Mechanist Feedback Thread

[FalsePromises.6398]

24 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?

 

Hmm sounds a little more comparable to another green class that gets companions and maybe has a skull icon... Strong summons are not particularly new stuff to be frank, and I don't see much issue. Comparing it to ranger though... honestly ranger pets are more of a footnote to the class since they're a baseline mechanic and not an elite spec. Comparing ranger pets to mech is like comparing jagged horrors to flesh golem or any single engineer kit to holoforge.

Regardless, the mech SHOULD spank your average trash mob, otherwise it'd be trash itself. Labyrinth is hardly a good indicator of strength anyway... I could take reaper to labyrinth and complain that it deals too much damage, but it doesn't change the fact it's not a really competitive dps. 

I do agree mech is strong, but it's good that way: it complements core engineer perfectly since core engineer lacks a lot of complementary power and CC components for open world that even the condi-statted golem can perform rather well. The benchmarks for mechanist aren't over the top with this golem either, so frankly there shouldn't be much issue. 

Edited October 29, 2021 by FalsePromises.6398

[Vagrant.7206]

23 minutes ago, Inventrix.3158 said:

I also play engi.

Sure, but maybe you're looking at this from a different perspective from me. I generally don't do open world content (mostly because I find it boring and easy). I spend most of my time playing between fractals and PvP.

Is the mech tougher and stronger than a typical pet? Sure. In the open world, the mechanist makes it easy mode. This is a good thing for people who have disabilities and struggle with some of the more fluid play in GW2.

But I just did a DPS test on the mech alone against a golem. It never went over 5k DPS by itself  while I was unbuffed (power and condi, tested both). This thing is not a powerhouse. It's just very durable and does ok damage. When I added myself into the fray (still unbuffed), I got 7k DPS for condi, and 6k dps for power. Those are very low numbers compared to what a holo can do unbuffed (last I tested ages ago was 12-13k unbuffed DPS). 

(I also got 20k DPS fully buffed condi. On holo power fully buffed, I usually get between 30-35k DPS. The numbers are just generally pretty low)

TL;DR - Mech is great for open world. Everything else is a resounding meh.

Edited October 29, 2021 by Vagrant.7206

[WaveIn.4091]

I usually play a tempest. I thoroughly enjoy my tempest. It’s got an interesting rotation and the visuals are great. Unfortunately it’s super squishy. 
 

Catalyst was good, but mechanist was better. I had a really awesome time fighting Drakkar in Bjora as a mechanist in the beta. Normally as my tempest it takes me maybe a minute to down groups of 3 ordinary enemies in Bjora, especially if one is a veteran enemy. Downing a champion or elite would be totally beyond me solo or in a team of two. With the mechanist, I plowed through Bjoras enemies with one shot, sometimes on auto from the Jade construct. Champions and elites were easy on the way to Drakkar in a small team. My tempest might actually be more effective than the mechanist in the battle against Drakkar himself because of the ability to respond quickly to a moving enemy, rather than having to aim and hold. I also got bounced around a lot with the default build of mechanist. 
 

But it was fun to have all that power! While I enjoy the gameplay and of course my fashion style of my tempest enough that I will probably keep a tempest or maybe a catylist, I might also make a mechanist. I really liked this class, in appearance, theme, story built into the GW2 world, personal attachment to engineers, and also how it plays! 
 

Thanks so much for a great beta! Had an awesome time and looking forward to End of Dragons! Hope it’s not really the end of dragons. 
 

PS I absolutely love the Jade color and appearance and motion of the construct. The construct flies and lands with a thunk like a SpaceX retroburn rocket recovery on the drone ship when you glide and land, or land from a springer or bouncing mushroom. I love it so much.  It feels so high tech and so sleek. I love the glow and how it emits green shining gas as it moves, powering it. The name is also good, but the graphics are absolutely outstanding! 

[Rose Solane.1027]

15 hours ago, SeTect.5918 said:

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.

My conclusion still stands: In open world PvE the Jade Mech is extremely strong and without it the Mechanist is very weak.

 

To address some of your points:

Maybe the Specter is an overpowered Support and the combination of Jade Mech and Specter can kill everything. In that case the developers have to look at the Specter too.

I doubt if my pet could kill that Champion in Orr without help of my Ranger. I don't know which pet can tank and do damage in the amount the Jade Mech can. The Jade Mech is much stronger than any Ranger pet. I don't think that is a smart design choice.

[Rose Solane.1027]

double post

Edited October 29, 2021 by Rose Solane.1027
double post

[SeTect.5918]

2 hours ago, Rose Solane.1027 said:

My conclusion still stands: In open world PvE the Jade Mech is extremely strong and without it the Mechanist is very weak.

 

To address some of your points:

Maybe the Specter is an overpowered Support and the combination of Jade Mech and Specter can kill everything. In that case the developers have to look at the Specter too.

I doubt if my pet could kill that Champion in Orr without help of my Ranger. I don't know which pet can tank and do damage in the amount the Jade Mech can. The Jade Mech is much stronger than any Ranger pet. I don't think that is a smart design choice.

Yea i agree on everything, tho i think ur Ranger pet can also kill a champ with a Support. 

But pet cant deal as much dmg as mech. Tho mechanist is fully built around the mech and ranger not, so it surely should deal more dmg atm.

[AegisOfLove.9648]

I think it would make sense for mech commands to be considered toolbelt skills. Right now, half the Tools Trait line does not benefit a mechanist at all.

 

I would also like to see more power redistributed into the mech commands, but weaken the basic attacks. In pvp, having a turret that can constantly ping enemies for 2.5k is absurd.

[Zaxares.5419]

As others have said, Mechanist kind of feels a little bit like a one-trick pony. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Jade Mech and it's super cool and fun to play with. But it feels like if you're Mechanist, too much of your build revolves around it. You lose access to your Toolbelt, your heal skill and elite are probably going to be locked to Signet for their best effects on the mech, and you'll likely also bring the Power/Condition signet depending on what you're running. That doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room for what you, the Mechanist, can actually do, which may be a problem if the Mech is dead, or worse, if the Mech gets nerfed at some point and the entire spec then becomes sub-par. (Bladesworn also has this issue a bit in that it's too reliant on the Gunsaber to carry its DPS and "purpose.")

