As part of hitting RR70 on my Engineer I decided it’s about time to go over my spec again. 

First off we have the Career Builder link via War4Scrubs.com

http://wardrobe.war4scrubs.com/CareerBuilder.aspx?Class=ENG#0;13;11;;11:13:5:;7:11:;3678:3676:3671:3643:;3651:3652:3646:3656:

My normal rotation when focusing on a target is usually Signal Flare (15% more damage, -5% dodge/block 21s ST DoT), Acid Bomb (Corp debuff, 21s AoE DoT), Sticky Bomb (15s backloaded AoE DoT), Fragmentation Grenade (15s AoE DoT), and Firebomb until the target dies or the DoT’s wear off. If it’s a caster I’ll toss some Flashbang Grenades to interrupt their casts. The nice thing about the rotation is I can use the first three abilities while moving, usually to close distance and get the most out of Trench Fighting but also to start kiting if need be. I only need to stop and toss for Frag and Firebomb which means I almost always have three hefty DoT’s ticking away on someone. Since 1.4, the Turret has become VERY important for an Engineer, and it’s really become quite an inseperable tool. Having that extra 20% damage creep up over 10 seconds means as soon as I see a target I drop a grenade turret and start with the DoT’s, depending on the reaction of my target I can then either kite, or close in and have one Redeploy ready to summon the turret to my location. Napalm Grenade is a very situational ability that I really only use when people are pretty focused on a task, capping a flag, the spider boss in Lost Vale, things like that. It’s not on my regular combat rotation of skills. Also to note, when kiting I tend to use Incendiary Rounds as an extra DoT that can be cast on the run and I have my KB and melee snare right next to each other so I can use Concussion Grenade and whack them with Spanner Swipe when they start flying.

The main thing that has changed since that last major spec I was running is the aversion to Rifleman. It’s crippling as a physical RDPS class to have to rely so heavily on Weaponskill that I’ve been avoiding that tree intentionally. Most of my main damage in Grenade is all Corp, and the Tinker tree is unused aside from the two tactics that significantly boost my DPS with a turret. The combination of Tracer Rounds and Trench Fighting along with the 20% damage buff from my turret and 20% crit buff from 6-pc Warlord make everything tie in nicely and push my rifle spec right out the door.

Next, the spiffy renown builder via WarStats.net

http://warstats.net/rbuilder?lang=usa#01004000000000000040000400

Here I used to be all about the Ballistic, Weaponskill and Crit before the new changes came along. Now with Deft Defender giving a massive 18% bonus to dodge and disrupt, and efficiency giving me 10 seconds of unbridled fury, I’ve lost all the prior reason to need weaponskill in the first place. In fact, I’m not looking at another significant purchase until RR84 when I top off another fair chunk of Wounds (which will put me into the high 7k range with a WP buff). I don’t even need crit stacked these days since the combination of Tracer Rounds and 6-pc Warlord pushes me into the 40% range. The new renown changes leave a whole lot in the way of manipulation, and the vast variety of specs is very pleasing for those min/maxers out there.

Lastly, to tie all good things together we have Werits ArsenalofWar.com

http://www.arsenalofwar.com/depot?k=agxhcnNlbmFsb2Z3YXJyEgsSCkRlcG90RW50cnkYx517DA

I daresay the tools we have at our disposal now are FAR better than anything WarDB and the lame Curse network ever brought us. Kudos to all of you! Here you can see the full gear load-out along with Talismans, Potions, and even a correct stat block at the bottom! Yes, I actually run 906BS and 225WS, and I also run a 906 armor pot when I know I’m in for some extended combat situations or just running premades. I have 9% reduced chance to be dodged from Signal Flare and some piece of armor, so it makes up for the lower Ballistic stat. Not to mention I don’t have to correct the odd Runepriest buff for Will/Init since I’m well under cap and can actually use more Ballistic at any given time.

I’ve been running this spec for a couple days now to get a feel for it and just hit RR70 last night to really let things click. It feels great. Things are really smooth with the Engineer these days and I’m putting up some damage numbers like it’s nobody’s business. There’s something about popping Efficiency for infinite AP, popping my M2 Unshakeable Focus for double damage and shoving 12k damage down someones throat over the next 6 seconds. You know, kinda like Bright Wizards and Sorcs are apt to do any given day of the week. Hoo, that’s a depressing sentance. Ah well at least I don’t need to be a flamer or some skinny elf to get the job done! Surprisingly enough, the only time that I find myself not getting top DPS for my realm is when I’m running with a really really good double premade that just slaughters everything in front of them. Usually then I’m in the upper echelons of the DPS classes, but it puts a damper on my DoT damage. I think that’s enough for now though, I could really continue on and talk about how different classes and buffs play together, situational reactions as an engineer, etc. and so on.

Back to killin. =)