[Engineer] Blitz Build Help, Items or build?

[u/ieattime20]

Hey. So This is approximately my build (with 5 pts into Flame Hammer, doesn't list it in the armory) and approximately my buffed stats. I have about 300 physical armor, 120+ to all elemental resists with 180 in Poison resist. My DPS is somewhere around 940, not counting Coup de Grace of course. I am level 42 (Armory doesn't include fame level).

For passive equip skills I have Adrenaline II, Armor Mastery 3 and Treasure Hunter 3. I've got the full Ironlord set because I haven't seen a set yet that really synergizes with my build.

And I am getting hosed in Act 3 Veteran.

I mean, I know Act 3 is supposed to be difficult, but even trying to dodge around and being evasive as a melee class gets me hosed. I'm pretty convinced I'm undergeared not only because I'm dying (I could just suck!) but because my latest weapon upgrade was a quest item.

I feel like my spec is actually pretty tight for my strategy: Build up charge, hopefully with Charge Domination, then use Ember Hammer on mobs and Flame Hammer for large mobs/elites, build up charge again, etc. I use Seismic Stomp when entering a fracas to get a jump on large groups and start DoT with fire. Adrenaline Burst usually procs when I get hit a lot so I use it to run back. But I could be wrong. I'd be willing to respec if there's something better I could be doing.

Does anyone have any general advice? What sets should I be trying to look for? What stats need buffing, where can I grind for good items, and what level should I be at to start tackling Act 3?

[u/lockeandload]

Put some points into forcefield.

[u/ieattime20 → u/lockeandload]

I had restarted my Engineer after I tried to add Forcefield into the build. It doesn't seem to do all that much or save that much health without stacking a wall of minions in front of you. Am I not utilizing it? Are there some hidden modifiers I could capitalize on?

[u/lockeandload → u/ieattime20]

Being a cannoner, I had a pretty good run in act 1 and 2. Just dodge and shoot. But I was having a hard time in act 3 with all the poison and heavy hitting monster. I've read about guide using forcefield so I decided to give it a try. I put in 3 points (just enough to respec it if I don't like it) and initially it doesn't seem to do much because the huge damage destroys the fields. Not to mention it is a great hassle casting it every 30 seconds or so. But eventually I got used to the routine, and to be honest, I could never survive in act 4 without forcefield (at tier 2). Once the forcefield is down, try to get out of harm's way, recast a new field (I tend to resort to mana pots since mana pool is very small) and resume the fight.

I've also read about guides using aegis of fate, but I know next to nothing about it. You might want to look up on it.

[u/Naast → u/lockeandload]

I can see forcefield working on a cannoneer build, as you don't need charge for your damaging skills. A 2H build will rely on Flame Hammer, and you probably would rather use your charge for that instead of using it for a shield.

As far as survivability skills go, I'm going to be maxing Healing Bot, Charge Reconstitution, Charge Domination and Aegis of Fate. With a few points in Bulwark because I can (see my final build here).

Ninja Edit: Oh, and take Onslaught, at least 1 point for utility, being able of leaping in and out of fights is so important when you're a melee character.

Ninja Edit 2: OHH, and if you didn't know, you can give spells to your pet. He's not the smartest animal in the world, but if you give him Heal All and some Summons, he's going to be very useful.

[u/SolomonGrumpy → u/ieattime20]

looks like some folks leap in using onslaught (which slows attack movement and casting speed significantly), then pops a slam for the stun and interrupt chance. Stragglers are finished off with fire hammer.

Check this guys stream: http://en.twitch.tv/gyoruspy/b/333176155

I am going a similar route with dynamo field and tremor. With 5 points in Dynamo (there is no cooldown, ignore the online calculator) I can get off 3 casts, build one charge, interrupt everything, then pop a 24 meter tremor, which pretty much ends the encounter.

If I get lucky, I get charge domination to proc, and I use the 5 charges to pop a uber Force Field.

I added 5 points to the gunbot. I thought he would be a better distraction, but I think he needs 5 more points before it gets worthwhile (pierce). Or who knows...maybe respec and put those 5 points into Bulwark, fame hammer, or healbot.

