Guild Wars 2

With the data mined art for The Forge, it displays the Engi with a hammer and what appears to be drones. This poses a threat to the entire elite spec, especially if they’re AI minions and Anet makes them a large part of The Forge’s offensive or defensive kit. The countless AI complaints, and the fact that minions get cleaved to no tomorrow in any fight larger than 5 people, among other issues, all aid in rendering them nearly useless. The fact that Engi is outshined in every department by another role/class is depressing. We’re the typical jack of all trades master of none. When will we be able to go from being the “play this for fun” class to an actual “meta” class? When will we be able to participate in a GvG lol.

DISCLAIMER
This is a data mined image of what is obviously an engi. Take this image of drones with a grain of salt, as it may just be creativity or flaire added for effect by the art team. But let’s discuss the potential terrible idea of us getting an elite class with wimpy AI minions as our utility.

Thanks for the responses guys, and thanks for the analysis Kodiak. I do play in a guild group, in T5 and the fights areally surprisingly plentiful, having transferred from Yak’s Bend where there’s nothing! I’ll relay this build to my commander and see what he thinks, will probably swap in some more offense, but interesting nonetheless.

Added a balls deep build for reference, the gains vs losses are interesting. Minor DPS loss for a ton of survivability.

Maybe I need a better frontline, maybe I need to L2P, perhaps both! I felt squishy AF as a backline Ele, able to pump out the deeps, but if a single hammer warrior, or thief, or mesmer finds a gap to hit to make it to the backline, I’m toast. I was running full berserker before around 15k hp w/ 5 guard stacks and roughly 1750-1800 armor .

With this build, you’re looking at around 21k hp with guard stacks, and over 2k toughness, all while maintaining over 210% crit damage through ferocity, a 63% crit chance if you include fury, which is up over 50% of the time in a raid environment, plus access to an easy 25 stacks of might.

The traits are pretty standard I feel like, some may be sub-optimal but it’s what I like to run. Is Valk ran often in higher end GvG/WvW raiding guilds? I’m still fairly new to the profession and was just messing around in the build editor and couldn’t believe the +5k hp and ~200 toughness addition while maintaining solid offensive stats. I can’t stand getting cleaved twice and being downed, good bye bloodlust stacks, good bye world. I know I can L2P and get better at dodging/escaping, but what do you all think, as a more forgiving build that can still pump out some amazing damage.

Is sacrificing Armor of Earth for ~9% crit worth it? Stability is nice, would ~54% crit after fury and 34% flat crit with no fury be enough to still pump out damage?

The Build

Balls Deep – For Reference

The balls deep has 13% more damage on crit, 5% more crit, but 6.5k less effective health, easily burst down. Armor of Earth also provides 6s of stab and protection on demand every minute. I think the tradeoff is reasonable, considering 6.5k more hp at all times while still containing a lot of escapes, makes you much more slippery, keep your stacks, and make them work harder to get downs. What do you think!

Fully updated, thanks for all the contributions so far, this has really taken off! Bomb kit radius FINALLY fixed? Does that justify its use?

Great video man! HGH to the max lol

I apologize for my absence the past week everyone, some major pile up at work and RL(bleh) kept me from being on my PC at all! I’m back and have updated the post with the most recent posted builds as well as fixed MattyP’s link, keep the creativity rolling in.

Coolster.2536:

This is my PvE Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdQQJAqalsTharYJWwPLQ7FLpFFYJuiHQYU1R123TFAhIA-e

I play Condi Engi and this is the build I crafted through hours of gameplay. The turret is there only for added DPS, but that knockdown comes in handy at times. I can also do a little support with Med Kit and Mortar 5 + Big Ol’ Bomb or Orbital Strike. I can also combo Fire Bomb + Big Ol’ Bomb + Traited Orbital Strike for 9 stacks of Might.

My PvP Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQJAqelsTharYJWwPLQ7FLpFFYJ2iHQ4O0R123TFAhIA-TJhGwA52fgwJAYZZAAPAAA

Pretty much works the same way as my pvp build, but I use shield for added defense because I’m terrible at playing defensive :P

Coolster, I like the creativity and how you stray from the norm to find what works for you. But before adding your builds, could you attest to your success with them? I’m especially interested in the med kit option as I’ve not tried it nor seen it since my return to the game, thanks.

