Mechanist Feedback Thread

[Rose Solane.1027]

I tried the Mechanist for a short time in open world PvE and my impression in a few words: The Jade Mech is ridiculously overpowered.

 

I took the mech to Cursed Shore and let it do all the work. It hasn't died and it killed a Champion Risen Giant with the help of a Specter. I didn't do anything. From what I understand from the Specter player is that it is a support class so the damage to kill the Champion had to come from my Jade Mech. I main a Ranger and I am used to a melee pet that does a lot of damage but has no health, a melee pet that tanks but doesn't do damage or a ranged pet that has decent damage. The Jade Mech has very strong ranged attacks that can be used in melee and it tanks (like) a champion. In the current form Mechanist is a Ranger with a pet on steroids. In open world PvE I would switch Mace for Rifle, stay back and let my Jade Mech murder everything. If the Jade Mech dies (which I doubt will happen often) I would run because without the Jade Mech a Mechanist is the weakest class in the game. Underwater combat has to be avoided by any means as the Mechanist is even worse then core Engineer there.

 

Conclusion: I don't think the Mechanist in the current form is playable in open world PvE. To overpowered with the Jade Mech, completely helpless without it. I have seen several suggestions in this thread to improve on the concept. Read them and please redesign the Mechanist.

[SeTect.5918]

1 hour ago, Rose Solane.1027 said:

I tried the Mechanist for a short time in open world PvE and my impression in a few words: The Jade Mech is ridiculously overpowered.

 

I took the mech to Cursed Shore and let it do all the work. It hasn't died and it killed a Champion Risen Giant with the help of a Specter. I didn't do anything. From what I understand from the Specter player is that it is a support class so the damage to kill the Champion had to come from my Jade Mech. I main a Ranger and I am used to a melee pet that does a lot of damage but has no health, a melee pet that tanks but doesn't do damage or a ranged pet that has decent damage. The Jade Mech has very strong ranged attacks that can be used in melee and it tanks (like) a champion. In the current form Mechanist is a Ranger with a pet on steroids. In open world PvE I would switch Mace for Rifle, stay back and let my Jade Mech murder everything. If the Jade Mech dies (which I doubt will happen often) I would run because without the Jade Mech a Mechanist is the weakest class in the game. Underwater combat has to be avoided by any means as the Mechanist is even worse then core Engineer there.

 

Conclusion: I don't think the Mechanist in the current form is playable in open world PvE. To overpowered with the Jade Mech, completely helpless without it. I have seen several suggestions in this thread to improve on the concept. Read them and please redesign the Mechanist.

The damage you deal is totally irrelevant to kill a champion alone. Also the damage has not only to come from your mech if specter is support. The specter can also play plaguedocter to deal good dmg while also supporting really well. You also have to know that a specter increases the dps of the mech by far due to quickness, alac, might, fury, torment on enemy and so on. It also heals really well and gives barrier. Literally every class can solo a champion if you have a support near u but its not solo then basically.

For a full conclusion you shouldnt only play open world. I mean at least you said that you tried it in open world. and yes the mech is incredibly strong there, if you use the healing signet that heals the mech each second and heals the mech on the active effect too. Without that signet it cant solo most champions anymore tbh.
However as i said, at least u said that u tried it in open world. There are enough players that only test it in open world and say that mechanist is totally op. So at least you said that your impression comes from open world.

However in fractals and wvw and pvp the mech is not that tanky. It eats all aoes bc it cant dodge and it cant cleanse conditions.

The problem with open world is, that there are like 0 conditions from enemies. Open world bosses also attack slow and this makes the signet really strong because it lets the mech regen hp.
In for example fractals there are multiple circles on the ground and the mech will eat them all. They also deal more damage than most open world bosses and attack faster.

However i bet even ranger pets can solo a champion with a specter supporting it tbh. Specter is an extremely strong support if you have just 1 ally to support. You can gain perma alac, quickness, fury. Aside from that you can heal your target a lot and give a lot barrier.
However the point is, thats its single target and thats a big downgrade of specter since you wont need a support in open world often and in fractals/raids/strike mission you will use a 10 or 5 player support.


But actually i agree with you that the mech should give a bit of its damage to the player. By maybe trait improvements and mace buffs such as the elite signet and maybe some other signets.

Edited October 28, 2021 by SeTect.5918

[Vagrant.7206]

I spent some time with the Mechanist earlier this week and I've had some time to think about my feelings on it.

 

The Good

- This e-spec meets the engineer fantasy that I think turrets were supposed to have, but fell short.

