Mechanist Feedback Thread

[Shroud.2307]

I haven't played it, but from reading skills and watching streams, this is what I feel should change.

Slot the Golem in the elite utility. You can no longer choose other elite skills while using Mechanist, but traits, runes, etc. will have the same effect.

Pressing the elite skill once will summon the Golem.
Pressing it again while the Golem is active will act like a kit. Your weapon skills will be replaced with Golem skills. Perhaps Toolbelt F5 could be the "dismiss" skill to de-summon the Golem.

I feel this would be a lot better than just giving the Mechanist both Toolbelt skills and Golem skills on the F bar.
Since most of the Golem skills are on relatively long recharges anyway, and since proper kit-play generally means in and out of the kit for a couple skills rather than camping it, it makes sense to me that Golem skills could work that way as well - in to use a few skills - out to use weapon skills.

I see that a lot of people dislike the dependency on kits, so this may not be the most popular opinion. But to me, this is the best way to make it work without overcomplicating the spec, and still having the freedom of accessing Toolbelt skills when needed.

[Cenobite.4276]

My apologies to Anet if any of this has been covered before, I haven't read this entire thread.

 

1.  Please add a command that allows the mecha to spray bullets in a full circle (360 degrees).

2.  Please add a command that makes the mecha launch from the ground and hang out in the sky. This already happens whenever the engineer hops onto a mount. I'm suggesting that this should be included as an option, to remove the mecha from combat, with a long cooldown before the mecha can be summoned back to earth. Maybe it can heal itself while hiding out in the sky, and thus it cannot be resummoned until fully healed? I leave the details up to you.

3.  Please add some kind of system that allows the engineer to track the mecha's health beyond a simple red bar. Something like a verbal warning (maybe "system integrity failing" in the same voice that golems use) when health drops to 50%. Or the screen can flash green on the edges, in the same way that the screen flashes red on the edges when the player-character takes heavy damage. Or the mecha will retreat to stand on the engineer's location when below 50% health.

 

Thanks for reading!  This is a wonderful elite specialization and I love it. 

[Rayzer.1538]

My short and humble opinion so far and it will not be about numbers or stats.

The Golem is really fun to play around, it's a simple specialization but it gets the job done, animations and sound design are great but it feels very strange to lose the Tool Belt and remaining 90 seconds without the Golem it's very punishing.

The thing that missed the mark is the Mace, is not giving much and it feels tacked on, since the power of the spec comes from the Golem itself i would rather support it with buffs, heals or barriers, kinda like the Specter scepter but more focused on the Golem itself.

 

Thanks

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Rayzer.1538

[Snowskau.4369]

I've tried a bit of condi and power, a bit of diviner support, but I've had the best time on a healer build where I basically just replaced scrapper. That being said the "best time" is pretty awful for one fundamental reason: Pets are awful to use in GW2 simply because of the very poorly implemented controls. Half of the time my mech is is the wrong place, on the opposite side of the boss, sitting at max range so that none of the buffs it's supposed to give to the group are getting applied. Having to wrangle this barely functional AI with commands that somehow manage to be even worse than Ranger was previously makes this spec dead-on-arrival to me. I basically only have the Ranger Pet Combat Toggle key to attempt to maneuver this POS to where it's supposed to be, which means I have to constantly be turning it off and back on again so that it spends a significant amount of time not doing what it's supposed to. It is incredibly frustrating to play. Because it's a wider design problem not specific to one class I made a thread about it in general; if you want to curse even more classes with the terrible pet system you NEED to implement an actual control scheme for companion units. With these specs more reliant on pets than even Ranger used to be I think it is untenable for Mechanist and Untamed to be saddled with control schemes that are this bad and non-functional.

In other words: The inability to direct your companion anywhere except a functionally random spot around an enemy target (which is now locked behind cooldown attacks) or to a functionally random spot near the player (which is now more jank than before) is not acceptable. Having to sacrifice a whole utility skill with a prohibitive cooldown for this basic function is not acceptable. The game needs actual companion commands.

