Engineer

The Engineer’s shields begins recharging two seconds earlier than other classes.

This effect can stack with advanced shield capacitor or the survivalist implant, but not both, allowing for shields to recharge very quickly.

This passive ability is unlocked by default and has no upgrades.

A passive ability that by default will allow the engineer to repair their ESF while out of combat for the equivalent of rank 1 Nanite Auto-Repair regeneration. Subsequent upgrades to this ability will extend the passive repair to Liberators and Valkyries (Level 2), and Galaxies (Level 3).

Note: You must be the pilot and owner of the aircraft in order for this ability to take effect.

Upgrading this passive is recommended for pilots, but can otherwise be ignored.

The deployable Anti-Vehicle MANA Turret is designed as a countermeasure against enemy armor, and fires a laser guided missile which follows your crosshairs to your desired target. While the missile itself suffers no damage fall-off and does devastating damage against armor, it has a limited range and isn’t very effective against infantry. Unlike the Anti-Infantry MANA Turret, the anti-vehicle variant lacks shielding or cover save for the turret itself, leaving the user vulnerable to enemy fire.

The turret generates heat while fired, and will lose heat passively once one lets go of the trigger. Overheating will force a long cooldown before the turret can be fired again. The turret can be overheated under sustained fire, but can also be overheated by EMP grenades thrown by infiltrators.

Upgrades will only slightly increase the the time it takes for the turret to overheat and does not need to be a priority for most players.

The Anti-Vehicle MANA Turret is generally risky to use, as its use cases necessitate at least some exposure to the outdoors, where you become vulnerable to snipers and enemy armor. The best way to mitigate this vulnerability is to either use natural cover such as rocks, base cover such as railings, or use the turret in combination with a hardlight barrier to reduce your exposure to enemy fire.

The deployable Spitfire Auto-Turret is an automated turret that will fire at any infantry targets that are in range, alerting anyone nearby that the turret has detected a target with an audible beep. It deals relatively low damage and has relatively low health compared to other turret options.

The turret can be hacked by infiltrators, disabled with EMP grenades, and even avoided entirely with the Avoidance implant. It should not be relied upon to get kills on its own, save for the occasional injured straggler that happens to walk by.

Upgrades reduce the cooldown before a new turret can be placed.

Given the turrets low damage output and low health, its best utilized as a utility piece to provide intel and supplemental damage to enemies. The beep can serve as a warning that you are being flanked, and you can fight with the turret to get just that little bit of extra damage off to win the engagement. As such, its best deployed on your flank or in areas that you can bait enemies into.

The deployable Hardlight Barrier is a durable chest-high barrier that can disrupt movement through doorways, absorb fire that would otherwise hit your allies, block grenades, and make a chokepoint more difficult to breach. Unlike the engineers other deployables, the hardlight barrier is completely immune to small arms fire, and requires explosives and anti-armor weaponry to destroy.

The hardlight barrier is best used in doorways or to fortify defensive positions in the battlefield, but is highly versatile and can be used for a large variety of purposes, including protecting other deployables, or acting as a stepping stool to get over walls.

Nanoweave Armor gives you 20% damage resistance to various types of vehicle and long ranged munitions. Each rank unlocks a new resistance:

• Rank 1: Sniper Rifles (e.g. NC17 Bolt Driver)
• Rank 2: Heavy Machine Guns (e.g. M20 Basilisk)
• Rank 3: Gatlings Guns (e.g. G30 Vulcan)
• Rank 4: Aircraft Noseguns and Anti-Aircraft Machine Guns (e.g. M20 Mustang)
• Rank 5: Anti-Material Rifles (e.g. NS-AM7 Archer)

Nanoweave Armor is best used in open field fights where cover is limited, and long ranged and heavy vehicle weaponry are common, but is otherwise fairly unimpactful inside bases and during point holds. As such it really ends up being a niche choice even in the situations where it is useful due to how much more generally useful Flak Armor and the Advanced Shield Capacitor are for the engineer.

The Advanced Shield Capacitor reduces the delay before shields will begin recharging, and increases the shield regeneration rate. Upgrades will further increase the shield regeneration rate. The Advanced Shield Capacitor is unlocked by default.