- The e-spec is simple to operate, which I think is good especially for players who might have disabilities

 

The Bad

- An AI-based spec. AI in this game is notoriously bad (rangers/necros/scrappers/turrets can attest). It suffers from difficulty with control, and feels unresponsive. This also means that mechanist basically won't exist in PvP, and only in limited forms in WvW. There needs to be more control functions for the golem to allow more versatile play - options such as lock target, return to me, switch between ranged/melee, and placement of the mech.

- The mechanist itself doesn't offer anything particularly unique, other some buffs that engineer didn't have access to before.

- The mech will likely get nerfed (see turrets) because of its more passive playstyle. Signets make this passive playstyle even worse.

- Many traits and utility skills simply are worthless because of a lack of synergy with the mech and no toolbelt skills.

- When the mech is down/dead, you are basically a really bad core engineer who is missing a traitline and the toolbelt. It doesn't feel very good.

 

The Ugly

- The mech itself. Without customization options, it completely misses the mark on aesthetics.

- You can "rename" the mech, but the renaming doesn't persist.

- It's just boring to play. You are the mech's minion, not the other way around. It just follows you while you support it.

- Lack of a toolbelt basically means that core engineer has almost no interaction with the mechanist. This is like its own class rather than an espec. 

- I just don't see much of a place for this in high-end PvE, PvP, or WvW. It seems mostly like an open world spec.

- The mace is just completely forgettable and underwhelming. I had to come back and edit this post after I remembered it was added as part of the e-spec. It also really highlights the problems that core engineer has with weapons.

Edited October 28, 2021 by Vagrant.7206

[Matoro.9708]

12 hours ago, ellaqwent.7493 said:

My perspective: I’m just a casual, girl gamer who primarily plays PvE (though not raids) and some WvW and I don’t meta. I play GW2 for enjoyment and the engineer class because I adore steampunk, engineering and the whole thematic, and being limited in build and equipment to eek out that extra 1% is not appealing to me. I’ve been an engi main since launch with 2,000+ hours on the class which is well over half my total playtime.

 

I love being able to creatively combine traits, gear and skills to generate a plethora of unique (and sometimes humorous) builds and to have my fingers frolicking frantically across the keyboard to hit that weapon skill, that toolbelt skill, a quick three revives with my function gyro and a sneaky Gear Shield in my toolkit because gears are great.

 

Playing Mechanist across Maguuma and the Desert last night took nearly all that away. Gone was the frantic, high paced play, replaced with kiting around veteran smokescales and pocket raptors or hydras and sand sharks with pistol auto attack while Static Shot and Blow Torch are on cooldown. The signet stun break knocks mobs out of the 240 range of the condi skills, so I take Elixir U instead (and barely use it), and Grenade Kit which leaves no condi removal and isn’t even really necessary in zones that normally take some effort. The mech just feels so strong, and the cooldowns on the skills so long, that I didn’t feel like I was really doing very much. Once the excitement wore off, it was a little vacuous. It also felt as if the mech is your tank and you are the ranged controller and mace doesn’t fit with this at all. If the mech skills are on cooldown, you have to run around bonking mobs in melee range just to give the mech a target, and now I am the one tanking without the survival skills I need to stay alive. I feel like a sceptre “remote control” would feel so much nicer and how great would Meteroligicus fit as a transmitter?!

 

Having no toolbelt renders the Tools trait line almost entirely pointless, and while I am by no means an expert, I felt that condi Mech basically has to have Firearms (1, 2, 2) and Explosives (1, 2, 2) while the support Mech has to have Inventions (1, 3, 1) and Alchemy (2, 1, 2) since so few of the other trait lines and traits provide any benefit. This feels really restrictive to creativity and customisation. You pretty much have to take signet heal and elite, so two utility skills are taken up just for stun break and condi cleanse potentially.

 

I think the mech fits the lore really well and is true to the engineer class, however it doesn’t feel like an engineer to play, but more like core ranger. I wish the mech was more like the asuran elite Summon Power Suit where you enter the mech, since having no “Attack My Target” key, having to mouse click “Return to Me” and the lethargic response to commands, as well as the periodic appearing and disappearing of the mech are all frustrating under the AI. I would love to have more fine control and also be able to repair my mech like a real engineer. I wholeheartedly support the persistent idea that the toolbelt be available when the mech is not summoned, and also confirm the bug reports of not dropping in ankle depth water, and spawning in and out, seemingly at random. I would also love a more dirtier, steampunk style skin (hello gem store) and it being dyable, as such aesthetics would be a deal maker for me.

 

That’s my feedback based on my feelings and experience, and I realise it’s not substantially constructive or representative of the majority of the player base however... I think the mech as a centrepiece of an elite specialisation is absolutely fantastic and has incredible potential but it feels in its current design, it takes too much away from what makes the engineer such a beloved class in my heart. 