[Sifolstour.3210]

9 minutes ago, Zaxares.5419 said:

As others have said, Mechanist kind of feels a little bit like a one-trick pony. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Jade Mech and it's super cool and fun to play with. But it feels like if you're Mechanist, too much of your build revolves around it. You lose access to your Toolbelt, your heal skill and elite are probably going to be locked to Signet for their best effects on the mech, and you'll likely also bring the Power/Condition signet depending on what you're running. That doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room for what you, the Mechanist, can actually do, which may be a problem if the Mech is dead, or worse, if the Mech gets nerfed at some point and the entire spec then becomes sub-par. (Bladesworn also has this issue a bit in that it's too reliant on the Gunsaber to carry its DPS and "purpose.")

I have to agree with all you said but you missed 1 more signet needed the barrier signet, which is a must so you only have 1 skill slot left that in my case im using it to pair the mechanist with the granade kit or the flamethrower.

[Random Wax Orc.7695]

5 minutes ago, Zaxares.5419 said:

That doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room for what you, the Mechanist, can actually do, which may be a problem if the Mech is dead, or worse, if the Mech gets nerfed at some point and the entire spec then becomes sub-par.

It isn't a matter of if the Mech gets nerfed, it is just a matter of when the Mech gets nerfed.  Rebalancing is inevitable and any rebalancing will result in a nerf.  The implementation of the concept is so monolithic and too inflexible to be viable long term.  I look at the Mechanist and I see Anet retrying to improve the "New Player Experience" in an elite spec.

[Jariel.9274]

I am going to write some considerations about Mechanist. Sadly I play mostly sPvP in GW2, so my all critiques are addressed towards this game mode, I haven't tried the new elite in PvE or WvW, so my point of view is influenced only about and regarding sPvP.

I am starting this reply with a quote from cards against humanity:

Quote

Mechanist is awesome in theory, kind of a mess in practice.

I don't even know where to start, so I'm going to list my considerations step by step.
 

• AI Intelligence: The mech feels clunky and not responsive at all, gets stuck in walls and doesen't follow you properly, or sometimes takes different routes that make him stuck in the middle of nowhere. We aren't ranger, pet is not an accessory to us, the mech is the core of the elite, if he doesen't follow you properly and it isn't where you want, you're food to your enemy that might catch you out of position. Also it doesen't have a fixed range like Ranger pets, so potentially it could chase you endlessly.

 

• Signets: some of them have nice mechanics, but giving access to only ONE stunbreak is very annoying. We have lost all our toolbelt skills which were giving us some stunbreaks or utilities to help us surviving. Having only one channeled stunbreak is something very hard to cope, especially if the enemy takes the advantage to attack you while the mech is stuck somewhere on the map.

 

• BreakBar in sPvP... Why? Let the mech be susceptible to CC like ranger pets, or give it a different mechanic, maybe something related to the signet the Mechanist is using or an immunity to CC like 3 seconds after it lands or so.

 

• 100s CD on Crash down when the mech dies: Nope. You can't take away the toolbelt skills and then leave the Mechanist without his main feature for 100s in sPvP, that's sadly to say... wrong. You said that you were "considering" if lower this time window or not, well yes. Especially if I use the elite to do damage on target and then my mech dies... At this point I'm always saving the elite to summon the mech back on the battlefield, since it has more value then a big AoE lazor that you can't even retarget.

 

• Condi damage: Not having an issue with condi dmg per se, but it seems that mech is way too weak against condi damage, not only, the class and the traitlines aren't very equipped to face condi dmg and the other traitlines who have some synergy with the new elite spec don't provide enough cleansing. The only cleansing you have it's on a 40s CD and removes them only from the mech.

 

• Major Traits: the idea to let us choose the moves of the mech based on which major trait we take it's cool, but, some of them feel mandatory and others are like not worthy to take at the moment. Not only, they affect mostly your mech and not the profession per se, there should be more synergy between mechanist and mech. Considering that we lost toolbelt skills which is an essential core mechanic that goes on the other 2 elite specs (Scrapper and Holosmith) the tradeoff si huge and unfair in my point of view. At least give better options or more influence on the class.

 

• Mace skills don't provide a real utility compared to the other weapon sets. Of course we could run other weapons, but at the moment taking shield offhand feels mandatory due being too good and providing very optimal CC source to survive.
  
  At the moment these are my main concerns. Again, the new elite is cool, has very nice animations and light effects but looks more just an Eye Candy for people than having an actual place in the game modes metas.
   

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by Jariel.9274

[kamikharzeeh.8016]

first of all, the optic on mechanist are pretty nice.

outside of that, it gets a bit more uncomfy.

 

Testmode: Wvw

(no structured fights tho, outside of squad pug-cloud brawls 15-20ish sized)

 

builds: power dps, heal/cleansebot scrapperstyle

weapons: mace-shield

 

i overall found it to be quite okayish. mace is fine, while mace3 could be sorta more useful, idk

but there are major flaws with the mech.

 

the "crash down" range is basically useless, ur far from safe within that distance of any enemy. it's like, zero sense or effect. and why does the mech automatically summon initially + when u dismount. that stuff is just confusing, it'd probably be better to always manually summon it.

i do like that the elite sigil can re-summon it. also the barrier sigil is good.

 

the major issue however is, that the mech will just keep chasing enmies and u lose track of it very easy.

every mech also looks the same... then, u cannot keybind the "stay close to me" thing... and then your mech is somewhere behind the rainbow running after some clouders or roamers and u cannot do anything with it nor any mech-bound skills.

 

even IF u manage to spam your mouseklicking on calling the mech back, it soaks all the dmg and probably dies while trying to turtlewalk back to you...

 

next, if it is out of your range, which it automatically leaves very fast, the f1-f3 skills just have no use anymore. they trigger way too slow, the golem feels therefore clunky to control and not reactive.

 

this issue is similar to those with other specs. on rev and necro specs been not that clunky,  please fix that. we need fluent working classes suiting for a fast paced gameplay.

Edited October 30, 2021 by kamikharzeeh.8016
edited

[Jalad Lantana.3027]

I have never played a Engineer before. As mainly a PVE Ranger player, I was curious to see what the mech pet was like.

I rolled a Beta Engineer and accepted the whole new specialization default setup.  The mace confused me,  I just did not get it,  so I stuck to using the Rifle.

Here are the take always from a strictly Ranger with no prior Engi experience:

* Mech/pet is plain OP in PVE, stupidly so, it can face tank anything short of a boss, it can auto kill with no Engi assistance any basic same level mob in 1 tenth the time a Ranger pet would take.

* Between the rifle damage and the mech, this build with vanilla exotic specs, can  quickly steam roll content a skilled Ranger in full ascended finds challenging.  I can't imagine how strong this would be with the best gear, runes, sigils etc.

Barring nerfs, this will be my go to class/build for farming.

