Build:Mechanist - Condi DPS

The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Condition damage

Designed for: Raids and Fractals

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Normal

This build was last updated on March 29, 2024 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

Condition mechanist is a strong and versatile DPS build that is both the strongest and simplest version of condition engineer to date. The addition of the mech ensures reliable damage with minimal input, and the strength of signets allows you to replace kits and vastly simplify the rotation as you desire.

The plethora of viable builds means that this is a strong option regardless of experience level, and it allows you to gently increase the difficulty (and damage) as you gain confidence. The default build presented here is the highest damage on most bosses, but also the most complicated, so be sure to read the guide to figure out which build is best for you.

Skill Bar

Pistol/Pistol

Utility

Weapon Variants

• Mace can replace Pistol, which offers lower base damage but a lot more Confusion, which can be stronger on encounters where bosses attack frequently.

J-Drive Variants

If you use Mech Core: J-Drive, you can dramatically simplify the rotation without losing too much damage:

• Superconducting Signet can replace Bomb Kit or Grenade Kit, depending on personal preference.
  • On bosses with high attack rates, Bomb Kit will outperform Grenade Kit.
• Rectifier Signet also becomes stronger, but A.E.D. may still be preferred.
• If you want to totally avoid kits, use a Flame Turret along with Big Boomer (as there will be few explosions).

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Specializations

• Mech Core: J-Drive will make signets significantly stronger, allowing you to replace kits with them.

Equipment

Head
Viper

Shoulders
Viper

Chest
Viper

Hands
Viper

Legs
Viper

Feet
Viper

Backpiece
Viper

Accessory
Viper

Accessory
Viper

Amulet
Viper

Ring
Viper

Ring
Viper

Pistol
Viper

Pistol
Viper

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Relic

• On bosses with very high attack rates, you could use Rune of Superior Rune of Perplexity and (assumes you are running Bomb Kit).
• The Sigil of Superior Sigil of Bursting could be swapped for a Sigil of Superior Sigil of Geomancy. The sigil is cheaper and the damage is basically identical, but it requires you to be in melee to benefit.

Non-SotO Relics

Unfortunately there aren't any good core damage relics for condi Mechanist, the best option being Relic of the Aristocracy, which does not affect your mech.

• If running this, you would want to swap some pieces to Sinister stats such that you reach ~67% base condition duration, with bleeding and burning duration capped.
• It may be recommended to pick an option that offers some utility instead.

Consumables

Food

• or ascended versions

Utility

• • for a cheaper alternative

Usage

Simpler Rotations

Mechanist's signets are very strong, which allows them to replace Bomb Kit/Grenade Kit and Elite Mortar Kit if you use the Mech Core: J-Drive trait. This also allows you to use Shift Signet without losing DPS.

See the Condi Boon Support page for this rotation, and use Superconducting Signet off cooldown - this should prevent you needing to use Freeze Grenade outside of the opener.

Video guide by Masel

Rotation example (J-Drive)

Rotation example (J-Drive with Bomb Kit)

Jade Dynamo rotation

The Jade Dynamo rotation (using three kits) is very complicated and essentially boils down to keeping track of priority cooldown skills and switching into kits as necessary to maximise their uses. Downtime between kit swaps are filled with Pistol autos.

To make this manageable, each "kit" you swap to (for these purposes we consider Pistols to also be a kit) has a key skill that we ideally want to swap to and use every time it comes off cooldown, as well as some lower-priority skills that you use if they happen to be off cooldown when you swap. The skills you use in each kit are:

Pistol/Pistol
Key skills: Blowtorch & Poison Dart Volley
Other skills: Static Shot

Grenade Kit
Key skill: Shrapnel Grenade
Other skills: Freeze Grenade & Poison Grenade

Bomb Kit
Key skill: Fire Bomb
Other skill: Concussion Bomb

You may notice that the cooldowns of the key skills (before Alacrity) are 5, 8 and 12 seconds, which do not fit together very neatly. The full rotation then is not going to look very neat, but it can be broken down into a general loop with three sections:

Section 1

Cycle through each kit in turn, using all the skills named above in each. In general, the best order for kits will be

Static Shot & Blowtorch ⇒ Grenade Kit ⇒ Poison Dart Volley ⇒ Bomb Kit

Poison Dart Volley and Fire Bomb have the same cooldown, so if we make sure to cast Poison Dart Volley last on Pistol and Fire Bomb first in Bomb Kit then we can know that we only need to go into Bomb Kit immediately after using Poison Dart Volley.

After Bomb Kit, autoattack on Pistol until just before Poison Dart Volley then do:

Shrapnel Grenade ⇒ Poison Dart Volley ⇒ Fire Bomb

Section 2

Your key Pistol/Pistol should be coming off cooldown now so you can immediately go

Static Shot & Blowtorch ⇒ Grenade Kit ⇒ Pistol/Pistol

Shrapnel Grenade may not be available when you swap to Grenade Kit, so auto with Grenade until it's ready.

After Shrapnel Grenade autoattack on Pistol until just before Poison Dart Volley, then:

Shrapnel Grenade ⇒ Poison Dart Volley ⇒ Bomb Kit ⇒ Pistol/Pistol

Section 3

The final section is much like Section 2, but the cooldowns align slightly differently.

Static Shot & Blowtorch ⇒ Grenade Kit ⇒ Pistol/Pistol

This time, when Poison Dart Volley is available do

Poison Dart Volley ⇒ Bomb Kit ⇒ Pistol/Pistol

Autoattack on Pistol until Static Shot and Blowtorch are on a ~6 second cooldown then quickly swap into Grenade Kit and use Shrapnel Grenade. Return to Pistol/Pistol after using Shrapnel Grenade and start again from Section 1 when Blowtorch and Static Shot are off cooldown.

Rotation example (Jade Dynamo)

Winging It

If you find the structure above difficult to follow, you can use your Pistol cooldowns to prompt you to swap kits:

• Every time you use Poison Dart Volley, go into Bomb Kit
• Shrapnel Grenade has roughly half the cooldown of Static Shot and Blowtorch, so use it once immediately before or after using these Pistol skills, then again when they are on a ~6 second cooldown.
• Focus on the key skills so as not to delay your rotation.
  • When swapping to kits to use key skills, have a look at the remaining cooldowns on the other skills. If they are ready, then swap back to the kit and use them when you would otherwise just be autoattacking on Pistol.
• Pistol skills should take priority.

General Tips

• Make sure you're within 360 units of your mech before using F1-3 skills, or they will have a 50% longer cooldown thanks to Mechanical Genius.
• Any of your other Pistol skills will interrupt Poison Dart Volley, so it's best to use it last.
  • You can swap to Bomb Kit during the cast without interrupting the skill.
• During the wind-up of Blowtorch, it can be interrupted with Static Shot. Either make sure not to press Static Shot too soon, or use Static Shot first.
• Press all your mech skills off cooldown - you can save Jade Mortar for CC if necessary.
• If using Overclock Signet, use it off cooldown. It is a very small DPS gain though, so hold on to it if there is any danger that the mech might die.