perspective and thoughts of the Engi after patch so far (wall of text)

[ukuni.8745]

So this is just some of my perspective of the current state of engineer some thoughts on improvements that could be implemented in a balanced way since anet made such a drastic change to the alchemy and inventions trait line its very possible, overall im hoping to generate some decent discussion that can be used to help improve engineer.

Aight so lets just get this off the table now Core engi is now dead no its not because of the changes in alchemy its because its so intensely outperformed due to outdated skills, id personally say that comparing inventions to pre patch alchemy in terms of condi clear even tho with a full set of elixirs pre patch alchemy technically had more condi clear then the new inventions i feel is slightly slightly superior even on core engi due to better application of condi clear for example if you take elixirs pre patch you also need them for the utility and not just removing condis where as with inventions your condi clear is attached to your defensive skills now when you use a shield skill your using it to avoid damage which means theres a good chance the condi clear is a welcome benefit when you use your healing turret your using it to heal and now it removes more condis then befor your also spending less time useing condition clearing skills overall and because of this it also opens up your choices of utility skills but it is lacking on the boon application that HGH and elixirs provide making core engi alot weaker now for total solo damage output.

So unfortunately the drunk engineer build is no longer viable because condi clear was taken away from elixirs which in this situation yea man thats unfortunate but in the grand scheme of things its for the better since alchemy and inventions have separate purposes now that being inventions is for tanking and alchemy is for boon application and while alchemy isnt in the best spot for boon application without inventions right now the current changes we have gotten do make me feel like there are some very good chances for improved options for opening up alchemy and elixirs for a solid boon support choice for engi in future patches like adding boon related buffs to under preforming elixirs removing the rng attached to elixirs and buff/nerfing accordingly to make up for changed effects as well as changing how supportive Toss elixirs function from a thrown object into something similar to a shout, assuming they changed the way toss elixirs function some things id like to see happen is adding resistance to toss elixir H and removing all the rng and outright applying all the boons that come with the elixir with reduced duration's on the boons that can be made up for with increased concentration as well as no cast time since i feel thats necessary for it to catch up and feel less outdated compared to current skills and the same goes for toss elixir b, elixir S should at least have a cast time if its casting was similar to a shout or left as is and toss elixir Cs short cooldown with no cast time and functioning similar to a shout alongside elixir C and resistance on toss elixir H or healing turret would help make up for scrapped condi clear simply because of how its applied in combat since it would vastly reduce the time spent trying to clear condis and maintain boons which would keep your offensive uptime much higher, toss elixir X could remain as a toss skill due to it being the only offensive toss elixir, toss Elixir R on the other hand could be a bit op if it was left as aoe ressing lol but it could be changed to giving players vigor which is a really bad idea dont use that idea anet another possibility to giving allies a static amount of endurance or alacrity since alacrity is a boon now and boon application seems to be the theme anet is trying to push for alchemy and elixirs this would also be beneficial for engis place in pve, im sure there are also better ideas that could be implemented but its mostly food for thought at this point.

Moving on from elixirs, inventions is way better now for scrapper and even better for holosmith in spvp and i feel the new potential builds will outshine the prepatch meta builds like dodgeholo especially if the meta moves towards a power based meta this is simply due to how well inventions preforms with the holosmiths playstyle and certain skills such as hard light arena being a virtually unstoppable source of condi clear protection fury and regen on a point fight and in a power meta with mesmers and spell breakers running around stripping boons left right and center that protection is going to be incredibly valuable to any team fight and the condi clear ontop of it will make it far to important to not take and i can confirm you can face tank a scourge condi spamming on you with hard light arena up two scourges is a bit harder but hey fuck it class stack and vastly overwhelm the condis hahah, in alchemy aside from the removal of condi clear on elixirs transmute is last i heard bugged not sure on whats going on there but that aside its worse on paper compared to the old transmute but its i feel like its better in action compared to prepatch transmute simply due to the fact that it functions quite differently making it vastly more reliable at removing important conditions, comeback cure purity of purpose and compounding chemicals are really interesting to play with but ill fill yas in on that later.

