Guild Wars 2

Advent Leader.1083:

Introduce a trait that improves engineer field blasting capabilities. This can be a major/minor trait, but this highlights combo play styles with engineers.

Some ideas off my head are the following:
- double duration/potency of blast effects
- double range for effect (most effects are limited to 300 range)
- add another effect (kinda like Persisting Flames)

Oh man, this is actually a really neat idea. I had no idea that a trait like Persisting Flames even existed. However, it’s true that the Engineer has a disgusting amount of blast finishers, and even though it’s not to say that Engineer players don’t take advantage of them, having a trait or several traits that triggered based on a combo field in which a blast finisher occured could be really cool. It could be like a Kit Refinement type trait except it depends on which combo fields in which you use a blast finisher. Man, that’d be really neat. My head is buzzing with possibilities.

Bump because update to second post. I might get around to putting down some concrete ideas for things like a pet utility kit later.

MonMalthias.4763:

@Swagg:
You really should link the “charge cast” skill to this page:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Charge_skill

Back in beta, certain skills like Churning Earth were Charge Skills and were really interesting. Hold to charge, release to fire. Longer duration channels increased damage. It’s unfortunate that many of the beta Charge Skills were later reworked into long channels. In the case of something like Arcane Blast ; the skill actually consumed energy back when the original design incorporated it.

With Energy changed to Endurance for dodging and other major revisions, such things disappeared. It’s always interesting to trawl through the “history” of versions of skills to look back on what the old design crew cooked up – and you can still see echoes of their work in Trebs, Catas, and other seige weapons although they are conspicuously absent from the bars of players.

That’s a good idea about the link. I’ll do that.

Yes, I very distinctly recall the announcement to remove Energy entirely from GW2. I was pretty horrified. It really is a shame in my opinion, but I suppose that in exchange for energy, the biggest cost to players in using a skill has become activation time—which could really be something on which ANet could capitalize if they just implemented the “charge skill” paradigm more often in skills (either for determining projectile distance or for skill damage/effect scaling) since time is a precious commodity in a dynamic battlefield without mana costs. Aside from CC and movement skills, the “charge skill” mechanic is a key to really broadening the capabilities of individual skills, builds, and—some some extent—even entire classes.

Again, it’s a shame that there isn’t really much spotlight on mechanical improvements to classes (even outside just Engineer). ANet is typically content to pressing an up or down button when it comes to “balancing” or “improving” a skill or build. I guess the most we can do is just keep bumping relevant topics and having discussion on some of GW2’s more interesting design features.

Bump because of updates to Bomb Kit suggestions. They’re still pretty rough, but I wanted to try to capture what MonMalthias and Wolf were talking about. I thought that they both had really great ideas.

I hate that this idea will never be considered because of a combination of ANet being too lazy to do it and “CASUALS.”

Absolutely hate it. This is an amazing idea.

Elixir X is severely underrated. As a tempo-oriented Engineer, it’s great for creating openings for teammates because each option has huge CC capability. It also gives you boat-loads of health if you’re running into trouble. Also stability. People don’t realize how broken stability really is—much less 10-15 seconds of it.

Honestly, Elixir X’s strength comes from the fact that you can blip out of your forms at the press of a button. You can launch or knock-down somebody, blip out of your form, and [Overcharged Shot] them while they’re down. All the people having a cry about Elixir X probably play pistol main-hand.

VIVorcha.7853:

Swagg.9236:

Rangers and Thieves are far worse off than is the Engineer.

Thieves?

I’ll have two of whatever you’re smoking.

Thieves are a garbage class. They’re a pile of sticks (straightforward and uninteresting skills) held together by glue (stealth) and sold as a house. It’s trash design. At least other classes have interesting utility. Thieves have stealth. Yes, it is a broken mechanic, but it’s ALL THEY HAVE. They are garbage. Trust me, I play [Bomb Kit].

It depends on what you want to do. Engineers are a well-put-together class given that they have three primary options from which to choose from when it comes to play-styles:

Conditions
Power
Tempo

Conditions are your pistol main-hand builds. They often use a traited [Grenade Kit] for range and for stacking bleeds and vulnerability, and focus on dumping most conditions under the sun onto an opponent as an opener and spend the rest of the fight kiting while pinging bits of raw damage.

Power is typically personified by the Static Discharge build and normally runs rifle. A Power engineer is characterized by big hit burst skills such as [Jump Shot], the [Tool Kit]‘s [Prybar] and rapid burst as one gets with the Static Discharge trait. This sort of build often runs [Tool Kit] not simply because its tool-belt skill provides a reliable projectile for Static Discharge, but it also grants the engineer [Gear Shield] which is pretty cheesy with its 3-second block. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for CC in this build, though. The rifle provides plenty of CC as well as things such as [Personal Battering Ram] that is sometimes swapped out for the more common utility option: [Rifle Turret].

