Which CORE Class would you buff?

[Thundabolt.8541]

I won't make the POF poll yet because I know people are just itching to start throwing shade from all sides, so...

Which CORE class do you feel needs a buff the most, and what would you do to improve it?

For me, it's Engi. Half of the toolkits have any reason to be used, most elixirs are laughably wasteful... CORE Engi just seems like a mostly-pve class.The moment bomb kit finds a legitimate reason to be used in WvW, I'll eat my hat.

[Shroud.2307]

I say Engi as well, especially because it's probably the least represented spec in all of WvW and very clunky no matter how you play it.

That said, I've been playing it non-stop the last couple days and to be totally honest, it has kind of reinvigorated my enjoyment in the game. Of course, against decent opponents it's not likely I'm going to win but, I've had a lot more success than I expected ( talking roaming obviously ). I've won a number of 1v1's even against such things as Spellbreaker, Reaper, Soulbeast and Holosmith. As I'd said though, against decent opponents I probably wouldn't win - none of them were incredibly good but, regardless, I was surprised at what I could pull off.

I've been playing a Alchemy/Explosives or Firearms/Tools power build with Healing Turret, Elixir U, Bomb Kit, Rocket Boots, Elixir X and Rifle. With clever usage of Smoke Bomb for stealth, Immobilize from Glue Bomb + Net Shot when I need it, CC's from Big 'Ol Bomb and Overcharged Shot as well as Rocket Boots and Jump Shot, I have lots of ways to kite even mobile builds. And at close range, Jump Shot, Blunderbuss and Big 'Ol Bomb all do significant ( 7 - 10k+ ) damage.

But, because this is about what would you buff, I'd still say Engi is pretty far behind. It doesn't much matter what build you play or how well you play it, it's mechanics are dated and it requires a colossal amount of effort for very little reward. A condition build is probably the only one that could have moderate success against competent players but even so, it's far outdone by pretty well everything else, and all of which will require a lot less skill/input.

VERY LATE EDIT:
Adding this little clip to showcase some core Engi play. To his credit, I did lose another fight against him later on. Granted, he's also staff + passive traited so I had a very hard time landing really anything. Still wanted to show what it's like since I don't think many people have seen core Engi in a long while and it might give an idea of how gimmicky it is.

[Lala.8752]

engineer, elementalist and necro. the rest seems ok

[alain.1659]

Engineer and elementalist for me. Both profession skills and talents are so behind meta that most of them are just useless (especially engi). Both need a good rework

[Aeolus.3615]

by buffing engi core.. wouldnt that be the same has buffing holo????

[Oogabooga.3812]

If it weren't for YOLOsmith and heal scrapper, I'd hang up my engineer for good.

• Grenades are weak
• Bombs are more utility than powerful
• Flamethrower is STILL underpowered condi-wise
• Mainhand pistol is utility only
• Mortar kit shots are so slow that it's good only for static targets
• Other than heal turret, does anybody use turrets?
• Since nobody uses turrets, nobody uses Tool Kit, and the elite specializations have better melee options

So we're using elixirs, gadgets, or complicated rotations involving 1-2 skills from various kits for high level play for core engi.

[EremiteAngel.9765]

@Aeolus.3615 said:by buffing engi core.. wouldnt that be the same has buffing holo????

That's a good point.For the purpose of this poll though, I voted based on core specs alone and ignored their elites which I suppose could be adjusted separately if their cores got stronger.

I was initially undecided between engi and ele.However I recently had the honor to see Tintin using a core engi to defeat a few top duelers in Armastice Bastion...So they might be under-represented not because they are too weak, but because holo/scrapper is a lot stronger or easier to play.

So my vote went to ele.

[Stand The Wall.6987]

life blast still way too slow.

[Clownmug.8357]

None. I don't like power creep.

[Thornwolf.9721]

Revenant due to the fact that core is no where near as functional as it should be without herald. (Still feels like the class is designed around herald being there... which is sad.)

Necromancer core could use a rework too, because they somewhat like revenant feel like they don't truly know what they are meant to be...

[Dawdler.8521]

@Aeolus.3615 said:by buffing engi core.. wouldnt that be the same has buffing holo????It would. Which is why its kind of funny. When roaming today, I've seen a revival of two core classes in particular: the guardian (because core buffs) and the engineer (because scrapper nerfs). Other classes are soooooo far behind their PoF elites, for example the mesmer. Yet the engie seems to overwhelmingly win this vote. Thats just hilarious.

[Vasdamas Anklast.1607]

Revenant doesn't have any good core specs and I'd like to stay it this way. Never liked an idea of core specs being more powerful than elite.

UPD Lol @ buffing core engineer

[Shroud.2307]

@Dawdler.8521 said:

@"Aeolus.3615" said:by buffing engi core.. wouldnt that be the same has buffing holo????It would. Which is why its kind of funny. When roaming today, I've seen a revival of two core classes in particular: the guardian (because core buffs) and the engineer (because scrapper nerfs). Other classes are soooooo far behind their PoF elites, for example the mesmer. Yet the engie seems to overwhelmingly win this vote. Thats just hilarious.

