Gadget improvement suggestions

[Kodama.6453]

I already made a thread discussing our turrets. Now I want to focus on the other underperforming utility skill type of the engineer: gadgets.

 

Many of them have underwhelming effects and could use some help to make people pick them. So I would like to brainstorm some ideas here how they could get buffed.

I will provide my own thoughts about them as well.

 

**Gadgeteer**

I will suggest some changes for the effects on the gadgets when talking about the specific skills. A change I would like to see on this trait in general is that it also slightly alters the effects of the gadget toolbelt skills, but without the cooldown reduction (since tools already reduces toolbelt skill cooldowns by default).

 

* **A.E.D.** No changes needed, the skill performs well at what it is supposed to do and the effects from gadgeteer are pretty good.

* **Static Shock** Gadgeteer: hits 2 additional targets (chain lightning effect), these additional targets are dazed instead of stunned.

* **Throw Mine** Removing 3 boons in PvE, too. Gadgeteer effect changed: boon removal changed to boon corrupt and the mine deals additional damage if no boons are corrupted.

* **Mine Field** Mines are removing 1 boon from every enemy hit instead of just 1 of them. Gadgeteer: boon removal changed to boon corrupt.

* **Slick Shoes** Now also applies slow. It already applies slow in the underwater version, I think it is a fitting condition for the skill.

* **Superspeed** I would personally completely rework this skill, it gets outshined by other skills and is in general really uninspired and boring ever since they started to add superspeed to more skills and traits. Name changed to "Stabilizing Exoskeleton", applies swiftness, stability, and breaks stuns. Gadgeteer: if this skill breaks a stun, you will daze nearby foes.

* **Utility Goggles** Resistance duration buffed to 3 seconds. Gadgeteer: adds 5 seconds of protection and increases the duration of all boons on you by 3 seconds (applies before resistance and protection are applied from the skill to not make the synergy in the skill overbearing).

* **Detection Pulse** Gadgeteer: increased range.

* **Personal Battering Ram**Gadgeteer: burn replaced with the debuff "Trauma". Trauma will deal ticking power damage for the next 2 seconds.

* **Launch Personal Battering Ram** Gadgeteer: interrupting a skill with it applies "Trauma".

* **Rocket Boots** Jumping to a targeted area instead of fixed distance in the direction you are facing.

* **Rocket Kick** Gadgeteer: applies blind and cripple.

 

Let me know what you think and what we could do to make gadgets good.

[Taril.8619]

**AED** - Remove cast time. Make it stronger as an "Oh Shi-" button.

**Static Shock** - Increase range to 300 to give it a bit more leeway for use.

 

**Throw Mine** - I'd say _borrow_ charr's Shrapnel Mine. Give it Bleed and Cripple.

**Mine Field** - Reduce the cast time to at least 0.5s. 1s is soooooo slow.

 

**Utility Goggles** - Also gives some Alacrity.

**Detection Pulse** - Provides Controlled Analysis (I.e. Also gives you Fury and applies 10 Vuln stacks)

 

**Slick Shoes** - Also provides Swiftness and Cripple.

**Superspeed** - Also provides Stability and Vigor.

 

**Rocket Boots** - Ground target. Also does explosion upon landing. Explosion provides Burn.

**Rocket Kick** - Range increased to 900. Is now an _Explosion_. Also provides 0.25s Daze.

 

**Personal Battering Ram** - Also inflicts Weakness.

**Launch Personal Battering Ram** - Is fine as is to be honest.

 

Gadgeteer Bonuses:

 

**AED** - Stuns enemies in a 240 radius on the lethal trigger.

**Throw Mine** - Rips more boons. Applies more Bleeding stacks (Increased for each boon ripped)

**Utility Goggles** - Also provides endurance as well as the protection.

**Slick Shoes** - Cripple becomes Slow. Swiftness becomes Superspeed.

**Rocket Boots** - Increased burning stacks. Passively increases movement speed by 25% while slotted.

**Personal Battering Ram** - Also provides Immobilize.

 

Not so sure about having Gadgeteer also buff the toolbelt skills though, seems like it might be overloading the trait, as well as then also directly conflicting with Kinetic Battery which provides a bonus for using toolbelt skills.

[Kodama.6453]

> @"Taril.8619" said:

 

Good list, can see many of these changes happening.

 

Only exception for me is your change to AED. While I would love to get an instacast healing skill again (was great to be able to heal while stunned with medic gyro), AED might become too strong without a cast time.

 

It would mean that engineers are always able to reset their health with AED as long as it is off cooldown and it would remove alot of the counterplay of the skill.

 

I understand that giving the overcharge effects to toolbelt skills might be conflicting here. I thought it might help some of these skills, too. Static shock for example is pretty weak as a skill and giving it more targets to CC might help, especially in combination with the new scrapper trait that gives barrier for CCed enemies. But I felt it would be too much to give that effect baseline.

 

And not really sure about giving bleed to Throw Mine. Both that skill and it's toolbelt have historically always been power based skills, adding bleeding to it would feel odd for me.

 

[Taril.8619]

> @"Kodama.6453" said:

> Only exception for me is your change to AED. While I would love to get an instacast healing skill again (was great to be able to heal while stunned with medic gyro), AED might become too strong without a cast time.

 

I mean, that's the idea.

 

Try and unseat the king of Engie heal skills that is Healing Turret which is ridiculously strong (AoE heal + Condi cleanse + Water field + Blast finisher + Regen)

 

It still has that timer delay when used not right before death.

 

Can also make it not usable while stunned to give that counterplay.

 

> @"Kodama.6453" said:

> I understand that giving the overcharge effects to toolbelt skills might be conflicting here. I thought it might help some of these skills, too. Static shock for example is pretty weak as a skill and giving it more targets to CC might help, especially in combination with the new scrapper trait that gives barrier for CCed enemies. But I felt it would be too much to give that effect baseline.

 

I think the better course of action would be to try and think of baseline changes that could be put in, rather than putting some more stuff into Gadgeteer.

 

Especially since, surely the goal is to make Gadgets in general more usable, rather than only usable in a build that runs Tools and Gadgeteer

 

> @"Kodama.6453" said:

> And not really sure about giving bleed to Throw Mine. Both that skill and it's toolbelt have historically always been power based skills, adding bleeding to it would feel odd for me.

 

Why not both?

 

Given that we have stuff like Shrapnel Grenades, Poison Grenades, Flamethrower, Holosmith in general etc... Which provide both Power and Condi. A couple of stacks of Bleeding on Throw Mine wouldn't be unreasonable and it'd give some more options for Condi builds (As opposed to running just the 3 utilities that actually provide condi damage - Rocket Boots, Flame Turret and Flamethrower maybe Bomb Kit in PvE for Fire Bomb)

 

 

[Samug.6512]

I'd take any gadget rework... all gadget skills feel extremely 2012-2013 with the most useful being rocket boots with its 2 ammo. I'd also rework at least 1 gadget's toolbelt skill & lower its cooldown so we have'd ~~some~~ **any** synergy between gadgeteer & static discharge. Like, instead of Minefield you fart out 1 tiny mine on your position with 6s cooldown. Idk, I guess I want to see wider choice of sensible utility skills instead of the usual arsenal of "elixirs, gyros, nade kit, maybe elixir gun". I also would like to see more ammo mechanic on gadgets, coz it's kinda thematically fits.

[Bingus.4236]

I use rocket boots successfully all the time, I'd hate to see it reworked so I would have to select an area before it worked. Firstly, it takes more time to manually select a ground target than it does a direction to face. Secondly for people, like myself, who have the ground target snapped to the target selection, this could cause other problems.