Guild Wars 2

Mahkno.7593:

it’s a lot harder to pull off celestial roamer in wvw since the changes. it’s actually pretty frustrating. however, this might help: http://www.wolfineer.com/the-celestial-engineer/

I don’t really like his build. It offers almost zero condition damage, rendering the whole concept of Celestial kind of pointless.

This is what I was running yesterday. I use Force/Peril since I have a legendary weapon, but I suppose you could better specialize for something else: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Z;4cPVg0l6gTkw0;9;4ijl;0037248156;45s;4m9fgm9fg20ky3;6fdf8gdg8hdhdFDWD7330;9;9;9;9;9;9-V6s5D

When I joined into a zerg I’d drop Elixir Gun and Elixir X for Rocket Boots and Mortar Kit, swapping HGH with Iron Blooded. I’ve only done WvW like twice since the patch, so I’m sure this is far from optimal. Only class I really had significant trouble with were mesmers, but that’s obvious. A good mesmer will shred us regardless of what we run, currently.

I have to say that it’s been a pleasure playing Stronghold most of this weekend. It feels like you can build a strategy that favors any team composition. We’ve won matches zerg rushing with five in the offensive lane. We’ve won matches bunkering with four in the defensive lane. We’ve won matches with two to each lane, with a thief or mesmer floating or on treb.

And unlike previous beta tests, it feels like come from behind victories are much more possible with the new traits and utilities. Elixir X, Rampage, and Feel My Wrath are such tide-turners, and the need for skillful plays is a lot more evident now, especially around hero spawns.

I could be more specific, but I really can’t wait to play more of it.

Engineers are amazing in dungeons and fractals right now. They’re also a staple class for Tequatl defense and Wurm condi groups.

WvW, we’re still one of the better roamers out there, and while I think we’ll be edged out of the meta in Conquest, Stronghold is a completely different story. It’s important to remember that “meta” doesn’t necessarily mean “only.”

And unless you really plan on competing in tournaments, I don’t think it really matters for PvP. I played non-meta, “good” builds in GW1 for years and still played relatively well; solo-queuing rarely has the pristine match-ups where meta builds actually shine most.

Okay, I think I’ve found something that actually works. And oddly enough, it was Stronghold that really got me going back to trying Celestial. I’m using a build from a guildie (Noodl.8034) that I’ve modified slightly.

I cannot guarantee its mileage in Conquest, but I’ve literally lost maybe three matches and won 20+ after converting to this build, usually in tandem with a D/D ele or necromancer in the offensive lane as well as enemy hero ganks/steals (primarily with Rampage). Provided, I’ve only ran this build with teams, so I’m not sure how it’ll go with solo queuing. But I think people should give it a shot.

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Z70;2cPVg0l6gTkw0;9;4ijl;0037148056;4IN0;3IBl3IBl30T

dancingmonkey.4902:

I do find it interesting that you feel you determine who is or is not credible. Decreeing whose opinions are valid isn’t particularly constructive to the conversation in my opinion. Particularly when there is reasonable logic behind shield users, utilizing the shield trait.

I believe everyone is allowed to have their own sense of credibility. Just because I tend to value what Brazil or Chaith have to say about a build over some random person doesn’t mean you have to do the same; I’ve been around the block enough times to know who puts in the work, but it’s still just my personal opinion.

No one is above criticism, but I do tend to take certain posts at face value more than others. If there’s a pistol/shield engineer winning tournaments with his build, please—show us.

dancingmonkey.4902:

Personally, I do not think you know what your talking about when you try to imply that everyone uses AMR when using this trait line. My experience and conversations with other players suggest few use it.

I see Over shield used by everyone I have discussed it with who run P/S, in almost every case I have encountered. I am curious as to how you support your claim to know what the expanded player base uses and why? Such claims without any evidence to prove it, only serve to misguide and misinform any new players or anyone looking to learn or understand their options since the changes.

AMR was pretty much the default trait when it had a 10 second cooldown. Now that it has a 90 second cooldown I’m sure opinions have scattered, but I have not heard of anyone running Autodefense Bomb Dispenser.

