Nate.8146

If you just want something that slaps, zerk sword Holosmith is good, but it needs quickness to really shine. If you have Jade Overcharge boons, then this build feels super good. Survivability is OK as well, but can get pretty rough in champ fights. Best all-around builds for engineers IMO have always been ranged condi focused. Pistol/Pistol vipers will melt trash packs quickly. Just go in with your Raptor, tail whip to draw them all in, static shot + blowtoch the blob, switch to grenade kit and spam shrapnel + grenades to finish them off. Range condi builds are much more forgiving in champ fights, where you don't exactly want to face tank them. Condi mech is very solo friendly. Mechs will agro champs so you can casually burn them down. Superconducting Signet is also one of the strongest engineer abilities.

So I've come back to the game to try out the new revision of the shortbow. It's certainly not going to win any notice me main character giga chad competitions, but I find it has a place with the solo scrapper juggy FT build. Basically you want to camp FT forever because you want that perma stability, which these days every kitten enemy has frequent access to CC just to annoy you. Drones have a 20s cooldown, which aligns with the cooldown of bow #4, so it's easy to know when to kick your rotation. You pop a well, swap to bow, trigger #4 (fire field + 3 might stacks) -> #2 (blast finisher + 5 might stacks + 3 might stacks) -> #5 (blast finisher + 3*2 might stacks) or #3 if #5 is on cooldown (+3 might stacks), will give you a burst of might to bump you up to 25 stacks, plus some protection since you weren't already invincible enough in this build (Iron Blooded + Backpack Regen). If you got allies nearby, the blast finishers in the well will give them and yourself quickness. You can also use #2 on your FT for one more blast finisher in the well, plus mines if you're rocking the boom booms. Or, if you're a selfish engineer, which I hope you are, then you're rocking the chrono relic for infini-quickness. Now you're just laughing maniacally. In about 2 seconds you now have full might stacks, perma stability, perma quickness, 50% uptime on protection and aegis, and super speed at your command. So the bow gives you that little boost to an already feel good, can't die no matter how hard you try solo build.

I generally run full celestial with mech. Jack of all trades is not only really survivable for yourself, but the mech too. It does decent damage output, with auto-attack pistols (no skills) and auto attack from mech will net around 17K dps with this setup. If I trigger pistol skills and spam grenades, I can get that up to about 25K for what is ultimately easy spam attacking. If you want to be downright unstoppable, then swap grenades for flamethrower, grab the juggernaut trait from rifles for perma stability, and flip out explosives for alchemy and select backpack regen + iron blooded. You'll take a DPS hit, but you'll be hard as nails to take down. It's basically a cheat code for the class 🙂 For a little more dps (+3-4K dps), I will swap out celestial accessories for viper (armor is still celestial), thus applying more condition pressure, but not going full glass. This was my setup to solo cap my guild hall, which I consider the toughest solo pve content I ever did. Not only do you need to survive, but you're on the clock as well. The mech performed brilliantly under this setup. Outside of that, I don't usually have a problem soloing roaming bosses or other harder open world content. If my mech dies, I'll use Overclock Signet to bring it back into the fight. If by chance it dies again (super rare), then I revert to the classic GW2 engineer tactic of laughing maniacally while running in circles and lobbing grenades.

Sorry Anet, but this shortbow is what you call an air ball. A cold turkey. A few cans short of a six pack. The lights are on, but nobody's home. It completely misses the mark in terms of engagement, entertainment, purpose, and fulfillment. I took it around PvE, fought a couple tough roaming bosses and IMO the weapon just doesn't click. Cons: It's a ranged AOE weapon that's designed for you to stand in the AOE to receive its benefits, which effectively puts you in melee range with the enemy. The boons are short and pointless. My mech gives way more useful boons and survivability. The barrier and heals are pitiful. The #4 arrow that gives 25 stacks of might in a game that's power crept over the years and hands out boons like candy is also pointless. At the end of the day, people are going to bring what works best and reliably to a party comp. An engineer shortbow is going to make best friends with the kick button. Too long, too many button presses. 2, 3, 4, 5, then any 2->5 btn to detonate. Several seconds will have gone by and you will have contributed nothing to the fight while you were busy trying to setup the boom booms that will disappear faster than it took you to set them up. Pros: 1. Chain reactions. It's nice that you're thinking outside the box, something GW2 has been known to do well over its life. So I give you credit for the idea, but not its execution. Imagine an alternative shortbow. Ground targeted bow #5 creates a tar patch, slowing all within it. Ground targeted bow #4 lobs a fire arrow that lights the tar patch up, creating an aoe burn field. Ground targeted bow #3 lobs a gas arrow that detonates in the fire patch to create a larger poisonous AOE gas. Bow #2 creates a static discharge in the gas cloud, zapping everyone for additional damage. That IMO would have been more engaging, purposeful, entertaining, and fulfilling. You could also pair the skills differently to create unique combinations and effects. Like shooting a gas arrow first then a fire arrow second to create an explosion with knockback. Or you could wait to stack 4 arrow combos for maximum effect. For an engineer that spends 95% of our time in kits, this alternative supports weapon swap play and provides us with unique combat experiences. We don't need more boons, we need more ways to play. GW2 was always about supporting yourself, not others. Give us more offensive variety.