Agreed. I understand why thematically the engineer got this, but functionally speaking through the implementation, it got it almost all wrong. Now, Anet has 4 months left before the expac releases, they can't just redo it - but the suggestions so far are feasible to implement. Especially traits that go back and work with core engineer, these can be as simple as "turrets have more health" or whatever. Mechanist feels like it was made for another class, but work can be done to tie it into core engineer.

[frareanselm.1925]

Anet the mechanist is Ok as it is, dont touch anything dont ruin it!

[Burnlit.1796]

I like the spec. I've always wished for a robobuddy. My issue so far is the how the mech is called after dismount. There is the cooldown from dismount to summon then an animation before it can attack. When I constantly mount and dismount attack, it feels disjointed similar to necro's minions because I would lose minions and have to wait and summon them again.

 

Then there's the annoying thing that the auto summon would drop the mech to a nearby enemy that I have not aggro yet, and then would precede to try to attack my target, pulling mobs for me. It might cause issues in the future where the pet pulls mobs behind the next room. Although, the enemies that it dropped to was in range about 700 or so it might not happen often.

 

I think this is a bug where that when the mech is automatically summon, it interrupts what I was doing. Like reviving someone, when the mech drops in then it interrupts it. 

[Akisohida.8963]

One problem I have with the mechanist is that switching maps puts the mecha summon on cooldown.

This does not happen with any other pet-centric class, and it's very frustrating, given the mech is such a big part of his skills. It's not an ult, even, so it going on cooldown & needing to be resummoned every map transfer is very annoying.

[LucianDK.8615]

42 minutes ago, Burnlit.1796 said:

I like the spec. I've always wished for a robobuddy. My issue so far is the how the mech is called after dismount. There is the cooldown from dismount to summon then an animation before it can attack. When I constantly mount and dismount attack, it feels disjointed similar to necro's minions because I would lose minions and have to wait and summon them again.

 

Then there's the annoying thing that the auto summon would drop the mech to a nearby enemy that I have not aggro yet, and then would precede to try to attack my target, pulling mobs for me. It might cause issues in the future where the pet pulls mobs behind the next room. Although, the enemies that it dropped to was in range about 700 or so it might not happen often.

 

I think this is a bug where that when the mech is automatically summon, it interrupts what I was doing. Like reviving someone, when the mech drops in then it interrupts it. 

 

The necro bug of losing minions on mount/dismount has been fixed. Its only non lich/shrould transforms that destroys them now.

[Sigz.6943]

I have a two things that to me are minor annoyances. If we are not getting any more water combat then disregard. Either way I look forward to the release of EoD ,and the Mechanist. 

1. Mech can't go in the water (it's like flesh golem all over again before they changed it). Ranger has pets that can play in the water. Changes where made so all of the Necromancer's. Minions can go in the water as well.

2. Two of the signets are not useable in the water. The Shift Signet gives movement speed ,and a shadow step. I see no reason to stop this from being used in the water. As for the Overclock Signet it ties into what was mentioned before regarding the mech not being allowed in the water. So it is a little bit more understandable.

TL;DR- If water combat is not going to be a thing in EoD then the Mechanist is great. If water combat is a thing then try to get the mech in the water.

[Saurus.5361]

I feel like there are some fundamental design issues with this spec that should be looked upon. Engineers' Slot Skills are designed with toolbelt in mind and removing (or "replacing", depending how you look at it) the entire toolbelt means you invalidate all skills that have a key functionality not within the skill itself but rather its toolbelt counterpart. To a certain degree scrapper and holo also did that but it was limited to a single skill, not all 5. Hence those two specs work far more fluently than mechanist in its current state. The result of that oversight is that you either build completely around your mech (which means just taking signets) or you ignore the mech and build around kits as those are not as reliant on their tool belt skill as the other skill types engineer got.

 

That being said I like the idea of an engi elite spec that favours strong toolbelt skill usuage as the Tools traitline generally isn't really used in many scenarios right now. So maybe there can be a compromise of enabling a couple of toolbelt skills in addition to the mech mechanic (at least the elite toolbelt skill should be a given considering you cant use it anywhere else).

 

Another problem is the current state of mace. It just doesn't do anything meaningful. I feel like the auto chain is a bit overloaded with utility and therefore to weak because someone was afraid of powercreep and therefore overcompensated by lowering numbers. Please buff it accordingly. One of the reason holosmith is so much fun to play is that it can use a strong and interesting weapon - their sword. That is not the case for mechanist right now. Mechanists skills are all over the place and considering their off-hand choices dont't really fit in. Best example is mace 3 which for some reason does a stun and burning. Both can be achieved by shield4/5 or pistol4 so mace3 really doesnt do anything. I'd suggest to either give it a boon or some additional confusion to redirect the spec more towars heavy confusion usuage like it was probably intended.