It’s really not that hard to figure out what most people are running. Metabattle, Twitch, Reddit, and right here is where most discussion occurs. And truthfully I haven’t seen a single Inventions build created by someone credible that took anything but Mecha Legs and Bunker Down that was updated beyond the first week of the new patch.

Dirame.8521:

The power in Inventions comes from the sustain it provides. As a Marauder amulet wearing procineer, I can stand my ground against Eles and stale mate the fight because I am constantly healing and literally have infinite regen. Not to mention the fact that when I hit 5k health my heal resets.

I think you forgot how we got here.

The whole purpose of my post (and its supporting image) is to establish that Explosives+Tools offers superior burst damage compared to any other combination, to the point where it can drop over 15K damage on a heavy armor target in the span of a second if you line things up properly; and all I did was swap to Grenade Kit and use Grenade Barrage, and got a little help from Sigil of Air. I didn’t use Jump Shot, Pry Bar, or any of my Grenade Kit weapon skills.

You claimed Inventions could offer the same, but obviously that just isn’t the case. It literally cannot replace the role of Explosives, especially if running both the Grenade Kit and Mortar Kit. The double blast finisher, the longer fields, the faster grenades with a larger radius, and Aim Assisted Rocket are a pretty complete package.

For that reason this thread is kind of pointless. The Explosives tree isn’t as dominant as it was pre-patch (which is a good thing imo), and Shrapnel and Thermobaric Detonation could use a re-look, but it clearly fills a role. To say it “isn’t good” is just a tad bit hyperbolic.

Dirame.8521:

Explosives has some utilitarian traits but there’s only 4 of them and the rest of the traits, you could remove them and no one would truly miss them.

The same could be said of Inventions. There’s a reason why pretty much every build with Inventions runs AMR, Mecha Legs, and Bunder Down. I think you’re greatly inflating how good Invention is just in the same way you’re greatly inflating the problems Explosives has. Aside from a couple bad traits, there’s good reason to pick 7 of the 9 traits available in the tree depending on your utilities.

lorddarkflare.9186:

Thank GOD I am not crazy. I have been rolling FlameThrower in both PvE and PvP to great success.

The only thing I am not sure of is Flamethrower aa. Is it as improved as it seems or am I crazy after all?

Flame Jet is still seriously awful and shouldn’t be used.

Dirame.8521:

choovanski.5462:

Thermobaric Detonation does need to be replaced. it’s a terrible trait with the nerf to the powder keg.

Doesn’t need to be replaced but it needs to be moved away from GM in my opinion

I really don’t understand your obsession with putting grandmaster traits on a pedestal when grandmaster traits and adept traits are literally equal in opportunity cost now. It’s all or none.

It has nothing to do with being a grandmaster trait. No one would take that over Grenadier or Glass Cannon either. It’s just not good and needs to be revised.

Condition grenades are pretty bad right now, I think.

No native burning or confusion access, and the poison stacks from the #5 are pretty meh. I think p/p + bombs are best for condition builds right now.

Dirame.8521:

Phineas Poe.3018:

Bunker Down’s mine without Explosive Powder does like 30% the damage of Aim Assisted Rocket, and requires me being hit. You’ll notice that in that screenshot I had already taken a lot of damage clearing out their guards with that guy on me. He nearly killed me, but I got a Toss Elixir S off and dropped a Healing Turret from stealth. I said screw it, saw Streamlined Kits was up, and was literally a magnet pull -> Grenade Kit swap -> Grenade Barrage. He was downed instantly.

Bunker down only requires that you crit to proc it and it’s cooldown guarantees that you’ll proc it more often than Rocket. But it’s not good against ranged classes though so I guess that’s what Aim-Assisted Rocket is for.

You’re right, I was mixed up.

Still, Bunker Down is significantly less damage than Aim Assisted Rocket, and without Explosive Powder it just gets that much worse. I think Inventions all together is a very overrated tree. It was great when AMR had a 10 second cooldown, but unless you’re planning on taking a support role, Firearms+Inventions or Inventions+Tools is a pretty considerable downgrade in damage compared to Explosives+Tools or Firearms+Tools.