Edited October 27, 2021 by Snowskau.4369

[Dahkeus.8243]

One thing stood out to me as I named my mech:

 

*We can't use numbers in pet names*
 

This is something that really needs to be changed.  I mean, the default name of the Jade Mech even has a number.  Golem names overwhelmingly have numbers as part of their names in GW2, so we should be able to do the same for our mechs.

Edited October 27, 2021 by Dahkeus.8243

[Random Wax Orc.7695]

If only, Mechs were based on Mounts instead of Pets. Sadness...

Long before the elite reveal, I said two main things. 1) A single one handed weapon was a non-starter for an engineer elite because of the pathetic pool of Core weapons. 2) GW2's implementation of pets doesn't integrate well with the construction of the Engineer class. Random AI behavior doesn't mesh with precision play.

Sadly, this is exactly what Engineer was given. Engineer has long needed a Core rework, that propagates through all the elites, but any hope I had of that happening is gone now. The Mechanist negates the issues of Core Engineer by negating Core Engineer, not by addressing the issues with Core Engineer. This telegraphs that Engineer has been abandoned outside the scope of this new elite spec.

The Mechanist is pretty, and flashy, like the 3rd act of a Marvel movie, but it is also not well thought out and ignores the source material, like the 3rd act of a Marvel movie. It is also doomed to be abandoned by players as balance patches chip away at the power creep, leaving just a nonrobust AI gimmick class.

The lack of toolbelt is bad for the player, but the best solution is not to restore the toolbelt to the elite, but to rework Core engineer. The single one handed weapon is bad for the player, but the best solution is to address the lack of weapons and weapon swap in Core engineer. The wasting of traits to customize the Mech further aggravates the lack of synergy and options in most Core Engineer traits (which also needs a rework).

The (count them) three Mech skills are not also player skills, why aren't player and Mech attacking in concert? The signets are often hamstrung by random AI movement. In PvE, there has been an explosion of extreme mobility mobs in more recent content, and pet AI is mostly useless with merely moving mobs. Unless Mech ranged attacks are changed to be guided, and melee attacks don't require the Mech to stop moving, the usefulness of the Mech is going to be too limited.

 

My suggestions (random speculative build theory)

Engineer has a ridiculously small number of weapon choices and no weapon swap. Give the Mech a different attack for each player weapon skill, and have the Mech attack as the player uses their weapon skills. Restore the Toolbelt, except for F5 which will be to summon Mech. Give the signets each a toolbelt skill that are Mech movement commands. Remove the three Mech toolbelt skills and integrate them into the player weapon based skill attacks. Completely rework the elite traits, so Engineer can do some actual build-craft synergizing with core trait lines. Lastly, add an Elite Utility Skill that merges Player and Mech for 100s.

 

Oh, and please announce the intention for an eventual Core rework for Engineer.

[Mardomus.6984]

I like the concept of the Mechanist specialization and would like to hopefully see some improvements on it.

 

First, will there be different types of customizations to the Mech? Color and different parts. 

 

Second, will there be an improvement on the downtime for the Mech? 90+ seconds is a long time, especially if the Mech contributes to damage and support. If there will be no improvement for the cooldown, how about improving Tool and Invention Specialization? Both Specs could add synergy with the Mechs build improving turrets as well as adding synergy to Signets, boons and "Experimental Turret" talent. Please consider these in the discussions. 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Mardomus.6984

[Tally.6824]

My main concerns with the design are:

• Without toolbelt skills, using the medkit feels difficult to justify; I think losing the f2-f5 toolbelt skills feels fair but removing the f1 skill just feels punishing to support players. 
• Function gyro and holoforge both overwrite f5; having summoning on f4 instead feels clunky. 
• The mech needs alternative color schemes (or, in a perfect world, to be dyable) - rangers can pick and choose pets to match their aesthetic, and engineers need the same. 

 

The only bug that stood out to me that I don't think anyone else has said yet (though I skimmed the thread so far, so I might be wrong) is that the healing signet's passive does not proc MDF. I'm not sure I'd ever take it over medkit if we're given our f1 skill back, but if medkit continues to mean we lack a true healing skill then the passive splash healing from the signet might be worth considering. 