Tempo engineers are control engineers. These sorts of builds are typically much more varied than Power or Condition engineers because of the control and zoning options available to the profession. That said, Tempo builds typically run rifle or pistol/shield. [Bomb Kit] is an ideal skill for this build given that it zones out areas very well with PBAoEs—especially Big Ol’ Bomb. [Bomb Kit] also provides a great smoke field for stealth combos. In general, the Tempo Engineer takes advantage of combo fields more than other builds that I’ve seen. Furthermore, while Tempo can take down enemies alone, it truly excels when in the company of teammates. Tempo players ruin the efforts of other players with counter-play of their own so that it’s a minus 1 for the other team while also zoning away attackers that could maybe sweep in and wreck a teammate.

Personally I play a rifle/healing turret/rifle turret/elixir gun/bomb kit Tempo-style build with Static Discharge to round out the range difference between [Bomb Kit] and rifle. It’s all about controlling your opponent’s movement, line-of-sighting them when it proves advantageous and notching up damage when they can’t fight back either because they’re blind, knocked down, or running in the opposite direction.

Rangers and Thieves are far worse off than is the Engineer.

All those buffs. Furthermore, that’s not how Bomb Kit should be buffed/changed. Why is ANet so bad at foresight?

The only thing extraordinary about me is my lack of shame, so I sang a song about how it feels to level in starter zones (namely Queensdale). I guess my only regret is that it had to be acapella (and you might want to turn down the volume toward the end). Bonus points to you if you know the musical from which the song was taken.

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/hx29y03y05r2vry/Extraordinary_in_Queensdale.mp3

Vectuus. I had been looking for a new outfit for some time and I’m happy with how this turned out.

The fact that Engineer Kits don’t scale to ascended damage is just not a sign of ANet hating Engineers, but rather ANet being complete imbeciles when it comes to forcing players to continue to play their game through grindy, time-gated content that barely rewards the player for his or her efforts.

If Ascended is so absolutely terrible to get that kits, banners and ele conjures don’t deserve to have that status (because they would “escape the grind”), but still don’t even grant that great of a stat bonus when compared to Exotic tier items, they shouldn’t BE IN THE GAME IN THE FIRST PLACE.

ANET. WHY DO YOU WANT TO KILL YOUR GAME?? YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING ANYMORE.

VIVorcha.7853:

Reduce the cooldown on all gadgets.

Increase the health of turrets SIGNIFICANTLY.

Make turrets scale based on your stats.

Add new gadget traits.

I’ve already made arguments about why buffing health and damage on turrets is not going to make them good (it could make them overpowered, though, if taken too far). Gadget traits are cool, but only suggesting that they exist would flesh them out any further than that. Actually speaking of traits, I think that Engineers could stand to have more Turret traits. It’d be nice to see some skill options tied to Overcharge activation (reflection bubbles; AoE daze sonic wave; 300-range AoE pull, etc).

Wolf.5816:

Your post on Engineer Bombs

This feels like the missing link between my thoughts and the post made by MonMalthias.

I’d actually be quite for Engineer Bomb Kit 1 being a skill that had the Engineer lob a bomb ~180 range in front of him where it would explode. It would completely change how Bomb Kit is played for damage, but I think that it would overall be a pretty good change by both providing a better tell for the enemy vs a Bomb Kit Engineer (allows them to judge distance and make decisions about engaging the Engineer) and also giving an Engineer a little more elbow-room for using Bomb Kit outside of cramped spaces/tight corners while relatively maintaining its effectiveness in those same locations (it would just require a little more finesse).

I actually really like the bomb throwing suggestion, though! It certainly seems do-able what with the many instances of “charge-up” type weapons such as cannons, mortars and trebuchets. and throwing bombs would only add to the skill ceiling and versatility of the Bomb Kit. I still think that throwing a bomb (relatively) long-distance (maybe something like 600 range max) should be reserved for only the 2-5 skills seeing that the 1 skill does so much raw damage. However, I’m not sure that tying a straight power-up (even slightly) to the distance thrown is a good idea.

Even so, there’s no reason that a thrown bomb itself couldn’t become a line-directed physical projectile with adjustable range that damaged foes that touched it (ala Flame Blast). Then they could chain into [Detonate Bomb] skills that could blow up the bombs in mid-flight and apply their effects at their immediate location (but that might be too good). Either way, Engineer Bomb Kit would gain a whole new dimension to toy with when it comes to placing bombs and dominating a space.

MonMalthias.4763:

Your post on Engineer Bomb Kit.

This is why I love bumping this thread. This was a really enlightening post and had great ideas in it. I mean, I’ve played with Bomb Kit for quite some time now, and I realize how dancing about in a circle while an enemy chases you often spells doom for that enemy, but I never really thought about it as broken until I read through that. Your idea on changing Bomb Kit 1 has some merit to it and I’d like to re-think my Bomb Kit suggestion upon going through your post.

Also, bump because huge update to the Turrets/Overcharges suggestion.

shinreigari.7318:

Okay, this just looks really serious. I can’t believe they neglected charr armor to THIS point. Or maybe it’s just a bug on your end…?

I dunno. From the reactions, it seems like my guildmates could see it. I say reactions because I grinded hard for the entire armor ensemble without ever putting it on fully (level 74 story mode armor was the final piece). I put it on and my shoulders turned into drills. The schadenfreude was palpable. I could just check again in public LA, though.