Edited October 29, 2021 by Jalad Lantana.3027
take out extra lines

[Scotus.7125]

19 hours ago, Sigz.6943 said:

The Shift Signet gives movement speed ,and a shadow step. I see no reason to stop this from being used in the water.

The fact that Shift Signet cannot be used underwater makes sense. Shift Signet is a ground targeted TP just like Blink for mesmer. It would almost be impossible to keep it that way on a 3D movement field without totally reworking the movement skill.

 

As for the golem moving in the water; its probably still a work in progress as it is just a Beta test. PLEASE ANET GIVE US MECH JAWS!!!

Edited October 29, 2021 by Scotus.7125

[Nephalem.8921]

8 hours ago, Vagrant.7206 said:

Sure, but maybe you're looking at this from a different perspective from me. I generally don't do open world content (mostly because I find it boring and easy). I spend most of my time playing between fractals and PvP.

Is the mech tougher and stronger than a typical pet? Sure. In the open world, the mechanist makes it easy mode. This is a good thing for people who have disabilities and struggle with some of the more fluid play in GW2.

But I just did a DPS test on the mech alone against a golem. It never went over 5k DPS by itself  while I was unbuffed (power and condi, tested both). This thing is not a powerhouse. It's just very durable and does ok damage. When I added myself into the fray (still unbuffed), I got 7k DPS for condi, and 6k dps for power. Those are very low numbers compared to what a holo can do unbuffed (last I tested ages ago was 12-13k unbuffed DPS). 

(I also got 20k DPS fully buffed condi. On holo power fully buffed, I usually get between 30-35k DPS. The numbers are just generally pretty low)

TL;DR - Mech is great for open world. Everything else is a resounding meh.

Condi mech can do 40k dps actually. 47k if you manage to buff the golem which is impossible in full groups because of boon prio.

The problem is that the dps rotation is just core condi with added golem clunkyness. Not a single matching cd on the skills. its all over the place. A buffed golem does 15-17k dps on its own. unbuffed just 8k.Anet really needs to fix their broken pet systems before they add new pet specs. Fortifying bond baseline as a start.

Signets are weak and not worth using for dps.

[Aravind.9610]

For all those saying mechanist is just open world spec:

https://i.imgur.com/TIVpkVm.jpg

 I had another of Twilight Oasis too but the cap was ruined at the last moment by a random Horrik's cannons which reset my dps. It was around 16k at the end though.

PS I don't know how to show images directly on post.

Edited October 29, 2021 by Aravind.9610

[Vagrant.7206]

9 minutes ago, Nephalem.8921 said:

Condi mech can do 40k dps actually. 47k if you manage to buff the golem which is impossible in full groups because of boon prio.

The problem is that the dps rotation is just core condi with added golem clunkyness. Not a single matching cd on the skills. its all over the place. A buffed golem does 15-17k dps on its own. unbuffed just 8k.Anet really needs to fix their broken pet systems before they add new pet specs. Fortifying bond baseline as a start.

Signets are weak and not worth using for dps.

I would need to see a video of this or some kind of proof. 40k-47k DPS on a golem is incredibly high.

And I literally just tested an unbuffed golem. It does not do 8k DPS. Tops is 5k.

[Malus.2184]

Note: This feedback is only based on feel and has nothing to do with numbers. Numbers are easy to adjust, feel is really hard to get right.

The Mechanist itself feels like an auxilliary to the mech itself. The mech does all the work while the Machinist can get around by just standing there.

The Elite Spec tree itself reinforces this by having each and every single trait in it only affecting the mech itself and oing nothing for the engineer itself. A solution could be that the traits does something for the Engineer if the mech is unsummoned. The moment the mech gets summoned the traits only does something for the mech itself.

If the mech dies the Engineer themselves can really do little except just standing around and waiting for the CD to resummon the mech. This makes the Elite Signet a must have and it's still a situation of just standing around if the mech dies quickly after being summoned twice. A solution could be to keep the CD long and then make it so that each auto-attack that hits reduces the cooldown by X seconds. This would make the interaction between the mech and the Mechanist more interactive as right now it's utterly passive as long as the mech summons are on CD and the Mechanist have no mech active.

The loss of the Toolbelt feels really bad. I would suggest tweaking numbers and then enabling weapon swapping as the mMechanist is kinda forced into using signets instead of kits giving them a gameplay that feels utterly flat as their interaction with the game is rather limited aside from controlling the mech.

Also, the mech itself is feeling stiff. If targeted with AoE it just stands in it instead of trying to get out of it. A player would try to get out of it asap. Make it take damage as a normal player and then instead correct it by trying to get out of AoE asap, like a player would.

 

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by Malus.2184

[Nephalem.8921]

9 minutes ago, Vagrant.7206 said:

I would need to see a video of this or some kind of proof. 40k-47k DPS on a golem is incredibly high.

And I literally just tested an unbuffed golem. It does not do 8k DPS. Tops is 5k.

Unbuffed golem but buffed player. golem gets stats from might conversion. Obviously using f skills aswell.

There is no vid with buffed golem but just test it. Bring a friend into golem area that buffs it while you have buffs aswell. 15k+ from what i have seen.

[DragonProphet.4286]

Overall I really like this elite. It was fun to play, both solo and with some friends. 

 

• The mech felt a bit overpowered. I took it to Tangled Depths, where I have struggled playing solo. The mech was just melting groups of enemies. All I had to do was tag them. I don't mind using the mech as my main source of damage output. But this felt a little excessive.
• I tried swapping things around for a support-themed mech. The boons and healing were great for my friends and I. But I had a hard time positioning the mech for maximum benefit because of the pet-like AI. It would be nice if Barrier Burst gave me a ground AoE reticle to target a specific spot. Then the mech could walk over to the center and pulse away.
• I like the mech arms change based on your F1 skill. Could we see that for F2 and F3? I like the idea of the mech changing based on your build.
• Need more ways to customize the mech's appearance. I was in a larger group with a couple of mechanists doing bounties. I could not tell which mech was mine most of the time. It was frustrating. There needs to be a way to distinguish between my mech and everyone else's. Either little customizations I can make, or some difference in the mech that only I can see (for example, the green glow is darker or has a bluish tint from only the owner's point-of-view). 
• Thank you for giving Engi signets. I will often use a signet or two on other characters because I rarely activate my '9' skill. At least with a signet's passive bonus I am not wasting the slot. And now I can do it with enginner!
• Mace skills are fine. Kind of what I expected. Though I was hoping you could heal the mech by bashing on it with mace. Or maybe Tool Kit skill 1?

[blp.3489]

Long story short: Playing the mechanist was great fun!

