Taking up the Engineer

I have am still pretty upset about the weaver nerf from a few weeks ago (what is the point of being a glass cannon, literally glass, if you are no longer a cannon???), and what to give another class a try. I am leaning towards engineer, as they can achieve a high dps, but they also have a high skill ceiling. My question is do you think the engineer is in a good state at the moment for PvE, and end game PvE? Anyone who has mained other classes but now mains an engineer who has any input? Thanks!

For PvE engie is pretty decent (especially flamethrower) across the board. For WvW Holo is your best bet, followed way behind by Scrapper. Core engineer is garbage for WvW since they took away decent condition cleanse (alchemical tinctures removal) and projectile protection (Toss elixir U nerf: replaced reflection/smoke wall with a short swiftness boost and a "break stuns on allies" gimmick which helps no one ever). Can't speak much for PvP though. Engie's complexity can be fun just be prepared to play a class that is merely an afterthought to the devs.

@tafahdor.3857 said:I have am still pretty upset about the weaver nerf from a few weeks ago (what is the point of being a glass cannon, literally glass, if you are no longer a cannon???), and what to give another class a try. I am leaning towards engineer, as they can achieve a high dps, but they also have a high skill ceiling. My question is do you think the engineer is in a good state at the moment for PvE, and end game PvE? Anyone who has mained other classes but now mains an engineer who has any input? Thanks!

engineer is in a very good pve state.holosmith rocks benchmarks and the ability to cc.if you lack the support in fractals i find it myself a bit weak - the active defense is somewhat ele-ish with 4k more health. but you are somewhat flexible in your choice of utility skills, when the situation demands it.if you did play ele anyway, you embrace the bigger healthpool and you dont have the downside of 3sec casts anymore.

the skill ceiling in pve isnt that high. unless you chose to run condition core engineer. its a lot of buttons and cooldowns to remember.holo is at max medium to master (pve (!))

@"Jaruselka.5943" said:For PvE engie is pretty decent (especially flamethrower) across the board. For WvW Holo is your best bet, followed way behind by Scrapper. Core engineer is garbage for WvW since they took away decent condition cleanse (alchemical tinctures removal) and projectile protection (Toss elixir U nerf: replaced reflection/smoke wall with a short swiftness boost and a "break stuns on allies" gimmick which helps no one ever). Can't speak much for PvP though. Engie's complexity can be fun just be prepared to play a class that is merely an afterthought to the devs.

haven't read so many things, that i dont agree on, in a while.flamethrower is pure garbage - its good for open world (stab, quickness and might + heals (might on crit food + alchemy traitline -> boons recover 40 health) if you go scrapper) and taggings mobs, yes. BUT the dps is horrible across the board*. that much for the pve part.

*i revise that one. it is used in condition builds because of the fskill and skill 2 and 4 only - in a super overloaded rotation of various kits. but on its own, it still doesnt shine. its a shame tho. i liked it during leveling way back then.

in wvw holo is a niche zerger (superspeed for an entire mapzerg -> crystal configuration zephyr... static condition cleanse via hard light arena + anticorrosion plating for very meele heavy fights only) and a good roamer.scrapper is the opposite, its a very good zerger (outcleanses firebrands, outheals firberands, has some wanted boons, superpseed + projectile hate) and a niche roamer. note: scrapper has a "meta"build for zergscore engi indeed is left behind just like most core specs. sadface

dont get me wrong, i dont want to be rude, but i think our perception of "endgame" and efficiency is - eh - different.

Thanks! I think I'll give it a shot.

I'll split this by E-Spec:

Core: Good DPS in PvE, but high complexity. Not good in PvP or WvW.Scrapper: Good Support Healer in PvE and WvW. Not particularly good in PvP without a very high skill level. Scrapper is underwhelming for any role other than support, and it can still be outshone by other classes.Holosmith: Solid DPS in every game mode. Towards the squishy side in PvP and WvW, but such is the nature of glass cannons.

I slightly disagree, power scrapper is good in pvp. A bit weak against condi builds. I found it intuitive and pretty easy to play. The recent additions to stability on bulwark gyro toolbelt and elixir u makes the might generation on stability trait trigger a lot. I can crit a lot and keep high stacks of might with quickness, stability and fury easily. I was surprised how good hammer is at keeping you alive.

@tafahdor.3857 said:I have am still pretty upset about the weaver nerf from a few weeks ago (what is the point of being a glass cannon, literally glass, if you are no longer a cannon???), and what to give another class a try. I am leaning towards engineer, as they can achieve a high dps, but they also have a high skill ceiling. My question is do you think the engineer is in a good state at the moment for PvE, and end game PvE? Anyone who has mained other classes but now mains an engineer who has any input? Thanks!

I wouldn't jump ship just over a nerf. Ignoring for the moment that Elementalist is still one of the best professions in terms of DPS if you start changing professions due to nerfs then you will always find yourself jumping ship. Engineer has had more ups and downs than Elementalist. I've mained Engineer since day 1 and I love the profession but I would not recommend it to a person take it up if they are just running from a nerf. If you want to pick up Engineer in order to have a good time and to learn something new then I think you will find it to be awesome. If you want to pick it up to replace Elementalist then I think in the long term you will be disappointed.

Thanks! I don't expect it to replace the glass cannon elementalist because it is still the best DPS in the game, but I am hoping to get good DPS at a high skill level with less squishy-ness, and find a new class to enjoy. Though the elementalist was fun, running full beserker meant I could never do any of the story journal because I would die in a few hits from anyone... I was good at avoiding hits, but you can only avoid for so long. With the engineer I am hoping to get good DPS and enough survivability to get through the personal store without insane difficulty. The versatility of the engineer is also appealing, as I would regularly use all 4 elements on my elementalist depending on what I needed.

@"Aetatis.5418" said:flamethrower is pure garbage - its good for open world (stab, quickness and might + heals (might on crit food + alchemy traitline -> boons recover 40 health) if you go scrapper) and taggings mobs, yes. BUT the dps is horrible across the board. that much for the pve part.

Is that an unintentional "Trash fire" joke I'm looking at here?

@starlinvf.1358 said:

@"Aetatis.5418" said:

flamethrower is pure garbage

- its good for open world (stab, quickness and might + heals (might on crit food + alchemy traitline -> boons recover 40 health) if you go scrapper) and taggings mobs, yes. BUT the dps is horrible across the board. that much for the pve part.

Well, yes. But it's also garbage for any serious dps.

Support Scrapper has also been gaining some popularity in WvW. I also run it myself there when I am feeling the group is lacking some needed support. It's also nice to have if Guardian is not your thing.

I have to defend here a Little bit the core spec role in WvW.... after roaming as power holo for a Long time i switched to core condi for fun and I am having a blast in roaming. It is however, the complete opposite as Holo.Holo -> Burst dps, a lot of hard CC, high mobility, low defensive statsCore Condi -> Steady pressure dps, a lot of soft CC, high mobility, high defensive stats and A LOT OF HEALINGThey are 2 completely different playstyles but both rock IMHO.