Engineer

An invaluable defense tool, Engineer's Sentry Gun, Dispenser, and Teleporter are very helpful support utilities that greatly assist a team in defending a Control Point or Payload Cart. On offense, Engineer cannot attack directly, but can defend his team's territory, heal them as they retreat from combat, and bring them to the objective much faster.

6v6

Main article: Engineer (6v6)

In the standard 6v6 format, Engineer is an offclass on most maps, used primarily to defend last on most 5CP maps. When pushed back to the last point, a Scout or Soldier will often switch to Engineer and build a Sentry Gun to soak up damage and delay the enemy ÜberCharge - once it runs out, his team can counterattack. If his Sentry goes down, he will generally switch back to his main class and attempt to clean up damaged enemies. It is important to note that a well-placed Sentry will often prevent the other team from pushing in with a Kritzkrieg ÜberCharge, as it provides no defensive bonus, and the Engineer's buildings are unaffected by critical hits.

Highlander

Main article: Engineer (Highlander)

A far cry from his minor role in 6v6, Engineer's buildings form the backbone of his team in Highlander. His Sentry shreds overextending enemies, his Dispenser restores injured teammates to full health without Medic's help, and his Teleporter summons a teammate from spawn to the battle every 3 seconds. On Defense, his main job is to defend the objective, deny the other team's pushes, and stall for time until the clock runs out. On Offense, his job is to get teammates to the front lines as quickly as possible and defend the ground they gain. However, Highlander presents a new risk in the form of Spy, whose Sapper can disable and destroy Engineer's buildings. Engineer can also use such tools as The Wrangler and The Gunslinger to extend his effective range on Defense, or to fight alongside his team on Offense. On Offense, his life isn't as important, so he may be expected to sacrifice his life to push the payload cart or capture control points.

Weapons

Primary

			Weapon				4v4	6v6		Highlander
							UGC	Global Whitelist	RGL	UGC	RGL	ETF2L
			Shotgun				Always	Always	Always	Always	Always	Always
							The Shotgun is Engineer's stock primary. It fires 10 bullets every 0.625 seconds, each dealing 3-9 damage, depending on range. As the most reliable primary for direct combat, Engineer will often run it on offense, as his full attention is not required to maintain his buildings. Its large clip allows it to kill up to 3 enemies at full health, and doesn't punish Engineer harshly for missing a shot in 1v1 fights.
			Frontier Justice				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Frontier Justice has only 3 shots in its clip. When Engineer's sentry is destroyed, however, it will gain two stored critical hits for each kill his Sentry landed, and one stored critical hit for each assist. Its small clip size prevents Engineer from taking Medic's ÜberCharge and charging into the enemy team; rather, he must use it sparingly, in self-defense or when supporting his team. The weapon is most commonly seen in King of the Hill maps, though most players will stick to the stock Shotgun for its larger clip size. After dying, Engineer may choose to equip the Frontier Justice if his Sentry is about to go down, use the crits, then switch back to stock in his next life.
			Widowmaker				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							When fired, the Widowmaker consumes 30 metal, and regains 1 metal for each point of damage dealt to enemies, effectively reloading it. Engineer can only use the Widowmaker effectively by attacking enemies at close range, which is extremely risky and will get him killed most of the time. While it deals 10% more damage to the enemy his Sentry is targeting, this slight damage bonus is only noticeable at close range. It cannot be spammed at long range, as it consumes a lot of metal, which may be needed for maintaining Engineer's buildings. As such, the Widowmaker is rarely seen in competitive play, as it heavily punishes missing enemies.
			Pomson 6000				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Pomson 6000 has 4 shots in its clip and has infinite reserve ammo, but fires 28% slower than the stock Shotgun, with a 0.8 second attack interval. It launches a slow-traveling laser projectile that cannot be airblasted or destroyed and deals the same base damage as the Shotgun (60), but only ramps up to 72 damage at point-blank range. When a Medic or Spy is hit by the projectile, he will lose up to 10% ÜberCharge or 20% Cloak, respectively, but this draining effect falls off at range. While the Pomson has the potential to deny the enemy Medic's ÜberCharge, the projectile is easy to dodge and is easily blocked by the rest of the enemy combo before reaching the Medic. Thus, the weapon sees little use in competitive games.
			Rescue Ranger				Allowed	Banned	Banned	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Rescue Ranger has only 4 shots in its clip and 16 reserve ammo, and fires bolts that move quickly and are affected by gravity. The weapon deals 40 base damage (the same as Spy's Revolver), making it a poor choice for direct combat. However, the bolt will heal friendly buildings for up to 60 health, consuming 1 metal for every 4 damage healed. This makes it more metal-efficient than Engineer's other wrenches, which heal buildings for 3 health per unit of metal. When the Rescue Ranger is deployed, Engineer can use the alt-fire button (Right-Click by default) to pick up any building within his line of sight, teleporting it to himself at the cost of 100 metal. However, he will be marked for death while hauling any building, making it more difficult for him to survive while doing so. The Rescue Ranger is Engineer's go-to primary on defense, as it allows him to maintain buildings at a safe distance, and snatch them out of danger if needed. This allows him to stop turtling in a nest and spread out his buildings to more advantageous locations to aid his team more efficiently. However, this makes Engineer more vulnerable to Spy, as buildings cannot be healed or hauled while sapped.
			Panic Attack				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Panic Attack is a primary weapon for Engineer, and a secondary weapon for Soldier, Pyro, and Heavy. It deals 20% less damage per bullet, but fires 50% more bullets in a wide spread and deploys 50% faster. While it deals somewhat more damage at point-blank range (108, compared to the stock Shotgun's 90), it is fairly useless at mid-to-long range, thanks to its low accuracy. It is useful in tight corridors which force enemies into close combat, but is inferior to the stock Shotgun in open areas, as enemies will keep their distance from Engineer, preventing him from dealing much damage.