WvW advocate here looking to get into dungeons on the side. I main a necro, IGN is Oh Wells. I’d love to join as a student and learn from some of the best, I’m already familiar with my class, full berserker exotic and wanting to get some cool weapon skins and legendary/ascended mats and gear. This sounds perfect for me as I have little exposure to dungeons or fractals right now. I’ll contact one of the mentors tonight!

Hey there, big WvW advocate(very little dungeon exposure) here looking to get into some dungeons and fractals. I have no issue repping during runs etc, I know how to stay out of red rings and dodge efficiently thanks to GvG and blob wars, max DPS shouldn’t be an issue once I get out of my WvW mode. Are you guys willing to take a WvW/PvP player that is in need of teaching in the ways of speed running/efficiency in dungeons? I main power necro.

Thanks,
Mord

So I’ve returned to the game recently, I’ve played since launch and took a break about a year ago. I’ve only done a handful of dungeons, I strictly played WvW the entire time. I’m full exotic and just looking to farm some ascended mats, some cool armor and weapon skins, and just have fun. Not looking for a hardcore guild, just one with enough population to run multiple daily dungeon/fractal/guild mission groups, that might need/want a necro. Thanks to my time in WvW I’m keen at surviving, staying out of red circles and know how to follow a lead. I maintain solid DPS and will learn quickly. Any guilds willing to pick up/train an amateur of PvE, please leave your contact info below!

Thanks,
Mord

Hmm I must not have noticed it, I know it’s working for other disables because I notice a fury buff out of nowhere, with the amount of disables, I figured I was just unlucky when getting knocked down, that it was still on CD. What would be the easiest way to test if it procs on knockdown before any other disables go out, a duel with a friend?

The only buff it should give you is fury, you don’t see a buff for blind immunity, you just won’t be able to be blinded for the 10s duration. And I was just using blind as an example of one of the least noticeable disables, it could have been a daze, or a fear, the list goes on. But once it’s on CD, unless it’s a blind(which you’re now immune to for 10s) then your SOL.

It has a 40s ICD like you said, if it triggered on even the slightest disable, i.e blind, then you’re gonna be without it for the next 40s. I’ve noticed this happen to me quite often in WvW. Get blinded, triggers, get knocked down, rekt. It also will only break your stun/knockdown if THAT’S the ability it triggers on.

Looks solid Epoch, added to Roaming, thanks!

addar: I never said your build wasn’t creative, and I added them to the list already, I love that you’ve taken an aspect of the class that you like and made it work, and your explanations of it tell me you’ve played it extensively with success. The PvP build looks very fun, the PvE build, it’s just as you say, an alternative, and that’s what I made the Other section for, things out of the ordinary that could be fun to try and could work for those who aren’t min-maxing. Great builds!

Ceimash: Thanks a lot, added, when’s your next stream

Oval: Very glassy for WvW, but mortars are 1500 range so you could sit back with the backline. Might I suggest Pack runes? You gain over 5% crit, your power remains the same, and you get a chance to grant might, fury and swiftness to nearby allies aka the backline and of course, the 20% swiftness duration helps keep up with the group when you’re en route. The only thing you lose is 6% crit damage. Let me know what you think, adding it as a glass cannon backline for now, with Pack Runes listed as an alternative.

Adding the PvP build, with the state of burning, it could definitely do some damage. There are more efficient ways of stacking might(through HGH) while contributing a lot more damage than the turret build, I’m a large skeptic of the gimmicky feel of turrets. I understand you’re mainly using them for the detonation in a fire field, their purpose is better served through HGH while still having more damage output through say grenade kit. I’ll put it under Other as a test build, very creative though, which I like to see, so I’m not declining it, by any means, thanks for your contribution!

Engi has a high skill cap, I’d go as far as saying just about the highest. Master your kits and abilities and you’ll have even more fun. Take a peak at my new build compilation that I’ll continue update, there’s already several SPvP builds that have been shared by the community. As for rotations, in PvP, there’s really no rotation, it’s all situational.

