Community Engineer strategy

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You're all about to have a real bad day! Click to listen — The Engineer to enemies before Setup concludes

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The Engineer is a unique class due to his ability to construct buildings. He can get his teammates to the front lines faster with Teleporters, create a powerful Sentry Gun to ward off enemies, and can build Dispensers to heal and supply ammunition to his teammates. The Engineer's low Health and average speed make it important for him to rely on his Sentry Gun, other buildings, and his teammates for protection. While his ways can seem somewhat passive and methodical, Engineers are not to be underestimated. A talented Engineer can make it much easier for his team to hold its ground, keep up the pressure on the attack, and defend vital objectives such as control points and Intelligence.

Quick tips

• A team without an effective Engineer is at an extreme disadvantage, especially while playing Defense on Attack/Defend maps.

• Always stay close to your buildings. Unguarded buildings are especially vulnerable to Spies, Demomen, and Soldiers.

• The Teleporter can be your most important contribution to your team's success. If properly placed and defended, a Teleporter will allow your team to keep the pressure on the enemy team.

• All buildings build faster during construction if you repeatedly strike them with your melee weapon.
  • You can help friendly Engineers by hitting their buildings with your melee weapon to speed up the building's construction or repair and upgrade the existing buildings.

• You can construct a building in safety, then right-click to pick it up and haul it to the battle. It is also possible to carry buildings through Teleporters.
  • However, if you die while carrying a building, the building is destroyed.

• Your Shotgun and Pistol are not useless in combat; use them to supplement your Sentry Gun in whittling away at the enemy's health.
  • The Shotgun can kill most enemies in 2-3 hits, and a well-aimed Pistol can kill most classes with a full clip.

• Avoid standing in front of your Sentry Gun. This reduces the chances of your Sentry shooting you, as well as lowers the chance of being killed, as the Sentry can intercept enemy fire.

• When playing Arena, make sure you have Dispensers to help out teammates with ammo and health; there are no health packs in Arena mode.

• Try to set your Sentry Gun at chokepoints where enemies frequently prowl, thereby maximizing its effectiveness.
  • This is of huge importance when playing on Defense.

• Spies can sap your Sentry faster than you can remove it. Kill the Spy first, then get rid of the Sapper.

• Try to construct your buildings in a location where not only can you support your team, but where your team can support you. While you and your Sentry might be able to hold ground on your own for a short time, multiple enemies can quickly overwhelm you. Be sure to ask your teammates for help as often as possible while you help your team at the same time via your buildings.

• If possible, try to build your Teleporter and Dispenser first. These buildings allow both you and your team to get to the frontlines faster and keep you all in the fight due to the constant flow of health and ammo.

General

• As an Engineer, you can do more than just upgrade and repair your buildings. If you have metal, don't hesitate to hit friendly buildings with your melee weapon to either repair or upgrade them. Watching your team's buildings allows other Engineers to set up Sentry Guns, Dispensers, and Teleporters in other areas.

• You can rotate the placement of a building while the blueprint is out by pressing the alternate fire button. Changing a Sentry Gun's direction allows you to place it in corners and other hard-to-reach locations while still facing potential enemies. Rotating a Teleporter exit affects the direction one faces when exiting. An arrow on the blueprint indicates said direction. Remember that the direction one faces could mean life or death in some situations. Rotating a Dispenser has no effect on its function, but can allow you to place it into a tight space or help conceal its location.
  • You can also place a building while it is turning to place it on a different angle.

• Alternate fire while looking at a building you placed allows you to "haul" that building to another location. While hauling a building, your movement speed is reduced by 10%, and you are unable to switch weapons. If you are killed while carrying a building, the building will be destroyed.
  • A redeployed building will construct faster than normal without help from an Engineer, though you can still speed up the building of the structure by hitting it with your Wrench. Once built, if the building has already been upgraded to level 2 or 3, it will then undergo the animations for deploying to those levels as well.
• When your Sentry Gun fires, it uses up a small amount of its ammo supply. Though this is not often a problem, ammo can be replenished by hitting your gun with your Wrench. Refilling ammo uses up a small amount of metal.
  • This can be a problem when upgrading Sentry Guns. Often, a low-level Sentry will use a little ammo on enemies it catches a glance of. If the Sentry has no metal put into it for upgrading, the Engineer will not be able to upgrade it with a full 200 metal, as some of the metal will go towards refilling ammo. The Sentry will end up being just a few metal away from an upgrade, forcing the Engineer to find more metal. Avoid this by putting a little extra metal into your Sentry when you first build it.
• Enemy players, including disguised Spies, cannot walk through buildings belonging to your team. You can use this for Spy checking by placing buildings in chokepoints, such as doors and hallways.

