Guild Wars 2

Choose either pistols for condition damage or rifles for direct/burst damage and spec accordingly. PvE is tolerant enough that both will be phenomenal, though party make-up is often a consideration.

For later PvE and small-scale PvP consider some toughness/vitality armor for surviveability, especially for harder areas. You should be fine with a glass cannon pure-damage build in most explores and in WvWvW, but later fractal dungeons (if you do those) will benefit from at least SOME surviveability, and it’s almost required in small scale PvP unless you’re adept at hiding behind others (it doesn’t matter in WvW zergs).
You can also attempt to heal with the elixir gun and buff with elixirs if you want a more supportive role, in which case feel free to stack healing, but realize elementalists easily do almost everything you can do better in that regard (most of engineer healing is from regeration anyway). Still, it is a viable option.

For burst damage specs, gear with rifle and berserker armors (or equivalent), though you can mix knight or whatever gear in for extra toughness if you want more survivability (toughness is generally considered better for engineers than vitality, though vit doesn’t hurt). For condition damage builds go with a pistol and Rampager style gear or dungeon/karma equivalents. For pistol it doesn’t really matter whether you use a second one or a shield, so feel free to have both (I do, and switch depending on the encounter).

Builds you will have to look for. Popular direct power builds are grenadier and rifle snipe builds, and condition builds are piercing pistol and elixir builds. There are also free-form builds like flame-juggernaut, chain lightning, and tankcat that will be fine with either weapon/focus, so look around at the trait lines and see what you like.

Just fyi since you mentioned grenades, the standard grenade build has 30 points in the top trait line and has the “10% more damage to explosions” and “Grenadier” traits mandatory for a direct damage grenade build, as these increase grenade damage and utility by huge amounts. The rest of the trait expenditure is entirely up to preference, and as a kit they work well for both direct damage and condition builds, though condition builds don’t necessarily need more than 10 points in the top trait line as they use grenades primarily to apply conditions and the extra explosive damage is a choice rather than requirement (basically they just get the tier 1 incendiary ammo trait).

Phenomenal.5902:

Is this allowed in the ToS? I kinda liked the grenade kit but hate having to press 1 every cast. I would hate to get banned for running a 3rd party script to make it auto. I’m running a bomb build now which is cool but it’s more like playing a melee class.

What he suggested is perfectly legitimate. It is not a mod to your game software or even its UI but a functionality of your keyboard, and there are no bans against keyboard macros.

Badger.3279:

I also would love to have an auto on grenade 1 (rest should stay GT) though would love it to be more of a Target enemy throw grenades.. grenades will then GT where player was (not seek target) that way I can give my poor number 1 key a rest.

Honestly unless it had some manner of target seek it would be useless, because 9 times out of 10 if you’re aiming at a person they’re in motion and you have to lead them to hit. Even the rifle’s bullets will sometimes bend in mid-flight at the most ridiculous angles imaginable in order to hit, so a target-grenade would have to do no less.

That being said, being able to location spam the #1 grenades is one of their huge benefits. You can absolutely harry wall defenders by carpetting a length of a wall until they show up, or completely demoralize hallway opponents by launching a continuous barrage of explosions from inside a zerg. Positional targetting on a spammable attack is awkward and sometimes annoying, but it can be amazingly useful and fun in keeping or pushing groups of players back. Don’t change it or take it away without giving an equivalent attack.

Responses just for fun.

1) Conflicted about this. It would certainly make choke points (like halls) even more dangerous.

2) Portals are fine. Fix exploitable wall glitches instead, please.

3) Maybe. If they’re more versatile their supply cost to create might increase though.

4) See #30.

6) No, orange flags are essential to prevent the map from becoming continuous small groups of four capping random targets all day long. That would be made even more annoying than it already is if defenders didn’t have at least some indication of where to go other than staffing every base with a watcher (watching can be BORING).

7) Or make them less stupid. It’s very easy to pull one and then reset the entire group.

8) Sure.

9) People ask for that?

10) Be careful with this and here’s why. If a reward chest of any worth is available at Stomemist that will actually work as a counter incentive for some players uninterested in WvWvW points. They will not want to defend the castle, as if it’s taken it will allow them to refarm the chest. Even if the chest is lootable only once a day it will encourage people to want the keep to fall if it’s theirs when they log on. Granted the chest could either be full of worthless crap or made equivalent to the jumping puzzle chest, and this would likely be fine, but come on—free siege plans notwithstanding those chest kind of suck.

