Guild Wars 2

zamalek.2154:

Infamous Darkness.3284:

So in this update will engineers receive the buff to their kits to increase their damage to ascended levels

Wait a second. Are we sure that kits don’t get the correct damage in the first place? I know for a fact my sigils are active on my kits, which leads me to believe that the weapon stats are as well.

You get the stats on ascended gear. You just don’t get the increased damage from the weapon.

+1 brilliant

My own deluded self-assurance is preventing me from classifying myself as one of those classes. Which means I’ve probably given all the evidence needed for an objective 3rd party to classify me.

…sits on stool….waits expectantly for sorting hat to make decision…

I do find it irksome that Anet released an infinite tool that was hailed as the last pick you’ll ever need. It can mine at every level. There literally was no better pick. All gathering tools had the same chance to gather the same pool of mats at all times (aside from BL tools). We had no reason to believe that things would change.

If they released a mining pick that had a chance to mine quartz, I’d be kittened. I worked to attain the meta reward of a quartz node in my home instance. But if I skipped that content I could buy a pick to get quartz.

Likewise, if people skip the current LS content and don’t get the meta reward (sprocket node in home instance) they can still just buy the pick with no effort expended and reap the benefits of gathering sprockets.

Trivializes the meta reward greatly.

Yes, it would bother me. Despite maining an asura and loving just about everything asuran, having a gender difference would be nice. As it is, there are some cool armors that just don’t look as good on my female asura because I’m relegated to using the male version. Variety and choice are huge in RPGs and I think the more the better.

I like Bomb/TK/EG – triple kit that still gives you the blast finisher that RB would with EG#4 instead (and it deals damage), and all the defense of EG & TK. Plus, you’ve got control with Glue Bomb, Pistol/Shield offhand, Magnet, and Elixir F.

BobbyStein.2315:

Naetell.3815:

Lessons learned here should be that writing for an MMO is completely different from how you’d approach a traditional novel.

This is definitely true. We also have to deal with the fact that simply writing something doesn’t guarantee that it will be implemented in a way that represents the original vision (if it’s even implemented). We learned a lot over the past year. I hope you all will see the difference in the next few releases. I look forward to hearing your comments late next week.

This excites me. Anet is definitely trying new things in terms of story progression and presentation and, as such, there’s a learning curve. The fact that they’ve listened to our “feedback” and made changes for the better is encouraging. We’ve learned more about Scarlet, the reveals are getting better, her character is getting more polished, and Anet is recognizing how to pace a story in a video game.

I have high hopes for future Living Stories. The fact that we got such a long and involved story already shows the scope of what Anet is trying to accomplish, and that’s exciting. I hope we’ll also still have smaller events here and there like we did in Southsun; events that last a few weeks, as a temporary distraction from the longer over-arcing story.

Astralporing.1957:

In fact, the whole case of engineer kit/summoned weapons, banners, and ranger pets stats being based around a set tier is the best proof, that ascended weapons (and vertical progression) weren’t envisioned in this game at all, and were just a quick and pooorly designed later addition.

Yup

Sitting Duck + Modified Ammo = Fun

Net Shot on rifle is on a relatively low cooldown, especially when traited. Hit a target with it or Glue Shot and you’ve got +6% damage on them. I love it in WvW and PvP, and it’s a staple combination in my rifle/SD build.

And Mod Ammo against a dungeon or world boss is like free +10% or more damage. Those guys are loaded up on conditions.

I love EG’s Fumigate, and use it on my allies whenever I get hit with a condition. It’s got such a low cooldown that I can afford to almost waste it as a just-in-case my allies got the same conditions I did.

I’m in the same boat as the OP. Need only a couple POIs and vistas in green territory and it’s been weeks.

Lishtenbird.2814:

Seras.5702:

Odd that she’d say “one of those slow sylvari” when she knows that Scarlet is such a genius.

