir U for turbo rezzing allies. If your group needs damage though, you’d be a lot better off going rifle/nades or something.

For armor I use full soldier’s gear. Sigils I currently use are Sigil of Battle and Sigil of Restoration (if anyone knows a good offhand sigil, i’d love to know what everyone uses). Traits are 0/0/20/30/20 solo or 0/0/20/20/30 for group play. :> I hope that helped!

zaragoz.6351:

So what do you think about sigils now? You going to continue running the same setup. Look forward to hearing what other people think will work well.

After looking at these patch notes, i’ll definitely be staying with TANKCAT.

For Sigils, Battle is looking to be the most attractive option, by far. Perma 6 stacks of might, yes please :>

Hydromancy seems very attractive, but I just tested it and it doesn’t seem to work.

Energy will probably be my second choice, still doing some testing though. I’m sure there’s other good combinations as well

sPvP video released! enjoy :>

I’ve been hearing that with halved confusion damage, TANKCAT doesn’t do well in sPvP play. Keep in mind that everyone usually has lower hp. I did a couple games and found it very capable.

Amadeus.5687:

mischwoof I have been looking at your build and your role in group play, and been wondering about Superior Rune of Mercy wouldn’t make you even more of a ressing beast? Have you looked/tested that rune?

Mercy was actually my very first rune set, and I love it to death. The only thing that deterred me was not knowing the hard numbers on how much damage reduction it gives while rezzing people. I still run with guardian/earth these days, but I would love to revisit it.

lithiumwing.5493:

I must thank you with coming up with a fun build. Had a blast in WvW not too long ago. Too bad two of the minidunks were not completed with the foe disconnecting quickly.

Haha, that happens somewhat often. I think people are starting to get frustrated at the tougher engineers running around.

ikiturso.4026:

So with new patch sigils come in. Which sigs u suggest for this?

I haven’t looked too much into Sigils since I never really cared about them (since they didn’t work) So i’m just now starting to research some ones that would synergize well. Like Grackleflint said on the first page of the thread, Hydromancy seems like a good choice. I currently just use Sigil of Restoration due to how much finishing i’m doing, but the sky’s the limit, etc etc!

Czar Peter.7961:

I ran into a few engineers running this build in WvW on my alt thief and whilst they were tough to kill, their actions were fairly predictable and there was no way I was going to confuse/retaliate my self to death.

For a variation on this build (same skills), I tried 10/10/20/10/20 with full rabid armor and rampager weapons. Damage is mainly dealt through bleeding/poison with the pistol but you still have magnetic and gear shield for defense. Also pulling people with the tool kit is really fun and confusion deals 925 damage. It’s a different play style and you certainly can’t go 1v4 but people who want to use tool kit but aren’t getting loot bags in WvW should give it a shot.

The predictability may be that the players may still be learning the ropes of the build. I yearn for the day of Condition Damage/Vit/Toughness armor! Though i’m glad to hear a condition oriented build is working for you. :>

MikeT.9428:

Cleaning formula 409 traited (X in Alchemy line), 2 elixirs slotted and two in your tool belt make conditions not that much of an issue. Especially if you also have automated response traited (XII in Alchemy line) your only deaths should come from being completely outnumbered…or death to falling…as we’ve witnessed in Tankcat’s video, far too many good soldiers are lost this way.

Yep! Condition removing goodness. Now if only Automated Response cleaned all conditions on you when it applied. Would that be too op? :<

1. Mesmer
2. Thief
3. Guardian
4. Warrior
5. Engineer
6. Elementalist
7. Necromancer
8. Ranger

IMO :>

MorningLightMountain.4518:

mischwoof.9785:

Hey all! I added a new video for some group wvwvw goodness.

Just FYI, Youtube Germany is blocking the video because “it possibly contains music violating GEMA rights” (a dreaded organization that enforces licensing payments for music in Germany). I guess I need to use my VPN tunnel to watch the vid…

Regarding blocking:

It’s not too big of an issue. If i’m blocking, it’s because i’m absorbing burst.

