Guild Wars 2

Where I do admit polls can be inaccurate in general, I think rational discussions on the apparent desire for any implemented feature on a forum provided by a company can only benefit its growth. If kept constructive of course..

But people will be people, and this person would love to eventually see a 2v2 or a 3v3 Arena type game.

As well as other competitive variants aside from Conquest, perhaps some reminiscent of GW1.

Hehe, a 2v2 and 3v3 would not “destroy” the game. Particularly because the game is divided into three parts, essentially three completely different games with three completely different balancing processes. (SPvP, WvW, and PvE) that being said it’s generally accepted that sPvP, aka The Mists, could use some variety either in the form of new game modes new maps or other features. So for anyone to say implementing an option for a 2v2 or 3v3 Arena type game would harm the game is a little melodramatic.

However just haphazardly tossing in a map without conquest nodes and saying “alrighty then! only 2-3 players on each team! Last team standing wins!” Would absolutely bring up a lot of problems within the community. So I could completely understand some hesitance with a feature like this, BUT consider that the design was well thought out and implemented at Anets own pace and things begin to sound much much more promising.

Now I hate when World of Warcraft is even put it in a sentence comparing anything to Guild Wars 2 but forgive my Incoming hypocrisy. If anyone reading this has ever played World of Warcraft or more specifically the PvP they actually had a nice “Arena Team” feature that functioned essentially like another Guild Except much smaller and less complicated as it was only there to show how well that particular group of people were performing.

I think something(not just copying mind you) like this would be excellent across the board in GW2 PvP. You should be able to form a suedo “permanent Squad” of your Elite friends and battle competitively. Granted the ranking system for these teams would probibly have to be postponed for the “Arena Meta” to be fleshed out.

The map design/layout would be a key feature in limiting exploits or “cheesy” builds. Example: allowing you decent opportunities to line of sight and ways to limit strait bunkering as well as a way to counter/limit permanent stealth. I could go into detail but that’s another post all together.

Additionally I would personally love to see a Ranked 2v2 and 3v3 but with completely random teams. This would be an excellent way to find compatible team mates as well as having some very fun and dynamic matches without having to worry about blatant unfair advantages/disadvantages. This I feel (my opinion) would be the best way to introduce this system as it would be harder to immediately abuse and could clear the way for further “Arena Style” implementation with limited grief from this seemingly fragile community.

This is mainly just my opinion, with some opinions of friends and competitive colleagues sprinkled in So I apologize if it sounds a little biased.

So in conclusion: Yes.

I don’t know why there is so much negativity on the forums. I actually find this game fun, particularly when PvPing with friends. I know at times the development team makes strange or “bad” decisions and some areas seemingly go unnoticed/unbalance/unfixed but Rome wasn’t built in a day and you can see they are trying to make steps in the right direction. Even if a larger effort is being placed into PvE, I’m not really big on forums in general but It would be interesting to have something like a reputation system if it helps Anet sift through the towering waves of useless information to find the occasional Gems. (And by that I mean accurate concepts/ideas not the in game currency….)

digiowl.9620:

Engineers, like elementalists, are pretty much balanced around their large toy chest of skills. End result is that each individual skill is not as potent as those found in other professions. Meaning that to reach the same performance as other professions, the engineer has to be played more like a piano and less like a washboard.

You are exactly right.

Also I really like that analogy, mind If I use that one later?

Hey, whatever. The Engineer one sounds sweet. XD

But how is a Kit going to have a Cool down and still function as a Kit.. I question the validity of this source.

Yes.

The issue here is a simple matter of skill requirements for results. Just like Minion Master Necromancer, a Warrior doesn’t have to have an extensive knowledge of Guild Wars 2 mechanics to be effective. This makes it very intimidating to “same level” players. The fact that the primary profession mechanics of the Warrior are immunities to key effects of Guild Wars 2 (Crowd Control, Conditions, and even Damage) makes counter play non-exsistant. There for, intermediate PvP players will feel helpless and frustrated and with good reason. It’s my opinion that immunities to anything can seriously hurt a competitive atmosphere This coupled with the fact, mechanically speaking Warriors are essentially a solid “jack of all trades” having excellent mobility, highest health pool, strong hybrid damage, solid trait lines and access to potent condition removal makes them have a considerable head start.