And this as well. Such “tongue slips” make me think that Scarlet has been a hologram all way long, and some cute little asura genius had been pulling strings right from the start. It makes far more sense for an asura to be an extremely gifted engineer and not a max-25-year-old sylvari girl ^^

As opposed to a 10yr old girl?

Apparently, the answer is yes because there’s an entire thread that answers this, entitled “Why Warriors Need a Nerf” : https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/Why-Warriors-Need-a-Nerf/first

lol

Each weapon’s damage is irrelevant. A strength of warrior is being able to swap weapons (Fast Hands) often to maximize damage output. Mesmer can get away with autoattacking more because the phantasms out are dealing damage. But autoattacking rather than swapping to your sword for a Final Thrust is just overtly hand-tying yourself.

The issue isn’t that condition engis are bad in PvE, it’s that condition builds in general are bad for PvE. Due to condition stack limits and the way that poison and burning stack duration, a group of condition specced players will negate each others damage. This is why power is king in PvE.

As for zerker, it’s because PvE is played by dodging big telegraphed attacks rather than mitigating multiple smaller attacks. In PvP, vit & tough increase survivability. But in PvE, many boss attacks will 1-shot you no matter how much health you have.

Lolnut.9812:

… I also absolutely love the flamethrower, but as things would have it, the flamethrower is a condition based kit …

Actually, Flamethrower is a power weapon. Yes, it dishes out burning. But that’s 1 condition that stacks duration, not intensity. And the burning it dishes out is designed to boost the damage of your autoattack and stack might (napalm).

The problem with FT isn’t that it’s a condition weapon, it’s that it doesn’t deal enough damage to make it a primary weapon kit. It has great utility though.

No Walking.6349:

Again all you guys are talking about is condi removal….as in the lack of that makes a class totally useless or something. You have good condi removal without speccing into it, and all the other things I stated in my original post. No getting around it…

Please…enlighten us. How exactly?

And I LOVE your proof: everything I’ve said before is right so ha. You’ve offered no facts to back your claims. You simply make a statement and then say it’s true no matter what anyone else says. It’s the kind of argument a 4yr old makes. You smell…..cuz ya do! Seriously? What kind of argument do you think you’re making?

Lishtenbird.2814:

(Even?) if you talk to her as a sylvari, she says something along the lines of “Ah ok, I thought you were one of those slow sylvaris”. I wonder if this is an insult for sylvari characters only, a mere oversight of content team or an alarming point of her not recognizing sylvaris at all.

Odd that she’d say “one of those slow sylvari” when she knows that Scarlet is such a genius.

Taimi has snappy remarks, they’re just not mean-spirited. She toys with Braham in an adorable yet clearly manipulative way. Very asura. Heck, Rox is very unlike most charr, but that doesn’t make her a closet watchwork spy.

She has a sweet golem, way better looking than Mr. Sparkles. Wouldn’t surprise me if she were Snaff’s kid. That’d be awesome. And Zojja would DEFINITELY take her under wing if that were the case.

And Taimi doesn’t look up to Scarlet, simply recognizes her genius. This is actually common asuran thought, that just because someone or something is “evil/bad” doesn’t mean it doesn’t have merit. In the conversation you have with Taimi, she says she’s studying Scarlet (which is smart, so is the Durmand Priory) and you say Scarlet’s a “homicidal maniac,” and she says something to the effect of “well yea but she’s still a genius.” Know your enemy and study the work of geniuses.

Taimi’s on the up and up.

Rebound.3409:

Where do u get all the dialogues with that new NPC? The only 2 encounters i had with it was at the event (1-2 lines about nothing) and in the cutscenes of the living story where all the random NPCs met to talk about random life stuff whatever and we were forced to watch that continue the story. She was hitting on braham there and that’s it.

I am actually interested in her but can’t seem to find more on her then that.

In that instance with the characters talking with each other, you can click on them all and have a chat. Actually, the event log updates to say catching up with them is an optional goal.

Gather everything and sell it.
Dump your banked collectables onto the TP if you’re not using them for crafting.
Also, don’t do crafting.
As much as I hate to say it, run Frostgorge’s champ train for an hour. You’ll net yourself a couple gold and maybe get a decent drop.

