User:MithranArkanere/Suggestions/Core engineer changes

Core engineers have 4 types of utility with 5 skills each, instead 5 types with 4 skills each like all others (except revenant).

I would love for them to have a 5 type, by reworking 1 skill from each type into a 5th type.

The skills would have essentially the same behavior, but improved by the conversion, and most would keep the same toolbelt skill, with a few changes and shuffling around a few things.

For example, it could be like this:

The new type of skill could be Traps, engineer style.

Engineers are all about gadgets and devices, and you can't have gadgets and devices without traps.

• Ranger traps focus on conditions, and they very dangerous if you happen to stand on them when stacked.
• Guardian traps are tricky to use, but brutal, and focus in power damage.
• Thief traps are more about utility, and they are harder to use, but they are still not weak if used right. Their trigger areas are lines instead circles.

So what could be the quirk of engineer traps? Here are some ideas:

• They could rearm.
  • When engineer traps trigger, they would reveal themselves and become vulnerable to damage, kind of like turrets. If their 'real body' isn't destroyed and they have uses left, the body will dig underground again and rearm the trap to trigger again.
  • Engineer traps would come with an ammo counter in the corner. But that would not show how many times the skill can be used, but how many times the trap will rearm on its own without having to place it again. This counters would not recharge over time like ammo, instead, the skill would go in cooldown, and gain all charges again after the cooldown.
  • Using the trap skill again while a trap is already placed would cancel it without recovering charges.
  • To avoid having them destroyed way too fast (e.g: WvW), a new damage staggering mechanic would be introduced. Damage staggering would prevent someome from losing more than a % of their health per second or turn part of the damage received within a second into the same damage but spread over a time, but it would not remove any damage, only delay it. It would initially be applied to AI, but player skills could introduce forms of damage staggering eventually.
• Or they could be detonated.
  • Once placed, they would flip over to a skill that would allow remote detonation of the trap.
  • The effect of the remote detonation would not be as strong as if they triggered on their own, but they would all be explosions, and it would allow using them against objects and world bosses that do not trigger traps.
• Or they could be attachable to players.
  • Put a trap on an ally, and it'll trigger when enemies attack them, or when their health go under a certain amount.
  • Put a trap on an enemy, and it could trigger when they get get close to other enemies, when their allies give that enemy a boon, when another enemy heals them, etc.

We'd have to turn 4 skills into traps, and introduce a healing an an elite trap. I'd go for these 4 skills:

• Gadget -- Throw Mine -> Land Mine.
  • This one is pretty obvious, since it's already basically a trap that enemies can easily see. As an actual trap it'll go invisible once placed.
  • This trap would remain ground targeted, while the rest would be placed in front of the engineer, facing the same direction.
  • The effect would be the same as a mine explosion.
  • The toolbelt skill would be the same as Throw Mine: Mine Field. The skill would not be changed at all. The mines from mine field would not be changed to be traps themselves or anything like that.
• Turret -- Net Turret -> Claymore mine.
  • Net turrets are rather slow and impractical. Making them a trap would allow a better use of that sweet immobilize.
  • When it triggers, it would hit 5 enemies. The main target (whoever triggered it) would be hit by the same skill as a supercharged net turret, the rest by the same skill as a normal net turret attack, plus they would all get 3 long stacks of bleeding.
  • The area of this trap would not be a circle. It would be a cone facing the same direction as the enginneer when the trap was placed.
  • The toolbelt skill would also be the same as the original skill.
• Kit -- Tool Kit -> Fragmentation mine.
  • This one is trickier. If converted into a trap, engineers would lose 4 skills as this has 6. To avoid losing that many skills, part of its skills would be moved to a new mace weapon for the core engineer.
  • The skill converted into a trap would be "Box of Nails".
    • It would triggers a pulsing aoe that deals crippled and bleeding, similar to Box of Nails from the tool kit, but stronger. Maybe add a bit of torment too.
    • The would be a 'throw wrench' converted into "Throw hammer", using the "Droknar's Forgehammer" skin instead the wrench skin.
  • The main hand mace for core engineer would get these 3 skills:
    1. Smack-> Whack-> Thwack autoattack chain, it would still work the same as the kit, and still repair turrets.
    2. Pry Bar. It would now be unblockable and have a new functionality with two different effects based on whether the enemy is blocking or not:
       • If the enemy was blocking attacks, it will cause 0.25s daze and confusion.
       • If they were not blocking, it will cause 2s knockdown and 3 stacks of vulnerability for 8s and 1 stack of weakness for 10s.
    3. Magnet. Magnet is just too cool to discard it and it doesn't need any buffs so it would be put in weapon slot just as it is.
    • Gear Shield will be the one left out, as it already overlaps with engineer shield. But it would not be completely lost, the skin would become available as a drop or mystic forge recipe. To compensate for engineers loosing a second block, Over Shield would have the recharge reduction effect increased to 33%.
    • The toolkit trait, Power Wrench, would be reworked into trait called "Percussive Maintenance", this trait will increase damage an healing by 5% while in melee range of enemies, plus another 5% when equipped with a mace, and also give an amount of barrier to turrets and self when healing them, doubled when hitting enemies while also hitting turrets.
• Elixir -- Elixir B -> Pro-personnel mine.
  • This is the hardest to pick, as all engineer elixirs are very useful and widely used. But I would go with Elixir B, since it's the one without unique effects, it's just boons.
  • This trap would be a more powerful but delayed version of Elixir B. Once placed, it wold start building up power. When it triggers, would release the same boons as Elixir B did, but with larger stacks and longer durations the longer the trap was placed without triggering. It'll take about 60s to gain full power, and it would remain at full power until it triggers or until it expires.
  • This would work better if the 'quirk' of the engineer traps were rearming or detonation.
  • Like the rest of the toolbelt skills, this one would still keep Throw Elixir B unchanged.
  • Both the trap and the toolbelt skill would still trigger the HGH trait.