The changes to dodge mines was a needed one i think, alotta players thought dodgeholo was cancer and i agree with them now it feels alot more like a low rank tier of trait to use, the mines are very easy to spot and avoid or in some cases run over befor they activate and continue your assault on an enemy engineer but in lower tiers i can see it being still effective for newer players to use and id say alotta power/burst engineers will swap to firearms since it is now more reliable sheer damage output but not total damage output since your able to get very good uptime on 100% crit chance and if the meta dosent go completely into a power meta and is more of a hybrid meta meaning a decent mix of condi and power specs then modified ammunition will be able to actually apply a decent damage bonus from team mates like scourges far more often i also think that we might see Photonic blasting module in a firearms/inventions/holo build for a few reasons, if your taking sword/shield for the traits for extra protection on shield sword makes it quite easy to ensure PBM lands since it takes a second to charge before detonating and sword 3 can put you in range of an enemy before then it blows up, running inventions gives you alot better choices at personal defense when your waiting for holoforge to come off cd and since holoforge hits like a truck can easily force enemy's to waste defenses before you reach the overheating point and when pbm hits my god it does alot of damage the highest ive seen is 15k on a mesmer without me traiting totally into damage output, anyway overall i think we will see more and more power/burst holos using firearms over explosives with a build that has more defensive utility's then the previous meta to make up for the loss of condi clearing and utility in alchemy which is technically more tanky then the dodgeholo but less overall burst so itll be interesting to see how the spvp fourms react to a tankier holosmith with better support.

Scrapper i dont think will make it into the Spvp meta i think cleave will be to heavy for a scrapper to attempt gyro ressing or double ressing and its support while better then a holosmith wont be enough for it to out preform a holosmith overall, i think scrapper will most defiantly still be used and seen fairly often in spvp but when it comes to setting up optimal team comps it either wont be as viable as a holosmith or there is a better class to fill its role, however in WvW it should be superior to the holosmith in terms of fighting on the front lines or havoc groups over holosmith but holo should still be a better choice for solo roaming i still dont think it has enough for it to be considered a good choice in GvGs tho but with some suggested changes then it could potentially change that.

With the change/rework to mesmer i dont think its a pipe dream to actually see engineer get a rework to our kits and tools traitline and the skills it effects because core engi is deader then ever now and even just some small buffs to kits and traits would make core engi alot more viable with the potential to be on par with elite specs in terms of choice, i feel like we will defiantly see a rework to medkit to make it function better with the inventions and alchemy trait line i also feel that if anet were up for changing toss elixirs into shouts then there is real potential that we could see med kit skills become very similar in use to the current elixir toss skills in that they effect all allies/enemy's in the area of effect and potentially could get the condi clearing that was removed from elixirs or vice versa med kit skills could become shouts and elixirs get even worse, one thing i would like to see changed on the med kits auto medblaster is an increase in the base heal value and allies gain barrier based on the amount of boons they have rather then just extra healing this could make it a good contender for a support based spec in WvW as it could preload allies with barrier before an engagement and hold it till the fighting begins, with condi removal on elixirs gone i think that anet could potentially pack more condi clear or healing into the elixir gun specifically healing mist getting a baseline condi clear since previously it also provided decent personal and team utility outside of being a stun breaker and naturally a increase in glob shots dammed projectile speed, flamer i just dont know aye but i think its always been fairly cluncky to use which they did help improve at one point there but now with new elite specs and combat overall being more fast paced its back to feeling clunky and its application of conditions just dosent stack up well enough from the flamer itself on top of this its dedicated trait also competes with a trait that literally improves burning which is what the flamer is meant to do i feel like anet could remove the might gain from Juggernaut and just give a separate buff that stacks the longer you are in flamer that increases your burning damage and duration, making some of the skills on flamer faster and easier to hit enemy's with would also help with the clunkyness of the kit like making napalm round and flame blast traveling to its target and exploding rather then flying threw them and into the terrain also swapping incen ammo with smoke vent would give enemy's a better way of predicting if your about to burn bomb them as well as making smoke vent easier to use defensively, as for bomb kit and grenades i feel like they could make them better for hybrid based builds this is something that dosent actually make them better with holo and to some extent could be used in a scrapper build because holo is much more power focused and hybrid damage wouldn't really flow as well as sheer power damage and scrapper being naturally more tanky then holo and core engi it would be able to make better use of the damage over time effects of a hybrid build but since being forced into certain trait lines to have that tank wouldn't be able to pull the same numbers a core engi would be able to get without losing a decent chunk of tank virtually putting it on par with a hybrid core engi in terms of overall capabilities, in terms of mechanically improving bomb kit a change to make concussion bomb a pulsing effect over time dealing light damage and inflicting damage as well as stacking 1 confusion per pulse and adding a small damage effect to pulses from glue bomb and smoke bomb that could function with shrapnel would vastly improve there overall effectiveness in a hybrid based build, as for grenades perhaps making the projectile apply the condition of that particular grenade when it passes threw an enemy then applying damage and further conditions when it explodes could be a possible solution to increasing its effectiveness honestly tho im not sure what could be done with grenades to make them stack up current popular skill choices