Either way, I just have no idea what this is about, and I’m just sad that I can’t wear my outfit.

Anyone else getting this? Anyone know how long this has been a thing in the game? I don’t want my charr to look like a gundam.

Necropost! I tweaked the suggestions (removed some, changed some). I’ve sort of given up on my Elixir X idea. It would be unwieldy to implement and also a cool change would be to give the Engineer something completely different outright than a simply RNG copy of another class’ elite.

I still think about [Bomb] (Bomb Kit 1 skill) and sometimes wonder if it wouldn’t be better as a 2-part skill chain in which the second part would prematurely detonate [Bomb] a player’s command (even directly after dropping it) and then raising [Bomb] to a 1-second recharge. That might also be too overpowered, though. It would pretty much turn Bomb Kit Engineers into walking explosions that deal a consistent 180 PBAoE range 2-3k damage every second depending on their gear and traits. Dunno.

Again, shame devs never discuss these things.

TehPwnerer.7215:

So… I’m guessing it’s a skill?

It’s a skill and a petition for more intuitive and battleground-shaping summon abilities.

Reserved for future posts

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS AND TERRAIN SHIFTING
This game needs them. Environmental hazards and terrain shifts are effectively one-time-use pets that directly and actively change the flow of a battle before leaving the field. Things such as rolling boulders, a wall of stones, a solid cylinder (that maybe could tip and fall in a certain direction to damage and launch foes while also forming a wall) are things that directly interrupt a battle and may even pose line-of-sight problems for opponents while providing a quick haven for allies.

With respect to moving environmental hazards, the only real options you have are thing that roll or leap in a line, but even so, such a thing could quickly turn the tide or change the dynamic of a fight by breaking up combat. This sort of thing is very viable within the GW2 engine. The only issue is creating the command to allow a player to directly target the movement of a summon.

Regarding terrain shifting, employing the terrain to take away an enemy’s advantages (i.e. fighting in tight spaces or “line-of-sighting” an opponent by corner-hugging or dancing around a stump/tree/rock) is something that always changes combat and can create openings for players to counterattack or set up for a powerful combo. The idea of terrain shifting would be to give a player ability to create that solid stump or wall in the open plains via a skill. I’m not sure how viable this idea is within the GW2 engine, but it is worth a thought.

SUMMONS WITH TARGETABLE ABILITIES
This needs to be a thing. This absolutely must be a thing. Having summons be outside of a player’s control denies that player the ability to truly anticipate and outplay an opponent. Instead a player using summons has to rely on awkward, internal, skill-specific attack queues and the sometimes sketchy pathing abilities of single-target summons. At this point, I’ll refer to the infographic about Phantasms that I attached to the post above this one. Making summons have AoE-targeted or directionally targeted skills would open a lot of doors for players to make interesting plays based on the flow of a battle.

The only issue for this is getting the player to be able to target a summon’s movement. Doing an AoE-targeted attack might be simple enough, but for something like a line attack (a type of attack of which there needs to be SO MUCH more in this game), the command would have to either manifest itself as a directional target layout pointing out of the summon (ala the Warrior’s [Whirling Attack] that follows the player’s cursor) or as an AoE target circle—the center focus of which would be the summon’s final stopping point during its attack (the effective range of placing such a circle would be tied to the summon and not to the player).

PHANTASMAL BOULDER

• Cast-time: 1 second
• Recharge: 50 seconds
• Phantasm. Conjure a large Phantasmal Boulder that falls from the sky onto target location and knocks foes back where it lands.
• Damage: 400
• Knock-back: 240
• Radius: 180
• Range: 900
• Combo Finisher: Blast
  • PvE HP: 19,943
  • PvP HP: 8,354
  • Animation details a boulder quickly constructing itself from nothing in mid-air above the point at which it is about to drop. Hang-time and falling skill animation are identical—but activate twice as quickly—as Elementalist’s [Dragon’s Tooth].

ROLL BOULDER (Phantasmal Boulder chain skill)

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 0
• Command your boulder to roll in target direction, knocking down foes in its path. Phantasmal Boulder shatters upon completing this command.
• Damage: 300
• Knock-down: 2 seconds
• Roll distance: 900
  • Upon using this skill, Phantasmal Boulder gains 3 seconds of stability.
  • Upon using this skill, Phantasmal Boulder will spin quickly in place for a ½ second in order to show that it is about to roll.

THIS THREAD SERVES THREE MAIN PURPOSES:
first to say that this game needs more player-available skills that pose environmental hazards on the battlefield; second to say that summons need more active skills and that said active skills should typically take the form of player-directed line attacks; and thirdly (also most optionally because ANet isn’t really cool enough to do something like this; I’ll leave a related infographic at the bottom of this post anyway) to say that Phantasms are pretty bunk due to their fire-and-forget nature and making them more into active Mesmer-buddy summons is perhaps the biggest way to really make Mesmer a truly engaging class (for both Mesmers and their opponents) with more active combat options to promote more interesting fights.

Engineer downed state is fine.

