Guild Wars 2

Engi has no damaging options besides holosmith. so why nerf it and bring it in line with all of the other useless things it has? so far, during heart of thorns, it was only good for living. that’s pretty much it. oh, and ressing. so why not give it a viable damage option, which is holosmith? too many haters.

If they nerf Holo Leap I’d rather they nerf the damage or increase the heat generation. If they increase the cooldown, then I have to go back to taking Tools for permanent swiftness, and I won’t be able to run around with perm-quickness.

Okhu.7948:

Holosmith Damage is fine. Its high rish and high reward. Everyone saying “the damage is too high” has no idea what they’re talking about.

I feel it is because they are not use to Selfish DPS Job/Class. The High risk but High reward nature is what makes a Selfish DPS Job/Class stands out.

Selfish DPS Job/Class is well known in RPGs and MMOs for very high DPS to compensate for the lack of Utility and Support provided which is what Holosmith is designed to be as we see in Holosmith’s Trait tree and Skills.

The High DPS itself can be considered a Utility itself because it can kill enemies faster than any other Job/Class thus reducing the amount of time a Support/Utility based Class/Job needs to keep up their utility/support.

Holosmith Damage is fine. Its high rish and high reward. Everyone saying “the damage is too high” has no idea what they’re talking about.

I see a lot of people saying Holosmith damage needs to be reduced, but I’m not so sure that’s true. It’s a high risk / high reward specialization, and it doesn’t offer all that much other than high damage. In other words if you reduce damage on Holosmith, what are you left with?

http://imgur.com/a/FVlIf

It had to be done. I’m so very sorry.

Terrahero.9358:

I know, it’s funny.

Pistol 1 on launch, explode on target and inflict aoe bleed. Deemed OP because of Coated Bullets giving pierce, allowing multiple aoe bleed procs in grouped mobs.

I miss those days.

I’m thinking pistol for meta DPS PvE builds in raids/fractals.

Shield for everything else.

It depends…
It depends on what you play: Do you PvP? WvW? Fractals/Raids? Do you care about the meta?
It depends on whether you’re going condi or power: Pistol offhand only works with pistol mainhand as condi. Otherwise, you might as well just use a shield.
It depends on what changes: If we get heat generation for our other weapons, then rifle may end up being better than sword, even for power builds.

Certainly going for Shield when I play Holosmith.

Pistol is more ideal for the Power/Condition Hybrid builds.

Flameseeker sheild. Free blast in water field, another 2cc is always helpfull.

Sure, Holo reliably puts out Vuln, Burn and Bleed. In addition, you could use offhand pistol (more burn, cripple) or shield (essentially no condi). Mix in Kits, Utils, etc… and you’ll have plenty of opportunity for a condi build.

In my opinion, sword for Holo is a power weapon. In my opinion the general focus of the class is also power. If you are going to use sword, focus on Photon Forge, and Holosmith Utilities, then I would say it’s a power spec.

On release you can be sure someone will do the actual DPS numbers. I believe last I saw Engi had ~33K in PvE which was the #3 or 4 DPS spec in game. Holosmith should out damage that with properly managed heat and rotations.

Again though, these are only opinions based on what we’ve seen and what I’ve experienced from preview weekend. Survivability is low.

It seems to have gotten far worse the last couple of patches.

About 80% of my pulls near max distance just result in the enemy player jerking 2m toward me and then instantly continue to run.

Honestly, I’d rather have a reliable pbaoe knockback instead at this point. Reverse that magnet polarity and maybe the kitten will work right.

Sometimes when you pull people, then immediately Pry Bar them, it’ll miss even though the animation shows it connecting. This might be lag or server side lag.

I dont think its merely lag, it’s complete desync. When roaming with a guildie some time ago, we actually got to see what was going on. I pulled someone and my wrench just didnt hit. No miss, no block, no nothing, like swinging air. So I went “did you see that?! I just pulled and missed point blank!” and he said but you never even pulled him. Neither of us was experiencing any lagging at the time but still what I saw wasnt the same thing thing he saw. On my screen I pulled him successfully. On his screen (and obviously the server) he wasnt pulled, just frozen in place instead.

I am starting to wonder if this is actually the “jerking” we see. The player isnt being pulled because of missing, passive trait, something triggered but on our screens we see him being pulled just a bit until the server catch on and goes “wait a second…”.

Either way that kitten is broken.

It seems every blade of grass or pebble can somehow stop the mighty Magnet pull that can yank a full size norn multiple yards….when it works….