I’m not posting this to say that I hate warriors. I have spent a lot of time on all professions, And I can generally beat Warriors on any of them on any build and if I don’t it’s usually for a mistake on my part. It’s just the methods required are silly and not very competitive. This usually involves simply running or “kiting” until 1 of their 3-4 immunities expires. (5 If you include runes of Lissa) before you can actually engage the Warrior.

Warriors divine prowess begins to fade in higher-end PvP as players adapt to their many Passives. But the goal here is to make GW2 PvP attract more of a player base and this is a counter intuitive profession design. (My opinion) I’s not fun to play, and it’s not fun to play against.

So the answer to the OP’s question is Yes.

I find Engineers survivability comes in the form of “skill” based mitigation. Simply not being where the damage is going to happen, or predicting when it may come. And although the following can be said about every profession, Engineers especially benefit from knowing every professions moves/combos so you don’t waste your limited amount of Stun breakers or CC ect on moves that are not as prevalent. So play all of the other professions is my advice! I find depending on your spec, you can be remain alive quite well if you fully utilize your fields. Granted Conditions are still very potent versus Engineers currently.

Vuh.1328:

Wolf.5816:

Hah, this is…. Sadly…. accurate.

But I have developed a tactic that is pretty effective. I open up the fight aggressively until they pop Stability and I run. After that wears off I turn around and engage again until they pop Berserker Stance at which point I run again. After that effect fades I usually heal myself up and start the fighting again until they pop Endure Pain, now this part is important- I run again. Now, once that has expired I put on some pressure until they pop their Ultimate activating their Runes of Lyssa, so I run an additional time. After this I can Actually start fighting the Warrior.

You just have to watch out, because by now their Stability is back up….

So then you basicly have like 10-20sec window to kill them?

Haha that’s about it!

Actually just came from Tournament last night before posting this, where I killed two warriors in a 2v1 as an Engineer. And literally… That’s what I did. I find that most warriors arnt actually playing warrior but are simply going through a rotation of different forms of immunities. It’s true you can’t go toe to toe with a warrior, so I don’t, I just literally about faced and run when they would pop their invulnerabilities. Experienced players would know how/when to peruse particularly when contesting points in competitive play. I just find it entertaining how that profession has been re-designed.

I really want 2v2’s and 3v3’s Death matches. I don’t care about the possible exploits, a well polished Arena Match would be so fun to experience the innovative combos and tactics people would create! Not to mention very fun to watch. (My opinion)

Hah, this is…. Sadly…. accurate.

But I have developed a tactic that is pretty effective. I open up the fight aggressively until they pop Stability and I run. After that wears off I turn around and engage again until they pop Berserker Stance at which point I run again. After that effect fades I usually heal myself up and start the fighting again until they pop Endure Pain, now this part is important- I run again. Now, once that has expired I put on some pressure until they pop their Ultimate activating their Runes of Lyssa, so I run an additional time. After this I can Actually start fighting the Warrior.

You just have to watch out, because by now their Stability is back up….

Hide your husbands! Hide your wives! All will soon fall to the unbridled fury of the mighty Power Pistol Engineer! Able to down even the most resilent of Guardians in one Poison Dart Volley! That is.. If a single round manages to make contact…

But seriously, the best I’ve come up with is a hybrid damage P/P static Discharge build. Easy to play? No. Good survivability or damage mitigation? Nope. Good team support? Non-existent. Tourney viable. Hell no. Fun to play? Like you wouldn’t believe!

I am debating on its power in a Bomb Kit, even though it would seem strange to not have Glue function similar across the board it would be very easy to set Bomb Kit over the top as it is already a potent hybrid Kit that brings an excellent array of control defense and utility. But I would absolutely love this change for Off Hand Pistol!

A shared concept I had thought of a while ago is making Glue Shot have a secondary Activated Ability. “Ignite Glue” That would cause the puddle of glue to Ignite inflicting Blind and Burning to foes inside the Puddle. It could even deal bonus power damage to foes with Cripple and Immobilize.

As nifty as this would be, I would prefer stability. Just for the fun gameplay that would come from it. Being able to support a group of your teammates as well as impair enemies. This change could potentially make the Off hand Pistol as fun as the Shield! (I know.. A bold statement)

Now if only their was ways via traits to make a viable Power Pistol/Pistol Builds and Condition Rifle Builds. Granted, I’ve had some decent Play with a few Condition Rifle Builds.. Although I would call it more of a Condition Grenade Build… with a Rifle in it..