I would be fine with that.

It’s also important to remember that, when they get it functioning correctly, Explosive Powder is going to complement Jump Shot and Flame Blast. It’s a power tree, and when you factor in all the other damage modifiers like Glass Cannon and Shaped Charge, Pry Bar + Flame Blast + Jump Shot burst out of Elixir S stealth will pack a serious punch.

But I definitely agree with Ceimash that Shrapnel is kind of underwhelming. Explosives seems to be all about power-centric damage and they slot this bleeding trait in at the end of it. They should change the bleeding to something more situationally useful to grenades, bombs, and mortar, like chill on hit or torment on hit—something to penalize movement and/or movement speeds. It does have the cripple, but I think 2 seconds on a 15% chance is a bit meh.

Thermobaric Detonation should also have its cooldown halved or completely removed.

But I think overall the tree is great, and aside from Explosive Descent and Thermobaric Detonation, every trait is taken between PvE and PvP.

Peutrifectus.4830:

where did anyone say for concrete that is was baseline? because many things that were in the Ready Up‘s didn’t make it into game, i.e. rifled barrels, coated bullets, etc.

There’s just no way. How do grenades get a buff from 120 to 180 radius with Grenadier, but Bomb Kit is stuck at 180? That is so backwards. It has to be a bug, especially when the fields give the visual of 240 radius, and that Forceful Explosives was buffed to 240 radius on the acknowledgement that bombs were kind of garbage tier without that.

Dirame.8521:

4 Orbital strikes is pretty cool, even I have to admit that but, we could still do with better traits in that line. I mean come on, are you really going to argue for Glass cannon and Shrapnel or even Thermobaric Deto considering it’s cooldown?

Ceimash, every tree has its weak traits. And now that it’s an all-or-none package deal when you pick a trait line, there’s no such thing as “grandmaster” traits anymore aside from a formality/homage to the old system.

Is anyone taking Autodefense Bomb Dispenser instead of Over Shield or AMR? Or Medical Dispersion Field over Bunker Down? I definitely agree that Explosives probably has the most traits that need fixing, especially now that Firearms can complement rifle, pistol/pistol, and FT builds so well, but its one-dimensionality toward the Grenade Kit, Bomb Kit, and Mortar Kit also means that choosing it makes those options all the more powerful.

As others (and I) have said, the tree is perfect if you’re running a build that utilizes those choices. If you’re not using the Mortar Kit, if you’re not using grenades and bombs, then you’ll probably obtain better gains running Firearms (and I would say Short Fuse even then probably isn’t enough to warrant Explosives versus High Caliber) and buffing your rifle or pistol damage.

Dirame.8521:

You can do that without the Explosives line. Bunker down in Inventions could also fill the role of Aim Assisted Rocket in that scenario you painted.

Bunker Down’s mine without Explosive Powder does like 30% the damage of Aim Assisted Rocket, and requires me being hit. You’ll notice that in that screenshot I had already taken a lot of damage clearing out their guards with that guy on me. He nearly killed me, but I got a Toss Elixir S off and dropped a Healing Turret from stealth. I said screw it, saw Streamlined Kits was up, and was literally a magnet pull -> Grenade Kit swap → Grenade Barrage. He was downed instantly.

Nieguen.6235:

For PvP: It is far more interesting to take an other elite + other gm trait and not take this “grenades” oriented line. HGH/incendiary powder/Bunker Down, supply crate (elixir X for moa shut down, e.g. Lich Necromancer)

I disagree.

I think Elixir X and Supply Crate both have their advantages, but so does Mortar Kit. Blasting that water field has kept my lord alive enough to finish off theirs on several occasions in Stronghold yesterday—usually coinciding with downing a few of them as well. Orbital Strike crits for like 3K in Marauder + Pack runes, and it’s unblockable and hits twice (or four times with Kinetic Battery). A well placed Orbital Strike and Jump Shot, with some luck from crits, is seriously all I need to put thieves and mesmers on the defensive.