 

The last thing is something I noticed in quite a few beta specs. There is too much diversification in the respective traitlines. Instead of fitting three different playstyles in (like condi, power and boon support), I'd rather see 2 styles or even just 1 but with options to enhance. One example of this in the 2nd column of holosmith where you can pick between range for your autos, healing on your corona burst or super speed on your holo leap. All of those are supportive traits which makes for interesting decisions which you wanna pick. For mechanist on the other hand its just the decision between which type of damage it does (or if any at all). I feel like we lose a lot of depth that way.

[Rosewood.1598]

No.  In so many more ways then Yes.

I do like the idea of a Mech companion, and the design of the Mech is interesting.  However, it is too large.  This needs to be much smaller, like the size of a ranger pet.  A couple times during testing there were two or three Mechs on one mob and you could not see anything.

I took my Mech to Crystal Oasis, clicked on a level 80 River Drake, F1.  One attack and the drake is dead.  I picked on a pack of Sand Lions and Sand Eels, no problem.  One Veteran Hydra lasted 20 seconds, another few to kill the heads cause they were chasing me as I ran around NOT ATTACKING.  The Mech's health did not drop.  The Hero Challenge for multi players?  Not any more.  My Mech took out the Forged raiding party, a pair of Sand Sharks that tagged in, while I ran around and did nothing.  The health dropped maybe 200.  My Mech took out an Elite.  I did nothing but clicked F1 or F2 or F3 on occasion.

In contrast, my beta Ranger fungus fog covered pet was challenged to beat one Sand Lioness solo in under 20 seconds and was dead when the Sand Eel showed up.  And yes, I tested this with various ranger pets. 

So points for idea, point for looks, minus points for the over sized, over powered death machine that turned learning your class pointless and your character worthless.  You may as well have made the Mech a body suit of armor and stuck the character inside for the ride.

 

[Ale.3280]

Hey Anet 😉

 

Here there is my feedback of the Mechanist:

 

GOOD:

1. the elite spec is very enjoyable and the style of not press the keyboard like a piano now is good for the player;
2. now finally we can use rifle and stay ranged in PVE content;
3. etc...

Now say the bad one to improve the game 😅:

 

BAD:

1. The Mech is not very under our control, i mean the "return to me" button need to stay as F4 and the "Recall Mech" as F5;
2. when you use the mech in pve and use glider, mounts etc there is the mech that goes on sky and then return back but slowly, sometimes we use glider also for 1 second and have this loss time of the mech is not good for the gaming; the mech should be always near the mechanist without activating every mount/dismount or glider time the animations;
3. underwater there is no mech, only an aid from the surface but for an elite spec that use the mech for primal damage having not it and having no more the tool bar is not a good point;
4. the timing to call back the mech is too much, in pvp there is the evidence; for me you should take it a lot less;
5. often the F1-2-3 action never starts when you press because the mech is out of range , but he never records your command, you need to push it again when it comes in range;
6. there is not the red line in F1-2-3 for the  "not in range" skills, they are very usefull, inset them;
7. the trait "j Drive" is not good at all; the bombardament is too rare, it should be at some intervals (3 seconds?);
8. the tool bar without the mech should be insert again, the mech is not playable without it and you can give the player an chance more to choose the trait "J Drive" beeing a Mechanit without the mech near him (he is in the sky), an alternative for the playstyle;
9. The "shift signet" is too slow as animation, a lot of time i press it and some players (pvp) or strong mob interrupt me..3/4 is much, can you do 1/2 for the timing? hope it!;
10. "crash down" as a 3/4 skills is a lot, as "overclock signet" (that i use only to call back the mech when he dies), often i coudn't use it and i died alone without the chance to call back the mech;
11. Nether in melee or in ranged i could't find a way to use "sky Circus", it's always better use another skill from another trait, you should improve that trait for me to give a better choice.

This is my opinion in this beta event, in general the feeling of the elite spec is good.

I'm a MAIN Engi since RELEASE in 2012, i also tested the Engi in the beta before the release, this is my background story of the class 👨‍🔧..(and i'm an engineer in real life, does it count?😜)

Good work to you Anet, keep it up!

 

Edited October 28, 2021 by Ale.3280

[Sifolstour.3210]

First sry for my poor english

Now that I've been playing the mechanist for 2 days i would suggest some things:

Add toolbelt skills, thats needed.

-Take just 1 set of major traits for the mech and let 2 sets open for other stuff.

