41 replies to this topic

[ApocalypseAzza]

So I'm getting this game next week and the engineer looks the most appealing to me, bombs and guns and technical stuff. I played GW1 since the start and have wanted to be Sylvari for years! So I was thinking Sylvari engineer.

However, I've been looking around the forums and they seem to be getting negative reviews, would you all suggest I try another profession for my first character and try engineer later in my GW2 life? Building a character takes time, I don't want to spend time on something only to be disappointed by the end. Thanks.

[kekuso]

The only reason I'd say not to play engineer first is because it requires a large amount of kit swapping, which means instead of the 15-20 skills you normally utilize on other characters, you'll have 20-30 skills on the engineer. That being said, I feel that it is one of the top classes in all aspects of the game (spvp, wvw, DE tagging, dungeons, general pve) because it has so much utility to offer. So if you're confident in your skills and ability to learn, don't hesitate to roll an engineer!  

And welcome to Tyria

[dawdler]

Engineer is one of the hardest classes to play good and on top of that one of the weaker classes in terms of both PvE and PvP. Unlike the post above, I definetly do not think its one of the "top classes" in everything. In fact, you'll hardly ever meet an Engineer. Possibly for a reason.

So while it is your choice, I would not advice using it as the first character. Create one after you've gotten accustomed to the play style of GW2, get the feel for it and discover whether you like it or not. If you still like the Engineer after playing Warrior/Mesmer/Guardian/whatever, then congratulations, you're a very rare species. Dont forget that you can create an Engineer and take it straight to sPvP and try out the combat style. You got dummies there as well to train against (all classes) if you dont want to engage players. When you can take out a Warrior without him touching you or kill the Theif without even using an attack, you're getting there

Edited by dawdler, 04 January 2013 - 01:34 PM.

[Gilles VI]

ApocalypseAzza, on 04 January 2013 - 12:36 PM, said:

So I'm getting this game next week and the engineer looks the most appealing to me, bombs and guns and technical stuff. I played GW1 since the start and have wanted to be Sylvari for years! So I was thinking Sylvari engineer.

However, I've been looking around the forums and they seem to be getting negative reviews, would you all suggest I try another profession for my first character and try engineer later in my GW2 life? Building a character takes time, I don't want to spend time on something only to be disappointed by the end. Thanks.

Engineer is an amazing class, but it needs to be played right.
You can't just rush to your enemy and kill it toe to toe.

And people saying it's very weak really should try buffed flamethrower/grenades/condition pistol.

Personally it's one the coolest classes, they're good at kinda everything (damage, support, control), they look cool, they can be amazing when in the right hands (like a mesmer in GW1, useless in wrong hands, game changing when in right hands).

And if you get to 80 with your engineer, the game will be laughable easy when you try a guardian/warrior/ranger/...

dawdler, on 04 January 2013 - 01:32 PM, said:

Engineer is one of the hardest classes to play good and on top of that one of the weaker classes in terms of both PvE and PvP. Unlike the post above,

Weak in PvP??
The hardest fights for me personally as a bunker in tPvP are those pesky condition pistol/mine kit engineers!

[Sagramor]

If you want to play an Engeineer, just do it. Don't let people complaining about it bother you.

[FoxBat]

PvE isn't hard enough (you can outlevel most stuff if it is), grenades rock WvW, PvP you don't need to build characters. Engie is fine.

[matsif]

as you level, pick 1 kit at a time and play with it for a while to see what you like.  I spent a long time on the flamethrower, especially after I hit 80 as with juggernaut it's very easy to have almost as much defense as an average warrior or guardian.  I've switched to grenades since before the recent nerf to the direct damage of the kit's main spam skill, and am enjoying them.  When using grenades, be sure to turn on fast cast ground targeting in the options menu to throw grenades where your mouse pointer is instead of having to click twice to throw them, makes it a lot easier.

My only tips are to just stick with it and focus on kits.  You can't take hits like a heavy and can't get out of trouble like a thief, but there are enough skills in the engineer's arsenal to easily find something you like and make it as good as it can be, or do what the consensus here enjoys and take as much utility as possible.  Kits are what this class shines with right now, as turrets are pretty underpowered overall.

Engy still is my most played character overall.  I have all classes above level 40, 5 of which are 80, and I still spend more time on my engy than anything else because with a simple retrait and swap of 1 or 2 skills, the class has an entirely different play style with a new kit.  No other class can do this from what I've seen, and it's very enjoyable for me as other classes just got boring to me as I leveled them.