12) This would make them similar to arrow carts, which you should build instead for AoE. Also the stupid thing about balistas is their knockback. Ever hit a target from behind with one? It makes them fly backwards toward you, because the knockback isn’t in relation to the two of you but the direction they’re facing. This can lead to hilarious kills in places with cliffs like the northern EB keep, and wouldn’t work if the balista was AoE positional.

13) Would be nice, but might discourage people from playing if they log on and find their server without many objectives (why bother if the bonus is weak etc).

14) Yes, that would be fun! <3 the torch part.

15) So long as they can be effectively destroyed/disarmed.

16) YES. Please. This is an obvious unintended bug.

18) More is always better when cosmetic options are concerned.

19) They’re already pretty strong, but I could accept that.

20) Would probably be useful.

21) I don’t always want randoms in my party, to be honest.

22) Maybe.

23) No. This would be way too big an advantage for seige and defenders, especially as it couldn’t be made contested like standard waypoints. Just no.

24) Yes. They suck.

25) The lord is just there to stop the keep from being taken by one or two people. They’re not really meant to be a huge defensive obstacle for an organized group, or even a party of five.

26) Sure, why not?

27) That’s fine, too.

28) The PvP in there is what adds to the tension. Also you get a warm feeling if you manage to do it alongside members of other servers without anyone bothering to fight (rare occurance).

29) There’s enough PvP in there as is. Also ranger knockback FTL.

30) Buff for balance if hopefully the best solution, unless a nerf is actually warranted. Usually preferred.

To be fair there are many different types of WvWvW players. Some of them are the type to drop 100 gold to buy a commander title and then take responsibility for the server’s assorted mishmash of guilds and randoms and try to organize a success. Often they’re the ones buying the siege blueprints and spending half to an entire day in the various WvW maps. Additionally there are many guilds devoted to WvWvW usually working with them, all dedicating their time to winning the game, because organized siege PvP is what they find fun. Obviously they are going to invest more effort, time, and enjoyment in the situation.

Forgive me if I’m wrong, but you don’t sound like you’re interested in being that dedicated. And that is PERFECTLY FINE. Jump into WvW, bring your friends, and contribute as best you can! Do whatever it takes to have fun when playing the game! But don’t be alarmed if you find others taking it more seriously than you. It’s sad (and stupid) when someone loses it in chat, but a breakdown is really no different from seeing an opposing player jump up and down on your corpse’s face for a minute. It’s just a bit of immaturity, because GW2 is a game and there will obviously be players who like to vent. Just ignore them and carry on with what’s important, like having fun.

Chaster Sharpshooter.3640:

The reason is simple. The enemy of my enemy is an ally of our own. FC didn’t like DR as much, as they are the major ones that are invading into their BL. So dispite the fact that, yes, FC is a much easier target, making their attention on to us is not really a great idea.

Here’s the thing, though. “The enemy of my enemy is my enemy’s enemy, and nothing more than that.” They’re not your friend, and only the most tremulous of allies.

Use them as best you can to further your objective, but don’t be surprised when you find out they’re trying to use you for their competing purposes, too.

The Three A’s of Portals:

Annoying: Having to sweep for mesmers every time you capture a keep/tower.

Awesome: Portalling a zerg with or without siege golems past a fortified wall and watching the defenders scatter.

Anguish: Having the above happen in a keep you’re defending.

Wait… People siege-camp the jumping puzzle? There are people who waste their time doing this?

My server suddenly seems that much better.

Update: My gold is now reported on the BLTP and was recieved. Granted it took over a half hour to get past the login issues, but it’s apparently being addressed.

The benefit of a longbow is that it shoots a heavier (and often longer) arrow with the same speed as a shortbow fires a much lighter arrow. While individual bows behave differently (especially when considering things like horn and composite bows), a longbow naturally stores more potential energy than a shortbow, which gives arrows fired a stronger punch to them. Alternatively, a short bow is faster simply because you can’t put in the same amount of energy without breaking it or causing serious wear to the wood/string. If you overdraw a shortbow in order to give it equivalent energy, it risks failing, however because it is smaller you can fire lighter arrows at a much better rate with less fatigue.

I would think a longbow fits a warrior very well, as historically longbows were the tools of only the strongest archers. They required considerable physical strength to repeatedly draw, and often archers would switch to sword or spear when the arrow supply was expended and the distance closed, so I would definately keep it as an option for warriors over the shortbow. And while I’m not against a ranger having a 1500 range shot, I would probably make it deeply traited not unlike the engineer’s range increase to grenades (3rd tier in explosives).

