Balance patch preview for Engineers

[Bomboed.5697]

On 9/14/2022 at 7:22 PM, Double Tap said:

Engineer

On the PvP side of things, we're revisiting an old powerhouse: grenade holosmith. While we don't want it back at the level where it dominated the meta, it's currently underperforming and there's room to bring it back up a bit.

For WvW we've primarily focused on scrapper. As we look to improve support diversity in WvW, it's clear that scrapper is an outlier. Builds like vindicator, tempest, warrior, or druid (after this update's changes) have the potential to be potent support options, but they aren't quite at the same level. We see scrapper as overperforming relative to where a support build should be, and so we've brought down its power in a few areas rather than raising other support builds to that overperforming level. We'll be keeping an eye on the support meta following this update and will make additional changes in future balance updates with the goal of creating many viable options.

 

Skills

• Grenade Barrage: Increased power coefficient per grenade from 0.3 to 0.3333 in PvP only.
• Shrapnel Grenade: Reduced cooldown from 6 seconds to 5 seconds in PvP only.
• Freeze Grenade: Increased power coefficient per grenade from 0.2 to 0.5 in PvP only.
• Magnetic Shield: Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 25 seconds in PvP only. Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 20 seconds in PvE and WvW.
• Static Shield: Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 30 seconds in PvP only. Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 24 seconds in PvE and WvW.
• Utility Goggles: Increased resistance duration from 3 seconds to 5 seconds. This skill now removes one damaging condition in addition to its other effects.
• Throw Mine: Reduced number of boons removed from 2 to 1 in WvW only.
• Mine Field: This skill no longer removes boons. Instead, it cripples enemies that it strikes.
• Fumigate: Increased cooldown from 12 second to 20 seconds in WvW only.
• Cleansing Field: Increased cooldown from 15 seconds to 20 seconds in WvW only.

Traits

• Over Shield: This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of shield skills.
• Medical Dispersion Field: Reduced healing conversion percentage from 10% to 7% in WvW.
• Mechanized Deployment: This trait now removes a condition after using a toolbelt skill, in addition to its other effects.
• Reactive Lenses: This trait no longer triggers Lesser Utility Goggles when disabled or blinded. Instead, it triggers after using a healing skill.
• Lesser Utility Goggles: Increased resistance duration from 2 seconds to 3 seconds. This skill now removes one damaging condition in addition to its other effects.
• Takedown Round: This trait has been reworked. It now grants increased outgoing strike damage while endurance is not full.
• Kinetic Battery: Increased quickness duration from 2 seconds to 3 seconds in PvP and WvW.

Scrapper

Skills

• Defense Field: This skill is now ground targeted. The spell area of effect created by this skill is now stationary. Increased cooldown from 25 seconds to 35 seconds in WvW only.
• Scrapper wells are now stationary ground-targeted skills with a range of 900.

Traits

• Impact Savant: This trait no longer reduces vitality.
• Gyroscopic Acceleration: Superspeed is now applied on the first pulse of wells instead of the final pulse.
• Kinetic Accelerators: This trait no longer grants quickness in PvP and WvW. Instead, it grants might and fury.

 

Holosmith

Skills

• Coolant Blast: Increased base healing from 4,740 to 5,250 in PvP and WvW.
• Cauterize: Reduced burning duration from 3 seconds to 1 second in PvP and WvW. Reduced the number of conditions removed from 3+3 to 2+2 in PvP and WvW. This skill now activates instantly.
• Photon Wall: Reduced cooldown from 45 seconds to 35 seconds in PvP only.
• Prime Light Beam: Increased power coefficient from 0.01 to 1.0 in PvP and WvW.

Traits

• Enhanced Capacity Storage Unit: Increased might duration from 6 seconds to 9 seconds in PvP only.

[Bomboed.5697]

Quick summary:

1. Scrapper is probably ruined
2. Turrets are still useless
3. Most of Gadgets are still useless
4. Not a single change for Pistols

[UNOwen.7132]

I feel bad for anyone who is a huge scrapper fan, thats gonna suck. And its such a baffling change too. Literally in the same patch where theyre making vindicator dodges faster because it felt clunky, they return scrapper gyros to its ultra-clunky original version?

[Bomboed.5697]

My prediction: In this patch Anet destroys everything except Mechanist. In the next update they will decide to destroy Mechanist because "it is too easy and powerful at the same time" so Engineer will be once again the least played class in the game.

[Calen.8945]

I hate this so much

[Calen.8945]

16 minutes ago, Bomboed.5697 said:

Quick summary:

1. Scrapper is probably ruined
2. Turrets are still useless
3. Most of Gadgets are still useless
4. Not a single change for Pistols

You know if you have the grand master trait Gadgeteer, gadgets are worth taking. The problem is that you NEED that trait and no one wants to take a full skill line for one or two gadgets.

[Frayze.4620]

RIP WvW support scrapper. Literally zero reason to take one over tempest or new-and-improved driud. GZ Ranger mains i guess?

[EriskRedLemur.7153]

I agree scrapper needed a nerf in WvW and I main scrapper. BUT - making wells stationary and dumb to play. Or unfun. It literally will make me and most scrapper not play it. And they took quickness away and field also stationary. Slow and clunky and aiming gyros meh. Plus gyros FOLLOW you that's what makes it different than any other well/fields you put down. Idk, I get that made it mobile and advantage over every other support but there were other ways to nerf scrapper.

 

However, I admit Druid changes look nice and I have an excuse to use my Tempest now lol.

[Matoro.9708]

20 minutes ago, Bomboed.5697 said:

My prediction: In this patch Anet destroys everything except Mechanist. In the next update they will decide to destroy Mechanist because "it is too easy and powerful at the same time" so Engineer will be once again the least played class in the game.

