Mechanist Concerns

[Cekay.2614]

So, am i correct to assume that the purpose of all minor traits of the new Mechanist traitline is to give certain amounts of Player-stats to our Pet-Mech?

And all 9 Major Traits decide what the F1-F3 attacks of the Mech do?

 

If that is the case...what is the Player Character getting out of that Traitline?

Because currently, as i understood, the moment our Pet-Mech gets killed we have to play with basically 2 Traitlines instead of 3, until the 100sec CD is back up?

 

I mean that wouldnt be a problem if we didnt get hit with such a massive tradeoff...

having no access to toolbelt skills regardless of if the mech is alive or not is a huge setback.

Remember, unlike Ranger, Engineer doesnt even have Weapon swap or a second Pet to begin with.

 

So, the moment our mech dies we have to work with:

1 entire traitline being without any purpose and inactive.

5 weapon skills only (no weapon swap for engi)

1 heal / 3 utility / 1 elite (all of those without our usual toolbelt skills (i believe they once stated that engi is not getting a weapon swap because you have access to your toolbelt skills))

 

that makes 10 skills in total we can use for 100 seconds, nothing more, nothing less

Many of them with pretty large Cooldowns.

 

Dont get me wrong, the mech looks amazing and i like the concept, but some things that they showed kinda make me a bit concerned...

(dont mention the buggy ai, even at the demonstration the ai was kinda wonky)

[Kodama.6453]

The most irritating thing is.... they said that they didn't want the mech to be permanently up to differentiate it from the ranger pet.

But then they went ahead and designed the entire trait line around the mech being up, so if it isn't, then you run around with just 2 trait lines. The stated design intent directly goes against the practical design they have implemented. It makes no sense.

[Cisii.8317]

8 minutes ago, Kodama.6453 said:

The most irritating thing is.... they said that they didn't want the mech to be permanently up to differentiate it from the ranger pet.

But then they went ahead and designed the entire trait line around the mech being up, so if it isn't, then you run around with just 2 trait lines. The stated design intent directly goes against the practical design they have implemented. It makes no sense.

Just like the trait (I forgot the name) that makes the mech bombard around your area when it is dismissed, imo all of the other traits should have something like that. So we wouldn't be losing a whole trait line when mech is down. 

[Enxadachim.9450]

15 hours ago, Cekay.2614 said:

1 heal / 3 utility / 1 elite (all of those without our usual toolbelt skills (i believe they once stated that engi is not getting a weapon swap because you have access to your toolbelt skills))

 

And to make it worse the new elite seems to be bound to the mech. =/

Edited October 24, 2021 by Enxadachim.9450

[Lynx.9058]

The obvious solution here is to change the mech to F5, have your toolbelt skills available when the mech is not active, and have a secondary aspect to each traitline that functions when the mech is not active (or transfer the benefits to the mechanist when they're not boosting the mech).

Something like this:

Mech Arms: Single-Edge Cutters

Unlocks the Mech Command skill Rolling Smash. Your mech's attacks apply bleeding. This attack's effect may only affect a certain target once per interval.
When your mech is not active, your attacks apply bleeding.

Mech Arms: High Impact Drivers

Unlocks the Mech Command skill Explosive Knuckle. Your mech's attacks now generate might for allies within a radius. This attack's effect may only occur once per interval.

When your mech is not active, your attacks also grant you stacks of might.

 

Mech Arms: Jade Cannons

Melee attacks become ranged. Unlocks the Mech Command Skill Spark Revolver. Your mech's attacks apply vulnerability. This effect may only affect a given target once per interval.
When your mech is not active, your attacks apply vulnerability.

---

 

Mech Fighter:
New combat subroutines enable your mech to use Rocket Punch in combat. Your mech gains a greater percentage of your own toughness and vitality stats.
When your mech is not active, you gain increased toughness and vitality.

 

---

 

Mech Frame: Conductive Alloys
Unlocks the Mech Command skill Discharge Array. Your mech gains a greater percentage of your own condition damage and expertise stats.
When your mech is not active, you gain increased condition damage and expertise

 

Mech Frame: Channeling Circuits
Unlocks the Mech Command skill Crisis Zone. When you or your mech apply barrier, also grant alacrity to the affected target. Your mech gains a greater percentage of your concentration and healing power stats.
When your mech is not active, you gain increased healing power and concentration.

 

Mech Frame: Variable Mass Distributor

Unlocks the Mech Command skill Core Reactor Shot. Your mech gains a greater percentage of your power, precision, and ferocity stats.

When your mech is not active, you gain inreased power, precision, and ferocity.

 

---

 

Energy Siphoning:
Equipped with an arcanodynamic jade energy siphon built into its modular arm units, your mech becomes able to channel energy from your target into its own battery reserves, gaining automatic use of the Jade Siphon skill in combat. Your mech gains a greater percentage of your own toughness and vitality stats.
When your mech is not active, you gain increased toughness and vitality.

