Once you’re level 80 follow this:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Best-PvE-build-for-engineer-and-investment/first#post4260538
As you’ve already played the game extensively you can properly directly switch to exotic gear, though.
For leveling, use Bomb Kit, Speedy Kits and Explosives trait line. Choose Power, Power/Precision, Power/Precision/Ferocity as your gear.
For dungeons/fractals, you’ll most likely going to use a 6/6 Power build with either Grenade Kit, Bomb Kit or both as your main weapon.
What equipment to get and how to acquire it:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Best-PvE-build-for-engineer-and-investment/first#post4260538
Video for one variation of the current meta build:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYWpstTq528#t=75
Use Grenade Kit as your main weapon if your party lacks Vulnerability, use Bomb Kit as your main weapon otherwise.
Flamethrower is useful for its high-damaging blast finisher (Flamethrower #2) and its long lasting fire field (Flamethrower #4); just never use Flamethrower #1.
For a more detailed analysis of the Flamethrower see here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Camping-flamethrower-feels-wrong/first#post4433767
As others have said, join a Berserker, speedrun, rush, speedclear, etc. group. Berserker mix bad with anything but Berserker, if you use Berserker you want to your teammates to use Berserker as well.
If you have an Ele or Engineer in your group ask them if they’re stacking Might, if not you could simply run Hammer:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQFAyksAxVI8DRR8gk1Yb/8qqAY+cLA-e
If the auto attack chain isn’t canceled too often it deals comparable damage to a Greatsword Guardian, but with perma Protection the whole party will be much more durable.
Ele Fiery Greatsword #4 has been nerfed. Previously that skill was not only used to deal a lot of damage but also in combination with with Eles’ Air Magic 5 and/or Warriors’ Rending Strikes (Arms V) to inflict lots of Vulnerability.
Thus, a character that can inflict a lot of Vulnerability has become more valuable; and a grenade Engineer can inflict Vulnerability very well.
edit:
Regarding Flamethrower:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Camping-flamethrower-feels-wrong/first#post4433767
For solo open PvE I usually play with a Staff:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQFA2gMMaZY3QABgQMZxwBiMQUpSvB-ThRBwAUuAAX3fU+dT9HU6AA8AAMrEEA-e
The AI is pretty dumb, so you should have much of an issue to keep them inside your AoEs, e.g.
Earth #2, Earth #5, Fire #2 for burst damage
Air #3 to push foes back into Fire #2
Fire #2 at the corners of Air #5 so foes are stunned while standing in it
Fire #4 towards the foes so they have to run back through Fire #2 (and Fire #4)
Water #4 to make them move slower through Fire #2
Earth #4 to keep them from leaving Fire #2
Water Magic 3 and Water #3 can serves as an great emergency heal. Aside from Water Magic 3 the build focuses on damage traits.
<>
A Fresh Air MH Dagger Ele is properly better for solo open PvE, I just like the laid-back playstyle of my Staff build more.
For information about equipment:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Best-PvE-build-for-engineer-and-investment/first#post4260538
In PvE turrets are hardly ever useful outside of AFK farming an event. Instead, you’ll want to use Grenade Kit, Bomb Kit or both.
However don’t expect that any other profession is as laid-back in open PvE as the ranger.
A very durable open PvE build:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fdAQJAqelUUpEr9ZxdLseRSaBNq0AqMKyQulPPhA8UA-TBRNgAnK/A0Dgo+jtSQA-e
You can fairly easy get a Soldier armor by doing Ascalonian Catacombs, path 1 and 3 are doable even with PUGs.
The above build provides permanent Swiftness, virtually permanent Vigor, constant self-healing, 3 blinds, 3 snares, 2 knockbacks, 1 block, 1 projectile reflection and 2 condition removes on a fairly short cooldown (Elixir Gun #5 removes 1 condition on impact). If you’re used to these utility skills you should hardly ever have any survivability issues in open PvE.