As for barrage’s issue, line of sight is the most likely culprit. Note that even grenadier engineers will need to hop up next to a wall’s edge otherwise the arc of their grenades won’t clear the rampart and explode in their faces. Also note that elementalists (who are using AoE and not a single-target ability that ignores line of sight) and other AoE attackers are not targetting you, but the tip-top of the wall which causes about 40% of their AoE circle to overlap over the rampart (the rest targets the vertical wall). Yeah, I know that goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway just in case.

Around 2:20 PM (EST) I bought a training manual thinking I needed it to respec when I actually just needed the cheap NPC option (teaches me to read, I guess), so I sold it on the auction house for the highest asking price of the time of 1.71 gold. Item was taken from my inventory but the money has not appeared for pickup and it’s been a good 10-15 minutes.

Dismayed to see the BL is bugging for others. Should have realized something was up with its lagginess. Hoping this is resolved easily.

Really liked Sieran. Story missions with her in them were considerable bolstered by her presence, and they completely lost their charm when she was replaced with “clawrr” guy.

c’est la vie.

I wouldn’t mind the grapple line if it, you know, worked more than half the time. Its range is poor, its speed is slow, and its cooldown is just worthless. About the only use it has ever had for me is tripping someone in mid-flag, at which point they just stand back up and flag me again, often well before #3 becomes available.

At this point they may as well just give us a big AoE group grapple like Kohler’s instead of a single line. Anything to end the downed state faster so we can res at the waypoint. >_>;

Toolkit has a shield use (#4) that blocks almost everything for three seconds.

I believe engineers can’t switch weapons for two reasons. Primarily it’s the design function similar to elementalists (as stated above) as classes with kit/attunement features aren’t allowed to switch weapons in combat. This might actually be a gameplay thing, as it could be confusing if you were constantly swapping weapons while you had a kit on, or if you did it by accident.

Additionally the weapon switch macro (~) is already used to get out of Med Kit once its been triggered, as re-equipping Med Kit does not take you out of Med Kit like it does other kits.

If you want burst damage, use a rifle and spec for crit. Use the grenade pack in WvW when protected or safe on a wall/in a mob.

If you want to harry attackers, feel free to keep the pistols and trait to make them pierce like the rifle does. They are adept at applying conditions in a localized AoE with their abilities and explosive shots, and in standard WvW mob warfare a hit-and-run playstyle with pistols can be effective at chasing aggressive attackers back.

For single fights, the rifle probably has better control, but dual pistol glue and pistol/shield blocks are both completely viable.

If you are looking to AoE in PvE, either go with the grenades if you can deal with the targetting or the flamethrower if you can’t. Both are great and perfectly viable for all PvE encounters. Feel free to use the bomb kit when you feel like as well, especially in PvP where the Big Ol’ Bomb is surprisingly fun.

Above all be versatile. You are not restricted to a single playstyle, though obviously some kits are better than others for certain roles, but thankfully there’s nothing really stopping you from using any kit. And don’t underestimate dual-pistols, they are a very mobile and engaging playstyle even if not the best for spike damage.

For what it’s worth I am really, really fond of the magnet pull now that its range is viable. Fun in a WvW group to pull a single target out of a mob and into friendly doom, or in a dungeon to pull unconnected mobs without aggroing the rest of the pack since it does no damage (necros can do this, too).

In PvP especially people will find themselves quite disconcerted for a second or two, which all you need to bleed and confuse them with #2 and #3, so even if you’re currently retreating you can still give a parting gift (and the reaction from pulling off wall defenders remains classic).

I have used the mortar in keep defense before, and it’s fun sometimes. The #5 attack is a large multi-hit AOE (five rounds) that causes considerable knockback, but to be honest it’s the only really useful skill and its cooldown is rather long. Otherwise the mortar is kind of weak and its range a little limited so if you’re defending you’re almost always better off using grenades (though dropping the mortar and using the #5 when up isn’t a bad idea). Supply Crate is definately superior in the field, but a mortar for WvW defense certainly isn’t a bad option (especially if you let someone without grenades use it instead).

Other than that test for yourself. I can’t help you with the racial elite, but I’m not too fond of Elixir X. Sure there’s some times I’d like to be a tornado, but since it’s random in the effect there’s never really an occasion where I feel the need to lock out my 7-9 skills in order to be melee.

Grenades are fun in WvW because they’re spammable AoEs and if you trait 30 points in the top row you can add an extra grenade to every throw. In situations where players are all grouped in a mob grenades are fantastic. This is true for PvE as well.