 

Outside of the above, the mech feels wonderful to play with! I mainly tested the support traitline, and I think that making it feasible to take the medkit would easily turn the mechanist into a viable support on par with (or honestly, maybe a bit better than) the scrapper. 

[Matoro.9708]

The mech needs to be able to guard a specific location and not move from it. This is critical in high level content like raids. 

 

Without toolbelt skills, Turrets are in even more dire need of a rework. The least pittance they deserve is some sort of synergy with the Mechanist traitline. For crying out loud, they are machines!

Edited October 27, 2021 by Matoro.9708

[Nighthawk.2401]

Better pet-focused ranger than ranger

 

The damage on the golem seems actually insane in sPvP, and "just kill the golem" isn't as ideal as it sounds, given that the resummon elite means you have a very limited time to kill it, watch it be resummoned, then kill it again within a rather short timeframe before it'll just be available for a third resummon again anyways. I don't believe the elite skill - when used to re-summon a dead golem - should start it's cooldown until that new golem dies, to prevent chaining them like this.

 

Also... power spec feels like it really does some ridiculous damage, give that a look for sPvP/WvW maybe? Mostly sPvP, I assume it'll be less viable when opponents aren't forced to contest you on objectives. 

[Control.8154]

- Boonstrip is on a too high CD and less accessible than its alacrity renegade counterpart. Would require an engineer to bring mines/boonstripping sigils which is a hinderance.

 

- An ammo system of 2 on the teleport would be nice.

 

- The Mech's F skills are all on a too high CD. This is not good since we already dont have access to our regular toolbelt skills.

 

- The Mech's attacks are mainly single target. Would be better to make Mech's attacks massive 5,000 AoE to ensure the janked AI Mech doesnt miss an attack 

 

- The Mech should have the same boons as the Engineer. The mech counting as a 6th person is really yikes.

 

- Mace is weak.

 

- More power damage is always welcome. 🙂

 

 

 

[Kalocin.5982]

Probably the only elite spec released next to specter that feels like it doesn't need a full rework. It's pretty fun to play although mace does feel a bit lame.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

So much for being a hybrid weapon.  I tried out the mech with full Grievers, and it only does 5k DPS with the condi skills.  Looks like it is better to either go full condi or full power, not both.  

[Jski.6180]

The pet really needs to stay on the eng if they set it to and all of the pet skills should let it move during them. Root skills for pets is the doom of the class. I would also like to see more passive skill used by the pet a kind of replacement for losing 2 of the 5 tool belt skills. It would also be nice if you can rez the pet in-between fight and or when your out of combat (as well as let the pet try to rez you when your down).

[Rory Tokisaki.7810]

Mechanist feels solid in PvE but lacks a bit in PvP.

 

First off the mech itself feels underpowered in a 5v5 game mode, mainly because it's so difficult to heal and cleanse the mech. The only sources of healing I can do is the healing turret, healing signet, the light field in the elixer gun kit, and the water field in the mortar kit. I'm not going to even consider the medkit due to the lack of toolbelt skills. All of these healing sources are barely anything when trying to keep the mech alive, I feel like a decent solution to this could be having my heal also heal the mech, and maybe even allow the wrench kit auto attack to heal the mech like it heals turrets. 

 

The mech also has very low health pool considering how easy it is to break the defiance bar, especially when it becomes vulnerable taking additional damage while it's stunned. I would appreciate it if the mech has their original 40k+ health naturally in PvP without stacking a lot of vitality yourself, especially since condition damage absolutely deletes the mech in seconds. I know there is a trait that allows the mech to cleanse 3 conditions off itself, but with how consistent some classes can apply conditions, and how good the other traits are for a condition/power mechanist build, I can't use that trait. Additionally it would be nice to see other traits have synergy with the mech like the explosive traitline. For example firearms, having additional critical chance, ferocity with fury, condition application/duration would be great for power, condition, and hybrid builds while the alchemy and inventions traitline could help the mech survive a bit longer in encounters.