• It is not a good idea to build your buildings, particularly your Sentry Gun, near the same location as another Engineer's buildings on your team. Clustering too many Engineer buildings together maximizes their weakness to explosives or other weapons that deal splash damage, and clustering makes it easier for an enemy Spy to sap all of your buildings. In addition, remember that friendly buildings block the line of sight and line of fire of friendly Sentry Guns.

• If your buildings are under attack by Soldiers or Demomen, try to time your repair hits in between enemy rockets or grenades to avoid getting killed, or build your Sentry Gun near cover that you can use to shield yourself. If your buildings are under attack by multiple Soldiers and Demomen, your buildings are likely going to go down and take you alongside them unless you have support from friendly Medics, Engineers, or Pyros using their compression blast.
  • Your best friend is often an allied Pyro. Pyros are excellent for taking care of an Engineer's greatest weaknesses: keeping Spies at bay, destroying Sappers on your buildings with the Homewrecker, Neon Annihilator, or Maul, and deflecting incoming rockets, grenades, stickybombs, and invulnerable enemies. This is also usually beneficial for Pyros, as they often run out of ammunition and health from spamming their Flame Thrower, which a Dispenser can restore, and are poor at mid to long range: an Engineer's forte.

• Build where you can support your team and where your team can support you. Sentry Guns provide high-volume firepower at decent range, but it is still supporting fire that is best served to cover your teammates and deny areas to enemy movement. Do not expect to be able to fight off entire enemy attack groups with just your Sentry Gun. It is very unlikely that anyone on your own team will be down there with you to support you, and without your Sentry Gun in a more forward location, enemies have a much easier time getting inside the base and causing havoc.

• Setting up a nest with a Teleporter, a Dispenser, and a Sentry Gun near the front lines can help your team maintain its 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.

• To make the best use of Setup time, it is important to know ahead of time where effective spots to build are and the best way to set up your buildings the fastest.

• On offense, when you have a 'team advantage' (most of the enemy team or their best players are dead) and you have a Level 3 Sentry Gun, haul it and charge into the fray. Drop the Sentry Gun near the final control point and attack the point yourself with your weapons. With most of their team dead and a Level 3 Sentry Gun covering their spawn, you and your teammates may be able to hold off enemies so one or two other teammates (usually Scouts) can capture the objective. Do note that Level 2 Sentry Guns can also be used if there is no time to make the Sentry Gun level 3 or if the level 3 deployment time will take too long to be effective.

• Don't forget about your own weapons! The Shotgun and Pistol are strong weapons and can help the Engineer win 1v1 fights.
  • While generic compared to other weapons, the Stock weapons allow you to weapon heckle with surprising efficiency.
  • While you don't come anywhere close to the Scout's speed, you are still a very mobile class compared to most and can drum up a good amount of supplementary damage while moving toward an advantageous point to set up your buildings.

• Out of all the Engineer's primary and secondary weapons, the Stock weapons are often the weapons that can deal the most damage overall. In case it is required to equip any non-stock primary/secondary weapon, it is highly recommended to equip the other secondary/primary weapon slot with its stock weapon.
• On offense, never forget this golden rule: Level 2 is good. If you are not going to camp at your teleporter base and you don't have time to haul a Level 3 Sentry Gun, haul a Level 2. The same goes for Teleporters: A Level 2 has double the recharging speed of a Level 1; however, a Level 3 decreases recharge time by a further 2 seconds instead of 5 seconds, thus having less of a reward for 200 Metal.

• Competent teammates will likely save ammo packs for you, due to your ability to construct Dispensers.
  • However, if you cannot find ammo packs, do not be afraid to leave your nest for a very short time to collect a further away ammo pack
• On Offense, be sure to build a Teleporter that will allow your teammates to get to the front lines faster, as well as a Dispenser to keep them (and you) in the fight.
  • Don't forget to build a Sentry Gun to protect your gear from enemies who get too close. Also, move up your gear when your team has the advantage!
• If forced into close combat with Spy, attempt to keep your back away from him while maintaining fire upon him.
• Remember that an Engineer's buildings can work underwater. Use this to your advantage on maps such as Well. If you are able to sneak into the water successfully, you can easily set up a nest without the enemy team knowing, creating a sort of 'forward spawn' for your team.

• Try not to "babysit" your buildings if you can. Many Engineer players get themselves killed by staying too close to their buildings and making themselves vulnerable. Always stay on the move, be aware of your surroundings at all times, and feel free to support your team in defeating enemies with your Shotgun.
  • However, this doesn't mean that you should ignore your buildings. Be sure to upgrade and repair them when necessary. If you know your buildings are going to be destroyed, don't die with them; your life is far more valuable than your buildings, as you can simply repair or replace them.

