Guild Wars 2

Only problem with Flame Jet getting fixed is that I still want to be able to shoot through walls with it :P
It’s awesome when defending in WvWvW, I can just jet through the door and hit any attackers on the other side extremely easily for free damage.

I’m an engie main because we’re awesome, for a bunch of reasons:

1) We’re unique. Really unique. We’re the only class that has under 1s CD utilities, we have no signets, we share our use of only 1 weapon with only one other profession, we essentially have 2 healing slots and 8 utility slots with how our toolbelt works, we’re the only class that can use utility slots to gain extra weapons to switch to, and so on.

2) We can do anything. In the past couple months, I’ve played these different builds:
-Healing bombs
-HGH condition grenade
-HGH Crit rifle
-HGH Crit FT
-Bunker FT
-Bunker Turrets (Dear lord, the CC)
-Elixir Gun Support
All of these builds have been on the same character, all have been radically different, and no one seems to be completely above the other. Sure, grenades deal pretty sweet AoE damage, but if you go conditions you’ll have a bad time with group events. Sure, turrets are squishy and don’t always last long, but the CC they give lets me stunlock/immobilizelock single targets, or contribute to large team battles safely while applying regeneration to all nearby allies constantly.

3) We have so many viable builds. Most other professions have one or two that work, while we have tons to cater to any playstyle. You don’t need to level a new character to play bunker engineer or glass engineer, but good luck doing a good thief bunker or guardian glass cannon.

4) The engineer community seems, at just a quick glance, to be more mature and more friendly than the other professions. People here are posting tons of different builds and guides, and actively trying to make the game better.

5) The skill requirement for playing an engineer properly is a bit higher than most other classes, so we don’t get nearly as many poor players giving us a bad name. It also lets us be proud of being an engie: we’re hard to play, but we still do well.

6) We have far more CC available to us than any other profession. My current rifle/turrets build has, without my three turrets active:
-Immobilize from rifle
-Immobilize from net toolbelt skill
-Knockback from rifle
-AoE Stun from Supply Drop
With all turrets active, I gain:
-Immobilize from Net Turret
-Stun from Net Turret Overcharge
-Knockdown from Rocket Turret Overcharge
-AoE Knockback anytime any turret is destroyed or detonated

7) We look awesome. Sure, hobosacks aren’t the loveliest of things, but we also get flamethrowers! And elixir guns! And a number of other cool-looking skills besides!

Edit:
8 ) We’re, in character, the hardest working profession. The Warrior is a big, dumb rock, and we don’t have his kind of strength. The Elementalist effortlessly channels the power of nature, and we just can’t understand her magic. The Guardian is armored by their faith, but all that means is that they’re a stubborn jerk. We can’t be as nimble as the Thief, and for some reason animals hate us, so we can’t have the Ranger’s pet mastery.
What we do have, however, is our brains. No magic, no brawn, no special tricks, just what we can make for ourselves. So we build turrets; we mix elixirs. We toil long and hard to make that perfect flamethrower. We freely share our products, tossing elixirs we made to our friends. And while those Mesmer get by with their tricky magic, we still win because we made ourselves into what we are.

Pixelpumpkin.4608:

This is great guys! Thank you for the input.
When I use the elixir gun, I don’t need elixir C as it comes with its own “remove condition” skill, but when I need to remove conditions a lot (certain boss fights?), I add elixir C anyway. I guess I could use elixir U in the same slot, never really thought about this for some reason…

Completely forgot to tell you one large thing! If you look at the traits, the 30 points in alchemy all go towards improving elixirs in various ways.
-The first tier decreases cooldown by 20%, which lets you stack buffs more often. Pretty good.
-The third tier gives you might on elixir use. Also pretty good.