 

The reason I push for more mech survivability and damage is because the mechanist class feels like a weaker version of core engineer while the mech is repairing. Mainly because of the toolbelt changes. It reduces additional sources of stunbreaks, stability, damage, crowd control, and healing with it gone. Because of this we're forced to fill our utilities slots with crucial items giving us less options to work with to make a strong build. For example since engineers doesn't have a weapon swap and if the mech is dead we need to use a kit for damage or some way to consistently support the team, otherwise we are just watching our teammates fight while sitting in the back doing nothing. We also need some sort of stunbreak or we will die to a crowd control chain attack by the enemy. Without toolbelts that's 2/3 utility slots used while the other elite specs such as holosmith can obtain both of those utilities through toolbelts. An idea to fix this would be to change the mech summoning ability from f4 to f5, and return the f1-f4 toolbelt skills while the mech is not active. And while the mech is active the f4 ability could be the "Return to me" command. Another suggestion is to maybe give the engineer an option to equip a single kit in the second weapon slot to use as a weapon swap.

 

On a final note, The mech itself feels very difficult to control. Being unable to actively change the target of my mech and or use a keybind to quickly call back my mech so it doesn't run off chasing an enemy makes it very difficult to coordinate attacks with. Having my mech be very static makes it hard for it to be melee in PvP, I would like it if the mech was able to attack while moving so it can't be kited so easily. Also I love the fact that you can name the mech, but please make it so the name stays when the mech disappears, considering that it disappears every time you change map, die, glide, and mount.

Edited October 27, 2021 by Awaul.9174

[Random Wax Orc.7695]

Add a Friendly Fire command where Mech targets AoE attacks on player's position (or go full Specter and allow targeting attacks on friendlies).  At least then the player could properly control where the Mech attacks, in a fun way.  Also needs a Heel mode.  (all these could be signet toolbelt skills for commanding Mech [as per my previous post above])

[Zuras.5394]

Many here have already mentioned the same experiences I've had.   

 

So to carry on...

1, The mace weapon was a decent idea but, it seemed kind of pointless to use when your mech is doing a fine job with melee.  I ended up using pistol shield and then pistol/pistol and basically stayed ranged which allowed me to control my mech better and my other skills. The mace seem limited with its skills and a little lack luster. The power fist was a bit fun but the recharge was a bit too long.

2, Fan of the mech Design however I agree when you have a bunch together it makes things in general a bit complicated. I hope an option for  mech skins is possible or fixing the Mech name bug may help.

3, The Mech is tough, however it can be stun locked with the default build which  of course is not a good thing. I tweaked the build a bit and it performed a little better, however it's lacking in synergies when it comes to adjusting what trait lines you pick. Aswell perhaps having an option tab that allows you to have a support mech build or a dps specific build.. with the current multipurpose default set up with melee and ranged its just not that great.

4, Not a huge issue but the Mechs melee animations are rather dull. You have this fancy sleek glowing looking mech and get let down by the simplistic boring melee attacks.

 

5, Just an idea....I figure it would of been really cool if the engineer could merge with the mech and do an almost like ironman concept.

 

 

And finally....This new spec reminds me a lot of the Engineer profession from Anarchy Online. Just wondering if that is were you all got the ideas from?

 

 

[LucianDK.8615]

6 minutes ago, Awaul.9174 said:

Mechanist feels solid in PvE but lacks a bit in PvP.

 

First off the mech itself feels underpowered in a 5v5 game mode, mainly because it's so difficult to heal and cleanse the mech. The only sources of healing I can do is the healing signet, the light field in the elixer gun kit, and the water field in the mortar kit. I'm not going to even consider the medkit due to the lack of toolbelt skills. All of these healing sources are barely anything when trying to keep the mech alive, I feel like a decent solution to this could be having my heal also heal the mech, and maybe even allow the wrench kit auto attack to heal the mech like it heals turrets. 

