Engineer - Core Sanguine Grenadier

This is a test build. You may comment and rate it.

Focused on: Hybrid damage and Mobility

Designed for: PvP Conquest

Difficulty:

Hard

This build was last updated on September 12, 2024.

Overview

A Core Engineer hybrid-damage PvP build focused on kiting and sustained damage. This build heavily relies on kiting with the about-face command and snap-targeted grenades.

Skill Bar

Rifle

Utility

Grenade Kit

Skill Variants

Utility

• Note: If you would be stunned while using Rocket Boots, rather than being stunned, the boots will be preemptively canceled and you will be free to act. Because of this, skilled usage of the ability generally outperforms other available utility skills.

• Utility Goggles / Detection Pulse - A more reactive option. Gadgeteer buffs this by making it provide 3s of Protection in addition to the usual cleanse and Resistance. The toolbelt skill has a range of 900 (just longer than Jump Shot and applies 6s of Revealed along with 8s of Vulnerability.

• Tool Kit / Throw Wrench - Gives access to a few very useful skills: Box of Nails for easy Sanguine Array procs, Pry Bar for & a unique condition, Gear Shield for a much needed block, and Magnet which can be used to set up combos. Its toolbelt skill Throw Wrench has less damage potential here than other power-focused builds and is likely best saved for the condition cleanse.

Weapons

• Spear - A high risk, high reward weapon equally as viable as Rifle in the right scenarios. Spear benefits greatly from Incendiary Powder and Reactive Lenses and offers much higher damage output overall. This comes with the tradeoff of having to dip into melee for Conduit Surge where you can quickly get blown up. While it doesn't have Blunderbuss for high might generation, it can still build Vulnerability and Might with Lightning Rod (which hits targets up to 8 times each; good Sharpshooter rng can give a lot of Might). Devastator / Focused Devastation is similar to Jump Shot but deals ~10k damage to a marked target, much of which is shorter duration Burning. Roiling Skies is the weakest skill in the set with few uses outside of setting a market target up for Devastator, a task generally performed better by Electric Artillery. Overall a great weapon if you're able to land the hits but is more prone to getting you blown up. Requires the Janthir Wilds expansion.

• Mace & Shield - The defensive option, but also one that works well with Modified Ammunition for a wide array of condition application. You lose the Might generation with Blunderbuss, some long range CC and Jump Shot but gain Energizing Slam which deals good damage, helps Vigor uptime and applies Confusion, Rocket Fist Prototype which is a quick ranged stun that applies Burning and is an 24px Explosion, Magnetic Shield which is a 3 second missile reflect you can detonate with Magnetic Inversion, and Static Shield which is one of the strongest defensive abilities in the game. This weapon set is excellent for games where you are frequently focused as it provides additional healing via Energizing Slam's leap finisher and regeneration, as well as Shield's defensive options that cover you picking up Med Pack Drop. Requires the Secrets of the Obscure expansion.

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Specializations

Trait Variants

• Lock On - Trades 100% Swiftness uptime for burst Vulnerability application, Fury, a cleanse and a 4s reveal upon disabling someone. This is a two-part skill; the same buffs/debuffs are applied if hitting someone out of Stealth, though the reveal is shorter. You'll want either Rune of Lynx or Relic of the Wayfinder for movement speed if using this.

• Explosive Temper - Trades survivability for slightly higher sustained damage.

• Modified Ammunition - Trades passive Burning application for higher strike damage. The better option for teamfights where you aren't the only one applying conditions. Swapping to this will make it more likely your Bleeding gets cleansed off since the Burning from 24px Incendiary Powder acts as a cover for it.

Equipment

Rifle

Sigil

Sigil

Rune

Amulet

Relic

Equipment Variants

Amulets

• - better survivability against comps with a lot of strike damage.

Sigils

Sigil of Doom can be replaced by:

• Sigil of Intelligence - more consistent Power burst.

• Sigil of Cleansing - better cleansing. Due to the frequency of swapping on and off the Grenade Kit, this sigil can be inconsistent.

• Sigil of Opportunity - higher consistent Power damage. Note that this sigil only boosts strike damage, not condition damage.

Runes

• Note that you lose 15% critical strike chance with these runes. This is a fairly sizable loss of overall damage not only from lower raw crit damage, but fewer Sharpshooter procs, and, by extension, less Might from Sanguine Array.