Dumb question: how do you know WHEN they are going to use their burst skills? Do you pop it when your health starts dropping? It seems I am often wasting my cooldowns too early.

Oh geez. GEMA is absurd.

For warriors, rangers, and thieves, when I see them pop quickness, that’s the time to reflect/block. A thief that cloaks and daggers me and is going in for the backstab is a good time to block also, as well as daggerstorm. For other classes, and for multiple people on you, it’s best to use your judgement. If you see large crits, a lot of incoming damage, or dozens of spell effects going into your character, that’s the time to block.

Hvaran.6327:

When do would use your burst while playing other classes? Some bursts used on below 50% health, some depended on the range.

Most people tend to blow their burst all at once whenever they initiate, to try and establish a huge advantage in their favor. I call these people sheep, and they are delicious.

Smart players will sit on their cooldowns and blow them when you’ve exhausted your defensive skills/ dodges. This is the kind of player you have to play a mental battle with.

I personally assume that if a player i’m attacking dodges twice, then they’re spent, and it’s a good time to try and land some burst.

i was so excited, too! :<

Hey all! I added a new video for some group wvwvw goodness.

Next video will cover sPvP.

Petezahut.3068:

how do you deal with someone that knows how to get you out of your blocks? [fears/pulls from necros,warriors,other toolkit engis and mesmers]

It’s not too big of an issue. If i’m blocking, it’s because i’m absorbing burst. If they use an interrupt, they either cancelled their burst or I blocked it, so either way it fulfilled it’s purpose. If I mess up and they interrupt my shield AND their burst is still up, i’ll just use my other block. If they’re both down, and the enemy starts using burst skills, I usually panic and start rolling around or Elixir S, if it’s up.

Bunzy.8674:

mischwoof.9785:

Bunzy.8674:

mischwoof.9785:

Hi guys, i’m Nisha the Medicat.

I play the game, and, indeed, have built my entire character, from the name, to my role in wvwvw, around the downed state.

Since BWE 1 i’ve been a tank spec engineer built to ressurect allies. (Hence MediCat)

Please consider what removing downed state would do to team players. You CAN have people in your group that can finish people off. Just because your class can’t do it, doesn’t mean that it’s imbalanced. The game is built around teamwork, and the downed state encourages more teamwork than any other MMO i’ve played. :>

This reminds me of healing classes from other MMOs. I thought we were all meant to be diverse in our roles in this game however now you are suggesting that we should build our team strictly around comp roles (certain res masters , and downed stompers)? You have to expand on how you say it encourages more team then any other MMO – Why? Because I have yet to see how it encourages teamwork.

I don’t get what you’re saying. You thought we were all meant to be diverse in our roles in the game, but.. me playing a team-oriented resurrection build isn’t diversity?

Don’t you think there would be LESS diversity if downed state was removed?

I never said you should build your team around roles, and I don’t know where that assumption came from. You don’t have to fill a niche role to finish players off. All you have to do is be aware, and have a skill in your arsenal that can secure a finish.

It’s kind of shocking to hear that you don’t know how teamwork and the downed state tie in together! Allow me to explain (Because I love to!)

Teamwork is quite simply, people working together. Whenever Team A’s ally goes down, teamwork is encouraged on both sides. Team A is going to try to push up and save that ally, because if they don’t, they’ll lose manpower, and more importantly, if they die, they’ll rally any Team B members that are downed.

Team B is going to actively seek and try to finish that downed Team A member, because it will rally downed allies, and it will reduce Team A’s forces. Likewise, Team A is trying to do the same thing to any downed Team B forces.

I have never seen so many people that don’t know each other at all work together in a game until now. I’ve been in assaults where the entire group of people that were retreating, would go back and extract one person. Downed State brings players closer together!

So you are saying I should be complaining about my class rather then the downed state? The other day I was in a 3v1 and must of taken each one down twice however was unable to finish them off as the other two just kept ressing their fallen ally up before I could even finish any kind of channeling ability, I also couldn’t out dps the healing they were doing. The mechanic is so wrong on all levels and eventually people will see this.

