Guild Wars 2

Phoebe Ascension.8437:

Redscope.6215:

Phoebe Ascension.8437:

Roy Cronacher.1576:

Dand.8231:

Torment?

Rework of Jug?!

Rush/Bull?!?

Healing Buffs?!?!?!

Apparently I’ve been sucked into parallel dimension where ANet actually <3’s warriors!

We care about all professions. =)

If you cared about necromancer, then this patch would not have been there. Believe what you want, perceive class balance as you want, but necromancer are almost useless now, and the worst 1 vs 1 class in the game. All my investments Annihilated. Now i must reroll.

Translation:

I JUST got my necro maxed for the OP-ness and you did a balance patch! QQ!

Show me a vid of the op-ness of necromancers. Thief, mesmer still way more op. But if you wanna live in phantasyland go ahead.

And ironic enough of all the enemies i meet the warrior are the hardest (no not the noob warrior, but the one with melandru runes/lemangrass soup + stun lock build.)

Warrior’s may not be op atm (I wouldn’t give em that), but today my lvl 80 warrior comes main. That’s for certain. I did the same with necro when earlier patch hits. Was necro op? nope. Where they finally Viable: yes.

Perhaps the reason i’m raging over this is because i spend a lot of gold on necromancer and it has more sentimental value (mained one gw1) then all other gw2 professions. Still in my own view of ‘meta’, necromancer just became nr 8th. You may disagree, but for me necro has lost everything that’s interesting, right now in the patch. I take Endure pain any day over the new nerfed Death shroud, just to give on example.

But here we go warrior main, lets see how long it will take them to nerf warrior (every profession I mained has been nerfed). So you should be scared.

You keep saying “OP” I don’t think it means what you think it means…

Clarification:

O.P. = Over Powered. This is a bad thing.

OP bad. Balance good.

Also one cannot have an independent view of ‘meta’.

Meta = Meta Game or Meta Gaming. This is a reference to the inherent optimal options allowable. Your opinion is not relevant to the meta any more than it’s relevant to the sum of 2 + 2.

Meta is what it is and doesn’t care if you or I agree.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

Terrahero.9358:

Useless changes are useless.
Meanwhile:

-Warrior gets buffs and polish to skills to be allround better off.
-Thief gets moar Torment, and nothing done about perma-stealth crap.
-Ranger gets a bunch of really good changes, much needed sure.
-Necro’s getting buffed, because moar Deathshroud. And larger Marks!
-Mesmer gets two clear buffs.
-Guardian is getting buffs.

Engineer and Ele get kitten all. I was scrolling down the list and saw Ele and Engi and was like “ow, minor bug fixes.. holy crap these are guardian notes? And these are the Necro buffs!? And Mesmer? kitten me, its buffs all round!”

Necromancer:
Damage taken while in death shroud will now overflow to the necromancer’s health pool if the damage taken is greater than the remaining life force.
Greater Marks: This trait has been moved to the Master tier.
Terror: Reduced the damage by 17%. Fixed a bug so this trait now checks for the torment condition as well.

The “buffs” you are talking about are to compensate for those nerfs. The first one especially, is a huge nerf to necros. Before, 1% life force could “eat” a 20k eviscerate and the necro would be fine. Now the necro is brought down or close to death.

The wall of guardian text? Two buffs to a crappy trait/utility. Everything else is just text/animation corrections to all of the symbols so it just looks like a lot.

Just because there is a lot of text doesn’t mean its a buff. Or a buff to a good build. The grass is not greener over there.

I for one think the first of these updates to Necro was as “doesn’t function as intended” issue that just took forever to fix in coding without creating more problems. I primarily use the, “go into death shroud and jump off a cliff enemy classes cannot follow you over without dying” WvW necro escape strategy example as a prime argument of this being a bug and not working as intended. Endure Pain, Mist Form/Vapor Form, Elixir S, and traited Ranger Signet of Stone all grant invulnerability (in various senses) but kill you indescrimanently when affected by an acute case of sudden deceleration trauma.

Of course the follow up argument normally points at our Engineers ability to maintain a permanent upkeep on swiftness and vigor that they cannot. To that I say it’s a different issue requiring a buff to necro mobility, and not persisting in a delusion that a mechanic is balanced to compensate for that when it clearly was just broken. Not broken as in “OP” but broken as in “somebody call the plumber, I ate way to much chilli and the toilet is making noises out of a horror film!”

Carighan.6758:

Mif.3471:

Expecting sympathy from an Engineer about your class being nerfed is like expecting a one legged man to care that you accidentally kicked your couch and hurt your pinky toe.

Oh come on, stop being petty. It’s not like Mesmers don’t have plenty problems on their own. Just like every other class. Just like every other MMO. :P

It’s not petty if it’s true. Sure I can sympathize with them, but when it comes to ANet they just can’t avoid alittle something I call the “paragon effect”. In GW1 Paragons were incredibly overpowered for a very short period of time until they got pushed down nerf canyon and smacked their face on every nerfing stone on the way down. Because of this fewer people played the class. Because fewer people played the class fewer patches included buffs for them as they weren’t really relevant in the meta. Because they never got buffs even the hold out, die hards of the class quit playing it. Because the very best of the Paragon players abandoned the class the dev’s no longer had the most convincing voices for buffs so much as mildly nagging at them, so they just swept it aside into the “our fans don’t care” pile.

Not that I’m saying this is the case with Engineer, but just that we experience the Paragon effect much more than other classes.

Hebee.8460:

Ya, I figured the actual rifle would be similar in style to the revolver look of the pistol as well.

But holding a cannon over the shoulders did seem awesome (maybe Anet can look into modifying mortor into being shoulder mounted )

Perhaps this IS the new mortar elite. Could function like the original Juggernaut trait with reduced movement but granting stability. Same skills on the mortar bar but no close range dead zone, faster projectiles, and a base 1500 range. That’d be an elite worth at least toying with!

Huge Shoulder Mounted Hate Machine? I vote yes please!

Phoebe Ascension.8437:

Roy Cronacher.1576:

Dand.8231:

Torment?

Rework of Jug?!

Rush/Bull?!?

Healing Buffs?!?!?!

Apparently I’ve been sucked into parallel dimension where ANet actually <3’s warriors!

We care about all professions. =)

If you cared about necromancer, then this patch would not have been there. Believe what you want, perceive class balance as you want, but necromancer are almost useless now, and the worst 1 vs 1 class in the game. All my investments Annihilated. Now i must reroll.

Mmm the delicious QQ’s of overreacting flavor of the month class hoppers.

Please continue. Your tears sustain me.

Thieves are balanced for the most part.

The only problem with the class has nothing to do with glass cannon ROFLSTOMP damage, and only a slight bit to do with stealth.