[MrForz]

My first and only class is Engineer. It is fine (not underpowered, not overpowered), in everything it does, PvP and PvE, may it be support, glass canon DPS, conditions, tank, hybrids of all of those and all the utility skills are good, and this is why the Engineer section is a desert: We can't possibly complain about anything, and we aren't being complained at.

And even if in PvP, well built Engineers are classified as a real pain in the arse against every profession, people won't play Engineer because it's so much better to be some barbarian, paladin, rogue shadow assassin or whatever, or some lousy dark deathlord of death.

And while some classes are ridiculously overpowered (not gamebreakingly, intended) at some places and roles, this one is strong and reliable. In absolutely everything. And you know what? You can almost switch between your roles on the fly.

Edited by MrForz, 04 January 2013 - 05:31 PM.

[ApocalypseAzza]

Thanks for the replies.

So it's not a class where you stand around trying to get into a group for a long time or miss out on farming because you don't have the right skills? (Thinking back to GW1 here)

[Wifflebottom]

ApocalypseAzza, on 04 January 2013 - 08:19 PM, said:

Thanks for the replies.

So it's not a class where you stand around trying to get into a group for a long time or miss out on farming because you don't have the right skills? (Thinking back to GW1 here)

No, Engies are welcome in most groups and they have plenty of skills to be effective in Orr farming (if that's what you're asking). Honestly I think we don't have enough Engies a the moment. Also good for choosing Sylvari, we are the plant master race

[Impmon]

I tried to like engineer but I hated having to swamp constantly to do anything & kill one creature and almost die in the process in contrast to another profession that can solo three of them with ease.  That and I really disliked having to constantly target the ground for certain abilities.

[doooknoookem]

If you're looking to the engineer for its variety and complexity, I would actually take a look at the elementalist. I have a geared lvl 80 engineer and it just seems that the Elementalists (DD and Staff builds) are superior to us in most regards. Take a look at a DD Auramancer Elementalist and see if that fits your playstyle.

I'm not trying to completely dissuade you from creating an engi, but rather just take a look at ele. When I was looking for a class that offered lots of boon support with decent damage and variety (class depth and versatility), I made a grenadier engi without taking a look at the ele and atm, I regret leveling an engi over an ele.

[Vancext]

Well, Engineer is all I've played to 80 since release, but I've played a LOT of it. Not sure how it feels for other classes, but with my bomb kit build (which I actually prefer to most other builds for general use) I can solo almost all overworld content, going toe-to-toe with most champions and easily controlling and offing large groups of mobs in the hardest areas of the game.

If it gets easier with other classes I'm not sure I want it to be that easy...

Also, I'm not sure why people complain about constantly having to swap kits. I almost always stick with one. For certain fights I might engage with rifle while I get into range for bombs, or for a bit of specialized control, but I don't juggle nearly as much as elementalist friends do.

Anyway, I felt the same way about Engineer, and I've been happy bombing, grenading, flamethrowing, shooting, and gadgeteering ever since. If the idea appeals to you, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Edited by Vancext, 05 January 2013 - 12:52 AM.

[I'm Squirrel]

I played an Engineer once, I think lvls 1-10 were really slow, and then with the Engineer's kits unlocked, combat became much more easier than combat with my lvl 80 Mesmer.

[MrForz]

Vancext, on 05 January 2013 - 12:41 AM, said:

Also, I'm not sure why people complain about constantly having to swap kits. I almost always stick with one. For certain fights I might engage with rifle while I get into range for bombs, or for a bit of specialized control, but I don't juggle nearly as much as elementalist friends do.

Because it is very rare that Engineers get the same builds when comparing. The complaint is most likely about the use of Flamethrower and Elixir Gun, as they're there for the utility (Super Elixir, backward jump, Air Blast, Smoke Vent) and toolbelt skills. Besides, I find it wonderful to do so. There's that swiss knife feeling and all that.

[draxynnic]

dawdler, on 04 January 2013 - 01:32 PM, said:

Engineer is one of the hardest classes to play good and on top of that one of the weaker classes in terms of both PvE and PvP. Unlike the post above, I definetly do not think its one of the "top classes" in everything. In fact, you'll hardly ever meet an Engineer. Possibly for a reason.

Reason 1: It's a more complex profession than others, so people who aren't willing to stick with it get dissuaded easily.
Reason 2: There are people who don't think "techy" professions belong in a fantasy game and thus avoid them.