Judging from your post history, you seem to do both. :<

Can’t you finish while mist forming? Maybe that fight would’ve been different if you did. I don’t see how a game mechanic is wrong on all levels because you weren’t outfitted to fight multiple people.

Bunzy.8674:

mischwoof.9785:

Hi guys, i’m Nisha the Medicat.

I play the game, and, indeed, have built my entire character, from the name, to my role in wvwvw, around the downed state.

Since BWE 1 i’ve been a tank spec engineer built to ressurect allies. (Hence MediCat)

Please consider what removing downed state would do to team players. You CAN have people in your group that can finish people off. Just because your class can’t do it, doesn’t mean that it’s imbalanced. The game is built around teamwork, and the downed state encourages more teamwork than any other MMO i’ve played. :>

This reminds me of healing classes from other MMOs. I thought we were all meant to be diverse in our roles in this game however now you are suggesting that we should build our team strictly around comp roles (certain res masters , and downed stompers)? You have to expand on how you say it encourages more team then any other MMO – Why? Because I have yet to see how it encourages teamwork.

I don’t get what you’re saying. You thought we were all meant to be diverse in our roles in the game, but.. me playing a team-oriented resurrection build isn’t diversity?

Don’t you think there would be LESS diversity if downed state was removed?

I never said you should build your team around roles, and I don’t know where that assumption came from. You don’t have to fill a niche role to finish players off. All you have to do is be aware, and have a skill in your arsenal that can secure a finish.

It’s kind of shocking to hear that you don’t know how teamwork and the downed state tie in together! Allow me to explain (Because I love to!)

Teamwork is quite simply, people working together. Whenever Team A’s ally goes down, teamwork is encouraged on both sides. Team A is going to try to push up and save that ally, because if they don’t, they’ll lose manpower, and more importantly, if they die, they’ll rally any Team B members that are downed.

Team B is going to actively seek and try to finish that downed Team A member, because it will rally downed allies, and it will reduce Team A’s forces. Likewise, Team A is trying to do the same thing to any downed Team B forces.

I have never seen so many people that don’t know each other at all work together in a game until now. I’ve been in assaults where the entire group of people that were retreating, would go back and extract one person. Downed State brings players closer together!

Siad.3608:

My biggest problem is every kitten class has a way to stop you at least once from finishing them off. If the Devs are so insistent upon keeping down state in the game, at least remove everything but the auto attack and heal ability.

What class are you playing, may I ask? :o

Stability and Quickness are your friends when finishing players. If you don’t have those with your class, maybe ANET’s balancing would be better off giving your class some form of those two abilities instead of removing Downed State mechanics.

Hi guys, i’m Nisha the Medicat.

I play the game, and, indeed, have built my entire character, from the name, to my role in wvwvw, around the downed state.

Since BWE 1 i’ve been a tank spec engineer built to ressurect allies. (Hence MediCat)

Please consider what removing downed state would do to team players. You CAN have people in your group that can finish people off. Just because your class can’t do it, doesn’t mean that it’s imbalanced. The game is built around teamwork, and the downed state encourages more teamwork than any other MMO i’ve played. :>

That would be lame :< It’d be like removing pets from Rangers, or kits from Engineers, or clones from mesmers, or.. you get the idea.

Stealth is a super strong mechanic, and the rendering problem is a big issue, but anyone that thinks that the Thief’s core gameplay mechanic should be removed is just silly.

Definitely want to use Omnomberry ghosts or Omnomberry pie, they’re your survivability godsend for glass cannon spec. :>

I think that while TANKCAT could work with some tweaks in fractals as a support/rezzer/tank-type character, a different spec would probably be more beneficial for your group.

Since you’re crit/condition damage geared, you would probably want to use dual pistol. This build by Odd View Sarvong seems like it would be very efficient for fractals if you want to do a support/condition build! : https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Post-Your-Build-Thread/page/2#post843579

This build looks very promising :> It looks like a niche build, but it seems pretty solid. Good damage, decent survivability, can support downed allies, and can hold a point in a pinch.

Thanks for sharing with everyone!

tigirius.9014:

What modifications would you make to this build to make it more pve friendly?