I like the concept, but personally (being someone who doesn’t leave the Mist’s) I’d like to see something like:

-X kills with each Utility Skill equipped
-X kills with each Healing Skill equipped
-X kills with each Ultimate Skill equipped
-X kills with each weapon type equipped

The numbers themselves should of course scale judging on the game mode, naturally you would have to kill much more PvE creatures than other players in order to reach the “goal”.

With this you could easily have tiers of Titles. For instance, meeting the X amount of kills while using all the Turret type Utility/Healing skills could grant you a title to reflect this perhaps something similar to: Master Turret Technician. And after achieving all the prerequisite titles for each only then Would you gain the “end all beat all” of Engineer titles.

This (in my opinion) would demonstrate that the particular Engineer has used each skill effectively or at the very least knows the functions/purpose of each skill and would, I feel, justify and warrant gaining such a prestigious title. On a side note, this would also create some fun diversity in Hot Joins (less so in tournaments I’m sure) across all professions as a lot of players would be forced to try “non-Meta” builds to reach these titles making for some very enjoyable and interesting/innovative matches.

Not to mention it would just be fun to say I killed 1000 people with a land mine.

Watch where you step.

My gears squeal with glee!

For off hand pistol, this addition would be more designed for defensive applications. Which off hand pistol severely lacks. And by severely lacks I mean is almost non-existent when compared to the only other off hand alternative the amazing Shield.

I have spent a lot of time with off hand pistol. It is fun in hot joins, but performs very poor in actual competitive formats. (SPvP)

Haha that’s the actual translation, yes. I was useing Engineer Jargon. you’ll get a hang of it in time.

An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient, and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of electrical therapy which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm.

Elixir F is a very unreliable skill currently with a strangely short bouncing radius for its intended purpose, It does scale pretty great with power however. I didn’t think elixir F is Glue though, I don’t remember seeing that information stated anywhere aside from its “glue like” appearance.

But I don’t think providing a very short application of stability to friendly units would be “over powered”. The only problem I see is adding something like this too an already “S” rank Kit. Personally I feel more utility should be given to the underused kits see how Elixir Gun is already a solid staple in Kit based builds. But this is just my opinion.

But above all else, off hand Pistol’s Glue Shot needs this. (Or something) As it would be an excellent and unique way to bring this underused weapon choice on par with the others ….Well.. We only have one other off hand.

Game mode is what I would prefer.

+1

I love it. That would be exactly what off hand Pistol Needs to finally see some use.

What exactly does an off hand focus bring to the table in a Power build? I was talking to another player who used it earlier in the week but he wasn’t very clear. I can’t see it being better than Warhorn or Dagger in a Power Build.

Also Close to Death is an amazing Trait but the minor trait before it Siphoned Power feels like it is easily one of the worse traits in GW2 and it’s far down the Grandmaster commitment. My primary Profession is Engineer who has an abundance of broken/ineffective/or down right detrimental traits.

Is there something I’m missing from this trait? Even in a potential Might stacking build 5 seconds of Might wouldn’t even perpetuate any existing Might stacks. Not to mention even if it was 20 seconds of Might you would be at 25% health in a glass cannon build is essentially a few stokes away from death. Perhaps if it increased all damage by 10% when below 25% health.

I just don’t understand it.

style.6173:

Sizer.5632:

Power engies are pretty balanced, be it a HGH rifle spec of a bomb kit/FT/TK spec or something. Or a static discharge spec, even though it “can” one shot people if youre glass and blow every utility at the same time, just like s/d eles, but neither of those seem OP since you are dead if you dont one shot your target, which makes more sense than other classes also being able to one shot people but still managing to survive anything in the same spec.

Condi engies are close to balance but it still seems too easy to apply condis without a lot of effort just by spamming grenades and pistol 2+3 while keeping a lot of survivability, but someone with more experience recently with those specs might disagree.

Bunker engis are crazy easy to play. The other specs are ok.

Passive immunities like Automated Response are a silly bad mechanic across all professions. And I wouldn’t mind taking away some of Grenade Kits prowess if it meant distributing it amongst the other Kits, or hell Gadgets or Turrets. As for Static Discharge. let me tell you, this build can be very challenging/rewarding but is very risky if not impossible to play competitively in high-end PvP. (Try beating a Minion Necromancer when your Supply Crate is down without running.)