• Sometimes you may be required to 'adopt' another friendly Engineer's buildings (More often than not, their Sentry Gun) while they are away or dead. While your own buildings are usually your top priority, keep relatively close and protect the other unattended buildings whenever necessary. It's never a bad idea to give low-level buildings a swing or two from your Wrench to increase the speed in which they are upgraded once the other Engineer returns as well.
  • However, only the Engineer who built a building can haul it, so if it comes down to it, leave their buildings be and move your own gear up first.

• Try not to stand in front of your Level 3 Sentry Gun while it is firing, as it's rockets are able to damage and even kill you if you aren't careful.

• You can use a bind to bypass having to pull out the PDA by making it immediately destroy a building and then pulling out a blueprint. This allows you to immediately replace a building in a pinch. Be careful with this, however, as you may accidentally press the button and destroy a valuable building!

Weapon specific

Primary weapons

Shotgun + reskins

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
		Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Medium Range	Long Range	Critical
Stock Shotgun		6	32	86-90	24-67	3-26	180

• The Shotgun is the most versatile and most reliable due to its larger clip size and lack of reliance on a Dispenser, a Sentry Gun, or a specific positioning of enemies.

• If you're intending to stay close to your Sentry Gun, make sure to build it in a spot where you can keep enemy players in groups. You will be able to fight on more even ground after the Sentry Gun has softened them up for a Shotgun blast.

• Its large spread pattern is quite useful for Spy checking. Fire at corners, 'teammates', or in the Spy's general direction and look for tell-tales. Often, the spread will allow for at least one pellet to hit a cloaked Spy, allowing you to see his silhouette.

• It is good at destroying Stickybombs due to its spread.

• It can be used to deal extra damage against nearby enemies outside the Sentry Gun's range or who are damaged and retreating when the Sentry Gun is not in any immediate danger.

• The Shotgun is a powerful weapon, especially at close-range. Don't be afraid to use it in combat situations; it can mean the difference between life and death.

• Keep in mind that due to its spread, the Shotgun is not suitable for engaging enemies at long ranges. Switch to the Pistol for long-range attacks.

• If a Spy is disabling your buildings with the Sapper, try to retaliate with your Shotgun and kill the Spy before destroying the Sapper, as most Spies will replace the Sapper if you attempt to remove it with your Wrench.

Frontier Justice + reskins

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
		Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Medium Range	Long Range	Critical
Unlock Frontier Justice		3	32	86-90	24-67	3-26	180

• The Frontier Justice stores revenge Crits based of the amount of the kill and assist of your Sentry Gun before it destroyed. The downside is the clip size reduced to three instead of six and unable to deal random Critical hits.

• Sentry Guns should be built in more aggressive areas where kills and assists will be awarded relatively easily.

• Revenge Crits should be used sparingly, as the Frontier Justice's small clip size gives it a disadvantage when in combat unaided by Sentry Guns.

• The Pistol is a good secondary to bring with the Frontier Justice, as it gives you a fallback option should you encounter a target that is too distant for the Frontier Justice or if you don't have time to reload in a fight.

• Revenge Crits can support offensive pushes. Placing the Gunslinger's Combat Mini-Sentry Guns or an upgraded Sentry into enemy territory and fighting with revenge Crits while it builds can buy time for your Sentry to deploy and join the fight.
  • Despite this, even large supplies of revenge Crits are usually insufficient to be able to take down clusters of opponents, and it is usually unwise to try, due to the Frontier Justice's small clip size.

• Revenge Crits are only granted upon a Sentry Gun's destruction: Sentry Guns that have gained kills and assists may be demolished for immediate Crits. This is a risky maneuver that should only be used in dire scenarios, when moving up while playing offensively, or when combined with the more disposable Combat Mini-Sentry Guns.
  • However, "cashing-in" during a quiet period in a safe area can be useful, as you can re-build and re-upgrade your Sentry in peace and have some revenge Crits on hand for a sticky situation. Just be careful about this, because if you die after redeeming the Crits, they'll have gone to waste and you'll be left with a fresh Sentry empty of kills and potential Crits.

• Spy-checking with revenge Crits is often unwise because if the Dead Ringer is equipped, the Spy could cause the wastage of a Crit by triggering the feign death. Monitor the watches used by the opposing team.

• Make conscious decisions whether or not to take out the Frontier Justice when not ready to fire. The Crit glow on the Frontier Justice could either make you a target for the enemy team, such as Snipers, or be used to scare away stray opponents.
  • If traveling alone, consider holding the gun out as the Crit glow may scare away potential enemies that plan to ambush. Additionally you can utilize the revenge Crits by ambushing lone enemies.