Hmmmmm. This is a tough one. Since this is a more pvp-focused build, and since survivability is a bit moot in levelling, i think it’d be more beneficial to pick up a grenade/rifle or bomb spec.

I personally respec to lightning burst grenade build for dungeon runs and other pve stuff.

If you really want it adapted for PvE though, I would try maybe replacing Elixir B with Elixir U, and Elixir S with Bomb kit. After that i think i’d drop some points into explosives for Steel-Packed powder, and go to town dropping bombs. You could magnetic shield in fire bomb for some might stacks, and you’d still be pretty tanky with your two blocks and Self-Regulating Defenses.

Engineer is a highly customizable class, moreso than other classes, IMO. :>

I personally see Engineers as a Jack-of-all-trades class. I don’t think we excel at any one thing, but we have the capability to adapt to nearly any situation. Healer? HELL YEAH! Damage dealer? We can drop some pretty great dps! Tank? You bet your sweet kitten we can tank! Facemelting condition spec? SURE, I GUESS!

I play TANKCAT as a highly survivable turbo dunker/rezzer in group play, and a retaliation/confusion monster in solo play.

In sPvP, when you’re on a point, people can’t really afford to run from you, because if they do, they’re going to lose points for their team, assuming you stay on point (it IS a bunker build with limited roaming capabilities)

In WvWvW, fleeing enemies are an issue against your one pull and one stun (with Supply Crate), but you’d be surprised at how many people DON’T stop being stupid and keep attacking you. I often initiate (along with the guardian in our group), and you’d be amazed at how many people try to burn me down instead of killing our 12k hp thief that’s twoshotting everyone. Quickness dunking people while tiny has rallied our group more times than once. While it’s not the incredibly satisfying watch-huge-numbers-and-people-dying-instantly type of playstyle that a lot of people want, it’s very valuable and I personally feel it’s very satisfying to play. :>

My best advice for anyone that’s having trouble with engineer is to pick a build that suits your playstyle on the forums, and use it as a template!

Don’t copy it to a T. Pick what you like, change what you don’t! This is Guild Wars 2, after all. There’s obviously some poor choices; we have some bugs, and we have some subpar skills, and maybe those will be fixed by ANET in future updates. But there’s a world of possibility out there, especially with Engineers.

Thanks for all of the kind words guys :> More soon to come! Already got some good clips today.

Manticore Five.9867:

With all the blocking that you do, do you think that 6 runes of the guardian would give you a second retaliation-like ability?

I’ve been eyeing this rune for a bit; It’s something i’m definitely interested in trying. Unfortunately they’re 2.5 gold each on the TP, and Medicat is a coupon clipping cheapskate. I do think i’ll give this a try in sPvP sometime though!

I’ve just posted my first pvp video! :> Just a fair warning: it’s more silliness than a build showcase, but I still think it shows a couple things well.

(For anyone seeing this just as it’s posted, the video is still uploading! It’ll be done in a hour or so.)

Malagar.5732:

I don’t know if it’s me doing something wrong, but I don’t ever notice substantial damage from retaliation. Sure, the attacker gets his 250 or so confusion damage and that’s about it, so if I manage to kill someone it’s mostly due to me being stupidly difficult to kill.

It’s easy to miss seeing the numbers that pop up, but it’s definitely there! Once you go up against a shortbow ranger or a thief and you pop retaliation, your ears will be flooded with that lovely retaliation chiming noise.

zaragoz.6351:

Yeah, I’ve been trying this build out for the last few days, because I was looking for something that was much harder to bring down. Had previously been playing rifle/toolbelt burst spec. The thing is though I just don’t seem to do any damage, and if the opposing player is smart they just don’t attack me when retaliation is up. Survivability is great and in zerg vs zerg i’m usually one of the last men standing, but I have certainly noticed I don’t get many lootbags anymore. Either way pretty cool spec and has certainly been a different play style. Thanks for posting

Whenever you jump to this from the lightning burst rifle spec, you’ll feel like you may as well be doing negative damage! I felt the same way initially. It is a shame not to see those lovely large damage numbers, but I think the survivability and general capacity for causing havoc is definitely worth it. Besides, I still do drop the occasional 3k prybar or throw wrench combo. I don’t have a problem at all getting lootbags, though I guess maybe its because i’m getting REALLY good at tagging enemies in our guild group, ahah!

