Help needed with Engineer leveling build or advice 1-80 and becoming Mechanist

[Merywen.4798]

Hi folks,

i'm new to the game and after having tried out different professions i have decided on an Engineer as my main, that i want to turn into a Mechanist after reaching level 80.

However, the road to level 80 and becoming a Mechanist is long and i'm currently only Level 16. I don't want to use any boosts as i don't want to get overwhelmed and i also like to experience the 1-80 process at least once (although some people say it can be very tedious with certain core professions). 😄

 

Do you have any build or general suggestions what is should look out for or what's important? At the moment i'm following the leveling advice from metabattle and that's pretty much it.

I'm using a Rifle as a weapon and are working towards unlocking the skills mentioned there. I would be curious what you think of that and if there might be a more efficient option?

 

 

Once i've reached level 80 i want to spec into Mechanist. My primary interest is solo pve in the Open World and (maybe later) Fractals/Dungeons

I want to be able, at least to a certain degree, to deal with champions and bounty legendaries on my own. What's also imporant for me is that the rotation and playstyle doesn't get too complex.
I did a bit of research and i would use the updated open world build from Lord Hizen. Here's the original video where i got it from. Since i have zero knowledge i would like to ask for some opinions on this one. Is it really good for what i want to do? Are there maybe better options?

 

I would appreciate any feedback!

Edited August 28, 2022 by Merywen.4798

[Coolster.2536]

The build looks decent, it’ll probably do what you want if you practice and know what all your abilities do and when to use them. 

 

Personally, I would use shield over off-hand pistol for blocks or CC, but you can get away with off-hand pistol if you know the Champion/Bounty’s abilities. I would also use Iron Blooded over Purity of Purpose for higher defenses. It’s not necessary, but it’ll allow you to tank more damage when you make mistakes.

 

For a tip, the build uses Trailblazer’s gear. The easier way to get exotic armor is from farming Verdant Brink in Heart of Thorns (Heart of Maguuma). You can use the map-currency there to buy Bladed Armor and select Trailblazer’s stats. Trailblazer’s weapons are a bit harder to get, but you can use Celestial as a substitute and not lose out on much. Refer to this page for more information about getting level 80 gear

[Alcatraznc.3869]

I'll start with the easy answer :

 

-Yes you can definitely use Hizen build for solo PvE. In last video, he did mention he switched from Celestial to Trailblazer for more damage which isnt a bad pick. That being said, you can definitely stick to celestial if you want. You're not loosing much.

 

Now for a leveling build, I think you cannot go wrong with using rifle. It is pretty solid now and as long as you get power/precision/ferocity stats set you are pretty much good to go. Here's an example of a something you could use for your leveling : 

 

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PeQAQlZw4YVMLWKOsLvJNA-zRIYRUwDAA-e

 

I've ranked the trait line based on what I consider important from the top to the bottom (Explosive > Alchemy > Firearms). The gameplay is pretty simple, you shoot stuff at range with your rifle and if you get chased by a lot of mobs and cant deal with them with rifle, you switch to bomb kit and run in circle while dropping bombs. This is a relatively safe way to deal with crowd of melee mob. The toolbelt skill for the bomb kit drops a big bomb with a high blast damage and high CC but it takes 2-3 seconds before blowing up so you'll have to set up properly.

 

As for your elixir, Elixir U (the yellow one) is what you want to use when you're getting CCed. The elixir B (purple one) is a buffing tool so use it whenever you wants more damage. The toolkit skill for Elixir U allows you to run faster for a few second, which is handy to evade some mobs. As for the Elixir B, it gives stability to prevent CC and gives a random buff. 

[Merywen.4798]

Wow, thanks a lot for the detailed feedback!

13 hours ago, Coolster.2536 said:

For a tip, the build uses Trailblazer’s gear. The easier way to get exotic armor is from farming Verdant Brink in Heart of Thorns (Heart of Maguuma). You can use the map-currency there to buy Bladed Armor and select Trailblazer’s stats. Trailblazer’s weapons are a bit harder to get, but you can use Celestial as a substitute and not lose out on much. Refer to this page for more information about getting level 80 gear

Thanks! I'll definately consider your gearing suggestion. I haven't gotten very deep yet into the whole gearing process and how to get good gear. That's the next thing on my list to educated myself, so thanks for the reference!

 

1 hour ago, Alcatraznc.3869 said:

Now for a leveling build, I think you cannot go wrong with using rifle. It is pretty solid now and as long as you get power/precision/ferocity stats set you are pretty much good to go. Here's an example of a something you could use for your leveling : [...]