I just go for dodges and hard CC with the Rifle. I also use Bomb Kit so [Glue Bomb] and [Smoke Bomb] often are my answers to warriors. If you’re really on edge about it, you could always use [Jump Shot] as a means to run away from a Warrior as he’s attempting to set-up a combo. [Acid Bomb] also works well for that too—even better.

Using Elixir X sounds fun, though. I don’t enjoy using an elite as an opener, but the prospect of turning into a Juggernaut or a Tornado as a hammer Warrior rushes at you makes me chuckle.

A bump because I’ve been playing lately with Static Discharge and using Rifle Turret for my optional utility slot. Access to an SD-buffed Surprise Shot is really amazing and helps smooth out the transition between melee-ranged fighting with bombs and using ranged attacks with the rifle. It also gives me something to do while I’m dropping bombs or knocked-down due to Overcharged Shot. It’s honestly the missing link to this build, I think. It gives me some reliable damage even when I’m in Bomb Kit.

Also, big note, [Detonate turret] hits hard. Since [Rifle Turret] itself is somewhat disposable with a 20-second recharge, I like to use it as an extra bomb. It doesn’t hit quite as high, but when combined with an actual [Bomb] hit and a follow-up [Surprise Shot], the damage is staggering given how fast it comes. I recently won a fight with a thief because the guy managed to close in on me while I was directly between my Healing Turret and my Rifle Turret. I dropped a bomb, detonated them both and I might’ve procced either my Sigil of Air, my Runes of Air (6/6) or both because he vaporized after coming out of stealth and attacking me.

[Rifle Turret Bomb] is also great because you can remote detonate it and chain it with other PBAoE attacks, and it’s also a portable blast finisher. Feel free to set it up away from combat, throw down a [Smoke Bomb] as you’re moving in and triggering [Detonate Turret] for instant stealth. It’s incredibly versatile in all honesty.

Requiem.8769:

Mind Kitten.

It’s certainly neither lore-friendly nor is it terribly engaging (no real possibility of an identity; exceptionally descriptive). HOWEVER, it reminds me of GW1 days when people could just make PvP characters and name them whatever they wanted because “I want to run 7 interrupts on my bar NOW and I don’t want to invest in a PvE character to do so!” Mind Kitten feels like a name in that vein and so for that I won’t fault you. Also, you chose my favorite face.
7.5/10

Doof.
Kleppa.

castlemanic.3198:

Mind if i ask for the build? I’m levelling a second mesmer and i want that mesmer to have a GW1 mesmer feel.

Scepter/Sword; Staff
Mirror; Null Field; Signet of Domination; Mantra of Distraction; Mass Invisibility
Rune of the Undead (6/6)
10 – II
10 – optional
20 – V; VIII
0
30 – VI; optional; XI

The build is a bit of a mess right now, but that’s what I use in spvp. Feel free to take it for a go. It’s pretty much just a matter of chaining interruptions, stacking 15-20 might and then blowing things up with any hard hitting skill that you have (of which there are not many with those skills and weapons). With 20 might, you can also just interrupt a guy for huge damage via Halting Strike. I’ve lately been wondering about how a greatsword would work in place of the staff, but staff is just so good.

Take it, change it and make it your own, but it really does give off a GW1 Mesmer feeling where you mostly have to wait for your enemy to make moves and then ruin those moves with well-timed skill usage.

Oh, and do not be afraid to use your healing skill as a combat weapon. Reflecting targeted, projectile-based knock-backs or half of a Static Discharge barrage is hilarious.

Interrupt Mesmer with Confusion because it actually plays like a proper GW1 Mesmer instead of a purple Elementalist.

Deathcon.5903:

Don’t touch my blocks man.

Time its usage, then use its remaining duration to close the gap and interrupt your target. Furthermore, you’re a Mesmer; you already have enough “Get out of jail free” cards.

shimmerless.4560:

are these PvE related? (the stuff about defiant implies so).

i like the arcane thievery idea, maybe lose the vigor though

protection on mimic is good

They’re meant to be general changes. I’m just upset that Interruption Mesmer will never be a thing in general PvE because ANet is bad at designing high-level PvE encounters/didn’t anticipate their player-base playing their game as it was meant to be played: hence the existence of Unshakable and Defiant. A PvE-focused (but overall general) change to one of the Interruption Mesmer’s core traits would maybe help bring control back into the limelight in PvE.

The blocks are fine where they are because the blocks themselves are so good. As it stands now, the block chain skills are pretty garbage compared to just using the block. Changing the functionality of “lazily wave your wand and send a slow-moving puff towards your enemy” to something faster and with more combat impact would give Mesmers using scepter or off-hand sword more openers and mid-combat transitions.

A brief look at a few under-used or clumsy skills as well as some ideas on how to broaden the use and utility of a few other skills.

UTILITY SKILLS
Signet of Domination

• Cast-time reduced from ¼ to 0.
• Stun duration reduced from 2 to 1 second.
• Recharge decreased from 45 to 30 seconds.

Null Field

• Cast-time reduced from ¼ to 0.
• Now breaks stun.
• Now grants 1 second of stability.