Thanks for giving it a try and offering your feedback, it’s appreciated :>

MorningLightMountain.4518:

Simply put: this is an amazing build with a very satisfying play style.
I really like the underdog feeling of running around my enemies with, dodging and blocking their attacks while slowly wearing them down, HP-wise and more importantly morally.
I consider myself a PvP noob, but as OP claims even I could easily beat opponents in one on one matches.
At one point I was defending a base against 4 attackers and survived for an astonishingly long period before they finally pwned me.
This build is about binding enemy resources, and that alone surely helps your team win.

Thank you very much for the support! Distracting enemy forces is definitely of huge value to your team, especially during a tower or keep siege. You running like a chicken with it’s head cut off may very well be the difference between losing a keep or defending it!

Raf.1078:

Aren’t the shield skills kind of slow to re-load though? I quit using one just because of that. Unless I’m missing something?

I don’t have a problem with Reinforced Shield as a trait, which puts Magnetic Shield on 24s, and Static Shield on 32s. Unfortunately there’s a bug that makes the cooldown reduction not properly apply to Static Shield IF you throw it, making it count all the way down from 40s. It’s not too huge of a deal but i’d love if it got fixed soon!

zaragoz.6351:

What upgrades are you going to put into the soldiers amulet and rings?

Crest of the Soldier. Feel free to put something else in if you want, though :>

tigirius.9014:

Anyone have working links to what the OP is talking about so far I’ve never seen an entire thread of broken links till today.

I do have to say tho that this has been one of the funniest well read threads I’ve seen in a long long time!

The link directs to TinyURL. click proceed to this site to see the build. Here’s the raw link if you want it, but keep in mind you will have to manually copy & paste it into your browser bar to see it. Guild wars 2 forums aren’t routing it correctly for some reason and say it’s a bad link.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fcIQJAqel0pSXH5SfF17IxIFdW0hUgfDL6RlzPlB;TsAA1CtosxYjwGrNObk2MI5Qy0BA

Panzen.4625:

Sounds like a lot of fun and I’ll try it. Though I’ll probably use my gear mix of soldier’s and knight’s so I’ll have less max hp but about the same toughness. And I’ll probably go 0/0/20/20/30 instead of 30 alch. But I’ll have to test that out.

However, it really seems like a one trick pony. What is your strategy after retaliation has run out? Between the 75%hp elixir B and your elixir B pop, the retaliation will drop and your confusion also isn’t up the whole time. Then your only option seems to be using your blocking/evasion/stealth to get to the next elixir B… but I guess I’ll see
stealth to rescue yourself to the next elixir B.

Generaly, after retaliation runs out, I usually use a block and then static shot. I’ll roll around a bit and if they’re wailing on me and doing enough dps, i’ll drop supply crate on top of them and collect some bandages. After that it’s just toe-to-toeing until it’s back up.

Grackleflint.4956:

So I gave this build a spin in WvW, and here’s what I discovered. Keep in mind that I’m not level 80 (I’m 74) and was not playing with the best gear to compliment this build.

I really appreciate you taking the time to write an in-depth review of the build. Thanks!

Medkit is personal preference; I personally use it for perma swiftness since it doesn’t have to unequip. Re-equipping toolkit over and over is really annoying for me. I also personally can’t seem to force myself to like Elixir H.

Rifle is a great weapon, and it’d be a great way of adding some more raw damage onto the build. However, without magnetic shield and static shield, I feel incredibly naked. Static shield secures me the most kills next to Supply Crate. Also, my shield has a lion head on it.

As for Elixir X, I personally HATE, and indeed, even LOATHE, this skill. Maybe i’m just unlucky, but I always get the opposite of what I want. I also love bandages, stunning and immobilizing poor souls, and blast finishering on people’s fields all in one package.

