Guild Wars 2 Catch All

12+ hours later, and I've tweaked my guardian's build. I'm mace/shield and scepter/focus now. Took the trait that removes 3 conditions AND boosts passive regeneration with Virtue of Resolve. And then the trait that passes the effects of Virtue of Resolve to nearby allies. Also, I'm constantly putting up aegis on me and those nearby- and traited for any aegis I place to heal, grant retaliation and burn foes on removal. I enjoyed it in a dungeon run, so I got the exotics for the mace & shield that I wanted. And then found it amazing while doing Jormag! The green numbers kept popping up everywhere around me. 200 healing here, 400 there, 800 over here, dodge roll and 1200 healing all around me. It's kind of thankless, as I figure those around me don't know exactly why they're not loosing as much health as they should be, but I know I'm supporting them-- while doing plenty of damage too.

Strange, on a necro nothing scales Siphoning heals or per hit heals other than WvW adjustments. Yet you have some kind of scaling with +healing in almost every case.

I'm aiming my guardian toward damage and conditions with the great sword, but keeping staff in reserve I still seem to have useful support abilities to help allies. It's a really versatile class. Right now I'm lv63 and working my way upwards towards 100% world completion on this character - still a ways off as I'm only 48% complete. It's been a really nice way to level up and I think, all being well, this will be the first time I reach max level in any MMO (and I've tried quite a few, altitis normally does for me).

Hey, look who i found on the GW2 forums in a thread linked to by GW2 on my facebooks

https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/support/bugs/Ranger-laurel-box-giving-non-ranger-gear/1372148

hehe yup, there I am!

Ok, after playing a bit more on ranger and engineer, I'm really leaning towards engineer for my alt. However, that class's forum is filled with doom and proclamations that the class is totally broken and unplayable at max level. I'd love to hear from any max level engis about whether those claims have any merit.

I can't really compare it to the other classes as my engineer is the only character I currently have at 80, but it's far from unplayable, whether in PvE or WvW.
I did hit a rather large difficulty spike when I entered Orr, but tweaking my build and gearing up a bit fixed that readily.
Engineers are a bit squishy and don't have much in the way of healing or damage mitigation, so you have to actively dodge and stay in motion during combat, and observing how many players of other classes in Orr just stand toe to toe with mobs and unload it's possible that a lot of players either just don't get this, or just aren't proficient at it.

A buddy of mine takes his level 80 engineer into WvW and does fine. I think that he uses a lot of grenades, and avoids the turrets. I'm sure that there are viable specs at 80.

Also, as ruhk mentions, mobility is huge for most non-heavy armored classes. My mesmer is squishy as hell, but dodging frequently and using terrain to my advantage really helps prolong my life.

It's been a while since I've played but I have an 80 engineer and 80 necro. For the engi I feel like there are a few "accepted" builds. You've got the dps grenade build, a utility elixir gun build and a flamethrower tank build. With my necro I can stay in my well build have an easy time solo and can contribute good dps, utility and healing in a dungeon group. With my engineer I feel like I need to tailor my build based on what I'm going to be doing far more than I do with my necro. With my flame/elixir tank build I can stroll through Orr and take on groups that my necro would have a hard time with and I can definitely stand toe to toe with mobs like I do with my 50 something warrior. It feels great though a bit repetitive. In dungeon groups I don't feel like I'm nearly as useful with that build so I would feel the need to change builds based on what the group needs. Definitely not a broken class, and while it seems to be designed around a jack of all trades mentality I don't feel it really works unless you pick a specialization and go full in with it.

jdzappa wrote:

Ok, after playing a bit more on ranger and engineer, I'm really leaning towards engineer for my alt. However, that class's forum is filled with doom and proclamations that the class is totally broken and unplayable at max level. I'd love to hear from any max level engis about whether those claims have any merit.

It's most certainly not a broken class. I almost exclusively play my engi (been 80 for awhile now) and it's a lot of fun, although I really only do PvE; can't speak to PvP or WvW. You need a good amount of battlefield awareness and have to be ready to switch out utilities, weapons and even traits before a fight if you know what's coming but we have a lot of flexibility.