Updated with new builds and cleaned up!

I’ll be home in another hour for these updates, and can’t wait to have a look at them all more in depth, thanks for the input so far everyone, it’s starting to take off within the first few hours, I look forward to maintaining this as an access point for new and even veteran engis looking for a new build or something more “meta”

Updated, thank Thaddeus, I’ll update and split each game type by condi and power and celestial if that’s still a thing once I’m home, aesthetics are difficult to accomplish on my phone while at work lul.

Exactly! This is my own personal and probably more relentless effort to compile an updated list (compared to Anets 3 year old, never maintained sticky). To have them all in one place and readily available rather than buried on the forums.

Edit: DEFINITELY more relentless effort lmao.

Deniara Devious.3948:

Mortar projectile velocity needs to be increased. Trying to hit any solo moving target is same as lottery. Swiftness + running is nearly as fast as mortar projectile.

Perhaps the Siege Rounds GM trait could also increase the mortar velocity by 50%.

This would be amazing, they already nerfed the damage on MK, at least let them travel faster than a fat norn at a walking pace…

Synosius: Not sure where you got roaming from my mention of grenades lol. As I mentioned in my original post, I zerg v zerg 95% of the time, so I ask again, would mid range traited grenadier be more viable than MK? With the better velocity and losing virtually no grenades because no matter the spread they’re bound to hit someone in the blob if aimed correctly, whereas you could miss your mortar entirely by the time it reaches it’s destination, if the battle position shifts. And you’re left with a field that no dumby would intentionally run through.

Is it better to just run grenades with a power build now? I haven’t played my engi since my return to the game after a lengthy break and the June 23rd patch seems to still have most engineers confuzzled as to what’s “meta.” If anyone has more experience than I with mortars vs grenades, let me know your thoughts! I’m sure mortars would still be taken for the fields they provide, range and orbital strike but should I take grenade kit and main it as my main damage source? Discuss… I will test the damage difference out tonight

I am running zerg vs zerg, blob vs blob, w/e. Is there a more effective AOE spec for engis? Are grenadiers still effective? Or should I stick to mortars for the range and continue spamming it into their zerg and hope for the best?

Does anyone think that the old school velocity (travel time) of the mortars (compared to ranger longbow, wells, traited grenades etc) hinders the kit/build? Currently running http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Z;4cP-g0l6cQ-x0;9;4iml;0246136146;4LR;4t_MTt_MTb-FgNL;4VOVTWYXcYi3o_6Z-B70HV8a-V8a;9;9;9;9;9;55-6U and it sometimes feels like they’re sluggishly flying through the air and are hit or miss unless I lead the target/enemy zerg and position my mortars where they will be rather than where they are. Is my build bad? I zerg 95% of the time. Are there better options for engi that I’m not aware of atm? I know juggernaut flamethrower might stacking is decent but I’d like to stick to ranged/nuking.

Thanks all!

AlphatheWhite.9351:

I found that I was able to be useful as a zerg outrider. There are always stragglers, and zergs themselves are super-sensitive to potential threats. I’ve lead away up to 8 players from the main zerg on a wild goose chase multiple times, which in a zerg fight is a fair chunk of power loss to the main body.
Add the tower stealth and portal shenanigans, and you’ve got some good utility.

I tend to roam until one of our towers gets assaulted, then head over and do some outriding, dipping into the main zerg for utility when the need arises (they don’t always need portal, and you can get kind of familiar with the situations they are most likely to).

Small-zerg play is hilariously fun, too. A group of 7-10 taking towers is a lot to tackle alone, but I was able to hold off a guild group with another mes and necro when they got inside. Winning a fight 3v9 because they’re too focused on taking the tower to mitigate your dps is lulzy.*

*results may not be replicable against actually experienced guild groups.

What build were you running? These are the kinds of shenanigans I’d enjoy, especially on off hours for our server where the other servers are trying to maximize their ppt, it could be very fun to run a disruption group. And my guild usually fields about 15-20 and we zerg bust 30-40m groups, so perhaps mesmer would play a decent role in our zerg busting group, with some fun off hour trolling to boot! Interesting…

That’s kind of how I imagined it would be :‘( I have a necro and do enjoy the bombing capabilities in zergs. Mesmers just stick out to me, especially when I feel helpless in a 1v1 situation which rarely happens! But zergs and gvg is what I do and plan to do most often so I’ll stick to the pew pew classes that I enjoy and try not to get caught alone against a mesmer until I find a weakness in PU condI perplexity builds.