Siege Rounds is a perfectly fine trait, especially for power-centric builds. The only thing that Firearms really offers is Modified Ammo, which while good, has always been more of a PvE trait.

I only go up Firearms if I’m not using the Grenade Kit—like the Flamethrower or something. But if I am using grenades, and if I’m specced for power, Explosives is a great line. When you can 100-0 somebody by magnet pulling them into a Streamlined Kit’s Grenade Kit mine, Grenade Barrage, and Aim-Assisted Rocket, often right out of stealth, it’s pretty hilarious.

August at the earliest, where they probably roll out with a general balance patch.

The leaderboards aren’t active right now. Ranked is just a smaller map pool.

paladinecho.3024:

Now when you were blasting, how many finishers did you use? Or was it them blasting your field that caused the extra hp?

Combat log.

2x Orbital Strike + Jump Shot, as I said.

Reicta.2178:

Phineas Poe.3018:

I had success running this build yesterday:

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-ZRw;2cPVv0l6cQ-x0;9;4jlm;0156056236;4Tw0;3l6Uwl6Uw0q

Maybe I’m missing something because I see these HGH builds often, but I don’t see how you’re getting much use out of HGH at all. I’m counting three elixir skills total, and none of them you’re going to be using on CD.

For longer duration stealth and shorter cooldown. HGH has more usage than just might these days.

paladinecho.3024:

The blast maxed out for only ONE time hit of 600 hp added onto the other people blasting the field.

This is definitely not true.

Blast finishers in water fields heal for 1320 + 20% of your healing power. Leap finishers in water fields heal for 1300 + 50% of your healing power. And if you trait for Siege Rounds, the field lasts plenty long enough to get both blasts in of Orbital Strike with a Jump Shot or Magnetic Inversion as well if you need it.

Nieguen.6235:

No use of 2 orbital strikes

This is crazy to me. It’s unblockable 360 distance radial damage that also happens to be a blast finisher on a kit that has multiple fields, on a class that has the most field coverage of any. Blast water if you need heals. Blast light if you need retaliation (which kills mesmers pretty effectively, might I add). Blast fire if you need might.

Or just use it for AoE damage. It covers an entire point.

Yeah, I definitely think whether the FT or Grenade Kit end up on top will depend on how the dust settles with regard to other classes. Both appear to be very strong right now.

Thiefz.3695:

I don’t use HGH on my build since I wanted it to be able to handle the new burst meta but I do agree that mixing elixirs with FT is pretty good.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQJAqelUUhqrY9VwWLw6FL3F14I2EJBYC+gBg4B9DhIA-TJRHwAf2fowDAAwJA4YZAA

Just a few things:

1. I don’t really see the point in having both Reactive Lenses and Protection Injection if you’re running Juggernaut, which will negate half the stuns you get hit with. I would say just take one—if not neither of them.

2. I think you should drop Chemical Rounds. If you need more poison, just take Sigil of Doom. And since taking Juggernaut frees up really getting much use out of Protection Injection, you might as well combine Invigorating Speed and Heavy Armor Exploit; this also allows you to roll with Kinetic Battery instead of Adrenal Implant for double stealth for peeling/escape, or for double Incendiary Ammo for additional burn pressure.

3. For Celestial, I think No Scope offers better gains in damage than Pinpoint Precision does, but I guess it’s really up in the air there.

I had success running this build yesterday:

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-ZRw;2cPVv0l6cQ-x0;9;4jlm;0156056236;4Tw0;3l6Uwl6Uw0q

Mortar Kit is just a preference. With the double blasts and double projectile finishers the FT, TK, and shield give, there’s a lot of combo plays you can make with its fields.

I’m sure you’re being tongue-in-cheek about the “meta” statements, but I have to say I am pleased with where the FT is at right now in comparison to grenades. Once they fix bomb radius, I think we’ll have to include it into the conversation as well.

