Lunien's Engineer Guide

[Lunien]

Decided to write an engineer guide as its the class I use second most...first will always be recon, heh. Anyways... on to the guide:

Your Weapon
You have the two stock rocket launchers which can be guided and to be truthful, they're pretty good. They alert armor when you zoom in on the armor, which may or may not be a bad thing. Obviously it'd be bad if you fired your rocket and they put up their shields because of the alert bell. But if you play it smart and fake the zooming, you gain an advantage. Basically, zoom in but don't fire, often you'll trick the enemy into using their countermeasures too early...THEN you fire.

Then you have the Pilum. It is personally my favourite rocket launcher of the 4 main weapons for engineer. It goes faster than the stock rocket launcher and there's no alarm tone. The slightly harder thing is knowing to lead your shot as you can't adjust the aim like the stock rocket launchers. Just use a little common sense and judgement and you'll know where to aim. Only fire the pilum when you are pretty sure it will hit - you only have 6 rockets...use them wisely.

Then the SAAW. I use this only when the opposing gunship is dominating us or the opposing pilot is dumb, then I use it to get a kill...haven't met many though...yet. You have to stay on the target for a bit for both of the shapes to appear on the plane. When that happens, the rocket is locked on and you should let loose 2 shots. Always let loose 2 shots as 1 shot only does 50 damage to gunships. Be prepared to not hit many at all, and that since SAAW is crap against armor, your only ground-vehicle killing capability is motion mines.

Your SMG is essential - you won't be killing armor all the time. Its just point and shoot with very short range, nothing much to say about it. It packs quite a punch. You can spray and pray in CQB, but for anything over 20m, burst tap.

Your Equpiment and Mines
Motion Mines: These are awesome and can rack you quite a few kills, provided you know where to put it. Put them behind obstacles where the enemy can't see them from the direction they are coming from and that they will only notice the mines when they drive past it...which causes the motion mines to do more damage.

Some people say leave it out in the open for area denial. I agree for chokepoints, but I still don't like it that much... too easy to just walk up to the silo or flag, I'd rather kill them before they get there. Just a personal opinion.

PDS-1: This thing is very nifty, this and MM are my usual layout. If you're getting in armor, take the extra second, put it on, and you can detect armor that you might not notice...especially air vehicles.

PDS-1 is also great when defending - stick it near an entrance to the silo you're guarding or just in the area and you can have warning of what vehicles are incoming. Furthermore, it can give you information of where the vehicles is while you're hiding behind cover - this is essential if you want to make full use of the pilum, which does the most damage to the rear and sides.

Defuser: Somewhat useful if you're using armor along with a good teammate who will wait for you to defuse motion mines that are blocking your path. It also defuses other mines, which is useful. It does take a second or so to defuse though, so you're vulnerable while defusing.

EMP mines: Personally I don't like this...depends too much on the enemy driving over them. It should have its uses on FAV's and Walkers, but I rarely find a situation where EMP mines would be better than motion mines or PDS-1.

Motion Mine Bait: Don't really use this, so I can't comment on it. I guess its a faster defuser.

Repair Tool: Repairs things. Move around while repairing, you're an easy headshot if you're not. Just circle the vehicle and hope they don't move :P

Tactics
Try to stay in armor, you're not as vulnerable simply because as infantry on foot, you have a pretty big disadvantage in terms of range and only effective if you can get in close quarters. If there's no armor near by, be very careful and you actually can proceed by foot or just defend your current flag or silo with PDS-1 and motion mines.

Your skill in engineer depends greatly on your skill in armor because you will be in armor a lot.

Added: I can't believe I forgot this! This is for when you're in a tank...or to a certain extent walkers. You're fighting the enemy armor, and you just let loose a shot. They don't know you're an engineer...use that. When the armor is just one shot from death...you may be too, pop out and fire off a pilum shot, which would probably kill them off and surprise the hell out of them. Use this tactic to get an extra shot on the armor. I know some might say I'm crazy for jumping out of a vehicle, especially a walker, during an armor fight, but I find it very useful to get that extra shot in, especially when the enemy thinks he's getting a kill - just pop out of the soon-to-be destroyed vehicle and blast him.