Hey mesmers, I was recently considering leveling a mesmer for some spvp and wvw action. It’s been a class I’ve always wanted to play but have just never leveled all the way. I was curious about their viability in wvw. I seem to get roflstomped by perplexity pu condi mesmers and they aren’t even in sight very long for me to fight back (even with Sic ‘em on my ranger). I’ve seen mesmers that toy with our entire raid(non organized mind you), picking off targets in the back while we’re focusing on bringing a gate down, and stealthing away for 30-45 seconds at a time near permanent stealth. While this seems fun to a degree, I mainly prefer running with the zerg. Pu seems very fun, but I wonder about condi viability in anything but roaming/1vx situations. Perhaps you guys could share your experiences, the reason I play a ranger is so I’m not forced to be a utility bot and can pew pew, would a mesmer alt suit me?

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRjEqQLLWyCOsAVLGWEq9yDgjuL3PfE4xNcHgC2UB-TFjDAB8oEDXlgQpcwgHAAAm4Q4CA4i6PPpk4DdB7s/gAHBgIOEAkBQfMA-w

A straight forward Power Ranger build w/ added survivability.

or

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRjUqQBLWxCOsAXLGIEqdHCgqmj33d1/voGy9S2wSA-TFTBABFpELYlgZps4hLAQCm4uR9HsUKgiuAi2fYhDBgGHBAAeAAkBQfMA-w

My attempt at a might stacking build with added survivability.

What do you all think, I’m trying to cater it toward a zerg setting with the ability to roam if I feel like it. The mismatched ascended is what I’ve collected from other toons/RNG drops, but they feel like they fit and provide more survivability to what would otherwise be a “rally bot” but I still maintain 200% crit damage, 50% crit, solid fury uptime, swiftness, protection, decent condi clear, and good damage! What could/should I change? What pets would be better? Please critique the hell out of them and help me choose!

Thank for the quick responses, the above builds are purely a template for each type of build and I have am ascended soldiers neck/ring that I almost always take on my power/berserker built characters so that should add enough survivability to the longbow power build. I agree the trapper build looks insanely fun and has a lot of possibilities to be successful but mainly for roaming, it has the survivability to run in with the melee train in a zerg and drop some traps to gtfo into shortbow range but again like you said, still seems a bit gimmicky. I’ve heard that condis are in a good spot right now, especially fire, so I’m in quite a bind deciding between variations of these builds. I have enough gold to buy either set so that’s not a huge issue, but I want some longevity and usefulness out of my purchase!

Both great points, I do agree condi in general seems more solo/roamer oriented with all the condi clear a zerg(even an unorganized one) brings. I plan on dabbling in roaming as well as zerging, do you think power would be a better option then since it can fill both roles fairly efficiently?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV3fjMqQ7KWuCerAVLGcEq+bj1KgDgJvy9P/DG9SWxSA-TlyCABQoEEgjAQ47P8iuDDM/h8FAoJlfTcQA8R9HJeAAkCAmlVA-w

or

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRjEqQLLWyCOsAVLGWEq9yDgjuL3PfE4xNcHgC2UB-TVCFABIcIAA4BAUo6PXpEEJlfCcBAqZ/h00FswRAgUARM0C-w

I’m nearing 80 with what will potentially be one of the most fun classes for me and I’m torn between 2 strong builds (taken from Heim’s) page. With the slight buffs to condi damage (I’ve not yet tested myself), what are your opinions on condi vs power, roaming vs zerg, and utility/survivability of each. The condi build is exotic, while the power build is ascended so forgive the stat differences, it’s a pain trying to change it on my phone while at work!

Edit for clarity: The above builds are simply a template/example for each playstyle, condi vs raw power. While suggestions/changes to the builds are welcome, I’m mainly looking on opinions and experience in condi roaming/zerging vs power roaming/zerging as I’m looking to participate in both!