-Make the mech just the elite with a toolbelt active skill and two pasive abilities that depends on the trait choosen.

-Another good option (the one i would prefer) could be make the mech just a suit that replaces your weapon skills like the shroud from necros and make those skills to vary on trait choices.

Actually the spec as it is makes no sense (thats not a turn based game), and it has too many weakness like being dependant of the mech at 100% being a core engie with 2 traitlines without it.

Edited October 28, 2021 by Sifolstour.3210

[MaLong.2079]

I like the mech in general. I agree with some other players in that it may be a bit too big. I have only been playing different forms of engi since I started playing and still I like the concept of the turrets best with gyros in second place.

I took the mech to the Mad King Lab and it just destroyed everything. I 1v1 Harrower Veltan for a while until other people joined and I never used my heal skill, not once, and my mech spent most of the time at 100% too.

I can't imagine using the mech in WvW but that is just me. I see plenty of pets and minions in WvW so I bet I will see mechs too.

 

[Shin Ryu.5802]

I decided to jump into this one completely blind and roll with it.  As usual, I used my Invitation to the Lily of the Elon to port the beta toon to the Crystal Oasis for the usual stress testing against Forged patrols, Veteran Fire Hydras, and all the local fauna with their variety of conditions and cc.  Full disclosure, I'm a multi-toon runner, and engi is often one that requires a bit more loyalty and dedication to really dive into than most other professions.  Thus, from the perspective of engi main players, I'd be a "filthy casual."

On balance, I really enjoyed it; it was a nice change of pace from the usual engi experience.  Granting engi its own "Build-a-Bear" GOLEM pet is pretty close to what I had already envisioned as an interesting possibility for a future engi elite.  However, I'm nearly certain that most engi specialists will hate it.  Engineers are (in)famous for having the most complex meta skill rotations and the most options, so giving them a super-streamlined set of signet skills AND taking away their Toolbelt  is probably gonna draw a LOT of hate.  Personally, I didn't hate having a super-casual engi experience, and I enjoyed finding ways to cooperate with the Jade Mech and use it to its fullest advantage.  My general overview:

-Mace:  Thematically appropriate for the engineer, and it gives engineer a few more melee options not already available to it via a Toolkit skill.  Fills some small gaps in what engi could already do, and is roughly on par with weapons and Toolkits already available rather than being a particularly outstanding replacement.  Satisfactory.

-Core Mechanic:  The absence of Toolbelt skills does sting a bit; many utility skills are selected because their corresponding Toolbelt skills are so useful; they're all a "slot one, get one free" special.  That means that not slotting a new Signet skill necessarily drops that "value added bonus" from the core utility skill.  Fortunately, the Jade Mech outperforms most ranger pets in its utility, and its skills can be customized to fill in the gaps created by not having the core Toolbelt.  I enjoy using things in the environment to my advantage, so having a highly competent "pet" to play off of was a lot of fun.  This IS the "main event" when it comes to running a mechanist, so that subjective "fun factor" is probably key to anyone's individual opinion.

-Utility Skills:  For a famously "busy" profession, Signets were certainly and interesting choice.  Many players slot Signet skills for their passive effects and leave them, as their active effects generally have longer cast times and cooldowns than most skills.  It was pretty easy to just camp out on the passives, but it wasn't hard to figure out when and how to make good use of their active effects on the fly either.  Their cooldowns are reduced by the passive effect of the elite Overclock Signet rather than a trait choice, so using their actives more often makes popping Overclock Signet to activate the ultimate Jade Mech Canon a bit more costly.  Again, the loss of the Toolbelt means that these aren't very "mix and match" friendly with core skills, but they are a very serviceable streamlined alternative--especially if someone wants to just camp on their passive effects and focus on using weapon skills and jade mech commands.

-Traits:  The new trait line is where the Jade Mech's skill set can be enhanced and customized.  It's nice that the Jade Mech's skill set may be customized at all, but I feel like they could have done that another way and reserved traits for, say, granting bonuses/faster cooldowns to mace weapon skills and signet skills.  The entire trait line is all about the Jade Mech and literally nothing else.  Definitely an opportunity for improvement.

It might make more sense to allow mechanists to collect a "menagerie" of different Jade Mech "pets" via discovery and reverse-engineering of incomplete or broken mechs or by finding schematics.  However, instead of having an insane number of Jade Mechs on par with the number of ranger pets, have a smaller selection, each with its own selection of skills that can be slotted and used.  It seems like a shame to only have one carbon-copy Jade Mech for every mechanist, and to have the entire Mechanist trait line be nothing but the mech's skills and properties.  Yes, the Jade Mech is the mechanist's core mechanic and "main event," but that's all the more reason to give it more options and customization potential.  It would also open up the potential for more Jade Mech schematics and/or skills to be unlocked via exploration and achievements, similar to the way a ranger can seek out new juvenile pets to charm and add to a menagerie--a profession exclusive reason to explore while playing that profession.