Even a seasoned thief player will agree something needs to be done about these no-talent-!@#holes who press 2 and claim they’re the best thief ever to walk their server. Truth be told, this is a viable means of playing the class as the mechanics actually encourage using your best skill over and over and over and over then stealth, recover, repeat. This is the problem: a viable play style that literally takes no talent, skill, or complex understanding of the game to be effective.

Granted, I personally have learned how to beat the tactic, but that is a problem in and of it self. I actually had to learn to beat these !#%ing jack!#es who only had to learn to press one key over and over. Then there’s the fact it’s a leap finisher…a spammable leap finisher…

This is the minor problem with thief/smoke field stealth, it stacks in duration. This should not be the case. New applications of stealth should overwrite previous stealth, not stack with it. This only enables those same no-talent-!@#holes to now press that 2 button over and over and over to a point that borders on exploitation of the games mechanics. Notably, I have also learned how to combat this tactic: leave. They’re in a long duration stealth and have burnt out their initiative to obtain it likely to get in good position for a backstab but now they have a difficult job of gap closing without initiative. You might not be able to see, but you’re an Engineer and they have no gap closer, so you can just briskly jog away.

There in lies the next problem, they can control engagement and disengagement also with one !@#%ing skill just by adding a smoke field. 2 skills, no talent whatsoever, and everyone needs to learn to fight this loser.

The problem is not the Thief being OP, but rather the insanely low skill floor required for it to be effective. That’s not at all to say there’s not incredible and skilled players who run thieves, not at all. They’re just surrounded by these no-talent-!@#holes who have viable play styles with one repetitive key stroke.

13k damage in one shot out of stealth? Sure! I like the option of being able to be purely offensive in my games. Learning to defend against that is a worthwhile experience, and makes me better at the game.

4k damage on a gap closer that’s a leap finisher that can be performed by pressing one key over and over and over? No…that’s just !@#$ing stupid. Being forced to learn to beat that is as unrewarding of an experience as it is an insult to skilled players across all professions.

Holy kitten bunny rabbit tree squirrel hamster gerbil!

3 conditions on Mending…Saffron Scented Poultry Soup makes it four…Restorative Strength basically makes it a cleanse…on a 20 second CD! Goodbye Sig of Stamina and hellloooooo Mending! I swear I didn’t mean all those things I said about you baby…

Well smack my !@# and call me Sally! Blast Finisher and Stealth?!

I might finally knock the dust off my Ranger and give er a test drive!

Mmmm Elixir X buffs.

As the only source of reliable stability for the class and the shorter cool down to Supply Crate, I use it heavily in zerg fights to bypass enemy static fields, and generally ignore CC’s as we push. I eventually took to liking it better than Supply Crate, and with a rework to the already powerful Rampager it’s going to be even more exciting. Wonder if they’ll ever add more elements to the Tornado, seems it only uses Air (#1), Earth (#3), and a Combination of the two with the #2 skill. But I suppose this balances it against Plague form which also uses three skills. Not a big deal, well not even a deal at all, just a great Elite getting even better!

…now if only they’d let me keep remaining stability duration when I exit the form it’d be balanced against thieves who can steal it without having the form…

Linc.6834:

the trait sounds good on paper but has really limited uses IMO. Only a rifle could take advantage of it. And sitting duck would almost be a must for this. Could fit into a static discharge build too, since the +% damage only works when you have rifle out. But in the current meta of extreme condition cleansing and -duration it may not work out too well

That’s literally the build I’ve been running in WvW since Modified Ammunition came out (Sitting Duck, Rifle Mod, Modified Ammunition), and WOW does it hit hard. Coupled with a strong CC off of overcharged shot and a stun break to quickly start into the spike (I prefer Utility Goggles at the moment), I’ve been able to finally take down my most illusive foe: the D/D ele. Course it helps that Ele cantrips got nerfed to death with the stun break removals…kinda seems a bit sad really that I was never able to reliably beat them at the height of their glory and will never have that opportunity again…

Works great on thieves as well, but that’s not saying much since the glassiest of the glass cannon ROFLSTOMPERS out there only have around 12k hp; one good spike rotation and they may as well be one of those little white environmental bunny rabbits that just happens to have a downed state.

But that’s off topic. I just tested it and no it does not affect condition damage.

Rezzet.3614:

am i the only one who thinks this trait completely removed mortar from builds now that it removed the effect from rifled turret barrels ?

like why would i even want barrels when its main effect is for the supply crate to begin with and the range increase is a Massive 100 points…might as well keep grenades.

Edit:guess i was wrong even with the trait as it was mortar is still almost useless as the range change is so minuscule.

Don’t use Mortar, it’s an EPIC FAIL. And definitely don’t trait for using Mortar, it just exaggerates the EPICNESS of the FAIL.

Want ranged AoE option against stationary targets? Use nades.

As for supply crate it’s a decent improvement to an already great elite skill, but when it comes to Elixir X, why not just take Potent Elixirs? You can pick up Fast Acting Elixirs on the way to make it an 84 second cool-down to and extended stay in the Ownage Hotel! …granted it takes some practice to get used to these forms and what strengths and weakness’ they each have…immobilize being the chief counter.

Manuhell.2759:

Obscure One.4357:

Specialized build = Specialized counter-build.

It’s called preserving game balance. Discounting that there’s still 40 trait points that’re apparently not going to make any difference in build composition in your arguement. This discredits the argument without me needing to do so.

Yeah, they won’t make any difference, despite all you can say (that is, nothing, as it appears).

Your continued baseless dismissals I will take as admission of your inability to disprove me, and thus accepting that I am in fact presenting a viable suggestion. Thank you for your support.

Let’s be serious, the engineer is outclassed by guardians in every area as a bunker. Aegis, access to protection, retaliation and stability, sustain; and they are free to take a second weapon for CC skills, like an hammer, on top on having a main hand+shield.
The only thing we may be able to do better is bunkering versus heavily specialized condition builds with the current AR, and even then doing so makes us extremely vulnerable to power builds.
Remove the current AR, and we can avoid bunkering altogether. We would have to specialize to be still…master of none. And why even bother, then?

Automated Response is not good, and really hasn’t ever been considered even remotely viable until the recent, “I can’t be killed by condition necros” nonsense began. Now all of a sudden it’s the “Engineers One and Only Hope” against any and all things conditions, when I have literally NEVER consistently run this trait outside of simple build testing and have ALWAYS had reliable condition management without it. Your case has no traction based on historical builds, and particularly among bunkers, in all of which I have never once included this trait in my build composition.

Obscure One.4357:

That is of course not to mention my suggestion doesn’t discount the possibility (and likelihood) of turning Automated Response into a master tier trait, broadening build diversity.

So you would rather overhaul it completely. As i said above, with the class as it is now, such a change would make the engineer completely useless as a bunker compared to the guardians. You wouldn’t broad anything anyway – the class would still lack passive removals and you would still be obliged in taking elixir C (not to talk about how a mess would be that tree – we already have got a lot of traits competing there).
An heavy investment to be still master of none.

