Survivability

[kman.8705]

Hello everyone,I tried many professions but I found out that Engineer is the most fun but with leveling up I figured that it was too squishy unlike some other professions.I kept swapping traits, utilities and weapons also running and dodging still the same problem.So all I ask is "Can Engineer be a survivalist? like Guardian, Warrior and Necro"I don't mind sacrificing power and I don't mind slow kills why the rush? ;)I prefer long range builds like Rifle, Dual Pistols and Pistol/Shieldalso I mostly do solo open world pveso is there a chance I can build a hard to kill Engi or I should just give up?

[coro.3176]

Sort of. You can definitely survive, but it won't be like Guard/War/Necro.

You're never going to be able to tank damage like the above-mentioned classes. You need to constantly be moving and dodging, using all your support abilities (eg. with healing turret, don't leave it out. Instead, use it, immediately blast it once the overcharge has gone off and the water field is down, then use its toolbelt skill for another water field, then blast that water field for even more healing. Also, you should probably pick at least 1 defensive traitline if you're having trouble staying alive.

You're not going to have much luck as a long range build. All engineer weapons and most kits are designed to deal the most damage up close. Much of Rifle's damage comes from close-range Blunderbuss and Jump Shot. Most of Pistol's damage comes from Blowtorch in melee range. You can play shield offhand if you like, but you'll be losing a LOT of damage for it, and won't be getting much utility unless you use the blast finisher on water fields. If you insist on playing from range, you might be able to make a casual/open world build work with Rifle, Mortar Kit and Grenades. I'd also pick the Minesweeper trait in Explosives so you'll be damaging enemies that get too close when you dodge away from them.

I'm not saying you should give up, but you should probably consider what kind of playstyle you want. Engi is much less 'kite from range' than certain other classes (eg. Ranger). Engi is more of a mixed-range class (get close, deal lots of damage, cc enemies, pull back until close range skills are off cooldown).

[Josif.2015]

@"kman.8705" said:Hello everyone,I tried many professions but I found out that Engineer is the most fun but with leveling up I figured that it was too squishy unlike some other professions.I kept swapping traits, utilities and weapons also running and dodging still the same problem.So all I ask is "Can Engineer be a survivalist? like Guardian, Warrior and Necro"I don't mind sacrificing power and I don't mind slow kills why the rush? ;)I prefer long range builds like Rifle, Dual Pistols and Pistol/Shieldalso I mostly do solo open world pveso is there a chance I can build a hard to kill Engi or I should just give up?

Yes, an engineer can be a survivalist. Engineer is the purest example of jack of all trades, master of none.

Since you're playing solo open world PvE, use the Rifle as your main weapon, Healing Turret as your healing skill and for utility skills, use Grenade Kit, Rifle Turret and Bomb Kit. The Tool Kit may seem like a better option for survivability, but it's not worth using it in PvE.

[Frostmane.9734]

For Core engineer, you'll probably want to go down the inventions trait line. Run healing turret, bomb kit, thumper turret, and either Elixir u for stun break and quickness or elixir gun for stun break (on tool belt) and a secondary heal. Rifle or pistol/pistol are both fine for pve; shield doesn't add enough defense to sacrifice the offense on the offhand pistol.

Something like this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQJAqalUUh+sYlVw8KQ7FJDJS4+CBA-e

The other two trait lines can be whatever you like, depends on what you enjoy.

Have fun.

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

Deep in the my dark chambers of meta-defiance and heresy, I am working on a build code-named "turtle" for a few months now. It is designed to be very tanky and utilizes a few very weird mechanics. I started with the wish of a counterpart to the omnipresent holosmiths, capable of sustaining extreme damage. In the current state of development it is also providing a pool of combat-stances to approach different situations in PVE. That sounds like a new elite-specialization, but it is actually already in the game. Here is a little preview:

Defenders Stance (core build)

 

• Gear: Commander's Trinkets + Backpiece, Wanderer's Armor, Assassin's Weapons; Superior Rune of Leadership + Superior Sigil of Strength & Superior Sigil of Accuracy
• Skills: Med Kit, Tool Kit, Utility Goggles, Bulwark Gyro, Supply Crate
• Traits: Alchemy 2-3-3, Tools 2-1-3, Scrapper 3-1-1
• Food: Plate of Mussels Gnashblade + Magnanimous Maintenance Oil

Important: You need to rebind your keys. Swap your healing skill key with the Toolbelt 1 skill.