As for toolbelt skills for the most part alot dont need changing aside from gadgets and elixirs toolbelt skills but i think making a decent rework to the tools trait line and gadgets could make a decently viable build without buffing scrapper or holosmith more then core engi, static discharge for example could be changed from its current from to gaining a stack that lasts a few seconds that applys damage to the next attack this would leave current static discharge skills like surprise shot/particle accelerator/throw wrench alone making them still very strong choices for a burst SD build but if an engi were to take holo or scrapper it makes it difficult to load up damage and utility over what a core engi could take so for example if you take power holosmith and take inventions for extra tank then firearms would still be better for damage output over tools unless you were using rifleturret/photon wall which in that case you would be losing a huge amount of potential support bonuses from from things like hard light arena in combination with inventions or personal defense/utility from skills such as elixir S and toolkit which evidently are far superior in a teams overall composition where as a core engineer could run inventions/alchemy with firearms/explosives and tools to capitalize on the damage and utility options which elite specs wouldn't be able to do, other potential outcomes would be core engi being able to maximize the effectiveness of throwing support around with (assuming better support elixirs) alchemy/inventions/tools with reduced cool downs on toolbelt skills from mechanized deployment while having additional damage output from SD where as a scrapper would have to lose either alchemy or inventions in order to do that forcing reduced effectiveness in a particular area, changing excessive energy to apply a 10% damage buff with vigor applied by the engineer would also be a way to make engi more pve viable with the only current ways to apply vigor to team mates from traited healing turret and toss elixir H so this change alone would add another level of gameplay for engineers in pve because leaving healing turret out (the way turrets should be) and picking it up for the shorter cooldown to move it with the group and out of the way aoes in raids to maximize uptime of vigor this would be balanced because you would take a large dps from taking inventions and tools also you would need to take concentration to maximize to total vigor you provide reducing total damage overall on the engi but buffing the group in turn aswell as forcing a balanced situation between core and elite specs due to only 3 possible trait lines being available, for gadgets i dont think it really matters what you do to them at this point they are going to be niche or they arnt but one thing i do think that anet could do is improve there effectiveness with other trait lines while focusing there direct traits as they currently have done in the tools trait line i think a good change that would be decent for any type of engineer without being the most optimal choice depending on what you want out of the build would be to make aed always remove 5 conditions not just the damaging condis and have an option to prematurely activate the weaker heal this change would make it function well with purity of purpose and make an alternative thats more selfish but opens up options for healing condi clear and boon support with alchemy outside of inventions and elixirs while not making it more valuable in a legitimate team composition due to healing turret just naturally being better for teams it to would be balanced due to being forced into specific trait lines to maximize effectiveness.

Overall i think this last balance patch has really opened up some great opportunity for anet to do some legitimate balance for the rest of engineer, we dont have it just yet but atleast we got some hope that its potentially coming.