If you want a more offensive build for open PvE or dungeons watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYWpstTq528#t=75
I am curious. What builds are you comparing, what method, and what conditions, you used to determined FT #1 out damaged Bomb #1?
I compared FT#1 and #2 with BK #1, as those are the most hard-hitting direct damage skills of both weapon sets.
The FT build was 4/6/0/4/0 without Juggernaut (Firearms VIII); 4 points in Explosives to maximize Power, and no Juggernaut as I assumed the party already provides 25 stacks of Might. The BK build was 6/6/0/2/0.
I assumed at most 3 foes, all constantly burning so FT #1 gets its 10% damage boost, and all foes stand in a line and close together so both the projectile and the explosion of FT #2 hits all of them.
Even under these circumstances which are perfect for Flamethrower the damage is only slightly higher than simply auto attacking with Bomb Kit. And I’ve yet considered the Vulnerability of Explosives 5.
In case it wasn’t clear:
My point is that even with the 33% damage buff Flamethrower #1 is still inferior to Grenade Kit #1 or Bomb Kit #1, don’t use it.
As long as you get your hands on Berserker armor (or Assassin if you can afford it), Berserker trinkets, a Berserker Rifle, a Berserker or (exotic) Giver Pistol and Shield you cannot do anything too stupid.
Grenade Kit #1 will provide far more Vulnerability, and Bomb Kit #1 will provide more direct damage, so you should use one of those over Flamethrower #1.
Flamethrower is still useful for its hard-hitting Flamethrower #2 and the fire field from Flamethrower #4.
If you use Bomb Kit the Superior Rune of the Flame Legion is also an option. It’s dirt cheap and with Bomb Kit #2 you can keep foes burning most of the time, enjoying its +7% damage bonus almost all the time.
Flamethrower has always been useful during events with lots of weak foes. Grenade Kit or Bomb Kit have a delay so you may not be able to tag as many foes as with Flamethrower.
With Flamethrower #2 being a blast finisher now it’s also somewhat useful to bring alongside Grenade Kit/Bomb Kit if your party lacks Might stacks.
Even if you don’t use Flamethrower in your build it’s still handy to switch one of your utility slots with Flamethrower, use #4 for a 10 second fire field (and nowadays #2 for blast finisher) and then switch back to your original utility skill.
Some people argue that FT is great for solo open PvE now, but I’m not really convinced of that. Grenade Kit and Bomb Kit have superior Blind and snares, and on top of that can be used while kiting (FT #1 forces you to look towards your target most of the time, greatly diminishing your mobility). And as a third utility slot I cannot see how it’s more useful than an allrounder like Elixir Gun.
I still don’t think Flamethrower is strong enough to be used as your main weapon. Its damage is only slightly higher than Bomb Kit #1. If you fight against more than 3 foes at a time or not hitting with both hits of Flamethrower #2 and Bomb Kit #1 overtakes it again.
If you don’t want to spam Grenade Kit #1 non-stop you can bring Bomb Kit as well and only use Grenade Kit #2, Grenade Kit #4 and Grenade Barrage, and otherwise use Bomb Kit #1 as your auto attack.
If you do not want to use grenades at all switch Grenade Kit with Bomb Kit.
Unless you have another Vulnerability stacker in your party you’ll perform a little worse than a grenade spamming Engineer, but not enough that it’s noticeable in most PUGs.
Video guide for playing an Engineer in speedruns:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYWpstTq528#t=75
For solo open PvE a condition build is totally viable.
For build I would go:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fdAQBgk0CaUpBUZUkhcLfuBB4pA
Firearms III and Tool VI give you plenty of Swiftness. Alchemy I can be changed with Alchemy IV if you like that better.
Regarding your rune choice (Privateer):
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Parrot
The parrot also has a very large aggro range and will constantly fly off to engage nearby enemies. You will often find yourself not healing and unable to map travel.
