Boon Bomber [WvW build]

The build

I was debating on whether or not to share this for a while, but after concluding it is only situationally strong and that the Engi sub isn't very active anyway, I figured I'd go ahead.

Pros:

• Very high melee pressure
• Very high cleanse, extremely resistant to Conditions
• Very high Protection duration, extremely durable in combat
• High access to Blinds
• Can handle outnumbered fights quite well
• Easy to re-sustain

Cons:

• Extremely weak to ranged builds
• Vulnerable to opening bursts ( no Protection = much lower armor )
• Low mobility
• Low access to Stealth
• Extremely reliant on mid range and melee combat

I don't think I can play this build to it's full potential because I'm just not mechanically good enough to do so, but I can see how much potential it has. It can handle a very wide variety of builds and outnumbered situations as well as being a decent addition to a group with Bombs and Mortar. It also has a nice benefit of deceiving people in to thinking you do no damage when you poke with Pistol a bit before really laying on the hurt with more than a few ways to force people to take the damage.

It isn't the most difficult build to pick up, but it definitely has complexity to it that might take some adjusting to. If you give it a go let me know what you think.

P.S. I understand it doesn't look like it will do any damage. P/S seems questionable and it being core with a lot of defensive stats it comes off as being too tanky to kill, but I assure you Bomb Kit and Mortar Kit are plenty lethal and can kill pretty quickly.

The problem here being "extremely weak to ranged builds". WvW today has a heavy proliferation of rangers when roaming, every other enemy I encounter is either a lockdown condi druid or longbow dps soulbeast. And when you're not meeting them head on, you meet something else while that ranger is running behind pewpewing you.

But yeah its probably decent in a drawn out melee fight. Though without pull or moa its utility is questionable. And with a lack of a surprise engagement burst (like stealth + blowtorch + moa) I can imagine some trickier players are hard to handle (like 2 really good dpsers you cant really outsustain)

Funny, I actually started testing yesterday power pistol core builds, despite how ridiculous power pistol sounds. Shield is worth it as it provides extremely good protection capabilities, but the lack of weapon damage needs to be compensated.Maybe try toolkit instead of elixir gun? Magnet could help vs ranged classes and Gear Shield buys a lot of time to find LoS break. On the other hand, you loose a stun break... And how about nades instead of bomb kit? Again, a bit more range to counter range classes.

Lack of Stability is very hurtful on core engi buildcrafting. We are basically forced to use Elixir U and Elixirs naturally follow that, which often locks us out of using stuff like Tools, which is a nice combo for Explosives (endurance regen trait).@Cal Cohen.2358 please have mercy on our adventurous core engineer buildcrafters' souls and give core engi more stability.

@Samug.6512 said:Funny, I actually started testing yesterday power pistol core builds, despite how ridiculous power pistol sounds. Shield is worth it as it provides extremely good protection capabilities, but the lack of weapon damage needs to be compensated.Maybe try toolkit instead of elixir gun? Magnet could help vs ranged classes and Gear Shield buys a lot of time to find LoS break. On the other hand, you loose a stun break... And how about nades instead of bomb kit? Again, a bit more range to counter range classes.

Lack of Stability is very hurtful on core engi buildcrafting. We are basically forced to use Elixir U and Elixirs naturally follow that, which often locks us out of using stuff like Tools, which is a nice combo for Explosives (endurance regen trait).@"Cal Cohen.2358" please have mercy on our adventurous core engineer buildcrafters' souls and give core engi more stability.

I tried using Toolkit for a while but it doesn't seem worth it in my eyes. Acid Bomb, Glob Shot and Super Elixir all provide more valuable utility than Magnet or Gear Shield ( in my experience, of course ). I think it's a case of "what ever you're more comfortable with" here. The build already has next to no mobility and a lot of it's cleanses are single clears so, Elixir Gun has a lot of synergy.

I mentioned in a comment not long ago that Grenade Kit is difficult specifically for me because of my keybinds and physical limitations. I was using it with some success before I made this build, but it's just too difficult to use skillfully when I play with a trackpad and have the motor skills of a toddler.

When the idea of P/S popped in to my head it was because Rifle had been nerfed with the February patch. The cooldowns and damage were a big part of what made it work if you decided to take only one kit or if you went very offensive with your stats. Since those changes, I don't feel it's nearly as big of a trade off to play without it anymore because Pistol/Shield provide a lot more utility and their damage isn't a quarter of Rifle's anymore ( but still like, half.. I mean the damage still isn't good but at least it's there ).

I definitely suggest trying out what ever you had in mind, unless it's a question of Gold, it never hurts to experiment!I love to build craft and have an absolute ton of wonky personal builds with some that end up working out so nicely I'll use them for years. On a pretty regular basis I have an ah-ha moment where it's just a matter of figuring out how to piece the stats together to get the numbers I want, and I find that very fun.

@"Dawdler.8521" said:The problem here being "extremely weak to ranged builds". WvW today has a heavy proliferation of rangers when roaming, every other enemy I encounter is either a lockdown condi druid or longbow dps soulbeast. And when you're not meeting them head on, you meet something else while that ranger is running behind pewpewing you.

But yeah its probably decent in a drawn out melee fight. Though without pull or moa its utility is questionable. And with a lack of a surprise engagement burst (like stealth + blowtorch + moa) I can imagine some trickier players are hard to handle (like 2 really good dpsers you cant really outsustain)

Ain't that the truth. Against Sea of Sorrows the other week I even made a meme guild called "Sea of Soulbeasts" because there was a time there was, without exaggeration, about 11 Rangers ( maybe 15 players total with 11 of them being a Ranger spec ) that were hanging around SMC that I was messing with. I ended up swapping to my Necro because I'm more confident with playing it and none of them were good enough to punish me with Wurm and SWalk.

I've found Condition Druid is becoming a lot more popular which is both a good thing and a bad thing. What it can apply is fairly easy to deal with, but it has a lot of potential for resustain and some builds are nearly hard countered by the Immobilize. Fortunately, I've only met one that was any actual threat, all the others do less damage and can be more easily ignored than a core Ranger that doesn't know how to do anything other than spam 1 on Longbow.

Regarding the build, there are ways to deal with ranged builds, but it's definitely a matter of timing and proper play. You won't get away with tanking for long because you can't counter pressure while doing so. But because there are a few ways to lock someone down, juke or reflect when it's crucial to your opponent, you're definitely not helpless against these builds/classes either.

@"SpellOfIniquity.1780" said:snipYea, there's a lot of options that have both good and bad aspects, which is actually a promising sign, as over the past few years core engi was simply bad.I messed around with Tools (Streamlined Kits, Adrenal Impact), Alchemy and Explosives, and... Runes of Speed. Zooming around with perma 2 minutes of swiftness is quite satisfying.