Which build should I use?

[Fade to Shadow.4579]

Hi! I've already a Guardian and a Mesmer with maxed gears and so on for playing PvE content, mostly on Solo (events, farm, killing champions etc). I'd like to play as a Engineer now. Can you suggest me please a build that allows me to play alone, with good sustain and damage? I've read about mechanist. The doubt I have is: Conditions or Power?

[Lord Voldemodem.4598]

Lord Hizen has 2 solo builds for Engi, Mechanist and Holo, both condi/hybrid and using celestial gear.

Otherwise scrapper is still good for it with chronomancer relic i think

[Fade to Shadow.4579]

Mmh so Condi is the way while playing Engiee?

[jason.1083]

If you just want it for open world and casual stuff, you can go with whatever you like, both Condi/Power builds work just fine on every Espec. 

Unless you want to go and solo a Legendary Bounty or something like that you should be fine with pretty much everything you pick.

[Fade to Shadow.4579]

It's because I don't want to spend enough gold for the Armor / weapons. Id like use Exotic Sets and survive most of the PvE Content, up to Champions, I dont want to kill legendaries. A build with a lot of AoE dmg would be nice so i can save up time killing things.

[working class hero.2175]

If you wanna try a fairly self sufficient kit-less power build I’ve really been liking this one for solo open world things, and you can also switch a few traits around if other ppl are providing boons:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PelAIJlJwoYHsJGKOsXZvVA-DSZYBRVsFUCY4sHkmhR4EISlo+WwBEY/c/QSAvGKMDAqA-e

Basic crux is you take the tools traitline instead of firearms and you run a lot of commanders gear to get you to crit cap and has some comfy boon duration.

-Static discharge coupled with particle accelerator and surprise shot gives you some fast bursts and cleave while also quickly stacking charges for kinetic battery (coupled with the celerity sigil and enter/exit forge, you get some pretty decent quickness uptime). Lock on trait also counts as a tool belt proc (idk why) so that’s another way to stack charges 

-Short fuse for perma fury, couple this with ECSU and hammer auto chains for might coverage and you actually have a decent amount of offensive boons covered.

-Static discharge and the instant cast projectiles also allow you to proc aim assisted rockets constantly. Basically almost all of your tool belt skills are instant cast which just feels awesome to play with in general

-Big QOL from tools traitline in getting perma vigor, so more dodges. Also clearing condis with tool belt skills is useful for getting out of combat and mounted faster rather than waiting for some burn tick to count down. 
 

-High fireworks relic uptime between thunderclap and static shock (for some reason this procs it, no clue why).

 

-Strong cc from thunderclap>rocket charge combo, then can enter forge and Holo leap while the lightning field is still up. Throw in holographic shockwave, static shock, and prime light beam when needed.

 

-Still have nice defensive utility in shock shield, photon wall and spectrum shield. Corona burst generate big barrier against lots of enemies and has such a low cooldown. Big boomer procs a lot from the aim assisted rockets, electro whirl, corona burst, explosive entrance, etc. AED’s new reduced cooldown and strong heal + condi clear is nice for harder champs.

 

Overall, I’ve been having a lot of fun on this build. Bursts down mobs and can handle itself really well against swarms of enemies due to insane cleave. Still struggles with really tough champs with annoying instabilities or legendaries but it can stand its ground against a lot of them. Condi clear isn’t talked about enough in open world but it definitely makes the experience a lot smoother. ArcDPS is still down at the time of writing this but I tested on the golem and would get ballpark 15-16k with only self provided buffs so not too shabby. 

[taara.3217]

7 hours ago, Fade to Shadow.4579 said:

to play alone, with good sustain and damage?

without champs/bounty - any build you like aestheticly
with champs/bounty - any condi build you like aestheticly

[Alcatraznc.3869]

11 hours ago, Fade to Shadow.4579 said:

Mmh so Condi is the way while playing Engiee?

 

Yes and no

 

Yes it is the way to go if you want to do solo stuff like champion or legendary. Celestial condi allows you to have sustain and decent damage. You run condi because despite not being a power build you still get some benefit from power stats in the form of....well basically all skill that inflict direct damage. However the opposite isnt always true.

 

No, if you want to play in group content, you'll need dedicated condi or power build but power Holosmith with Hammer is pretty good. Sure you can definitely run condi Mechanist for instance but overall group content allows you more flexibility on what you want to use.

 

Now as far what spec and build to pick from, I would say both are performing decently so it's a matter of preferences.