Being in combat also means a ~30% speed malus; not something you want to have while map clearing.
Specific examples include 1) Kohler, 2) Sider Queen 3) The 3 golems right before Tazza in SE P1. 4)The golems right before the lasers in CoE.
1.) Not sure, but the anchors he throws at you just before he spins could be projectiles; I use “Retreat!” against those anchors, though.
2.) I could be mistaken but if I remember correctly the AoE poison balls could be reflected back when the game came out, but that’s no longer the case since I’ve started to do dungeon regularly.
3.) -
4.) You mean the golem with the 4 turrets around it? You can prevent it getting buffed when you reflect/block the projectiles from the turrets, and it has a nasty, hardly visible attack where it shoots 3 projectiles at someone.
edit:
4.) Ah, I know now which ones you mean. At least one has a projectile attack that turns into an ice (or something) AoE if it hits.
Do you believe a person who makes the hassle to come to the official forums and ask for advice wants to hear “play how you like” instead of the advice and experience of seasoned players they gained by playing and testing several builds?
Do you believe every person is incapable of making their own decisions and making adjustments to their their build themselves even if everyone told them that a 6/6 Rifle+Grenade/Bomb Kit build is the best?
In my eyes that’s disrespectful and insulting.
Enjoyment is highly subjective, so you cannot say which weapon set or build is better for that.
For PvP it doesn’t matter as you can always make a character of another profession in a few minutes.
None of the chances will have a noticeable impact on PvE.
WvW isn’t balanced around single players.
does rifle have a blast finisher like shield?, if not he should still run pistol shield
because might stacking is good
Just switch to Shield before a fight, use Shield #4 and switch back to Rifle.
~25 seconds into a fight 3 fewer stacks of Might won’t make much of a difference.
2H weapons now have 2 slots for sigils, so Rifle has replaced Pistol/Shield as the default weapon set.
Otherwise it’s almost the meta build.
Buy level 80 masterwork Berserker armor and trinkets in the trading post or craft them yourself.
Get your hands on the best Sword you can get, if possible exotic Berserker.
Go to Explorer Gavbeorn Serpentslayer and buy the breathing apparatus with karma.
All the above should cost you ~6-7 gold.
If you have troubles surviving in dungeons you might want to get a Soldier/Knight armor and use that instead of Berserker until you’re more familiar with dungeons.
Start doing Citadel of Flame, path 1 and 2 are very easy, and even with PUGs each only takes about 10-15 minutes. Do both paths daily, and after 11-12 days you’ll have enough tokens to buy yourself a full exotic Berserker armor in Lion’s Arch.
Buy 6 Scholar runes for your exotic armor, maybe a 7th one for your underwater headgear.
Do CoF a few times more to buy yourself an exotic Berserker Rifle.
To speed getting your exotic armor and Rifle up you can also do Crucible of Eternity daily. Path 1 is easy if you stay close to Alpha, path 2 and 3 aren’t much harder once you’ve learned to time your dodges. Again you can trade the tokens in Lion’s Arch for level 80 exotic armor and weapons.
Don’t bother with exotic trinkets, go straight for ascended ones: Ascended equipment
You can get all trinkets with Laurels.
It’s a little faster to get rings by doing fractals and accessories by doing Guild Missions, though.
The easiest way to get an ascended backpiece is by doing fractals: Prototype Fractal Capacitor
I wouldn’t mix armors with different stats, go for full Berserker instead of one Knight/Solider piece.
I wouldn’t advice Strength runes for a Guardian as they aren’t that good in Might stacking. Afaik Scholar is better if you have over 90% health for more than ~1/3 of a fight.
An alternative would be Flame Legion runes (+7% against burning foes).
I’ve used a very similar build until about one-and-a-half year ago, until I realized that permanent Protection from Hammer and/or frequent Blind from Radiance 3 are better options to keep my team alive than anything Valor 6/Honor 6 could provide.