All in all, However incomplete the Engineer is, its in a fragile but decent spot right now that could really only use improvements to a vast amount of broken/unused traits/skills/mechanics to solidify their viability. —- But sadly, this isn’t just an Engineer only dilemma.

vi·a·ble [vahy-uh-buhl]
adjective
-Having reached such a stage of development as to be capable of living, under normal conditions, outside the uterus.

Thank you for your insight! You are spot on with how strange it feels Putting down the Staff, I almost feel that without its box of tricks I’ll be at a disadvantage, but you bring up a good point that I’m locked into zero damage for 10 seconds for essentially a fear and a condition transfer. Which can be fatal once a glass build loses its pressure and the opponent stops reeling it generally drops.

I will try giving axe some more time, it just never seemed to have a noteworthy output of pressure and no utility but I suppose our options are limited.

Thanks again for the input I really appreciate it.

Any thoughts on the off hand focus?

That is similar to what I was designing but I can’t help feel that the traits, both minor and major are steering me towards a kind of might stacking is this viable? Can a Necromancer stack might as effectively as the other professions?

Also at first glance I would think the axe would be the best for a berserker necromancer for its ability to deal it’s damage at a safer distance but I find the dagger to be more versatile and provide more functions particularly with the Dagger Mastery trait. I’d love to hear any pro’s and con’s with both.

Pertaining to the offhand, there is no disputing the War Horn is an effective tool but once again, I find the dagger off hands ability to return pressure back to its source while also acting as a strong condition removal. This coupled with the (arguably) best Healing Skill the game Consume Conditions makes for a very condition durable build that one would expect from a necromancer. Or so I would assume, is this a wise exchange over swiftness and an unblock able Daze?

I haven’t spent much time with the off hand focus but it did not seem to have much synergy with an aggressive play style. so my experience is limited, but I would be open to hear some opinions in its defense

I am also unsure as to what alternative weapon to take as I have found the staff provides the most utility but absolutely no damage. This makes for a great bag of tricks but I would be open to hear other suggestions.

And finally, I I haven’t really landed on any particular sigil for my weapons aside from the basic 5% chance to crit/power is there anything that stands out in an aggressive build? I have considered Doom for access to Poison since passive healing (and healing In general) is running rampant in sPvP.

Thanks again for the assistance.

Can’t argue with that logic. In fact, I agree but isn’t that why they made custom arenas?

And in competitive tournament like modes, They don’t want players to know about the up coming map specifically so that you wont change your profession/build for each map. At least that was from my understanding.

In hot joins, where there is a lot of map hate, the maps are actually on a reliable/predictable rotation..
And though, not necessarily a fix but a band-aid would be to simply spectate/change servers to avoid playing the map you are not particularly in the mood for?

Me personally, I force my self to play maps or areas within that I find the most difficult in the off chance I must play there in my tournament matches. Being “dead weight” is something I don’t let happen.

All this being said, Custom arenas could definitely use some additional options for sure. Anything to ease new and old players into PvP in a comfortable seamless manner.

What do people find so “bad” about Skyhammer exactly? Sure I guess it would make sense to be able to dodge roll the Cannon but that’s just a personal opinion. Honestly, having played only sPvP since launch, out of all the maps and map mechanics I feel Spirit Watch has more flaws than Skyhammer. Although Spirit Watch’s flaws are primarily from Profession specific bugs or mechanics.

Skyhammer has an abundance of walls and ledges for line of sight. It is a very competitive level for high-end play which can seem overwhelming to newer players who have not quite mastered the art of Guerrilla Warfare. This means it is much more difficult to spam abilities to the same effect as more open fields/maps this coupled with the various traps could absolutely be a daunting prospect for inexperienced or uncompetitive players.

Perhaps if they made falling from Skyhammer not fatal with a teleporter at the base of the level that could port you back to your respective spawn. But the worms at the bottom could be redesigned to instead inflict a non-removable Cripple. This would actually be Worse for the players that fall off than the current death system because it would cause a delay until they could return to cap points. But perhaps be less frustrating to inexperienced or short tempered players.

-shrug-

I like that they do, but I’d love it if they received all Traits relating to turrets you deploy seeing as, they are in fact Turrets you deploy.

Fixed, sorry. I never play anything else but sPvP. My mistake

Hello,

I do have experience with Necromancers, but I was just wondering what are the current and most reliable Necromancer build based around Power strictly for sPvP.