Let’s hear your point of view!

Hey Rangers! Returning to the game after a long break, and I’m an avid WvW player. Before I finish leveling my Ranger, I have to know, why are there hardly any builds for it or talk of it at all post June 23rd changes? Did the trait changes hurt them? Are they that terrible? I understand they’re fairly selfish with buffing and have little to no fields etc, but are they still “viable”? I mainly just want to have fun, and while I understand and appreciate a certain level of min maxing is required to excel at this game, isn’t sitting back sniping squish targets or pressuring their frontline still helpful? I guess my question is, what are the current builds used in WvW, both roaming and zerging, and should I bother leveling my ranger, or just play my thief who also suffers from limited helpfulness in zergs (aside from the ever boring venom share build)? Or should I play another class entirely? And why can’t something be fun AND useful Anet? Lol thanks for your time and your responses everyone!

~Mord

IGN: Aslinn Zage
Thief Type: Scholar
Server: Yak’s Bend
Experience with thief: I started playing during launch, got my thief to 80 and immediately started playing wvw/spvp, I stopped playing around July 2013, and just recently came back to the game. Getting used to all of the changes and looking to master my profession! I still focus on wvw/spvp, I play mainly D/P but would love to see how well D/D works in the current meta and learn more about a thief’s “role” in wvw since zerging is pretty limited to venom share atm. I’ll be in game later today!

Thank you!! I’ll check them out! Any other vids/builds for WvW that truly shine, please link them, I noticed on my engineer that I couldn’t really make a build myself without comparing dozens to get to know “base builds” and base stat thresholds that were required for the builds, etc. so the more the merrier as far as I’m concerned! Keep the builds rolling in so I can digest as much as possible on this class!

Thanks all,
Mord

Hey all, leveling a thief and was curious what the optimal WvW thief build is nowadays. I play WvW exclusively on my engineer and face lots of backstab thieves and don’t come across too many in zergs. I’d preferably like to roam, I want the ability to stealth on command/maintain stealth as zergs pass me by and pick off stragglers. Or to deter their roamers. I’d also like some utility to enter zerg combat and be able to stealth to the back and pick off casters/ranged and stealth back/escape. Does such a build exist?

TL/DR:
-Mobility for roaming
-High burst
-Stealth
-Somewhat defensive to take a hit, utilities/stealth will do the rest
-Any weapon/armor set to optimize this

If anyone can provide any information on how to achieve this or something similar that’s enjoyable in WvW, please post!

Thanks in advance,
Mord

Thank you for your answers! I’ll have to give my warrior another shot roaming. I appreciate it!

I have a warrior, and I’d prefer power, though obviously conditions reign supreme in roaming, power does a lot better in zergs and fares well in roaming. My main beef is that I’m constantly having to change gear sets/builds to fit my niche in roaming or zerg combat, I’d like to have 1 set or maybe a couple different pieces for each different build to switch in/out but entire set changes are becoming expensive! I have a warrior and it’s not really for me, I prefer range and the ability to snipe from towers while defending or snipe enemies defending their own towers.

Hey all,

I have several 80s, and can’t figure out what I want my next one to be. I currently main an engineer and I exclusively play WvW on all of my toons. I enjoy the ability to roam and zerg as I see fit. I’m leaning towards ranger but haven’t really read up much on any of them, I only know from what I’ve faced in WvW. Based on what I want in a class(and your bias towards/against ranger in WvW) what would you suggest?

I would like:
-range
-mobility
-good DPS
-survivability
-preferably to not have to change specs between roaming/zerging if I don’t have to
-one solid gear set that I can build several solid builds around

Which of these three classes in your opinion fit my niche?

I came to these forums because I’m leaning toward ranger for the ease of leveling and the range the have. I also wanted to hear the opinions of rangers, whether they tell me ranger is the correct choice or to run far far away from the class.

Thanks in advance,
Mord

Yes though each temple sells different pieces with different names and runes, they all share the same skin. Some have the same stats even, just named separately for each temple.

Sabull.5670:

Ah and ye let’s just mention SD build too. SD.