Buffing core Engi doesn't mean Holo or Scrapper can't be nerfed. Though in the spirit of the thread yes, if core Engi were to be buffed and we pretend both of the elite specs also get the benefits without seeing any nerfs, then it would probably be a bad idea.

I still think core Engi could use some love before any of the other core specs. It would just require that Holo and/or Scrapper see some adjustments as well depending on how core is changed.

That said, I also don't know how core could be improved. I don't expect it, or any of the core specs, to be as OP as their elite counterparts, but in the case of Engineer in particular, it definitely feels like it needs something. I've been playing it consistently for the last couple days and as fun as it is, it feels very much like a gimmick. It doesn't matter how I adjust my traits or utilities, I just always feel like I'm relying on a "trick" to win my fights. I suppose you could say it's my own fault and not a case of Engineer being in a bad place, I'd accept that criticism, but I feel like I have enough experience to think what I do.

[Jugglemonkey.8741]

I said engi because of the massive amount of redundancy in kits, and because I love kits (it's where my nickname came from). I think it ought to be possible to bring them to the same level of utility as the expac stuff, giving more choice instead of one strongest skill, without making the elite specs OP.

[TrollingDemigod.3041]

Where's option "none"? Game doesn't need more powercreep. If you want to "buff" core classes, you just need to nerf e-speces and you'll accomplish it naturally.

[bluberblasen.9684]

as a core ele -- i choose core ele --my wishmainhand dagger air 1 revert it back to 300 range... THERE WAS NO REASON THAT THEY NERFED IT TO 240 range.NO REASON :-(

and maybe buff all mainhand dagger skills by approximately 20 % damage.

Thank You : -)

[Aeolus.3615]

@"SpellOfIniquity.1780" said:

@Dawdler.8521 said:

@"Aeolus.3615" said:by buffing engi core.. wouldnt that be the same has buffing holo????It would. Which is why its kind of funny. When roaming today, I've seen a revival of two core classes in particular: the guardian (because core buffs) and the engineer (because scrapper nerfs). Other classes are soooooo far behind their PoF elites, for example the mesmer. Yet the engie seems to overwhelmingly win this vote. Thats just hilarious.

Buffing core Engi doesn't mean Holo or Scrapper can't be nerfed. Though in the spirit of the thread yes, if core Engi were to be buffed and we pretend both of the elite specs also get the benefits without seeing any nerfs, then it would probably be a bad idea.

I still think core Engi could use some love before any of the other core specs. It would just require that Holo and/or Scrapper see some adjustments as well depending on how core is changed.

That said, I also don't know

how

core could be improved. I don't expect it, or any of the core specs, to be as OP as their elite counterparts, but in the case of Engineer in particular, it definitely feels like it needs

something.

I've been playing it consistently for the last couple days and as fun as it is, it feels very much like a gimmick. It doesn't matter how I adjust my traits or utilities, I just always feel like I'm relying on a "trick" to win my fights. I suppose you could say it's my own fault and not a case of Engineer being in a bad place, I'd accept that criticism, but I feel like I have enough experience to think what I do.

Imo a good way to balance holo would be make photon forge burn the boons way faster wich imo is what makes it overperforming, the more heat the faster boons expire starting from 40% and instead of direct damage to holo hp remain boons are transformed to condi and photon forge enters in exhaustion the more the user abuses it.

After that I would not bother in fixing core engi wich imo I do agree it lacks to be a stable class in the game.

Btw voted rev for more of a energy check on skill value than anything else, shiro and deamon needs it since they are way to much one pony tricks and shiro needs healing power to improve vampiric and heal effects wich is a bad way to built toon.

[bluberblasen.9684]

Just give under performing core classes more base stat points.Example:When playing core ele base health is medium health class instead of lowest.

[Jaruselka.5943]

Engie core mainly because the pistols are just sad. Skill #1 is slow and weak and virtually useless (especially in WvW); blowtorch regularly misses targets at point blank range...pathetic.

[XenesisII.1540]

The least played classes.

[Aria Lliane.8693]

Elementalist Non-meta (power) builds. Using a non-meta build and being competitive would mean the game is balanced between builds, and sad truth is a healing or whatever build will never heal anything meaningful against the 7k damage critical strikes with couples secs of cooldown some builds give. Going with Crowd Control isnt also an option, cause only a couple skills give it and are so insignificant that people even laugh when taking one on the face at least comparing with other classes "Attune to water, gaining superior support and healing abilities.", "Attune to air, gaining heavy damage and control abilities.". All lies.

[Biermeister.4678]

@Thornwolf.9721 said:Revenant due to the fact that core is no where near as functional as it should be without herald. (Still feels like the class is designed around herald being there... which is sad.)

Necromancer core could use a rework too, because they somewhat like revenant feel like they don't truly know what they are meant to be...

The dropped core necro damage and sustain because people complained about Plague and the damage it did plus it was a good second escape in shadow form and the necro wall striping boons and causing fearRev is decent without Harald good damage but little sustain

[Biermeister.4678]

WVW needs to just go back to core for a bit until they get a good balance

[LordTemujin.5498]

Core ele is sadly pretty useless right now

[Vornollo.5182]

No buffs, way too much powercreep as it is.I'd rather they tone down that to pull everything back in line.