Again, thanks for the thoughtful reply :>

Fraeg.9837:

Now your guilds Engineer, does s/he have any videos to post?

I will have some up soon. :>

As for Shrack’s video and the state of thieves; it’s not really meant to be a simple thief damage showcase. Our group is built around supporting Incomingray and Shrack, and it’s an example of what thieves are capable of with organized support, and also how we set up our fights :>. While it’s true that thieves simply do higher damage than other classes if full zerker specced, and that shrack could probably destroy a small group of unaware players by himself, if you watch the video we set up our initiation so that shrack and ray can maximize their AoE damage, which is worth something! He can’t have all the credit :p

That being said, I think that when the stealth rendering issue is fixed, everyone will be a lot less bitter about thieves. Everyone can agree, even the thieves, that the culling problem is a bit silly.

Goldmember.4368:

I cant get the build feom original post to work. I just want to see the traits and skills used.

click the link, and you’ll be redirected to Tinyurl. Just click ‘proceed to this site’. I had it redirect to a preview in case anyone got suspicious about me linking to a virus or something. It’s just one extra click :>

Czar Peter.7961:

Well a set of 42k armor will give you exotic soldier stats, but I don’t think you can get the equivalent of soldier’s amulet in PvE, so you’ll have to use either clerics or carrion trinkets right.

Right, until you can afford the invader accessories and such, or get the ascended Power/Vit/Toughness rings.

However, with the FoTM update there’s a lot more BoE Power/Vit/Toughness trinkets and rings floating around. I’m still shy a few badges for my amulet, so I picked up a rare one off the Trading Post for 40s. It’s called Amulet of the Dead. There are rare 80 accessories called Soldier’s Field Guide. And rings called Soldier’s Ring. They’re all level 80 rares. :>

i still can’t get over how much damage you do, rofl

Grackleflint.4956:

What do you all think about Sigil of Superior Hydromancy for this build?

I haven’t tried this yet, but I think it’s a great choice. In WvWvW I personally use Sigil of Restoration because I find myself slam dunking a lot of people, but Hydromancy would be really good for small group pvp. I actually never considered this, thanks for bringing it up :>

KirinDave.6451:

Would this build benefit from dropping 10 from Alchemy and putting it into Tools for Armor Mod in exchange for Cleaning Formula 409?

If your main goal is to burn people as they break themselves against your retaliation, then having retaliation pop up as they start their attack reactively could be great. Given the 75% mark elixir B and glass cannon’s love of high crit, you might not even need Elixir B on your bar in that case, instead opting for R to give you more dodges, stunbreak, and revival or an Elixir C to help shore up your performance against condition builds.

This is something worth giving a try, as 10% more cooldown reduction on toolbelt skills is always tasty to begin with. For small group pvp I am actually seriously considering this as I’ll be able to reflect damage while keeping Elixir U on my bar, which gives the build both 1v1 and group-oriented love. For roaming alone, I think i’ll keep Elixir B and Cleaning Formula 409, as I’m simply addicted to the dependable fury and condition removals that they give me. Thanks for this idea!

Amos.8760:

Tried this out a bit this morning. I was impressed with the survivability of this build. I used to run a rifle/crit build and try to stay out of the fray. It’s a lot of fun running right in and causing chaos. I didn’t do as well as I’d hoped, but I attribute that to adjusting to a new build and my having never used pistol/shield before.

It’s definitely an entirely different playstyle! Once you learn when to time your blocks and such, you will be doing great, IMO :>

Here’s a short video from last night of a CRAZY underwater chase in the BP borderlands. I had to empty my pants of bricks by the time it was over. You guys almost got me!

Cempa.5619:

Rifle 0/10/30/30/0 how would you describe that build? Fight against it? Is it just another tank build?

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-V70;0B-Z;0h0u5NQFx0;9;59TT;25;045817A;14;2J;0H7W3H7W36gf

This is a very interesting build! I can’t say I’ve ever fought against one of these, but it is pretty intriguing. Seems to trade the two blocks and blast finisher for substantially more DPS. I think i’d be in for a rough fight if I was up against it!