With the swaped keybinds, your heal skill has a ridiculous small cooldown of ~ 15 seconds, which is one of the fastest you can get in this game. It still triggers with Recovery Matrix, so you can quickly outheal received damage. In addition, the Adaptive Armor will cause additional Barrier. I've tested this method in Path of Fire against Hydras already.

In addition you camp the Tool Kit which supplies you with block skill for lethal strikes. If that is on cooldown, just swap your weapons and use the block from static shield or quickdraw the medkit via the new key (as you would normally access the toolbelt-healskill) to gain a magnetic aura. While the stats look hillarious, you have a great HP pool, good defenses and a nice boon uptime. This works quite well with the auot-attack/strength sigil to maintain a good load of might stacks.

The combination of Iron Blooded, Adaptive Armor and the Mussles food grant you a nice damage reduction, to lower the received damage even more. In situations with higher damage spikes, just use the Bulwark Gyro to maximize your defenses or the toolbelt of it for a nice reflection dome. The Utility Goggles can be used as a stun-breaker, might & fury source to power up yourselves and fuel the Iron Blooded passive.

For the weapon you can pick a hammer, which has an additional barrier source or pistol-shield. I plan to use a sword + shield. I have already run a few tests with pre-equipping the sword on holo and then swapping to scrapper. This way you keep the stats + sigil effects on kits, but lose your main weapon slots (skills). The original design of the build was to taunt and confuse Holosmiths, that is why I equip a weapon I cannot use. You are free to pick whatever you want. Although it is a power build, thanks to the leadership runes even the pistol should do some damage. I am actually waiting for the overdue mace/wrench weapon. But it seems we rather get a torch or focus first.

 

Infused Stance (dps)

 

• Skills: Med Kit, Tool Kit, Elixir U, Elixir B, Motar Kit
• Traits: Alchemy 1-3-1; Tools 3-1-1, Scrapper 3-1-3
• Food: Plate of Mussels Gnashblade + Magnanimous Maintenance Oil

The Infused-Stance utilizes Quickness to improve damage-output. This goes by quickly using toolbelts, keeping might-stacks above 10 (which is always the case) and using Elixir U. In addition you have permanent access to Fury and full might stacks. You also gain vigor upon gaining swiftness, which should boost your flexibility in terms of dodging attacks.

This stance simply exchanges some the defensive abilities of the core-build for damage and speed. You still have the fast heal skill with its barrier and the improved passive HP regeneration. But instead of standing/walking infront of your enemy, you are now able to move quicker and doge more.

 

Jackalope Stance (speed)

 

• Skills: Med Kit, Tool Kit, Elexir U, Shredder Gyro, Supply Crate
• Traits: Alchemy 1-2-1, Tools 3-1-2, Scrapper 3-3-3
• Food: Bowl of Orrian Truffle and Meat Stew + Magnanimous Maintenance Oil

We still utilize Quickness, but sacrifice our passive regeneration and one Quickness source for a very slippery but powerful approach. Due to our weird gear stats (+ rune-set) we have quite a pool of toughness which is now partially converted into power. We can now dodge whenever we want and nearly never run out of endurance. Keeping up the might stacks at 25 is no problem.

The shredder gyro grants us additional dps and a nice CC. The Supply Crate can be used to for CC and distraction. The toolbelt of the Elite skill is a nice replacement for the passive regeneration of the previous stances. We do not have a source for stability in this build, what makes us a little weak. But with the ability to dodge that often, it should not be a thing. If we get knocked down once in a while the SRD will grant us a smooth exit.

 

Defiance Stance (cleanse)

 

• Skills: Med Kit, Tool Kit, Elexir U, Elexir C, Motar Kit
• Traits: Alchemy 2-3-1, Tools 3-1-1, Scrapper 3-1-1
• Food: Bowl of Saffron-scented Poultry Soup + Magnanimous Maintenance Oil

While the other stances mostly focus on direct damage resistance, this one is designed to counter conditions. The approach is more defensive, with the Adaptive Armor trait back. Quickness is still a thing, but should be accessed to burst damage. Passive regeneration is also back. The elexir C and our heal skill (food) will now work as condition cleansers. In situations where everything is on cooldown we can always retreat to the Med Kit or create a light field with the Motar and use the blastfinisher from shield & Med Kit.

 

I know how extemely expensive wanderer-stats are. Going full commander works as well, but reduces the health-pool drastically. Another way is to use Vigil stats instead of wanderer (for the armor only). This increases the focus on condition-duration, which allows a cool synergy with the main-hand pistol. Anyway the build is still in development. I hope you have got some inspirations.

