Is Flamethrower Viable?

[draxynnic.3719]

@RedSPINE.7845 said:

@Ojimaru.8970 said:

@seo.8092 said:Hello everyone!I am a pretty casual gamer who have managed to produce a single level 80 character so far. A Warrior to be precise, at which point I stopped playing since me being casual meant that no one ever wanted to have me in any instance ever..

Anyway.Now I am back and playing with an Engineer alongside a pal and we are having some great fun. So far I am having a blast using the flamethrower for the PvE content and I was kinda wondering if I can keep using it when I reach level 80. I was planning on joining some casual guild this time around and attempt some instances.

I've read that you kinda need to master kit swapping in order to be even remotely efficient and that's something I struggle greatly with as I am really bad at multitasking.

For the longest time, Engineer was the profession I had the most trouble playing. Kit swapping is one thing, but keeping track of so many invisible cooldowns was a huge mental gap I had to cross. So, like you, I decided to just stick with Flamethrower, and continued to do so through HoT. This was my cheap-and-easy

Power Flamethrower build

that I used while slowly learning the profession.

While I'm still nowhere as proficient with the Engineer as I would like to be, I will say it's not about multi-tasking. Like how Reaper from Overwatch would toss his guns when out of ammo, Engineers are about "tossing" kits aside for a new one when all the skill cooldowns were expended. For example, I would start with the Grenade kit, chuck everything and the kitchen sink at the enemy, then switch to Bomb kit to do the same, then to my Mortar, then Rifle, etc. Eventually I began to learn which skills to prioritize for specific situations (CC, damage, healing, etc.), but that took me

months

.

If you're doing that, I think you're doing wrong. I played engineer for 2 years and that's a thing I only recently get : don't waste time using all the abilities on a single kit before swapping. You have to visualize your kits like stacked lines of weapon skills you can swap to by pressing the key for the right kit. Use only what is effective in your build and ignore the rest. Although, each skill have different CD inside a kit, for example, shrapnel grenades reset faster than poison grenades, so the first time you switch to grenades, use both, and switch to it again only to cast shrapnel, and switch to another kit ...

I think ojimaru's point is that it's a progression in skill, and throwing everything is something you can do at a lower level of skill than remembering cooldowns.

That said, there are some skills that are less effective than an autoattack unless you're using them for their specific purpose, so an 'intermediate' stage is recognising which skills shouldn't be in your general rotation.

@RedSPINE.7845 said:I know it's not logical, but you must maximize bleed stacks on your target in the same time. The minor Hematic Focus gives you 10% crit chance on bleeding targets, and the way FT works (attacking very very fast) can proc as a CC for each tick.

This. Firearms (which you'll probably want if you're running flamethrower as your primary weapon, even if you're not running Juggernaut) has a lot of bleed-related minor traits: inflicting bleeding on critical hits with no ICD, increased chance of critical hits on bleeding enemies, increased bleed duration. If you're using Flame Jet, the bleed stacks you can build up from that will be a decent portion of your total damage.

[DGraves.3720]

In PvE power: No. You'll outdo the damage with any explosives kit quickly. Also does better against multiple enemies.In PvE condition: Yes. You'll have access to a lot of burning. It is not extraordinary powerful against multiple enemies though.In PvP power: No. Other kits do a better job of all sorts of elements required.In PvP condition: Yes. The burning is the hardest thing to deal with and you can apply it amply laying walls to keep people in line, pushing them back with a burn, and the napalm works well. AA is not the best though because it only burns on the last strike.In WvW: Overall it is alright and neither here nor there; players react better to damage than enemies so pressure is easier to apply but otherwise there's no real advantage or disadvantage.

Just an opinion.

[Obtena.7952]

@DGraves.3720 said:In PvE condition: Yes. You'll have access to a lot of burning. It is not extraordinary powerful against multiple enemies though.

I think this needs clarification. FT is quite awesome in AOE situations with multiple enemies. The auto is delicious! Were you referring to it not being extraordinary compared to other AOE Engi has?

[DGraves.3720]

@Obtena.7952 said:

@DGraves.3720 said:In PvE condition: Yes. You'll have access to a lot of burning. It is not extraordinary powerful against multiple enemies though.

I think this needs clarification. FT is quite awesome in AOE situations with multiple enemies. The auto is delicious! Were you referring to it not being extraordinary compared to other AOE Engi has?

Yes. It is strong for pressure and control but condition based pressure not so much in my opinion.

[Ten.2617]

Yes!Actually i use it to blasts water fields with inventions tree to grant some support.Skills 2 - 5 are ok to me.Skill 1 could have faster burn application rate.

[STIHL.2489]

To Answer the OP:

Not really.

Flamethrower is super handy in HoT where a lot of things knock you down and the like, but, it simply does not do the damage to make it viable.