A Guide to Engineer

[fenster]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/suspectFENSTER/410px-Meetheengineer3.png

A lot of people in the [-MAV-] family are actually pretty new to this game (especially that XiD guy), and showing Reathen the engineer ropes the other day gave me an idea to throw up a quick (but not really) guide. This guide is split into three sections: the very basics, general strategies, and level-specific strategies. It's still a work in progress - by the end I'd like to have a few demos up of quick set-up, spy prevention, etc, but for now it's just a breakdown of tips and strategies for using the engineer effectively. A lot of people have some misconceptions about how to play engineer (see: too much emphasis on the thing that shoots bullets). It's....pretty long, but I like to think that there is tons of good info here that in the long run will save you time through the learning process.

Now a lot of this stuff already exists in an excellent format elsewhere on the web (and I'll link to such materials), but I'll add in some of own personal experience along the way and - in due time - add some demos showing some good spots to set up and maybe other things that aren't covered elsewhere. Also please keep in mind I don't claim to be any sort of engineer expert - I have about 40 hours so most of this advice is probably solid but I make no claims of absolution. :) If you have any thing you feel should be added to this guide, or if you think something I've said is dead wrong, feel free to let me know.

Anyway, enough of me babbling, let's do this.

The Basics

If you've never played or even seen engineer in your life before, it's best to start at the mother of all TF2 resources: the TF2 wiki. Check it out:

http://tf2wiki.net/wiki/Engineer

It'd also be worth reading up on wiki entries for each weapon in the Engineer arsenal. There is some incredibly useful information in there that a lot of people neglect to know.

http://tf2wiki.net/wiki/Sentry
http://tf2wiki.net/wiki/Dispenser
http://tf2wiki.net/wiki/Teleporter


Here some very basic tips and highlights for starting out as an engineer to keep in mind:

Do not underestimate the value of a dispenser to you and your team. They are incredibly handy at both replenishing your metal, and providing your teammates with ammo and health. Often times engineers place down a sentry, upgrade it to level 3, and then work on a dispenser. That's poor strategy: I'll go more into this later, but for now, keep in mind the usefulness of dispensers.
On defense, always immediately build a teleporter at your spawn and grab more ammo to start the match. This way all you need to do is throw down an exit when you get the time/metal and it is ready to go.
If a spy saps your buildings and you are alone, go for the spy first. Working on unsapping your buildings will only get you either killed (if it's a good spy), or buy you time until the spy can grief you some more in a few moments. Don't forget that your buildings are out of commission while being sapped - continuous saps from the same spy will effectively eliminate the benefits of your buildings.
In general, your life is more valuable than your sentries. Act like it! If you see an incoming uber which you feel will destroy your gear (and you along with it), get out of there. Most of the time the uber will ignore you to get at your buildings. Even if you're gear is alive when you die, without you protecting it, it won't last very long.
Do not build by other engineers. This can be tempting when you are just starting to learn, but having engineer buildings spread out across a defensive or offensive base is far more useful to your team. Not only that, but building next to another engineer will provide an easy target for incoming ubers.
Use your shotgun. It's stronger than you might think (80 damage for a body shot is not shabby), and can get you out of some jams. Also good for helping out your level 1 sentry.

That's good for now. At this point, I'd suggest hopping in a game and playing around. Get a couple of hours in, and then head back here for the beef of this guide.

[fenster]

General Strategy

Alright, you've played around a bit and now you're ready to learn some of the ins and outs. Awesome. A great place to learn some basic strategy is this awesome video below. There's some things I don't like about it but for the most part it's excellent.


ZxodkFM8N1U

Now I'll touch on some general strategies to do that you can do to make for a better engineer.

What to build, and where?