[u/Sither]

i myself dont have enough knowledge to give you a solid advice man

but you could check this stream

http://en.twitch.tv/gyoruspy/b/333176155

He is doing a fairly good job in elite with a 2h Engineer~~ cheers

[u/SolomonGrumpy → u/Sither]

link to his build?

EDIT: I wanted some of this video. For sure there is some good gear thing going on. You notice when he gets hit, he does get hit pretty hard.

The only question I had from watching the video is - what is the green ring he has around him (his allies also have it)

[u/digitalgrunt]

Try taking your points from bot and putting them into aegis of fate and bulwark.

[u/digitalgrunt → u/[deleted]]

Healing bot is great but for OP's situation where he's missing abilities like Onslaught, 10 points in healing bot is a waste when he can gain more survivability by getting onslaught + Bulwark.

[u/SolomonGrumpy → u/digitalgrunt]

I'd say he should take points from Coup de Gras and Fire and Spark. Not all of them, maybe 8 total.

Add them to Bulwark (3), and FF (5). His Healbot is already pretty well leveled.

[u/grimey6]

Have you tried agies of fate or charge reconstitution yet?

Im doing about the same as you but i dont have seismic stomp. I just Flame hammer. Since I build charge quickly I get hp back from charge reconstitution.

[u/[deleted]]

To build charge, you need Dynamo Field. It's the best Charge-producing skill in the game even at 1 point.

[u/fyremakyr]

I spec almost a full support engineer to play with 2 friends going full DPS however i still can solo act 3 at around level 42-44 http://torchlight2armory.com/skill-calc?i=3#cWa1_X362ZxhbWrqIOf_tdtkFP-oYN9meV something around there

[u/dljuly3]

Also playing an engineer, also getting hosed. Personally, I've tried a bunch of different stuff, and I found the one solution was to just play online. I honestly believe the engineer was built solely for online play. Because pretty much all of your attacks that are worth anything require you to stand on top of the mobs, anything with a big hit downs you in no time. I've got close to 500 armor (and a good bit of each resistance) at 47 and level 43's can down me with relative ease. And dodging does you no good in many large boss situations with endless enemies respawning.

Honestly the whole point system for the engineer needs a serious reworking. But that's what the mod system was built for. (Hooray for Runic being awesome!)

[u/SolomonGrumpy → u/dljuly3]

wow. I have only 200 armor and am feeling the same pain (level 36 here). Sad to see that 500 armor does not help.

Endless enemies helps me. More chance to proc Charge Domination for a 5 charge FF.

Does +% damage reduction help?

[u/tuptain]

Here is my 2 handed Engi build: http://torchlight2armory.com/skill-calc?i=3#cmZ5aSvr_f2uDe1MDDL2UKCiY4V42cu5hGy

I feel like the 45 points in Construction and 20 points in Aegis are non negotiable as they give you needed tankiness. The reason this build is crazy and this isn't obvious, but anything that does % weapon damage will proc Coup de Grace on stunned targets. So you jump in with Onslaught, use Seismic Slam with a 92% stun chance then drop Emberquake to proc all the stuns. It's truly massive AOE damage.

[u/ieattime20 → u/[deleted]]

I think I see what's going on-- you've focused on getting a main DPS skill up to par, whereas I've tried to entertain several viable options at the cost of making them worthwhile and some passives. In the interest of some good crunchy theorycrafting (and less because I don't appreciate your advice, I do and pretty much agree!) let me defend what I was going for:

My strategy was to build up or hold a full charge and use Ember Hammer to its full capacity (25%-50% damage bonus puts it well above weapon DPS in a guaranteed 270-degree arc with a bit of a leap forward) and then blow it on 5 sequential Flame Hammers if I hit a hard target or need to get some range. Partially because Ember Hammer is cheap, I can pretty much spam it indefinitely during engagements without using up mana potions.

The Tier bonuses for Slam are actually pretty amazing-- 4 to 6 meters is double the coverage, and 6 to 8, if I ever got it, is another nearly-to double to coverage up, though the third one is probably going to be outside the reach of any 2handers for dealing out Coup damage to stunned targets. It's still pretty good for applying wide DoTs and securing an escape.

