Guild Wars 2

Forestnator.6298:

Also possible to use this Rune with Med kit:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Rune_of_the_Centaur

I use this rune. AoE perma-switfness sure is nice when moving around in PvE/WvW. And it works underwater too.

Gav.1425:

Why use a +20% swiftness 4th bonus rune when you can use two +15% buff duration 2nd bonus runes (Water and Monk)?

Am I missing something?

As far as I am concerned, the point is to use the 6th bonus.

Lalnuir.4957:

TL:DR Engineer down state skills are on the same level as every other class.

Yeaaah, well… No, not really. Every other class has a better mechanic, the ones you just described (except maybe rangers ?). The simple fact that you describe a strategy to beat them show they are better ! Engineer downed strategy : just go to them and stomp away, oh wait he pulled me, never mind just stomp him.

I find a mobility skill goes a long way in WvW, when it gets you out of the kill zone and closer to your allies.

hydeaut.1758:

Very good news!

Concerning his example with Flamethrower and Sigil of Air: isn´t there an internal cooldown on the lightning?

Yes, there is. But with the flamethrower, it would proc early and as often as possible. Like the medkit can be used to maximize use of runes “on-heal” effects, the flamethrower could be used to maximize use of sigils “on-crit” effects. So, yes please indeed.

It is good to know that these long-awaited engineer changes are still planned, because they have been a long time coming (mentioned in the AMA between BWE1 and BWE2).

Whizzy.5723:

I just wonder if there is a decent PvE build including toolkit like the TANKCAT build.
Someone said I shud prefer Flamethrower when PvE.

Well no since that build is a dedicated to countering burst specs through retaliation, confusion and block. That does not carry over well to general PvE.

However I did find some uses in dungeons : the AoE cripple with box of nails (x2 with kit refinement) helps nicely when dealing with melee-only mobs, and the block of gear shield is handy when you run out of endurance.

NoxInfernus.2361:

I’m sorry, but I have to disagree with you there. I use P/S with the sigil of speed on the pistol and fire on the shield. I’m able to proc the flame blast quite easily without using my 4, 5 skills. I also still get the swiftness effect once the battle is done.
I tested this to be sure, prior to writing this.

You (and the wiki, apparently) are right, I had botched my testing. I’ll edit my first answer.

I really enjoy using the tool kit in WvW since Magnet’s range has been buffed to 1200. Evil laughs often ensue.
Gear Shield is 3s of invulnerability, what’s not to like ?
I generally do not use it in PvE as I think we have better options.

1. Yes.
Example : if you have a sigil of air (chance of lightning on crit) on your offhand, you can get a lightning bolt when critting with your mainhand.

2. Yup. Indeed.
All stats related to a weapon are lost when equipping a kit.
All stats related to a weapon are kept when equipping a kit, except its base damage.

3. Nein.
Engineers currently do not have access to “on-switch” sigil effects (and is the only profession in this case).
Engineers do have access to “on-switch” sigil effects with kits.

2013-04-03 : Post updated due to necroposting

Disco Finikitten65:

bad link. how did you trait?

Copy/paste it. These forums do strange things to links.

Sure there are plenty ! Sometimes they are not even hidden but simply not widely noticed. Here are a few.

• Rifle
  – 1 skill hits multiple targets by piercing through them (you’d be amazed at how long I spent using the rifle without realizing this)
  – 4 skill cures mobility conditions (freeze, cripple, immobilize)
  – 5 skill can be used to “cheat” at jumping puzzles (just don’t try to gain much altitude with it)
  – 5 skill can be used for AoE damage even when immobilized

• Medkit
  – switching to medkit counts as a healing skill use, triggers effects of various runes

• Flamethrower
  – 3 skill can be used to push back projectiles (like the pyro in TF2)
  – toolbelt skill lasts long and its cooldown starts ticking right after use, so use it as often as possible

• Elixir gun
  – 4 skill can be also be used to “cheat” at jumping puzzles (not as reliable as rifle though)
  – 5 removes one condition on people inside area of impact (also works with Kit Refinement" trait)

• Elixir R
  – toss can be used on self right before going down for a near guaranteed self-revive

Also, when using a toolbelt skill, it is generally better to stow kits before doing so, in order to get the weapon stat bonuses (example: grenade barrage hits harder if the weapon provides +power).

And of course, engineer gets early access to perma-swiftness & perma-vigor (at the cost of button mashing) through first tier traits Speedy Kits & Invigorating Speed.

Well this one is easy: take sigil of earth, as sigil of battle is currently useless on an engineer (no way to trigger an ‘on-weapon switch’ effect). However it will only help when you are using the rifle, not the flamethrower.

Runes of the Centaur: still works fine albeit with a slight downtime (~1s) as the cooldown is a bit more than displayed on the description. Still, group-wide perma-swiftness is really nice to have when moving around (also frees 10 points otherwise needed for speedy kits).
However you cannot exploit it any longer to gain hour long group swiftness (and self vigor), which is good.