 

All of this is predicated on a middling-skilled player playing non-raid PVE, and with a 3,3,1 mechanist traits and explosives and inventions trait-lines.  I mostly used the rifle simply because it was one of the defaults on character creation. Whether condi or support work well I can't comment.

 

I had great fun running around in The Silverwastes using the rifle to "point to" what I wanted the mech to engage, to immobilize the target before using the F2 and F3 skills that are prone to missing moving targets and knocking down other targets.  Using return to me and then attacking a target seemed to work to "redirect" the mech to attack my desired target.  There was sometimes a problem with the mech shooting over and therefore missing targets that had been knocked down, which I consider to be a bug.

 

When fighting something like the Champion Bandit Spokesperson I learned to use the heal more for healing the mech than healing myself.  The default Soldiers gear seemed to work better against the spokesperson than the set I customized.  The mech seemed to do okay against the four champions during the breaks, and also against the breach champions, except the troll with it's mass of bleeding mini-trolls, which I have never had much success fighting.  I wasted a few f2 and f3 attacks against the teleporting champion when they didn't hit before it teleported.  It also did well against the vinewrath champions, although with other players it's hard to tell the relative contributions.

 

I think that enjoying the mechanist requires that you think of the mech as a weapon that you use and direct rather than thinking about the reduced role of the mechanist themselves dealing damage with skills.  Typical engineer players who enjoy fluidly cycling through three or four kits, their toolbelt skills, and utilities might not enjoy the much different playstyle.  People who have avoided engineer because they don't enjoy complicated rotations requiring playing your keyboard like a piano will probably really like mechanist.  Engineer players who make heavy use of turrets might well enjoy the more active use of the mech without going full keyboard-piano mode.

 

I found it interesting that the first several pages of the thread alternate between "I love this" and "This is useless", and between the mech is way overpowered and either the mech melts too easily and is useless and/or that losing the toolbar made the mechanist useless.  In my view having a powerful mech is a tradeoff against those other factors.

 

For the tools trait-line to be useful the mech f-skills need to be treated as toolbar skills, I don't see why that would be a problem. Losing the self-heal on the medkit is an issue.  Perhaps an F4 that is the toolbelt skill for the currently equipped toolkit would help, although I would prefer something that gave me additional control over the mech.

 

Having the toolkit useable when the mech is not present might be reasonable although it might take away from the mech as the central mechanic.

 

Having the signets as an option is nice, I like a couple of them, it would also be nice to be able to build other mech-oriented skills.  Someone mentioned the ability to mount turrets on the mech which I think would be great.  The ability to further customize the mech by adding additional features via utility skills would allow one to take the mech focus and ability to control the mech one step further.

 

For the rangers who think the mech is too powerful I suggest that you have a one on one fight between a ranger with no pet and a mechanist with no mech, I think the more powerful mech balances the less powerful mechanist.

 

Wrt the long cooldown on mech death, between having a second mech via the elite skill, the heal mech on the heal signet, the breakbar immunity from typical PVE CC, barrier access, and an awareness that you need to sometimes actively take action to avoid mech death, the tradeoff between mech power and the cooldown seems to be in the realm of reasonable in non-raid PVE.

 

I don't think anyone would complain about improved AI and pathing but I wonder if a class based on AI is ever going to be suited to sPvP.  I've never played sPvP but watching videos with players jumping onto and off of and over structures it is hard to imagine an AI keeping up.  That said, I think there is room for adding some sort of "stick by me" mode where the mech doesn't wander off chasing random targets and some sort of attack my target mode.  And of course I see no reason for "return to me" to not have a key-binding.

 

I took the mech to the labyrinth and, like The Silverwastes, the ability to massacre mobs is impressive, I'm sure the mech will become a preferred tool for afk farmers.  I hope that they won't take away the breakbar, a mech that was getting CCed all the time wouldn't be any fun.  One of the most fun things was sending my mech into an overrun fortress in The Silverwastes to occupy the mob while I revived the fort master.  With most of my characters I would just be CCed to oblivion by multiple charging teragriffs, but with the mech I was able to single-handedly "save" forts several times.

 

I spent a short while in WvW but it is hard to draw any conclusions because WvW is inherently imbalanced by numbers.  If you are fighting against a group they can focus and obliterate the mech the same way they can focus and obliterate a player.  Naturally the mech brings its strong anti-mob capability to taking camps and other pve elements of wvw.

 

I'm sure that the mechanist won't appeal to a lot of players, probably especially in the pvp modes, but based on my own experience and the number of "I love it!" posts here it clearly appeals to a lot of players, even if they aren't traditional engineer players, and that's all one can expect from an elite spec, so I think with some refinement, to add even better control of the mech, the mechanist will be a great addition to the game!

 

Some way to customize the appearance of the mech, or some way to make your own mech more visible is needed as it is very hard to find your mech when there are several mechanists around.

 

I started as a player playing engineer because the concept appealed to me, probably because I'm an engineer in real life, and I still have more hours played on engineer than any other class, but I haven't been playing engineer a lot for a long time because it is just so much more fragile and more work to play than, for example, my necromancer or guardian.  Except for my flame-thrower build for farming which is dead easy, but also a bit boring.

[SeTect.5918]

Its very sad that the kits r better than the condi signet and u even have to use mortar kit now bc that elite signet is rly bad, well not that bad but it has an effect that shouldnt be spammable, bc it summons the mech, thats why they gave it a very high cooldown.

A solution would maybe to nerf the conditions of 1 of the kits and buff the mace to a level a bit over mainhand pistol, this makes mace better dps than mh pistol but pistol the way to go for ranged fights. Which will be in open world for example bc the mech can stay close and u can attack from range.

The elite signet needs a different active effect because the summon of the mech is surely the reason why it has such a high cooldown.
Then you cant resummon your mech again when it dies but a solution to this would be to give the f4 for summon mech a different cooldown. A cooldown thats not based on hp of the mech. Or instead of 1 sec for each percent on mech hp loss its just 0.5 of 0.4 sec cooldown increase. If the mech dies fully that would be a 36 (on 0.4 sec for each percent) sec and 45 (for 0.5) sec.

However if the mech gets some rebalancing like lower dmg or hp the cooldown should be reduced anyway. Then i would suggest 0.3 or 0.25 sec for each percent hp lost from mech.

However this would solve the problem with the bad elite skill and condition increase signet not competing with kits.
And mace would get also some buffs aside from it. Numbers on mace are really bad atm. Too low power dmg and too low condis. And if you play support, basically only auto attack is useful for the barrier on it.
Atm theres no reason to play mace over mainhand pistol if you play condi and theres no reason to play mace over rifle if you play power.