Personally, my experience has been that of all the professions, engineers are probably the ones I most want to see a potential colleague playing. A well-played engineer is powerful enough, and someone who's stuck with engineer up to about, say, level 40 or so usually shows a degree of skill and determination that you tend not to see so often in other professions, especially the 'easy' ones like warriors, guardians and rangers.

Of course, saying that engineer players often seem to be a better quality of player isn't really entirely relevant to a new player, so here's what is relevant:

Both elementalist and engineer are going to be somewhat difficult early on, and get better as you progress. Part of this is that you'll get naturally better at your profession. Part of this is that you'll have more tools available - elementalists and especially engineers really need to get their utility skills and traits together in order to shine. And part of this is because healing skills for both seem to scale poorly at low levels - a heal that might give you back a third of your health at level 80 may be little better than a bandaid in the early levels, and on professions that are already relatively fragile this can easily be fatal.

Personally, I would rate engineers slightly higher than elementalists - they're a little tougher and more customisable. Elementalists also have the problem that ArenaNet made the IMO colossal mistake of making their only underwater elite the 30-point one, so in the mid levels you're going to be crippled by not having an underwater elite and/or not having other utility skills because you've been saving to get the underwater elite. As an engineer, I would advise going for elixir gun as soon as reasonably practical - while super elixir isn't as broken as it was when it was bugged, it's still a good kit to have available, and the ability to grant area regeneration is also useful. Similarly, getting the med kit early is a good investment, especially if you're speccing into Tools - Bandage Self is a good heal on it's own, and the ability to switch to medkit and generate additional healing, condition removal, and a speed/fury buff is useful.

It's probably not a bad idea unless you're looking to get a character to 80 ASAP to start with a more forgiving profession like warrior, guardian or ranger until you get the feel of the game, but there's no reason you couldn't switch to maining an engineer once you're familiar with the basics.

Edited by draxynnic, 05 January 2013 - 01:30 AM.

[coglin]

If you want to play the engineer, go for it. Your reasoning are sound.

I have recently gotten my last profession to 80. I now have all classes to 80. I would like to dispel what I feel is some serious spreading of mis-information that I feel happens on the forums. You will read post making false claims that it is the toughest class because you have to kit swap. That is not the truth at all. You do not even need to use kits. There are great builds using all elixirs for example. One thing I have learned is that posters in this subforum like to make false claims based on the way they play or have their build set up. You can also make a build around gadgets and control and be as deadly and annoying as a thief. Thee is a vast amount of diversity and hybrid capability in my opinion in builds.

Some claim the engineer is the most complicated and has the highest skill ceiling of the profession. I personally feel that is incorrect, but it is a subjective topic either way. There have been dev post made in which they reply to the question about what they consider classes with the highest skill ceiling and they never list engineers even in the top 3, but that is neither here not there.

I will point out, that early on in the lower levels, every class feels limited. This occurs because at early levels they all are. This is due to the fact that you have limited skill points and trait points, and limited gear stats.

I will suggest though, that as soon as you get in game, take the time to make more then one profession. Make the top few that interest you. After you finish 5 minutes worth of an initial quest, you can go to the mist. It is an area in which you get all trait points, utilities, weapons skills, elites, and high stat gear available to you for free. There are fighting models of every class and dummies that you can test on. You can go to an NPC and get gear, runes, sigils, jewelry, and weapons to test any build you can think of. Testing in the mist may not answer all of your questions, but it will certainly allow you to get a feel of every profession in better detail. As well, it will allow you to test various stat, trait, and weapon combinations you may have interest in.

After all of that, you will have at list some idea of where your interest lay. If you still feel the engineer interest you the most, that is great.

Just what ever you do, do not listen to this type of mis-information.

kekuso, on 04 January 2013 - 12:50 PM, said:

The only reason I'd say not to play engineer first is because it requires a large amount of kit swapping,

There are spectacular builds that use zero kits. Not to mention, it is not harder to swap to a kit then it is to weapons swap similar to every other class.

dawdler, on 04 January 2013 - 01:32 PM, said:

Engineer is one of the hardest classes to play good and on top of that one of the weaker classes in terms of both PvE and PvP.

This is very inaccurate. It is only this posters opinion, and very much against the general concensus if you ask me. We are very solid in PvE and one of the favored professions among many of the skilled PvPers.