Archaeopteryx.7409:

…

Overall, I’d want a Viable class who’s got lovely range, isn’t repetitive or overplayed/restricted to 1/2 specific Builds, uses strategic gameplay and is specifically good in Dungeons, WvW and in PvE (I don’t like switching Builds when it comes to ‘flipping’ my stats, meaning I’d be alright with changing a few stats in specific gear, but not full gear).

My favourite stats would be to have Condition Damage sustained (Duration over Damage) and Healing Power with whatever else is convenient to my game style/Trait setup.

…

Thank you!

Elementalist ticks off a number of your “wants.” It can dish out water and fire fields, blast them, heal allies, cleanse allies, and still deal damage at range. Also, they’re not simple and will require some active, strategic gameplay. Good in dungeons too.

I haven’t played one past ~40 but it seems they’re fairly limited with build options. If anyone with more experience wants to refute that, be my guest.

What is it about Necro that made you stop? Because they’re condition masters, and can take the heat off allies by manipulating conditions. Also, they can do some fair group healing support and stay at range. However, I don’t think they’re very desirable for dungeons.

You might want to revisit your Engineer. They’re a great well rounded profession that can tackle any role with mixed success. Definitely can play group support role.

Please explain this insane condition removal to me.

1. I wouldn’t call turrets completely bugged (though there are some bugs) but just the weakest utility skill type we have. Despite the numerous traits, their major glaring weakness is that they’re stationary and easily killed. They could become very strong if fixed, but as they are now you can only get one shot out of them reliably.

2. I think your trouble finding specific builds listed stems from the fact that Engi have such wide build variety. It’s part of the charm, and experimentation is encouraged. There is no meta exactly, just general ideas which will guide you.

3. Yes, I think we’re quite balanced. We’re more than viable in every aspect of the game, and quite strong in many of them.

After you get Supply Crate, use those pts to unlock all of your utilities.

I don’t think I’ve ever used Elixir X or Mortar other than goofing off with them for 5 mins when I first unlocked them. I have used asuran golem elites a couple times in open world so I’m sure Hounds would work alright too.

They’ve both been mentioned but they bear repeating.

Dostoev Sky Peak was so annoying with all the knockbacks and the confusing route. Can’t count how many times I’d climb a tower, only to find myself 25ft from the vista but separated by an un-jumpable gap in the scaffolding.

Beeteltun vista is just dumb. It’s on the ground in a starter area that requires no fighting to get to and is never contested.

rogerwilko.6895:

as good as you.

That’s…a really good answer

World Completion is character specific.
Exploration Achievements are account wide.

@Bagnasty: Finding those 3 previously undiscovered areas and not getting 175/175 means you’d previously discovered them with another character.

Also remember the Chantry of Secrets in Bloodtide. That’s gotten a lot of people.

If you hover your mouse over the name of each zone, it will pop up a breakdown of what you’ve discovered.

SAB v2 arrived with new weapon skins. I expect whatever new stuff SAB3 brings will be highly priced and trump older stuff in terms of desirability. But it’s all a crap shoot.

Yes, yes, yes. Play Engi. High skill ceiling. Very dynamic. Lotsa button pressing. Good in every game facet. Extremely fun (Flamethrower!).

MrSilver.5269:

Seras.5702:

- Engineer rifle pierces untraited

The warrior can get piercing on an adept trait that also reduces the cooldown on rifle skills, which the engineer must also trait for. So the warrior gets a 2 for 1 in a minor trait.

Is the comparison between the weapons or the respective traits? Baseline, the engi rifle has something warrior’s does not. Period.

MrSilver.5269:

Seras.5702:

- Engineer rifle is not the conditions weapon, pistols are. So to compare the bleed on warrior rifle auto against Engi rifle is to compare guavas and bananas.

Then why does engineer have sharpshooter which only gives a chance to crit, and the warrior gets baked in bleeds plus a chance to add more bleeds on crit. And both the warrior and the engineer’s rifle traits are in the condition damage line, which never made any sense to me.

