Scrapper traits and the need for more purpose

A problem I find with scrapper is a lack of clear direction, so I kind of wanted to put forward some ideas. A lot of people are complaining that Scrapper is a tank/support spec, and the fact that we got damage boosts last patch is concerning. If Anet only intends Scrapper to be a support spec, then I would agree. However, I think Scrapper can be made to have the capability to be a tank/support or a damage dealer with niche, depending on traits selected.

In PoF Anet started using giving purposes to certain trait choices. For instance, on Spellbreaker, the top line of traits are about boon removal, the middle line traits are about buffing Full Counter, and the bottom traits are about catching slippery opponents. Also, an important quality of this is that some times it is more useful in practice to mix traits of different lines. For instance, the main DPS Spellbreaker build uses 1-3-3 setup, they did a good job on making traits useful in many scenarios.

This can work similarly for scrapper. I have some suggestions below, though I kind of feel like the Grandmaster levels two traits I proposed changes for may be too strong. Also, I know lots of people want Scrapper to be a healer, but the healing trait-lines for Engineer are on Alchemy and Inventions. On current Scrapper Support builds, Scrapper is only there because it is more supportive than Explosives/Firearms/Tools. So I don't focus on healing at all, and I think more healing is better to be placed on a new Elite Spec than on Scrapper.

However, first thing first, we have to address Function Gyro. A profession mechanic that 100% depends on allies making mistakes IS NOT A PROFESSION MECHANIC WE WANT. It NEEDS changes, and the entire Engineer community is in agreement of this. This is basically the new "kit backpacks issue" from the pre-HoT days, every Engineer main wants to see changes here. Unfortunately, we don't have any more keyboard buttons to use for any active way to deploy function gyro, unless we want an activation to replace Detection Pulse (Sneak Gyro F5). I like Detection Pulse in PvP, so I will avoid that, but you guys can propose otherwise and I'd like to read them. My proposal, is to have function gyro basically be an always deployed Gyro (functionally like a Signet), when in combat it pulses a small barrier and a MAYBE small amount of quickness (to offset the loss of the current iteration of Applied Force, detailed below) to the Engineer and allies. When on cooldown (from reviving an ally), the passive is lost.

Now for the trait setup I was thinking of:

TOP line: Personal stability, CC and Burst Damage through Hammer (Bruiser role):Perfectly Weighted -> Mass Momentum -> Kinetic Stabilizers (Perhaps merge Applied force into here...Scrapper really any DPS boost it can get right now)This one is pretty much already 2/3 of the way there, the traits just don't line up and DPS still needs to be improved on Hammer.

Synergies with the other roles below include using Perfectly Weighted to share stability using my proposed new Master trait in the Defensive line below, or in PvP adding Gyros for super speed while preserving damage.

MIDDLE line: Gyro upgrade, Super-speed sharing and Lightning fields (Speedy Support role):REWORKED Shocking Speed -> BUFFED Rapid Regeneration -> REPLACED Applied Force for a new Gyro utility that improves super speed sharing ability

Potential Shocking Speed replacement: ANY finisher you use in a lightning field grants super speed to yourself and allies, meaning Shredder Gyro in a lightning field would pump out a lot of super speed intervals. Remove Expert Examination and merge Expert Examination into this trait as well.

Potential Rapid Regeneration Buff: Regenerate HP when you have Swiftness or Super Speed and Gyros also have permanent super speed. We need this so gyros can keep up with us when we move lol...

Potential Applied Force Rework: Replace with old Final Salvo. Produce a lightning field when a gyro is destroyed or detonated. Gyro deployment (including function gyro) grants super speed to allies. Function Gyro gives stability on use.

Since our healing potential is in Alchemy/Inventions, this makes Scrapper a great traitline to use for WvW to apply Super Speed in massive amounts to your sub-group while also healing.Potential synergies with above Bruiser line and below Defensive line is that in PvE you sometimes just want a few of the super speed traits to get through certain fractal/raid encounters and want DPS primarily, or in PvP you want to use super speed to capture points, but also act as an tanky anchor with some barriers.

BOTTOM line: Barrier and Stability sharing (Defensive Support Role):Recovery Matrix -> NEW TRAIT -> Adaptive Armor

New Master Trait to replace Expert Examination: A percentage of Barriers you apply to yourself are also applied to allies. Gaining stability also applies 2s of stability to allies. This can synergize with Perfectly Weighted to give allies stability any time you dodge an attack, if you don't want to use Recovery Matrix.

This is the line that you would use to be a tank in raids. The intent is to reduce the need for dedicated healing by pumping out more barriers on yourself, allowing healers to focus more on the DPS players. By ABSORBING damage using Adaptive Armor, the new Master trait will disperse some barrier to allies, helping them survive too. Synergies include the aforementioned swapping of Recovery Matrix for Perfectly Weighted to share more stability, or dropping Adaptive Armor for Kinetic Stabilizers more Stability sharing by CCing enemies. Also, this would not replace Scourge as a Barrier Support. While Scourge can burst huge amounts of Barriers on allies, this line would allow Scrapper to continuously pulse small amounts of barrier. High burst damage skills in PvE, PvP or WvW will quickly burn through the barrier. It is meant to keep allies from suffering a little, but not such that the can ignore enemy attacks.

Problems I am trying to address with the above

After the changes, Scrapper has gone back to having no real significant use. I want to carve a use for it, in niches that are NOT occupied by other classes. The proposed Bruiser line makes Scrapper a burst DPS class that gets stronger with the stability and CC usage, making it great in fights with a lot of enemy CC, and open world fights. It will not come close to Holosmith in terms of raw sustained DPS output, nor should it ever. In long boss fights, as a DPS you will still use Holo. The Gyro line allows it to be a super speed support. It doesn't provide the massive amount of Stability of Guardian, but it can get peeps around in WvW. The Defensive line is geared to make it a true tank with passable DPS, it gains and gives barrier by getting hit.