Edited October 29, 2021 by SeTect.5918

[Wielder Of Magic.3950]

Introduction

I hereby present my feedback on the Mechanist elite spec for the Engineer class. I will divide my feedback into several sections and will try to look at things from mainly a PvE perspective.

The Mechanist pleasantly surprised me. It is a lot better and a lot more fun than I thought it would be, especially when you consider that the spec is centered around an AI companion. The support role only needs a few tiny adjustments for it to become an absolute monster of a top-tier build. Condition damage is also fine, it is mainly the way of reaching the numbers that could use some shaking up. The biggest problem for the Mechanist are the extremely underpowered Power DPS role, the Mech AI and the almost complete lack of traits that boost the Mechanist (and not just the mech). This spec is probably going to get there in the end, and it will probably be glorious once it does, but there is still some work to be done before that is going to happen!

 

Possible issue with the theme:

I was a bit skeptical after seeing the reveal. Engineer getting another AI spec? Haven’t they learned from the Scrapper gyro fiasco? But fair is fair: The mech looks beautiful, and it is something that thematically fits the engineer beautifully. No complaints, a surprisingly appropriate theme, and after seeing a bit too many mecha anime I cannot wait to see a bunch of Gundams, EVA’s, Strelizia’s or Tsugumori’s hit the field.

 

Possible issue with the mechanic(s):

Jade Mech:

I actually like it. The traits really enhance the mech its roles (but not the Mechanist unfortunately, I will talk more about that later), and the customisable F skills are an interesting take on toolbelt skills while the mech is out. I would even like to see the mech get a bit more support from core engineer traitlines and kits however. You already have a grandmaster that gives the Mech bonuses from Explosions and the traitline of the same name, would it be possible to allow the mech to also enerit some of the trait bonuses for maybe turrets or toolkit (with the toolkit auto attack being able to repair the mech)?

 

Something that could potentially be very hurtful to the mech is the long cooldown on if the mech dies or gets recalled while badly damaged. Such a vital part of the spec should not be something you could potentially be locked out of for 100 seconds ( that is not a fair trade-off at all, not even if you run the elite signet to get around it the first time it happens). I understood that this part is not set in stone, but I felt that it should be addressed all the same. 100 possible seconds is way too long, as is 60 or 45. I feel like the maximum penalty should be 25 seconds or even less considering how 99% of your spec is the Mech, so without you are pretty much nothing. I also noticed that as you call the mech down you cannot do anything else. If we could activate the mech while on the move/doing other things/not be rooted that would be awesome.

 

The AI itself is another thing. It has to be perfect and specifically written for the mech. If the AI is bad, the spec will be bad. Right now the mech AI is...erratic. There are times where it does the job, and there are also times where it wanders off to the next continent. Shorten the leash range outside of combat, and perhaps give it some more movement speed or a movement skill while in combat.

 

Enemy targeting could use similar improvements. It would be great if we could somehow tell the mech to ‘lock on’ to a single target and having the mech only attack that target ( this would make its positioning a lot more predictable as well for buff purposes.

 

Something that I could not really figure out how it happened were ‘random deaths’. In higher end PvE I sometimes found my mech almost instantly dying. I believe it has something to do with special mechanics ( green circles from the Vale Guardian, Sabetha Flamethrower, things like that). It would be great if the mech becomes either immune or take drastically decreased damage from mechanics like these.

 

Some Proposals:

 

1. The mech looks like a solid concept, adding even more interaction with core engineer design like turret traits or the toolkit would be the cherry on top for me personally.

 

2. I would keep an eye on the cooldown on the mech summon when it dies or is recalled with heavy damage, a massive recharge time on something so vital to the spec would severely hamper or potentially even kill its viability ( that includes the option of using the elite signet to circumvent the cooldown).

 

3. Pleasure update the Mech summon skill to no longer root you in place.

 

4. I would also continue to refine the mech AI. A start would be to shorten the leash range, so it teleports towards the players location more often. Code this to be a true teleport and not movement/shadowstepping, because if there is elevation in the terrain the mech will often NOT teleport towards you, but opt for taking the long walk around.

 

5. Consider giving the mech a movement skill or simply increased movement in combat, at times it has a hard time to keep up or reposition itself, meaning all of that is time lost where your spec mechanic is kitten out.

Mech Commands:

I like their customizability. I will take a closer look at them in the trait section, but overall its a solid idea, with one big but: As the mech does its thing I found it sometimes hard to get it to use a mech command as it was doing something else. This caused mech commands to fire with a noticable delay or even not fire at all.

 

Proposal:
It would do wonders for the responsiveness of the mech if the mech commands force the mech to cancel any current action (including any AI activated skills it automatically gets from some traits) and directly start using the mech command skill instead. This way we might get rid of awkward delayed skill usage or skills even not firing/being cancelled. If that is not possible, consider to massively decrease the cast-times on mech skills and commands instead.
Another thing I would like to see is a better way to see the cooldowns on my mech commands. Right now I have a hard time seeing when things are still on CD or not ( some mech commands showed me a cooldown, others didnt. Please make all of them show a cooldown timer).

 

Trade-off: No more ordinary toolbelt skills:
While I think this is fair when the Mech is present, I feel it is overly punishing when the Mech is not around for whatever reason, weakening the Machinist and also severely reducing the usefulness of core engineer utility skills, considering the toolbelt skills give engineer so much value. It also means that the support side of the Mechanist hampers itself if it tries a healing role, because of how reliant that role is on the Medkit and several of the on-heal effects activating on Medkit’s toolbelt skill, which you now no longer have.

 

Proposal:  
 Consider giving the Mechanist access to its usual (even if they are nerfed a bit as a trade-off)  toolbelt skills when the mech is not present.

 

Possible issue with the Mace skills:  

 

Mace Strike/Smash/Barrier Blast:
It looks okay, but the mace unfortunately only works in full-on healing/support builds currently. For power and condi you are better off spamming bomb kit or grenade kit as it currently stands. For power the Mace needs more damage on its skills so it can outDPS bombs and grenades, for condi the same story, meaning buffing the amounts of confusion or adding other conditions on top.

Energizing Slam:  
Some mobility and Vigor on a low cooldown is always appreciated. But outside of support builds you are unlikely to see this.

Rocket Fist Prototype:
A low cooldown AoE stun with range? I like it (and has cc synergies with offhand shield).

 

Proposals:
 
1. Buff the power damage from the Mace so it can be used in a power Mechanist build. This requires the Mace auto-attack to do better damage than skill 1 from the Bomb kit, and ideally the damage on mace 2+3 should be made worth it as well. Don’t force us into full kit-plays for another 5 years.