The Sharpshooter trait isn’t weapon specific. It’s in the precision/cond dmg line, which makes sense. Warrior has the same trait in the same line, called Precise Strikes. You sound like you’re arguing my point for me.

MrSilver.5269:

Seras.5702:

- Engineer #5 is a leap combo finisher, which Warrior rifle doesn’t have

The warrior can swap weapons to get a leap with blast finisher with a stun. Engineer’s #5 is a leap finisher. When was the last time you heard anyone call for leap finishers?

Firstly, we’re discussing rifle. So mentioning weapon swaps is irrelevant. Engi can kit swap for blast finishers and stuns too. Doesn’t matter. Stick to the rifle.

I’ve read your posts in other threads. You seem to have the mistaken belief that the qualities of a class are based on the calls of WvW commanders. In a small roaming encounter, leaping into a fire field gives Fire Shield, which is a nice deterrent to attackers.

MrSilver.5269:

Seras.5702:

- Engineer rifle isn’t a long range weapon. As illustrated, Blunderbuss is most effective at close/mid range, which means using net shot at close/mid range will land much more frequently, and using Jump Shot at close range means hitting your target with both the take off and landing, dealing massive damage.

But the engineer has inherent health and armor disadvantages. Why is it given a mid-range/up close weapon and the warrior with higher natural armor / health is given a long range weapon?

Counter-intuitive, no?

There’s more to survival than just health & armor. That’s passive defense and Engi is anything but passive.

You could make the same argument about Warrior. Why does a heavy armor, high health, melee bruiser need a 1200 range rifle? How does that synergize?

If you want support, go with this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqalIqSXnwyuF1rIB4D1VkiHTZA

It gets you condition cleansing with elixirs, which when thrown help your team, and a reduced recharge to EG, for more team support. Also, drop Elixir R for C. You won’t use R in dungeons. Also, stacking condition damage in PvE is wasteful and you’re better suited to go more power.

If you want to deal a bit more damage and still be supportive, try this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqelIqSXn1yuF17IxYBgKUXRKecjB-e

With this you can deal decent damage and support your group by dropping Healing Turret and Napalm (water & fire fields) and then blasting them to aoe heal/cleanse & stack might.

At level 50, do this with your traits for extra dodging: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqelIqSXn1yuF17IxoCdGUh6KSR+bMA-e

At 60 you’ll probably change things up entirely, having access to GM traits.

Conveniently left out of the above argument are the facts that

- Engineer rifle pierces untraited
- Engineer rifle is not the conditions weapon, pistols are. So to compare the bleed on warrior rifle auto against Engi rifle is to compare guavas and bananas.
- Engineer #5 is a leap combo finisher, which Warrior rifle doesn’t have
- Engineer rifle isn’t a long range weapon. As illustrated, Blunderbuss is most effective at close/mid range, which means using net shot at close/mid range will land much more frequently, and using Jump Shot at close range means hitting your target with both the take off and landing, dealing massive damage.

The conclusion should be: If you want to use rifle in GW2 as a sniper rifle, pick Warrior. If you want to use rifle like a shotgun in guerilla warfare, pick Engineer.

I was hoping the “fatal damage” would result in all conditions falling off.

If you PvE, berserker.

If you WvW, you’ve got a lot of options depending on your build.

1) Power, precision, toughness, vitality, condition damage, & healing power

2) Yes

I want to start WvWing but I’m not really into following the zerg. The following build is what I’ve come up with for a condition-based small group roamer. The gear is just what I’ve slapped together based on what I’ve got already. I felt Celestial gear with Travelers gave me the most open build possibilities for WvW, allowing me to try new things without having to completely re-gear.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcQQJAqalIq6ZH5yuF17ICoH1VeNiiUofW2HFvVaB-jkDBIMgINA0CAkHgJfFRjtMsIasqaA6eQKIYKWpW3CxoDwzLReEpWKAYWDA-w

Obviously, it’s design is to rip away at an enemy with bombs and pistols and prybar, whilst using EG and TK to stay alive. Thoughts? Advice? Ideas? Give it up?