Also, despite having traits such as Shocking Speed, we have a pathetically low amount of Lightning Fields right now (two, one on Hammer, one on Shredder Gyro). I rewrote gyro traits to fix that. And despite having traits like Impact Savant, we have a super low up-time of barrier without Adaptive Armor, but having Adaptive Armor means we cannot take Kinetic Stabilizers to make use of the stability damage bonus as well as the barrier damage bonus on Impact Savant, making us more useless as potential bruisers. I changed Function Gyro to fix that.

Anyway, the importance of this isn't the exact traits I wrote. The important part is that Scrapper traits NEED A CONCRETE DIRECTION FIRST AND FOREMOST, and I do not feel that Anet has one when it comes to this specialization. However, Anet can feel free to provide input and prove me wrong. I absolutely love the changes they've been doing on Core Engineer, and I feel like it is on track to being a good spec if they continue. Scrapper has not had such good changes.

Please tell me what you guys want to see. I'm interested in reading your own suggestions for how Scrapper traits should be organized.

I agree about the idea to split the traits threeway (and for a while there looked like we had an offensive tree, a super speed tree (with a direly needed bonus for gyros) as well as the tanking tree). But they messed it up with this new trait. Stability, super speed and damage modifier when we already have a offensive trait in the gm tier? At the cost of the support depending on the old trait?

As for function gyro ideas since you where asking for them...

I have a document where i list my brainfarts for scrapper ideas (not necessary good) and for the function gyro i wrote the following a while ago:

Not to derail the thread but i was thinking in the same lines of splitting the scrapper along these three directions. Important is that the scrapper offensive branch should never be a better glass cannon or direct damage build than holo, but it should be tanky enough that the damage sacrifice is worth it in game modes where survivability matters.

I also had some ideas like defense matrix also sharing a percentage of barriers to allies when using your heal (or maybe blocking?) to allow you to properly tank not only for yourself but for your team, or adding alacrity to shocking speed.

@Eastcorn.5901 said:A problem I find with scrapper is a lack of clear direction, so I kind of wanted to put forward some ideas. A lot of people are complaining that Scrapper is a tank/support spec, and the fact that we got damage boosts last patch is concerning. If Anet only intends Scrapper to be a support spec, then I would agree. However, I think Scrapper can be made to have the capability to be a tank/support or a damage dealer with niche, depending on traits selected.

This can work similarly for scrapper. I have some suggestions below, though I kind of feel like the Grandmaster levels two traits I proposed changes for may be too strong. Also, I know lots of people want Scrapper to be a healer, but the healing trait-lines for Engineer are on Alchemy and Inventions. On current Scrapper Support builds, Scrapper is only there because it is more supportive than Explosives/Firearms/Tools. So I don't focus on healing at all, and I think more healing is better to be placed on a new Elite Spec than on Scrapper.

So much of this. I really see scrapper as a tank/support. I don't want it to be a healer. I feel it should have a niche of it's own.

When looking at the wiki, however, it mentions that scrapper is supposed to bring a bruiser style of negation melee to the table. So, negation melee would be stuff more along the lines of partial or full damage mitigation (which barrier does, though I feel adaptive armor should be a minor grandmaster trait), and bruising style would mean decent damage, but nothing too over the top. I would welcome this if scrapper was more defensive in its own trait line. A few things could address this however:1) back in the day of the HoT specialization previews, when they showed the scrapper, they were really hinting at Juggernaut having great synergy with Mass Momentum. It does, however, because of the lack of a defensive option when choosing Juggernaut (besides stability), it's more along the lines of a small group skirmisher, being able to take some 1v1s with its ability to provide an onslaught of damage and not be interrupted from doing so. Which is a pretty cool thing, though I feel if you want to build a Juggernaut duelist, it would be really hard to do so because both the Alchemy and Inventions trait lines lack consistent protection/regeneration uptimes/granting by themselves. Now when paired together, however, they do provide great defensive options, and make you one bulky mofo. Thing is, Scrapper being considered a tank spec as well, when compared with other professions (Warrior, a good example) it takes the Engineer 3 defensive trait lines to provide almost the same result as Warrior. Except the Warrior can do this using 1-2 defensive trait lines, simply Defense and Spellbreaker, or even core Warrior can pull off better defensive options as well using less defensive trait lines than Engineer. Another example is the Ranger's elite spec, Soulbeast. The current meta soulbeast that I know of runs Nature Magic (A trait line focused on healing and boons), Wilderness Survival (Focusing on defensive maneuvers like dodging and even granting protection on dodge roll, as well as healing while you have protection up), and then the Soulbeast trait line, which if I am not mistaken is mostly offensive in nature, even being a bursty trait line? (correct me if I'm wrong) Even in this example, the Soulbeast only needs 1-2 trait lines to fulfill a duelist role, having enough defensive options from that one trait line, as again if I understand correctly, Nature Magic can be swapped out with Beast Mastery to provide more damaging options and more pet synergy.Engineer as it stands MUST run 3 defensive trait lines to be defensive on a Warrior level, compared to others who only need 1-2. I think one way to solve this, is to increase regeneration boon uptime/granting on Inventions, for more passive heal during combat or even implement a change to a trait to provide a stronger heal when, say, taking damage below a health threshold. Another way is to add a defensive aspect into the Juggernaut trait, adding either a protection application for 1 second every 3 seconds, or increased health or toughness. Then there's what I mentioned earlier, about making adaptive armor a baseline minor trait. If not, then rapid regeneration would make a great baseline minor trait for more passive heals while having SS or swiftness.

These are just my thoughts, however.