Secondary

			Weapon				4v4	6v6		Highlander
							UGC	Global Whitelist	RGL	UGC	RGL	ETF2L
			Pistol				Always	Always	Always	Always	Always	Always
							Engineer's Pistol functions similar to Scout's Pistol, but has 200 reserve ammo and reloads 23.6% slower (1.36 s vs 1.10 s). It has 12 bullets in its clip, fires every 0.15 seconds, and reloads its entire clip at once. Each bullet deals 15 base damage, which ramps up to 22 damage at point-blank range. While it might seem weak, it can deal up to 140 damage per second at close range if Engineer can hit every shot, making it an excellent backup weapon should Engineer run out of Shotgun ammo. It is often equipped alongside the Gunslinger, which gives Engineer a more combat-oriented role, and can be used to harass enemies at long range.
			Wrangler				Banned	Banned	Banned	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Wrangler allows Engineer to manually control his Sentry Gun, greatly extending its range, increasing its firing speed, and giving it a 66% damage resistance, and a 66% resistance to repair and reloading. When aiming near an enemy, the Sentry will automatically lock on to their chest. While its moderate bullet spread prevents Engineer from sniping enemies at long range, it still deals respectable damage at this range. The Wrangler gives his Sentry a massive effective health pool, making Engineer's and his Sentry like a second Heavy, able to shred overextending enemies. However, Engineer can only attack targets that both he and his Sentry can see, and he must focus on tracking targets, opening him up to being backstabbed or headshot. Once Engineer holsters the Wrangler or dies, the Sentry will be disabled for 3 seconds before resuming normal operations - during this time, it will still have its 66% resistance to damage, repair, and reloading. Despite increasing Engineer's vulnerability to Spy, the Wrangler is undoubtedly his best secondary for defending, and is far more effective than the Pistol or Short Circuit when locking down an area.
			Short Circuit				Allowed	Banned	Banned	Banned	Banned	Banned
							On primary fire, the Short Circuit consumes 5 metal and fires a burst of electricity that deals 10 damage at point-blank range. Outside of this range, it does nothing. On secondary fire, it consumes 65 metal and fires a large ball of energy that destroys most projectiles in its radius and deals 15 damage every 0.5 seconds to all nearby enemies. While sometimes useful for finishing off damaged enemies or tracking down cloaked Spies, it is more often used to destroy incoming projectiles like rockets, grenades and stickybombs before they can reach Engineer's team. It may be used on Payload Offense, as the card dispenses an infinite supply of metal.