So the builds ive played around with so far are and i would like to point out that im not the greatest player atm and ive religiously played some variety of SD burst so my playstyle is quite off and honestly ive been watching the ui more then whats actually going on with the builds ive been playing with also im rank 2 gold in spvp and i played in ranked after i was comfortable with the build:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQJAsenUUBlIj1XBmcBcJjFDDLMAMO6Lgvn5zOp/G2DLiA-jJxTABAs/w0nAANfAAGXGAAthis thing ive already said a bit about with the use of pbm and such but i doubt engineers will swap from vent exhaust or marauders and honestly cant blame them for that, its damage on its skills should technically be a bit higher with vastly more critical hits since it has higher ferocity and can easily sit at 99% crit chance thanks to firearms but it does have less options available for damage output compared to the dodgeholo pre patch meta build since it dosent have rifle but its tank is imo vastly better, i found i was able to force druids off of points in spvp and decap them in 1v1s but i would like to point out that my real life brother is a ranger main and we have dueled easily over 100 hours over the years so it might be a case of me just being overly competent at fighting rangers in my particular bracket, scourges in a 1v1 were a free kill i didn't even have to leave the point most of the time thanks to the changes to inventions, bunker firebrands i couldn't force off cap points but honestly if a firebrand is fighting me in a 1v1 hes not supporting his team i feel is a little bit of a win and the times that did happen my team did win the team fight, in team fights as per usual it came down to who had the better players and team line up but i found this build was able to go compleatly mental in team fights on cap points since the new inventions with Hla ment i didnt have to worry about conditions and enemy's physical damage was reduced enough from perma protection and higher base toughness and with shield and tk i was able to tank about quite well when being focused so overall id say the chances you can get to deal damage now with inventions over alchemy with Hla makes it way better in terms of damage output compared to prepatch since you dont have to back off from getting condi bombed and power based enemy's will deal less damage.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQFASncoCdpitbB2XBEqiFDjSMd6v/LMAGn+iuxf8KH-jJRSABAs/AoPAgsvAA5XGAAI think most of us have tryed this to some similar extent in Spvp now, i swaped up purge gyro depending on what the enemy team faced, didnt play this build to much but when i did i never actually seen purge gyro get killed incredibly fast it was easily out 10 seconds every time, the tank is insane i would go as far to say its to much tank not because its overpowered but because your literally all tank and support there is nothing else just tank and support so for that reason i doubt itll be preferred over holosmith by alot players but itll still have a place in spvp atleast, i wasnt sure about taking comeback cure with it but ahhh i was just thinking hey how much tank can i stack on this thing hahahah, the rest of it id say is quite obvious why i took it.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQJAsenUUBlIj1XBmcBcJjFDDLMAMO6L93we4QUMd0f+PA-jJROABAs/wKlBS/EAA7DAAAso i feel like this build could become the new engi is op nerf please build, i felt like a DD cele ele when they were a thing, i was taking ridiculous fights in some cases winning or stalling for ages i fucked up and overheated more times then i can count ill be honest i filmed myself playing this and i could show yas how much i fucked up and still kept tanking out and had enough damage to be a serious threat to people, can easily upkeep any number of boons even with a spell breaker and scourge around, as for why i took comeback cure well turns out you can actually get some rather decent hp regen with compounding chemicals, when im not in holoforge and heat therapy is ticking away with near perma regen and compounding chemicals procing like wild fire from all the boons coming outta me i seen myself healing for around about 1000-1300 a second, honestly i dont know how to place this build im either a better player then i thought and im outplaying people or this build is going to need a nerf at some point or the meta hasn't settled and this build is just good at taking advantage of that.

[Forestnator.6298]

Sir, please learn how to punctuate. It feels like cancer to read this.

[ukuni.8745]

@Forestnator.6298 said:Sir, please learn how to punctuate. It feels like cancer to read this.

this is very constructive criticism duly noted

[Funkystuff.1563]

dude you have some interesting ideas.