• The Jag is a good Wrench to pair with the Frontier Justice, as it allows you to quickly rebuild your Sentry Gun.

Widowmaker

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
		Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Medium Range	Long Range	Critical
Promotional/Craft Widowmaker		1 per 30 Metal	N/A	86-90	24-67	3-26	180

• The Widowmaker uses construction metal as ammo, deal 10% more damage on your Sentry Gun's target, and effectively reloads on hit. Only use the Widowmaker if you are confident in your aiming abilities. Otherwise, you're best off using the default Shotgun.

• Don't try shooting enemies from afar with the Widowmaker; you'll only be wasting metal. Pick them off with your Pistol or Wrangler instead.

• The Widowmaker is best used in conjunction with a Dispenser. Even if you miss a few shots, you can easily refill at your Dispenser.

• When using the Widowmaker, make sure you have sufficient ammo at all times to fight off enemies. You are highly vulnerable and easy to kill at close range if you cannot fire your primary weapon.

• With practice, the Widowmaker can make an effective offensive weapon. Continuous short-range usage allows you to retain ammo far away from your Dispenser, and the ability to keep shooting without reloading gives you an advantage over slower classes.

• The Pistol is usually the best secondary with the Widowmaker, because if you run out of ammo, either by missing or by simply spending it on buildings, the Pistol is the most reliable alternative, as the Short Circuit also requires metal and the Wrangler requires a Sentry Gun, which is not always guaranteed.

• It's the best to assisting your Sentry Gun with the Widowmaker, as it receives additional damage on your Sentry Gun's target.

• The Widowmaker pairs well with the Gunslinger due to the generally more aggressive nature of the Widowmaker.

Panic Attack + reskins

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
		Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Medium Range	Long Range	Critical
Craft Panic Attack		6	32	7-108	5-72	3-38	216 [14.4 damage × 15 pellets]

• The Panic Attack has a 50% faster deploy speed, has 50% more pellets, fires its pellets in a fixed pattern, deals 30% less damage, and has a bullet spread that increases with each consecutive shot.

• The Panic Attack has a 50% faster switch speed, compared to the Shotgun. This allows you to inflict damage at a moment's notice.
  • However, it should be noted that the Engineer should usually be carrying his Shotgun when away from his buildings, as opposed to a Pistol, Wrench, or PDA, which would be the only situations where he would need to switch weapons.
  • It is worth noting that the Panic Attack's switch speed makes it possible to click on a building with a Wrench and switch to the Panic Attack mid-swing. The hit will still register and repair/upgrade your building, but you'll be holding the Panic Attack and immediately be able to deal with a threat if there is one.

• The Panic Attack's increased number of pellets counteracts its damage penalty at close range. Try to get close to unaware enemies to deal the most damage.

Pomson 6000

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
		Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Medium Range	Long Range	Critical
Craft Pomson 6000		4	N/A	52-68	31-41	31-41	108-180

• The Pomson 6000 functions like the Soldier's Righteous Bison in terms of its projectiles and unlimited ammo, but instead of projectile penetration, it provides anti-Spy and anti-Medic capabilities, countering two of Engineer's counter-classes.

• The Pomson 6000 trades self-defense for support. With easy to dodge projectiles and reduced damage, you are likely to die if you are without the support from your Sentry Gun or team coupled with your frail health.
  • It is recommended that you equip the Pistol as a backup weapon for this reason.

• Whilst protecting a Sentry under attack is usually a priority, the Pomson 6000 gives the bonus of reducing an attacking Medic's ÜberCharge faster, preventing a Medic from using an ÜberCharge, causing him to charge into danger without invulnerability.

• On a successful hit, the Pomson drains the Spy's Cloak, forcing him to retreat if he is using conventional watches.
  • Should the Spy be using the Dead Ringer, he will have less time to escape if he cloaks on a Pomson hit.

• When the beam hits a Medic or Spy, a distinct sound is made. Listen for the "shrinking" sound.
  • Use this sound to tell if you have hit a cloaked Spy.

• Due to the Pomson's nature, it excels at long-range damage and finishing off enemies, but is generally poor in close quarters. As such, the Pomson is generally best used when supporting teammates at long range. Spamming shots will prevent enemies from strafing around a lot, making it easier for teammates to aim for them.
  • Keep in mind that the Pomson is less effective at draining ÜberCharge and Cloak at long distances.

• Shooting a friendly Sniper's Huntsman will cause his arrow to catch fire. Flaming arrows are more powerful than standard arrows, as they deal afterburn in addition to the initial hit. As a Sniper with the Huntsman, full-charge "body shot" arrow hits deal 120 damage. After the initial hit, weaker classes will be killed in a few seconds if the arrow was on fire.
  • Remember — shooting your teammates is also a measure of Spy checking, as a hit on a Spy will produce a distinct sound. The Pomson's unlimited ammo comes in handy for this, as you can Spy check often without having to visit a Dispenser or ammo pack.