However, one that is really powerful without being a grandmaster tier trait is that second tier! On elixir use OR THROW, you remove conditions. Anytime you use elixir B (which should be on cooldown), you remove a condition. Anytime you throw elixir H or elixir B (which can be on cooldown if you want more damage, or can be saved if you think you’ll need it later) you remove a condition on anyone it hits. Anytime you use elixirs S or U? or throw elixirs S or U? Same deal.

As a result, you have tons of condition removal, without even taking an ability that offers condition removal. The weapon skill on the elixir gun is also awesome, and should help make you even harder to kill with bleeds and the like.

Where exactly do you want your damage to come from?
-Rifle is good for crit chance/damage
-Pistols are good for conditions
-FT is better for conditions, but also works for crit
-Grenades work for either, but are often better for conditions
-Bombs, IIRC, act a lot like grenades
-Elixir gun does condition damage

In terms of traits, pick whatever enhances your primary source of damage. While the stat buffs are nice, it’s far more important to take the traits that enhance your weapon rather than the stats that enhance your damage type.

For a sample build, here’s what I use. I go with the rifle for long-range control and crits, and you could probably swap the 30 in firearms for a 30 in explosives if you wanted to use grenades instead. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUlspSXnvSeF17IxoCeG0j863+K6xjp8kB

If you wanted to use dual pistols/condition damage, I would steer you towards http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqalspSXnvSeF17IBoH5Fv8V0jHT5J/pAbB
It shares many similarities with the first one, but is more geared towards pistols and conditions. You would want to use precision/condition gear to maximize condition damage and application.

If you wanted to use an elixir gun centric build, in which you won’t deal nearly as much damage but will have more utility, I’d take http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqelspSXnvyuF17IxoCdGkC9WXRPeMlnMA
You’ll note that this last one has ten extra points available; they aren’t critical to playstyle. Put them in anything that you’ll likely use: if you are critting a lot, get 10 in explosives for the trait that applies burning on crit, or put them in firearms for one of the several on-crit trait. If you get attacked a lot, one of the defensive inventions options might be attractive.

With all of these, you will be using your elixirs to stack useful boons on yourself, while dealing damage and supporting with your weapon abilities. Save Elixir S for when you are getting focused and need a reprieve, and in the builds with it, save elixir U for when you can be sure that you will have a full 6 seconds to unload your damage on your target.
If none of these builds look fun, then I’ll try and come up with more.

DISCLAIMER:
None of these builds are pro builds, none are OP FoTM builds, they’re just how a random person on the internet likes to play.

It’s no overpowered FotM build, but I enjoy this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUlspSXHvShF17IxoCeG0j863+K6xjp8kB-ToAg0CnIwRhjDHDOScs4Mo4QB

The idea is to use your f1, f2, elixirs B and U, and go to town with long-range crits. With the Alchemy traits and bonus stats, you can survive a little bit of damage.

For Damage:
You get pretty great uptime on Fury between Elixir B, throwing elixir B, and the trait that lets you automatically drink Elixir B. You average 8~10 stacks of Might, more when you burn all of your abilities and less when they start to wear off. Your autoattack deals pretty nice damage, Blunderbuss deals a ton in melee range, and if you can get a good Jump Shot off it also deals amazing damage. Overall, you can deal great damage from a distance but have even more options when close up.

For Defense:
Throwing Elixir U provides one of two combo fields, which you can then exploit with your three finishers. Both fields offer significant defensive bonuses, either blinds or reflecting projectiles.
Two of your four elixirs offer swiftness for getting around, and you have the Engineer profession’s second shortest CD’d stun break (only Rocket Boots has a shorter CD). You can also have random but decent protection and regeneration uptime between drinking and throwing Elixir H. Additionally, if you stay near the healing turret dropped by Supply Drop, you’ll stack regeneration out the wazoo.
You can apply blinds pretty liberally between the Go for The Eyes trait and throwing Elixir U, you can immobilize pretty frequently with rifle 2, and knock foes away with rifle 4. Even more, you can supply drop to stun enemies for a bit.