Arcane Thievery

• Recharge reduced from 45 to 35 seconds.
• Now inflicts ½ second of daze (directly after the boon steal).
• If you interrupted a skill, you also inflict 5 seconds of weakness to your target and gain both 15 seconds of swiftness and 5 seconds of vigor.

Mimic

• Recharge reduced from 25 to 20 seconds.
• Cast-time reduced from 4½ to 2½ seconds.
• Duration reduced from 4 to 2 seconds.
• Now grants 2 seconds of protection upon activation.

Echo

• Cast-time reduced from ¾ to 0.
• Now inflicts ½ second of daze to foes adjacent to caster (180 range) upon activation.

WEAPON SKILLS
Counter Blade (skill re-work)

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Slash with your sword, sending out a shockwave of energy that damages and dazes up to five foes.
• Damage: 175
• Daze: ¾ second
• Range: 600
  • Uses the animation and effect of the Guardian staff skill [Wave of Wrath] except that it inflicts daze and activates twice as quickly.

Counter Spell (skill re-work)

• Cast-time: 1½ seconds
• Channel a beam of energy that damages and blinds foes.
• Damage (3x): 150
• Blind: 2 seconds
  • Uses the same animation and piercing effect of the Mesmer greatsword skill [Spatial Surge].

TRAITS
Halting Strike

• Damage increased by 15%.
• Successful interruptions now also remove up to 5 stacks of Defiant.
• If you successfully interrupt an Unshakable enemy that currently has no Defiant stacks, you render that enemy confounded for 3 seconds.

Confounded

• Cannot gain stacks of Defiant.

Knox.8962:

Bombs underwater cast and detonate 20% faster (0.75s vs. 0.9s).

This is actually news to me. I remember putting bombs on my Engineer underwater like a week ago for funsies, but before then I had never really used them (I rarely go underwater anyway). They did feel a little more intuitive, though. I’ll have to experiment with them a little bit now.

Knox.8962:

I also feel like the base range on bombs is too low, but the increase from the trait is too high.

You’d probably be better off with 150/150/150/210/270 untraited and 200/200/200/280/360 traited.

That would require people to run forwards to escape the explosion radius of the untraited bombs, and require them to run forwards with swiftness for the traited version. Otherwise they’re going to have to dodge the attacks like every other attack in the game.

I’m actually fine with bomb radius right now. I think that the radius is good, but the only thing that makes it difficult to actively engage enemies with bombs is their cast-time. A decrease in cast-time is almost like an increase in range since the enemy would have less time to react or move away. I dunno. It is sort of weird how I can’t imagine ever playing bombs effectively without that trait, though. It’s sort of just a given, maybe they really should improve/combine it with something since its so integral. Dunno, though. Also, I would miss my 270 range Concussion Bomb—even if it doesn’t do that much condition damage in my build. It still scares people and wrecks [Crossfire] rangers.

Knox.8962:

I’d be completely happy if they combined the cast/fuse speed and 33% radius increase into one trait and made it a GM trait.

I’d be sad to lose that extra 10 from Tools in my build. Although, Short Fuse as a master trait that did both of those things would maybe be too strong…

As I’m playing more with Bomb Kit, I feel thakittens cast-times are really holding it back. There are many instances when chaining skills in which I find myself exposed due to laying down a bomb. I know that sounds silly (“That’s what you get for using a powerful skill, jerkbag,” kind of silly), but I’m not really talking about [Bomb] (Bomb Kit 1), rather the Bomb Kit 2-5 skills.

I updated my Bomb Kit suggestion on the first page to reflect my feelings towards the kit in general. It’s really good, but just clunky. It’s effects are very static (they don’t move), and yet they take quite a long time to cast—often too long to make it worth using most of them when engaging a player at melee range. As of now, Bomb Kit 2-5 simply allow an enemy to get in free swings while the Engineer lays down bombs and waits for them to explode. Engineers using Bomb Kit get hit a lot while being unable to do very much of anything in return due to the “delayed attack” nature of their skills.

By halving the cast-times of [Fire Bomb] and [Concussion Bomb], the Engineer gets a better chance at inflicting damage with them, and is also able to slip back into using other skills much faster. Reducing [Smoke Bomb] and [Glue Bomb]’s cast-times to 0 operates on the same principle, just to a higher degree.

Bomb Kit is a PBAoE weapon. More importantly, it’s big skills are on relatively high cool-downs. Therefore, even the general attack speed of the kit’s 2-5 skills were to be increased dramatically, those cool-downs would prevent spamming from ever really being effective since the only area that would be affected by such a display would be a small circle directly around him or her. Players could just walk out of it, or even avoid it due to the bombs’ delayed attacks. Then the Engineer would have to wait another 20 seconds or so in order to do something like that again (provided that they’re taking the Short Fuse trait).

So in conclusion, Bomb Kit is a PBAoE control/support kit for the most part when it comes to a PvP environment. It denies free movement to its opponents by planting temporary hazards at your immediate location. To this effect, a player has to constantly be able to react quickly in order to get any damage in, thwart an enemy attack or direct/predict an enemy’s movement. The current cast-times of Bomb Kit’s 2-5 skills do not really allow for this. By lowering the cast-times on the Bomb Kit 2-5 skills, the kit as a whole would be vastly improved and its use made much more intuitive and responsive than what it is now. However, even with reduced cast-times, the Bomb Kit would remain balanced in thakittens main damage typically comes from its 1 skill (a skill that would remain unchanged). The reduced cast-times would simply be made in order to improve and streamline the Bomb Kit’s control/support capabilities.