Kehama wrote:

Definitely not a broken class, and while it seems to be designed around a jack of all trades mentality I don't feel it really works unless you pick a specialization and go full in with it.

This is very much true. I had fun with a grenade build for awhile but now I'm doing elixir gun and it's much more intense. I can keep down a steady stream of light fields and have good condition removal, but it requires me to be constantly swapping between pistol and elixir gun and I need to keep an eye on where everyone is in a battle. I do think healing needs a boost but I still feel like I can tip things in our favor. It's not going to keep your party from getting overwhelmed but it'll make a difference in a close fight for sure.

I could maybe see where the engi might be less powerful in WvW or PvP, but in PvE I think we offer a ton of flexibility for a group.

jdzappa wrote:

Ok, after playing a bit more on ranger and engineer, I'm really leaning towards engineer for my alt. However, that class's forum is filled with doom and proclamations that the class is totally broken and unplayable at max level. I'd love to hear from any max level engis about whether those claims have any merit.

Go with the engy. Even if the engy has its issues, they arent tied to the class's fundamental philosophy (i.e., the problem with the range is mainly the ranger pet imho). That means that although tweaks might be slow to come, there is hope for the class for now.

AndrewA wrote:

A buddy of mine takes his level 80 engineer into WvW and does fine. I think that he uses a lot of grenades, and avoids the turrets. I'm sure that there are viable specs at 80.

Pretty much all the classes can "do fine" in WvW. There are many intevening factors (i.e., population, tactics, PvP skill) that buffer against the class's weak spots. Avoiding turrets is just generally good advice. Grenades are the only thing you can use in WvW, because as far as I can tell they are the only way you can get 1200 range with an Engy. on the other hand you can get 1500 range with a ranger and surprise a lot of people.

As Kehama and Dreaded Gazebo have mentioned, the Engy certainly is a lot of fun to play (mine is level 50 now and will certainly be my next character to level 80). All the classes are designed to be Jacken of all trades to a certain extent, the problem with the engy based on my reading of the forum complaints is that even when you "spec" your builds the result is still somewhat underwhelming and the utility is good but not great.

In PvE in general most classes are pretty easy and have a number of viable builds. It's when you get into the dungeon content that you might start feeling like you're not pulling your weight if your class/build isnt up to snuff. You can do "fine" with most classes but the range of builds you can do "fine" with is smaller with some classes than others (and based on complaints, engy is one of those), and at equal play skill you could be doing much more with other classes (or something along those lines).

In dungeons there is hope for engies, but rangers have to deal with either continually dead and ineffectual pets, or spec into beast mastery and deal with slightly less often dead but still pretty much dead all the time pets.

That being said, I was reading a post the other day on reddit from an Engy that's at L80 in the fractals so there has to be something to it.

TLDR: Go Engy, the issues with the class are in execution and could be fixed by buffs / tweaks. Avoid rangers, the core philosophy of the class (i.e., the pet accounts for a significant chunk of your DPS) makes the class somewhat broken for high difficulty content. A change in philosophy to fix the class is unlikely to happen.

I really cant speak to PvP at all.

Interesting conversation, as I've just started playing with an engineer to level up while doing the dailies. I'm currently loving the grenade kit- especially if the daily achievements include underwater kills- Finally fun in the water!

I like to have a set build that I stick with, so it worries me a bit to read that a lvl80 engineer will need to retrait depending on the fight. Hopefully that's a little overstated.

Tscott wrote:

Interesting conversation, as I've just started playing with an engineer to level up while doing the dailies. I'm currently loving the grenade kit- especially if the daily achievements include underwater kills- Finally fun in the water!

I like to have a set build that I stick with, so it worries me a bit to read that a lvl80 engineer will need to retrait depending on the fight. Hopefully that's a little overstated.

You certainly don't have to, but you'll find it can be worthwhile to change up a trait or two based on the upcoming fight. The trait that has me drops a spell (light field for elixir gun) when switching to a kit is great in most battles, but if there's a boss or fight that requires the party to spread out I may change that out for something else. I'm always switching out my utilities based on what we'll be up against; I'll probably change 3-4 times per dungeon.