Not sure about vistas but you can certainly active skill points while in stealth.
As you already have a PS Warrior in your group that can take care of Might even without fire fields a Hammer Guardian is the best choice.
In dungeons you should switch your second weapon set according to the situation. I use Greatsword if I need a pull, Staff for skipping mobs, and Scepter/Focus if I may need a ranged weapon during the next fight.
Utility skills you should have unlocked and switch to if need be:
Wall of Reflection, Hallowed Ground, Purging Flames, “Retreat!”, “Stand your Ground!”, Shield of the Avenger
Full guide:
http://www.dtguilds.com/forum/m/6563292/viewthread/12501056-dnt-guardian-build-5914
As someone who mainly does dungeons/fractals:
No, Ranger isn’t worth getting into.
You’re pigeonholed into one build, and you have to use1H Sword and Greatsword, and in rare occasions you switch one of those weapon sets with a Longbow if range is required.
1H Sword is cumbersome and imo not fun to use.
You’ll also not be very welcomed in PUGs as Rangers have a bad reputation and even if properly played other professions often perform equal or better.
Regarding which utility skills a Guardian should bring:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/DPS-guardian-1/first#post4234782
Hammer Pros:
- Easy to use; just auto attack, use Hammer #2 after every second auto attack chain if there’s a field to blast
- Gives everyone permanent Protection which greatly increases the margin of error for your whole team; this makes a Hammer Guardian a good PUG carrier
Hammer Cons:
- Constantly produces a light field which can overwrite more useful field, especially fire fields; usually not a problem in PUGs as they don’t know what fire fields and blast finishers are anyway
Greatsword Pros:
- Highest possible damage
- Blind (= 3 stacks of Vulnerability with trait)
- Pull
I assume this is for PvE/dungeons?
From what I’ve understood venoms will work like the Ranger’s Water Spirit; it will use your Condition Damage if it’s higher than you allies, otherwise they’ll use their own Condition Damage stat.
So you don’t “share” your 2100 Condition Damage with them, the venoms’ damage simply isn’t reduced for your allies.
As you seem to want to play mostly as a Hammer Guardian: (ordered by importance)
Zeal:
- Fiery Wrath
- Spirit-Weapon Mastery, Zealous Blade, Scepter Power
Radiance:
- Blind Exposure
- Radiant Fire
- Powerful Blades, Right-Hand Strength
Valor: (overall the least important traits)
- Retributive Armor
- Strength in Numbers, Altruistic Healing
Honor:
- Superior Aria, Writ of Persistence
- Writ of the Merciful
Virtues:
- Master of Consecrations
- Unscathed Contender, Absolute Resolution
A Guardian supports its team with defensive support like
Wall of Reflection, Hallowed Ground, Purging Flames, “Retreat!”, “Stand your Ground!”, Virtue of Courage, and to a lesser degree Shield of the Avenger, Absolute Resolution and perma-Protection from Hammer,
not with stats.
In the next patch the trait knockback from turrets will be reduced from 300 to 150.
This might also be helpful:
http://www.wolfineer.com/2014/05/bombgrenade-full-dps-build/
Bomb Kit.
It’s also far better for leveling as the trait that gives Grenade Kit 50% more damage is a grandmaster trait, thus only available for level 80 characters.
Get Med Kit as well to get Swiftness with Med Kit #5.
As for traits (level 30+) get Speedy Kits (Tools VI) as soon as possible as it provides practically permanent Swiftness (+33% movement speed).
Scepter
High spike damage, 2 blast finishers for Might stacking but low DPS, thus generally only used together with Lightning Hammer or other conjured weapons.
MH Dagger
Less spike damage than Scepter but better DPS, less blast finishers than Scepter but more than Staff. Basically the jack-of-all-trades.