Now, what i would ask is: are we perhaps supposed to be bad in everything we do even when we heavily specialize in something? Cause according to the people that want this trait nerfed, that is exactly how we should be. If a comparison with another class has us with the upper hand, then people whine for nerfs. When the other classes have got something better than us, then it is all fine and good.

Now, since it’s in the public eye, we’re discussing it and the general consensus is it needs to be changed. Whining about this trait date backs to March of last year on both sides of the fence. “Needs a buff!” and “Needs a nerf!” have surrounded this trait for a very long time, so long in fact I think I recall saying awful things about it on a Guru thread around launch.

The only thing it nerfs is the ability to ignore pure condition builds at 25% HP and under…that’s literally it. It’s nerfing something that was underwhelming to begin with as any power/crit/crit damage zerker roamer will tell you. This is not a matter of “OMFG Engi OP”, as I clearly indicated in my initial post, so please get that nonsense out of your head that’s dripping all over this thread wiped from the eyes of all those QQ’ers who are apparently incapable of seeing reason. The present flavor of the month condition builds in sPvP and the puddles of tears all over the thread being left behind by their players aren’t inherently relevant to anything that I’m suggesting. Just so happens this trait is finally getting some attention, since even Engineers primarily ignored it because of how poor of an option it was and remains. Big whoop, it hard counters Necros and Mesmers who condition spec. when under 25% hp. As soon as these players quit crying long enough to tweak their builds for a bit more direct damage this trait goes right back to being in the build trait discard pile.

Hence, my suggestion to FIX it while people are talking about it, rather than A) side with people who irrationally think this is the best Engineer build option ever or B) side with the people who irrationally want to nerf it because its sooooo Overpowered.

Both groups are lunatics and I choose C) make it a good trait.

Linc.6834:

Sylentir.8913:

Speedy kits is the answer. Another item you may want to consider: Rocket Boots. You can get pretty insane mobility out of those + swiftness. Use them while under the influence of a speed buff for maximum effectiveness.

rocket boots is where its at bruh. Nothing beats em in mobility. As for all engi traits, its kinda the unspoken design philosophy that all ours traits are weaker versions of other professions. (I.E. the new implementation of Leg Mods vs Dogged March

Agreed, Rocket boots is soooo FTW.

That being said some of our traits are identical to traits of other classes, I.E. Reinforced Shield & Honorable Shield, and some are actually better, I.E. Sitting Duck vs Binding Jeopardy.
Its a mixed bag of less than, equal to, and better than.

I haven’t tested it, but my gut agrees with Bama, it very likely does not affect condition damage.

Manuhell.2759:

Obscure One.4357:

This argument is shortsighted. Runes of Melandru plus lemongrass poultry soup would stack with this reduction for a condition to boon conversion with 105%(100% is presumed to be the maximum) condition duration reduction for 10 seconds. In sPvP this translates to a condition to boon conversion with a -65% condition duration since food cannot be used (Rune of Hoelbrak would be the better option for 70% reduction). Of which could be used twice as this would be the function of Elixir C as well as the trait. A total of 20 seconds of up time which, when Fast Acting Elixirs and Potent Elixirs are put into the equation, becomes a highly sustainable option.

Please present your future baseless accusations of worthlessness with mechanical support instead of arbitrary dismissal. Saves me time refuting them thusly.

Edit: numerical errors

You’ve spent all your runes, almost half of the trait points and an utility slot just to decrease the condition damage dealt by the enemy, for a definite uptime. Half of that is actually triggered by the enemy, that can waste it at his leisure (and since you build all around that trait, basically making your build worthless). And you haven’t still got nothing to defeat your enemy or to protect yourself when the uptime isn’t up – we lack passive removals. And it is near useless toward power builds – its activation at 25% hp will be basically wasted toward them. You can’t stack might decently – you’ve no hgh after all – and no reliable ways of getting protection – no protection injection, no protection from runes, you can at most get around 4s protection every 20s when critted. Along with no stability, of course, unless you use elixir X. Also, you still lack a stun break.
You lack the offense necessary for an offensive build – cause we’re supposed to use HGH for that purpose if we’re going for the elixir tree.
And you lack the defensive measures necessary for a bunker – cause you’ve spent too much to make up for the poor grandmaster trait in a class that has already got poor passive condition removal, no reliable protection and near to no stability. And thus would be outclassed in every area by a guardian bunker.

Specialized build = Specialized counter-build.

It’s called preserving game balance. Discounting that there’s still 40 trait points that’re apparently not going to make any difference in build composition in your arguement. This discredits the argument without me needing to do so.

That is of course not to mention my suggestion doesn’t discount the possibility (and likelihood) of turning Automated Response into a master tier trait, broadening build diversity.

Manuhell.2759:

A trait like the one Obscure proposes would be near useless. Unless we specifically trait for it – and that usually requires HGH, the alternate grandmaster trait of the same tree – the burst capabilities of the class are non-existant. Giving 10s of reduced condition damage/duration would just delay our death, cause we won’t kill anyone during that timeframe, especially after we’ve spent almost half of our trait point to take that.
And we would still have to slot condition removals anyway – the only passive one we’ve got is transmute, an 8% chance of converting incoming ones in boons (that means it doesn’t actually remove anything preexistant, it just randomly converts some of the stacks we’re receiving).
So it would be useless for offensive purposes, and useless for defensive ones. One would just use a guardian for that purpose then.

This argument is shortsighted. Runes of Melandru plus lemongrass poultry soup would stack with this reduction for a condition to boon conversion with 105%(100% is presumed to be the maximum) condition duration reduction for 10 seconds. In sPvP this translates to a condition to boon conversion with a -65% condition duration since food cannot be used (Rune of Hoelbrak would be the better option for 70% reduction). Of which could be used twice as this would be the function of Elixir C as well as the trait. A total of 20 seconds of up time which, when Fast Acting Elixirs and Potent Elixirs are put into the equation, becomes a highly sustainable option.

Please present your future baseless accusations of worthlessness with mechanical support instead of arbitrary dismissal. Saves me time refuting them thusly.

Edit: numerical errors

If your Engineer is slow you have no one to blame but yourself. Want an option to maintain swiftness with mind numbing ease?
- Superior Runes of The Centaur
- Speedy Kits
- Equip Med Kit
- Drop Stimulant
- Rinse & Repeat.

Still having a problem? Perhaps something that doesn’t require skill and only calls for a basic functional knowledge of the game mechanics is better suited for your particular play-style. Have you tried rolling a Thief?

Manuhell.2759:

Obscure One.4357:

ANet has already demonstrated a malleable approach to traits and this sort of thing would fit within that style of game updating and rebalancing.

Yeah, like with Kit Refinement, sure.