 

The mech also has very low health pool considering how easy it is to break the defiance bar, especially when it becomes vulnerable taking additional damage while it's stunned. I would appreciate it if the mech has their original 40k+ health naturally in PvP without stacking a lot of vitality yourself, especially since condition damage absolutely deletes the mech in seconds. I know there is a trait that allows the mech to cleanse 3 conditions off itself, but with how consistent some classes can apply conditions, and how good the other traits are for a condition/power mechanist build, I can't use that trait. Additionally it would be nice to see other traits have synergy with the mech like the explosive traitline. For example firearms, having additional critical chance, ferocity with fury, condition application/duration would be great for power, condition, and hybrid builds while the alchemy and inventions traitline could help the mech survive a bit longer in encounters.

 

The reason I push for more mech survivability and damage is because the mechanist class feels like a weaker version of core engineer while the mech is repairing. Mainly because of the toolbelt changes. It reduces additional sources of stunbreaks, stability, damage, crowd control, and healing with it gone. Because of this we're forced to fill our utilities slots with crucial items giving us less options to work with to make a strong build. For example since engineers doesn't have a weapon swap and if the mech is dead we need to use a kit for damage or some way to consistently support the team, otherwise we are just watching our teammates fight while sitting in the back doing nothing. We also need some sort of stunbreak or we will die to a crowd control chain attack by the enemy. Without toolbelts that's 2/3 utility slots used while the other elite specs such as holosmith can obtain both of those utilities through toolbelts. An idea to fix this would be to change the mech summoning ability from f4 to f5, and return the f1-f4 toolbelt skills while the mech is not active. And while the mech is active the f4 ability could be the "Return to me" command. Another suggestion is to maybe give the engineer an option to equip a single kit in the second weapon slot to use as a weapon swap.

 

On a final note, The mech itself feels very difficult to control. Being unable to actively change the target of my mech and or use a keybind to quickly call back my mech so it doesn't run off chasing an enemy makes it very difficult to coordinate attacks with. Having my mech be very static makes it hard for it to be melee in PvP, I would like it if the mech was able to attack while moving so it can't be kited so easily. Also I love the fact that you can name the mech, but please make it so the name stays when the mech disappears, considering that it disappears every time you change map, die, glide, and mount.

You -can- heal the mech. Look at the espec healing skill. Heals both you and the mech.

[Rory Tokisaki.7810]

1 minute ago, LucianDK.8615 said:

You -can- heal the mech. Look at the espec healing skill. Heals both you and the mech.

Yeah but at the same time I would like more choices, being limited makes someone very easy to counter in pvp. At the same time, yes I know the healing turret can heal the mech, but when my mech is halfway across the map and I need to heal my self this instant, it's not that good and it could be better.

[Mesis.2951]

Full rework please!!

[mov.1246]

My first thoughts after playing it a bit:

 

F1 should stay the heal toolbelt skill, mostly because of med kit. F2, F3 and F4 are mech skills and F5 is summon.

 

Mace feels weak in numbers and utility/viability.

 

Please let us dye the mech. It is hard too see whats your mech when other mechs are on the battlefield. If we can name it, why dont dye it? A bit customization for individuality and better overview in battle which is yours.

 

The pathfinding and AI in general... yes... rangers, now we feel your pain.

 

A minor trait that we share all boons with mech would be a nice thing.

 

I didnt tested dps or benchmark yet, but numbers should be tweaked to a level it can be competetive in high end pve.

 

Doing open world stuff and solo things feels great.

 

For wvw/spvp i cant speak.

 

Condition traits for mech could be stronger.

[Dr Meta.3158]

Three major changes need to happen to the mechanist for competitive modes at least.

1st: The ranged auto attack needs to go. It hits far too hard in combination with being too hard to shutdown/kill to warrant this level of damage. I've seen may players duel the mech alone and lose.

2nd: The breakbar needs to go. I'd rather the golem naturally pulse stability every 3 seconds like juggernaut and the three elite skill transformations than to greatly reduce counterplay against this mech.

3rd. The mech needs to be automatically respawned when the player respawns. Locking someone out of their profession skills after death is not good.