In any case, it doesn’t feel like the Grenade Kit is as overly dominant as it was; each kit really has its situational advantages now.

insanemaniac.2456:

Jerus.4350:

Arantheal.7396:

I’d not go as far as saying that engi got destroyed by the recent patch, but as I’ve pointed out in the other thread, many things didn’t meet the expectations, many build-options don’t exist anymore, once again we have a buglist as long as my roll of toilet-paper, and the few builds that are viable now, don’t even closely resemble the huge versatility that we could pack into pre-patch builds.
Not to mention that we lost many gimmicky traits along the way, that really narrow the choices in builds we currently can make work.

Even tho our condi-builds are still strong for PvP, I don’t see us being as supportive as before anymore when it comes to dungeons/fractals (just look at the pathetic vulnerability-amount we can stack now).
And apart from a very glassy S/D spec, I had little to no success with crafting power-builds in general for PvP. It seems like we lost a great deal of our hybrid-builds, last, but not least because of the cele nerf in general and the altered condi-formulas.
Rampage still can work, but – again – results in very glassy one-trick ponies. It feels way harder now to stall 1v2’s with defensive specs. And with the nerf to bleed in general, it feels like FT is now not only viable, but required for successful condi-builds because of the toolbelt.

This new balancing is odd, and I still need time to adapt.

Anyways, all I can recommend as of now is not to craft ascended gear of any type, since the nerf/bug-fix bat still will strike a couple of times, and not always on places that we can predict now.
As of now, WvW roaming is a dead horse for me, and I will give it time at least until the release of HoT before I start investing gold into my gear again.

2 things

First, totally agree on the vuln duration hit being annoying, that 30% condi duration was a key part of one of our stronger niches in vuln production. That said I do think we gained a lot in Damage and we do have a bit stronger might production, though not enough to take over might completely and still fall to Ele in Damage. But, overall I think we’re still solid in PVE with more options.

Second thing is crafting ascended, honestly, with the ascended swapping, yes I’d recommend being wary and being open or even expect to possibly swap it, but I wouldn’t hold off out of fear, just know you might end up wanting to change it out at the cost of your runes. I just made a Sinister sets, if they nerf burning in a way that I feel my PVE condi build ideas just can’t be justified anymore I’ll just swap it to a second set of Zerk and put it on my thief or even jus thave 2 fully decked out Engi’s

were in kinda a transition period atm… and we have the worst of both worlds in terms of condi duration, especially in pve. steel packed powders vuln duration was nerfed probably with HoT in mind because unshakable wont be a thing any more with the new break bars… so we got a kinda random nerf there AND we have less free condi duration AND unshakable is still a thing. itll prolly get better when HoT comes out, whenever that is.

and lemme tell ya, i have about 5 ascended sets + 1 exotic set across 3 engis and theres nothing quite like that kind of versatility. its really amazing to have so many options, yet i still wish i had a LOT more (mostly in terms of sigil and rune options).

Steel Packed Powder was always five seconds. It’s just the additional condition duration from Explosives made it appear longer in the tool tip, which is fine—because everyone else got hit with the same nerf.

We’re still by and far the best vulnerability stacker in the game, making us incredibly valuable in any boss fight that lasts longer than 10-15 seconds (like most fractals). Dungeon have always been a wash, but that content is so mindnumbingly easy that building only for the most optimal comp is kind of silly.

Stark.1350:

Phineas Poe.3018:

Stark.1350:

That’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it, but it’s not fact.

It is, actually, given how ArenaNet handled both spirit rangers and turret engineers when they dominated in PvP.

Yeah? Then explain minionmancer necros, tiger. Who are very viable right now.

MM necros are no where near as strong as what turret engineers and spirit rangers were.

Stark.1350:

That’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it, but it’s not fact.

It is, actually, given how ArenaNet handled both spirit rangers and turret engineers when they dominated in PvP.

Stark.1350:

To this quote: All builds should be viable. Turrets aren’t even remotely viable right now given how easily they are destroyed. They need to be able to take buffs like other minions.

Pet AI builds will always be inferior to more active builds.