Sure that nerfed a vast array of builds that used it, but it can be useful in some builds, and relevantly the one I use with Automated Response. Once I hit 25% health I swap to med kit for a reflect and use Elixir C to cure existing conditions if I’m up against some condition spammer. Additionally with Acidic Elixirs and CF409 I can cut boons off them (and shed more conditions off of myself if need be) to make my escape without fear of snaring from movement conditions. When safely away I heal up and get back to the business.

Am I disappointed with the blatant nerfs tossed into my class with no compensation to provide alternative build diversity? Of course! I miss 100nades, Juggernaut stability, Elixir R, Kit Refinement, and utilities in Elixir S form just as much as the next guy. That’s the principle reason for my suggestion. It nerfs an existing spec that has a limited viability to begin with, and broadens build diversity. Sick of dying from incurable conditions in Elixir S? With my concept you’d have a trait option to remedy that.

Terrahero.9358:

Obscure One.4357:

I’m not saying that Automated Response is overpowered, or that it’s even particularly an amazing trait as it’s really just there as a “last stand” type of option especially when combined with other @25% traits (inventions minor to recharge heal, tools minor to recharge tool belt, Self-Regulating for Elixir S).

The issue I have with the trait is that it has no cool down, and thus has a superior mechanic to options like Auto-Defense Bomb Dispenser and Armor Mod which are both also Grandmaster traits. Image if instead of having internal cooldowns these always triggered while below 25%. Constant blocking and blinding, while not universally effective, is enough to shut down certain play styles. Again even if this were the case folks could still rain hate on the Engineer and kill it, and wouldn’t be over powered traits.

Preferably I’d like to see Automated Response turn all conditions into random boons at 25% and take 50% less condition damage and 50% lower condition duration for 10 seconds with a 40 second cooldown. Additionally I’d like to see Elixir C produce an identical effect, making the resulting trait simply be:

Automated Response: “Drink Elixir C at 25% health.”

It’s both a buff and a nerf since now Self-Regulating Defenses would proc with a condition clear, making it an amazing trait combination.

It doesnt have a cooldown, sure. It also does absolutely NOTHING against non-conditions. And as far as we know it doesnt reduce the duration of existing conditions already on the target. And it isnt an immunity, it lowers duration meaning condition damage can still get through regardless. The 25% health is an ideal situation.

This trait is as specialized as the builds that it counters. And when the meta shifts away again from Conditions Errywhere, it will once again become an underwhelming trait no one picks up.

This is a trait that has been pretty much unchanged since launch. Yet only very recently have people started to complain about it. If the meta could change to where this trait is usefull, the meta can just as easily change (back) to a situation where its mostly useless.

I like that there are traits like these around, that when a certain build or playstyle gets a little to popular, these counter-builds suddenly become worthwhile to play as simply to act as a predator for the FotM builds.

I’m not concerned with no talent flavor of the month builds. What I am concerned with is trait viability and build diversity. Hard countering conditions is one specialization that’s getting flak from all of these no talent flavor of the month necros who are QQing because someone has countered their build. I’m content to let the witless idiots continue crying their river of tears all across the forums. This isn’t my focus with the design change as it would make me as equally short sighted as those unskilled class hoping, exploit seeking, meta abusers.

The trait simply needs reworked, current meta excluded. Ideally such a rework could be coupled with improvements to other options, such as Elixir C. Would this rework include reclassifying Automated Response as a Master tier trait? Sure, why not. Perhaps a buff to other traits like Acidic Coating could be given and pushed into the Grandmaster slot. ANet has already demonstrated a malleable approach to traits and this sort of thing would fit within that style of game updating and rebalancing.

I’m not saying that Automated Response is overpowered, or that it’s even particularly an amazing trait as it’s really just there as a “last stand” type of option especially when combined with other @25% traits (inventions minor to recharge heal, tools minor to recharge tool belt, Self-Regulating for Elixir S).

The issue I have with the trait is that it has no cool down, and thus has a superior mechanic to options like Auto-Defense Bomb Dispenser and Armor Mod which are both also Grandmaster traits. Image if instead of having internal cooldowns these always triggered while below 25%. Constant blocking and blinding, while not universally effective, is enough to shut down certain play styles. Again even if this were the case folks could still rain hate on the Engineer and kill it, and wouldn’t be over powered traits.

Preferably I’d like to see Automated Response turn all conditions into random boons at 25% and take 50% less condition damage and 50% lower condition duration for 10 seconds with a 40 second cooldown. Additionally I’d like to see Elixir C produce an identical effect, making the resulting trait simply be:

Automated Response: “Drink Elixir C at 25% health.”

It’s both a buff and a nerf since now Self-Regulating Defenses would proc with a condition clear, making it an amazing trait combination.

Notfragile.2349:

nakoda.4213:

thieves in GW2 are like Boos from Mario.

they run at you all bad kitten with gang signs flaring while your back is turned, but as soon as you look at em they freeze like JP against the wall and pretend they cannot be seen.

but in the end, you just move on because killing one is a waste of precious time.

to that guy who said FT is a free kill …

come find me.

Amen! The one person in this thread who gets the issue. There is no balance issue, only the annoyance issue.

We are not talking sPvP. In there bad thieves are rubbish while good thieves are on a slight disadvantage if they are playing burst builds. You see them, you counter them you kill them. For the record, I have been using a funky FT-rocket boots-elixir C build, with p/s, that simply cannot die to a d/d thief. In FT we trust (vs someone who has no retaliation anyway).

And yesterday I logged in WvW, using the same build. Acidic coating, protection injection, FT, rocket boots. Zerker’s gear, 19k hp, 1300 toughness. I thought (foolishly) the traits and 200 FT extra toughness would allow me to survive the instagib if i got stunned or rocket booted/smoke vent if i did not get stunned, then easily turn the fight around. Poor poor me…

See Attachment: He did not stun me so protection injection was not triggered. He did not miss through acidic coating. I had NO time to react, because he started from stealth while I had just finished another player off (I had almost full hp and no cooldowns wasted). Every single player in my position would have died. No matter how gosu, skilled, aware. It was an instagib. Instant and unavoidable kills are not right.

But let’s say he sacrifices everything for that one attempt. It’s either him or you and I would be fine with that (see rifle zerker’s warriors killshotting). Thieves in WvW can restealth, stay in stealth PERMANENTLY (that’s the issue) and stalk you waiting for the next opportunity to instantly kill you. Something must be done about the perma stealth in WvW (critters not giving stealth through c&d in WvW perhaps?).

TL;DR: sPvP —> thief balanced, or even slightly underpowered
WvW --> must have defensive traits and armor or you get instakilled by someone pressing 3 buttons. If you survive he resets the fight and waits in stealth until you turn your back again. Not cool.

Self-Regulating Defenses = survive the spike
Healing Turret + Rocket Boots = you get away from the spiker and heal…alot.