Raijinn.9065:

Loved the post made me laugh and this does seem like a strong build. Only thing that immediately sticks out to me is it seems very 1v1ish but I will try it out.

IMO you would benefit so much more by dropping self regulating defense, medkit, and elixir b for and picking up kit refinement, elixir gun (for super elixir basically), and the healing turret. You would have a permanent light field (retaliation, regeneration) and much greater healing as well. You would lose 3 condition heals from elixir b and self regulating defense but you would gain 2 condition heals each on 10 sec cool down from super elixir.

You would also hit a little less harder but IMO the added survivability is well worth it. If you don’t like that I honestly would still drop self regulating defense for backpack regenerator. With the dolyak runes the its you have a constant regeneration ticking for 160. That alone can cancel out bleeds and what not and will do so much more for you depending how often you tend to stay in tool kit.

Whenever I feel like swapping up for healing, this is what i do for the most part, and I approve this. :>

When I play with a group I replace Elixir B with Elixir U. This allows me to turbo-rez allies or turbo-dunk enemies, and the fields are always great, too!

I’m still playing with runes, so far my favorites are Earth and Dolyak, but Forge and Mercy both might be something i’ll play with in the future. Thanks for the insight :>

gettin wild tonight, crazy fights :>

DKz Lux.4125:

I loved playing against NEWL on reset. Those guys are hardcore. Can we arrange guild vs guild battles somewhere in wvw on Wednesday or Thursday? You guys are awesome and a lot of fun to play against.

I think this would be fun, i’ll mention it to everybody :>

As for the exploit thing: every server has players that do it, unfortunately. It’s just how people on the internet work :< I applaud everyone that stays steadfast in the face of temptation, though! I think that’s a sign of a really solid game community for it to be as rare of an occurrence as it is, when literally everyone could do it.

This matchup has been fun like the others, but unfortunately the current state of GoM has really ended a big portion of the entertainment value for us. While all the talk about servers doing better by refining their tactics might have some truth to it, the scores are without a doubt due to current server populations.

It’s sad, but GoM has really become a ghost server, and the few people that are left figure that fractals and such are much less a waste of time than wuvwuv.

We at NEWL have been native GoMians since launch thus far, but unfortunately we’re seriously considering a transfer :<

i think class balance is at a pretty good stage right now; while there’s still some bugs that need to be fixed (stealth rendering, traits not working, etc), i think for the most part everything is balanced nicely, and especially for being so early in the game’s life.

I think the people that are complaining are the ones that aren’t doing a good job avoiding the thieves’ burst. If you can deprive a thief of their initiative/cooldowns and block/dodge/mitigate a large enough portion of it, they become really trivial to beat.

Number 1 is a gimmicky skill, but it’s not that bad.

Number 2 is fine; people seem to conveniently forget that it’s a knockdown. If they have stability they don’t get pulled to you, and if you get blinded they don’t get pulled to you. If they are pulled to you, they’re gonna be knocked down. It’s an interrupt ability and it works. It also has good utility. I’ve saved downed allies several times just by placing a well placed #2 on the person executing them.

Number 3 is fantastic; an AoE blowout that does huge damage is hilarious. I’ve rallied quite a few times from people that were just too close to an edge when I #3’d. Everything is coming from a pvp standpoint, but in PvE the skill is pretty much always up before you get killed unless you have a ton of mobs on you. #3 for a power spec engineer is pretty much an insta-rally.

Too many engineers think our downed skills are terrible, when they’re not at all. You just have to think outside the box, just like you have to do with the rest of the engineer class.

LOOKIT DAT MEDICAT

great as always ray :>

Plok.6145:

Talk about being board, NEWL, camping the norther supply camp, killing people that straggle out one at a time. Good stuff.

It was actually extremely fun because the amount of invaders would double every 5 minutes until it became too much to handle. It was survival mode! Definitely much more fighting than ‘one person at a time’; don’t be so modest! We’ve farmed several hundred badges from that camp, so we’re definitely looking forward to causing some more havoc up there :>

I don’t think this is much of an issue this early in the game’s lifespan. Surely in the future engineers will get some cosmetic love with kits, but i’m not expecting it to happen any time soon, what with all of the bug fixes and functionality changes the game needs.

