As I had to choose my class last, I was left with the engineer, which is not much of a surprise. As a class it shines most when used deliberately, thoughtfully and creatively. Which stands in contrast to my teammates who are more the ‘blunt object’ type of players. Here are my thoughts while playing the engineer.
Equipment/skillz
Platform gun
| Magazine size | 4 |
| Max ammo | 16 |
| Rate of fire (per second) | 1.0 |
| Reload time | 2 seconds |
The engineer is equipped with a platform gun, which in a game of everything being destructive having a tool that builds is unique. You need to be in full compatible drift mode with your scout. He finds and pings minerals that are in out of the way places and “poof” there is a ledge to provide access.
I suppose if the other two
minorsplayers would shut up over the comms for a second we could actually just verbally communicate these things but we have evolved to be a well-oiled machine.
But that is only the tip of the iceberg as to what you can do with your platforms. Creating bridges for the hacking line of sight, spiral staircases, landing platforms to mitigate fall damage (upgrade required). Use the bug repellent and you can even funnel the bugs into a kill zone firing arc. Just don’t try and cheese it or the bugs will ignore the repellent.
| Damage | 6 (kinetic) |
| Max range | 20 meters |
| Max ammo | 425 |
| Rate of fire (per second) | 7.5 |
| Reload time | 45 ammo/s |
| No of sentries | 1 |
| Sentry ammo capacity | 90 |
| Construction time | 4 seconds |
Your second skill is to drop one or two sentry turrets; little babies to help shred the swarms. Placement is key and the choice of using one or two comes down to personal choice and mission type. You need to deploy, build and reload these babies to keep them firing.
Weapons
Warthog
| Damage | 7 |
| Bullets (per shot) | 8 |
| Stun duration | 3s |
| Magazine size | 6 |
| Max ammo | 90 |
| Rate of fire (per second) | 2 |
| Reload time | 2s |
Now we’re talking. Your engineer will start out with a Warthog shotgun. When you see the dangly thing at the back of a bug’s throat pull the trigger and the bug is no more. You can even upgrade to full auto, with the only downside being how quickly the ammo disappears. The next primary you unlock is the Stubby SMG. “Pointless you say as I have a full auto shotgun”. I thought the same. But the little SMG with its shocking ability to electrocute is the most fun you can have while clearing waves. Just get the recoil dampener before even trying to use it.
| Damage | 21 |
| Magazine size | 36 |
| Max ammo | 180 |
| Rate of fire (per second) | 6 |
| Reload time | 3s |
| Lock-on range | 25m |
| Max targets | 12 |
Lastly you unlock the LOK-1 smart rifle. This weapon has two different modes of fire. You can pull the trigger and it shoots, pretty standard fare or you hold down the trigger and it starts locking onto targets and when you release the bullets home in. Personally I use the stubby as I enjoy its wave clearing ability.
The secondary weapons are where the gloves come off. Waves incoming, well wave back with a grenade launcher; this much fun should be banned. The pièce de résistance is the unlockable breach-cutter. It fires a beam that goes through everything in its way. Weak spot on the back, super easy, barely an inconvenience, you just shoot it through the front. And yes you can equip it with three beams.
Three choices of throwables. A decoy which is a dancing dwarf for bugs to investigate, the plasma cluster grenade (which is kind of boring) and proximity mines. Proximity mines are fun. You place them down and then when one of the slightly bigger beasties comes near, they explode. Each has four charges. Note that you can pick them up and place again if none of the charges have gone off yet. And friendly dwarves will not set them off, but will suffer damage if caught in the blast radius. There is a big yellow light to show when you are in range but gunners seem to have a difficult time telling colours apart or even the difference between dwarves and bugs.
Conclusion
The engineer’s biggest downside is that his movement to get to out-of-the-way places is by far the most tedious of the four classes. You see you have to build your way there. You are reliant on the accessibility that is provided by the other members in your team. The engineer must be adaptable with both his loadout and his positioning to get the best use out of him. However, the engineer has secondary weapons that are some of the best in the game.
When it comes to clearing waves the engineer is a class above the rest.