In smaller encounters grenades are still good, but not amazingly moreso than other strategies. The downside to them is that they’re both somewhat easy to avoid if you see them coming (sloooooow lob), and spam-targetting the AoE circle is a pain. They can also be reflected by projectile return mechanics like mesmer shields and whathaveyou, which is impressively annoying.

The thing about grenades, and especially the Barrage toolkit skill, is that not all the grenades are always going to hit the target. This is extremely true for Barrage, as the AOE it covers is noteably larger than normal and the grenades a lot more spread out, so while you toss eight you will very rarely ever see more than five hit the same single target.

Also switching to a kit is instant, but it triggers a 1 second cooldown before you can remove it to reequip something else. And Kit Refinement’s attacks are sometimes situational, like the bomb kit’s bomb, and most of them trigger a noticeable cooldown of their own to prevent spamming (flamethrower, tool, and grenade kit have 10 second cooldowns, elixir has 20).

Rifles are for spiking power, and are an excellent weapon to use while PvE’ing or in WvW setting (I have little experience with it in sPvP so someone else can comment there). While they lack the explosions and poison/confusion conditions of pistols, they give higher straight damage numbers in general and automatically pierce without have to trait for it (as you do with pistol). Additionally rifles are probably the best weapon for an engineer attempting to solo a melee vet/champ mob in PvE, as they give you both a 2 second immobilize (#2) and a decent knockdown (#4).

The caveat of rifles is that they are strangely enough a melee/ranged hybrid weapon, as their biggest damage comes from the #3 and #5 skills which do their best in melee range. This makes them quirky, as while they can perform fine at range pew-pewing for rifle crits, they do their best work if you’re able to jump up next to a mob with #5 and then #3, and then maybe #4 after if you think you’re at risk. This is a little counter to the pistol that doesn’t really give a flip about distance so long as it can hit.

This being said, I really like the rifle and find it fun even if the idea of melee encounters makes for tense moments with my damage-specced engi. But that’s part of the charm, though, isn’t it? Additionally they certainly work better if you’re speccing for crit damage in a grenade or bomb build anyway.

For dungeons in general I find the two most important skills on my bar to be Elixir C and Elixir S. I usually fill the other slot with whichever kit I’m fond of at the time.

Elixir C will turn all your conditions into boons, and its kit use can be used to clear an additional debuff if you’re hit again while it’s on cooldown, though only one (and at random). Additionally Elixir S is three seconds of invulnerability, though it will not remove most conditions already on you when you use it. Even so, its use is amazing, and it has saved my butt a number of times while ressing allies as it can be used in mid-res animation without interrupting it (red circling his corpse are you? See what I care!). Elixirs are especially handy if you trait to make their cooldowns faster as well, which is a tier 1 trait.

You may also consider using a rifle or pistol/shield in dicier areas if you find yourself being threatened. Whereas the pistol’s claim to fame is the multiple condition damages it very easily applies (poison, confusion, etc), the rifle’s #2 and #4 can be used to effectively ruin a single target’s day, and the shield I find very useful against overly shooty enemies like the Dredge (especially as their shockwaves can be reflected with its #4).

In the end it’s going to amount to practice, and it’s true toughness/vitality will make you more durable, so if you really want to you can always gem your accessories for it to see how it goes. But otherwise try to play with your weapon and skill choices. Maybe take elixir kit in an area full of poison, or the bomb kit if you find yourself having to stand on a dredge switch or near a CoF brazier (big ol’ bomb is wonderous fun). Also remember that blast effects in fields can combo, meaning you do silly things like the flamethrower’s #5 while standing in a healing field to AoE heal your party for a little. Be creative, but most importantly be dodgy!

I am experiencing a sound issue whenever I equip my exotic armor chest piece, which is an emblazoned coat (leatherworking) transmuted with the Order of Whispers coat appearance. Here is the issue.

If I wear any other chest piece I have no problem, but if I switch to the whisper coat and then equip an engineer kit (ie, flamethrower) then suddenly I get a constant effect of what sounds like coins jingling whenever I move. This sound persists if I switch to a different coat, but stops if I then equip an engineer kit again and doesn’t return until I switch back to the whisper coat. The sound also occurs if I log into the game while wearing the whisper coat or waypoint to a new area while wearing it, and is removed the same way (switching armor then using a kit), but does not occur while swimming in water (on surface or below).

This is probably a weird issue, but it’s really annoying to me, especially in Lion’s Arch. Is there something I can do to identify and fix this? Emblazoned coat isn’t supposed to jingle or anything, is it? >_>;