Tyrian Chronicle: Why I'll Play a Scrapper .

This week Arenanet revealed the elite specialization for engineers in Heart of Thorns. It’s called the Scrapper”, and even at first glance I’m in love.

I mean, I’ve long been a fan of the engineer profession. Although they can sometimes be overlooked in fractal groups for the more obvious “core” professions, no one can deny that engineers are just plain fun to play. Have some turrets! And a flame thrower! Now shoot nets and flip backwards through the air! Wheee!

Where engineers haven’t been as much fun, though, is in melee. Once something gets up in your face, all of the engineer’s pistols and flamethrowers and nets don’t make much of a dent in the enemy. That’s all changing in Heart of Thorns: enter.. the Scrapper.

The Scrapper may have just been announced, but I’m already convinced that this will be the specialization for me, at least based on what we know so far. Let me tell you why:

More Than Just a Name

Does the word “scrapper” look familiar? It might if you play a Charr. Scrappers, in the lore, are warbands who have been assigned to junkyard punishment duties by the commanding centurion. The word is can also be used between Charr to indicate a warband who is “consistently insubordinate, unreliable, or troublesome,” according to the Guild Wars 2 Official Wiki.

This definition adds a bit of a plot twist for Charr engineers who take the Scrapper specialization. It’s easy to imagine a misfit engineer who has done time working off their punishment in the junkyards, hammering away at scrap, until one day they decide to put their new skills to use in a more upstanding capacity.

Some serious role players have already begun to push back against the name, citing the negative connotations, but I think it adds a lot of character and opens up a whole new world of backstory for those engineers who like that sort of thing.

 

That Hammer Though

Of course in Guild Wars 2 a new weapon means a whole new toolbar of skills to learn and play with, so the Scrapper’s hammer is a significant addition. Even beyond the associated new skills (we’ll get to those in a second), can we just talk about how awesome it looks?

The fact that it’s a two-hander gives the new hammer some heft, and it would be pretty intimidating as it smacks you in the face. It’s almost as tall as that Asura, and I imagine the hammer will scale accordingly with the other races. This is one tough looking melee club.

We know about three of the new skills that Scrappers can access: Rocket Charge, Shock Shield, and Thunderclap. Thunderclap calls down bolts of electricity, Thor-style, which sounds potentially useful and fun, but the real gem here in my opinion is Rocket Charge. This new skill causes the engineer to leap repeatedly at enemies while swinging their hammer, showing off the awesome rocket boots that never get enough screen time.

We have yet to see Rocket Charge in motion, but it sounds like one of those skills that is both deadly to enemies and just plain fun to use.

Fear My Robot Army

Another feature of the Scrapper is “gyros” or wee flying robot helpers. Gyros work like turrets in that you can have multiples active at the same time, each doing a different task. Gyros also take on your boons.

Yesterday’s reveal did not give much information about gyros, although again as a fan of awesome-looking abilities this screenshot gave me much to look forward to:

Similar to the guardian’s Spirit Weapons, some gyros will stay by your side to work their mech magic. Others, however, will zip around, seeking out target enemies or friends. The only specific gyro that we know about now is the “Purge Gyro”, which hangs around cleansing conditions off you and your allies. As engineers currently have limited ways to remove conditions, this seems like a nice addition to their potential toolkit!

We still need to see exactly how gyros behave in action: Do they use AI pathing? (And if so, pet pathing is notoriously difficult to get right in games so what makes gyros any different?) Or do they work more like a signet for engineers? Will they be built to withstand an attack, or will they fall to the ground after a stern look?

Although the gameplay specifics are necessary to determine determine if gyros are useful in practice, they look fantastic. Being followed around by an army of bots seems entirely within the flavor of the engineer.
If it seems like my reasons to play a Scrapper — a great name, the new gyro bots, and a honking big wrench — are superficial, that’s because they are. Although the initial reaction has been good, both from myself in particular and the community in general, we’re still left speculating based how this specialization will actually play based on screenshots and carefully tended interview questions. Perhaps the gyros will die too quickly to be useful, or the Scrapper still won’t make engineers competitive when it comes to single-target melee.

But based on the superficial facts that we know right now, it feels like Arenanet are on the right track. Everything is visually well within the “theme” of the engineer. The Scrapper fills in some things that the profession currently lacks, like reliable condition removal, while introducing a fairly original build concept.

Engineers are the Swiss army knives of the battlefield, with a number of different tricks up their sleeve. It’s a profession that relied on variety, and at least at this early stage the Scrapper seems to compliment that nicely. Consider me sold, Arenanet.

Want to learn more about the Scrapper? Make sure to check out Anet’s “Ready Up” stream Friday, September 18, 2015 at noon PT!