Engineer

From TF2 Wiki

Contents 1 Information 1.1 Bio 1.2 Taunts 2 Strategy 2.1 Offense 2.2 Being Sapped 3 Sentry Levels 4 Dispenser Levels 5 Teleporter Levels 6 Weapons 7 Build times 8 See also

Information

Choosing to (usually) build and maintain helpful buildings for the team rather than engage in direct combat, the Engineer is a defensive class that can do many helpful things to give their team much more of a fighting chance. They are perhaps most known for their Sentry guns, automated turrets that can be upgraded via wrench whacks as the Engineer gathers Metal from downed units' dropped weapons, ammo crates and even their own Dispensers (portable machines that replenish the health and ammo of nearby troops). They can also build Teleporters to quickly transport team-mates between two points on the map.

Engineers must keep in mind, however, that all of these constructed machines can be destroyed by enemies, and the builder or another Engineer should be on-hand for repairs should one wish to keep their creations running for long - especially if built closer to enemy territory.

Engineers aren't completely out of the game in direct combat though; with a trio of generic, yet capable weapons and the ability to assist themselves by staying around their own buildings, they can put up a great fight and are adept in medium-to-close ranged combat.

Bio

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Voice actor: Grant Goodeve

AKA: 'Hardhat' (To the Scout), 'Engy' (to the Soldier), 'Truckie' (to the Sniper), 'My Hard-Hatted Friend' (to the Medic), 'Laborer' (to the Spy)

Country of Origin: Bee Cave, Texas, USA

Job: Area Denial

Motto: "I Like to Make Things"

Favourite Equation:

This amiable, soft-spoken good ol' boy from tiny Bee Cave, Texas loves barbecue, guns, and higher education. Natural curiosity, ten years as a roughneck in the west Texas oilfields, and eleven hard science PhDs have trained him to design, build and repair a variety of deadly contraptions.

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Taunts

	Pistol The engineer twirls the Pistol in his hand while chuckling menacingly.
	Shotgun The engineer performs a hoedown while yelling: "Woooo hoo!" "Heeeey ya!" "Yippee ki yaa he yay kyaaah kayo!" "Hee hee! Yeehaa!"
	Wrench The Engineer laughs evilly, slaps his knee and points.

Strategy

Main article: Engineer strategy

• Help your fellow Engineers out by wrenching friendly buildings you pass by to keep them repaired. Also, help a new Sentry gun upgrade quicker if your Metal supply is high.

• If the enemy takes out the Sentry gun of both you and your team-mate, consider rebuilding one gun at a time, to get it to the highest level faster in your time of need. A level 3 sentry is much better than two level ones.

• You can rotate the placement of a building while the blueprint is out by clicking the secondary fire button (default is right click). Changing a Sentry gun's direction allows you to place them in corners and other odd spots. Rotating a Teleporter exit affects the direction one faces when exiting - an arrow on the blueprint indicates the direction. Rotating a Dispenser has no effect on its function, but can allow you to cram it into a tight spot.

• Striking placed buildings with the Wrench will cause them to build twice as fast as leaving them alone. This effect stacks with each additional engineer striking the building with their Wrench during construction.

• Crouching (default: CTRL) after jumping will allow you to stand on your buildings.

• If you're planning on building a Sentry gun in a forward area, consider building a Dispenser first, to supply you with Metal to upgrade the Sentry gun.

• If the game goes to Sudden death mode, build a Dispenser first to provide health for your team-mates and Metal for yourself.

• Don't build turrets facing into hallways, unless you have cover from your team-mates, as your enemies will see them ahead and have a chance to fire ranged explosive weapons (Rockets and Grenades being the most commonly used). Build them in the corners just outside the hallway, attempting to avoid places where Demomen can easily bounce grenades at your Sentry gun.

• Be careful standing in front of your Sentry gun. If an enemy runs past and you get caught between the Sentry gun and the enemy, your gun will fire at you; causing damage and possibly death.

• When you build a Sentry gun try to put a Dispenser nearby, preferably in a spot where you can sit between the two swinging the Wrench at the Sentry while getting charged by the Dispenser. This technique also minimizes (but does not entirely eliminate) the chance of a successful Backstab by an enemy Spy.

• Disguised Spies cannot walk through opposing Sentry guns and Dispensers. You can use this for Spy checking by placing these buildings in chokepoints, such as doors and hallways. You'll know a disguised Spy if he jumps on top of these buildings when obstructed.

• Build a Teleporter entrance outside the Respawn area, and a Teleporter exit at a location of interest. For the defensively-minded Engineer, Intelligence rooms and Control points are desirable. But nothing beats a forward exit deep inside the enemy territory. Care should be observed when placing your Teleporter; plant the entrances in obvious, but considerate places (do not place teleporters on the stairs, as under-fire team-mates rushing back for health may get caught on them).

• Take the time after building Teleporters to inform your team of their position. Most players don't use them if they don't immediately see them, so make sure they know that one is around the corner.

• In points with small, one-person doorways (such as the left-hand room in the small building facing the BLU spawn on Dustbowl, or the balcony on the building near the middle point in Badlands) it can be wise to set up a Dispenser in the doorway. Though you are boxing yourself in, placing a dispenser in the doorway keeps Spies out, as they can't pass through dispensers either. Team-mates, however, can get through the dispenser. They'll have a hard time sapping the dispenser with you on the other end and more importantly, they can't get to your Sentry, which, in either of the two examples, is in a great position to help your team.