I was just curious about specific trait choices and Weapons that are chosen, and why. Preferably Id like not to rely on Lich Form or on Wells, even though they scale remarkably with power. So any alternative would be great.

Any insight would be most welcomed. Thank you for your time and your help.

No disputing that Turrets need attention. But I think Anet loves Turrets, it’s just the endless problems that come from trying to figure out precisely how to balance them. If they give them too much then engineers who choose to take one will be rewarded just as much as the ones who take 4 ect. Similar to the problem with Gadgets currently but I digress.

Also Accelerant Packed Turrets causes Turrets to knock back regardless of how they are destroyed and all turret detonation is a blast finisher.. So I can only assume you mean by choosing this trait it would yield an additional blast finisher? Which I feel is unnecessary particularly since there is already a trait that functions similar to what you ( I assume) are proposing. Deployable Turrets can achieve two blast finishers if detonated before they land.

And since I am completely unaware of Anets long term vision for turrets I can’t really speak on your other preposed changes.. But like I said, Turrets do need some attention. So it’s hard to disagree with anything at this point.

Personally i would like a change to the Turret Pick up mechanic, to allow you to literally pick them up like an enviromental weapon and carry them to safety or into battle. When approached and “Picked up” They could replace your weapon skills with:
1)Fire: Fires basic rounds.
2)Overcharge:Activates basic overcharge.
3)Pack: This could stow your turret how the current Pick Up mechanic works.

And naturally, like any enviromental weapon swapping weapons ect would cause you to drop your Turret where you stand.

This, I feel would cause Turret Based Engineers to essentially have several pseudo Kits that can be picked up, and activate their abilities seemlesly then drop them and move onto the next Turret as the situation deems necessary. This I feel would alleviate some of the issues I find with Turrets as well as making an innovative mechanic and play style and would also open up a vast array of unique combos! Like sprinting up to your opponent holding your turret and detonating it on them, or perhaps the previously mentioned trait Deployable Turrets would give a 4th Skill Throw: That would allow you to toss them.

Just trying to think like an Engineer.

I enjoy Skyhammer, if my particular build/Profession lacks Stability or an abundance of knock backs/pulls then I will usually stay in the middle or back cap judging on the particular opposition.

It can be just as competitive and fun when fighting an opponent(s) when both of you lack reliable stability or CC just as it is when you both are equipped for this map, and can also be very challenging and rewarding to beat opponents who have superior control/stability. Since usually positioning and good understanding of this games mechanics are primarily what keeps you ahead in this map.

Regardless I will tell you this, Skyhammer makes defeating Minion necros/PU Mesmer/Spirit Rangers/Warriors much more plausible! And since that is usually the majority of the opposition, I am usually happy when I see this map in que.

Don’t fight against the map, let the Map fight with you and you will enjoy it.

Ha ha thanks! if you can’t tell I haven’t left the mists since they released this game. perhaps this will make it more reasonable to implement

From my experience the Flamethrower lacks survivability. I understand the majority of players wish for a powerhouse kit and I do aswell. But I don’t think that was the intent with any Kit. As far as I’m concerned they are primarily used for utility. (Hence the fact they are Utility Skills) Granted you can get nice power damage from Bombs and good Hybrid damage from Grenades they are still not a substitute for your Weapon Skills.

That being said, I’d like to see some of Flamethrowers Skills have either it’s sources of damage improve or it’s versatility/survivability improved. Currently it provides very little ways to protect its self and even less if you attempt to make a Flamethrower Focused build. The Flamethrowers problem lies within in the fact that the Flamethrower is counter intuitive Kit. Choosing a power based build will cause you to have a rather nicely scaled Flame Blast but causes you to lose alot of DPS by not making full use of the Burning Condition. Alternatively going hard condition will cause your DPS to drop as aside from short spikes of burning mostly from the Tool Belt or Proccing effects through Flame Jet it doesn’t truly contribute or mesh well with the other Flamethrower skills which the 3 of the 5 weapon skills do practically no direct damage/condition application. All the while providing no true/reliable defensive options (no condition removal/damage midigation) Making attrition DPS not possible. This is of course just from my experiences and are stricktly my opinions.

Keep in mind I don’t mean to imply the Flamethrower needs ALL of these concepts. But merely if everything else remained untouched then a little change would put it in a positive direction.