Mechanist is a lot of fun as-is, but unless a bit more variety and versatility is added to the Jade Mech selection, it's a gimmick that could easily go stale.  The busy skill rotation engi purists probably think mechanist is already stale and boring to play, but I think it's a "proof of concept" beta with some excellent growth potential.  Worst case scenario, mechanist will still be fun to run for a while, and scrapper and holosmith are solid back up elites.

[Sir Vincent III.1286]

Test run so far.

 

Issues:

- When "Snap Ground Target to Current Target" option is enabled, Shift Signet doesn't function correctly. I think it conflicts with the Ground Targeting: Instant option. Normally, when there is a target, Ground Targetting: Instant is overridden by Snap Ground to target.

- The range of Energetic Slam is weird. It says 410, but the leap is probably around 600. The skill has a red stripe meaning the target is out of range, yet I can leap and hit the target.

- My Mechanist didn't receive the beta runes and sigils bag. This limits the things I can test.

 

Jade Mech CJ-1:

- 50K health. Every Ranger would love to have a pet with 50k health.

- Recall Mech (Repair): This is absolutely the best skill for a pet mechanic. I love this.

- Crash Down: This is another brilliant design. So much flavor. I recall my mech just so it can come crashing down. The AoE radius is tiny, but the damage is massive.

 

Mech AI:

- The Mech is slow to respond when commanded...it needs a major core processing upgrade.

- The Mech sometimes get confused with pathing...needs to debug the codes or maybe check the sensors and radar.

- The Mech often times lag behind...probably stuck in an endless loop algorithm or the mechanical joint as malfunctioning.

- The Mech executes command even when the skill requires a target...need to recalibrate the target acquisition protocol.

 

Mech Commands:

- The skill needs to indicate that the Mech received the command. Often times I'm pressing it multiple times thinking that the skill is bugged, but either the Mech is slow to respond or it's not receiving the command.

- The skill doesn't indicate if target is in range. So often times the mech will march across the map to execute the command on a target outside the range.

- Suggestion: A visual data-stream sent to the Mech will suffice to show that the command is sent and received.

 

Mechanist Skills:

- This is the best synergetic skill set I've ever seen so far compare to other Elite Specs. I can tell that time, love, and passion was devoted into making sure that all the skills, from the Mace to the utilities to other trait lines, all work together. Also the subtle fact that this skill set incorporates the lore of different Asuran Colleges: Signet is Static, Traits are Dynamic, and every skills are Synergetic to each other. This design is, simply put, Brilliant.

- Combat is very satisfying with these skills.

 

Mechanist Traits:

- Top Row -- this row is obviously for Condition build. My beta character didn't get any rune and sigil, but even running the default Dolyak Rune, Quartz jewel and Force sigil, the condition damage is great when used with Explosive and Firearm line. Now if I only have Undead Rune and condi sigils with my Trailblazer armor, I'm sure the damage will be even greater.

- Mid Row -- this is a really good choice for frontline support. The fact that the Mech can shrug off conditions is a big deal.

- Bot Row -- this is a backline DPS support. That's a lot of damage potential. F3 is a must when clearing trash mobs. Assasssin+zerker gear with Dolyak rune, Mech's F2 deals a 10k crit...imagine if I have the right runes.

 

I don't main ENG but this Elite Spec is so fun that I might have to dust mine off. Some cons (see Issues and Mech AI above) but I feel like this is the only spec that I believe went through some good polishing attempt. This spec is the most complete spec I've seen so far. Kudos to the design team that put the Mechanist together -- now if you would please take some time to look at the Ranger, they need some love over there.

 

[Tambaloneus.6290]

This is the most fun I've had with a new spec during a beta. Work has been a bit stressful so I was not in a great mood, loaded it up and thought "oh hum I don't play engie much let's see" and within about 20min I was laughing so hard I was in actual physical pain. 

 

The mech going into the sky and crashing back down every time I glide - DO NOT CHANGE THIS EVEN A TINY BIT!!! 

 

This was the best thing ever. The damage is astonishing, the constant stream of "get out of there" "incoming!" *crash* 'SQUEAK!?' and ability to send everything flying by gliding into encounters (triggering the crashdown) was just so glorious I will saw my own head off if this is nerfed. Games should be FUN, and this was some of the best fun I've had all year.