Dirame.8521:

A funny thing happened whilst I was working on my latest build video. I was testing different configurations for breaking stun after Overcharged Shot and my skillbar ended up looking a bit similar to your build, only that I also had the thumper turret.

I also was actually thinking about that combo myself. So far I’ve stuck with [Rocket Boots] because of the amazing chase ability, the blast finisher (great for [Smoke Bomb]), and also because I like to use Static Discharge with this build. The extra damage from that trait makes [Rocket Kick] hit for a lot of damage very quickly. I’ll have to try [Thumper Turret] out, though. I’ve accidentally done a stabilized [Overcharged Shot] thanks to allied stability from time to time, and it’s really great to be able to stay in range of my target for an immediate [Jump Shot] as opposed to having to take a few steps sometimes. Also, that extra, PBAoE launch from [Thumper Turret] could be another great addition to the CC/juggling capabilities of this build.

BlackBeard.2873:

Have you tried sigil of hydromancy, and/or runes of grenth with a med-kit? The chills really make management of your opponents with the bomb-kit much easier.

This is an interesting idea, and, no, I haven’t. However, the only reason that I can’t see myself doing that at this point is that I don’t want to focus my damage in [Bomb Kit] anymore—at least not for pvp situations. 20-20-0-10-20 with Runes of the Air (6/6), Sigil of Air and Static Discharge help spread my damage out and give me few “kill button” options across the board for when opponents aren’t willingly going into an ideal bomb space and also to make up for how difficult it is to get consecutive hits out with [Bomb] (I mean, you can be directly on top of your opponent and following their every move, but [Bomb] will still never hit them because of its delayed detonation timer).

Furthermore, the new Sitting Duck alone might pretty much equal what that entire rune/sigil combo does together. The immobilize from [Net Shot] plus some additional seconds of crippled (4 seconds in my case) is often enough to let me slip ahead of my opponent while in close range to lay a few [Bomb]s. Moreover, with [Net Shot] on an 8-second cool-down because of Hair Trigger, I can keep a single target crippled almost 50% of the time if the stupid thing would hit them every time I fired it (the tracking for [Net Shot] is kind of goofy and doesn’t always reach a target properly).

Dirame.8521:

I have different take on the Bombgineer or the BoBomber (as I like to call it because my build was focused on using Big Ol Bomb to burst down a target). You can see it here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN8jc3xtHxU

That video portrayed perhaps the slickest combo I’ve seen in GW2. Now I’m wondering about how viable a [Rifle] – [Healing Turret] – [optional] – [Bomb Kit] – [Tool Kit] would maybe work with my current set-up. Lately, I’ve taken more to the 20-20-0-10-20 trait layout that ends up taking a lot away from [Elixir Gun]. As much as I love [Acid Bomb] and [Super Elixir], I wonder if [Tool Kit] wouldn’t simply be the better option at this point. Then again, I also lose out on a stun-breaker. Ehhh, it’s rough.

Well, since I’ve been moving into a 20-20-0-10-20 set-up lately, I don’t get the +15% damage for Elixir Gun anymore. Without it, [Elixir F] is pretty much just a [Hip Shot] except that it takes almost twice as long to cast, and [Acid Bomb] is only barely on par with [Bomb], so maybe I could stand to drop some Elixir Gun rotation speed and pick up Sitting Duck. I’ll have to give it a shot in spvp.

[Overcharged Shot] → [Healing Mist] → [Jump Shot] → [Rocket Kick] → Dodge → [Blunderbuss] → [Bomb]

Adamantium.3682:

I have over 1200 hours on my Engi, and this is the first time in a long time I’ve read a build guide that has taught me something. Bravo sir, I enjoyed reading this.

Question: You have Firearms VIII as a trait. This is now Juggernaut and I’m having trouble remembering what it was before. I know it wasn’t Sitting Duck, but I bet that would be just fantastic with this build. Net Shot, Net Turret, Glue Bomb??? Wow! Do the Firearm trait changes affect how you would distribute points in this build?

Well, thanks a lot. I enjoyed writing it.

To answer your first question, it should be I and VI. Thanks for catching that. I have been pondering swapping out Fireforged Trigger for Sitting Duck after the latest balance patch. The only reason I haven’t done so is because I’m so committed to my current rotation that dropping any cool-down reduction traits might really change the flow of this build—and I do love my cool-down reduction traits. However, you are right, the synergy with [Net Shot] alone is enough to make me consider trying it out. That 5 seconds of ranged cripple would be amazing.

This build has remained effectively the same since the latest patch except that I now have a stun-break (AMAZING) and [Rocket Boots] is now a very viable, more damage/pursuit-centric alternative to [Flame Turret] and [Net Turret].