Always.

And no, they shouldn’t be viable either. Maybe in PvE, but never in PvP.

Dreamwolf.7423:

I’m supposed to be able to PLAY HOW I WANT, not how Anet dictates it.

So in your view, a low-skill build like turrets should be just as effective as a higher-skill build like juggling kits?

That really sounds like an undefendable position to me.

Dreamwolf.7423:

I don’t like kits, elixirs, and all the other things that take my weapon skills away.

You really can’t complain that ArenaNet is limiting your options when you’re really just limiting yourself.

PierPiero.9142:

true, infact i don’t take granadeer but i take fire arms. I don’t think now explosive so important. I prefer to play with firearms invention and (alchemy or tool) … but it is a matter of taste. With maradeur you are way too squishy ….

I’m running a variant of Chaith’s build (or at least one he posted last week) that uses Mortar Kit over Elixir X: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Z70;2cPVg0l6cQ-x0;9;4ilm;0036146236;9;1CoF2CoF2a0e

Marauder is squishy, but the trade off is that your Pry Bars crit for like 5K and two double Orbital Strikes can measure up to 9-10K unblockable 360 radius damage coinciding with a ton of healing. If you need to escape, save Kinetic Battery for Toss Elixir S instead. If you double-up the stealth, 12 seconds with Kit Refinement’s Super Speed off Tool Kit is a perfect disengage.

PierPiero.9142:

i am not so sure that maradeur is the way . In my opinion celestial remain better for 2 reason : more toughness and more healing power

Without Incendiary Powder the additional condition damage from Celestial doesn’t compare to just running Marauder fully geared for power.

I agree. I think build diversity is greater than it was pre-patch. We’ll always have that one meta build—because that’s really all “the meta” has room for at the end of the day—but I think Carrion Bombs, HGH, Static Discharge, and FT/EG have all gotten elevated.

In a structured, in-it-to-win-it team you’ll probably still want to run Marauder with the Grenade Kit, but if you’re just looking to have a good time in PvP and WvW, I don’t feel we’ve ever had more options.

Ezeriel.9574:

Engis now just cycle through all their highest dps skills, and start over. Rotations, rotations, rotations, with no identity.

This is how engineer has always been played. It has always been about rotating between your hardest hitting skills, which is why elixir and gadget builds have always underperformed compared to kit-centric builds.

I will say though that HGH and Static Discharge are a lot stronger than they were pre-patch, even if they don’t compare to bombs and grenades in sustained damage pressure. SD has always been about burst, and Kinetic Battery empowers that even further.

And there has never, ever been a time where sitting in the Flamethrower or Elixir Gun was an optimal play style in competitive modes. Even when it originally had stability the first go-around at the game’s launch, the movement speed reduction made it a situational swap-to kit for stomps or whatever.

Not trying to be annoying, but you can farm the gold it takes to make an exotic Berserker/Scholar set in literally a day of dungeon running. There’s no reason not to just sit down and make one so you’re making the most of your engineer in PvE.

But to answer some questions you have:

Highchu.3806:

I’m still kind of unclear as to which stats our kits scale the most from as many seem to benefit from a combination of Power/Condi/Healing.

As far as PvE is concerned, power is still the way to go. Between vulnerability increasing condition damage by 25% at max potency and all the might stacks thrown around, building for power and gaining condition damage bonuses from might/vuln is much, much greater than building for condition damage and gaining power bonuses the other way.

In PvP/WvW it’s a bit more mixed between conditions and power, though I would say that power still has the edge in zerg fighting and in structured PvP.

Highchu.3806:

Also is our kit damage affected by our base weapon stats (Rifle or P+P/S)?

Kit damage is affected by both the weapon type (e.g., rifle vs. pistol/shield) and its rarity. An ascended rifle will do more damage than an exotic rifle, which will do more damage than an exotic pistol/shield.

displacedTitan.6897:

Great work ANet! Now we only have one viable heal skill again and its the same (HT) as it always was!! Seriously they should just delete the other heal skills if this is what they consider balance. Oh also, great work ANet on letting Mesmers stay exactly the same with this patch, I guess 100-0 in one CC combo from stealth is balanced but healing too much isnt.