Now, fight back. If he hits that hard there’s good odds he’s squishier than a day old soggy bowl of captain crunch. If he beats you now, he’s better than you and you should give credit where credit is due.

I run with only about 19k hp and 2.1k toughness in WvW and have no problem with 95% of thieves…that remaining 5% are amazing and always give me a good fight. Of that 5% about 50% of the time I’ll win, and it’s by a matter of 1 or 2k hp and everything I have is on cool down. Good ol’ Fashioned good time.

As far as I’m concerned if a thief can insta-kill someone, it’s not the thief being OP but rather someone choosing their WvW build poorly.

This thread is still going?

Oh don’t mind me.

Continue.

Your tears sustain me.

Relevant

KOK.2650:

Obscure One.4357:

Helcor.9527:

22,215 in a second. Maybe less. Please explain how to counter this with no reaction time allowed?
Let me guess I didnt bring my anti thief build/traits/armor/skillzzz or I need to L2P ha

-Self-Regulating Defenses
-Acidic Coating
-Protective Shield
-Protection Injection
-Armor Mods
-Superior Runes of The Forge

Required Reaction Time: approx 0.0 seconds

-Armor Mods
(My encounter with a warrior using 3sec block) Backstab —-block, Backstab-—-block again, Backstab ,blackstab,blackstab,blackstab crt 8k .
Oh yes, I was spamming that in stealth. BLOCK IS USELESS.

-Acidic Coating
Backstab- miss, Backstab again…. PS: No idea if it fix or not.

Self-Regulating Defenses
It won’t proc AT ALL if Backstab kill u (Hint Backsab crt can hit like 12k on armor 3k target, no idea what buff or hack he use …lol)
It is noted that OP use Exile S and still loses shortly after it gone

Protective_Shield
Only proc after crt, If you are unlucky, proc after the 10k backstab (I have seen higher hit on my 3.1k armor ranger)

Protection Injection
Most D/D thief only disable u if u survive .Even then you have 2k hp after and protection. Good luck.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Rune_of_the_Forge
It won’t matter if it proc or not cause BS still land(14k/22k health after C&D). and u left with 2k hp with protection (not immunity) .

PS: Giving a class Overpwd initial burst that can come out of nowhere is stupid game design. Period.

It may help if, on occasion, you choose to dodge. If that defensive array of options doesn’t help you, you just need to get a whole lot more practice.

Have you tried damage? It’s pretty good.

jportell.2197:

Multiple reliable methods? Okay
Transmutation is never noticed even if it does proc.
Healing Turret is Two…. Not bad.
Cleaning 409 is one per elixir and they usually don’t take elixir C if they have 409 its a redudancy and a waste of a utlity slot.
Med Kit antidote
Super Elixir which may be a bug that it removes a single condition when it lands.

Beyond that we have no transfers (Necros, Rangers,) No passive clears (eles, guards.) And no removal on use of profession skill such as warrior cleansing ire or mesmer shattered conditions (which still isn’t that great) And none of our condi removals double as stun breaks. (traited ele cantrips, necro plauge signet etc)

See why this trait exists. Because if it got an internal cooldown or anything of the sort it would become useless its like okay “I’m at 25% health I am immune to conditions for 3s oh crap it has a 20s cooldown” That’s a lovely grandmaster trait now isn’t it? At that point even mesmer shattered conditions which is one of the least used condition removal traits in the game becomes better….

If you were paying attention your argument invalidates itself in both its lack of understanding of the class and of inherent game balance. I need will not attempt argue rationally with the irrational.

jportell.2197:

Obscure One.4357:

jportell.2197:

Obscure One.4357:

jportell.2197:

Obscure One.4357:

jportell.2197:

So then why don’t people take 2 sigils of fire or air or one of each? Wait I know because they share an ICD and when one goes off you will have to wait just as long if you want the other to go off.

Correct.

This is not the issue I am speaking of. On the occasions I do crit I’m basically rolling two 6 sided dice instead of one. 3 or higher on either grants a proc, and because they share an ICD I will only ever be rolling both at the same time.

Exactly so why not just keep one and get a constant sigil, on kill sigil, or something of that sort….

Simple. It undermines the goal of the build and lessens the odds of making the most of it’s critical hits which serve the sole purpose of removing boons. This is a point aggravator designed to counter mid or far point bunkers or roamers that rely on boons and conditions, of which there are many.

Yes but you are saying that it is essentially like rolling 2 six sided dice instead of one. It doesn’t increase your odds. With two six sided dice you have a 2/12 chance of getting x number which in the long run is the same as 1/6…. See what I am getting at here? Anyways this thread is about automated response and while your build may have that trait in there it isn’t the most ideal automated response build and I am still 100% sure this trait will not be nerfed especially since other classes (warriors and kinda mesmers) are getting their condition removal buffed.

That’s incorrect. A single probability with the same chance is unequal to multiple probabilities with the same chance. It’s the same logic behind buying multiple lottery tickets.

In the spirit of keeping this thread on course, I would not be surprised if Automated Defenses receives an internal cool-down as it disables the ability to use many skills, traits, or combinations of both (Leg Specialist and Savage Leap come to mind) that’re specifically used for generating a condition. Hard countering should always be balanced against a duration and/or intensity, and this one has neither.

But it wasn’t viewed as OP at all before… And now that condition spam is how it is working more than anything it is? Kind of weird don’t you think? Even when I ran my condition specs (Mesmer on death/traits with clones etcs.) or a pre-buff condition necro. I didn’t care if I went against an engi that had this trait. For one I knew that they wouldn’t kill me and they either have the option to heal up making them susceptible to more conditions or eat my marginal but still there direct damage. Purposefully sitting at 4K health to prevent condition damage is walking a very fine line and if someone else rolls through this fight you bet yourself I am going to heal up because even if I have to eat some more conditions I will be safer than if I have to deal with a direct damage dealer at that low of health. Also I don’t think anyone would care if a class became immune to direct damage at x% health because just like endure pains they will straight drop to conditions. Certain classes have unique ways of mitigating damage.

Engi’s only really have this way of mitigating conditions especially at low health. The other condi clears are limited in number unlike consume conditions or ether renewal.

We Engineers have multiple reliable methods to remove conditions and cleanse conditions in addition to the ability to ignore them. All condition clears are in fact limited in number for all classes and this isn’t anything but a good thing. It provides game balance making condition builds viable. The argument that one is limited in shedding conditions is as short sighted as it is self-defeating; arguing balance yet embracing imbalance. The very build I posted in this thread exemplifies a build that hard counters conditions even before Automated Response, and when tweaked for using Lyssa runes has a second condition clear on elite.