Rune of the Air (6/6) TOO STRONG. It’s main-board now. PvE too. I don’t care. It’s scary powerful and it still grants a nice +10% crit damage. Precision hurts 3-4% and I lose about 80 power from what I was originally running, but that [Lightning Bolt] out of nowhere is totally worth it in pvp scenarios.

I added some more comments to the OP now that I’ve gotten used to using Rocket Boots as a part of this build. It really helps solve a lot of issues with Bomb Kit operating in an open field by giving the Engineer amazing pursuit capabilities as well as another blast finisher for the [Smoke Bomb] stealth combo. [Rocket Kick] by itself is also great damage, especially when paired with Static Discharge. The second trait set-up also gives access to the “recharge tool-belt skills at 25% hp” minor trait that opens the door for [Med Kit] to really shine.

I’m also going to start experimenting with Runes of the Air in pvp. Using this build often lets my opponent get free hits on me so not only do Runes of the Air grant me more damage via critical hits, but it also gives me a chance for SUPER RETALIATION every 10 seconds. A crit lightning bolt is about 2k damage with the second trait set-up if I recall correctly—enough to maybe turn the tide of a gritty nose-to-nose fight since an opponent can’t react to it and won’t ever really see it coming.

That wasn’t a bug. That was a feature that demonstrated that the skill was working properly both on land and underwater. ANet just doesn’t like fun and enjoys homogenizing the classes, so they removed it from underwater play. That said, no, Rocket Boots will probably not be making a come-back to underwater play.

This build actually got a lot crazier with the stun break added to Elixir Gun. It’s now possible to [Overcharge Shot] into [Jump Shot] very quickly now and get some free hits on an opponent either with bombs, [Elixir F] or [Acid Bomb]. I’ve also been running Rocket Boots in spvp lately and that’s been barrels of fun. The extra burning damage from Rocket Kick is pretty great with the spvp set up that I have listed in the OP. It also serves as a viable chain skill after a successful [Jump Shot].

Well, in light of the new Engineer patch I’ve decided to do a little updating to my original posts and maybe spark some new discussion about the future of the Engineer.

I actually really like the new Rocket Boots too. Crazy good engage-disengage abilities with that one. Also, while I was originally complaining about how using Rocket Boots while inside a combo field doesn’t automatically trigger the combo effect (such as stealthing yourself while inside of a smoke field), I actually now see this quirk as insight since (as is the case with stealth comboing with a damage-inflicting blast finisher) there is the possibility of instantly revealing yourself with a smoke field blast combo via untimely damage inflicted onto a nearby opponent. The way Rocket Boots works with its delayed blast combo effect allows me to always stealth from a smoke field even if I use Rocket Boots while right next to an enemy. It’s pretty neat.

The biggest thing that irks me about new Rocket Boots is how you can use them in a combo field, but you won’t actually get that combo benefit until you perform the dodge at the end of the forced charge animation. It’s really goofy for smoke field stealth combos.

Animag.7634:

That would make huge clipping issues if you wear the pants you want along with, let’s say, vigil chest armor

That’s ANet’s fault for giving standard medium armor options almost no alternatives to trechcoats. It’s absolutely disgusting. I still support it. It won’t happen, but if anything this thread is just a call out to ANet to actually make some interesting, non-trenchcoat chest armors for medium armor options.

Then again, that’ll probably never happen because “Guuuys, making armor is haaard,” and in the off-chance that they actually do make more armor, medium will get the same thing that they’re comfortable making. It’s all just a pretty sad situation.

Dromar.1027:

Looks like you put in a lot of work. Unfortunately chances are Anet is not going to be adding more professions to preserve balance as much as possible. Besides the Ritualist was torn apart to create some of the professions we have now.

At this point, this thread is more about a single guy in his free time doing a better job of designing a profession than ANet on a payroll.

As for the Ritualist being torn apart, I think I’ve brought in and re-adapted enough skills and concepts to re-make the class into something viable for GW2.

Recuperation (Channeler mode)

• Weapon Skills 1-3: [Curing Fist] -> [Healing Fist] -> [Soul Ribbon]; [Cone of Mana]; [Recuperation’s Soul Tether] -&gt [Grand Thurible]

Curing Fist (1-1)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Send out a spiritual fist that strikes foes and heals allies in a line.
• Damage: 175
• Healing: 175 (0.2)
• Range: 300

Healing Fist (1-2)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Send out a spiritual fist that strikes foes and heals allies in a line.
• Damage: 175
• Healing: 175 (0.2)
• Range: 300

Soul Ribbon (1-3)

• Cast-time: ¾ second
• Bounce a ribbon of spiritual energy between foes and allies. Soul Ribbon inflicts vulnerability to foes and cripples foes that are already vulnerable. Soul Ribbon grants regeneration to allies.
• Damage: 225
• Vulnerability (1): 5 seconds
• Crippled: 2 seconds
• Regeneration: 1 second
• Number of bounces: 4
• Range: 900

Cone of Mana

• Cast-time: 2¼ seconds
• Recharge: 20 seconds
• Mana cost: 1000
• Unleash a spray of mana in a cone that heals allies and damages foes. You also knock back foes that are already slowed.
• Damage (4x): 175
• Healing (4x): 175 (0.3)
• Knock-back: 180
• Range: 400
  • Only the first damage tick inflicts the conditional knock-back.
  • Slowed refers to players suffering from cripple, chill or immobilize.