I don’t know about Vampirism: even if it did work with no cooldown, the loss of dps due to switching time overhead (significant, even with nimble fingers) would outweigh the benefits of the health drain in my opinion.

Gilgamesh.2561:

it’s easier to drop with the weapon-swap key than remember what kit key you’re using.

^ This ! Exactly this.
At first I thought the fix did not even work at all. I pretty much never use the stow kit abilities.

Nope, I’m not going anywhere. Still loving my engineer (and waiting for sigils on kits). I’ve tried six classes out of the eight and this is the one for me.

Sounds too good to be true. Better not get used to it. As a super elixir and kit refinement user, I’m going to have fun while it lasts though.

Well I for one think this a nice QoL improvement, as I often try (fail) and change kits during Acid Leap for example. However there is still an issue : while the stow button and kit switch now works midair, the switch weapon / drop bundle button does not.

Yup, still works fine, and there is indeed still that slight downtime that can be compensated with medkit 5.

Not like posting in this megathread will make any difference whatsoever, but hey.

I join the disappointed crowd, I rather liked the idea of maxed stat gear being natural to attain during normal course of play. I really like the concept, and right now it is still true : as far as gear go, everyone can be on par at max level quite easily, through craft or karma.

I accept that I will certainly never have enough playtime to reach a legendary, and I am fine with that, because while impressive to look at, they have the same stats as my trusted exotics. They do not upset the balance.

From what I understand, this will not stay true for long: hardcore player oriented ascended gear will be better than the common man’s exotics, while legendary weapons will outperform (ever so slightly of course) exotic ones. This, I don’t like one bit.

Well I can now indeed confirm that one can remove conditions on self by shooting projectile finishers at an enemy at melee range through a light field. I have tested this with forest spiders (they cripple and poison) using super elixir, rifle turret toobelt, personal battering ram toolbelt (100% chance finishers that do not travel back to self).
I stand corrected.

@BurnWeed: well if you interpret that quote literally, “self” is not included in “allies” so I am not contradicting the wiki (case in point: super elixir’s fumigate cleans condition from allies, not self).

However, although I must say I never confirmed it myself in-game, I have found information that seem to prove you right : http://youtu.be/ig_DPGp5wkY
At 0:25 and 0:46, it looks like this guardian uses a whirl finisher (works like projectiles) and hits a target at close range to remove condition from himself. Hard to be 100% sure with all the guardian passive condition removal, but still.

source: pre-release guru thread

Reminder : shooting through a light field does not cure condition on self. Also, engineer “1” projectile attacks (pistol, rifle, elixir gun) have a 20% chance to be combo finishers, but the combo notification always appear.
Super elixir does remove a single condition on impact though, without the need of a combo finisher.

I’m a medkit man myself : very versatile, no random effects whatsoever, switness & vigor on demand with speedy kits & invigorating speed traits, recharge at 25% health with 15 points in tools.
Last thing to consider : switching to the medkit counts as “healing skill use” as far as armor runes effects are concerned (superior runes of the fighter, centaur, dwayna, flock, water, balthazar, adventurer …)

Kithzyan.5034:

Just to weigh in on the autohotkey script, I send in a ticket about 2 weeks ago very pointedly explaining exactly what I wanted to do with regards to using my Logitech G-Keys to press 1 every 0.5 seconds while held down for grenade throwing and I got a very short and simple: No, its against policy. Use at your on risk, but the reply I got from Gaile was don’t do it at all.

AutoHotKey would be -exactly- the same situation as I had in my ticket, just a different 3rd party software doing it.

That is disappointing, but thanks for the heads up. I’d certainly like to have a native way to avoid grenade-induced carpal tunnel syndrome.

Well it gets even better. At level 60 the obvious choice is to get the Grenadier trait : 1500 range and +1 grenade per throw.
For the rest, I tend to focus on survival (elixir gun, elixir R, backpack regenator trait), but you can also go for more power instead (elixir B, HGH trait).

Bobudo.7943:

I’d thought of doing something like that, but I couldn’t seem to find Anet’s stance on the issue. My finger and thumb thank you.

Anet’s official stance can be found here ! https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Policy-Third-Party-Programs/354869
One could argue that the script falls into the “playing longer” category but I think it would be stretching the meaning of the requirement.

Medkit (every little bit of healing on the run counts, plus switness and a little condition removal ) & Elixir gun (Healing Mist and Super Elixir help recover between damage spikes).

Here is a simple AutoHotKey script that makes spamming grenades possible without too much strain on the fingers. What it does is : when the right mouse button is held, holding the left mouse button emulates pressing the “1” key repeatedly.
I believe it does follow the guidelines for 3rd party software use provided by Anet.

~RButton & LButton::
	While GetKeyState("LButton","P") {
		Send 1
		Sleep 400  ;  milliseconds
	}
return

Here’s hoping Anet will devise a better solution (but I doubt it is ranked very high in their priorities).

flowcyto.5671:

Its too bad the flamethrower at higher levels becomes more like the mild discomfort-thrower.

This cracked me up, though not entirely true.