Vagrant.7206:

Chaith.8256:

Vagrant.7206:

I agree with this idea — weaver got all of their weapons revised for their new class mechanic, why can’t we have our existing weapons revised to match our new class mechanic?

Chaith

A lot of buffs, would probably have to accompany nerfs to the Photon Forge

Not necessarily. Many of the suggested buffs are QoL improvements that would make our core weapons not be as weak as they currently. It would also be an incentive for people to buy PoF.

If you look at our core weapons and current meta builds, you realize we spend almost no time on our core weapons, because they are so pitifully weak compared to our kits. This would help bring them up to par without being OP.

If PvP meta Holosmith build runs Rifle it will mean a lot of buffs, I used it all weekend and you’re using the Rifle half the time.

I found sword/shield to be more useful — even against rifle holos. I would lead with sword 3 for quickness, rapidly switch into PF and burst, then throw elixir S, rinse and repeat til enemy was dead from nasty spikes.

I also found shield to be hilariously effective against rifle holos. I would reflect most of their shots back/block them, and then proceed to whomp hard on them.

I had the opposite experience.. shield reflects once every 30 seconds and when they’re in Sword/Shield, Photon Forge obliterates it with Stability & Melee strikes slicing through the reflects or stun.

I think its a good idea. Engy has so few weapons to choose from I believe they could get it done in a small amount of time compared to other classes with a wider variety of weapons. Maybe something as simple as just a damage (or condi duration) increase based on heat lvl even?

I think I share a popular opinion with many when I say that the Holosmith feels very strong in PvP. It’s enjoyable to play, and it offers a very welcomed change of pace from the Scrapper. I think both Robert Gee and Irenio Calmon-Huang have a lot to be proud of with this specialization, as it seems to be one of the more popular ones according to the Reddit poll conducted over the weekend, and it is bringing a lot of non-engi players to the profession. I think the Holosmith will also be a genuine upgrade over core engineer in the PvE side of things, giving us a legitimate, engaging play style that’s quite a bit more active than spamming bombs in the core power engi build while being less frantic than the 4-kit core condi build. There’s a lot both PvE and PvP players have to be happy about with the specialization, but I think it’s important to address the elephant in the room here: five years into Guild Wars 2, the engineer is still an outsider to the WvW meta.

We had a brief stint in the meta when Heart of Thorns first launched, with Slick Shoes seeing very strong synergy with the Scrapper. And with Bulwark Gyro’s toolbelt skill, Defense Field, the Scrapper early on was one of the major contributors to finally disrupting the “pirate ship” meta. But now that Wall of Reflection has a base 30-second cooldown, which can be lowered to a 24-second cooldown with traits, alongside a major shift away from the “pirate ship” to the condi meta we have today, a lot of of our original appeal is gone. The Scrapper has no real defined role in WvW in 2017 outside of Sneak Gyro’s reveal, which admittedly has little utility outside of GvGs.

As such, we’re now entering this game’s five year anniversary and its second expansion release with another elite specialization that does nothing to address these issues. The engineer has struggled to maintain relevancy over the years as it pertains to WvW, and the Holosmith does nothing to fix this. It is yet another specialization that will be very effective in small-group/solo roaming while presenting little upside in a structured raid environment. But rather than sit here and complain about it, I’d like to offer some suggestions to “fix” the Holosmith without disrupting its balancing (i.e., no changes would make the specialization overpowered) while at the same time providing a more cohesive gameplay experience that may potentially translate to core engi skills/trait lines.

Please let me know what you think. Thanks.

15k overheat damage when traited.
4k autoattacks
6k leap attack on 2 second CD

Sucks that we’re going to get nerfed soon :<

Kaizoku.1298:

Talking about the middle traits

elixir gun trait
elixir S trait
kit trait

With holosmith coming, we’ll be able to play without kits meaning we won’t need the 1st and 3rd traits -snip-.

Oh, no. No, no, no.

We won’t be able to play without kits. No, we’ll still need kits to break anywhere near our current performance for the meta. Oh, we’ll still require kits.

We just won’t be able to use them efficiently!

Couple that with the self-damaging nonsense, and expect Holosmith to be kicked to the wayside inside of two days once the Meta-kittens get their hands on theorycrafting group compositions with it. Yes, yes. It doesn’t really matter what Engineer does at this point; we’re completely kicked out of the Meta once this expac launches. Completely lacking in group support, self-damaging and the damage is.. yeah, okay, the damage is pretty rad, but a good DPS that does not make.

It’s been fun, boys. Good thing we still have a wide, open world to explore for meaningful rewards to keep up with gearchecks.