So retraiting is not quite true. You'll want to come up with a build and run with it, but you might tweak some tiered traits based on what you'll be up against and you'll be switching out utilities pretty frequently.

We often run dungeons and fractals with two engineers and it's lots of fun. When we both go elixir gun we have light fields everywhere, and sometimes a wall of turrets makes all the difference.

My main is an engineer and I've settled on a modified version of this flamethrower kit build. It is a very fun way to play the engie. I finished 60-80 and all of the story content with this build and felt that he was overpowered much of the time as it generates an insane amount of crits. I love the engineer for the flexibility and it has been my favorite class to play.

Gosh darn it, now y'all have made me want to go start an engineer. Curse you enablers of my altitis!

There's a new Flame and Frost page on the GW2 website detailing the Feb. 26 updates.

I'm looking forward to the guild missions. I didn't expect them to be coming so soon. Also, being able to pick my own daily achievements should be a big improvement.

jakeleg wrote:

My main is an engineer and I've settled on a modified version of this flamethrower kit build. It is a very fun way to play the engie. I finished 60-80 and all of the story content with this build and felt that he was overpowered much of the time as it generates an insane amount of crits. I love the engineer for the flexibility and it has been my favorite class to play.

Thanks for posting that build. I haven't enjoyed my engineer since he hit 80, but this looks interesting. I'll try it out.

There seems to be a decent amount of variety in what the guild missions will be, looking forward to it!

GrandmaFunk wrote:

There seems to be a decent amount of variety in what the guild missions will be, looking forward to it!

Whelp, I guess I now know what I'll be guesting back to NSP to meet up with other guild members for.

Regards to Engineer vs Ranger, with limited slots I had to give up one of them, and eventually decided to keep the Ranger.
Loved the concept, but didn't really click for me.

Engineers are one of my favorite classes to both dungeon and WvW with. I find it to be interesting, well rounded, and a frenzy to play (which is what I like)

This has been fascinating to read about; I don't have an engineer, but have been solely playing a thief since buying the game, and always wondered if other classes were as tricky to play as mine. This is an awkward segue into talking about my problems instead of yours.

Soloing is difficult for me, and I have to swap out skills frequently for each new situation; I've reset my traits once, to focus more on toughness and vitality to cope with my wimpiness, but I'm wondering now if it would be better to focus on the Thief's strengths in critical-damage-dealing and conditions in conjunction with the heal-with-damage-dealt skill. The new Daily achievements forced me to learn how to dodge, which has helped tremendously, and the tips above for the Engineer seem to confirm that that's the way to go with these mid-range classes. What do you folks think?

danopian wrote:

This has been fascinating to read about; I don't have an engineer, but have been solely playing a thief since buying the game, and always wondered if other classes were as tricky to play as mine. This is an awkward segue into talking about my problems instead of yours.

Soloing is difficult for me, and I have to swap out skills frequently for each new situation; I've reset my traits once, to focus more on toughness and vitality to cope with my wimpiness, but I'm wondering now if it would be better to focus on the Thief's strengths in critical-damage-dealing and conditions in conjunction with the heal-with-damage-dealt skill. The new Daily achievements forced me to learn how to dodge, which has helped tremendously, and the tips above for the Engineer seem to confirm that that's the way to go with these mid-range classes. What do you folks think?

Let me say I have an 80 thief and put her on the shelf. I have no intention of playing that class again, it was a mistake to get her that high. I struggled the entire time. That said I found the most success with sword and pistol and bouncing around as much as possible. There is a trait that does damage when you steal that hits very very hard that became what i based everything around. The pistol is great for that blind field you lay down to get out of trouble.

I've played every class to at least the mid 20's just to get a feel for them and the thief was right at the top for the amount of skill required to play and vulnerability but also satisfaction for playing well. I played a dagger/dagger, pistol/pistol build and he really seems to be the ultimate glass cannon which I found surprising as I'm used to mages filling that role in fantasy rpg's. He can regularly kill mobs faster than any of my other characters but he also seems to be the least forgiving and if my timing is off in the least he'll end up dead.