I find the engineer excels at being kitten fun to play I love the way the kits completely change the gameplay of the engineer (more so than any weapon set on other classes imho).
Seriously though, the thing an engineer currently excels at is sustained long-range AoE direct damage (aka grenade spam). Not very elegant, but undeniably effective (low-risk, high-damage).

Oh and also of note, engineer can totally “cheat” at jumping puzzles with Jump Shot.

The engineer in Guild Wars 2 is a bit like a Frankenstein monster made from bits of Team Fortress 2 classes.
- Burn down and airblast like a pyro (flamethrower)
- Build turrets and whack like an engineer (turrets, tool kit)
- Rocket jump like a soldier (rifle, elixir gun, rocket boots)
- Blow stuff up like a demoman (grenades, bombs)

The list goes on with somewhat less correlated skills (overcharged shot = force-a-nature, tranquilizer dart = syringe gun, thrown elixirs = jarate…)

Also, like in TF2, the grenades are harder to use but most devastating in the right hands.

Pistols really shine with a condition damage build. With power, not so much.

I miss Backdraft too. It would have been nice to get a blind on it instead of a burning condition. I still don’t get why it was removed altogether (plus it had a cool looking animation) and replaced by a poor man’s AoE blind.

At this point everyone probably agrees that Flame Blast should get a detonate option, it really does seem to make sense.

Meet Nerigrak. He likes his job.

You guys never relent do you ? From guru all the way to here you just have to keep going at it. Don’t let me disturb you though, I still chuckle when I read your “exchanges”.

On this particular topic, I think everyone agrees that:
– super elixir (standard or kit refinement) removes one condition on impact, and then provides a standard light field.
- the condition removal combo icon on the player when shooting through it does not mean a condition is removed from the player, rather that the projectile will cleanse a condition from an ally on its path (meaning it is quite hard to use effectively when needed).

Whew, had me worried there for a second.

Great news ! This is a great quality-of-life improvement. I’ll go torch a bunch of risen tonight to celebrate.

Now, about those sigils we talked about…

Unlike OP I would suggest enabling fastcast when using grenades. Spamming when fastcasting already puts some strain on the fingers, so slowcasting must be downright painful in the long run. Learning to fastcast generally makes you a better player.
For PvE I switched to a power rifle/grenade build around level 40-50 and never looked back (grenade barrage+jump shot+blunderbuss = feel like a warrior for a few seconds). Even though I prefer the flamethrower’s look&feel, the damage output (and control with a blind and a chill !) of a traited grenade kit is too good to pass, especially in the Orr zones where mobs have kittenloads of health.

So yeah, like others I too feel shoehorned into using grenades. But hey look at the bright side : at least we do have an option to dish out plenty of damage while retaining good survivability.

Well, it’s better than nothing… As mentioned above, the hard dungeon fights where it would be most needed are the ones that will benefit the less from these sigils, because of frequent periods of downed state. However it most certainly provide a nice boost in general PvE content.
There is no ideal solution as long as kits do not benefit at all from weapon stats/sigils. For now I like to use a sigil of rage, for the surprise quickness effect.

While I find the animations of overcharged shot and rocket boots hilarious, the self-knockdown effect is quite a disadvantage in non-1v1 situations. It is not like the profession lacks in gap-maker skills, but each one has a drawback (delay for big ol’ bomb and thump, push only for air blast, self-knockdown for overcharged shot and rocket boots, no other effects for personal battering ram).
I guess this is how balance is achieved between these skills.

Here is a trivial AutoHotKey script that does just that : when the right mouse button is pressed, the left mouse button performs an auto-attack. This can be used as a workaround for the lack of default autoattack on engineer kits and environment bundles.

Be advised that it (obviously) relies on third-party software, so use it at your own risk. However I do believe that it does not provide an unfair advantage, thus following Mark Katzbach guidelines on the subject of controller profiles.

As mentioned before, the turret also provides the opportunity for a water field + blast combo (aoe healing). However it is not 100% reliable (need to time it right) and I do not know how stats affect healing combos (or damage ones for that matter).

Well they might not be “the” class mechanic (after all guardian tomes, elementalist summoned weapons and warrior banners roughly fall in the same category), but they are the signature of the engineer. You can always recognize one at a glance with the telltale backpack… Well before he sprays your face with green goo kitten anyways.

More on topic, if speedy kits were not changed after all in this update, it’s fine by me.

Sooo… Does this mean no more perma-swiftness with Speedy Kits ? I mean, I can understand the 5-sec cooldown on Invigorating Speed, but there was already a 5-sec cooldown on Speedy Kits.

I also would like to have this control scheme available in the official client.

I wonder what would be the impact on PvP though ? The popular opinion seems to be that using this type of control would be a disadvantage but only thorough field testing could tell for sure.

That is indeed a useful piece of information, quite logical in retrospect, given the current kits implementation. I guess this applies to all stats, like healing ? So If for some reason one were to equip a weapon with healing power, it would be better to switch back to it before popping any heal skills.

Less importantly, I wonder which stats are used in the spells created by the Kit Refinement trait.