 

2. Buff the condition damage from the mace as well. The theme of the conditions on mace is confusion, so give it more confusion, some of it on each attack at the very least, with possibly some burning on the final attack. Remove the burning from Rocket fist if that would overdo the total amount of burning.

 

3. Considering one of the grandmasters already plays around with inheriting trait bonuses from the Explosives traitline, give the mace attacks synergy with explosives as well. Make the 3rd auto attack and mace 2+3 count as explosions might go a long way, buffing both Power AND condition damage options.

 

Possible issues with the roles this spec can fill in PvE:

 

Power DPS Mechanist

Benchmarks put the power DPS of the Mechanist around 30-31k. If Anet wants power Mechanist to be a serious option, the power side of pretty much everything will have to be buffed. Mech attacks, mech commands, and also mace attacks if they want power to use it (unless they want for power Mechanist to be stuck using bombkit for auto attacks). The problem here will be that you cannot Overbuff the Mech or you risk that an overpowered AI starts playing the game for you. Power Mech buffs should probably be added by buffing the Mech Commands mostly, with the main chunk coming from Mace and trait buffs. You could also consider to scrap power entirely and only focus on Condi+Support options (which would free up some trait slots), but I would actually be against that solution in this case (for the simple reason it would not make sense that a mech could smack a bazillion-pound mech arm in your face and you shrugging it off like it was a gentle touch). So buffing it is.

 

Proposal: 
Consider buffs to the power value from things like the Mace, power-based Mech Commands and some of the utilities.

Condi DPS Mechanist
Benchmarks put the condi DPS of the Mechanist at 39-44k which is an extremely respectable number. Unfortunately  we use the same 4 kits that we have been using since before HoT, ignoring pretty much all the new stuff that the Mechanist brings. Condi signet?  Not used, DPS loss. Confusion on mace? DPS loss, better off with bombs or grenades. Elite signet? DPS loss, better to use the Mortar. The number is there, but you pretty much do the exact same piano thing engineer has been doing since forever.

If anet wants to make condi Mechanist play drastically different than core condi engineer, Mace needs to be buffed so mace attacks are better than grenade auto attacks, the condi+elite signet need to be better than Mortar and either bomb kit or flamethrower. The numbers are fine, it’s just about the way to reach it. I feel it would be a letdown if the best way to play condi Mechanist would be to play the same core 4-kit condi engineer build we have been playing since before HoT with the only change being we press 3 new toolbelt skills in the form of condi Mech commands.

 

Proposal: 
The benchmark number is great,keep it around there! But it would be even better if we could reach that number without having to resort to the exact 4-kit gameplay that condi engineer has been playing since the dawn of time. Buffs to the condition damage of the Mace and some of the utility skills and mech commands could go a long way.

 

Support Mechanist  
Support Mechanist is in an interesting and strong spot currently. With high boon duration and the right build it gives out 100% uptime on 5 man alacrity, fury, vigor, regeneration, 25 might, pretty strong protection uptime and an absolutely massive amount of barrier.

 

So...what’s the catch?

The first catch is that your mech needs to be present for boon support Mechanist to function well. No mech (or a dead mech) means your support potential is hampered. You can partially circumvent this with the signet elite that forcibly summons the Mech even if its down/dead, but do keep this in mind as one of your limiting factors.

 

The second catch is that if people want to get the most out of their Mechanist support buddies, they need to position near both Mechanist AND the mech (the range on the boons are 240-360). If you are only near one of them you will lose out on either a lot of alacrity, a lot of fury and might, or even both. While this is less of a problem when everyone stacks, the fact that you sometimes need to spread out ( and the mech being an AI lacking a way to instantly force its movement unless you sacrifice another utility slot for the shadowstep signet) might become another limiting factor. Not to mention you will be guarantueed to get into situations where boon coverage suffers because "lol AI doing its own thing".

 

Still, these are things we can learn to adapt to, unlike the third and imo biggest catch:  Every boon you or your mech put out is 5 man only. That means that a supportive Mechanist may fare well in fractals (potentially being able to compete with Alacrigade for a spot) and dungeons, 5 man content, but it will be severely limited in raids, where your alacrigade for example can hit 10 targets. While it may be possible that the Mechanist overcaps Alacrity by such a massive amount that it might be able to give it out to 10 man with clever positioning of both itself and the mech (I mean who knows, someone might find a way, way to early to exclude this possibility!), it is still an extremely limiting factor for this type of build that also harshly punishes you if you mess it up. Meanwhile your Renegade selects the 10 man grandmaster and proceeds to press F4 on recharge.

 

If the Mechanist could get a trait option to extend its boons (or at least its alacrity) from 5 to 10 targets it will become a very strong support. If not, it will most likely be confined to dungeons and fractals UNLESS it severely overcaps on at least the Alacrity boon. The same goes for the barrier application, 10 man barrier (so it can compete with scourge carry potential) would make it into a top-tier support. I would even take a nerf to our barrier-value generation to compensate (more but lower barriers, just so the barriers are weaker but you still apply them all the same. This way this would not mess around with alacrity generation).

 

Proposal:
Consider giving the Mechanist an option to extend its boons or at least alacrity and barrier from 5 to 10 man. Doing so would give it a way better chance of being able to fill a support role in a landscape dominated by Chronomancers, Druids, Scourges and especially Renegades and Firebrands.

 

Possible issues with the Signet utility skills:

 

Rectifier Signet:  
Healing Signet for engineer and mech, but with an active heal that doesnt suck. If there aren’t many conditions present this is a very good heal. But I do think this should make the mech do something upon activation as well.

 

Proposal:
Consider making the mech do something on top of healing itself when this signet is activated.

Barrier Signet:   
Good skill, obvious synergy with alacrity and boon support builds, and being projectile defense on top. Don’t think this needs any changes, appears to be great!

 

Force Signet:  
Stunbreak is always nice, and AoE knockback is strong. But outside of perhaps power Mechanist nobody will use this, and on power you may never activate the skill unless you also have the elite signet so you keep the passive.

 

Proposal:
It would be great if it could be more more interesting to use this skill’s active effect. At the very least it could get a very significant buff for its damage.

Shift Signet:  
May be mandatory depending on how controllable and/or bad the mech and mech AI is. If mech AI is good and this isnt needed to reposition it: This becomes niche. If mech AI is meh and this is a bandaid that can force it to be where it needs to be, this becomes mandatory. If the mech AI is bad...this won’t save it.