Put simply I’ve come to see Automated Response as excessive, but not nearly as OP as many who’re using this thread as a tissue to wipe their tears on are attempting to make it seem. A cool-down similar to Armor Mod would thus be appropriate, though a duration would not be necessary because as you mentioned, the Engineer will heal above 25% out of self preservation, and thus put the trait on cool-down.

jportell.2197:

Obscure One.4357:

jportell.2197:

Obscure One.4357:

jportell.2197:

So then why don’t people take 2 sigils of fire or air or one of each? Wait I know because they share an ICD and when one goes off you will have to wait just as long if you want the other to go off.

Correct.

This is not the issue I am speaking of. On the occasions I do crit I’m basically rolling two 6 sided dice instead of one. 3 or higher on either grants a proc, and because they share an ICD I will only ever be rolling both at the same time.

Exactly so why not just keep one and get a constant sigil, on kill sigil, or something of that sort….

Simple. It undermines the goal of the build and lessens the odds of making the most of it’s critical hits which serve the sole purpose of removing boons. This is a point aggravator designed to counter mid or far point bunkers or roamers that rely on boons and conditions, of which there are many.

Yes but you are saying that it is essentially like rolling 2 six sided dice instead of one. It doesn’t increase your odds. With two six sided dice you have a 2/12 chance of getting x number which in the long run is the same as 1/6…. See what I am getting at here? Anyways this thread is about automated response and while your build may have that trait in there it isn’t the most ideal automated response build and I am still 100% sure this trait will not be nerfed especially since other classes (warriors and kinda mesmers) are getting their condition removal buffed.

That’s incorrect. A single probability with the same chance is unequal to multiple probabilities with the same chance. It’s the same logic behind buying multiple lottery tickets.

In the spirit of keeping this thread on course, I would not be surprised if Automated Defenses receives an internal cool-down as it disables the ability to use many skills, traits, or combinations of both (Leg Specialist and Savage Leap come to mind) that’re specifically used for generating a condition. Hard countering should always be balanced against a duration and/or intensity, and this one has neither.

jportell.2197:

Obscure One.4357:

jportell.2197:

So then why don’t people take 2 sigils of fire or air or one of each? Wait I know because they share an ICD and when one goes off you will have to wait just as long if you want the other to go off.

Correct.

This is not the issue I am speaking of. On the occasions I do crit I’m basically rolling two 6 sided dice instead of one. 3 or higher on either grants a proc, and because they share an ICD I will only ever be rolling both at the same time.

Exactly so why not just keep one and get a constant sigil, on kill sigil, or something of that sort….

Simple. It undermines the goal of the build and lessens the odds of making the most of it’s critical hits which serve the sole purpose of removing boons. This is a point aggravator designed to counter mid or far point bunkers or roamers that rely on boons and conditions, of which there are many.

jportell.2197:

So then why don’t people take 2 sigils of fire or air or one of each? Wait I know because they share an ICD and when one goes off you will have to wait just as long if you want the other to go off.

Correct.

This is not the issue I am speaking of. On the occasions I do crit I’m basically rolling two 6 sided dice instead of one. 3 or higher on either grants a proc, and because they share an ICD I will only ever be rolling both at the same time.

jportell.2197:

Having two sgils doesn’t increase your chances anymore than one. And even when you toss the elixirs it will remove two if it procs off of one weapon. You are basically just running with one weapon that has no sigil that would be better off with an on swap or on kill sigils since they have separate cooldowns.

Incorrect.

Attack hits + Proc 60% or Proc 60% > Attack hits + Proc 60%

jportell.2197:

Eviator.9746:

darkchicken.8692:

Eviator.9746:

jportell.2197:

Why would I take all those elixirs and not take HGH? Asinine imo. Plus you have no weapon skills aside from pistol and shield….

Clearly all you need are 3 damage-dealing weapon skills, plus acidic elixirs.

Did you notice he took kit refinement, but has no kits? No, this guy is trolling the AR haters

he did take a kit, the med kit. With kit refinement it does Magnetic Aura which give projectiles reflection

I was pwned.

But the dual sigils of nullification? They share the same ICD…. Why take two?

Low crit rate wants better odds with two 60& chances to proc, for better chances to remove 2 boons with tossed Elixirs. Don’t know if they can ever both proc, haven’t run the build since my tests on the 6/25 patch day.

jportell.2197:

Why would I take all those elixirs and not take HGH? Asinine imo. Plus you have no weapon skills aside from pistol and shield….

HGH < Enhance Performance

This build:
- boon strip with Elixirs
- condition removal with Elixirs
- damage with Elixirs
- 33% less damage for 7.5 seconds at 50% hp
- condition ignore at 25% hp
- +50% protection duration
- 3 stacks Might on med kit equip
- Swiftness on med kit equip
- Vigor on med kit equip
- Reflect (2 seconds) on med kit equip

Build it, run it, and then come talk to me about how “asinine” it is.

Step 1: trait at 20/0/0/30/20
Step 2: select Acidic Elixirs, Enhance Performance, Invigorating Speed, Cleansing Formula 409, Automated Response, Speedy Kits, Kit Refinement.
Step 3: slot a Rabid amulet and equip Runes of The Forge, and Two Sigils of Nullification one for your Pistol and the other for your shield.
Step 4: slot skills Med Kit, Elixir C, Elixir B, Elixir S, Elixir X.
Step 5: WIN until we get nerfed!

Anymras.5729:

Dirame.8521:

Obscure One.4357:

I’ll just put this here:

New Weapon: Hammer “made for the gadget enthusiast, this hammer comes installed with a spring loaded boxing glove, a rocket propelled guidance system for throwing, a magnetic flux inverter to reflect projectiles, a hidden compartment for a swiftness granting elixir that cures movement conditions, and a devastating skill chain that inflicts weakness on foes with the first two swipes and grants retaliation on the final blow.”

Where is that from?

He mentioned earlier (maybe in another thread?) that he was pulling it out of his kitten . Not a bad idea, though.

Indeed drawn from thin air and fired at the forums like every round ever shot from a gun in GW2.

Though I had an interesting thought on a hammer concept that wouldn’t use a new set of skills at all:

New Gadget: Magic Stick “This new gadget randomly equips the user with a Hammer (Guardian) or a Conjured Lightning Hammer.”

not that I particularly enjoy RNG skills but having more of them, maybe even enough to fill out the utility bar, and add a trait that all RNG skills grant 5 seconds of Stability (20 second cool-down) that may make room for some truly weird and off the wall play styles.

TheOneNOnlyGeneralBama.9586:

Our biggest issue at the moment is stability on demand…if the hammer would allow us to stand tall in the toughest moments , it’d be spectacular.

^ this.

Presently the only reliable source of stability is Elixir X, which as awesome as it can be, locks out the rest of our skills. Skills we rely upon for being in encounters that would call for such a long duration of stability in the first place. For now the only option is pop Elixir X and dive in with CC’s of your own.

Med Kit isn’t the problem as I use it in many builds one of which procs 4 boons (swiftness, vigor, might, random), removes a condition (Bowl of Saffron-Scented Poultry Soup), and grants a 2 second reflect just for equipping it.

