Next 'Guild Wars 2' Profession Announced

 

Behold! The Engineer, Guild Wars 2's second-to-last profession. He is a medium armor profession, like the Ranger and the Thief. According to the official Guild Wars 2 site, the Engineer is

Masters of mechanical mayhem, engineers tinker with explosives, gadgets, elixirs, and all manner of deployable devices. They can take control of an area by placing turrets, support their allies with alchemic weaponry, or lay waste to foes with a wide array of mines, bombs, and grenades.

 

The Engineer can use a pistol in his main hand, another pistol or shield in his off-hand, or opt for a two-handed rifle. Like the Elementalist, the Engineer can only use one weapon set at a time, but compensates for it with access to special kits. These can range from healing kits to weapon kits, like a flamethrower that gives the Engineer a short-range AOE attack.

The Engineer can also deploy turrets, which the Engineer can also overcharge for a special attack. The turret can be moved about (much like Team Fortress 2's Sentry Gun). There are different types of turrets, but only one of each type can be deployed at a time. Some turrets listed are: 

• Rifle Turret
• Thumper Turret
• Net Turret
• Flame Turret
• Healing Turret

In addition to turrets and special kits, the Engineer's profession-specific ability is his tool kit, a set of skills located above the weapon skills. The tool kit enhances the functionality of the Engineer's utility and healing skills. One example mentioned was the ability to add a self-destruct to his turrets or a detonation option on his mines.

Overall, the Engineer was a profession that wasn't too much of a surprise. More than a few members of the community had predicted a gadgetry-focused class that would make use of rifles and pistols. Guild Wars 2's Engineer bears more than a passing resemblance to Warhammer Online's Engineer and Team Fortress 2's Engineer, but is that really a bad thing?

 

Armed to with big guns, bombs, mines, turrets, and what amounts to Tyria's cutting edge tech, the Engineer adds an explosive element to Guild Wars 2's cast and it'll be interesting to see the dynamics of how all of the professions' skills will interact. An Elementalist could create a wall of flame that ignites the Ranger's and Thief's arrows, as well as the Engineer's turret? Without a doubt, Guild Wars 2 is going to be a fun game.

Read more about the Engineer here.