^ missed the point entirely

The condition stack limits are why conditions are shied away from in PvE content. In a dungeon/fractal group, getting 25 stacks of bleed is very easy, and burn and poison only stack duration, so 100% uptime on that is common too. This is even more true when dealing with world bosses and huge zergs. Conditions are constantly getting over-written and that’s just lost dps. That’s why direct damage is favored in PvE.

In WvW though, it’s great for smaller groups. Those huge zergs have so much aoe condition cleansing that it doesn’t have much affect. However, in small groups it can be devastating since players have less aoe cleanse help from allies and the constant rolling damage puts some major pressure on. Add to that most condition builds have increased condition duration, that means control skills are more effective. So even if your chill and immob don’t deal damage, they’re lasting long enough to potentially force a cleanse from your target, allowing your torment and bleed to stick around.

Qaelyn.7612:

But on the Nth hand.. I have to take into account the fact that I spam #1 bomb/grenade 10x as much as the ones that apply conditions. That’s the real trump card for going power on a bomb build I think.

Keep in mind though that while you’re spamming #1 and not your condition bomb/grenades, the conditions you’ve applied are still rolling and dealing damage. That’s the nice thing about conditions. You can dump ‘em and then focus on playing defense for a couple seconds, all the while your conditions are dealing damage, even if you aren’t actively attacking. Each dodge roll interrupts your attacks. Each heal does too. So do gap openers. You aren’t attacking if you’re doing those things. But with a condition build, you can evade, run, dodge, and heal all while your conditions continue to tick.

I like to go 6/6 celestial armor and then supplement with appropriate trinkets.

I think, with respect to if you’re going to go power vs condition vs hybrid, you have to decide first what playstyle you want. Do you want healing bombs? Do you want to roam in small groups? Do you want to support a zerg? Do you want burst damage? Do you want to specifically use your rifle most? Your grenades? Gadgets?

The decision on how to gear is very build specific and playstyle specific. If you find that your fighting isn’t really making use of your healing bombs, you don’t want Settler gear, but if you find that healing your allies with bombs is your favorite part, then step it up and grab Apothecary. If you just want to use your rifle and burst down 1 guy, grab a mix of zerk/soldier and have fun. If you want to be a jack of all trades, master of none, yea grab celestial. If you want to bunker down then grab some Dire armor. Don’t be afraid to mix n’ match to make up for your strengths/weaknesses.

You didn’t ask which is better between condition & power. You asked why condition is better for small groups than zerg.

IMHO: If you want to run zergs, go power. If you want to run small group/roaming, you can do either, although condition is better.

Here’s another thing to keep in mind if you want healing bombs. Healing requires 1 stat: healing power. Conditions require 1 stat: condition power. Power builds require 3 stats: power, precision, crit damage. Admittedly, engi has a few crit proccing traits that precision helps. But you can run a more effective healing build with conditions than power because you’ll sacrifice fewer stats. Apothecary or Settler gear will be awesome for that. Pair that with some Rabid trinkets (as you can see) and you’ve got solid condition damage, bombs that heal for 261 a piece, and almost 3k armor.

Static Discharge build with Modified Ammo will get you dishing out some very respectable burst damage using primarily your rifle. Bring MedKit & ToolKit. Then pick any 2 of the following: Rifle Turret, Goggles, Rocket Boots. Go x/30/x/x/30 and put your last 10pts wherever you want. Enjoy.

If you’re finding shield underwhelming and also want more burst, switch to rifle. You’ll lose the pistol #2 & #3 conditions, but you’ll get hard-hitting jumpshot (leap finisher) and blunderbuss. Also, net shot on a low cooldown gives you a reliable immob. And you’ll get an interrupt with #4 to work with your Perplexity runes, albeit not as good as shield’s it’s on a lower CD.