They do actually define what Wayfinder is in the story, but you have to engage in the dialog to learn more about it being a rare honorary title to those that serve the Astral Ward. In short, it's purely wizard/cult speak for "Hero". More indirectly, from Isgarren's point of view, despite the insurmountable challenges the commander faced with the dragons, we managed to beat the odds and "find a way" to save Tyria. Ergo, the "Wayfinder". And although the commander is not the first to receive that title, we do know indirectly that it was given to other people who equally served, predominantly to keep Tyria safe. Though, I will say even the new NPCs in the game have difficulty referring to you as wayfinder. I recall specific events in Amnytas where the NPCs still refer to you as the commander. Even Zojja at one point stumbled on it. IMO, you are whatever title you prefer to recognize yourself as. The commander is just one of many heroic titles we received along our adventures in Tyria. At the end of the day, it's just how that culture identifies you.

If you're not attached to any particular relic, slap Relic of the Chronomancer on your Scrapper and restore quickness on well generation. I've been using that and it feels great using scrapper again.

There's a lot of reference material in GW2, so it's not surprising to see familiarity. Some of it is deliberate too, such as references to Star Wars, The Goonies, Terminator, Indiana Jones, and unsurprisingly in this chapter I did catch a Harry Potter reference. So it's not surprising to see a little reference here or there, with an artistic touch from Anet. The floating demon turrets in SOTO for example remind me of Destiny 2 Shriekers. Peitha feels like the alternate to D4 Lilith. The meta boss makes me think more of Cacodemons from Doom, with a touch of Cthulhu. All cool stuff IMO, even if it's a mixture of references with a different twist.

I would like to see more class relics, and specifically for each category of skill in those classes (ex: engineer: relic of gadgets, relic of kits, relic of explosives, etc.). I also don't think relics should focus on stat boosts. Your relic of the engineer for example just amps up engineer's damage output when they already have an explosive skill line that does just that. And it competes with similar relics like relic of fireworks. I'd rather relics be used to change the way you play a class. So using engineer as an example: Gadgets have more ammo and/or recharge quicker. Flamethrower kit uses a special napalm agent that deals increased burn condition and duration, but sacrifices strike damage. Turrets fire 50% faster, can be thrown 600 range, and have a 320 range aoe knockdown explosion when destroyed. Swapping out of Holosmith cooldown is reduced by 20%. And/or Holosmith heat reduces faster or slower by 20% (pros/cons for both, so offer both relics). Scrapper gyro wells last 33% longer. Blast gyro takes longer to blast, but deals increased damage and defiance break.

The building architecture and colour theme reminds me of Orokin architecture in Warframe, with a touch of TES white gold tower.

The 5 o'clock I just got home from work and want to rest and relax engineer build . Been using this since HoT, with some nice buffs from Anet over the years. Camp FT and never die or get CC'd. Guaranteed mob tagging for maximum loot. Perma quickness for faster mob tagging. Fastest running speed as well as speeding up slow moving quest NPCs. Lots of AoE, heals, combo fields, and range safety.

Try hovering around enemies in PoF and subsequent LS zones (White Mantle; Bloodstone Fen) and let me know how that works out for you 🙂. The fact that the new maps are in the clouds with death gaps makes it even all the more sinister for the devs to introduce those threats and collect all those juicy player tears.

I like to think EOD was the year of the engineer with all the Jade tech from Cantha. It's hard to think 1½ years have passed since that expansion, and the whole new-age techno style has really messed with my immersion in the game. Most of the time I don't even think I'm playing GW2 as it has changed so much. So in a lot of ways, I like seeing GW2 return more to its roots with SOTO, which I'm definitely feeling the elementalist vibes. Any ele mains out there stoked to immerse yourself in wizardry fantasy? I recently dusted off my elementalist and enjoyed unlocking his elite specs last weekend. I'm hoping to catch some black/white mages around the tower.

1. If the enemy can't reach you, it will reset the fight very quickly. They regen health and you're back to square one. You're not going to have your cake and eat it too. 2. You don't need a skyscale to escape combat. We've been running from hard fights since release, long before gliders, mounts, and the crazy amounts of power creep over the years. Or if you're smart like an engineer, you just run in circles dropping bombs and laughing your way to victory, nary a scratch. I see this addition no differently than I see the mastery trait Air Rescue. It's a quality of life that gives you back time to your life to focus on the core things that matter most in the game. In a lot of ways, it also makes sense from a lore and immersion standpoint. You fed, played with, and helped grow your skyscale. It's your companion and life friend. It should come to your aid when you are in most need. And if and when you need it, use it. If you use it often, then you might want to reconsider your builds and life decisions that get you into trouble all the time.

As someone who completed the fishing achievement and spent countless weeks of fishing time in this game, I can say that fishing in general is quite relaxing and it doesn't have to be stressful. I can understand the OPs complaint when it comes to completing the fishing achievement. It can be stressful looking for specific fish at dusk/dawn and you only have about 5 minutes. However, that actually gives value to the achievement. Something to be proud of your accomplishment. If the achievement were handed out like Halloween candy, it would be a pointless venture. When I see someone wear the most prestigious titles in this game, I know they earned it. And that's 100% fair game. There are lots of great, calm places you can fish at for the simple act of just... you know, fishing. Crystal Oasis IMO is one of the best with its crystal clear waters and relaxing desert theme and music. The Isle of Reflection is very peaceful and allows you to decorate the area to give it a more surreal fishing experience. Draconis Mons has boiling turbulent waters, giving you that dangerously adventurous fishing experience. Seitung Province has a lot of calm places to fish at, plus fishing tournaments to change up the pace. Interestingly, fishing near the leviathan is one of the best places because it's more social and engaging to fish with others. Fishing in New Kaineng is also relaxing and offers plenty of safe places to fish at. So in general, fishing is not infuriating, stressful, or inconsistent. It's only if you're chasing the achievement, which stressors are to be accounted for.

Hmm, can't decide which one... https://i.imgur.com/LFdyk2Z.jpg