Melee

			Weapon				4v4	6v6		Highlander
							UGC	Global Whitelist	RGL	UGC	RGL	ETF2L
			Wrench				Always	Always	Always	Always	Always	Always
							The Wrench is Engineer's stock melee weapon. By hitting friendly buildings, he can accelerate their deployment, repair damage, and upgrade their effectiveness. It swings every 0.8 seconds, and deals 65 damage. Like most other wrenches, it takes 5 swings to build a Sentry Gun, and heals buildings up to 102 health per swing. Hitting a building at full health will spend up to 25 metal to build its "upgrade meter" - once the meter is full, the building will level up and the meter will reset. While the stock Wrench is a well-rounded "jack of all trades," Engineer's other wrenches can often be used to increase his effectiveness in various specific situations, making it somewhat uncommon in competitive play.
			Gunslinger				Banned	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Gunslinger grants Engineer +25 max health, and replaces his Sentry Gun with a Mini-Sentry, which costs 100 metal, has 100 health (though it spawns with 50 health), cannot be upgraded, and deals 25% less damage than a Level 1 Sentry. When destroyed, its fragments will restore ammo but not metal. The weapon is often used in Highlander games, especially during offense, as turtling is not an option in this situation, and mobility is of great importance.
			Southern Hospitality				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Southern Hospitality functions identically to the stock Wrench, but causes enemies to bleed for 5 seconds on hit, dealing up to 40 additional damage. Engineer will also gain a 20% fire damage vulnerability, but this drawback rarely comes into play, as Pyro's limited range and average speed will rarely enable them to even come close to Engineer's Sentry Gun. The Southern Hospitality is useful for tracking Spies, who will emit damage particles for at least 2.5 seconds after being hit. Most-often used in Highlander when turtling on the last point, it is almost always a slight upgrade to the stock Wrench, unless the map has good flank routes which allow the enemy Pyro to ambush Engineer.
			Jag				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Jag has a 25% damage penalty and repairs buildings by only 81 health per swing, but allows Engineer to construct buildings 30% faster and upgrade them 15% faster. In 6v6, it is an extremely common choice when defending the last point, as the increased building and upgrade rate may allow Engineer to upgrade his Sentry to Level 2 before the enemy reaches him. In Highlander, it is useful when pushed back by the enemy for the same reason. Once his buildings are fully upgraded, Engineer may opt to switch to a more defensive wrench: the Southern Hospitality when defending the last point, and the Eureka Effect when further from spawn.
			Eureka Effect				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Eureka Effect boosts building's construction 50% less, and reduces metal pickups by 20%, but allows Engineer to teleport to spawn or his Teleporter Exit with the Reload button (R by default). Upon selecting a destination, Engineer will perform a taunt, lasting approximately 2 seconds, before teleporting. Additionally, if both his Teleporter Entrance and Exit were constructed with the Eureka Effect, upgrading them will cost 50% less metal, making the weapon a great choice for constructing a defense during Setup Time. On larger maps Spy will often travel to the enemy spawn to destroy the enemy Engineer's Teleporter; the Eureka Effect allows Engineer to quickly rebuild it, or confront the enemy Spy directly.

PDA

			Weapon				4v4	6v6		Highlander
							UGC	Global Whitelist	RGL	UGC	RGL	ETF2L
			PDA				Always	Always	Always	Always	Always	Always
							The PDA allows Engineer to construct buildings at the cost of metal.
			Destruction PDA				Always	Always	Always	Always	Always	Always
							The Destruction PDA allows Engineer to instantly destroy any of his currently deployed buildings, regardless of how far away he is from them. It is sometimes useful to destroy one's buildings, as scrap metal dropped provides ammo for teammates. If Engineer destroys his own Sentry while the Frontier Justice is equipped, he will be granted Revenge crits if the Sentry landed a kill or assist.

See Also

• Engineer (6v6)
• Engineer (Highlander)