• Rune of Lynx - mobility if you choose to swap off Streamlined Kits.

• Rune of Orr - good against teams with heavy condition damage.

• Rune of Sunless - more offensive variant of Orr.

Relics

• Relic of the Aristocracy - good option for players without expansions. Obtaining stacks is easy thanks to Steel-Packed Powder.

• Relic of Durability - good generally defensive relic. Stacks with Reactive Lenses (when buffed with Gadgeteer) resulting in 10s of Protection every 20s.

• Relic of Antitoxin - strong synergy with Mechanized Deployment if conditions are an issue.

• Relic of the Wayfinder - passive mobility & another source of Superspeed. Good if swapping off of Streamlined Kits but want to retain freedom with Runes. Requires the Secrets of the Obscure expansion.

• Relic of the Sorcerer - more Vulnerability application. Works with all explosions thanks to Shrapnel. Good in prolonged skirmishes, weaker vs. classes with a lot of cleanse. Requires the Secrets of the Obscure expansion.

Usage

• This build features modest mobility, burst damage, high vulnerability application and a wide set of conditions. It performs well as a +1 to a skirmish or in teamfights where there isn't projectile hate. It is extremely reliant on kiting with grenades & the about-face command, an action which allows you to instantly do a 180° turn. This, combined with grenades being throwable in every direction allows you to remain safely out of melee range while dealing full damage, even if focused. This command must be bound in the options menu. If focused, it can safely gain distance with Net Shot, Overcharged Shot, Jump Shot, Slick Shoes or Rocket Boots before returning to dealing damage.

General

• Grenade Kit skills can be thrown in any direction, making it one of the strongest kiting tools in the game. Utilize the about-face command and snap targeting to remain outside of melee range while still dealing damage.

• All explosions proc Steel-Packed Powder and Shrapnel (Sharpshooter + Sanguine Array by extension). The Vulnerability and Might granted by these traits will retroactively boost all currently applied conditions as well as future ones on your target. You'll want to be spamming grenades as much as possible to keep stacks of these up.

• Blunderbuss & Shrapnel Grenade have low cooldowns and long range. Use them as often as possible. Sanguine Array causes them to provide a lot of might so they should be used before other strong abilities like Grenade Barrage.

• Net Shot is great for landing important skills and keeping up Vulnerability stacks. With a 10s cooldown you can fire this off pretty regularly. Likely to miss moving targets at longer ranges.

• Rocket Boots have two charges with 16s cooldowns a piece. Use either to gain distance when pressured or when anticipating a stun. This skill has a unique property where it will essentially "parry" a stun if you're hit with one during its use.

• Use Grenade over Rifle Burst for filler.

• Never stop throwing grenades if you can help it; the Vulnerability and Might they generate improve your preexisting conditions on targets.

• You can use Regenerating Mist before skills that deal high strike damage to proc Excessive Energy. This pairs well with Jump Shot as you'll get both Vigor and the healing from the leap finisher.

Damage

• Use Blunderbuss, Shrapnel Grenade, Freeze Grenade & Rocket Kick as often as possible.

• Use Net Shot to land your highly damaging skills reliably.

• Fill with Grenade; do not use Rifle Burst. Rifle burst deals much lower damage and gives only a third of the Explosions.

• Grenade Barrage deals less damage here than in a purely power-focused build, and as such isn't as pivotal to land. Still great to throw out as a finisher or into larger groups for quick Might stacks.

• Other grenades are more situational; Poison Grenade is one of the build's only unblockable skills, and Flash Grenade is one of its only sources of blind. Knowing when to use Poison Grenade is key against teams with projectile hate.

• There are only five non-projectile skills in the kit: Blunderbuss, Rocket Kick, Jump Shot, Poison Grenade (unblockable), and Drop Mine (created by Streamlined Kits. also, it's unblockable!)

Burst Combos

• At range with stuns: Net Shot > Blunderbuss > Overcharged Shot > untarget, manually aim Shrapnel Grenade > Grenade Barrage behind your target

• In melee with stuns: Overcharged Shot > Blunderbuss > Rocket Kick > Shrapnel Grenade > Slick Shoes > run through or around your target while casting Grenade Barrage (this will also trigger Drop Mine if it's off cooldown) > Net Shot > whatever's up

• In melee with stuns #2: Net Shot > Blunderbuss > Rocket Kick > Overcharged Shot > Shrapnel Grenade > Poison Grenade > Grenade Barrage (replace Poison Grenade with Freeze Grenade for more upfront damage)

• At range without stuns: Blunderbuss > Shrapnel Grenade > Poison Grenade > Grenade Barrage. Alternatively, Jump Shot before Shrapnel Grenade will get you into melee range for Drop Mine for even higher burst at the cost of a potential escape.