Flank
This is essential, period. Be it on foot or in armor, always, always, always flank. Your ability to kill armor and infantry depends on your ability to flank as you will lose to infantry most of the time if you try to charge outright from anything over 60m, and you stand a better chance to kill armor if you flank them (not to mention survive if you're on foot). Use cover effectively...get to one cover...sprint to another, look around, sprint to the next cover until you get to where you need to go and flank the enemy. Your SMG packs a lot of punch so if you can get in close, you'll likely kill them.

That's about it I think... wait for the best moment, flank the enemy all the time - be crafty and you'll do fine with the engineer.

Constructive criticism appreciated, thanks.

[Diamond621]

Great guide!

As someone who plays Engineer some of the time in an almost exclusively anti-armor role (I almost never use armor myself), I'll say that the content here is good. Armor is tough but has its distinct disadvantages and weak points. Be patient and smart with your shots, and you should have no trouble with it.

[Spodeboy]

Good guide. I am a dedicated engineer myself. Not to be a nitpick, but I think the Pilum gets 6 shots total, one loaded and 5 spares. I know this because I have just enough to take down 2 consoles (3 shots each).

[Lunien]

Thanks for the compliments. Yeah...I wasn't thinking straight, 5 shots in reserve..forgot about the one you can shoot, heh. Will change

[Gouwd]

Motion Mine Bait: Don't really use this, so I can't comment on it. I guess its a faster defuser.

I will have to disagree on it, because when youre playing city maps and you decide to play a round of walker whoring or create an APC squad, you are sure that the motion mine alert will sound sometimes that round. getting out and defusing all the mines is not an option, because your vehicle is certain to be stolen, and you're certain to be shot. instead, take your MMB with you, and when the sound comes, pop a bait and off you go again!

this can also be applied when buggy rushing on city maps. place an engi with MMB in the back, and when he sees the motion mines rising, he clicks the RMB and drops an MMB, which might even get him a few kills

[hooahguy]

i agree w/ gouwd. there is this one silo on the suez canal (the one closest to the PAC titan) that is constantly filled with MM. i use the MMB frequently, and i does me good. nothing better than throwing it in the general direction of an entrenched enemy and watching him get blown up by a dozen MMs.

[Killerus]

you can also use the motion mine bait as an offensive weapon. If you are facing armor that you can't directly attack you can place motion mines on the ground and throw the motion mine bait at your enemy. The bait will pull the mines to your target and destroy it. Takes a little practice to pull off, but the results are well worth learning it.

[iQu'e]

you can also use the motion mine bait as an offensive weapon. If you are facing armor that you can't directly attack you can place motion mines on the ground and throw the motion mine bait at your enemy. The bait will pull the mines to your target and destroy it. Takes a little practice to pull off, but the results are well worth learning it.

Do it on Gibraltar and your team will love you. I always do this if the enemy walker gets too annoying.

[Unzen]

I really should try that MMB with the engi being my favourite class. I think the issue I have is that I'm so 'entrenched' in knowing that I have the vehicle sensor and MM's - along with the Pilum.

Also, I've only once seen mines slam into my tank from the opposition using MMB. It probably has been more - but as I've not actually witnessed it and just took it that it was a MM that got me on its own - I've tended to overlook it.

Also (and this bit is pretty obvious) - there's a distinct difference between the tanks and walkers in their seperate roles. Walkers are great for getting stuck in there - mowing down infantry, destroying FAVs with ease and helping the infantry capture points or silos. As such, they are also good for the built-up areas - as long as you keep your eyes open.

Tanks on the other hand, are long range specialists. They excel on maps like Highway Tampa where their extreme zoomed range is perfect for hitting the walkers and those hovering aircraft trying to capture a point. Think of it more as a movable, low-angle artillery piece. Also, find a shallow slope and they are also very good at taking out the titan turrets too - often beyond the attacking range of the titans own guns.

Simple rule therefore in the bigger vehicles. If you're in a tank vs. walker situation - back the hell up and try to get as much distance between you and it. Call it up as spotted often as well - sometimes a friendly gunship will zoom in to take it out for you. If you're in a walker vs. tank scenario - try to close the distance as best as possible. If that's not easily achieved - at least try to put some buildings or other scenary between you and the tank in order to absorb it's fire on you.