The ONLY thing I'd change is echo the calls for being able to dye it (to distinguish mine in a group) and for the names to use numbers and persist between loads. Also underwater mech plz. I could live without all that though if the mech stays just as it is for damage, liftoff gliding/crash. My temporary sylvari has sent so much poor defenceless wildlife flying the gods probably think Mordremoth came back to life. 

[Sifolstour.3210]

1 hour ago, Sir Vincent III.1286 said:

- 50K health. Every Ranger would love to have a pet with 50k health.

 

All ursines have 50k+ without even traiting beastmastery, and more like moas and drakes have similar heal pool just for adding some more. Mech management is a mess and unlike rangers that have plenty of good utilities skills and pet swap, mechanist doesnt have enough. The more usefull signet that ive seen is the signet that provides barrier and reflects proyectiles but using it is caotic.

[Woop S.7851]

On 10/26/2021 at 9:01 AM, Fire Attunement.9835 said:

Let us know what you think about the mechanist! What do you really like? What needs to be improved or adjusted?

Found a bug? Let us know in the bug thread.

Thinking outside the box after test play (Brainstorming):

• For the host Mechanist user, golem can act as a Power Suit that's drivable?
• Host Mechanist or another ally Mechanist can 'repair' the Golem in combat at expense of own health maybe
• 2-player drivable (a buddy can drive it together with you), both players must be in same party or squad (ability can be disabled in competitive modes)
• Borrowing the Juggernaut Toss skill from GW1, a possible counter mechanic/unit to Siege turtle if it's introduced into WvW (EOD post-launch)
• Golem can equip weapons? Laser sword? Guns? (Abilities available only when driven by host Mechanist)
• Wild idea: if more than 5 Mechanists are in a squad/party, and all 5 of them are driving their host golems, a 'Sync' ability appears allowing them to merge the 5 golems into a Uber Titan Golem (1-player controls walking, 1 controls melee/ranged attack skills, 3 others control different types of missiles/turrets mounted on it etc.), teamwork & fun!

Monetization:

• Golem Skin variants based on Race themes
• Golem weapon (Laser sword, shield, cannons, guns) skins?
• Different Race/Themed Golems with slightly different attributes (similar to Ranger pets, and swappable) example: A Charr Mechanist would have Flame Legion Effigy (skin) Golem, while a human would have a GW1 Kurzick Juggernaut skin and so on..
• Golem can be dyed maybe?
• Golem upgradable? Have Shields? If range is upgraded, maybe it has less armor, if armor upgraded, less range etc. (for balance)
• Possible PvE collection or mastery for skins?

References:
1. Drivable Golem Battle Suit 🚀

(Guns/Laser Swords/Shield abilities becomes available only when driven by host Mechanist)

Laser sword! ⚔️🤣 Maybe has a shield too? 🛡️

2. Drivable Golem (2-players, 1-driver, 1-gunner):

3. Combination of 5-golems into the Uber Titan golem 🤖

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by Woop S.7851

[FalsePromises.6398]

Making one last post now that I've tested the support variant in fractals and in the vacuum sealed golem chamber to see uptimes and whatnot... I've got some general thoughts, bugs, and buffs in mind. Here's a list.

1. Mistlock instabilities don't recharge your mech's commands, which are important if you want to be pre-buffing for fights.
2. For some reason, if you have mech out in the fractal lobby and then transfer into a fractal with it still alive, it goes on full death cooldown when you arrive into the fractal. 
3. For some reason the middle row traited F2 (which has no actual cast, it's instant effects) interrupts your middle row traited F3 channeled boon/barrier command. Makes for really painful moments when you fatfinger them and wind up putting F3 on full cooldown at no benefits received. Frankly, nothing should interrupt that support F3, even another attack command, that F3 is simply too important. 

The support options are very great, love them, but there's one important factor missing: stability. You don't make a mace/shield melee spec with a summon as a support spec with barrier and NOT give it stability. Here's some thoughts I have as to where it'd fit in nicely and really embrace the "multitool of the Guild Wars 2 squad" title. 

1. Add one stack of stability for one second granted to each ally effected by each pulse of barrier signet. This grants mechanist a strong sustained on-demand stability skill that doesn't scale hard with boon duration so it's more useful for dps players taking it to give their team a little support.
2. Add an effect to grant 3 stacks of stability for 3-4 seconds base to nearby allies on activation of the middle trait of the first column's command skill, Explosive Knuckle. This will reinforce the high impact drivers set as a support/utility option, whereas currently they're largely a power option since the command doesn't offer any support/boon/utility capabilities) and allow mechanist to quickly access a decent chunk of CC immunity on respectable cooldown (whereas previous barrier signet idea is on 24 second cooldown, this one would be on 12 second cooldown, both assuming alacrity... the result is barrier signet has 25% stability uptime with 100% boon duration and Explosive Knuckle has 50% stability uptime with 100% boon duration if it receives 3 second base stability). 

