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Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons has been a rousing success for ArenaNet. The venerable MMO’s population has steadily grown over the years, and now sees nearly a half million players on a daily basis. This is in no small part to the wide variety of customizations and builds in Guild Wars 2, least of all through its Elite specializations–powerful trait lines that add a unique spin on one of the nine professions by introducing a new mechanic, skill type, and weapon proficiency.

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The Mechanist is the newest Elite specialization for the Engineer class introduced in End of Dragons. This Elite specialization is a master of Jade Tech–the marvel of technology mastered by the Xunlai Jade Corporation introduced in End of Dragons. These Dragonjade experts trade out their tool belts for a powerful Jade Mech they can call down to aid them in battle. They also gain access to Signet skills, and can equip maces in their main hand.

Best Specialization Builds For The Mechanist

The major difference between the Mechanist and other Engineers in Guild Wars 2 is the Jade Mech. By using the Crash Down ability, they can summon their Mech to smash down onto their foes and join the fray. Instead of the tool belt skills, which change based on the Healing, Utility, and Elite skills the Engineer uses, the Mechanist gets Mech Commands–special skills to order the Jade Mech to perform different abilities. Mech Commands are decided based on the major traits chosen in the Mechanist Specialization.

The Jade Mech itself inherits 50% of the Mechanist’s stats except Precision, transforming it into a mighty companion with excellent offensive and defensive capabilities. A Mechanist can recall a damaged or destroyed Jade Mech to repair it–the less health it has left, the longer the cooldown to use Crash Down again.

The build for this Elite specialization relies on teaming up with the Jade Mech to stack as many damaging Conditions–especially Bleeding, Burning, and Confusion–on foes as possible. They also use Explosions to gain Boons and inflict more Conditions on enemies. The Mechanist’s minor traits help accomplish this by granting the Jade Mech 100% of the Engineer’s Vitality and Toughness, and Exigency Protocols. This trait increases Regeneration applied by the Mechanist or Mech, while also triggering a massive defensive boon to the Mech if it drops below half health.

For major traits, a Mechanist should choose Mech Arms: Single-Edge Cutters. This gives the Jade Mech sharp blades on its arms to apply Bleeding on its attacks and grants access to the Rolling Smash Mech Command. This ability deals massive damage to a target and inflicts heavy Bleeding on enemies in the area.

gw2 eod engineer elite specialization tree

Mech Frame: Conductive Allows grants the Jade Mech 100% of the Mechanist’s Condition Damage and Expertise, making its Conditions as deadly as the Engineer’s. This trait gives the Discharge Array Mech Command, which zaps nearby foes with jade energy multiple times, dealing damage and inflicting Confusion, Slow, and Burning with each blast. Mech Core: Jade Dynamo rounds out the major traits, giving all Mech attacks a 33% chance to cause Explosions, and grants the Mech on-hit bonuses from the Explosives Specialization.

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Obviously, this means the Explosives Specialization is a must-pick for the Mechanist. The minor traits cause the Mechanist and their Jade Mech’s Explosions to inflict Vulnerability, increase damage against Vulnerable foes, and cause the first attack in combat–or after a dodge roll–to cause an Explosion. For major traits, choose the traits that synergize with Jade DynamoShort Fuse, Explosive Temper, and Shrapnel. These allow both Mechanist and Jade Mech to gain Fury, a stacking Ferocity buff, and a chance to inflict Cripple and Bleeding when they hit with Explosions, ensuring this Guild Wars 2 build doesn't lose steam.

gw2 eod engineer elite specialization explosives

The Mechanist’s third Specialization should be Firearms. The minor traits give the Mechanist a chance to cause Bleeding on hit, while increasing Bleeding duration and critical hit chance against Bleeding targets. For major traits, Sanguine Array grants Might whenever the Mechanist inflicts Bleeding on a foe, and Thermal Vision grants a flat Expertise bonus and a 5% Condition Damage buff when Burning is inflicted. Lastly, Incendiary Powder makes Burning last longer, and gives a chance to inflict Burning on critical hits.