 

Other than obvious bugs and glitches associate with it, I think its cool.

[Djemo.7153]

From a WvW perspective:

 

The concept is very fun and the golem is neat, however it does feel like a downgrade compared to the other two specs, more flavor kit than a competitive kit.

 

Allot of people covered the balance side of things so I don't have much to chip in that hasn't already been said, however there are two glaring problems that amazed me that you guys didn't think of and that I feel need to be addressed before anything else, as they destroy the experience out the get-go:

 

1) The golem does not have the "Attack my Target" F1 option to actually be able to direct your golem to specific enemies.  If you guys are already going for a Engineer is now Ranger then please actually let us control the golem same way one would a Ranger pet. As it stands now, the thing does stuff on its own, and the only way to actually direct its anger at someone is by using one of the F1-F3 skills, which are going to be on cooldown most often, outside of that you just look at your golem attacking enemy pets or random people he fancies.

 

2) While the spec has the "Return to Me" F3 command that a Ranger has, it also is not tied to a hotkey, nor does there seem to be an option to tie it to a hotkey. Have in mind allot of us play this game with the camera option that lets you move the camera with your mouse, so our mouse is always locked and we have to use keyboard buttons to do things rather than press icons with our mouse. As it is now, each time I want the kitten golem to return to me I have to swap between camera modes mid combat and then swap back again just so I can release my mouse to press the "Return to Me" function.

 

Outside of that just a small comment relating to the comment when this spec was showcased on stream, stating that the defiance bar might be removed in PvP/WvW. If you do that then you might as well expect noone to play this spec in WvW, the animations for all of these golem skills are so long that it wont be able to fire off any of them if it gets interruted/stunned/knocked constantly.

 

In closing I'd also like to ask that you allow the character to actually move while you summon it, the fact that you have to stand still locked into place while the golem summon animation is going on is pointlessly frustrating, especially when even the Elite skill that summons it lets you walk around while casting it. And also please look into the fact that the golem is constantly getting summoned/unsummoned when you use your mount or glider. I don't mind it going poof when I do, but it should be like the Necros Flesh Golem, the moment you leave the mount/glider is just instantly appears next to you (if it is active), rather than having to wait for the "golem drop" animation 3 times over as I'm gliding/mounting about.

[covahlam.6391]

3 minutes ago, YaminoNakani.7083 said:

Three major changes need to happen to the mechanist for competitive modes at least.

1st: The ranged auto attack needs to go. It hits far too hard in combination with being too hard to shutdown/kill to warrant this level of damage. I've seen may players duel the mech alone and lose.

2nd: The breakbar needs to go. I'd rather the golem naturally pulse stability every 3 seconds like juggernaut and the three elite skill transformations than to greatly reduce counterplay against this mech.

3rd. The mech needs to be automatically respawned when the player respawns. Locking someone out of their profession skills after death is not good.

 

Other than obvious bugs and glitches associate with it, I think its cool.

Agree with all of this but will add that the mech persists too long after the mechanist dies. It's BS to take 4k+ damage from the mech's ranged attacks after I've killed my opponent.

[Rory Tokisaki.7810]

7 minutes ago, YaminoNakani.7083 said:

Three major changes need to happen to the mechanist for competitive modes at least.

1st: The ranged auto attack needs to go. It hits far too hard in combination with being too hard to shutdown/kill to warrant this level of damage. I've seen may players duel the mech alone and lose.

2nd: The breakbar needs to go. I'd rather the golem naturally pulse stability every 3 seconds like juggernaut and the three elite skill transformations than to greatly reduce counterplay against this mech.

3rd. The mech needs to be automatically respawned when the player respawns. Locking someone out of their profession skills after death is not good.

 

Other than obvious bugs and glitches associate with it, I think its cool.

The ranged auto attack is a necessity for pvp especially since it's so static with melee and skill usage. Maybe reduce the damage.

 

The breakbar is pretty nice, it prevents the mech from being made useless from slow spam, blind spam, and weakness spam.