Recuperation’s Soul Tether (3-1)

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Manifest a chain of mana between you and Recuperation. Allies that cross this tether gain regeneration and protection.
• Damage: 300
• Regeneration: 5 seconds
• Protection: 3 seconds
• Soul Tether duration: 6 seconds
• Skill radius: 600
  • Neither regeneration nor protection will not apply to allies that already have either of those boons respectively (same case as is with swiftness and [Temporal Curtain]).
  • Skill radius is calculated using the Ritualist as the focal point. If a spirit is outside of the maximum skill radius when this skill is activated, it will have no effect. If a tethered spirit moves outside of this skill radius while this skill is in effect, the soul tether will fade.

Grand Thurible (3-2)

• Cast-time: 0
• Mana cost: 3000
• Recuperation charges to target location. Recuperation’s Soul Tether dazes and inflicts high damage to foes that cross it during this skill’s duration.
• Damage: 650
• Daze: 2 seconds
• Range: 600
• Duration: 2 seconds
  • The range refers to the distance from the Ritualist at which the target location can be placed. The charge that Recuperation performs during this skill covers a maximum distance of 450 range units.
  • Refer to the attachment for a rough visual representation of this skill combo.

Destruction (Channeler mode)

• Weapon Skills 1-3: [Spawn Strike] -> [Sunder Strike] -> [Rupture Strike]; [Sundering Wave]; [Mark of Destruction]

Spawn Strike (1-1)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Send out a spiritual fist that strikes foes in a line. You create a Destruction’s Spawn at your location that pulses, damaging nearby foes.
• Damage: 150
• Range: 300
• Destruction’s Spawn damage: 100
• Destruction’s Spawn radius: 150
• Destruction’s Spawn duration: 3 seconds

Sunder Strike (1-2)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Send out a spiritual fist that strikes foes in a line and inflicts invulnerability.
• Damage: 150
• Vulnerability (2): 5 seconds
• Range: 300

Rupture Strike (1-3)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Send out a spiritual fist that strikes foes in a line. Destroy your Destruction’s Spawn, damaging foes adjacent to its location.
• Damage: 150
• Range: 300
• Destruction’s Spawn explosion damage: 375
• Destruction’s Spawn explosion radius: 150

Sundering Wave

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 15 seconds
• Mana cost: 1000
• Send out a powerful wave that cripples and inflicts invulnerability to foes in its path.
• Damage: 275
• Crippled: 5 seconds
• Invulnerability (5): 5 seconds
• Range: 600
  • [Hammer Shock]

Mark of Destruction

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Recharge: 25 seconds
• Mana cost: 3000
• Slide towards your target and blast the area—burning and damaging adjacent foes—while Destruction uses a whirling attack in your target’s direction that damages and burns foes in its path. You both leave trails that damage and inflict vulnerability to foes that cross them.
• Blast damage: 375
• Blast radius: 180
• Burning: 3 seconds
• Destruction damage (4x): 150
• Destruction burning: 3 seconds
• Trail damage: 175
• Trail vulnerability (3): 5 seconds
• Trail duration: 5 seconds
• Combo Field: Fire
• Range: 600
  • This skill is an amalgam of [Phantasmal Berserker] (with respect to Destruction’s movements) and [Burning Speed] (with respect to the player’s movements). This skill will not function without a target.

Superkav.5012:

Your right, IF you are able to get those of before the fight begins in a controlled environment. Maybe its a matter of practice which I obviously don’t have with your build. In the above scenario I was “ambushed” at 50% health. The thief teleported with steal and one HS and it was game over…

Yeah, it’s a little tricky. The only real option if you know that a thief is on you and you have no AoE security would be an erratically directed [Acid Bomb] or animation-canceled [Jump Shot]. Those can throw most melee attackers off your trail pretty quick and sometimes long enough for pursuing thieves to fade out of stealth. If even those are on cool-down, then it’s probably game-over because lolstealth.

Superkav.5012:

The thing is, with this build you are just as glassy as a thief but you are not able to burst.

Haha, don’t remind me. It is really rough.

I was actually sort of hoping to maybe get attention for this build so that I could discuss ways to improve it. It has burst, just not nearly at the level as other typical builds. I’ve been working a little more with it and it’s actually possible to [Jump Shot] onto a foe that’s been CC’ed (either with [Net Shot] or [Overcharged Shot]), follow it up with an [Acid Bomb] and then animation cancel [Acid Bomb] while in mid jump. Cancelling that jump animation right as it begins will drop you roughly right where you started it and allow you to keep close to your opponent to follow up with a [Blunderbuss] or more bombs while they stew in the [Acid Bomb] AoE. [Throw Napalm] has also become a pretty substantial part of my “burst” because of it’s decent damage and burn. Truth be told, burn damage has sort of become part of my “burst.” I guess that’s testament to how bad this build’s burst is, haha.