 

Proposal: 
I am honestly not sure what to think off this skill, for the simple reason that it is only great if the mech positioning is consistently awful, and it sucks if the mech happens to be great at positioning, meaning it probably won’t see use. Depending on which of these two scenario's happens to come true on release-day, either refine the mech AI or give this signet additional functionality.

 

Super Conducting Signet:
This could be a very strong skill for Condi Mechanists in theory...if only it was better than any of the core engineer kits. Please buff this!

 

Proposal:
Consider to give the confusion this signet gives to have a significantly longer duration, perhaps even double. Consider to change the functionality to when the mech is present both mech and mechanist create the confusion field (so effectively 2 fields). That could create either some AoE condi application or a tactical confusion burst if player and mech are near the same target. If that does not make it a better pick over bomb/grenade/flamethrower consider to give this some burning applications with each pulse as well.  If that makes it an OP skill, consider lowering the power damage pulse and vulnerability application to compensate for it.

 

Overclock Signet:
The passive effect helps all build variants that use signets (and it is not like you have a lot of choice when it comes to great engineer elite skills).  The forced mech summon regardless of its cooldown may be the true gem, allowing your mech to “cheat death” once. Unfortunately that is about all it’s good for, considering the active effect ( the ‘charging mah lazor’ attack) hits like a wet noodle.

 

Proposal:
Make the elite signet its active effect worth using in both power and condition Mechanist builds. For power this means massively upping the power damage, for condi it could mean adding multiple stacks of long lasting burning.

 

Possible issues with the Mechanist traits in general:
The traits really feel like they have been built while keeping Holosmith in mind. Where Holosmith traits came down to “build your own Forge”, the Mechanist comes down to “Build your own mech”.
First of all: That feels awesome. The idea of building a battle mech feels great. However, if your mech is not present, you lose almost everything you have traited for. Without the Mech the Mechanist becomes a weak sitting duck.

 

It would go a long way if  the mech traits did not just affect the mech, but also gave effects to the Mechanist. Channeling Conduits and J-drive are examples of traits that currently do this, the Mechanist could benefit from more traits with this particular approach. This way the Mechanist will still be weaker when the Mech is not present, but it will no longer be a sitting duck/be locked out of the majority of its trait bonuses (I am also surprised there are no Mace related traits). I would even take some toning down on the mech half of the traits to make this change happen if needed.

I also cannot help but shake the feeling that a lot of trait effect-spots are ‘wasted’ because they make the mech inherit player stats. If this is such an important part of making the mech useable, it should be made baseline, or at least partly. That way we can add some more original bonuses.

 

Proposal:
Consider giving more traits bonuses or effects that apply to the Mechanist itself as well, Channeling Conduits and J-drive are good examples. Giving up a lot of trait-room for stat-sharing with the mech feels restrictive. If it is so important, consider making the stat share baseline or through the master traits/a select few traits only, so you free up some options in your trait slots. It may be needed, but "your mech gains X% of your own A B and C stat" does not feel overly exciting.

 

Possible issues with Mechanist specific traits:

 

Mech Arms: Single Edge Cutters:
The preferred option for condi builds. 8 bleeding from the toolbelt attack is better than nothing, but I suppose the true value is in the mech auto’s applying bleeds, since the mech can attack alongside with the mechanist. The value of this will depend on the attack speed of the mech. Misses an effect for the mechanist.

 

Proposal:
Make this trait do something for the Mechanist as well, perhaps additional ways to inflict confusion (ways that do not include the mech) and/or increase confusion damage?

 

Mech Arms: High Impact Drivers:
Probably the preferred support option. Might generation in a 600 radius is great. But it sucks that this once again has no effect on the Mechanist, and that the might is only for 5 targets. Explosive knuckle seems a bit dull, I am not sure if weakness and counting as an explosion is enough.

 

Proposal:
Make this trait do something for the Mechanist as well, and keep an eye on if Explosive Knuckle is good enough in its current state. Perhaps this could make Mech commands and toolbelt skills( in case the mech isn’t around) give some short duration AoE stability ( ‘you got used to high impact events, things don’t shake you that much anymore’)?

 

Mech Arms: Jade Cannons:  
This is the power DPS option. Vulnerability helps, attacks becoming ranged helps with wonky AI pathing, but the Spark revolver mech command might do with better damage. This also misses a bonus for the mechanist, so once again:  

 

Proposal:
Make this trait do something for the Mechanist as well and make Spark Revolver hit harder, the power Mechanist could use it.

 

Mech Fighter:
Rocket punch is okay, but it sucks that we have no control over when the mech is going to use it. The fact that it counts as an explosion is nice however, I like the interaction with other traitlines.
The stat inheritance from the mechanist feels a bit dull. This and Energy Siphoning give the same type of bonus, and both are minor traits so you get them anyway.

 

Proposal:
If the mech needs 50% toughness and vit from this and another 100% from Energy Siphoning, then just roll it into a single 150% trait and give either this or Siphoning another bonus. And also, give that poor Mechanist something as well.

 

Mech Frame:Conductive Alloys:
The condi option. Getting condi stats from the Mechanist is huge albeit mechanically boring, and the Discharge array seems good as well. But this trait also misses a little bit of extra for the Mechanist. At times the array also seems to miss the target because of the mech its hitbox. I do wonder if we cannot roll all of the stat share into a single trait and free up some space for more original bonuses.

 

Proposal:
Make this trait do something for the Mechanist as well. As for the mech, consider to increase the range on the mech command a little bit to make it hit its target more reliably. Also consider to just roll all the stat conversions into just a select few traits, freeing up room for something more interesting in those slots.

 

Mech Frame: Channeling Conduits:  
This is an example of what I mean. This has a good supportive effect, a good mech command, AND it also gives a bonus to something the Mechanist does, on top of giving it good access to Alacrity. More of this please.

 

Proposal:
The only thing I would add is to consider making the alacrity 10 man, if needed through another trait in the grandmasters. or maybe add some stability here if it doesnt fit in the High Impact Drivers trait.

 

Mech Frame: Variable Mass Distributor:  
The power option. I do wonder, is there a reason the mech can get 100% from the condi stats, but only 50% from the power stats? Is it because this trait converts 3 stats and the condi one just 2?
The mech command is whatever. Damage and CC.  Could probably do with a bit more. But once again all bonuses for the mech, none for the Mechanist.

 

Proposal:
Make this trait do something for the Mechanist as well. On top of that, consider both the power stats that the Mechanist shares with the mech and see if that is enough. Take a look at the damage from the mech command and ask the same question. Damage for power Mechanist has to come from somewhere, and we cannot load all of it on Mace attacks.