Flame Jet- I don’t mind the damage of the initial jet but there is no reward for the back end of the attack. If this is how it is to remain then yes, the damage should be improved otherwise the reward for “maintaining a stream” should be greatly increased to benefit any kind of build. Auto attacks across the board should not be over simplified in my opinion so I would prefer the ladder personally.

Flame Blast-This skill is very fun to use and scales nicely with Power.

Air Blast- Very good as is.

Napalm- Believe it or not I feel this is one of the underlying problems with the Flamethrowers weakness. Granted it can be used to stack might, and can be used in condition builds to combo through it offers no real pressure to opponents and has a staggering cool down for its current function. Simply put, The flamethrower lacks damage and this Skill just isn’t contributing. Perhaps if it Blinded foes who passed through it, or if it dealt considerable Power damage in addition to its Burning to justify its strange wall shape. However I personally, would like to see a Unique Debuff Napalm, that would be afflicted onto foes who step through it and could periodically inflict Burning onto the foe. Similar to Warriors off hand sword skill Impale that periodically applies Torment. This would also be a realistic effect when considering the purpose/function of actual Napalm.

Smoke Vent- A pretty solid skill but yet again contributes nothing to the Flamethrower in terms of damage. Having a lengthy 20 second cool Down and a mild effect when considering Flamethrowers only survivability comes from a invaluable Knock Back and a single melee rang Blind. Not that I don’t love this skill but I’d like to see it either lean more towards a defensive option or provide some damage. This could be in the form of a simple cool down decrease or perhaps allowing smoke vent to create a quick 1 second area around you that destroys incoming projectiles or perhaps a much discussed smoke Field. Alternatively allowing it to Break Stuns would be a great way to improve Flamethrowers survivability. This particular change unfortunately would of course come with a cool down increase.

In conclusion, I would just like to see more kits that have better potential for Power and/or Condition builds. They should be the utility that we need to survive while also providing additional forms of damage/effects to compliment our weapons/builds.

I agree. Anything to promote counter play and improve skill based combat.

+1

Sobat.8650:

I feel that adding passive bonuses to the gadgets is just too generic of a buff.

Maybe to encourage multi gadget builds they should “combo” off each other, adding a new effect to the utility skill if a previous gadget was used.

The obvious slick shoe -> rocket boot would ignite the ground you fly over
Perhaps throw mine -> personal battering ram would combo into a cone aoe + boon removal

Order of skill use should matter, so with personal battering ram -> throw mine, the mine would launch instead of knockback.

I think adding these tricks would solidify engineer’s image as the single non-magic tech-innovative profession.
Of course it would mean having to come up and design a bunch of new skills which might be hard to balance.

If Arena Net listened to you they would have a world class game. I love the pre-existing combo system but It would be amazing if there was mechanics that are specifically unique but logical, like oil and fire, or a Water field and a Lightning field, or even a Shadow field and Dark field. Perhaps even counter fields like Activating a Water field on an opponents fire field reduces the Fire Fields duration but activating a Fire field on an opponents Water field works both ways. The same could be said for Light fields on Dark fields ect.

Perhaps one day when programming technology matches up with my lust for “realistic” fantasy mechanics. :P

^
I have since forgot the origin of this idea but I saw an interesting title for a trait that someone had thought up that would allow Gadgets to remove conditions. They had called it Sterilized Gadgets, I always thought that was a clever way to make to make condition removal through Gadgets make a reasonable amount of sense.

Let’s not forget the topic of this form. Please stay on track so that we may actually have a rare constructive Engineer discussion.

I agree that the lack of condition removal is a huge factor in what prevents a Full Gadget build from being usable, however I find the lack of versatility (via Kits) is the other leading contributor. Perhaps if there were better designed traits similar to how HGH promotes Elixir based builds.

Perhaps a trait that reduces your Weapon Skill Cool downs by a percentage for each equipped Gadget. This would make your weapon more of an integral part of your survivability and compensate for the lack of a weapon swap and Kit.

An alternative would be to adjust or “shave” the current Utility Gadget skills and their Tool Belt abilities and allow them to be on such low cool downs that they would function more like alternative weapon skills.

Currently you just lose too much when you don’t take a Kit. Like… way too much.

No I mean a Torch in either off hand or main hand, or a Shield in the main hand or a Rifle in the off hand. Shield is already off hand, and making an off hand “Rambo” style Rifle would just be something bizarre I could picture an Engineer doing. Maby a control or hybrid like damage/effects that would compliment Main hand Pistol.