The Advanced Shield Capacitor is a safe choice for the engineer as it complements the Engineer’s Quick Shield Recovery quite well, and makes the engineer very good at quickly moving between engagements.

The Ammunition Belt increases the number of spare magazines the user can carry for their primary and secondary weapons, and decreases the reload time of the user’s primary and secondary weapon. Upgrades further increase the number of spare magazines carried up to 4.

Due to the fact the engineer has the ability to throw Ammunition Packages down for free, and does not carry very many weapons with long reloads by default, this is the least useful suit slot option by far, and is not recommended unless you are using a very specific build that might benefit from the reload time decrease.

The Grenade Bandolier allows the user to carry more grenades at once. Upgrades will further increase the maximum number of grenades the user can carry up to 4.

This is best used in combination with the Nano-Repair grenades as it allows you to be a powerhouse for supporting allied armor and MAX units, but can be used with other grenades for breaching rooms.

Note: Each grenade still costs nanites, so the Grenade Bandolier can quickly drain your nanite supply if you are not careful.

The Mine Carrier allows the user to carry more tank mines or anti-personnel mines at once. Upgrades further increase the maximum number of mines the user can carry (up to 5 tank mines, or 3 anti-personnel mines).

The Mine Carrier is an excellent option for either improving anti-armor coverage, or making a particular path more dangerous than it otherwise would be. It’s important to note that even without the Mine Carrier you can destroy most vehicles if all your tank mines detonate on the same target, so it’s a good idea to space your extra mines out a bit from your other mines. The same principle applies to anti-personnel mines.

Note: Each mine still costs nanites, so the Mine Carrier can quickly drain your nanite supply if you are not careful.

The Demolitions Pouch allows the user to carry more C-4 at once. Upgrades further increase the maximum amount of C-4 carried up to four.

This is a bit of a niche choice, but it can be useful for dropping C-4 from a rumble seat or dealing with crowds of enemies trying to breach a doorway. Due to its price and fairly niche function, it’s not recommended to cert this early on, as the Mine Carrier is a better investment in comparison.

Note: Each C-4 still costs nanites, so the Demolitions Pouch can quickly drain your nanite supply if you are not careful.

A sticky variant of the high-explosive grenade that can stick to enemies and surfaces. While very similar in function to the high-explosive, it has a slightly smaller radius.

The Nano-Repair Grenade is exclusive to the engineer can be thrown to steadily repair allied armor, MAX units, and deployables within its radius over time. If thrown directly at allied armor, MAX units, or deployables, it will stick to them and repair them for a set amount for the full duration even if they move. Only one Nano-Repair Grenade can be active at a time, and the effects do not stack.

Nano-repair grenades is useful in vehicle play by allowing you to repair your vehicle while on the move, but the best use for these grenades is when supporting MAX units, as it can help you keep them alive through heavy fire and from ranges that your repair tool can’t safely reach.

The Medical Kit allows the user to heal themselves up to full nearly instantly (unless running the carapace implant), and can be upgraded to allow the user to carry up to 4 of them at once.

This is a solid option on any class, as it can allow you to heal up in the absence of a medic or even in active combat if you can briefly avoid fire long enough to use it and re-equip your weapon.

The Restoration Kit allows the user to heal themselves up to full over time (unless running the Carapace implant), and can be upgraded to allow the user to carry up to 4 of them at once.

This is an option that really only makes sense when running specific implants (such as Carapace), and should be avoided as a new player.

C-4 is a plastic explosive that can stick to vehicles, and can be remotely detonated by either the detonator that comes with the C-4, or by shooting the C-4 itself. One C-4 brick is highly effective against MAX units and groups of enemies, but two C-4 bricks is sufficient to destroy or heavily damage most armor. C-4 can be upgraded to allow the user to carry two C-4.

Note: It will despawn as soon as the user respawns.

C-4 is an interesting choice on the engineer, but one that often loses out in favor of mines due to the difficulty of delivering the C-4 to a target in the first place, and the inability to finish off a vehicle damaged but not destroyed by C-4 without carrying an anti-material rifle. C-4 can still be effective in the rumble seat of a Valkyrie or in infantry fights, but as an anti-vehicle option, it’s generally a job best left to the light assault.