Impmon, on 04 January 2013 - 08:31 PM, said:

I tried to like engineer but I hated having to swamp constantly to do anything & kill one creature and almost die in the process in contrast to another profession that can solo three of them with ease.

You can never use a utility (kits are utility skills) or elite skill as an engineer and solo 3+ general mobs in every zone. That is a fact. Also, again, you do not have to have a build with kits at all.

Edited by coglin, 05 January 2013 - 02:21 AM.

[GuanglaiKangyi]

You're not going to end up with anything worth using if you build without using kits.  The entire idea of engineers is that they have the kits as an alternative to weapon swapping.  In effect they get unlimited weapon swaps and more weapon skills in exchange for less utilities.  If you don't use kits, you're stuck with a single weapon, and neither of the engineer's base weapons (rifle or pistol) are particularly good.  Keep in mind that with the way this game is designed, DPS is pretty much the name of the game.  If you are building to optimize DPS you're going to get shoehorned into preset categories, and for the engineer those categories all involve using kits.

That said, you don't HAVE to constantly swap either.  You can, for example, sit exclusively in grenade or flamethrower kit, if you are built for them properly.

[FoxBat]

GuanglaiKangyi, on 05 January 2013 - 03:11 AM, said:

Keep in mind that with the way this game is designed, DPS is pretty much the name of the game.

DPS is the name of dungeons. Bursting works just fine for open world, which is way more relevant to the OP's concerns. I'd rather be chucking gadgets with static disharge between blunderbusses below level 60 than using un-traited grenades or having limited kiting on flamethrower. While bomb kit works fine out of the box, I can see people skipping that too due to having to run all the way to melee range before you can even start damaging things.

Edited by FoxBat, 05 January 2013 - 03:34 AM.

[draxynnic]

coglin, on 05 January 2013 - 02:11 AM, said:

I have recently gotten my last profession to 80. I now have all classes to 80. I would like to dispel what I feel is some serious spreading of mis-information that I feel happens on the forums. You will read post making false claims that it is the toughest class because you have to kit swap. That is not the truth at all. You do not even need to use kits. There are great builds using all elixirs for example. One thing I have learned is that posters in this subforum like to make false claims based on the way they play or have their build set up. You can also make a build around gadgets and control and be as deadly and annoying as a thief. Thee is a vast amount of diversity and hybrid capability in my opinion in builds.

I would say that if you don't use learn how to work kits you're missing out of a lot of the potential of the engineer, since they really are such a big piece of the profession.

However, that's not to say that if you aren't kitswapping all the time, you're doing it wrong. My static discharge build only has the toolkit in it, and that's primarily as another short-recharge toolbelt skill - although I'll admit the ability to suddenly prybar someone in the face is a nice one to have, especially against those Risen Thralls that pretty much WILL have you in melee whatever you do. Thing is, the engineer probably has the best utility skills among the professions, and even without any kits at all an engineer's utility and toolbelt skills are pretty much equivalent to a conventional weaponswap - except that you're not handicapped by weaponswap recharges, have more ability to mix and match your skills rather then being limited to packaged sets of weapon skills (which almost always have at least one skill you're just not getting much benefit from) and you don't have a second autoattack skill (because you don't need it).

However, to get the most out of the profession, it really is worth familiarising yourself with kits at some stage - there's a lot of good stuff in them.

[dawdler]

coglin, on 05 January 2013 - 02:11 AM, said:

You can never use a utility (kits are utility skills) or elite skill as an engineer and solo 3+ general mobs in every zone. That is a fact. Also, again, you do not have to have a build with kits at all.

... and that comparison is supposed to say what compared to a Warrior that will laugh at your 3+ mobs while loosing zero health facetanking them?

I dont think its very difficult to play Engineer. But to quote myself: Engineer is one of the hardest classes to play good. Keyword here is good.

Play a Warrior, Guardian, Theif, whatever and most of them are easy to pick up and come with fairly simple methods of attacks. A Theif using Heartseeker is a prime example of this. Its such a narrow gameplay style you can play by ONLY using Heartseeker. Of course there is more to the Thief than this, but the point is, it exist. Or the ever so popular Signet Warrior - its disgusting to see, I know - he focus on the weapon skills completely. Its not the skills that dictate his combat style, its solely the weapons. Even the Elementalist sort of have the same thing where you can stay in a focus without swapping, but that is another class I consider to be one of the hardest to play good.

