[GW2] Engineer discussion

[DrakeWurrum]

Sure if you go off the regular progression to other starting zones.

Considering how much everybody has been talking about the leveling speed, it seems that Arena Net is quite happy to forcibly push you into other zones for your level range, rather than you sticking around just where your race "belongs"

[Fencers]

Really wouldn't agree that Engineer is dull. Sorta obvious, but I wouldn't have played one to nearly level 50 if it was boring. The grace of Engineer is that it is so fun despite having effectively poor output compared to classes of the same level. In my opinion, of course. Excuse the subjectivity.

[DrakeWurrum]

The grace of Engineer is that it is so fun despite having effectively poor output compared to classes of the same level. In my opinion, of course. Excuse the subjectivity.

I still say that the Engineer will be the Shaman of GW2.

[Glytch]

I still say that the Engineer will be the Shaman of GW2.

lol lavaburst?

[DrakeWurrum]

lol lavaburst?

You know what I mean. =\

[Fencers]

I still say that the Engineer will be the Shaman of GW2.

If you mean (fake) Shaman ala Warcraft, then pass. Forever.

[DrakeWurrum]

If you mean (fake) Shaman ala Warcraft, then pass. Forever.

It seems you did not know what I meant, and are inflicting your elitist biases upon it.

it is so fun despite having effectively poor output compared to classes of the same level

Not to mention the immobile objects (totems/turrets) and the general "clunky" feel of many of their tools, that are defended by claims of being "unique" and "different"
And the general feel of being a "jack of all trades" profession, in that Engineers can do lots of things at once, while not being as good at them as another profession.

I also feel inclined to express an extreme dislike for you, as Shaman was my favorite class in WoW, especially since it's the closest thing possible to what we experience in GW2 of being able to do "everything"
Hell, just googling around to see what your deal is in this, and see what the EQ Shaman was like, the WoW Shaman was almost exactly the same, with the exception of also wielding power over the elements.

[Merendel]

Really wouldn't agree that Engineer is dull. Sorta obvious, but I wouldn't have played one to nearly level 50 if it was boring. The grace of Engineer is that it is so fun despite having effectively poor output compared to classes of the same level. In my opinion, of course. Excuse the subjectivity.

I got up into the low 40s myself and honestly I always felt that I was haveing to work twice as hard just to be even close to as effective as many other proffessions in any given situation. I prob would have left my engie at 24 (end of BWE1) had I not wanted to try the dungeons and none of my others were even close at the time. Yes I had the tools to be anoying as hell but when my guns are loaded with spitwads anoying is all I am, not a true threat. Other proffesions can be quite anoying as well and still be able to melt your face off at the same time.

[terrahero]

Really wouldn't agree that Engineer is dull. Sorta obvious, but I wouldn't have played one to nearly level 50 if it was boring. The grace of Engineer is that it is so fun despite having effectively poor output compared to classes of the same level. In my opinion, of course. Excuse the subjectivity.

i agree, its also subjective. How do i put it into words properly. Its like, my Ranger was playable at almost full variation (bar oviously utility skills) from very low level. But my Engineer was very repetitive untill a higher level.

[Mif]

Sounds like they have made large changes

Lewis B: I was enjoying the engineer over the last few phases as it’s so fun to play, but have developed a list of concerns or issues, especially around kits, the tool belt, and trait line synergy. I think out of all the professions in the game it needs some tweaks at the moment. Can we expect any changes or significant improvements over the next few patches? I noticed their traits have had a tidy up…

Jon: The engineer is the first profession we have addressed since the last BWE. Changes have been made to many skills and to the trait lines as well. The previous list of traits contained many holdovers from the old trait system that did not fit into the new tier paradigm.

GW2 Concept Art

Lewis B: There were several moments with the engineer where the random component of Elixirs gave me what I didn’t want (and caused my death), which happened much more than I would have liked. Elixir B and S having guaranteed effects are wonderful skills. Is it too late to replicate this and remove all random elements from Elixirs? In its current form, I worry for the competitiveness of the profession…

Jon: I guess people read somewhere on the Internet that random effects cannot be in competitive games. Like everything on the Internet, that is at most a half truth. The truth is that random effects are what create moments of opportunity for players to react to. There is a threshold of randomness that is not acceptable, but if you are given outcomes that have clear, non-game breaking implications, those are the moments that expert players should be using to press advantages. Without randomness, all you have is masked complexity, which is hard for new players to understand, and creates false choices.

Lewis B: Still with the engineer, what is your overall opinion on their kits? Are you happy with them? With the exception of Bomb Kit (that many feel happy with), I found the Tool Kit, Mine Kit, Flamethrower, and Elixir Gun all feel a little lacklustre in various areas. Are you hoping to address any concerns raised?