But sure OP, your absolutely right, it’s totally trash and needs to be buffed, because I’m clearly being nerfed by not being able to detonate my med packs, antidote, and stimulant for AoE heals, condition removal, boons, and damage.

nakoda.4213:

If it spells a word, then it is an acrostic not an acronym.

Id like to see turrets fixed before we get another round of broken skills.

Q: “So ANet, when can we expect to see improvements to turrets and general AI bug fixes across all professions?”

A: “Hey check out our living story! It’s got loads of new content!”

Q: “Oookay, how about implementing some passive effects for them that Engineers don’t have access to that mirror signets in every other class?”

A: “Hey check out our living story! It’s got loads of new content!”

Q: “Are you even listening to me?”

A: “Hey check out our living story! It’s got loads of new content!”

Q: “Why do I even bother?”

A: “Hey check out our living story! It’s got loads of new content!”

I’ll just put this here:

New Weapon: Hammer “made for the gadget enthusiast, this hammer comes installed with a spring loaded boxing glove, a rocket propelled guidance system for throwing, a magnetic flux inverter to reflect projectiles, a hidden compartment for a swiftness granting elixir that cures movement conditions, and a devastating skill chain that inflicts weakness on foes with the first two swipes and grants retaliation on the final blow.”

New Feature: tick box to hide/show hobopacks
New Feature: new kit skins will be available from select Karma vendors.
New Weapon: Hammer “made for the gadget enthusiast, this hammer comes installed with a spring loaded boxing glove, a rocket propelled guidance system for throwing, a magnetic flux inverter to reflect projectiles, a hidden compartment for a swiftness granting elixir that cures movement conditions, and a devastating skill chain that inflicts weakness on foes with the first two swipes and grants retaliation on the final blow.”
New Kit: Power Glove “for the Engineer that loves ergonomic control, the power glove features a melee skill chain of electrically charged strikes with a jab that inflicts weakness, a hook that inflicts vulnerability, and an upper cut that causes crippling. It also boasts a soaring punch that dazes foes if struck from behind, a shocking grab that immobilizes, a ground punch that blows out nearby enemies, and a gravity generator that grants stability and blocks projectiles.”

sources: the vast array of bull!#$ I've pulled out of my !# hoping someone at ANet is doing this.

Yeah it’s a terrible problem I’ve experienced myself when attempting to actually use this skill an even remotely viable build. When looked at just from a bug fixing perspective (not to include the fact that it is a terrible skill), it needs alot of work to simply function as intended.

I’m honestly not sure if it’s worth fixing, as even if it did function correctly, there’s still no room for it in any Engineer builds I know of. I feel any development time put into the Mortar Elite would be better spent completely redesigning it than bug fixing it.

It’s just such a low priority because it’s so terrible. No one uses it, so it’s not seen as an issue ANet needs to address, but in the big picture it means Engineers are limited in build choice between two class Elites instead of three. Reduced elite skill build diversity by one third is something Engineers have had to accept and suffer with since we reported it in Beta.

Not too shabby!

Try it with Accellerant Packed Turrets using Net Turret, Thumper Turret, and Bomb kit. You can get massive might stacks, huge heals, and insane stealth durations whilst knocking away adds and eventually getting one off on the lord. A bit closer eye on the Lord and a well placed dodge or shield skill would also have made it easier on your hp pool. That being said you did a great job on the solo cap!

@ OP: Engineer takes time and practice more so than other classes, and genuinely plays completely different than every class.

For starters, when piecing together that first build, try out everything…well except Mortar, it’s a wholesale piece of !@#$ wrapped in burnt hair and shoved inside road kill that got hit by a gravel truck…twice. That being said every other skill presents interesting build choices that’re varied degrees of viable in varied situations and game modes. Turrets for example are not well suited for WvW, but in sPvP they can be used to lock down capture points effectively.

Long and short is develop a play style, draw upon your experience with the other classes you’ve leveled, and ensure you’ve built to counter them. Otherwise welcome to the wild wacky world of Flamethrowers, Rocket Boots, and air dropped Supply Crates.

Mortar needs so much work it’d be easier to scoop the dog !@#$ up and throw it away before someone else steps in it. It needs:
- Higher Rate of Fire
- Higher Damage
- Larger field of fire (range)
- Shorter Cool Downs
- Melee Range Viability
- More durability (easily destroyed)
- Bug fixes for camera
- Bug fixes for firing
- Balancing to prevent Thieves from boon stealing 2m of stability over and over and over again.

Face it folks, even if they fix ALL of that, it’s still a situationally useful skill that locks you in place in a game where even grandma has multiple punishing AoE’s. In the end they’d just be polishing a kitten .

WIGZ.8245:

Nothing new with thieves, op burst damage which will never be addressed, but make sure to nerf grenades again ANet.

With respect to thieves I feel as though they’re mostly just newbie screeners. They show up after some kid and his terrible build has PvE’d his way to 80 thinking he’s Captain Awesome and straight rip him apart like a Twinkie tossed into a fat camp. Then he comes here to get called a newb, told to learn to play, and is faced with a choice: go back to PvE where he can live out his fantasy of being Captain Awesome, or dedicate himself to actually becoming an amazing player and respected among his peers.

Seras.5702:

Only 20pts in Tools for an SD build? Wouldn’t the full 30 reduction of the toolbelt cooldown be more important?

By all means a faster cd is optimal for getting the most out of SD. However since the maximum reduction isn’t as large of a difference between 20 points and 30 for skills such as Analyze or Rocket Kick, it’s seemed like a good idea to trait into ways to keep me alive for a second go at the spike.

This discussion of S/D comes up countless times , you’d think most engies know how to run a optimum S/D build. Guys please for the life of you and everyone other Engineer please stop running Elix B during your pseudo max dps build….it severely cripples your dps lol.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUl0pqdnpSyF17IyoHdGpNhgeYX+le9pAbB-jEyAYLACCARCJ5VEN2ibR0YVLYqSioavRR0qFCY0CA-w
(MODULAR)

Agreed.

But, if used in an Acidic Elixirs, Cleansing Formula 409, HGH build and thrown to always include yourself in the AoE, then sure, run Static Discharge. Just make sure you have good aim. Otherwise no Elixirs belong in your SD build unless you’re getting them off a trait.

Finlay.7253:

Obscure One.4357:

Seras.5702:

@Obscure et al: Recently rolled SD/rifle build with Goggles, Rifle Turret, and ToolKit. Lotsa fun. What traits did you take? I’m running 10/30/0/0/30 and am just not sure how to squeeze every ounce of damage out of my rifle (since I’ve been a pistol user since day 1). In Firearms I have II, IX, X. Trying to figure out if I should swap out Go For The Eyes for Hair Trigger. And I’ve got Incendiary Powder in Explosives due to my high crit % (and free 100power) but dunno if there’s another line better.

