Yes I know this is long but what else am I going to do during 20 minute queue times? Slay golems? #golemlivesmatter
Before specializations the only viable Engis were explosives Engis because the only offensive weapons the Engineer had were its explosive kits. Explosives, well only grenades really, performed well in both condi and power builds because the Explosives line was tailored to both condi and power builds. However the specialization system converted the Explosives tree into a pure power based line. With the only worthwhile offensive weapons being the explosive kits and the huge condi nerf to the Explosives tree, condi Engis took a huge hit that it still to this day has not recovered from.
Most of the condi traits were relegated to the Firearms line. That’s perfectly fine except, again, the only offensive weapons the Engineer has are its explosive kits and the explosives line is just absolutely useless for a condi build. The Firearms line beefs up the pistols, which is nice, and the Flamethrower, except the Flamethrower is a pretty terrible primary offensive weapon and Juggernaut doesn’t do anything to address this issue and it competes with Incendiary Powder anyway. Its main attacks, the 1 and 2, are purely power based. There’s just no consistent condition damage and even in a power build, the kit is quite trash. Its only strength in a condition build is the toolbelt, which has such an obscene cooldown in comparison to other powerful burst attacks like the Revenant Precision Strike which does some crazy amount of damage with just a 5 second cooldown, or a Guardian’s Whirling Wrath which has a 10 second cooldown, or even a Reaper’s Executioner’s Scythe/Soul Spiral combo which is 30 seconds. The Flamethrower’s Incendiary Ammo has a whopping 50 second cooldown for a skill where you need to land multiple hits to reach its full effect and can be negated with any kind of condition clear, all of which have a shorter cooldown than Incendiary Ammo. And so with the introduction of the specialization system, the only viable offensive kits were stripped away from the condi Engi and we did not receive any compensation.
So with the explosive kits and the Flamethrower out of commission, what does the condi Engi really have in its offensive loadout? Flame Turret? Rocket Boots? Turrets and Gadgets are some of the worst abilities in the game. Slick Shoes, the only viable gadget, was nerfed to oblivion. Turrets were nerfed to oblivion. The part that really gets me is that this type of action is the norm for Anet dating back over a decade to the Guild Wars 1 days.
Smiter’s Boon from GW1 patch notes: “We recognize that the changes to this skill will essentially remove it from play. In the future, we may consider whether or not there is an incarnation of this skill that would be viable but balanced. For now, we do not expect it to see serious use.”
It remained useless until GW1 died. Please balance these skills instead of just removing them from the game but I suppose that’s a topic for another thread.
The introduction of Scrapper did not help condi Engis at all. The tree is essentially useless for a condi build. It doesn’t introduce a a worthwhile condi weapon and the tree is too defensive when a condi Engi’s issue is its lack of offensive power. Bulwark Gyro would probably be the only gyro worth taking in a condi build if you take Scrapper but that’s only because the Bulwark Gyro and Rise are just overpowered. 50% damage reduction that stacks with protection… who came up with that idea?
Anyway so how do we fix these issues? Well for starters I think the Bomb Kit should be converted into a power kit to reflect its new power based trait line. The Bomb Kit is a heavy conditions kit but what do you take in the adept tier of the explosives line that would benefit a condi bomb build? Grenadier? Useless. Fall damage trait? Very useless. +5% damage? Useless. Do you not take the explosives line and lose the amazing fuse timer reduction? The vulnerability as a cover condi? It just doesn’t work. I’d increase the power damage of Fire Bomb by a hefty amount. Fire Bomb would pulse power damage each tick instead of burning (essentially a melee range Lava Font) and Concussion Bomb should apply a 1/4 second daze instead of confusion. And I’d remove the cooldown on Evasive Powder Keg for good measure. It’s not as if Engineers are loaded with dodges like Thieves are (and by the way Thieves have no cooldown on their on dodge trait Uncatchable). Engineer Vigor has been nerfed to oblivion and Thermobaric Detonation is one of the biggest jokes of a grandmaster trait in the entire game so at least that would get a buff. Nobody would use it still but meh. Baby steps.
I believe Flamethrower should be converted entirely into a condition kit to reflect its trait line or at least a hybrid kit with a condi focus. I think the burst burning should be toned down a lot and have the kit apply moderate, more consistent burn pressure. I think there should be fewer hits in the cone auto attack to prevent you from taking even more damage than you dish out against retal. Flame Jet’s cone mechanic should be reworked so that if you are fighting someone who’s maybe 2 feet higher than you on a ramp, it would actually hit them instead of shooting into the ground. Flame Blast should apply 1 stack of burning and detonating Flame Blast should apply 2 stacks of burning and the power damage it deals should be toned down. Incendiary Ammo should apply 2 stacks of burning on your next two attacks with a 30 second cooldown.
The game needs more build diversity and the Engineer is no exception. Having a worthwhile condi build would help that end. That’s it friends. Thanks for reading.
PS: Yes, part of this is because I am salty that I spent all that time crafting HOPE and never get to use it.
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