Focus
Long-lasting fire field, 2 blast finishers with a fairly low cooldown, nice utility
OH Dagger
Shorter, but bigger fire field, small AoE heal and condition remove, 2 blast finishers but with either long cast time or long cooldown. Overall weaker than Focus, but useful for stacking Might before a fight.
A lot seems to go for dagger/focus fresh air buikd with full zerk
With 6fire6air2earth
Is this average player friendly? Or i have to 100% play perfect to avoid getting downed?
You can try 6/6/0/0/2 for Renewing Stamina (Arcane Power II) to be able to dodge more. Against Alpha in CoE it’s very helpful.
Overall I would suggest 6/6/2 though, in most dungeons you only need to dodge 2-3 times aside from skipping.
You also have to learn when it’s not your fault that you’ve been downed; e.g. against the first boss in CoF path 1, if your team deals only mediocre damage and the boss targets a zerker he will almost certainly go down.
As an Ele I use the following build most of the time:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQJAoNhMMaZY3gPaABALcAYAcAGdDEnCyA1QA-e
You rarely need a 30s stun break but most of the time I’m just to lazy to switch more than one skill during a dungeon run.
The last utility skill is either Conjure Frost Bow, Armor of Earth or Conjure Lighting Hammer.
Exactly what i said in my previous post. The problem is that it’s a pvp nerf that touch pve.
Being invulnerable against pretty much any non-boss mob is very OP. The PvE version of Thief Pistol #5 should had been nerfed long ago.
Here’s a short description of the current PvE meta builds:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Elementalist-Build-PvP-WvW-and-PvE/first#post4279535
Note: You can also play the Fresh Air build with Conjure Lighting Hammer, it’s a little weaker than Scepter/x but you don’t lose as much damage when you get downed.
<>
For a far more detailed explanation of the current meta builds:
http://www.dtguilds.com/forum/m/6563292/viewthread/12515254-dnt-elementalist-builds
I doubt there’s anything to discuss, what you’re suggesting should have already been implemented during game development.
When it comes to dungeons you don’t have much build diversity as a Ranger.
You’ll use mostly Sword/Warhorn and Greatsword, and your build will be 4/5/0/5/0; after the next balance patch 6/5/0/3/0 might become an alternative.
Your job is to buff your allies with Spotter (Marksmanship VII) and Frost Spirit while attacking with melee weapons.
More details:
http://www.dtguilds.com/forum/m/6563292/viewthread/12497757-dnt-ranger-build-415-patch
Keys theorycrafted about the damage of several Guardian builds:
http://www.dtguilds.com/forum/m/6563292/viewthread/12646847-guardian-dps-build-theory-by-obal-dekeyz#
According to said chart the damage of a 5/5/0/4/0 Hammer+Greatsword compared to a 5/5/0/4/0 Hammer only is is 10331 respectively 10016, so about 3%. The damage difference if you use a 3/5/0/4/2 build should be also about said margin.
In open PvE Staff is imo more useful. Staff #3 gives you Swiftness, and Staff #1 is an AoE attack which is perfect for events to farm loot.
In dungeons you should switch your second weapon set according to the situation. I use Greatsword if I need a pull, I use Staff for skipping mobs, and Scepter/Focus if I may need a ranged weapon during the next fight.
Is your build for open PvE or dungeons?
With 2+ points in Alchemy Speedy Kits gives you Swiftness for 11+ seconds, that should be enough for permanent Swiftness even without Med Kit #5.
Scepter/Focus or Scepter/Dagger Lighting Hammer
You use the fire field from Focus or OH Dagger and your blast finishers to give your team Might and Fury, and then conjure Lighting Hammer for auto attacks.
Generally considered to be the best dungeon build for Ele as it provides great damage and great support. Weakness of this build is that you lose LH and thus a lot of your damage if you get downed.
Fresh Air Dagger/Focus or Dagger/Dagger
You use the fire field from Focus or OH Dagger and your blast finishers to give your team Might and Fury, and then swap to Air to auto attack.