Elixir Gun doesn’t get enough credit sometimes. Yes, it has a healing field and a hard hitting blast finisher. But 1-3 skills are actually really useful. Weakness is a beast in 1v1, coupled with the swiftness/cripple combo, makes it hard for an enemy to lay into you. In small groups Fumigate is awesome. And the autoattack stacks bleed twice as effectively as pistol auto.

Qaelyn.7612:

Seras.5702:

1. Both work but right now condition engis are incredibly strong in small group encounters.

Why specifically condi in small group encounters? Not disputing the claim, just curious what the reasoning is (and it would help the OP too).

Thanks for the informative answers in this thread.

Conditions work best when you can load up a single target with them. A major strength Engi has is constant reapplication of conditions. Being able to focus on a single target and keep the pressure on is something Engi does very well. In zergs with so much aoe condition removal, you’re better off going power imo.

They shine in small roaming groups.

1. Both work but right now condition engis are incredibly strong in small group encounters.

2. They’re both good. Grenades pretty much require the Grenadier trait. Landing them just takes practice. I shied away from bombs for a long time due to the fuse delay, but now I’ve got it down. Trait for increased bomb radius for an easier time hitting your target and practice on dummies in HotM. The range is actually better than you think.

3. Elixir H is actually our worst healing skill (not even counting AED) unless heavily traited. If you’re running an elixir build with 409 or HGH and reduced cooldowns, then sure, it’s pretty nice. But Healing Turret cleanses conditions and doesn’t need traits to work well. Drop it, overcharge it, then detonate it. Even without using your shield, etc to blast it more, you’re going to get a good heal, lotsa regen, and cleanses. MedKit takes some practice but is nice. The #5 is a wonderful boon stacker. If you trait into Tools you’ll get a reduce cooldown on the toolbelt heal and that’s your bread n’ butter heal with the MK. Also, it works fantastically well with any “on heal” sigils/runes since it has no cooldown.

4. When the situation requires more than your average attack sequences, drop it. It’s pretty strong and offers a good amount of point control.

5. They’re both good. Perplexity on engis are strong thanks to our multiple interrupts. Accelerant-Packed Turrets trait will make each of your turret detonations an interrupt too. Synergizes well with Healing Turret.

6. I use celestial because it offers a great baseline gear set to build on. In WvW you need survival stats and celestial offers that. I slot in various trinkets to supplement my build. A celestial set with 6/6 Travelers runes is mad versatile.

7. There are no rotations. It’s all about what the situation calls for. In that respect, you’ll have to get very familiar with all of your skills so knowing when to use them becomes 2nd nature. Don’t be afraid to swap kits like a speed freak. Need to escape? Shield knockback > Swap to BK > Smoke Bomb > Swap to EG > Acid Bomb > Swap to MedKit > Drop #5 for swiftness > Swap to BK > Glue Bomb.

8. That’s all personal preference man. I know many people rebind the F1-F4 skills to easier to reach buttons on the keyboard, ADZC for instance (since keyboard turning is awful anyway, why not remap those keys?). I like having my #6 heal skill on one of my extra mouse buttons.

thomasgjkgwdn.4760:

Seras.5702:

Ranger is the better ranged fighter, though it outputs more damage with its melee builds.

i don’t find that rangers manage to stay alive efficiently in melee.

It’s true. Ranger defense comes primarily from high endurance regen and lotsa dodging. That active defense requires paying close attention to attack animations. Also, 1h sword makes perfectly timed dodging difficult, even with multiple dodges built into its skills.

Unfortunately, Ranger deals better damage with melee than it does at range. So if you’re going to go melee anyway, you’re better off going warrior.

Just reinforcing what other said. Boosters only boost XP from kills. Kill stuff in dungeons or in empty maps. Kill yellow monsters (like Moas) because they’re less likely to have been killed recently.

Warrior or Mesmer.

You like the face-to-face fighting so Warrior.
You like the tricksy evasion so Mesmer.

Try em both.

Engineer.

Especially if asura.

Variable. Dynamic. Complex.