• A Spy can only use his Dead Ringer if he has a full Cloak meter. If an enemy Dead Ringer Spy is fleeing, you can hunt him down with the Pomson. Simply keep shooting at the Spy, and he might not be able to charge his Dead Ringer before you kill him.

• Although its projectiles travel slowly and are easy to avoid, the Pomson is a very accurate weapon, even more accurate than your Pistol. Although you lose the close-range damage of the Shotgun and the fast reload of the Pistol, you can easily hit oblivious enemies who aren't dodging.

• The Pomson pairs well with the Wrangler. The Pomson maintains an ability to make accurate shots that you would otherwise make with the Pistol, and similarly, ammo is not an issue. Having a Pomson and Wrangler equipped gives you a high degree of accuracy.

Rescue Ranger + reskins

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
		Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Medium Range	Long Range	Critical
Craft Rescue Ranger		4	16	60	27	21	120

• The Rescue Ranger fires special bolts that repair friendly buildings on hit at the cost of 4 health per 1 metal. It also gives the Engineer the ability to haul the building from the distance at the cost of 100 metals. The downside is the lower clip size (4 instead of 6), lower total ammo (16 instead of 32), and the Engineer will be marked for death while hauling a building and a few seconds after stop hauling.
  • The bolt projectiles are affected by gravity. Take this into account when firing this weapon.

• You can often use it to repair your buildings (mainly your Sentry Gun, as that will be the one that gets the most attention of the enemy) from a safe distance.
  • It is also effective at repairing other Engineer's Sentry Guns, as you generally should not build near other Engineers, because splash damage could easily destroy both nests.

• The hauling ability of this weapon is powerful on open maps, where you can get a clear line of sight of your buildings from a distance. Use this ability to move your buildings up front quickly, or to pull your buildings out when they are under attack, and you are too far away to retrieve them.

• As hauling your buildings from a distance costs 100 metal, try to teleport your Dispenser first. If you cannot do this, find a source of metal before teleporting your buildings.

• While weak in direct combat, the Rescue Ranger can be used for medium to long range harassment and for supporting other Engineers from long range by repairing their buildings.

• The Rescue Ranger pairs well with Wrangler Jumping, as you can teleport your Sentry Gun after the jump.

• Healing buildings with the Rescue Ranger is slightly more metal-efficient than healing with the normal Wrench. It heals 4 health for every one metal, while the Wrench heals 3 health for one metal.

• This weapon can help negate the Jag's slightly lower repair rate, and compliment the mobility the Engineer gains with his buildings around the map. Consider equipping the Pistol if using this combo to help compensate for your other weapons and their lower damage output.

• When hauling buildings with the Rescue Ranger, you will be marked for death. Make sure there are no enemies close by before you haul your buildings.
  • Be especially wary of weapons that can turn subsequent Mini-Crits into full Crits, such as the Sniper's Bushwacka.

• The Pistol is an ideal secondary to pair with this weapon, as the Rescue Ranger itself is poorly suited for direct combat.

Secondary weapons

Pistol + reskins

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
		Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Medium Range	Long Range	Critical
Stock Pistol		12	200	22	10-15	8-9	45 (Range does not affect damage)
Promotional Lugermorph
Uncrate C.A.P.P.E.R

• The Pistol has four main strengths over the Shotgun; its greater accuracy and damage at longer distances, its large ammunition reserve, and its faster reload time. These give the Pistol several key functions:
  • It can be used to ward off Snipers by causing them to flinch.
  • Great use with the Frontier Justice, Widowmaker, or Rescue Ranger, when retreating.
  • It can be used to pick off fleeing enemies (who are usually doing so due to low health).
  • It can be used to whittle away enemy health, especially if supplementing Sentry fire.

• It is the most reliable weapon to use in conjunction with the Gunslinger's Combat Mini-Sentry Guns, as they also are most effective at a similar range, enabling you to wear opponents down quickly while staying at a reasonably safe distance.

• When the Shotgun has run out of ammunition, you can switch to the Pistol in direct combat with an enemy to increase the damage being dealt to the opponent during the fight.

• The high ammunition reserve and fast reload speed also allows you to provide covering fire during a firefight and support your teammates' own attacks. The higher accuracy and range than the Shotgun also means you can hang back somewhat while doing this and not expose yourself to too much fire. It is also possible to do this up close; however, it is risky without the Gunslinger and the Shotgun is much better at short range.