If you're a defensive engineer during setup time, how you setup depends on how close you are to metal. If you are near a 200 metal crate, you can get up a dispenser, gun, and teleporter and be able to get that gun to level 3 before the gates open. If you're not near metal, a good idea is to throw down a dispenser, grab the nearest metal, throw down a sentry, and level it up like crazy (grabbing metal if you need to). This is situational though - find spots you like and the best way to set up there.
Try to find good corners to put your sentry around, and then your dispenser nearby (but not necessarily directly next to your gun). The idea is you want to be able to repair your gun without the enemy being able to go for you directly.
Don't be afraid to spread your gear around a bit. It can be helpful for repairing to have them smashed together, but an uber can very easily take out three bunched up buildings. Spread them out, and you'll make life more difficult for both spies and incoming ubers.
On offense, don't build a teleporter exit until you're confident you're team has the area secure. No point in destroying a level 3 exit to build a level 1 exit that is farther into enemy lines if it will only get destroyed.
If you're building on defense and it's not the setup time, build dispensers! A good tactic is to put down a level 1, grab metal, put down a dispenser, level up your gun. Not only will you get metal and health from that dispenser, but it will benefit teammates and attract them to your gear, which will in turn protect it. A lot of people seem to focus on their gun because it kills things. Yes, I know, killing is good, but sometimes pacifism is more important that putting up that level 5 sentry.
You can rotate your gear upon creation. By right-clicking when you are holding the blueprint for a building, it will rotate 90 degrees. By default, all buildings face away from you - including teleporters. When building teleporter exits, it is a good idea to rotate it such that it doesn't face into a wall (typically this is 180 degrees).


http://www.halolz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/halolz-dot-com-teamfortress2-engineer-level5sentry.jpg



Dealing with Spies and Sappers

REMEMBER to go for the spy first. See my point in the general strategy above.
While it may be tempting, do not build a sentry directly in front of you and a dispenser directly behind. A good spy will un-disguise behind the dispenser, causing both you and the dispenser to die (your gun can kill you). A dead engineer nine times out of ten means a dead sentry gun.
Be paranoid. Turn around in between swings if you are suspicious, and never stand facing one way for too long. It is always a good idea to look around. Spy check anybody running to your gear via your wrench or shotgun.
If a spy is on your gear, be vocal over the mic. Having teammates let you focus on your gear instead of the spy is extremely beneficial.
Remember low-level buildings will be destroyed quicker from sappers. Unsap them first, then your high-level gear.
Everything being equal, what to unsap first is completely situational. Remember that a teleporter being sapped will destroy BOTH teleporters -- meaning that you cannot simply rebuild it where you stand. My general rule of thumb is teleporter -> dispenser -> sentry gun, but again, completely situational.


Surprising the enemy
One of the best parts of the engineer is that most people typecast him. Your enemy expects certain things from you - using an element of surprise can be very beneficial.

Use dispensers to climb ledges. You can jump onto your gear by crouch jumping (jump, then crouch in mid air). Use this to your advantage by building gear, jumping on it, and then jumping onto a previously unobtainable ledge. You can also build a sentry on a ledge you are facing while standing on your dispenser (examples of this in part 3).
Use level 1 sentries in unconventional places. It will probably die quickly, but level 1 sentries build quickly and can take down a few enemies if they don't know it's there. Also good for distracting the enemy. Key tactic for offensive engineers.
Build teleporters behind enemy lines. Tricky to do, but if executed properly this can greatly damage a team's momentum.


Other Comments

Help other engineers build! If you have multiple engineers with no guns up, focus on building one gun if you're under a lot of heat. You may not get points for it, but one level 3 sentry is far better than two level 1's, and can be built very quick. It's one of those things that is selfless but will help your team out a ton.
Just camping by your sentry is rarely a good tactic. If you're under a lot of fire, it's absolutely necessary, but if things are a little quiet don't be afraid to move around a little bit, spy checking or looking around. It keeps you more alert, makes you less susceptible to spies, and helps your team.
Be vocal. Engineers know when the current hold point is breaking, when ubers are attacking the point, and where spies are. Let your team know this vital information.
Metal management is an art form. Leave enough metal that you can repair your gear, know when to make a metal run, etc.
The most important rule of all: STAY ALIVE. A dead engineer is a big blow to the team because it gives the other team a good minute to plan an offensive. Even if you have to sacrifice your gear, it's more important that you are able to rebuild quickly.
Quoting XiD here: "If you have set up your gear in an area where you aren't pinned into a corner/wall, you can do what I call "wrench jockying." Since there is roughly a half second delay between wrench swings, you can run at your sentry, slap it to heal, run backwards while the wrench animation recycles, then run at it again when the next wrench slap occurs. This makes you look retarded, as you are running backwards and forwards rapidly hitting your sentry. However, the benefit can be huge, as you won't be taking as much splash damage from explosives pegging your sentry."
Even the best of engineers will struggle on a shitty team. Sometimes you just can't get gear built or spies will continually sap your buildings. Be aware that you need help from your team to be effective.

[fenster]

Demos and Level-Specific Strategy

In this handy last part of my guide, I'll be adding demos and various level-specific strategies to accompany them. This part is under construction and will take a while to finish but do check back in for what I hope are helpful demonstrations.