[Tommo Chocolate.5870]

@"HnRkLnXqZ.1870" said:Deep in the my dark chambers of meta-defiance and heresy, I am working on a build code-named "turtle" for a few months now. It is designed to be very tanky and utilizes a few very weird mechanics. I started with the wish of a counterpart to the omnipresent holosmiths, capable of sustaining extreme damage. In the current state of development it is also providing a pool of combat-stances to approach different situations in PVE. That sounds like a new elite-specialization, but it is actually already in the game. Here is a little preview:

Defenders Stance (core build)

 

• Gear: Commander's Trinkets + Backpiece, Wanderer's Armor, Assassin's Weapons; Superior Rune of Leadership + Superior Sigil of Strength & Superior Sigil of Accuracy
• Skills: Med Kit, Tool Kit, Utility Goggles, Bulwark Gyro, Supply Crate
• Traits: Alchemy 2-3-3, Tools 2-1-3, Scrapper 3-1-1
• Food: Plate of Mussels Gnashblade + Magnanimous Maintenance Oil

Important: You need to rebind your keys. Swap your healing skill key with the Toolbelt 1 skill.

With the swaped keybinds, your heal skill has a ridiculous small cooldown of ~ 15 seconds, which is one of the fastest you can get in this game. It still triggers with Recovery Matrix, so you can quickly outheal received damage. In addition, the Adaptive Armor will cause additional Barrier. I've tested this method in Path of Fire against Hydras already.

In addition you camp the Tool Kit which supplies you with block skill for lethal strikes. If that is on cooldown, just swap your weapons and use the block from static shield or quickdraw the medkit via the new key (as you would normally access the toolbelt-healskill) to gain a magnetic aura. While the stats look hillarious, you have a great HP pool, good defenses and a nice boon uptime. This works quite well with the auot-attack/strength sigil to maintain a good load of might stacks.

The combination of Iron Blooded, Adaptive Armor and the Mussles food grant you a nice damage reduction, to lower the received damage even more. In situations with higher damage spikes, just use the Bulwark Gyro to maximize your defenses or the toolbelt of it for a nice reflection dome. The Utility Goggles can be used as a stun-breaker, might & fury source to power up yourselves and fuel the Iron Blooded passive.

For the weapon you can pick a hammer, which has an additional barrier source or pistol-shield. I plan to use a sword + shield. I have already run a few tests with pre-equipping the sword on holo and then swapping to scrapper. This way you keep the stats + sigil effects on kits, but lose your main weapon slots (skills). The original design of the build was to taunt and confuse Holosmiths, that is why I equip a weapon I cannot use. You are free to pick whatever you want. Although it is a power build, thanks to the leadership runes even the pistol should do some damage. I am actually waiting for the overdue mace/wrench weapon. But it seems we rather get a torch or focus first.

 

Infused Stance (dps)

 

• Skills: Med Kit, Tool Kit, Elixir U, Elixir B, Motar Kit
• Traits: Alchemy 1-3-1; Tools 3-1-1, Scrapper 3-1-3
• Food: Plate of Mussels Gnashblade + Magnanimous Maintenance Oil

The Infused-Stance utilizes Quickness to improve damage-output. This goes by quickly using toolbelts, keeping might-stacks above 10 (which is always the case) and using Elixir U. In addition you have permanent access to Fury and full might stacks. You also gain vigor upon gaining swiftness, which should boost your flexibility in terms of dodging attacks.

This stance simply exchanges some the defensive abilities of the core-build for damage and speed. You still have the fast heal skill with its barrier and the improved passive HP regeneration. But instead of standing/walking infront of your enemy, you are now able to move quicker and doge more.

 

 

Jackalope Stance (speed)

 

• Skills: Med Kit, Tool Kit, Elexir U, Shredder Gyro, Supply Crate
• Traits: Alchemy 1-2-1, Tools 3-1-2, Scrapper 3-3-3
• Food: Bowl of Orrian Truffle and Meat Stew + Magnanimous Maintenance Oil

We still utilize Quickness, but sacrifice our passive regeneration and one Quickness source for a very slippery but powerful approach. Due to our weird gear stats (+ rune-set) we have quite a pool of toughness which is now partially converted into power. We can now dodge whenever we want and nearly never run out of endurance. Keeping up the might stacks at 25 is no problem.