.. Oh, wait. Open-world doesn’t.. really give much in the way of Ascended gear. Taff, there’s not even proper loot to pick up and sell for cash anymore without having to go and play a slot machine.

…

Oh, dear. This is what happens when we invite Developers to the party.
https://youtu.be/1dJUx6vOK4w

Idk, the last line of options are actually in a weird poistion, neither of the options sound weak on paper, but HGH do many things at once in a trait that is related to elixirs that its so hard to not take it.

Take a look at the whole line other than HGH. <3

Weylin.6478:

At the moment, sweeping with the flame thrower will only utilize your enemy’s Power stat, leaving Condition damage out of the loop until the last shot is fired as you proc a zillion ticks of retal.

Fixed that for you

I can only speak from a pve perspective, but you should read this thread to understand how important people kits are in pve.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Kits-Should-New-Engi-ESpecs-get-them/page/2#post6528757.

Some of this people even consider kits the main engineer mechanic, and not the toolbelt skills. This spec is obviously made for them: provides a new kit to play with, both useful for condi or power builds (or so i suppose). And engineer is not the only one that comes back to its origins, core elementalist’s stance dancing seems that will come back in weaver.

After a completely pvp spec (a design failure, if you ask me), they’ve turned to a likely very pve centered spec; tho this one might do good in pvp, not like scrapper in pve.

I was interested a support build, that thing kits don’t seem to do well. But I understand its place and its audience. It may even reduce the number of kits in utility skills condi engineers need to have. Who knows.

Now let’s talk about providing team utility for wvw/raid groups. In the first, there are some changes that could be made to Scrapper, like gyros not being destroyed by damage (that would make a buffed bulwark, purge or even shredder quite interesting choices), adding utility to functional gyro or reverting final salvo to its previous state.

In the second one, I can’t seem to remember group utility options brought by top dps builds apart from gale song (only in some bosses) and rebound (maybe). Engineer provides a very desired buff to the condition meta while having great dps, something many other classes can only dream.

Dirame.8521:

Just to clarify, the hope that some of us have is not an overhaul to the engineer but rather just a different playstyle and that does not need to be an overhaul. Deathly chill on the necromancer isn’t an overhaul, Static discharge isn’t an overhaul, none of the suggestions I gave are overhauls to what the original class is!

They could just focus on chills like they did for the Reaper or Dodges like they did for the Daredevil, but the main thing they have to do is make sure the traits can be tied back to the base profession or else you might as well just use Holosmith on its own without any of the other trait lines.

Well, as you can see from the post I just wrote to Chaith, I have a lot of issues with Holosmith too. I’m not sure that it lacking a different play style is one of them, though.

Right now, kits still dominate PvE. Holosmith should provide an alternative option. Just as Scrapper got us away from the bomb kit and grenade kit in PvP and WvW, Holosmith should—if designed properly—get us away from frantically swapping between kits mashing our keyboard and give us something that actually looks like a skill rotation in PvE.

If ArenaNet successfully gets engineers to stop needing to run 4 kits on their bar, that’s a far bigger overhaul than Reaper chill or Daredevil dodges gave to their respective professions.

Dirame.8521:

And you say “but they are being conservative with all the professions.”

I don’t remember saying that, but I do remember saying that the specs appear to be more mediated by design than their Heart of Thorns counterparts. What I meant by that wasn’t that the Path of Fire specializations will be any less cool or unconventional, but that they seem to fulfill a specific role and individually focus on that.

Scourge is a great example. It’s a support specialization. Sounds great. But they lose their shroud in the process—a major aspect of their damage and their survivability. It’s these trade-offs that ArenaNet needs more of, and it’s clear that Spellbreaker and Weaver, while dramatically different from their core playstyles, have similarly baked-in weaknesses that Tempest and Berserker did not.

As frustrating as it is to read as a warrior player, I did always find it patently absurd that Berserker F1s were not only universally stronger in damage than core F1s, but that they also cleansed more conditions and maintained Adrenal Health better. Berserker was an umbrella upgrade over core warrior in both offense and defense without really sacrificing any support. Spellbreaker, on the other hand, will be a glass cannon much like Holosmith will be.

Chaith.8256:

Pablo.3259:

Holosmith wont be meta anywhere.

We have healing, some kits some gadgets, turrets etc just make this viable instead of
.
..
…whatever I’m tired.
.

Hey? you guys checked that theif new spec ? Looks awesome no ?