Edited October 2, 2023 by Alcatraznc.3869

[shion.2084]

On 10/1/2023 at 8:25 AM, Fade to Shadow.4579 said:

Hi! I've already a Guardian and a Mesmer with maxed gears and so on for playing PvE content, mostly on Solo (events, farm, killing champions etc). I'd like to play as a Engineer now. Can you suggest me please a build that allows me to play alone, with good sustain and damage? I've read about mechanist. The doubt I have is: Conditions or Power?

Play scrapper with heal gyro, nades, blast gyro and either bulwark or shredder depending on if you need the bulwark to live.  Use crate as an elite.  Take chrono relic and run your choice of DPS for armour and weapons.   

Take tools and explosives.    

You'll have basically permanent quickness in encounters, permanent swiftness, it's great for solo-ing PVE stuff.  You can trait some sustain over damage fi you really really need it... but I never really find that necessary and typically run full glass.

[Arantheal.7396]

laid back open world build:
full berserker power mech with explosives and tools.
static discharge is proced by your mech, and also fired from your mech's position, counting as his attack, and therefore buffing might. kinetic accelerator is procced by your mech's cd's giving you high quickness uptime on your own, your mech's cd's get reduced not only by jade dynamo, but from tools, too, and hence all your mech's cd's suddenly cleanse and give you vigor quite often.
Doesn't run kits, instead takes full signet + throw mine, for that extra cc and boonstrip. Slap runes of surging on all your gear (including waterbreather), to keep your +25% speed buff online even after you shadowstepped with shift signet, and you have an awesome build for soloing all champs without instakill mechanics, solo most dungeons, clear any fractal tier, regardless if they provide a healer.

Shift signet's passive is awesome to buff your mech, but don't hesitate to use it for stun breaks, getting out of bad places, or fixing your mech's position. It's an insta cast, so even if a wave attack has hit you, or you're about to be pushed off some platforms, smash that button to stay in fight.

if a boss/champ doesn't have boons you NEED to strip, and/or pressures you with conditions, swap out throw mines with elixier c, and you're absolutely golden in the cleansing department.

For Open World & fractals without support:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PeQAQlxycZbsXWMOsXdRPA-DSIYRUwfGtpAqQCIyBQFA-e
For Group content, where fury / might / quickness is provided by supports:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PeQAQlxycZbsXWMOuLvxOA-DSIYRUwfGtpAqQCIyBQFA-e
Since the second one caps out above 100% crit chance, you're strike/raid ready, too.

I almost never use my heal actively, since its passive regeneration together with big boomer is enough to keep me alive, even when I have to solo a fractal boss after the movement bobs in my group faceplanted, and exigency protocols do an awesome job at keeping your mech upright, too. if he's still killed, wait for his despawn animation to finish, before you use your elite to call your buddy back.
Keep in mind that a-net wants us to stay close to our mech, but if you have the choice between getting some extra dps from the boons your mech dishes out in his vincinity, or avoiding ALL the melee hate a champ/boss dishes out, stay back, let your mech facetank, and just focus on your rifle dmg while you dance out of damaging areas.
Edit:
Another quick note, projectile reflect is your enemy. Usually you can't strip it from bosses in certain phases and have to pause and let your mech do all the work (rifle #2 & #5 is still ok), but some lesser mobs (earth elementals / jade elementals in the solid ocean fractal) can be boonstripped with throw mine, to lose their reflect, too. Abuse the kitten out of it.

Edited October 3, 2023 by Arantheal.7396

[Gendalfs.7521]

On 10/1/2023 at 4:05 PM, Lord Voldemodem.4598 said:

Lord Hizen has 2 solo builds for Engi, Mechanist and Holo, both condi/hybrid and using celestial gear.

Otherwise scrapper is still good for it with chronomancer relic i think

Didnt Lord Hizen himself said that Scrapper now is thrash?

[Arantheal.7396]

1 hour ago, Gendalfs.7521 said:

Didnt Lord Hizen himself said that Scrapper now is thrash?

First of all, he said he didn't include it, because they lack sustain / meaningful self buffs, hence are not recommended for new players, or those that just beginn to learn the game mechanics. If you heard it as "being trash", it honestly says more about you (or about the guy who made this ridiculous judgement and passed it on to you), as about scrapper^^

2nd, doesn't matter what a random dude on the internet says. If you can run it effectively, it's a good build. If you reach about 10k dps, you're raid ready as dps. If snowcrow says a build benches 40k at the golem, you can split it in half and have a rough guestimation of what it does in the hands of good players in a real encounter.
If you can provide perma alac and/or perma quickness, you're raid ready. If you understand boss mechanics, by doing as little as having watched a youtube clip about the encounter, you're especially raid ready, and a joy to have in the group. Seriously, most players don't even have that going for them.