In general, with how much damage Blunderbuss and Jump Shot do, you want to get nice up and close to any enemy that benefits from range, but against enemies that rely on melee like thieves you can keep them decently far away.

Why I have Always Prepared:
The ten points in Tools is primarily for the bonus stats: 10% crit damage is pretty handy, and 10% shorter CD on your toolbelt means more might and combo fields. For the actual trait picked, there weren’t too many options. Throwing elixirs makes Static Discharge unlikely to actually hit anything. You don’t have any kits, gadgets, or turrets. Therefore, the only trait that’s actually useful is Always Prepared. It may not be the best trait, but it can help in some situations.

In just about every fantasy setting, there is one race that is old, majestic, powerful, and is slowly diminishing to the younger races. In Tolkien’s Middle Earth, the elves were once dominant, but left to the west. Likewise, in the Dungeons and Dragons Forgotten Reams setting, the elves relinquished most of their lands to the humans. In GWII, this role is played by the humans.
Amusingly enough, the young, inquisitive race that humans usually fill is actually the Sylvari, who are more or less GWII’s elves.

jerryfingers.6273:

Does the rifle skill 5 damage on takeoff or upon landing?

Both, actually if I recall correctly.

I don’t really mind it, it doesn’t bug me too much. If you really want to hear something funny, play a female Sylvari Engineer and use the last rifle skill. The little shriek of glee on flying into the air makes me smile every time.

Just a small food-for-thought experiment here. For each profession, which race would you say has had the greatest impact on its current shape and ideology?

For example, take the Engineer. On one hand, the industrial and militaristic Charr were likely the inventors of the gun, or at the very least one of the leading figures in its development. On the other hand, Asura technology is extremely sophisticated and lends itself well to many engineering gadgets. Which played a larger role?

Or, look at the Ranger. The Norn have lived a lifestyle that centered upon hunting for survival, but the Sylvari would likely be more knowledgeable with regards to much nature magic. Which played a larger role?

Which spec of these two would be overall better, particularly for leveling?
Signets/Crits or Venoms/Power

Ignore the equipment tab, that’s from a different build that I was too lazy to clear.

Signet Pros:
-Signets have lower cooldowns
-25% faster movement for overland travel
-Signets don’t have to be activated to enjoy their benefits
-Acrobatics gives higher evasion/durability overall

Venom Pros:
-Venoms apply group utility when traited
-Better CC options
-Power means non-crit dependent damage, thus more reliable damage

Currently, I’m leaning towards the signets, but I don’t know how pure crit chance/damage compares to pure power.

First off, I’m a huge noob, just putting that out as a disclaimer. I’m currently not even level 30 on any character, so I have little idea of what exactly endgame balance is like.
Is it viable to play a Mesmer that focuses on creating tons of illusions, specifically clones? I don’t believe clones do damage, but they do distract enemies and can be shattered for damage, or allowed to be killed for a variety of trait effects.

I was thinking of a build akin to this.
How viable is it? It has many methods of creating illusions, and nearly all traits are spent on improving either illusions or shattering.

Also, a side question: When a trait procs on clone death, is it also procced by shattering?

…But then I can’t have my super-versatile build that uses the medikit, flamethrower kit, elixir kit, and another kit of my choice to be able to do just about anything!

When I did the Whispers method of dealing with Mazdak as a Guardian (I know, odd choice), I was irritated to find that using the sword also robbed me of my Virtues. Missing them, the regeneration one in particular, made the fight much more difficult for me than any other story chapter I completed so far.

I feel that picking a turret up, as opposed to it being killed or blown up, should allow you to place it again on either no cooldown or a very short one (~3 seconds?). Also, giving them a very slight amount of regeneration, or allowing the Engineer a way to heal them when out of combat would be nice. When adventuring, I don’t want to let my turret get destroyed, but I also don’t want to pick it up and wait out the cooldown before I can get back to the fighting.

However, they should have the longer cooldown if destroyed/blown up, to promote smart turret-saving play.