REALLY like the mechanist support style so far, and with tweaks like these it'd become perfect. Again, great work, loving mechanist in entirety so far, and it's by far my favorite spec I've touched in the betas. Props to whoever designed it so solidly with great groundwork. 

Edited October 29, 2021 by FalsePromises.6398

[InspectorCaracal.2970]

Two things up front!

First, I haven't read this thread, so some of this might've been said by other people.

Second, I'm a ranger main - one who was ecstatic to hear that engi is in fact getting the robot pet I've been hoping for since EoD was announced.

 

I'm still excited about it! But I only had to try playing Mechanist for a few minutes to realize that there is something deeply, terribly wrong with the game balance.

 

I totally understand and agree that the engi mech needs to be Really kitten Good. It's replacing an entire core engi mechanic and you only get the one and it doesn't have any of the synergies that ranger pets gets. I expected it to be a bit better than the strongest ranger pets. But.

But.

This is too much!

The mech can basically solo the Labyrinth for me.

The mech can defeat regular mobs in half, a third of the time or less as my strongest ranger pets, without breaking a sweat, with the support trait selected.

 

Maybe this is what the devs decided the numbers need to be like in order for the mech to be viable. If that's the case, that's fine - except it means pets are woefully under-powered.

Or maybe the pets are carefully balanced to not dominate the game. If that's the case, then the mech is OP as hell.

 

I don't know which direction things need to be fixed - maybe it's even that the pets need to go up and the mech needs to go down so they can meet in the middle - but the huge gap in effectiveness between the mech and the strongest ranger pets says that something, somewhere in the numbers, has absolutely gone wrong.

[Vagrant.7206]

37 minutes ago, Inventrix.3158 said:

I totally understand and agree that the engi mech needs to be Really kitten Good. It's replacing an entire core engi mechanic and you only get the one and it doesn't have any of the synergies that ranger pets gets. I expected it to be a bit better than the strongest ranger pets. But.

But.

This is too much!

 

The ranger and pet are meant to be equal partners (obviously changes depending on build, but I mean conceptually).

The mech and engi are not meant to be equal partners. A mechanist by themselves (without the mech) is substantially weaker than a core engineer:

• One traitline is entirely devoted to the mech instead of the 3 core traitlines. The mechanist traitline only enhances the mech, not the engineer.
• All the utility skills have half of their utility without the toolbelt skill. This means that even kits are weaker on mechanist than on core engineer because their toolbelt skills are absent.
• Signets are a piece of passive gameplay that primarily enhances the mech. Engineer weapons are generally weak and ineffectual compared to most other class's weapons (by design, to encourage kit use).

In other words, the engineer is acting more like the mech's minion than the other way around. So the mech kitten well better be more powerful than a ranger's pet - a mechanist has little else going for them.

Edited October 29, 2021 by Vagrant.7206

[InspectorCaracal.2970]

2 minutes ago, Vagrant.7206 said:

The ranger and pet are meant to be equal partners.

The mech and engi are not. A mechanist by themselves (without the mech) is substantially weaker than a core engineer:

• One traitline is entirely devoted to the mech instead of the 3 core traitlines.
• All the utility skills have half of their utility without the toolbelt skill. This means that even kits are weaker than core without their toolbelt skills.
• Signets are a piece of passive gameplay that primarily enhances the mech. Engineer weapons are generally weak and ineffectual compared to most other class's weapons (by design, to encourage kit use).

In other words, the engineer is acting more like the mech's minion than the other way around. So the mech kitten well better be more powerful than a ranger's pet - a mechanist has little else going for them.

Right, that's what I said and that's what I expected. But there's a difference between "this is better than ranger pets" and "I barely even have to play when my mech is there", you know?

[Vagrant.7206]

11 minutes ago, Inventrix.3158 said:

Right, that's what I said and that's what I expected. But there's a difference between "this is better than ranger pets" and "I barely even have to play when my mech is there", you know?

Perhaps, but you're comparing apples to oranges in this case. Core ranger and mechanist are in no way similar. Mechanist lacks both weapon swap and pet swap, and all of the other stuff I previously mentioned. Plus it's an e-spec.

Edited October 29, 2021 by Vagrant.7206

[InspectorCaracal.2970]

4 minutes ago, Vagrant.7206 said:

Perhaps, but you're comparing apples to oranges in this case. Core ranger and mechanist are in no way similar. Mechanist lacks both weapon swap and pet swap, and all of the other stuff I previously mentioned. Plus it's an e-spec.

I also play engi.