I agree with this statement 100%. I never liked how the Engineer was built. It never really fit together well in my opinion. The class has always been this way, since alpha.
yeah. Engi is my most geared, and really that is the only reason I still focus on it.
My mesmer, rogue, elem, war all play much better, and have more viable builds.
Engi is screwed for a number of reasons. Right from the getgo.
The skill system. 2 weapon swaps. Elem is the other one that can't swap. But they have attunments of course. giving access to a full cadre of skills. elems have a valid complaint with arcane traits being a must.
Engineers dont have swaps. they have 1 weapon. with kits. the problem right off is the rest of the game wasn't built on kits. it was built on 2 weapon swapping. This is ESPECIALLY true with traits, which 2 weeks before beta had free pick. Adding the tiers fucked engis over big time.
Engi traits tend to be super focused. t3 must haves for any give weapon/kit. Making it so, if you expected to have 2 or 3 kits slotted, only 1 of them is traited for, and thus effective. this isn't really true with other professions. Most have much more versatile options. I use my mesmer as an example, with glamor traits being all over the place.
If you want to use flamethrower,you go 30 firearms, 30 alch. No other options, all the related traits are in those lines. Grenades, 30 explosives. etc. The only real options engis have is 30 tools or 30 alch as a secondary focus with a few builds. generally rifle builds.
Kits themselves are shit. Due to raw weapon damage being low. 827 ave weapon damage on kits. this could be, but is not countered with higher skill coeffs.
Flamethrower is especially bad. with its skill coeffs being incredibly low. Grenades prenerf did 6-10times as much damage as flamethrower. Seriously.
Grenades are only viable because of incredibly poor balancing. 25 points in explosive gives 1 stack of vul per grenade(explosion) and 30 points in explosives gives +1 grenade and extra range.
This means 5 points in explosives at that level, increases your damage output by 80%. Think about how insane that is. why in the hell does 5 points make such a difference in a build?
Seriously. 2 grenades normally. +1 for 3 after. that is a 50% damage increase. Name one other trait that does that. But thats not even the end of it. +1 grenade also means +1 bleeds, +1 status effects. chill lasts another 6s. You are now applying 3 stacks of vul every throw. you can stack 24 stacks of vul yourself in 6seconds. permanently.
There is a reason grenades were so much of a must have. and it was those two traits. What did they do? nerfed grenades core damage coeff. Which now means LEVELING grenade is complete shit, as you dont have vul and you dont have 3 grenades, you have 2. or if you are using grenades as a secondary kit. useless. they are only viable now, if its traited for. And that is a large problem with the profession as early noted. grenades without grenadier, flamethrower without fireforged, or juggernaut, etc. not viable.
Turrets are still broken for the most part. die instantly, huge cooldown. why mesmers have 6s-20s cooldowns on theirs, and turrets are 60s, I have no idea. Turrets also still do not scale with stats. so another entire quarter of the class is not useable.
Static discharge builds are the only other viable atm that I am aware of. This is what I am atm. The buff to rifle turret is nice for it too.
30 firearms, 30 tools. rifle, static discharge. toolkit, rifle turret, rocket boots. throw wrench,surpirse shot, and rocket kick all procing static discharge. tons of burst. you yourself are very soft though.
Crit damage was of course a dumb thing to put in the game as I first noted. power, crit and crit damage FAR outpace cond damage and armor.