Time is a circle, no?

[Mell.4873]

Its not that much a nerf since 900 range on Wells is still much larger than Spirit/Banner which sit at 600 (Spirits Alacrity is 360)

[ZenDrake.8316]

6 minutes ago, Mell.4873 said:

Its not that much a nerf since 900 range on Wells is still much larger than Spirit/Banner which sit at 600 (Spirits Alacrity is 360)

Range is not Radius!

You can place it 900 units far away, but the radius is still a measly 240.

[Frayze.4620]

No, it IS that much of a nerf. To perform optimally and support your team to the fullest, you already need to position yourself towards the rear of any zerg so that you can actually hit people with both your conal elixir gun cleanse and the 1 heal from med-kit. You also rely on using hammer 2 in your cleansing field to hit as many people as possible with the resultant cleansing bolts. Now, with these changes, unless I can predict EXACTLY where the zerg is going to go, that is going to have a big, big impact on the amount of cleanses. Also, i can't give myself some moving stab and protection from defence field to get back into the zerg if needs be due to the positioning that i just stated.

Stealth gyro is now just a kitten form of veil.

[AliamRationem.5172]

I don't like the nerf to gyro mobility.  The mechanist nerfs were welcome, though.

[santenal.1054]

The active stunbreaker on heal skill and toolbelt skill condi cleanses are really strong, making the tools traitline verry good (probably gonna get nerfed eventually). The baseline cooldown reduction of static shield is also good.

[Mell.4873]

19 hours ago, fabian.3269 said:

Range is not Radius!

You can place it 900 units far away, but the radius is still a measly 240.

I looked Wells should be 360 not 240 so same as Spirits.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Mell.4873

[Infusion.7149]

Does your group not stack to blast smoke?
This is really not an issue since veil has far more of a tell than smoke fields which can easily look like any other AOE well to the enemy.

Scrappers are still going to be the premier source of superspeed and healing for the most part.

[Frayze.4620]

1 minute ago, Infusion.7149 said:

Does your group not stack to blast smoke?
This is really not an issue since veil has far more of a tell than smoke fields which can easily look like any other AOE well to the enemy.

Scrappers are still going to be the premier source of superspeed and healing for the most part.

If the changes were in isolation...possibly. But given the changes to druid as well, I sincerely doubt it.

[Infusion.7149]

Just now, Frayze.4620 said:

If the changes were in isolation...possibly. But given the changes to druid as well, I sincerely doubt it.

There are zero changes to astral force listed unless I'm missing something. Having no access to Celestial Avatar means you cannot heal much if at all since all you'd have are staff skills.

[Dawdler.8521]

The complete topsy turvy change of gyros because reasons will probably mean scrappers are effectively deleted from WvW, lol. Healers wont bother to micromanage AoE, it's much simpler to just have it on your feet. Will probably get replaced by aurashare heal tempests and mesmers for veil again. Is it going to be better or worse for the overall meta? Eh dont know. I will assume that the necro/guard combo is getting buffs instead.

Classic Anet. Dont really know why I expect anything different at this point.

Edited September 16, 2022 by Dawdler.8521

[Duglaive.5236]

9 minutes ago, Infusion.7149 said:

There are zero changes to astral force listed unless I'm missing something. Having no access to Celestial Avatar means you cannot heal much if at all since all you'd have are staff skills.

Look again.

[Infusion.7149]

21 minutes ago, Duglaive.5236 said:

Look again.

If you are in CA you gain zero Astral Force and you cannot go into CA without it being 100% filled. So your idea is to use druid, dip into CA which drops Astral Force levels even if you do nothing, drop out and wait 10 seconds and hope nothing larger than the glyph can heal hits your party? Keep in mind if you drop out of CA early you lose 50% of Astral Force. 

The Natual Mender change is essentially Lingering Light merged into the minor trait, currently 5 Astral Force every 3 seconds, and outright removed from Lingering Light. This means without doing damage (lol druid healer damage) or healing people with glyphs (since staff healing is not that high in competitive modes) you are looking at more or less no difference from now.

Keep in mind if you need to stealth with druid and without a scrapper , thief, or mesmer you need to drop out of CA ; pets also will be finnicky since it doesn't seem they added permastow for druid.

People are more likely to run aurashare tempest or heal spellbreakers.

Edited September 16, 2022 by Infusion.7149

[Oghier.7419]

1 hour ago, AliamRationem.5172 said:

The mechanist nerfs were welcome, though.

What mechanist nerfs?  There's nothing in the notes.  Did they say something that is not reflected in the written change notes?

[inci.3705]

5 minutes ago, Oghier.7419 said:

What mechanist nerfs?  There's nothing in the notes.  Did they say something that is not reflected in the written change notes?

Apparently, they said that mech won't proc AAR anymore and will inherit only precision, not ferocity.

[Arheundel.6451]

I mean...after 4 years of scrapper meta, 2 years of unkillable scrapper roamer grenade spammer cele god super sayan mode...you should have expect changes coming. Furthermore scrapper is not ruined at all...simply now people will have to use brain on where and when to use the gyro wards..rather than superspeed facetank their way to victory....at least for you there is no casting time on these wards

[Noah Salazar.5430]

• Kinetic Accelerators: This trait no longer grants quickness in PvP and WvW. Instead, it grants might and fury.

The quickness trait allowed for huge pressure in the brawling side of the class making up for the lack of damage scrapper generally has, now without that trait builds go from being well synergized to a slower paced lower damage build, back before this trait my scrapper fights would last long and some builds were unkillable because I did not do enough damage.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Noah Salazar.5430