When you're in a groove and everything is flowing just right the thief is a whirlwind of destruction bouncing from target to target dropping mobs with literally only 2 or 3 hits each. It really is a great feeling. If, however, I don't bounce around enough or if I get slowed down for just a second I'm probably going to die. I'd started focusing a bit more on stealth just so I could have a get out jail free card by stealthing and running away when things head south but that can be sketchy in and of itself. Whenever I got into large fights with a group of other players or against anything with lots of aoe's I would be forced to break out the pistols and just plink away from the sidelines. When there are a lot of aoe's flying around you're just asking to die if you get in close.

Cobble: It's relieving to hear that, glad I'm not crazy. This is what I get for choosing my first and only class with hardly any prior research! I'll have to try that damage-on-stealing trait, but I have a confession: I play on a Mac and don't have immediate access to an F1 key without awkwardly holding the "Fn" key simultaneously, so I've never really...(cough) used my stealing ability (my thief is lvl. 65) except on my very first day, when I didn't see the point of it. I have no idea what I may have been missing. Only yesterday when I decided to make a Guardian did I realize that I could re-map the F1 keys to the very convenient Z,X,C row, so I guess I'll find out now.

Kehama: I also agree with you that, when it's working, I feel like a fleet-footed messenger of doom, and all the stealth skills are handy to get away when it's not. It's those (frequent) moments when landscape traps me with more than one fast or stun-wielding enemy that really mess me over. Dual daggers and pistols is my go-to as well, although I've found that the area-effect bomb and bouncing-arrows of the short bow are much better than the pistols when I'm fighting more than two enemies on my own. Rapid-firing the bomb at close range in combination with the poison field is even better than the daggers in those situations for overall damage dealt.

In large groups I tend to focus on the weakening and stun-like conditions I can lay down on enemies, and play ranged support; is the thief relatively good at those negative conditions in comparison to the other classes, or does everyone have a selection of those? I really appreciate the feedback, thanks for letting me derail the engineer discussion momentarily.

Pretty much every class can be a glass cannon, or tankie, or supportive. There are some theives in WvW that are nearly impossible to kill - not because they can take a lot of direct damage to the face, but because they have plenty of escapes. Likewise, there are guardian builds that are extremely fragile, but put out loads of damage.

Cobble wrote:

Let me say I have an 80 thief and put her on the shelf. I have no intention of playing that class again, it was a mistake to get her that high. I struggled the entire time. That said I found the most success with sword and pistol and bouncing around as much as possible. There is a trait that does damage when you steal that hits very very hard that became what i based everything around. The pistol is great for that blind field you lay down to get out of trouble.

I've had the most success with all of the classes that I've played (guardian, mesmer, engineer, and necro) when I'm constantly swapping back and forth between two weapon sets, and not sticking with just a single weapon. This essentially doubles the skills available to you at any one time, which increases your DPS (or survivability, depending on your weapon selection).

AndrewA wrote:

I've had the most success with all of the classes that I've played (guardian, mesmer, engineer, and necro) when I'm constantly swapping back and forth between two weapon sets, and not sticking with just a single weapon. This essentially doubles the skills available to you at any one time, which increases your DPS (or survivability, depending on your weapon selection).

Question about this: with the Thief, skills cost "Initiative" from a pool that regenerates over time, rather than the skills individually recharging, so when I swap weapon sets I don't receive freshly charged skills but have however many initiative points I had available with the other set. Does this work differently with other classes? If all of your skills are recharging with one weapon set, can you swap and have a fresh 5 skills?

So, I started an engineer. And at lvl 5, I took her in to WvW. As you do. I ended up getting 5 badges and two levels in under an hour. What a scream!

Well, I just bought my copy of GW2 so I should be joining you folks shortly. By shortly I mean in 5 days when the game finishes downloading and updating. Such is the way of MMOs. I'm honestly looking forward to that initial feeling of being a small fry totally lost in a huge world that I always get when starting a new MMO.

I'm considering starting a personal guild, mostly for the guild bank. Is this a good idea? Any major pitfalls?

babakotia wrote:

I'm considering starting a personal guild, mostly for the guild bank. Is this a good idea? Any major pitfalls?

I did it. The first two tiers aren't so bad to get, and the influence rewards you get through the story help greatly, but the third is a long term proposition for a solo guild.