Tank Mines are deployable explosives exclusive to the engineer that will detonate whenever a Vehicle or MAX unit gets in proximity of the explosive, or when shot, doing incredibly high damage to armor. Upgrading Tank Mines will allow you to carry an extra mine for a total of three, which is highly recommended. A single tank mine is sufficient to instantly kill a MAX unit unless they are running Ordinance Armor, and two are sufficient to destroy every tank but the chimera and most light armor. Three is sufficient to destroy most vehicles you will encounter.

Note: Tank Mines will always remain even if switching class.

Tank Mines are an excellent choice for the engineer, and can be laid across roads and chokepoints in order to set a trap for any unsuspecting armor that drives over it. It can also be placed directly beneath deployed sunderers or on stuck enemy vehicles in order to secure an easy kill. In addition it can be used indoors against MAX units by setting traps in doorways you expect a MAX to attempt to breach.

Tank Mines are a highly recommended choice for all engineers.

The Reserve Hardlight Barrier allows you to carry two hardlight barriers (only one can be deployed at a time, but one can be deployed at the same time as a regular Hardlight Barrier). They are otherwise identical to regular Hardlight Barriers in everyway, with the exception that similar to Tank Mines, Reserve Hardlight Barriers will remain even after switching classes.

The Reserve Hardlight Barrier is a great pick in conjunction with any of the Deployable Ability options, and is arguably the best choice for holding down points or fortifying a key position.

Deployable Anti-Personnel mines detonate whenever infantry pass in range, dealing significant damage within the blast radius after a short delay. They can be upgraded to allow the user to carry an extra mine.

The Proximity Mine, Bouncing Better, and F.U.S.E. are all identical, and share the same omnidirectional detection radius, however the Terran Republic’s Claymore has a limited cone of detection, shorter delay before detonating, and does increased damage when compared to the other variants.

Note: Sprinting enemies and enemies running flak can often survive the blast of Anti-Personnel Mines.

Anti-Personnel Mines are a bit of a niche choice for the engineer with so many great options available to the class, but they are nonetheless useful for setting traps for infantry, particularly around key objectives.

The Vanu Sovereignty exclusive Flashbang Mine will detonate whenever infantry passes in range, inflicting anyone within the blast radius with the flashbang effect, blinding them and reducing their accuracy for a limited duration. This could be considered a defensive version of Flash Grenades.

Flashbang Mines are a useful tool for delaying and disrupting pushes onto a defensive position as they can blind many enemies at once, and leave them open to counterattack by your allies.

Flashbangs Mines can be upgraded to allow the user to carry an extra mine.

The New Conglomerate exclusive EMP Mine will detonate whenever infantry passes in range, inflicting anyone within the blast radius with the EMP effect, damaging shields, disabling turrets, destroying deployable equipment, and detonating mines. This could be considered a defensive version of the EMP Grenade.

EMP Mines are a useful tool for delaying and disrupting pushes onto a defensive position as they can strip the shields off of many enemies at once, and leave them open to counterattack by your allies.

EMP Mines can be upgraded to allow the user to carry an extra mine.

The Terran Republic exclusive Concussion Mine will detonate whenever infantry passes in range, inflicting anyone within the blast radius with the Concussion effect, slowing movement, slowing aiming, and blurring vision. This could be considered a defensive version of the Concussion Grenade.

Concussion Mines are a useful tool for delaying and disrupting pushes onto a defensive position as they can make many enemies easy targets, and leave them open to counterattack by your allies.

Concussion Mines can be upgraded to allow the user to carry an extra mine.

The Nanite Systems Operative exclusive Havoc Mine will detonate whenever infantry a MAX unit or vehicle passes in range, inflicting vehicles in range with the Havoc effect, preventing repairs for a limited time. This could be considered a defensive version of the Havoc Grenade.

Havoc Mines are a fairly niche choice, especially for the engineer, as engineers will generally get more mileage out of Tank Mines. As such Havoc Mines are not recommended.

Havoc Mines can be upgraded to allow the user to carry an extra mine.