• Consider moving your Sentry gun frequently, especially if you are not the only engineer or if your enemies are adept at taking out Sentry guns. Placing them in odd places that still overlook essential passageways will make your enemies paranoid as they will have to advance through your base carefully, even if they do not see your Sentry in its normal spot.
• If an enemy Demoman is shooting Sticky bombs at or near your Sentry gun, consider trying to shoot as many of them away as possible with the Shotgun. This may get enough grenades out of the way of your Sentry that it will not be destroyed when the Demoman triggers them, or may buy your team-mates enough time to take care of the Demoman for you. Note that this strategy is rather risky and may result in death.

• When an enemy is on your tail and if you built a sentry nearby, play cat and mouse and lead your pursuer to your sentry gun. Just try not to die along the way and your sentry can kill the "cat".

Offense

• It may seem a disadvantage having an Engineer on your team depriving you of an offensive class, particularly on Control point maps. This is not the case, however, as the Engineer can be extremely useful on the frontline. As mentioned elsewhere, Dispensers are important to save a long trip to the supply room and a Teleporter can save slower classed team-mates a lot of time getting back to the frontline after being killed. As of the December 11 update, one Level Three Teleporter effectively has the efficiency of five of default, Level One Teleporters.

• Another technique is to choose an approach and set a Sentry gun on your way in, you then switch to the Shotgun and start blasting to distract from its build time, when things get tough run away towards your Sentry gun (hopefully it has survived, but listen for the 'Sentry down' sound to be sure) and the Sentry will take care of your pursuers. In effect this gives you an extra player while assaulting any position. Placing a Sentry gun while on the run takes practice as does getting a reasonable placement that will actually take down a few opponents before its destruction. This also combats the tendency for Engineer-heavy teams to start Turtling.

• Setting up a mini-base with a Teleporter, a Dispenser and a Sentry near the frontlines after capturing an initial control point can help your team maintain their position. A skilled enemy team can push you right back to your first spawn, forcing you to gain ground again even if you have already captured the first point.

Being Sapped

• You can "bait" an enemy Spy by leaving a Teleporter on the way to your position. If the area is quiet, only few Spies will resist sapping it, which will alert you immediately that a Spy is coming. Another useful effect of this is that you can tell when an enemy is approaching and gauge their class based on the weapon icon shown at the top right of your screen in your building's death-message.

• By that same token, placing a teleporter exit on narrow stairways, such as those behind the main spawn rooms in 2fort, will prevent cloaked spies from freely running up them, requiring a crouch jump to get over and wasting their time as the cloak runs down. This will, however, also obstruct your team-mates.

• As an extension to the above, if there's little need for your Teleporters in a map, place them both around your sentry to stall a Spy briefly, as inexperienced players will sap everything in sight. The extra second could be the difference between saving your Sentry or not, and it will also help you identify the Spy.

• It generally takes two swings of the wrench to remove a sapper. Most of the time, you should save your Dispenser first, as it will break from a Sapper faster than an upgraded Sentry, and regenerating its Metal supply takes a lot of time. If you are staying in the same spot, saving your Dispenser first will always allow you to rebuild much faster because you'll have more metal available. However, if the Spy has removed his disguise nearby, or there's urgent need for offense, you should save your Sentry first.

Sentry Levels

There are 3 levels for your sentry gun, and each has the same weapons of the previous level plus one extra.

• Level one: One machine gun (fires about 2 shot/sec). Can be burned by Pyro, shot down by heavy, or blown up by Demoman. Useful for taking out Scout, however, the scout can circle this sentry and Bat it to death if they are skilled.
• Level two: Two machine guns (4 shot/sec). Only a Heavy or Demoman can destroy this.
• Level three: Two machine guns (4 shot/sec) and one rocket launcher (0.25 shot/sec). Vulnerable only to ubered people and spies, however, the sap time for a level three is 9 seconds. Rockets can be deflected by the Pyro with compressed air blast.

Dispenser Levels

The Dispenser can be upgraded twice after construction.

• Level one: Generates 40 metal every 5 seconds. Heals ~10 HP/sec.
• Level two: Generates 50 metal every 5 seconds. Heals ~15 HP/sec.
• Level three: Generates 60 metal every 5 seconds. Heals ~20 HP/sec , similar to Medic's in-battle healing rate (24 HP/sec).

Teleporter Levels

Much like the Dispenser and Sentry, the Teleporter can be upgraded twice after construction. Upgrading one part effects both. After destroying of one, the other part is reset to level one. For example you build an entrance and an exit and upgraded the exit to level three. Then your teleporters will recharge after 3 seconds until one of them is destroyed.

• Level one: Takes 10 seconds to recharge.
• Level two: Takes 5 seconds to recharge.
• Level three: Takes 3 seconds to recharge.

Weapons

Note: Weapon damage is approximate and measured at point blank range. See individual weapon pages for details.

Categorization	Name	Clip size	Carry capacity	Damage
Primary	Shotgun	6	32	80-90 (180 crit) [slow reload]
Secondary	Pistol	12	200	20-22 (45 crit) [fast reload]
Melee	Wrench	N/A	N/A	43-87 (195 crit) [a little more than 1 hit per second]

Build times

• Dispenser, Teleport entrance and exit: 20 seconds
• Sentry Gun: 10 seconds
• Note: All buildings are built twice as fast if you bang on them with your wrench during construction. Having more than one engineer hitting a building under construction stacks the effect.

See also

• Meet the Engineer
• Metal
• How to play the engineer
• Engineer rush
• Engineer match-ups
• Engineer responses
• Engineer voice commands
• Engineer strategy
• Engineer scripts

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Classes
Offensive	Defensive	Support
Scout • Soldier • Pyro	Demoman • Heavy • Engineer	Medic • Sniper • Spy