Decap engi is the same as any bunker except can knock off the point easier.
So the decap engie is the same as other bunker builds, but better at defending the point.
Isn’t that sort of the definition of overpowered?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s as bad as HS warriors, but I think it does need to be toned down a little. The number of times you can get knocked down/bounced off a point is silly, especially when you consider how little effort is required to be successful at it.
Well, a lot of that survivability comes from the knockbacks. Without the knockbacks the decap engi has no where near the staying power of a traditional bunker.
That’s why I said you make the nodes bigger. A decap engineer just becomes another bunker. Some of the best fights happen at mid Foefire with the huge node.
Disclaimer: I play an Engineer, but have never played a decap engi, nor do I have plan on it. I hate builds people consider cheese (why I have never bought a set or perplexity runes for roaming…as a matter of fact my rune set is considered terrible for an engineer). I am fine with them nerfing the Flamethrower knockback, buts that’s because I hate the FT.
I also don’t find bunker fun in general. I prefer being in the main fight.
The only drawback is hk4 when an immobilize lands on you, very frustrating. But other than that it is great… it most certainly is our best underwater heal for all those wvwe’rs out there.
Cloaking Device 
Also, is it not 1 every 10 seconds for condition removal? I sometimes lay down clusters of med packs if I see an enemy coming.
I am thinking of making the 20g plunge into Lyssa runes for WvW roaming. I have been running them in sPvP and love them. Full condition clear on Supply Crate and a random boon on demand with the Med Kit.
I have been playing MMOs since 2002 (with most of that being pvp), but have much less pvp time in GW2 than I normally would. I have exclusively played an Engineer in a pvp environment (179 games played with 36 being soloQ…100% as Engineer)…I am Engineer irl, I can’t help but play this class.
I created a build and have used this for all 36 of my tPvP experiences (about 50% with P/S and rest with Rifle):
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-V70;0B-sPku0c-3UFx0;9;49-TT-2;347A58B;1S;2o0-TsW6TsW63Nx
I was using this same build with P/S, but switched to the rifle due to shorter cooldown on the knockback. Regardless, I ran into similar problems with either weapon type. This build leans “bunkerish”, but with zero stability I just cannot make that claim. I feel like I help a lot on taking a point due to my decent knockback.
Here are my questions:
1) sPvP has a LOT of 1v1 fights, which I love. Therefore I want my build to be maximized for 1v1 encounters (note: I never skirmish, I always run to a point even if attacked off-point…so there is the knockback meta going on during all 1v1s). How can I deal with condition spam Necros and Mesmers? I have the right runes AND Automated Response, and it still feels like I can be dropped by a single Necro or Mesmer in less than 10 seconds, with almost all of that being me trying to keep myself alive and doing no damage to them.
2) Seeing that I use bomb spam, I prefer near-melee range. I have a real problem with high damage ranged classes that are content to stay back. Even with Magnet, this usually isn’t enough. How should I counter this? Another situation that arises sometimes in a 1v2 is a knockback Guard/Warrior keeps me on the ground while a range class peppers me from a distance (I don’t see how any bunker can counter this honestly).
3) I liked this spec so much I went broke buying the full exotic set. Now I feel “committed”. Has anyone tried a similar build in dungeons, or will this get me the boot?
Any other advice is welcome.
On another note, does it feel like a flaw in the design of the game that vitality and healing power counter each other? Healing should scale with vitality, because I feel like I am forced to do all toughness or I counteract my healing.
Edit: I use Power Shoes because I run a lot between points, and I prefer having the larger radius bombs over Speedy Kits.
I think you could manage fairly well with that. Using the shield can sometimes have the issue of lowering your damage output too much, but I think your gear and traits have enough offensive points to make up for that.
A lot of grenade focused builds will use the HGH trait from 30 points in alchemy. This will allow you to build a lot of might stacks by yourself, which will give you a significant damage boost. You should still be able to do a decent amount of damage, but other engineer builds will out damage the one you’ve linked. Those builds aren’t necessarily glass canons either. It makes HGH a very valuable trait for many situations, although it won’t make you a god or anything like that. This can really maximize the potential from the grenade kit, which is why it is often used in those builds.
If you are set on not using HGH, you might want to consider a few things:
1. Sigil of force will only affect direct damage. The pistol has fairly mediocre direct damage, although the grenade kit and toolkit can put out high direct damage. However, you’ve invested a lot in condition damage with your gear, so it might be better taking something along those lines. In particular, it’s a good idea to use something like a sigil of corruption, which will allow you to gain stat boosts. A lot of people will have a weapon with sigil of corruption in it, then swap it out for a different weapon with a different sigil once they have maximum corruption stacks. This allows them to gain the full benefit of sigil of corruption while also benefiting from a new sigil on their 3rd weapon. If you’re gearing up on a budget, then I would suggest trying to get a sigil of corruption and just running around with that, not worrying about swapping it out at max stacks. They are a bit expensive though, so if you don’t want to shell too much out, sigil of force is a sigil that can never do you any harm to bring around.
2. It looks like this build will be doing a lot of damage from the grenade kit and spend a lot of time in it. This means that your shield will not be out, meaning you will not benefit from the toughness bonus that reinforced shield gives you. You will still benefit from the cooldowns for when you use the skills, but you might want to play around with the cloaking device trait as an alternative. This can be very handy in fights, especially since it’s rather common for opponents to open up with an immobilize.
3. Consider taking 10 out of inventions and putting 10 more in alchemy. This will allow you to take traits like self-regulating defenses, protection injection, and backpack regenerator. These will likely work well in your build since, and all provide a level of defensive utility. You will lose the inventions 15 point minor trait, which is a good one, but it might be something you could try toying around with.
4. Also consider taking 10 out of inventions and put 10 in tools. This can give you the power wrench trait, which helps boost the toolkit. The toolkit is highly useful in WvW, and can be quite powerful, so it’s not a bad idea to give it a boost. You will also get the 15 point minor trait which will recharge your toolbelt skills. This can be very handy with elixir R since you can recharge your toss elixir R ability without waiting for the full cooldown. In fact, this actually allows you use toss elixir R twice in the same spot if you use it first before going under 25% health. Doing this can allow you to essentially insta-rez if you get downed in your elixir Rs, and can be a very strong tactic in 1v1 scenarios.
In any case, I think you’ll be able to mange just fine with this build. I’ve never used the runes of the engineer before because they’re a bit boring, but they’re not bad and probably not that expensive.
Thanks for the very detailed reply.
1) I only had Sigil of Force until I learned more about sigils. I believe if I put another weapon swap sigil in my main hand it will share an internal CD with my offhand? I wasn’t going to use the same weapon swap sigil in each, but wasn’t sure regardless.
2) I played around a lot with those bottom 3 trait lines. I had considered 30/0/15/10/15. I really like the medical response talent. I would like Backpack Regenerator, but I feel like the extra heal at 25% is probably more powerful.
3) I do like the cloaking device idea. I may have to try that. I knew about the 90 Toughness, but took the trait anyway due to the shield cooldowns.
I believe everyone is getting a trait overhaul at the end of the month. I will probably just tweak this one for now. It seems like most Engineers are HGH, and I like to be different.