 

Energy Siphoning:
The attack seems okay. Mostly power focused however, so a condi Mechanist gets less of a deal out of this minor. The stat inheritance from the mechanist feels a bit dull. This and Mech Fighter  give the same type of bonus, and both are minor traits so you get them anyway. This could maybe deal with some condition clearing/transfer for the mech?

 

Proposal:
If the mech needs 100% toughness and vit from this and another 50% from Mech Fighter, then just roll it into a single 150% trait and give either this or Mech Fighter another bonus. Perhaps this attack could make the mech transfer a few conditions to its target. And also, give that poor Mechanist something as well.

Mech Core: Jade Dynamo:
Seems to be the condi option, with the Jade Mortar’s burning feeling as a way to compensate for losing Incendiary Ammo from the flamethrower kit. Inheriting stuff from the explosions traitline is cool, I wish the other traits did something similar! Shame that the Mechanist is once again left with nothing and the fact that only mech attack skills count for explosion bonuses.

 

Proposal: 
Make the mech auto-attacks also able to trigger explosions and make this trait do something for the Mechanist as well.

Mech Core: Barrier Engine:
Very strong support trait. Perhaps this could be the place to make certain boons hit 10 man, so you need to invest your grandmaster into it?  Seems fair, considering the Renegade has a similar deal.
But...Mechanist bonus...where?

 

Proposal:
Make this trait do something for the Mechanist as well. Consider allowing this trait to make the alacrity and barrier target cap to increase to 10 man (if it doesnt fit anywhere else), or possibly all boons if you want to go completely overboard (this would likely put it over the top). The Mechanist has the potential to be brokenly strong support, but some target caps hinder it by a lot ( renegade alacrity = 10 man, big chunk of scourge barrier = 10 man).

 

Mech Core: J-Drive:
This one has an effect that supports the Mechanist itself, which is a good thing! But the active command (Sky Circus) currently doesn’t do enough. As for the bombardment: fun, but if the mech is dead, the Mechanist will follow shortly after.

 

Proposal: 
Heavily buff both the damage and CC from Sky Circus and consider some changes for the bombardment skill to make it more enticing. Perhaps it could also bombard periodically while the mech is active, but bombard a lot more frequently when the mech is down (carpet bomb feeling)?

 

Closing statement

I feel like the Mechanist is in a good  spot for support, adding 1 or 2 changes and that baby is ready for release as a top-tier build, no questions asked. But Condi and especially Power Mechanist have some issues to work through.

While condi Mechanist is strong, aside from the mech commands it does the exact same thing core condi engi has been doing for years, being cycling through grenade kit, bomb kit, flamethrower and mortar. It would be great if both mace and the signets could be made into stronger options, just so the engineer is not forced to play with the same 4 kit-lay-out it has been forced to use since forever if it wanted to run a condi-focused build.

 

Meanwhile Power Mechanist is pretty weak and in need of big buffs. The challenge will be to do this in a way that does not overload the damage from the mech. This actually goes for both power AND condi. The balancing will have to be done very delicately, considering you want the mech to be useful and not useless, but also not end up completely overpowered ( and at times the mech can sometimes feel a bit like this in the open world).

 

The support side could really use that allied target cap extension to 10 man, at least for the alacrity and barrier. No 10 man target caps and the fact that almost none of your traits give any bonuses to the Mechanist itself are what I see as potential two flaws in the spec design as it currently is. Luckily I think both can be fixed without much trouble, considering the Mechanist bonuses from traits can be modest in nature (to compensate for the fact your Mech gets the big goodies), but every trait should at least give SOMETHING.

 

That leaves the AI. This spec will always hinge on how well the AI is going to perform. And it is erratic. It can be decent when it works, but often does it do nothing, the wrong thing, or fly off to nowhere land. Numbers can be fixed, but a significant effort should go into further refining the mech AI.

 

Does the Mechanist have some rough edges?  Yes it does. Is it fixable? Also yes, I think this spec is close to being ready for release for the most part, it just needs those final changes/adjustments.
If anything this is a spec with massive potential, even with an AI that sometimes has a mind of its own.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

[azarhal.3086]

17 minutes ago, Wielder Of Magic.3950 said:

Mace Strike/Smash/Barrier Blast:
It looks okay, but the mace unfortunately only works in full-on healing/support builds currently.

 

I'm pretty sure that was the goal for mace.

[SeTect.5918]

42 minutes ago, azarhal.3086 said:

 

I'm pretty sure that was the goal for mace.

Well only auto attack supports ur teammates. Well skill 2 grants vigor to allies but thats all. So basically just the 3rd hit of auto attack gives something useful for allies. So even in that role it does not really fit properly tbh.
Power rifle you will use over power mace.
Condi pistol you will use over condi mace.
Mace gives no good support too but its the only choice on engi for support so its obv the best choice for support even if only 3rd hit of auto attack does something.

Well this cant be at least the only goal. I really hope mace gets some rework bc currently numbers on it are just bad.

I ll go more in detail now, who wants to read it, can do it. Overall i said already what i wanted to say.

Condi:
Mace auto attack only does confusion which is the worst damaging condition in pve.
Mace skill 2 does 0 damaging condis.
Mace skill 3 does 1 burn stack.
I think we all can come to the conclusion that Mh pistol is far better.

Power:
Mace auto attack does a bit more dmg than rifle auto attack bc its faster. However you wont auto attack anyway with it. Auto attack of kits are better.
Mace skill 2 does "okay" damage for its low cooldown.
Mace skill 3 does poor damage.
Offhand pistol is bad anyway for power but its the only choice you have as damaging offhand.
Nothing more to say here tbh. Rifle is just the better choice.

Support:
Mace auto attacks 3rd hit gains barrier to allies. Its pretty good.
Mace skill 2 grants allies vigor for some seconds, nothing more.
Mace skill 3 grants nothing to allies.


Overall opinion of me:
The auto attack of mace seems to be the only good skill on it. Sure mace 2 looks pretty good imo, I always liked skill 3 of revenant mace (it has the same animation). And skill 3 does a cc and has a projectile which is not new (warrior mace skill 5) but which is pretty cool.
However as I said, the auto attack seems to be the only good skill on it, its the way to go for support because skill 3 and 2 do nothing really for support.
On power auto attack is the only thing thats better than rifle auto attack because rifle just has better damage.
On condi auto attack does confusion which is actually not good in PvE overall but its still better than skill 2 which does not even inflict any damaging condition. Skill 3 with its 1 burn stack you can still do but lets be serious, 1 burn stack is poor.

It really needs some rework because it cant really fit in any of the roles atm imo.

Edited October 29, 2021 by SeTect.5918