Torch, Main Hand Shield, off hand Rifle.

^ This change would be pretty interesting. And would actually make sense considering the function of a Defibrillator and how if it functioned automatically it’s not impractical to have it break stuns instantly.

This would be my preferred change to this skill, because having a stun break on your heal is powerful but offers no true safe heal and is impossible to keep your health pool topped off with this skill as well as lacking any form of condition removal. The alternative change could even be an instant “rally” if downed while buffed with A. E. D. This would be a complete condition purge and if the animation/effect of this skill being in affect was more telegraphed I feel it would be justifiable, this is however just my opinion from a avid Engineer PvP player.

Dynnen.6405:

Never cater to casuals. Heres a video on the subject:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7VAhzPcZ-s

This is the audio/video to my very mind, thank you for sharing this with us!

I would much rather them rework this heal skill to actually be an innovative clutch heal right before death. Right now, regardless of how many traits you dump into it it’s still a bad heal skill. I’m completely sold on the concept it just does not function as intended particularly in tPvP.

Heh, Those are quite a few hoops to jump through just to make A.E.D function moderately. A shame sPvP will never see this heal within its misty walls.

I think I’ll just stick with my universally viable and zero trait/gear reliant Healing Turret.

I saw your more in depth post pertaining to hammer and axe, and I like/agree with the concept. Although I would love the ability to use a Dagger or Torch as an Engineer simply to see the innovative weapon skills and unorthodox mechanics that would most likely accompany them. Perhaps the dagger would act more like a Taser and the Torch could be anything, perhaps a medium range Molotov kittentail.

At any rate, it’s fun to dream.

What if the weapon swap was a Weapon specific Tool Belt ability?

New weapon: Off Hand Rifle for Engineer.

skill 4: Rifle Barrage- Stand still to Fire an automatic volley of rounds in a cone in front of you dealing extra damage near the end of the channel. Each attack causes Cripple.

Skill 5: Nerve Gas- Fire a canister of Toxic Nerve Gas that shrouds an area inflicting Torment every second foes remain within the Gas, foes who stay within the Gas on the final tick will receive a 1 second Fear.

I have taken a little break from Guild Wars 2 recently and clearly I don’t fully understand the principle of a break. But Here’s a concept.. Heh

Seras.5702:

Have it cleanse 1 condition or even just poison if that’s “too OP” and either reduce the cast time to instant or make it a stun break.

This is a great idea, innovative and unique this would justify its lengthy cool down and utility, This is the direction I would personally like to see this heal skill go.

+1

The only thing that should be unlockable in PvP should be unique colors, Finishers and Ascetics. Like almost every other competitive game.

I think the primary argument pertaining to AI Builds is within the fact that the Skill Requirement of all AI classes is so low in respects to their effectiveness.

As a preliminary statement I love specialty builds, I promote them. I love pets and minions of all kinds and I love the idea behind Mesmers ect. I think the option to have pets should be available to all professions. However I think they MUST require equal skill to use. This could come in the form of removing pets ability to body block or by allowing them to be CC’ed off ledges or by simple number adjusting. There are countless idea’s for “balancing” them that I will not diverge in this forum.

For example: I can beat a Minion Necro with my Rifle Engineer. it just requires a vast knowledge of GW2 and Necromancer mechanics as well as the effects/damage of each minion the Necromancer controls. Beating one requires precise timing and most importantly positioning. However, to the Minion Necromancer to defeat opponents requires only the most rudimentary knowledge of Necromancer functions to reap incredible benefits. In short: AI controlled professions work less and gain more, where as other Professions/builds require more skill and knowledge to contend in the majority of fields.

I have played all the AI builds so that I could understand them. I also had several friends who were apprehensive of structured Player verse Player so I gave them each a respective AI build pertaining to their Profession of Choice along with a quick tutorial of how Phantasms work, or Spirits and Ranger mechanics ect. I would smile when My friends, Having never PvP’ed before, would all regularly top the score boards, which isn’t a particularly miraculous feat for a rank 1 in a Hot Join but the proof is still apparent.

In conclusion: it is my opinion that It’s just simply too easy to be “good” with a AI build. Absolutely there are better players than others but a good Elementalist will play hell to win against an inexperienced Spirit Ranger. It is for this reason that I feel the solution lies in a rework of the pet mechanic system in general. Allowing it to be less passive and more active to promote skillful play and a more rewarding experience for both the player and his opponents.