List the SD build, I’ve yet to see an efficient WvW build! <3

Gotcha! I’ll have to mess around with it and see what I come back with!

Definitely, is that assuming I keep my healing turret up and nearby in order to cleanse until it expires or is that even if I explode it/use it as a water field for extra healing? I’m getting ready for work, it’s four in the morning and I can’t be asked to do math at this hour lol. I really do like the utility yours has, the bad part is I’ve already expensed all my gold on my current build, doh! Maybe I can rework it to my current gear set and see what I come up with! Haha plus I’d need to either save more badges or pve, I agree though, my entire point was to get far far away from HGH but a everytime I worked the calculator my condition removal never added up nor did my stats but a non HGH build would have SO much utility! I’ll see if I can possibly rework it without the soldier piece! And with my current exotics. I appreciate it Silinsar! Any others with suggestions please don’t hesitate!

I do really like your build, unfortunately I’ve already built for mine tonight and roamed all night with great success, 2k+ crits consistently on the rifle auto attack, condi removal like no other, and consistent might stacking from 15-25. I really enjoyed it and its definitely what I’m looking for. I like yours as well, though the condi removal is somewhat lacking, I understand your group perspective and yes I agree mine is pretty selfish but I’m rarely with a large group on this toon unless its a massive zerg on SM, most of my time is spent roaming/flipping camps and defending towers against ridiculous odds by picking a target, nuking and making them focus on reviving, rinsing and repeating. It’s still a work in progress and the main reason I went HGH versus speedy kits/invigorating speed/other utilities was for the condi removal. It was between HGH or an SD variant with Melandru runes and lemongrass poultry and the stat comparison wasnt even close!

Hello fellow engineers, I’m still fairly new to the game and the Engineer class. I’ve been messing around in the calculator trying to find a build to fit my playstyle so I’ll start off by explaining how I like to play! I play exclusively WvW first off. I currently run a hybrid grenadier(rampagers/rabid). I enjoy the versatility to roam if there aren’t any commanders around, I thoroughly enjoy tower defense, especially as a grenadier. Raining death from above, destroying their flame rams etc. I also thoroughly enjoy zerg groups/SM captures, massive fights, clusters of enemies to spam grenades on, down someone, and spam some more as they try to revive him/her HA! I haven’t yet tested this in WvW because I wanted it critiqued before buying all the appropriate gear.

So PLEASE, critique it up, comments, concerns, and otherwise!! Thanks!

SO, the build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUlspSXnvSiF17ICoCAmoHPGlNZfewWPIEC-j0yAYMAKDQyLiJwhsW5CSpLaVwwqWwUmCp6zI7NKiWtQAimAA-w
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/engineer/?2.0|4.1n.h1b|0.0.0.0.0.0|1n.7d.1n.7d.1g.79.1n.79.1g.77.1n.77|1p.67.1i.67.1i.67.1p.67.1p.67.8g.67|u3ab.a5.0.u2ab.0|3a.8|2b.2g.2j.2f.30|e

Provided both links for different perspectives.

Why Power?
I want to make a transition from condition/power hybrid to full power/crit due to the fact that conditions last MAYBE 2-3 ticks in a zerg, less than that in an organized zerg, maybe more than that on an unorganized one but that’s beside the point. A full burst/power build will allow me to single out targets and burst them down, or in this situation, AOE them down with grenade spam!! Conditions vs Power in roaming may be a closer match up, but I still believe that burst reigns supreme, against the condi/regen warriors for instance, running all over the place who out-regen your conditions, how about being immobilized by my rifle and eating a full barrage of grenades? You get my point. Plus the condition meta can’t touch the amount of toss elixirs/active elixirs that will be “cleaning” my conditions constantly

Stats:
~20k hp
~2500 armor
~3400 power WITHOUT might!(with 15 stacks which is easy to obtain/maintain in combat, it’s ~3900)
-40% crit chance
-52% crit damage

All of this is after food buffs so don’t forget to take that into consideration! I’m poor so I chose the next step down in consumables rather than the top tier stuff