My trait spread is 0/30/10/10/20, and I’m presently using the new rifle standard of Sitting Duck, Rifle Mod, and Modified Ammunition in that Firearms line. For Inventions I usually run Cloaking Device, but for those big zerg fights I run Protective Shield. Similarly in my Alchemy line I’ll use Self-Regulating Defenses and for zerging swap it out for Protection Injection. The Tools line is fairly straight forward with Speedy Kits (which has never not been in any of my builds) and Static Discharge.

I tend to do a good job keeping up fury between drop stimulant and Utility Goggles which keeps my crit rate at 70% (80% against < 50%hp targets), so I can capitalize fairly well on my 70% crit damage and 3k attack (calculated without Rifle Mod, Mod Ammo, Bloodlust Stacks, or Superior Sigil of Force).

Pro Tip: For Med Kit, on Drop Stimulant, you can drop 3 of them as they will remain after the cool down. At about 5 seconds until you can drop a fourth one pick up all three starting with the first one you dropped and then use drop stimulant 1 more time to stack the duration of all four uses.

Edit: Note – always get bloodlust stacks up prior to going out into the fray. The +250 power is a direct damage builds best friend. Once you have those stacks swap out to a berzerker weapon with a sigil of force to capitalize on having even more direct damage output. For zerg fights a power/precision/toughness rifle with a sigil of fire is recommended.

What equip would you use with your named build? I’d like to try this build out, but i have no clue how to equip therefore :/

I’m not certain how well this would perform in structured as the gearing I use which is an assortment of Soldiers, Zerker, and Valks isn’t supported in the game mode. I mostly build to far point bunker with my accellerant packed turret bomber build (8x blasts in a water field that knock back, FTW). However if your looking to run it in sPvP I’d use Runes of Lyssa and a seeker amulet, but you may need to tweak that to be more optimal.

Seras.5702:

@Obscure et al: Recently rolled SD/rifle build with Goggles, Rifle Turret, and ToolKit. Lotsa fun. What traits did you take? I’m running 10/30/0/0/30 and am just not sure how to squeeze every ounce of damage out of my rifle (since I’ve been a pistol user since day 1). In Firearms I have II, IX, X. Trying to figure out if I should swap out Go For The Eyes for Hair Trigger. And I’ve got Incendiary Powder in Explosives due to my high crit % (and free 100power) but dunno if there’s another line better.

My trait spread is 0/30/10/10/20, and I’m presently using the new rifle standard of Sitting Duck, Rifle Mod, and Modified Ammunition in that Firearms line. For Inventions I usually run Cloaking Device, but for those big zerg fights I run Protective Shield. Similarly in my Alchemy line I’ll use Self-Regulating Defenses and for zerging swap it out for Protection Injection. The Tools line is fairly straight forward with Speedy Kits (which has never not been in any of my builds) and Static Discharge.

I tend to do a good job keeping up fury between drop stimulant and Utility Goggles which keeps my crit rate at 70% (80% against < 50%hp targets), so I can capitalize fairly well on my 70% crit damage and 3k attack (calculated without Rifle Mod, Mod Ammo, Bloodlust Stacks, or Superior Sigil of Force).

Pro Tip: For Med Kit, on Drop Stimulant, you can drop 3 of them as they will remain after the cool down. At about 5 seconds until you can drop a fourth one pick up all three starting with the first one you dropped and then use drop stimulant 1 more time to stack the duration of all four uses.

Edit: Note – always get bloodlust stacks up prior to going out into the fray. The +250 power is a direct damage builds best friend. Once you have those stacks swap out to a berzerker weapon with a sigil of force to capitalize on having even more direct damage output. For zerg fights a power/precision/toughness rifle with a sigil of fire is recommended.

ukuni.8745:

1 thing I dislike about the rifle is also one thing that plagues the engineer in general and that’s the combination of good tank with good surviveability without using hgh, with hgh rifle I can wreak people and still maintain a good tank while using it with bombs as more of a utility kit for melee support (smoke bomb mostly) the problem I find when using other skills or kits is with other skills other then elixirs you don’t get no way near as much damage out of the rifle and a lot of the time with kits you waste to much time swapping and such which gives them extra time for heals/regeneration to negate any damage you just threw at them, don’t get me wrong there are a lot of very good options to take but as a mostly solo roamer for me running hgh rifle offers a lot more versatility in the open field where anything could happen and a lot more options for what I can and can not fight

Sounds like you sir, should try out a Static Discharge build. It won’t be tougher than a week old meatloaf like an HGH, Cleansing Formula 409, and Fast Acting Elixirs spec but depending on utility choices it can make up for DPS drops when kit swapping, or stack up your rifle burst to turn someone into meaty little XP nuggets.

Right now for my SD build I’m still playing with the newest trait improvements of Modified Ammunition and Sitting Duck, and the new version of Rocket Boots. The play style requires I get filthy close to my target, but interestingly enough I can compete in a fight at the 1000-1200 range. It’s an unexpected side effect of running Utility Goggles of which I primarily slotted due to the recent frivolous distribution of blinds. Analyze is a range 1200 and as I approach into 1000 I have net shot. This basically sets up a situation in which I can drop 15 stacks of vulnerability and gain an additional 8% damage against that target (15% if I happened to proc the crit bleed). This makes my rifle auto really really really painful and I haven’t even really started to fight. My full combo rotation of box of nails, magnet, pry bar, overcharged, utility goggles, throw wrench, jumpshot, blunderbuss, rocket kick, and rocket boots is just sitting there waiting to poke all kinds of holes in their hp pool.

Maybe I got into a bit to much detail, but the long and short is that Static Discharge may be that little something your missing out on by building for HGH. Don’t get me wrong if you want to tank spec, go ahead and Panzer that build up, but you’ll just have to accept the DPS losses.

oxide.8324:

Obscure One.4357:

oxide.8324:

Play mesmer, it’s a hard counter to engy

No, it’s how you find the bad engi…

I mostly beat Mesmers just with my W, A, S, D keys.

Yeah, bad mesmers. Try killing a good one, you will have a very difficult time regardless of how good of an engy you are.

Flawed logic.

Good Player = Good Player

I have no particular difficulty with Mesmers because I’ve practiced enough against them to know how to fight them, particularly the clone spamming, teleporting, stealthy type. The overt minority of Engineers, coupled with the minority of good Engineers, compounded by the minority of good Engineers that also run my build robs the Mesmer of experience from which to reference in a fight against me. Simply put, I know what they are capable of, I know what they are not capable of. They have not the slightest clue what rabbit I may pull out of my hat next, and thus the odds are in my favor. Barring encounters with strictly more skilled players, I will win that fight every time.

oxide.8324:

Play mesmer, it’s a hard counter to engy

No, it’s how you find the bad engi…

I mostly beat Mesmers just with my W, A, S, D keys.