Jon: Every single one of the kits has been updated and improved in the last few days. We will gather feedback on those improvements in the next BWE and continue to work from there. I’ll give you an example, because I am feeling generous. :-)

Mine Kit is no longer a kit. It is a single mine that works as the elements of the kit did, but now, when you detonate that mine, it knocks enemies back and removes boons. This means that you can throw it at your feet and then blast people away from you, or you can throw it past a fleeing enemy and detonate it to blast them back toward you. The tool belt has been replaced with a “drop mine field around my location” skill, which toggles to “detonate mine field.”

http://www.guildwars2hub.com/feature...iew-jon-peters

[Deleted]

Sounds like they have made large changes http://www.guildwars2hub.com/feature...iew-jon-peters

Oh, so there is still a glimpse of hope =]. Can't wait to try it out.

[terrahero]

Sounds like they have made large changes http://www.guildwars2hub.com/feature...iew-jon-peters

They have a strange concept that Random can be good, it can be if you are acting randomly as the initiator. However a lot of the random skills are reactive, you already chuck a pot as a response to the situation, not to create the situation. And when you cannot reliably counter an opponent because you got the wrong effect, thats a very real problem.

There is also a very thin line between a strong offensive randomness, being unpredictable. And creating a situation where you have to adept just as much as your opponent does. A strong randomness is proccing extra damage, catching an opponent offguard with a random proc, a bad proc is Elixir X where you have as little idea of what you are going to do next as your opponent.

The rest ill test myself in BWE3, curious how they changed stuff and if they really addressed core issues.

[Deleted]

Interesting. Can't wait to see what they did with the other kits/rifle.

[albedo]

So, they will update and improve engineer gameplay for the next beta, gather the feedback and apply changes needed. This is an excellent news, but isn't it too late? Doesn't it look like they just hired someone for the engineer gameplay? If I understand correctly, we will only discover the engineer 1.0 for the game launch.
Whatever, I'm waiting for those improvements and will test them during next beta.

[Dagon]

Tried engineer in the earlier betas... felt abit lackluster

[Axa]

To varying degrees I found the class gimped, clunky or boring.

Most functional build i found was an alchemy build that took the immunity to conditions, elixir x at 25%, stacking bleeds on crits, and piercing shots. I do not remember the fillers but it was very functional. I could stack bleeds through passive spam, buff myself with a couple of elixirs and was very hard to kill. With S or R, I could deal with warriors but it was one of the most boring classes i have ever played. It was a couple of conditionals like the shield stuff and S/R, a couple of longer cooldowns like B or shoes and a whole lot of spam to do damage.

Kits were lackluster to worthless. Flamethrower was decent in PVE with a nice bit of burst from the burn on the toolbelt but in PVP it was worthless. Bomb was great in PVE if you specced for it but unless you were dealing with noobs in PVP it was garbage. Mine was as inspired as a dirty toilet and grenades just didn't seem to be very effective and a pita to kite with. I didn't try the toolkit as melee without the shield just didn't strike me as a good idea.

Elixir gun I really wanted to be effective but it wasn't. The snare didn't seem to work and the healing was garbage. I am not talking MMO garbage but rather GW2 garbage. Compared to the output I could get from a guardian, the turret+field+regen was nothing.

There was also just an overall lack of consideration of how the mechanics work. In order to get a 'weapon swap' we have to equip a kit into one of our limited utility/heal slots whereas other classes --some more than others-- get at least 5 potential skills to swap to AND get the slot. Engineers do not get a CD with the swap but that is nothing compared to losing a whole friggin skill.

Then there are the turrets which were just poorly implemented. In PVP I stopped bothering with them as I was constantly having to blow them up as I was constantly moving from spot to spot as one is wont to do and the 60 sec CD or however long it was was just annoying. Picking the thing up and STILL having a significant CD was frustrating as well. Other than the thumper turret, they also were the squish.

I really want to be a tree engie but I don't know if I want to put up with it.

[albedo]

The toolbelt was our second utility bar to compensate the weapon kits that filled our utility skills. Removing it and replacing it with a f1-skill that “drop mine field around my location” is interesting but incomplete. Our weapons kits will always fill our utility bar with no compensation.

To solve this problem, I suggested higher in this thread to replace all weapons and kits by 8 kits : you'll choose two kits as weapons you'll be able to swap like other classes. And to copy the spec of one looted weapon to a one kit weapon, you'll use a transmution stone.

It's so simple, please Arena.net, do it.

[Mif]

To solve this problem, I suggested higher in this thread to replace all weapons and kits by 8 kits : you'll choose two kits as weapons you'll be able to swap like other classes. And to copy the spec of one looted weapon to a one kit weapon, you'll use a transmution stone.

The community has suggested equipping two kits as weapons for a long time now, but ArenaNet have never picked it up.

[Glytch]

The community has suggested equipping two kits as weapons for a long time now, but ArenaNet have never picked it up.

id guess b/c they dont want to

lets face it, the moment that happens the first new thread will be "engineers are too much like other profession"

[Larynx]

Engineer seems like it's decent, at least.