 

---

 

Mech Core: Jade Dynamo

Unlocks the Mech Command skill Jade Mortar. Mech attack skills have a chance to cause explosions. Your mech inherits on-hit bonuses from the Explosions specialization traitline.

When your mech is not active, your attacks have a chance to cause explosions.

 

Mech Core: Barrier Engine

Unlocks the Mech Command skill Barrier Burst. While in combat, your mech will automatically grant a small barrier each interval to nearby allies. The mech does not count against the target count for this trait.
When your mech is not active, you generate a small barrier around yourself each interval.

 

Mech Core: J-Drive

Unlocks the Mech Command skill Sky Circus. While dismissed or away for repairs , your mech supports you with with an occasional aerial bombardment.
Signet skills gain improved passive effects and continue to grant their passive bonuses while recharging.
(this one doesn't need a change as it already effects signets regardless of mech being active or inactive)

Edited October 23, 2021 by Lynx.9058

[Cisii.8317]

More concerns - Is the mech gonna do 0 damage on most of its big damage skills? Because they all have CC on them apart of spark revolver. Talking about PvP and WvW. 

Or are they going to remove the CC aspect like they said they will with the crash down? 

[Stalima.5490]

my concern is stun breakers, from what I understand, the mechanist will have increadibly limited options for breaking stuns due to many utilities having their stun break on their toolbelt skills rather than the utility skill.

[azarhal.3086]

39 minutes ago, Stalima.5490 said:

my concern is stun breakers, from what I understand, the mechanist will have increadibly limited options for breaking stuns due to many utilities having their stun break on their toolbelt skills rather than the utility skill.

There is a stun breaker signet on a 30s cd (24s with the Elite signet slotted). That's the Engineer lowest cooldown stun breaker when the elite is slotted. You can get one toolbelt stun breaker with a lower CD if you use the Tool trait line, everything else still has a highest CD.

That signet passive is 180 power so not useless. The active also knockback enemies away from you (and Mech) and apply cripple (5 targets) on top of the stun break. Very low CD for what it does, I wouldn't be surprised if the CD was higher in PvP/WvW actually.

Edited October 23, 2021 by azarhal.3086

[Trungar.5031]

The elite mechanist signet allows you to ignore the 100 sec cooldown. When used it will allow you resummon your mech instantly when it dies. Also anet stated it won't be100 sec on release.

If your mech dies again on the signet cooldown. Then I dunno run something else then the typical zerker gear or maybe get good. But I can 100% see it become a problem during pvp or wvw.

Edited October 23, 2021 by Trungar.5031

[Stalima.5490]

42 minutes ago, azarhal.3086 said:

There is a stun breaker signet on a 30s cd (24s with the Elite signet slotted). That's the Engineer lowest cooldown stun breaker when the elite is slotted. You can get one toolbelt stun breaker with a lower CD if you use the Tool trait line, everything else still has a highest CD.

That signet passive is 180 power so not useless. The active also knockback enemies away from you (and Mech) and apply cripple (5 targets) on top of the stun break. Very low CD for what it does, I wouldn't be surprised if the CD was higher in PvP/WvW actually.

It's not about you being able to use a stunbreak but rather the stun break being removed from other skills so the thumper turret will be significantly weaker and the slick shoes won't be that great either, the elixir gun also won't stun break which is significant, this decreases the effectiveness of some options substantially.

[Bomboed.5697]

12 minutes ago, Stalima.5490 said:

It's not about you being able to use a stunbreak but rather the stun break being removed from other skills so the thumper turret will be significantly weaker and the slick shoes won't be that great either, the elixir gun also won't stun break which is significant, this decreases the effectiveness of some options substantially.

It looks like devs want Mechanist to be the least customizable spec. They talk a lot about customization, but in reality Mechanist design forces player to play with signets and ignore all other skills. It also forces to pick certain traits with other traits because of their heavy synergy between themselves, but absolutely zero synergy with other traits.

[azarhal.3086]

Just now, Stalima.5490 said:

It's not about you being able to use a stunbreak but rather the stun break being removed from other skills so the thumper turret will be significantly weaker and the slick shoes won't be that great either, the elixir gun also won't stun break which is significant, this decreases the effectiveness of some options substantially.

 

They aren't weaker without their toolbelt skills. If they were, people wouldn't be slotting them at all. That's wasting an utility slot for something that will be actively used.

[Bomboed.5697]

2 hours ago, azarhal.3086 said:

 

They aren't weaker without their toolbelt skills. If they were, people wouldn't be slotting them at all. That's wasting an utility slot for something that will be actively used.

In ideal world it would be so.
But in real world it works differently. In real world most of Engi skills are trash by themselves and used only because of their toolbelt skill, or they are good by themselves, but their toolbelt skills are lackluster. There a very few exceptions.