Wow, that is exactly what i was looking for! Thanks a lot for going into detail. I'll 100% follow your recommendation while leveling and use the build you created. The example of how to play it really helps a lot. 🙂

 

1 hour ago, Alcatraznc.3869 said:

-Yes you can definitely use Hizen build for solo PvE. In last video

Glad to hear that! Could i also in the far future once i start doing some group content like dungeons or fractals use the build for that or are there better options? I watched a video yesterday about a new "Rifle Mechanist" build, that should be very good. However, someone in the comments said it's not useful for new players, because you get one shotted if you don't know boss mechanics already (which would be the case for me 😆).

Edited August 29, 2022 by Merywen.4798

[Kougiou.5634]

Greeting from a fellow engineer. 

You made the right choice, since engineers can do everything in a unique way! 

For a leveling build I would go with the following: 
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PeQAQlFwCZVMLWKOsLvJNA-zRIYRUwDAA-e

Explaining:
1. Rocket boots to avoid dangerous scenarios (always handy and life saving) 
2. Mortar kit that has amazing range and nice damage cause every attack is an explosion (not to mention combo fields)
3. Elixir U for stun breaks and boons. (superspeed on utility belt)
4. Elixir B for boons (stability to avoid getting CCed at utility belt)
5. Elixir H for heal. 

Note: since you don't have access to elite specs I putted many elixirs so you can get maximum value from HGH. Alchemy is great to help you learn the mechanics of the game and the engineer in a safe way.

Shame that you like mechanist, Scrapper is my main and very fun specialization ! 

[Jerus.4350]

2 hours ago, Merywen.4798 said:

Glad to hear that! Could i also in the far future once i start doing some group content like dungeons or fractals use the build for that or are there better options? I watched a video yesterday about a new "Rifle Mechanist" build, that should be very good. However, someone in the comments said it's not useful for new players, because you get one shotted if you don't know boss mechanics already (which would be the case for me 😆).

That's the case for everything, or at least everything that didn't gear up with a bunch of toughness/vitality and doing that isn't a good idea.   It's an action style game, there are some attacks that will just need to be actively avoided, but they're usually pretty well telegraphed (get out of the big orange field!).

 

I'd add here some things that I didn't see that I think are worth mentioning for new engi players:

Blind Fields: they're awesome, Bomb4 and Mortar4, blind makes it so the next attack misses, so you can gather up a few enemies drop a blind field and enjoy a few seconds of near immunity.

Tools Traitline: Streamlined kits used to be a must with the perma swiftness, probably not as important with Mounts, but it was still always a favorite of mine on Core.  You also have a trait that gives extra endurance regen that could help while learning and wasting dodges.

Blast Combos: worth learning some combos.  Healing Turret is a good start because it's built to combo with itself.  You hit healing turret and it will place the turret and then create a water field with the overcharge.  So you place, wait a second, and then hit the healing skill again to detonate (note the blast is centered on the player not the turret) and that will do a blast finisher in the water field for extra healing.  Likewise you could hit your Bomb toolbelt skill Big Ol Bomb before placing the healing turret to get a secondary blast for even more healing.  Blasting Water/Fire/Smoke fields can be a big help and is part of the core engi design.

[Alcatraznc.3869]

13 hours ago, Merywen.4798 said:

Glad to hear that! Could i also in the far future once i start doing some group content like dungeons or fractals use the build for that or are there better options? I watched a video yesterday about a new "Rifle Mechanist" build, that should be very good. However, someone in the comments said it's not useful for new players, because you get one shotted if you don't know boss mechanics already (which would be the case for me 😆).

 

That is true but it applies to all classes. What allows you to survive more than 2 hit in toughness and survivability which is not a stat you will be looking for in instanced group content like Fractal/raid (unless you're the tank). I wouldnt say the rifle mech is not useful for new players but this is not a forgiving build that will let you off the hook for taking hits.

 

If you plan to do Fractal/raid, then this mech rifle build will be good for that however if plan to do solo OW, then I wouldnt recommend that build first, stick to Hizen's build. I think you can keep using Hizen build for fractal, at least the T1- T2. These tier are beginner level so you shouldnt be afraid to join random group doing these fractals with an OW build and the extra survivability will comes in handy if you mess up / learn new mecanic.

However for T3-T4 fractal you will want to use a dedicated DPS build or a dedicated healer build because this is where things starts to get spicy. T3 will start to feel overwhelming at first with all the special debuff starting to piles up and T4 is just going to be the same as T3 but a bit harder.