Boneskinner f.e.: Considered by the community to be above beginner level in difficulty, and still just boils down to "dodge left". The bar really hangs low, and in 99% of cases, people don't need better gear or absolutely top efficiency builds, but just basic understanding of how the game works. Many don't even know what to do if the boss suddenly has a second, blue bar. You can raid in kittening exotic gear, if only you know what to do, and when to do it. There are very few actual dps checks in the game, and for those, the bar hangs laughably low, too.

Long story short - if you like your build, play it, until you find something more fun.

Edited October 3, 2023 by Arantheal.7396

[Ragnaroskyel.4782]

7 hours ago, Arantheal.7396 said:

laid back open world build:
full berserker power mech with explosives and tools.
static discharge is proced by your mech, and also fired from your mech's position, counting as his attack, and therefore buffing might. kinetic accelerator is procced by your mech's cd's giving you high quickness uptime on your own, your mech's cd's get reduced not only by jade dynamo, but from tools, too, and hence all your mech's cd's suddenly cleanse and give you vigor quite often.
Doesn't run kits, instead takes full signet + throw mine, for that extra cc and boonstrip. Slap runes of surging on all your gear (including waterbreather), to keep your +25% speed buff online even after you shadowstepped with shift signet, and you have an awesome build for soloing all champs without instakill mechanics, solo most dungeons, clear any fractal tier, regardless if they provide a healer.

Shift signet's passive is awesome to buff your mech, but don't hesitate to use it for stun breaks, getting out of bad places, or fixing your mech's position. It's an insta cast, so even if a wave attack has hit you, or you're about to be pushed off some platforms, smash that button to stay in fight.

if a boss/champ doesn't have boons you NEED to strip, and/or pressures you with conditions, swap out throw mines with elixier c, and you're absolutely golden in the cleansing department.

For Open World & fractals without support:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PeQAQlxycZbsXWMOsXdRPA-DSIYRUwfGtpAqQCIyBQFA-e
For Group content, where fury / might / quickness is provided by supports:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PeQAQlxycZbsXWMOuLvxOA-DSIYRUwfGtpAqQCIyBQFA-e
Since the second one caps out above 100% crit chance, you're strike/raid ready, too.

I almost never use my heal actively, since its passive regeneration together with big boomer is enough to keep me alive, even when I have to solo a fractal boss after the movement bobs in my group faceplanted, and exigency protocols do an awesome job at keeping your mech upright, too. if he's still killed, wait for his despawn animation to finish, before you use your elite to call your buddy back.
Keep in mind that a-net wants us to stay close to our mech, but if you have the choice between getting some extra dps from the boons your mech dishes out in his vincinity, or avoiding ALL the melee hate a champ/boss dishes out, stay back, let your mech facetank, and just focus on your rifle dmg while you dance out of damaging areas.
Edit:
Another quick note, projectile reflect is your enemy. Usually you can't strip it from bosses in certain phases and have to pause and let your mech do all the work (rifle #2 & #5 is still ok), but some lesser mobs (earth elementals / jade elementals in the solid ocean fractal) can be boonstripped with throw mine, to lose their reflect, too. Abuse the kitten out of it.

Thanks for sharing the build, looks actually pretty similar to what I was running before taking a break from the game. But since the equipment also looks very similar this might be a good starting to point as well.

 

Just wondering about the relic, at least I couldn't see it in the build you shared. What could be a good option? The one I used with a hammer doesn't apply here because rifle has no 20 sec CD skill.

 

Thanks.

[Arantheal.7396]

52 minutes ago, Ragnaroskyel.4782 said:

Thanks for sharing the build, looks actually pretty similar to what I was running before taking a break from the game. But since the equipment also looks very similar this might be a good starting to point as well.

 

Just wondering about the relic, at least I couldn't see it in the build you shared. What could be a good option? The one I used with a hammer doesn't apply here because rifle has no 20 sec CD skill.

 

Thanks.

yea, forgot to set them in the editor.
relic of the thief is a solid dps choice, but if you find youself struggeling to get enough evades, don't hesitate to slot in relic of evasion, to basically grant you 100% vigor uptime.
Edit:
In fact relic of evasion is best in slot in the first build, since you want your endurance to never be full for "takedown round", and since you will get a high vigor uptime with it, combined with "optimized activation", which is procced by your mech, you look at 100% uptime on the 10% dmg increase of "excessive energy", the 3rd minor in tools. since relic of the thief only grants max 5% dmg increase, relic of evsion is the superior choice if your build involves the tools traitline.

 

Edited October 3, 2023 by Arantheal.7396