I think Elixir H is great with HGH builds.

Thaddeus.4891:

Phineas Poe.3018:

mikeew.8607:

I literally said grenades feel a certain way Thank god you can read and took that as grenadier.

If you’re using Grenade Kit without Grenadier I’m not sure what to tell you.

Are you implying that all engineer should use grenadier with grenade kit?. Pre patch ya, but now? Grenadier is a nice little trait, that doesn’t really improve you dps. Just help you hit your target more frequently. Really not a big deal to not use it.

I agree, but if one finds the Grenade Kit lackluster it may help to try it with all traits included.

I thought all they did was adjust the tool tip. Was something else changed?

Edit: I see what you mean now. It properly applies two stacks per hit now. Nice!

After bombs get their radius buffed back up, I imagine it’ll be a good option.

mikeew.8607:

I literally said grenades feel a certain way Thank god you can read and took that as grenadier.

If you’re using Grenade Kit without Grenadier I’m not sure what to tell you.

I find this position strange.

Grenadier makes the Grenade Kit radius 180 and travel faster. It’s in every aspect a buff of its performance. The only thing that changed is the range.

Shrubsy.9720:

While one hit bursts and loads of sustains is an exaggeration, unless I’m mistaken, just about every other class is going to outperform engi in terms of combined offensive pressure and survivability at least as far as power builds go.

I’m not really sure I agree. We can have access to stealth, water fields, and blocks/invulnerability under the same build while still utilizing the damage output of the Grenade Kit and Rifle.

PierPiero.9142:

AED+AMR was the only thing that let engineer strong in this patch.

There are plenty of good builds floating around right now that don’t use Inventions at all.

keramatzmode.1906:

while other classes enjoy their one hit burst and load of sustains.

Such as?

A single trait shouldn’t be such a hinging factor to your survivability as it was up to today. I probably would’ve liked it if it was adjusted to a 60 second cooldown, but 90 seconds is what most engineers were used to up to this point save the past two weeks.

This is also probably a relatively easy fix to make compared to other bigger problems we have, like bomb radius, which is why it got put in today versus other bugs.

Gotta be more patient about this stuff. There’s a lot to take care of and engineer had a lot of low hanging fruit to grab compared to other classes. It may seem like a nerf right now but I’m sure things will be pretty much balanced out over the next few weeks.

coglin.1867:

Phineas Poe.3018:

Thiefz.3695:

I’m wrong, it’s in this patch note

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/updates/Game-Update-Notes-November-15-2012/first#post808152

Smoke bomb was updated in 2012 but the tool tip never was.

Thanks, Thiefz. I guess it was like this all this time and we never noticed.

Who is “we”? Speak for yourself. It has been discussed in the past, here on the engineer subforums.

You yourself claimed it was adjusted in September 2014. You also claimed the September changes affected all blind fields, when in reality it only affected Black Powder.

But if you want to feel big on the internet, I suppose you can have your moment.

Thiefz.3695:

I’m wrong, it’s in this patch note

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/updates/Game-Update-Notes-November-15-2012/first#post808152

Smoke bomb was updated in 2012 but the tool tip never was.

Thanks, Thiefz. I guess it was like this all this time and we never noticed.

And it no longer has the legendary effect.

…

Ugh.

Jerus.4350:

Phineas Poe.3018:

dancingmonkey.4902:

Well of darkness is on 2s pulse intervals.

A quick test on my necromancer proves that it is not.

It ticks 2 seconds of blindness every 1 second, in fact, which is inconsistent with its own tooltip that is supposed to tick 3 seconds of blindness every 1 second.

Are you sure that’s not just a display thing? In that you get 3s but by the time you’re viewing it you’re at 2s and change so it displays 2 instead of 3.

This is probable. I’ve been swapping between classes and testing blind fields so I didn’t really spend a lot of time staring at it.

But it still ticks every second, either way.