Generally weaker than a Lighting Hammer Ele but less error-prone and more mobile. A great build if you are still a newbie or playing with a PUG.
Fire Staff
Very high damage but less support than the other builds. Synergies well with another profession that has a lot of blast finishers, e.g. a LH Ele.
Good build if you’re the second Ele in a party, usually not advisable if you’re the only one.
How to get endgame gear in the most convenient way:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Best-PvE-build-for-engineer-and-investment/first#post4260538
Changes for Ranger:
- Don’t bother with runes for your masterwork armor
- Get an exotic 1H Sword and/or Greatsword first, then exotic Berserker armor
I think we all knew that this nerf would come one day.
Blind every second is just too good, whether it be PvE or PvP.
Are you talking about PvE or WvW?
New to Ele and jumping on this question: With Fire’s Pyromancer’s Puissance trait(Grandmanster – stacks might every fire weapon skill), why do I never see it used in most builds? It seems more efficient than swapping for combo fields.
I’m asking mainly for PvE solo.
Because of Persisting Flames (Fire Magic XI).
A Staff Ele’s main damage skills are Staff Fire #1 and Staff Fire #2. Persisting Flames increases the duration and thus damage of Staff Fire #2 by ~50%, meaning your total damage by ~25%. Pyromancer’s Puissance (Fire Magic XII) would need to give you ~14 stacks of Might to be an equal damage boost.
MH Dagger Eles usually only use 1-2 fire skills every ~25-30 seconds, and MH Scepter Eles usually use Lightning Hammer as their main weapon and use 2-3 fire skills every 25-30 seconds, so Pyromancer’s Puissance is pretty much useless for them. For non-Staff Eles Persisting Flames is an convenient source for Fury, though.
With Bomb Kit #2 you can keep Burning on foes almost constantly, and Rune of the Flame Legion gives you a 7% damage boost against burning foes. In addition it costs only 20s per piece or so. Basically it’s a low-budget Scholar/Strength.
Strength is the best allround, and with a Sigil of Strength in your weapon you’ll pretty much always have the 5% damage boost. However it’s also expensive as hell, one piece costs almost 15g. Imo it’s better to spend that much gold first into an ascended weapon and maybe ascended armor before spending it on runes.
Scholar is cheaper (~4g per piece) and potentially more powerful. Iirc you only need to be above 90% for 1/3 of a fight for it to out-damage Strength. In my experience in open PvE an Engineer will rarely drop below 90%; with the Blind from Pistol #3, Grenade Kit #3, and Bomb Kit #4, the knockback from Shield #4, Rifle #4 and Bomb Kit tool belt skill, the snare from Rifle #2, Grenade Kit #4, Bomb Kit #5 and Elixir Gun #2 mobs in open PvE are rarely even able to hit me.
I’ve done some rough calculations, and according to them Flamethrower will deal a little more damage than bombs.
However said calculation assumes that you hit all foes with the ball and the explosion of Flamethrower #2, and that there are no more than 3 foes; in practice bombs will most likely still deal more DPS.
I predict that Flamethrower will mostly be used for its #2, and then you swap back to either Grenade Kit or Bomb Kit.
Of course there will be folks who will main Flamethrower but I doubt it will become the meta.
Empowered gives you +1% damage for each unique boon, so 1 stack of Might is +1% as well as 25 stacks of Might.
Some tips:
- Put your Interact hotkey close to your healing skill, e.g. F = healing skill, G = Interact. It’s often more beneficial to pick up your Healing Turret after you’ve overcharged it, and having both hotkeys close to each other makes it easier to pull off.
- Consider changing your elite to SHIFT + <>. That way you don’t accidentally activate your elite.
- If F1-F4 is too far away for you you can also try to bind them to SHIFT + 1 – SHIFT + 4.
Otherwise, yeah it’s mostly a matter of practice.