Setup Time

Managing your precious one minute of setup time is a bit of an art form. Where you set up, where you want to put your stuff, and where the nearest ammo crate is are all important factors. Below is a basic video of setting up when you are somewhat close to a 200-metal crate. Any farther away and you may have to sacrifice putting up that tele-exit right away (depends how soon you expect blu to make it to your gun).


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[The Announcer]

I always like offensive engineering. It fills me with a glee that no other class can, when it works perfectly.

[Orion]

Where are the instructions on building the level 5 sentry? That would be awesome!

[XiD]

Great guide, but a few more tips are necessary imo:

1. Rotating your gear upon creation. All buildings build facing away from you by default. If you right click before you place the building, it rotates its facement 90 degrees. This means you can have teleporter exits that aren't facing walls (like garret's was in his video - n00b!). In fact, if I ever warp out of a teleporter and I'm facing a wall, the first thing I do is key my mic and tell the engineer he's a n00b. Don't be that n00b!

2. When dealing with a spy who is chain-sapping your gear, wrench each sapped piece once, kill the spy with your shotgun, and then tap all of your gear again with the wrench. This ensures you save your gear as fast as possible. Since you get one pre-emptive wrench in, it only takes one more after you kill him to stop the sap damage - and you don't remove the sap entirely, meaning he can't reapply it for 2 whole wrenches more to save it.

3. If you have set up your gear in an area where you aren't pinned into a corner/wall, you can do what I call "wrench jockying." Since there is roughly a half second delay between wrench swings, you can run at your sentry, slap it to heal, run backwards while the wrench animation recycles, then run at it again when the next wrench slap occurs. This makes you look retarded, as you are running backwards and forwards rapidly hitting your sentry. However, the benefit can be huge, as you won't be taking as much splash damage from explosives pegging your sentry.

Overall though, great guide. A good read.

[fenster]

I always like offensive engineering. It fills me with a glee that no other class can, when it works perfectly.

Agreed, offensive engineer can be crazy fun. As a beginner defensive engineer makes way more sense and is definitely easier but there's nothing like a competent engineer on blu to turn the tides. A crafty level 1 can catch an enemy off-guard just long enough to cap a point.


Great guide, but a few more tips are necessary imo:

1. Rotating your gear upon creation. All buildings build facing away from you by default. If you right click before you place the building, it rotates its facement 90 degrees. This means you can have teleporter exits that aren't facing walls (like garret's was in his video - n00b!). In fact, if I ever warp out of a teleporter and I'm facing a wall, the first thing I do is key my mic and tell the engineer he's a n00b. Don't be that n00b!

I knew somebody would point this out. :P I actually laid down my teleporter sideways at spawn such that somebody who went in facing forward would come out facing my gun. When I'm another class going in a teleporter, I typically go in backwards in anticipation that the engineer put it down facing a wall because nobody seems to do it. I admittedly neglect to do it half the time as well. Old habits die hard! I will definitely add this to the guide.


2. When dealing with a spy who is chain-sapping your gear, wrench each sapped piece once, kill the spy with your shotgun, and then tap all of your gear again with the wrench. This ensures you save your gear as fast as possible. Since you get one pre-emptive wrench in, it only takes one more after you kill him to stop the sap damage - and you don't remove the sap entirely, meaning he can't reapply it for 2 whole wrenches more to save it.

Hm, interesting. Don't you think by the time you managed to hit all your gear once the spy will either have gotten away or managed to get at you with his gun/knife? I always try and hit whatever I'm closest to once and then go for the spy. This could boil down to the fact that you're probably more effective with the shotty than I am. :)


3. If you have set up your gear in an area where you aren't pinned into a corner/wall, you can do what I call "wrench jockying." Since there is roughly a half second delay between wrench swings, you can run at your sentry, slap it to heal, run backwards while the wrench animation recycles, then run at it again when the next wrench slap occurs. This makes you look retarded, as you are running backwards and forwards rapidly hitting your sentry. However, the benefit can be huge, as you won't be taking as much splash damage from explosives pegging your sentry.

Great advice here, will add it to the guide. I do this as well, especially when there's 'nade and rocket spam incoming.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

[JoeDusk]

Another tip is how to place sentries in open areas, because sentries can shoot in any direction, it instantly shoots the area where it's placed, so if you put a sentry facing north and enemies come south, there'll be a delay before the sentry will attack, making it a bit vulnerable,