The damaging abilities in these bursts can generally be replaced by whatever's off cooldown at the time. It's usually best to lead with grenades with damaging conditions for Vulnerability and Might; any retroactive conditions will be amplified by future Vulnerability & Might, so using Grenade Barrage after will benefit greatly from the existing Vulnerability while subsequently stacking more Vulnerability and Might.

Moblity

• Swap to Grenade Kit every 20s (watch for the Streamlined Kits buff on your bar) for 100% Swiftness uptime.

• Rocket Boots have two charges at 16s recharge a piece. Use either to roam, gain distance when pressured, or when anticipating a stun. This skill has a unique property where it will essentially "parry" a stun if you're hit with one during its use. Gives Superspeed with Gadgeteer.

• Jump Shot - Solid mobility option that can get over gaps. Gives 1/2s of evade starting at frame 1. This evasion doesn't last for the entire jump.

Defense

• While lacking in hard mitigation like blocks and evasion, this build makes up for it by having permanent Cripple application (thanks to Shrapnel ) and a slew of crowd control options. In theory, damage is mitigated by staying out of range of it entirely, so the above Mobility section also applies here.

• Slick Shoes - has both an initial knockdown and added cripple thanks to Gadgeteer. One of the few skills that still works against blocking or evading enemies.

• Net Shot and Overcharged Shot - each provide ~2 seconds of control, in their own ways. With a bit of practice these can be used while running away by untargeting, beginning the cast, then turning around and retargeting before the cast finishes. The about-face function makes this possible without having to flail your mouse everywhere.

• Jump Shot - gives 1/2s of evade starting at frame 1. This evasion doesn't last for the entire jump.

• Med Pack Drop - drops 6 med packs in an average-size AoE. Allies (including you) hit by the initial drop will have a staggering 14 conditions removed, and the packs will spawn in a random area within that AoE. You'll have to walk over them to pick them up, where they will heal for ~1.3k each. Save this for the cleanse, or drop it ahead of time as the med packs remain for 60 seconds.

• Healing Turret - a single cast of this heal will proc Reactive Lenses twice for 6s of Protection and Resistance; once for the initial cast and once for the turret's overcharge. It's generally better to pick the turret back up immediately after Cleansing Burst than to detonate it as you'd be trading a 7s shorter cooldown for an additional ~1.2k healing.

• Mechanized Deployment causes all toolbelt skills to cleanse a condition.

• Supply Crate - drops a Healing Turret, Net Turret, and Flame Turret which immediately overcharge. This gives a 2s initial stun, another 2s stun from Electrified Net, a blind-pulsing smoke field from Smoke Screen and the usual heal from Healing Turret. The water field from the healing turret will take priority over the smoke field, but it doesn't last as long. This means you can blast/leap/Detonate Supply Crate Turrets after the water field dissipates for a bit of Stealth.

Advanced Techniques

• Slick Shoes > Rocket Boots or Jump Shot can be used as a risky, aggressive stun that ignores block & evade.

• Supply Crate - an incredibly powerful tool overall, and one that can provide much needed Stealth. The smoke field provided by Smoke Screen is initially overlapped by the water field from the dropped Healing Turret, but it lasts a bit longer. Blast or leap through it after the water field disappears for a sneaky getaway or to finish a downed opponent.

• You can bait dodges by fake-casting Supply Crate. Using the weapon stow command, you can cancel the skill mid-cast and still get the crate visual.

• You can stow Grenade Kit by dropping your bundle (same keybind as swap weapon). This doesn't have a cooldown, unlike the native stow attached to the skill, and can be spammed as quick as you can press it if you really feel like it.

• Mechanized Deployment will only cleanse conditions at the end of the skill's animation. Skills that have long animations but can be canceled earlier like Regenerating Mist can be cancelled by taking out and immediately stowing Grenade Kit in a pinch. The cleanse comes out faster this way.