gw2 eod engineer mechanist elite specialization tree firearms

Best Equipment And Stats For The Mechanist

gw2 eod zhou yao detective rama bladesworn mechinist

Alongside Elementalists, Engineers are one of the few professions in Guild Wars 2 that can only equip one weapon set. While this limits them to a single set of Sigils, it does make weapon choice simple. The Machinist-specific mace is a must, as it grants abilities which inflict Confusion and cause Explosions. What’s more, the mace weapon skill Rocket Fist Prototype allows the Jade Mech to use Rocket Punch–an Explosive, powerful ranged attack.

The pistol is the better off-hand weapon choice to pair the mace with, as it grants the close-range Burning ability Blowtorch, and crowd control in the form of Glue Shot.

With its focus on inflicting Conditions, it is no surprise Condition Damage and Expertise are vital for kickstarting this Guild Wars 2 build. A healthy amount of Precision also helps despite it not being shared with the Jade Mech, since the Mechanist’s critical hits can inflict both Bleeding and Burning. This setup makes Viper gear a great pick, with high Condition Damage and Power, and moderate Precision and Expertise.

gw2 eod engineer elite specialization sigils malice bursting

Weapon Sigils are straightforward selections for the Mechanist–a Superior Sigil of Bursting increases Condition Damage by an additional 5%, and the Superior Sigil of Malice increases the duration of all inflicted Conditions by 10%. This brings Bleeding and Burning close to the 100% Condition duration cap, with other conditions sitting near 70% increased duration–use Expertise Infusions to round out Condition Duration as needed, and Condition Damage Infusions for the rest.

gw2 eod berseker armor rune condition damage power strike damage

For the Mechanist’s armor Rune set, the Superior Rune of the Berserker is a solid pick. With a large boost to Condition Damage, and a healthy dose of Power and Strike damage, this Rune enhances this build’s focus on dealing damage rather than support or defense.

Best Skills For The Mechanist

Choosing the perfect skills for a build is a difficult thing for new Guild Wars 2 players to master. For the Mechanist, skills that cause Explosions and inflict Conditions are paramount. While the Mechanist-specific Signets are interesting, mixing them with other skills creates the best results.

The Rectifier Signet is a solid choice for the Mechanist’s Healing skill. It heals the Engineer and their Mech passively every second, but can alternatively be activated for a single burst heal.

For Utility skills, the Rocket Turret is a solid choice, as it passively launches Explosive rockets around the battlefield, and can be detonated for more Explosive mayhem no matter where your battles in Guild Wars 2 take you. The Flamethrower Utility skill gives the Mechanist a weapon kit to switch to while their weapon skills are on cooldown, and provides more Explosions, ways to inflict Burning, and rapid attacks. Lastly, the Superconducting Signet passively increases Condition Damage by 10%, and can be activated to create a damaging Lightning field that inflicts Burning, Confusion, and Vulnerability around the Mechanist or their Jade Mech.

gw2 eod engineer elite specialization stat breakdown

For the Elite skill, the Overclock Signet is an incredible pick for Mechanists. Its passive ability reduced the cooldown of other equipped Signets. Its active ability has one of two effects: it can summon the Jade Mech even if it is on cooldown, or it can activate the Jade Mech’s Jade Buster Cannon. This devastating laser beam deals high damage at a long range, has a chance to cause Explosions, and inflicts Vulnerability and Burning on targets struck by the beam.

The Mechanist is a dangerous combatant, able to melt foes with Conditions from Engineer and Jade Mech alike. With tons of tools to Bleed, Burn, and Confuse their foes, these close-range Engineers and their Dragonjade companions are a powerful duo in End of Dragons. Though this Mechanist lacks the supportive elements of some Engineer builds, it makes up for it with high ongoing damage and field presence.

Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons is available now on PC.

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