Overview

Following on from our Engineer class guide, in this DPS build guide we’ll provide you with all the information you need to load out your Engineer and maximise your damage. Make no mistake, the Engineer is capable of dealing some of the highest damage in the entire game and in the right hands will melt the face of any class in seconds. I’ve tried to design this DPS build so that it’s practical without sacrificing too much on your survivability. I will caveat this build however by stating that like most Engineer builds it relies heavily on the Volatility Rising AMP which will likely cost you a pretty penny on the Auction House.

Full Interactive Engineer DPS Build

Skills

Pulse Blast

Pulse Blast is your bread and butter attack. It has a range of 25 meters in a conal attack and deals more damage the closer enemies are to the blast. You’ll primarily use it for generating Volatility when you can’t use your other skills.

Electrocute

Without question an Engineers best skill. Not only does it have a good range but its width as a rectangular telegraph is plenty large enough to guarantee you’ll hit your target. Admittedly its telegraph width has been reduced a little recently but it still deals enormous damage to anyone in a line.

Quick Burst

Usable after landing a Critical Hit, Quick Burst does exactly what it says on the tin: it allows you to quickly add additional damage on the foe you’re currently attacking. Combined with Electrocute you should be able to always fire it off when it’s not on cooldown.

Bio Shell

I really like Bio Shell because it generates 30 Volatility straight away, when Tiered it becomes an instant cast when you have between 7 and 30 Volatility and its expose reduces your opponents Technology Resistance by 11%. I’d recommend you use it at the start of an encounter when you’ve 7% Volatility.

Zap

Zap is a ranged stun that you can use offensively to keep players or enemies in place or defensively to stun and run. When Tiered it breaks 2 Interrupt Armor which allows you to cut down some of the toughest enemies if you use Zap first.

Urgent Withdrawal

Urgent Withdrawal is a bit of a dull skill until you’re higher level because it doesn’t leap you back very far and it doesn’t, by default, remove snares or crowd control effects. In this build however I’ve taken it to Tier 4 so that it’s your get out of jail skill.

Volatile Injection

I debated as to whether to include this skill on the limited action set but the 10% buff to your Critical Hit Chance it really is good damage boost. When combined with AMPs it’s easy to achieve at least 35% Critical Hit Chance. Ouch.

Obstruct Vision

I’m sure we’ve all been affected by Blind in WildStar and it’s fair to say it’s one of the best debuffs in the game. Not only does it blind but grants you a 50% chance to have attacks again you deflected and it destroys 1 Interrupt Armor.

Tiers

Unsurprisingly with this build the majority of points are spent in the Assault specialisation tree. Taking Pulse Blast to Tier 4 allows you to generate additional Volatility when between 7 and 30% while Electrocute at Tier 8 not only grants Empower that stacks up to 3 times (granting 7.5% extra technology damage) but also deals extra damage to foes who are stunned or blinded.

As mentioned above Bio Shell is taken to Tier 4 so that it’s instant cast when you’re between 7 and 30% Volatility and Zap/Urgent Withdrawal are also taken to Tier 4 to obtain the ability to break 2 Interrupt Armor and a snare removal.  

AMPs

The Engineers AMPs are a bit of a mixed bag because the majority of them I think could do with improvement. As a result, the AMP points you’ll need to spend will be scattered across most of the areas with first priority going to the Assault tree. The most important AMP in an Engineers arsenal is without doubt the Volatility Rising AMP which provides 7 additional Volatility every 1.5 seconds when between 30 and 70 Volatility. The second AMP that's also incredibly important is Keep Up The Pace which allows you to move at normal speed when attacking. 

Assault

  • Critical Hit Severity III - Increases Critical Hit Severity by 12% (total)
  • Assault Power III - Increases Assault Power by 7.5% (total)
  • Critical Hit Chance III - Increases Critical Hit Chance by 6% (total)
  • Harmful Hits - Landing a Critical Hit grants Empower, increasing Critical Hit Chance by 9%
  • Volatility Rising - Between 30 and 70% Volatility gain 7 Volatility every 1.5s
  • Extra Hurtin’ - Between 30 and 70% Volatility gain Empower, increasing Armor Pierce by 15%

Hybrid A/S

  • Strikethrough III - Increases Strikethrough Chance by 3% (total)

Utility

  • Cooldowns III - Increases Cooldown reduction by 15% (total)
  • CC Resilience - Increases CC Resilience by 30% (total)
  • Dash Regen I - Increases Dash regeneration by 7%
  • Reckless Dash - Dashing generates 20% Volatility

Hybrid A/U

  • Armor Pierce III - Increases Armor Pierce by 6% (total)
  • PvP Offense III - Increases PvP Offense by 3% (total)
  • No Pain, No Pain - When snared gain an Empower, increasing PvP Offense by 4.5%
  • Volatile Armor - Extradiction Exo Suit grants Empower, increasing Critical Hit Chance by 10%
  • Keep Up The Pace - Landing a hit with a physical attack grants swiftness for 2 seconds, increasing movement speed by 15%

Rotation

This rotation is perhaps a little unconventional as you’re using your Dash before the fight. This can leave you somewhat vulnerable until it recharges but it does, fortunately, give you a hefty Volatility boost before you’ve even got going. All you need to remember is to use your Pulse Blast in between skills and to ensure you use your Exo Suit before you spike.

  • Double-Dash to generate 40% Volatility at the start of a fight
  • Exo Suit (Extradiction Mode)
  • Volatile Injection
  • Bio Shell
  • Obstruct Vision
  • Electrocute
  • Utilise Zap if the target is attempting to escape or if you need to break Interrupt Armor
  • Use your Dash when able to top-up your Volatility alongside Pulse Blast

Variables

If I was to recommend any variables for this build it would be the fact you don’t actually have to use Pulse Blast or Electrocute. With the ability to generate Volatility when dashing, combined with Exo Suit, it’s relatively easy to keep your Volatility high. As a result, it can free up 2 skill slots that you can swap for Bolt Caster and Richochet. Bolt Caster isn't as good as Electrocute for cleaving opponents but it does deal massive single target damage. 


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Last Updated: Mar 18, 2016

About The Author

Lewis is a long standing journalist, who freelances to a variety of outlets.

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