Traits:
The last 10 points are pretty interchangeable I feel, I chose to put them in Firearms for the Vulnerability stacking as well as the extra precision to get my crit right at 40% which is a comfy amount of reliable crit, add fury on top of that which brings you to 60% and is up every 32 seconds for a 13 second duration so it’s only down in 20 second increments(duration-cooldown on Elixir and let’s face it, between vuln, might, and fury you’re going to be hitting like a truck, they may be down in the 13 second window, if not you have sustainability to last until it’s up again and it’s not a crutch for the build, merely an added bonus. The 30 in Explosives are optional, I enjoy the extra grenade, the minor trait Steel-Packed Power that allows Vulnerability stacking and the extra range from Grenadier for that extra range when sniping people on walls with your nades or the opposite, sniping their zerg from your tower wall! 30 in Alchemy are a complete must for both HGH and 409 Cleaning Formula. Conditions aren’t a problem with this build at all which is nice in the current meta.

Armor/Trinkets:
Kind of quickly toyed around with these. I don’t believe in “full knights, full this, full that” I believe in the fact that there are stat thresholds with every aspect of the game that you want to meet and this is the combination that got me fairly comfortable for a versatile power/crit grenade/rifle build for WvW!

Runes/Sigil:
The choices are obviously for might stacking duration, I would go for boon duration but I can’t be asked to pve for superior monk runes. With the traited +30% boon duration plus the +60% total might duration from the runes I’m sitting at +90% might duration, the take a little while to fall off and I find myself easily capped at 25 each battle especially thanks to my sigil, which is invaluable due to the frequency of grenades critting and works while my grenade kit is equipped(this was a revelation for me, I’m still fairly new to engineer).

All in all, I’m sure it could use some minor tweaks but I’m pretty happy with the outcome! Let me know what you all think, I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Thanks in advance,
~Mord~

@Tyaen: Yes, it will be a back-middle line assaulting class, I plan on sitting back with grenades, and bursting, runners or people caught solo will get a rifle rotation to the face and it has the versatility/mobility to roam as well. I’ve yet to run tests on it in the mists, and there may still be tweaks based on feedback I get from others and how my testing goes. It may not be an optimal build but it’s what I’m looking for in an engineer and I’ll optimize it as much as I/the community can! Condition removal is something I was struggling with and based on testing I may change the build completely and go HGH/cleaning formula 409 for might stacking/condi removal, depending on the damage difference etc. I currently have around -50% condition duration through food and runes so that will certainly help, any high stacks of conditions I receive I’ll cleanse with the healing turret. Not sure how much that will suffice but we shall see! I’m not sure of the range on static discharge but I know it scales with power and I felt the extra burst would do nicely not to mention the crit damage from that tree.

@Oblivious: I’ll have to take a look at it when I’m home from work, however I’m looking to go with a power/crit build due to the fact that everyone is now typically geared/traited for the condition meta and your conditions don’t last more than 2 ticks in an organized zerg. Also I don’t think healing power really scales well with our healing abilities, I could be wrong though.

I’m not to keen on the close range necessity of the flamethrower, I’d like to use power/crit grenades to reign death on flame rams/people without retaliation and continue to rain death upon their friends who try to revive them I’d also enjoy being able to roam like I said so a rifle/SD/grenade kit build is what I’m looking for, maximum damage while still holding some survivability along with maximum control through rifle/grenade kit and possibly tool kit. Please elaborate on your rifle/SD build as well as stat thresholds to shoot for when running a power build in wvw ie: 2k+ armor, 20k+ health for surviving, x amount of power, x amount of crit chance to shoot for etc!! Thanks!

UPDATE: Added a build to the original post for critiquing along with some additional questions regarding a power/crit build and the more viable path in WvW! Thanks all!

@Brew Pinch: I couldn’t agree more, conditions do next to nothing when the enemy team is bunched up, hence the recent desire to transition. I want the ability to burst yet survive through toughness/utilities. I was thinking knights too to take care of my needed crit damage and toughness. Then go with possibly berserker weapons/trinkets or even thrown in some cavaliers, I’ll have to play around in a calculator. If you aren’t willing to give away your build which is totally fine I understand, would you be willing to give me some stat thresholds to shoot for?

Also HGH rifle/grenades or an SD variant? What does everyone here run?