People use Elixir H with the +20% duration and -20% recharge traits, making it a very capable heal. With Cleaning formula 409 it also removes a condition when you chug/throw it. All in all it’s a fantastic heal.

I personally use medkit, and i love it. With speedy kits you get infinite swiftness just by equipping it constantly. Also with Inertial Converter (15 pt Tool trait line) your self heal recharges at 25% hp, which is an kitten saver. Also medkits heal for quite a bit and in organized groups, teammates love them :>

Healing turret is great; it’s a reliable heal whenever you need it, if a bit standard and boring.

All in all i’d say try all of them and see what you like most; they’re all really good. :>

Veldoran.5297:

Hello everyone. Im currently lvling an alt engineer. Would love some insights/reasoning behind build+playstyle. This thread is all about general PvE+dungeon.

My big question is: Why would I want to utilize Flamethrower kit rather than Bomb kit?

Do note im still lvling this character. But as far as I’ve been using these two kits/traits regarding them, I’ve found Bomb kit to be a little more reliable than flamethrower.

1. With bomb kit-based build, I can choose to go either melee-based play, or just swap some traits with the grenades for certain scenarios/bosses than needs to be ranged to fight. Compared to Flamethrower/ElixirGun builds, there seems to be lacking in terms of options (in terms of range swaps)

The control seems to be balanced on both side. Both bomb/ft have blinds, distance control(knockback vs aoe snare), although Im not sure how strong is the bomb heal traits compared to Elixir gun’s natural Weakness condition in group setting, without dedicated gears for it(heal power).

2. As far for solo play, bombs really seems to outshine flamethrower. Sure, +200 toughness is not something to scoffed at, but with bomb kit you can just kite the mobs around doing consistent damage without being touched at all.(considering most mobs are melee) Not to mention Flamethrower locks you in the awkward animation for full 2.5 seconds, and unless you have the mob(s) in the cone for full duration, you’re missing some damage ticks. To do so you either have to walk slowly in reverse direction or strafe in circles(which I found probably easy to miss the mobs since FT works with your directional facing)

3. Since Engineer really shines at Aoe dmg, both build seems to be in the same power lvl. Although I really hate the constant targetting issue with Flamethrower.(sometimes it just states Miss even though I was pouring my flame directly to the mobs)

Im not dissing Flamethrower builds, but I think I might be missing something, most probably handling my distance with the weapon. Or it maybe just Bomb kits are generally easier to use. Would love some advice/fixes, or even a good video about using/handling flamethrower.

Bomb kit scales better than Flamethrower, and is just a better kit all around. I don’t think many people will be able to argue as to why you should use flamethrower instead.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, i just rolled a thief, threw some garnet pebbles in my armor, went to wvwvw at level 3, and am now happily kittentomping people by spamming heartseeker! :>

Err. The equipment choices in sPvP are limited in stats because it’s competitive and needs to be equal; you do less damage because you have lower power and precision in arena gear. Not because of level scaling. That being said, thieves can still get over 10k crits in sPvP against cloth classes with the least toughness possible. 8k crits are commonplace.

In wvwvw, thieves still can (and often do) over 15k backstab crits against squishy level 80s. It doesn’t matter how you try to sugarcoat it, that’s absurd spike damage, which is something ANet isn’t fond of. That’s why thieves are getting nerfed. I think it’s pretty justified. There are other abilities that are getting buffed to compensate for losing some damage on backstab. It’s not the end of the world for thieves.

Dear [TDME]:

Thanks for the badges!

Love,

[NEWL]

I love my charr! She’s adorable, yet strong and capable. :>

This has been the best match for me so far since before week-long matches were introduced in!

[NEWL] of GoM thanks BP and Anvil Rock for the awesome match, and for feeding us so many soldiers. I think i’ve slam dunked upwards of 500 BP and AR this week.