Just amazed by how people so confidently know what will be useful and where,

you have no actual idea, best to wait and see

Chaith, you haven’t been playing Guild Wars 2 for a while, but I’m sure you remember very well the fact that engineer has pretty much never had a role in World vs. World outside of gimmick mechanics like magnet pulling commanders or having momentary usefulness with the Bulwark Gyro reflect bubble (which was very quickly rendered obsolete by shield-wielding guardians). As such, to get such a selfish, distilled elite specialization that serves no utilitarian purpose … you have to admit that’s a bit of a let down, no? If I’m a WvW-only engi-main (if any such people even exist in 2017 still), I’m supposedly spending $30 to unlock another roaming build that in no way moves the needle for the profession in any reasonable way.

Further to that point … Holosmith will likely have a plenty healthy presence in PvE, because PvE is only obsessed with damage output—which is really all Holosmith does. If Holosmith makes up a contributing factor in reaching the highest possible raid damage output, then that’s all that matters there. And because core engi already has a role as a DPSer, that’s very likely to be the case. But beyond that, again, it really doesn’t move the needle; if I’m a PvE-only engi-main, I’m ostensibly spending $30 to really only change up my damage rotation. Holosmith contributes nothing to the profession beyond that, and does nothing to reimagine or revitalize the profession in fractals, raids, or dungeon content beyond a single-minded DPS role.

I mean, sometimes you just gotta call a spade a spade. They took a jack-of-all-trades and neutered it.

No rage needed that’s much better than your previous message.

My thoughts are the folowing :
Meta builds have different importance depending of what game mode you are playing.
Not having a meta build for roaming, pvp, fractals, pve events isn’t that important ; you will still be able to play thoses gamemodes.

But for PVE raid and dedicated WvW squad Meta build or Effective build/Synergizing builds are much more important. The fact that you are as or more effective than other classes will determine if you deserve a slot in the squad.
Because the level and expectation of teamplay is higher than pvp conquest roaming whatever.

What I am angry about is that they insiste to give us this dps tank that have no place in the pve raid meta and very questionable utility in wvw squad. Maybe it aswesome for solo pvp when you are bored of your life but that’s on an other level, I wish you do understand my point here.
Because the investissement of gearing for raids or wvw it’s much higher than random fractal or arena pvp. The result of this mean that there is not reason to invest time and money on gearing an engi tank or support.

We have a class that can do a little of everything healing, support, tanking but we don’t have a spot in the meta because we can’t do things in a comparable level to others classes.

Give engis tank a similar buff that will increase the party effectiveness like Alacrit from Chronomancers. Give engis healer the possibility to increase party dps on the same level a druid can do. Give engis a real importance in WvW where having one in your squad will matter.

And instead of Arena net trying to make our skills competitive they trow this very cheap paint to cover the class skills they don’t want to work on. We have some much skills in engi that are useless and outdated, just look at that medkit ! Wtf is that?

Tigirius, the Function Gyro is well known for being very useful when your teammates or foes are DOWNED, to rez or stomp them at a medium distance (900). You need to first target them, then press “f”. You can even double rez (Activate first your Gyro from a distance, then step up and rez too).

However, the Function Gyro DOESN’T work in DEFEATED characters.

This renders it almost useless outside Player versus Player situation, because NPCs almost never get downed. So it is a ten ton crap mechanic in PvE.

TLDR: good in PvP, useless in PvE. If your foe or mate have their heads on the ground, the Gyro doesn’t affect them.

I think instead of it’s current version this should be implemented as an adventure. Depending on how long you can deliver ingredients, you get bronze, silver or gold. The degeneration on the stamina-bar would increase over time to make an infinite score impossible. The mastery point would be awarded for silver.

I don’t think gold should award another mastery point though. People would be too frustrated trying to get their points. Make the reward for gold a title instead. “Nearly passable sous chef” sounds like a nice title.^^

I’d argue two. Static Shot is a very good skill. An on-demand instant ranged blind that hits multiple targets is pretty useful defensively. It’s my go-to opener if an opponent charges at me. Blind, then hit them with Blowtorch as they miss their first attack. It also racks up lots of damage if there are only 2 enemies close to each other.

The rest of the pistol skills are weak. Poison dart volley takes too long and doesn’t do enough damage. The autoattack doesn’t apply enough pressure, and Glue Shot is short range, slow to fire/land, and doesn’t immob for very long.

Also, despite all that, Blowtorch is SO GOOD it makes up for the rest of pistol’s weaknesses.

Man, between MH and OH, pistol has 1 (One) really good skill. Everything else is barely worth using.

I know people crow about rifle being bad, but Pistol’s state is DIRE.