• Remember that the Pistol always fires a perfectly accurate shot before its bullet spread goes into effect. However, every shot after that will be less accurate. This bullet spread resets after at least 1.25 seconds since firing the last shot. As such, it's important to keep in mind that spamming your Pistol can mean you lose a great deal of accuracy. Try to time your shots so that they can land consistently and accurately.

• The Engineer's Pistol has one of the highest ammo counts of any weapon in the game. Keep that in mind, as you can lay out a ton of bullets in a short amount of time.
  • Other than Melee Weapons, the only weapons with a higher ammo count are the Miniguns (each shot is 4 bullets, making the ammo count 800), the Level 3 Sentry Gun (200 bullets, 20 rocket salvos), rechargeable weapons (such as the Cow Mangler), and most damaging Special taunts (this excludes the Scorch Shot).

• Due to its good range and large ammo reserve, the Pistol is one of the best weapons to deal "chip damage" at targets in which you land a few shots at the enemy, thus wearing them down a bit, and continuing to do so until they either retreat or decide to fight. Both outcomes are in your favor, because if they retreat, they'll be out of battle temporarily. However, if they decide to fight, they'll be weakened to the point where they'll fall to a few Shotgun blasts or to your Sentry Gun (if it's nearby) quickly.

• Do not attack Soldiers or Demomen with this weapon, unless you are sure they are critically wounded. Unlike Snipers, they require less precise aiming, and can still destroy your buildings at close enough range.

Wrangler + reskins

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
		Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Medium Range	Long Range	Critical
Unlock Wrangler		N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Uncrate Giger Counter

• When the Wrangler is held, you manually control your Sentry Gun, the firing rate of the Sentry Gun is doubled, and it forms a shield around the Sentry Gun while using it, which absorbs 66% of the damage taken by the Sentry Gun. However, the Sentry Gun's repair rate while using the Wrangler is also reduced by 66%. A Sentry Gun being controlled by a Wrangler has infinite range (only being limited by the environment around it).

• If you need to defend yourself, use either your primary weapon or melee weapon, as it's generally easier than aiming with the Wrangler.

• It's easier to stand close to or behind your Sentry Gun when using the Wrangler.
  • When using the Wrangler, you cannot stand behind cover and fire your Sentry manually. The Sentry Gun can only shoot if both you and the Sentry Gun have a direct line of sight to the point you're shooting at. Standing near your Sentry Gun minimizes situations where the Sentry Gun cannot shoot a certain target because you cannot see it.

• Pay attention. The Sentry Gun cannot automatically fire when the Wrangler is in use, so unless you manually shoot them, enemies will get by the Sentry Gun without trouble.

• It is advantageous to have a friendly Engineer repair and supply ammo to your Sentry Gun while you are using the Wrangler, since you cannot do these things yourself at the same time.
  • Keep in mind that Wrangled Sentry Guns have a reduced repair rate to both their health and their clip so be aware that doing this will use a lot of metal pretty quickly.

• Wrangler Jumping is a technique done by standing on your Sentry Gun, aiming the laser straight up and directly in front of you, and firing while jumping. This shoots you up into the air, allowing you to reach high places.
  • Wrangler Jumping can also be done by firing a Level 3 Sentry Gun's rocket at your feet while jumping. This follows the same principle as Rocket Jumping, where crouching during a jump increases the knockback of the explosion.
  • You will take a good amount of damage from Wrangler Jumping, so it's good to have a Dispenser next to the Sentry Gun.
  • Once you've made it to the desired location, build a Teleporter exit. This means you can jump back down, grab some ammo, build a Teleporter entrance on the ground, and get back to said location without having to Wrangler Jump again.
  • A skilled Engineer can pick up his Sentry immediately after a Wrangler Jump. This takes practice, of course, but will allow an Engineer to not waste metal building another Sentry Gun.
    • Alternatively, you can use the Rescue Ranger's alt-fire to pick up your building from long range, but it costs 100 metal to do so.
• The Wrangler's fall-off is based on the Engineer's position rather than the Sentry Gun's, don't be afraid to step closer if you need extra damage output.

Short Circuit

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
		Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Critical
Promotional/Craft Short Circuit		1 per 5 Metal	N/A	5	18

• The Short Circuit fires a short range, small electrical charge that damages enemies in your crosshair at the cost of 5 metal for each shot. With alt-fire, it launches an energy ball that deals damage and deletes any projectiles that touch it at the cost of 65 metal. As a downside, the Short Circuit is unable to deal Critical hits and deal significantly less damage to buildings.

• This weapon's primary use is defensive. Should you and your Sentry be cornered by a Demoman or Soldier, you can prevent them from using blast damage to destroy your Sentry by vaporizing their explosives, thus forcing them to change tactics.

