Combat Medic - aka. Fiora Cruth

heyall,
I've had numerous inquiries & compliments on the build i created for my Engineer; as people seem very curious how i am able to stay alive, maintain sustainable dmg, Pull aggro (when needed) & most importantly keep a continious stream of health ticks going on other party members. with the added bonus of the capability to revive others while still taking a beating from multiple mobs. So, after talking with one of our guildies (aeon) last night, he mentioned others may be interested in my build. I agreed with him & since i'm always willing to help out, here's the breakdown & explanations below.

1st let me start off explaining a bit about my playstyle. I have been playing Raid/Dungeon/PvP healers in mmo's for over a decade now. I prefer these roles due to the complexity (as i refuse to use any type of heal bots or the like).. it's all hands on with me
the constant monitoring & management of players health, buffs, debuffs. knowing how to watch for player aggro spikes, damage spikes against a player. the experience & knowledge of knowing how squishy a class is & knowing when to cast which heal/Hot or cleanse when needed. whilst all at the same time being able to prioritize who needs those things & keeping myself alive to make sure everyone else can continue to fight
I have seen many so called healers fail /rage quit in mmo's simply because they think a heal class just means throwing as many heals as you can everytime your CD's are up. which is not the case (as i'm sure you other heal fanatics know). taking pride in keeping your party/ guildies alive is a good thing. however in this game, it is no longer a role that is required to keep a party alive. that being the case i'll move on to my build & explanation, since i've had to modify the way i play a bit with this game.

The Build: Combat Medic (i call it that, since..well, since that's pretty much what role it is)

*note - this is not a primary Tank, Dps or Heal build.. it's more of a support/survival build which requires constant movement to work effectively - it does work relatively well in both Pve & PvP...however, nothing will save you against a 30man zerg in WvW ...with the exception of running like hell...lol

Traits: 10/0/30/20/10

Explosives: 10pts - Forcefu Explosives (gives an increased radius for your bomb explosions) important for allowing you to keep distance from mobs (when you want) with the ability to always have non-stop Aoe dmg / healing at an increased radius.

Firearms: 0pts

Inventions: 30pts - Stabalized Armour (5% dmg reduction when endurance is full).
- Cloaking Device (become invisible when immobilized) helpful to drop aggro if/when a bunch of mobs/players rush you.
- Elixir-Infused Bombs (all allies within your bomb radius are healed by a certain amount when ever your bombs explode) this includes you & even though it is only a little above 300 per heal with appx 1100 bonus healing. it gets higher with more bonus healing & sigils,runes etc. also your bombs are insta-castwith .75-1 sec internal CD.. which means 300+HPS for you & all allies around you

Alchemy: 20pts - Protection Injection (3secs of protection whenever you are disabled- stun, daze, knockdown, knockback, launch, float, sink, fear) 5sec internal CD.
- BackPack Regenerator (constant regeneration for yourself while any kit is equip)

Tools: 10pts - Kit Refinement (creates a spell when you swap to a kit) eg. bombkit = drops a bomb, Elixir-Gun = instant Super Elixir created at the spot where you swapped to the kit.

Utility setup:
Heal = Elixir H (preferable over the healing turret as it does not limit you to a static location & if needed you can throw a health elixir to heal a target area & generate a random boon.. in some situations the healing turret is a better choice when, you know your party wont need to move around much

Slot1 = Bomb KIt (never changed except underwater..then it's grenades (since they use sticky targeting once underwater & you will throw over your shoulder at your target even if not facing your target & kiting ).

Slot2 = normally the Rocket Turret, but it continuously changes based on the upcoming situation.

Slot3 = Elixir-gun (never changed except underwater..then it's Elixir-C)

Elite = Supply crate..for the most part.. but sometimes the Mortar (which anyone can control) for standing long range battles.


Quick overview of other bonuses from Trait setup:

Creates a bomb when you dodge.
Gain regeneration for 10 seconds when you are attacked while under 25% health.
All heal skills recharge when health reaches 25% (90-second cooldown).
Drink an Elixir B at 75% health.
3% chance to convert incoming conditions into boons.
Using toolbelt skills restores 10% of your endurance.
Bombs and mines have a larger explosion radius.
You take 5% less damage when your endurance is full.
You become invisible when immobilized.
Bomb explosions heal allies.
Gain protection for 3 seconds whenever you are disabled.
(stun, daze, knockdown, knockback, launch, float, sink, fear).
This effect can trigger once every 5 seconds.
Gain regeneration when using a kit.
Equipping a kit creates an attack or a spell.

Weapons:
Primary: Elixir-gun kit, Bomb kit - one of the 2 almost always active based on what the situation calls for (remember to utilize the "Kit Refinement" trait

Seconday: Rifle (you can use whatever you prefer. i prefer the rifle, as the only time i swap to it is for the auto-attack & the use of the CC skills. eg. "Netshot", "Overcharged shot", "jump shot".

*note- after extensive theory-crafting & experimenting with different weapons (weapon stats) & without any weapon equip the stats dmg/heals from whatever weapon you prefer DO NOT affect your dmg or heals while using a kit.
eg. dmg from a bomb using a bombkit w/ weapon equipped = 700dmg, wo/ weapon equipped = 700dmg..same goes for healing.
however you do still benefit from stats on a weapon that modify your characters primary stats such as Toughness, Vitality, Precision, etc..although i have yet to figure out what they are using for the calculation.. you'll notice your stats change using different kits. this seems to be true for sigils, runes added to your weapon. during betas the stats on your weapons were used as a baseline to calculate overall dmg/healing/conditions..etc while using a kit. but as of retail release it seems to have been stripped from the calculation & up until recently sigils that stacked (like the "sigil of life" which increases your bonus healing up to 25 after each kill) they did not affect your healing at all wether you had 0 stacks or the full 25. a few weeks ago i noticed the changed this to allow the bonus of these types of sigils even while using a kit & you can now actually gain a stack no matter if it was a final kill using the kit or the weapon. i will continue testing these theories & update yall as i gain new findings

Gear:
Pve set:
Ascalonian Catacombs (AC) dungeon set = currently in process of collecting the Sorrows Embrace (SE) set.. when i can get enough guildies for that dungeon
Superior runes of Dwayna = Pve

PvP set:
standard until i collect more.. curently I am R11 & have only found 2 pieces from the 1st bracket set i want
Superior runes of the Grove = PvP

Summary: keep moving, keep party survivabilty rate up, kill baddies

Finally i would like to make a few honorable mentions to:
Styphigal, Heavenly, Datch - my RL long-term friends & guildies who have given me tons of insight on characters i have built throughout the years, which allowed me the chance of fine-tuning all my of characters builds. not to mention the help & support from them on everything in game & in RL situations ....
I would also like to thank all my new ingame friends i have made: Raven, Chainer, Draumr, Keigo, Pooki, Timohep, Koori...the list goes on & on..
TY everyone for helping with the creation a great guild

hope this post helps others intreseted in building an Engineer & happy gaming