The Engineer completely lacks this type of focus and for that, yes I consider him to be one of the hardest classes to play good. Its a very "wide" class, sort of speak. You rely on your skills even more than your weapons, yet there are no roflstomp skills, unlike those posessed by many other class that truly make them powerfull (Mesmer comes to mind). For some people this skill dependancy and variety of skills make him powerfull, for others it make him weak.

There's really no denying how most of us plays a game if we have anything to say about it - we want the easiest, most powerfull class. Because that's what we find enjoyable.

Well unless you enjoy tormenting and/or challenge yourself. I actually have two Engineers

Edited by dawdler, 05 January 2013 - 03:27 PM.

[Rouzeki]

GuanglaiKangyi, on 05 January 2013 - 03:11 AM, said:

You're not going to end up with anything worth using if you build without using kits.  The entire idea of engineers is that they have the kits as an alternative to weapon swapping.  In effect they get unlimited weapon swaps and more weapon skills in exchange for less utilities.  If you don't use kits, you're stuck with a single weapon, and neither of the engineer's base weapons (rifle or pistol) are particularly good.  Keep in mind that with the way this game is designed, DPS is pretty much the name of the game.  If you are building to optimize DPS you're going to get shoehorned into preset categories, and for the engineer those categories all involve using kits.

That said, you don't HAVE to constantly swap either.  You can, for example, sit exclusively in grenade or flamethrower kit, if you are built for them properly.

Hmm...not sure I agree with you entirely.  Kit are where it's at for the engi, for sure.  But, it's completely feasible to go pistol/pistol condition build with all elixirs as your utility skills...especially if you are looking for pure dps.  Check out "skirmishing alchemist" on YouTube.  I like his build but usually take bombs or flamethrower in place of Elixir U due to the utility (not necessarily the dps) that comes with kits.

[Dokem]

Engi is fine. It is my main since release and I'm having a lot of fun. Great AoE with flamethrower or granades for farming and you won't have problems to fine a party for dungeons.

[Thirty Six Blades]

classes are bufffed and nerfed. if you like the archetype you should play it regardless of its current state.

i roled a rogue on wow for almost 8 years, just because i like the kind of stealthy/sneaky guy.

[Bloodtau]

Don't expect to do damage. Don't expect to be able to support very well.
The engineer can do a whole range of stuff, but does all these mediocre. jack of all trades, master of none springs to mind

[coglin]

Bloodtau, on 07 January 2013 - 08:28 AM, said:

Don't expect to do damage. Don't expect to be able to support very well.
The engineer can do a whole range of stuff, but does all these mediocre. jack of all trades, master of none springs to mind

although what you should expect is to put this poster on ignore. He never actually contributes to discussion, and thrives on trolling the engineer forums and bashing the class. My auto attack on riffle does 2k damage, and I can keep aoe regeneration up all the time and sometimes maintain multiple aoe heal tics, keep weakness up 100%,..........those two fact alone should help you understand how wrong he really is.

[Mura]

I leveled my Engineer to 80 doing only World versus World.  Now I have a lvl 80 Ranger, working on world completion (exploring everything in the entire map).

I really enjoyed my engineer, but I wouldn't recommend making it your first class.  I got to try other classes in the gw2 betas.  Make something else, then after you've got the idea of combat and using utility skills in this game, try an engineer.

[Humungous]

There are strong Engineer builds for every game mode, which is why I think it's a top class. The only other class that is as capable in all game modes is the Mesmer (portal and time warp are very handy for dungeons).

[MrForz]

coglin, on 07 January 2013 - 06:55 PM, said:

although what you should expect is to put this poster on ignore. He never actually contributes to discussion, and thrives on trolling the engineer forums and bashing the class. My auto attack on riffle does 2k damage, and I can keep aoe regeneration up all the time and sometimes maintain multiple aoe heal tics, keep weakness up 100%,..........those two fact alone should help you understand how wrong he really is.

Thank you. You saved me from making a wall of text concerning that post.

Anyways, the choice is up to the OP. Engineers are always welcome in team because its real strengths are adaptability. You can have a fair bit of support while keeping an absurd damage output. (Hello Vulnerability stacking + Static Discharge imbued Wrench-Rang + Surprise Shot Rifle builds)

[syrin]

Personally my engineer is my 2nd fav character, elementalist is my first luv. And don't listen to people who say you can't solo 3  plus critters I do it all the time. Heck just did claw of jormag at 70 when everything was 80 and only fell not died once. You do have to learn to be a lot more mobil then with a lot of characters though and have to learn to think fast.