• Keep in mind that you can only fire 3 energy balls with a full 200 metal. If you have no good source of metal, make sure you are using it to its fullest effect and not wasting valuable metal.
  • Not even a level 3 Dispenser can keep up with the energy ball’s metal consumption rate. Don’t rely on them to keep a constant stream of energy balls.

• This weapon also has offensive capabilities on Payload maps; should your allies be under attack by several projectile-using enemies, you can provide reasonable protection from harm without the risk of running out of Metal due to the Dispenser on the cart.

• The alt-fire is very effective when fired into crowded chokepoints that are filled with projectiles. As it travels toward enemies, it will vaporize any projectiles aimed toward your team.

• The ball explodes on contact with any surface. This makes it excellent for removing dense stickybomb traps, as it can delete many of them if aimed at the center.

• Explosives aren't the only projectiles you can vaporize. With good timing, you can destroy Sandman balls, Jarate, Mad Milk, Huntsman arrows, and many others.

• This weapon is extremely weak in combat, dealing only 10 damage per shot, meaning its primary use should be for defense, support, or self-defense. The alt-fire is similarly weak, though can be used to finish off fleeing enemies.

• The Short Circuit really shines in supporting other Engineers and defending nests, where there's a steadier supply of metal from Dispensers and more buildings to defend at once. You might be better off taking another secondary if you're largely working alone or your buildings are spread-out and projectiles aren't much of a problem.

• The Short Circuit's alt-fire attack will target disguised and invisible Spies, and can hit infinitely many enemies in a single attack, making it very useful for Spy-checking.

• Because of how much metal the alt-fire uses, it is unwise to equip the Widowmaker unless you're stationed in an Engineer nest, as you may find yourself defenseless very quickly with two weapons (as well as your repair costs) eating into the same ammo pool.

• The Short Circuit is largely situational. If your Sentry Gun and other buildings are not getting harassed by Soldiers or Demomen, it's best to equip the Pistol or Wrangler.

Melee weapons

Wrench + reskins

Weapon	Kill Icon	Attack Interval	Damage
			Point Blank	Critical
Stock Wrench		0.8 seconds	65	195
Promotional Golden Wrench
Promotional Saxxy
Reward Golden Frying Pan
Achievement Necro Smasher
Promotional Prinny Machete

• When a Spy is repeatedly sapping your Sentry Gun in an attempt to destroy it, your Wrench serves two purposes. First, you can use it to swing at the opposing Spy, 2-3 hits being enough to kill a Spy, ignoring Critical hits. After that, you can quickly turn around and repair your Sentry Gun. Two strikes from the Wrench will disable a Sapper and halt the progressive damage it causes; you can then fully repair the Sentry Gun after the Spy is killed. A good strategy would be to hit the Sentry Gun a single time, and then change targets towards the Spy, kill him, and then take off the Sapper with another swing.

• While it may be tempting to use the Wrench's high Critical hit rate to club enemies to death, melee combat is usually not where the low-health Engineer shines. Use the Shotgun instead at close range in order to quickly finish off the enemy.

• The game prioritizes repairing buildings over melee combat when using the Wrench. This means that if there is an enemy — say, a Spy — next to a friendly structure and you are using the Wrench to attempt to kill them, you will find the Wrench hitting the building near or even behind the enemy you are trying to strike instead of the enemy. Switch to the Shotgun or Pistol to deal with enemies that are very close to one of your buildings to avoid this.

Gunslinger

Weapon	Kill Icon	Attack Interval	Damage
			Point Blank	Critical
Unlock Gunslinger		0.8 seconds	65	195
			N/A

• The Gunslinger replaces the normal Sentry Gun with a Combat Mini-Sentry Gun. The Combat Mini-Sentry Gun is a smaller, quick-building version of the Sentry Gun with a cheaper cost of 100 metal. It also provides an extra 25 health to the Engineer, for a total of 150. As a downside, the Gunslinger is unable to do random Critical hits, but if an enemy is hit three times in a row with the Gunslinger with less than a second between hits, the third hit will be a Critical hit.
• The Gunslinger puts the Engineer to a more comfortable health pool of 150. This allows the Engineer to survive combat better and allows for some more aggressive playstyles.
• With the Gunslinger equipped, it may not even be worth building a Dispenser near your Mini-Sentry. A Mini-Sentry is, in most cases, not powerful enough to defend a Dispenser on its own. Don't let that stop you from building Dispensers at all, though. Even if you're not setting up camp, leaving a Dispenser in a good fallback location, such as around corners or behind cover, can do wonders for you and your team.
• When going on the offensive, such as the BLU team on Payload, the Mini-Sentry allows you to be more mobile. Due to how easily the Mini-Sentry can be replaced, you can destroy it when you need to move your other buildings up in order to support your team, then place down another one in order to support your team in a firefight.
• Although not as high priority as other buildings, healing your Mini-Sentry can prove to be beneficial.