The shredder gyro grants us additional dps and a nice CC. The Supply Crate can be used to for CC and distraction. The toolbelt of the Elite skill is a nice replacement for the passive regeneration of the previous stances. We do not have a source for stability in this build, what makes us a little weak. But with the ability to dodge that often, it should not be a thing. If we get knocked down once in a while the SRD will grant us a smooth exit.

 

Defiance Stance (cleanse)

 

• Skills: Med Kit, Tool Kit, Elexir U, Elexir C, Motar Kit
• Traits: Alchemy 2-3-1, Tools 3-1-1, Scrapper 3-1-1
• Food: Bowl of Saffron-scented Poultry Soup + Magnanimous Maintenance Oil

While the other stances mostly focus on direct damage resistance, this one is designed to counter conditions. The approach is more defensive, with the Adaptive Armor trait back. Quickness is still a thing, but should be accessed to burst damage. Passive regeneration is also back. The elexir C and our heal skill (food) will now work as condition cleansers. In situations where everything is on cooldown we can always retreat to the Med Kit or create a light field with the Motar and use the blastfinisher from shield & Med Kit.

 

I know how extemely expensive wanderer-stats are. Going full commander works as well, but reduces the health-pool drastically. Another way is to use Vigil stats instead of wanderer (for the armor only). This increases the focus on condition-duration, which allows a cool synergy with the main-hand pistol. Anyway the build is still in development. I hope you have got some inspirations.

To avoid the expense of wanderer armour, couldn't you get roughly the same stats by using commander armour with (some) wanderer trinkets? Wanderer and commander trinkets are equally easy to get, from LWS3 maps.

Also, what do you gain by using sword rather than pistol? Surely it just locks you out of your first three weapon skills? There must be some reason I haven't thought of...

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

@"Tommo Chocolate.5870" said:To avoid the expense of wanderer armour, couldn't you get roughly the same stats by using commander armour with (some) wanderer trinkets? Wanderer and commander trinkets are equally easy to get, from LWS3 maps.

Also, what do you gain by using sword rather than pistol? Surely it just locks you out of your first three weapon skills? There must be some reason I haven't thought of...That could work as well for sure. For me however it is not an option, as I need a wanderer medium set for other things as well.

About the sword, sorry there is no big idea behind it. I just do not like Holosmiths. They ruined the idea of the engineer and turned it into another brain afk buttonmasher dps, like the old warrior/thief meta. When I meet engineers in PVE in squads I only meet Holosmiths and very few core-engineers, but scrappers? If I meet one in two weeks, I call myself a lucky person. The idea of (not) using the sword was to mock the Holosmiths.

On the other hand I'd like to remind ANet that we are still waiting for the mace, which is in the game since launch, the Fixer Upper. If I cannot use the mace, I'd rather keep my hand empty.

Builds like this exist because I do not care about dps. If it works and I can enjoy the game, I use it. I've played a power engineer with kits and dual pistols for 1-2 years. Was a lot of fun, but of course not efficient.

[starlinvf.1358]

The Trait lines behave like this:

Explosives for Power DamageFirearms for Ranged and Condi WeaponsAlchemist for self sustain (damage mitigation)Inventions for Recovery (damage reversal)Tools for Utility

For Core, you can use a combination of Explosives, Firearms (or stat boost and simple damage modifiers) and Alchemist to roll HGH and Firerams for Juggernaut. Flamethrower is hands down the best tagging tool for events, given its ability to tag around 15-30 mobs per cast.... higher then most trash mobs waves spawns. If no Flame thrower, then use modified ammunition. You'll want to run Healing Turret, Flame Thrower, and either Elixir Gun or Elixir C, and either Elixir B, S or U, depending on what kind of utility you want. Healing Turret and Elixir C are you're main condi cleanse, elixir gun being more useful but less convenient. B, S and U offer a substantial amount of utility, and should be swapped out depending on what you're dealing with. S is Stealth and Panic, B for general buffs and stability, U for Quickness and Wall skills. On its own Flame Thrower is pretty weak... but when traited with Firearms, you can either make it a Condi weapon, or a might Generator for power builds. In the latter case, you camp Flamethrower to build might and stability, using it to tag groups of mobs, and then stowing it for Rifle when you need a burst of damage or extra CCs. To compensate for your lack of tank, run a partial set of either Commanders or Knights gear with Zerks trinkets. When doing dungeons, or other jobs where more raw damage is needed, you drop Flamethrower in favor of Grenade kit or bomb, and retrait accordingly to get the most out of the 'explosives" tag.

