GW2. How To Fight Engineer. How To Beat Engineer. Class Mechanics. Matchup Guide. Engineer Scrapper Holosmith Mechanist. Guild Wars 2 PvP 2023.
Your ability to adapt to situations in PvP is not only tied to your knowledge of your class, but also of the classes you will be facing. This is a basic guide to understanding Engineer in PvP so that you can figure out how to fight them without having to learn to play the engineer class entirely.
Mechanics
As the jack-of-all-trades class, Engineers use their Inventions and Gadgets to have an answer for any situation. This makes them extremely potent in extended or complex situations. A well played engineer can disable for its teammates, pressure enemies from range while kiting, and make plays with combo fields and finishers. Disrupting this synergy is the best option with disables/CC that prevent them from doing combos or rotating through all of their utility kit skills. Engineers also are weak to conditions, confusion specifically because of how little cleanse they have and how many skills they use.
Kits are another feature of engineers which can be thought of as alternate weapon swaps but without a cooldown. This versatility allows them to swap between melee and ranged playstyles at will. Here are some of the kits they have and how to play around them:
Grenade Kit – Do not run in straight lines or behind them as they kite. Be unpredictable to make it harder for them to aim.
Tool Kit – Watch for the Magnet Pull combo which they can swap target to hide the animation of. Look for the arm raise animation.
Elixir Gun – When they leap into the air they leave an acid bomb on the floor. Do not stand in this subtle red AoE that pulses damage over time.
Flamethrower Kit – Stand behind them to avoid the frontal cone of their attacks.
Mortar Kit – Avoid standing in the fields, especially the pulsing blind. To contest them on node you need to play very aggressively or they can constantly pressure you. Do so after the blind field wears out.
Downed State
If you manage to get an enemy engineer into the downed state, disposing of them involves handling a few skills:
Weakness/Chill – Their auto attacks in downstate will weaken and chill you, which are some of the worst conditions to have on you
Single Targeted Pull – Stealth, blind, stability, invulnerability, and ports can help to secure the stomp, but don’t attempt to stomp unless you can secure it on the first try since they have two CCs
Point Blank Knock Back – Stealth will not work since it doesn’t need a target, but blind, stability, invulnerability, and ports will help. This second CC is available after 8 seconds
Traits
While you can learn how to play against meta builds, not everyone plays the same builds and there are some variations of engineer that may differ from one another. Understanding their traits and how they synergize with their class can help you to fight them.
The most common traitline that engineers run is Explosives, which creates an explosive entrance on their next attack after they dodge. Try not to get hit by this attack since it adds a chunk of damage and can blind if traited to do so.
The elite specializations engineers can play offer new mechanics to play around.
Scrapper
The more damage they deal, the more barrier they gain. Avoid trading blows with them unless you can get much more in return. They have plenty of Superspeed, but conditions and stuns will help to lock them down when their stability runs out. The Function Gyro can revive allies or finish enemies. Kill this gyro to prevent it from performing that action before you proceed with handling the situation.
Holosmith
Entering into Photon Forge mode grants Holosmiths access to very powerful abilities which generates Heat that they risk overheating unless they leave the forge. Use CC on them when they are in the Photon Forge to stall them while they generate heat and must leave. Wait to put conditions on them until after they leave the forge or they will convert them into boons.
Mechanist
Mechanists lose access to tool belt skills, but acquire a powerful Jade Mech pet to control. Separate the mech from the mechanist using your positioning, then swap target to the mechanist while the mech is catching up to you. They lack stun breaks due to lacking tool belt skills, so use CCs.
Matchups
There is always a potential to beat an enemy either by rotating into better fights or outplaying their mechanics, but these are the main dynamics of how specific classes interact with engineers:
Engineer Counters
Thief
- The thief stolen ability from engineers doesn’t give much
- Engineers can pressure thieves with quick ranged damage and AoE
- Thieves cannot sustain long enough to focus an engineer by themselves
Situational Dangers
Mesmer
- Mesmers interrupt engineers, preventing them from rotating through their many skills
- Engineers have plenty of AoE and damage to kill clones
- Mesmers lack the sustain to survive engineers if they don’t get the kill quickly
Counters Engineer
Warrior
- Warriors can stay on top of an engineer with similar mobility
- Engineers lack stun breaks
- Despite engineers having blind and ranged damage, warriors can afford to take some hits to last through them
Necromancer
- Necromancers lock down and bombard engineers with conditions they can’t handle
- Engineers do not get a range advantage against necromancers
- Necromancers have more sustain than engineers
Animations
NOTE: If you wan’t to know the current updated builds that people may be playing check out the PvP Builds, and WvW Builds.