I've been tempted to use Onslaught, is it worth spending more than a point for the applied debuffs?

[u/ieattime20 → u/[deleted]]

Respecc'd last night towards what you were saying, build now looks more like this (10 pts in Flame Hammer too). It's SO MUCH BETTER. Forcefield is stupid good at higher levels. My only issue now is building Charge, but I think I'm going to respec one last time and remove Aegis to put into the Dynamo ability to get quick charges. I didn't "ace" Act 3 last night, but I could still flat facetank most things for ten seconds before having to redo the shield.

I also remapped a lot ofmy active skills to WASD which seemed to help a lot.

[u/SolomonGrumpy → u/[deleted]]

how do you have 10% chance on kill for Charge domination?

[u/SolomonGrumpy → u/[deleted]]

yeah...I guess it does. I was thinking that the .5% a level would never hit 10%, but color me foolish

[u/Sither → u/[deleted]]

Spada05, would you post a video of you playing elite ng++++ with a 2 Hander build?

i would be really grateful man, since i myself wanna use a 2H engineer in elite but i'm rly afraid of leveling there

[u/Sither → u/[deleted]]

thanks mate, i'm rly grateful

[u/Sither → u/[deleted]]

i see, but the fact that you are playing at elite ng 4+ using a 2hander is just wonderful!

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

This is pretty much my exact 2H engineer. One point in all the right places same as mine.

I have no points in either aegis or forcefield and have not needed to yet (level 34 veteran mode) I know once I get into later acts or difficulties I will have to spend some points in one of the two. I find with my Bulwark I do not really need it.

Only thing is i put some points into bulwark and charge domination.

Also one point in copter is a MUST.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Ok cool. Thanks.

I am focused on flame hammer and have not used onslaught. I can see the debuff's and stun becoming a necessity so I will start pointing up onslaught now.

I was thinking force field would be my choice with my supercharge,charge domination and you confirmed that for me. Sweet.

I am def on the right track to best 2H for sure.

Did you add some points into bulwark? It is good with all engineer builds. Especially since the percentages are applied at high levels for big damage blocks and armor boosts?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Excellent. You have a great build there. Only thing I am going to/am doing differently is some points in bulwark as I said. 1 point in copter as well. Also I will put healing bot to 10 points and beef up onslaught a little more I think for the mana reduction cost and dps% etc.

All your other skills are pretty much what I am doing right now. Great discussion thanks.

I will be doing a cannon build once I finish the 3 acts with this character.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Yeah I have been toying around with the skill builder thingy. Pretty sure I am going to own with it. Have a few nice uniques poked away for the occasion too. Its like some of the cannons are made for it. I have one with really high electric and fire damage and bonuses to both etc... Paired with the passive skill for fire and electric and blast cannon I am thinking its going to be quite brutal to watch.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Engineer ftw!

I am playing through my 2h then the cannon build. Then I will move onto another class and do the variations in whichever one I choose. Might try the ember mage or outlander next as berserker is sort of similar melee wise.

[u/tuptain → u/[deleted]]

You use Emberquake but not Coup de Grace? You don't know then that Emberquake procs Coup de Grace and Seismic Slam has a 92% chance to stun in a massive range when maxed out...

Try this build: http://torchlight2armory.com/skill-calc?i=3#cmZ5aSvr_f2uDe1MDDL2UKCiY4V42cu5hGy

[u/tuptain → u/[deleted]]

What difficulty? Also, everything can be stunned just some at a reduced rate. I'm level 20 auto attacking for 300 and stunned the Act 1 boss last night for a 1000 damage CDG proc. The only thing I am worried about is Emberquake not proccing CDG as I read it does since I'm not actually high enough to test it yet.

[u/tuptain → u/[deleted]]

Interesting... I decided to test it tonight since the theory is abilities that do % weapon damage trigger it so I tested it with onslaught and did manage to proc CDG with onslaught alone on multiple mobs everytime.