When you have access Scrapper or Holosmith, you take Inventions, and either Alchemy (more sustain) or Explosives (more damage). The reason for inventions is that Bunker down perfectly compliments melee weapons, especially on scrapper, by laying down medkits to provided a steady source of healing. Cleaning synergy also boosts the performance of Healing Turret enough that, its dropping Elixir C for another utility is desirable. Explosives capitalizes on the damage of the mine, while moderately boosting damage output overall. You're overall damage is middling, but you can sustain yourself indefinitely in combat..... which is ample sustain to handle all but the most burst oriented enemies. I've only ever had issues with cheeze mobs, like Mushrooms and Chak swarms. Outside of that, even champs can be taken down in a reasonable time frame.

The ESpecs contain a lot of damage potential, and less are reliant on Kits to fill operational gaps. Scrapper also has a lot of internal sustain, making Explosives an easier choice to boost its damage. A couple of Gyros also have extreme utility, earning Bulwark and Stealth permanent spots in my Scrapper loadouts. After a while I pruned down to just carrying Bulwak for dome, Elixir U for the stunbreak and wall, Rocket boots to get around faster, and Mortar kit if I needed a ranged option for kiting. For a while I was taking Rocket Turret over Rocket boots for extra CC and multitasking..... plus the Air time of the Rocket on Tool belt is entertaining to no end.

Holosmith's F5 is an entire offensive kit, can be geared for either Condi or Power damage, and freeing up all your utility slots for the strong Exceed Defensive skills. When Holo is traited for sustain, you're damn near unkillable to all but the most 1-shotty mobs in PoF- and while still putting out decent damage. Trait more offensive, and its burst potential becomes huge. I ran full sustain Holo in PoF, and had no issues with deaths or killing things (and that includes champs, hydras, Djinns, forged camps, and combat hero points). Sword/Shield is also very effective, leveraging the shield to insta break bars, surviving things that would had killed any other class, and just stylin. For skills you run all Exceed skills. Coolant Blast, Photon Wall, Hard Light Arena, Spectrum Shield and Prime Light Beam. Photon Wall will actively BLOCK all attack when you are facing its Caster/Source. This does include beam attacks, AOE fields, or basically anything thats not Unblockable. Hardlight Area pulses Protection, but its main use is for Prismatic Singularity for an AOE Pull. Spectrum Shield for Stunbreak and massively damage reduction. And of course Prime Light beam for Scarlet flash backs. Extended Capacitor is also your friend, letting you make better use of your time in Forge mode.

[Tommo Chocolate.5870]

@HnRkLnXqZ.1870 said:

@"Tommo Chocolate.5870" said:To avoid the expense of wanderer armour, couldn't you get roughly the same stats by using commander armour with (some) wanderer trinkets? Wanderer and commander trinkets are equally easy to get, from LWS3 maps.

Also, what do you gain by using sword rather than pistol? Surely it just locks you out of your first three weapon skills? There must be some reason I haven't thought of...That could work as well for sure. For me however it is not an option, as I need a wanderer medium set for other things as well.

About the sword, sorry there is no big idea behind it. I just do not like Holosmiths. They ruined the idea of the engineer and turned it into another brain afk buttonmasher dps, like the old warrior/thief meta. When I meet engineers in PVE in squads I only meet Holosmiths and very few core-engineers, but scrappers? If I meet one in two weeks, I call myself a lucky person. The idea of (not) using the sword was to mock the Holosmiths.

On the other hand I'd like to remind ANet that we are still waiting for the mace, which is in the game since launch, the

Fixer Upper

. If I cannot use the mace, I'd rather keep my hand empty.

Builds like this exist because I do not care about dps. If it works and I can enjoy the game, I use it. I've played a power engineer with kits and dual pistols for 1-2 years. Was a lot of fun, but of course not efficient.

Oh, I see, that makes sense. I actually enjoy Holosmith but, yeah, it doesn't really feel like playing Engineer anymore...

[Sylvari.2953]

I prefer long range builds like Rifle, Dual Pistols and Pistol/Shield ... I mostly do solo open world pve

Same here. I play P/P Celestial core condi Engi (feel free to laugh but I like it and it works perfectly) and even though Anet ruined my unlimited condi cleanse by nerfing Alchemy, I'm still pretty much immortal. 'Inventions' is still good for extra defense and heals with Bunker Down. I use Firearms-Inventions-Tools, Flamethrower and Elixir Gun.