One on one - the walker should always win against a tank - especially against the less nimble A8 Tiger and within a close distance. However, don't trade shots with a tank at long range. It only takes a moderately good tank pilot to aim for your weaker points of armour and deplete you down to dangerous levels - before you have even got into decent firing range.

Without fail - always stick your vehicle sensor onto the tank or walker before you jump in. It can give you that fraction of a second warning before the gunship's TV missile hits, for you to fire the countermeasures. If you're not in a tank and a friendly APC, tank or walker comes past - throw the motion sensor onto them - it may just save their life instead.

The vehicle & motion sensor is good for setting up a trap as well. I often do this if the tank has taken a bit of a beating and I'm near a capture point. I abandon the tank in a conveniently placed section that provides a blockage (or at least a hinderance) to the point such as a road junction - but close enough so I can see the motion sensor ping in the mini-map view. Acting almost like a mini-UAV - I can see the approaching enemy vehicle on the ping and get ready to take the shot with the Pilum. More often than not, they never fire on my abandoned tank as their crosshair will have shown an empty vehicle.

While they try to get around the tank in their own vehicle, you can fire off the often killer-blow on them from the Pilum. Or, they abandon their FAV or APC in favour of the tank - allowing you to Pilum your own ex-tank the instant they jump onboard. I've been purposely sadistic with other engineers where I've allowed them to repair it to 100% - see them jump in and immediately fire a Pilum round into their backside. :evil:

The final tip I have with the tank and engi combo is when you're capturing silos on your own. Reverse the tank so that its butt is against the silo and then run around to the other side of the silo, facing it. Crouching, you're capturing the point quicker out of the vehicle than you would sat in it. Arm yourself with the Pilum and wait. Most often, you capture the silo with no intervention from the other side. However, sometimes, the enemy feels compelled to jump into a tank just sitting there doing nothing. Hear the ignition of the tank? No blue or green blips on the mini-map? Just stand up, turnaround and fire. Pretty much insta-kill.

You can leave MMs lying about the tank to stop it getting stolen, but they are a dead giveaway that something is amiss. It also naturally raises the suspicion of the opposing players to have a scout around the silo from a safe distance - and more likely, spot you crouching in the process.

[BandoIruka]

motion mines make good movement denial for enemies and can cause drivers to panic. Good for getting that walker to stop moving for a while so you can aim at their legs or backside. I also use them while driving a tank or apc to set up a quick trap and then fire upon an enemy walker to lure them in.

Another favourite trick when causing enemy drivers to panic is when they bail out of their vehicle to either flee or try to use mmb, and then you steal it from them.

Alot of people don't realise that pods also count at a vehicle that can also be picked up on your vehicle radar. This makes the vehicle radar quite useful in titan games where you can put one down to detect incoming pods. Gives engineers another function besides just defense against the usual vehicle threats.

Don't forget to read other related threads in the tips and tricks section, particularly the ones that show you where aim to do the most damage to vehicles

[Ekan66]

Personally i prefer the EMP-mine over the PDS-1 on conquest maps.
If you put the EMP a few meters after your MM´s it dont matter if a FAV tries to boost away from your mines, 1-3kills guaranteed.
But i agree with putting the PDS on your vehicle, exellent tactic.
Oh, one other thing - dont save your MM´s to much. Put them down at least 2 at a time.

[Icetrojan]

im beginning to love engineer, and my god MMB is good my kit is usually MMB, MM'S and my SAWW 86 (Im an infantry SAWW guy) and i really do love it.

If you've seen that MMB goliath video, youll see that 3 motion mines can actually destroy a goliath if used with mmb due to the fact that the motion mines fly to the same height of the goliath and when at fall speed, BOOM maximum damage no more goliath. But yeah engineer is so under-rated, respect to all the engineers!!

Heres the link to that MMB video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhSt0vRa0uE&feature=related

[Chris--My--azz]

awesome vid i wonder how fin came up with it because as i think about it it makes perfect sense the mm does more damage the faster it moves and mmb makes it move at it's top speed it's genious i tell you !!!!!!