• The Combat Mini-Sentry comes with its own series of benefits and setbacks:
  • The Mini-Sentry is much less expensive on metal than the standard Sentry Gun, costing only 100 metal instead of 130. With this conservation of metal, you can use the extra metal to upgrade, repair, help another Engineer's buildings, or build other buildings.
  • A Mini-Sentry is good for being deployed quickly and picking enemies off. However, do not expect the Mini-Sentry to last very long. Its low health means that it is very vulnerable. It's best to replace it as soon as possible once it is destroyed.
  • The reduced metal cost allows you to place a maximum of 2 Mini-Sentry Guns on the battlefield before having to collect more metal, and for every kill you get you can build another one with the dropped ammo pack. Take advantage of this, as you will be able to keep the pressure on the enemy for a longer period of time.
  • It may not always be worth it to pick up your Mini-Sentry and move it elsewhere. Unless there's no time pressure or it's a very short distance, simply destroying your Mini-Sentry and building a new one is more beneficial.
  • The Mini-Sentry constructs itself 150% percent faster than the regular Sentry Gun. It also will start with 50 health instead of starting from scratch at 1, which allows it to survive wayward fire much more reliably.
  • A single punch from the Gunslinger will fully repair a Mini-Sentry (but will not fully replenish ammo). This is more time efficient on offense and overall makes it much easier to be constantly on the move with your other buildings.
  • The Mini-Sentry has the same range as the standard Level 1 Sentry Gun. This makes it excellent for holding down one small area, such as around a health pack, rather than somewhere like the point, where its lack of range can allow enemy Demomen or Soldiers to easily destroy it.
    • However, due to its smaller size, it can prove beneficial to put the Mini-Sentry on one side near an objective and yourself on the other, forcing the enemy to choose between fighting you or your Mini.

• The Gunslinger pairs very well with certain weapons:
  • Pairing with the Frontier Justice will grant you frequent revenge Crits, although in smaller quantities than if a regular Sentry is destroyed. Destroying your Mini-Sentry can allow you to receive your Critical hits on demand when they are needed most.
  • Paired with the Widowmaker you can become an effective combat class, with the ability to constantly place Mini-Sentry Guns around and frustrate the enemy team's approach. Be careful of your metal count, however, as it is being used as your primary ammo source. Additionally, you will deal extra damage to enemies targeted by your Mini-Sentry, which will allow it to combo with it very effectively.
  • Paired with the Wrangler, the Mini-Sentry can be deadly. The Wrangler gives the Mini-Sentry an effective health of 300, has damage output similarly to that of the Level 2 Sentry Gun and a much longer range, which can make it a force to be reckoned with.

• When a lone enemy is being fired on by your Mini-Sentry, attack from another direction with your primary or secondary. This means you are effectively attacking from two directions and your target might have difficulty dealing with both you and your Mini-Sentry. However, this tactic may not work as effectively on explosive classes or high health targets.

• When facing off against an enemy, or a group of enemies, that you know you can't win, consider using the Mini-Sentry as a decoy instead. If it's not already deployed, you can quickly deploy one and run away. This will force your enemy to either go for you and be shot at by your Mini, or it will delay them.
  • Similarly, when you run into a more powerful enemy or an enemy that has the upper hand, you can put down your Mini-Sentry first and then start shooting them.

• While the extra 25 health is an excellent bonus, do not become overconfident. You are still vulnerable when all alone and headshots from Snipers can still instantly kill you if you are not overhealed.

Placement

• Place your Mini-Sentry in an area where enemies pass through frequently. Using a Mini-Sentry as a long-term defense is not recommended.

• It's a good idea to place your Mini-Sentry near a health pack, since health packs attract low-health enemies — easy kills for a Mini-Sentry.

• Try putting your Mini-Sentry around a corner, or on top of a high building. If enemies can't figure out where a Mini-Sentry is, they will either die before they can spot/destroy it or be left moderately to severely injured.

• Since the Mini-Sentry has a relatively short range, smaller spaces are preferable to wide-open spaces, where Snipers, Soldiers, or other classes can pick it off without the Mini-Sentry being able to defend itself.

• A Mini-Sentry hidden away underwater can temporarily confuse enemies as to how they're being shot.

• For a rather cruel, ironic twist, hide Mini-Sentry Guns under large ammo boxes. The Mini-Sentry is just small enough that the only part of it not covered is the kickstand, though the particle effect from the light can sometimes be seen.

• When playing the role of a Battle Engineer, get into the habit of dropping a Mini-Sentry on a whim, without any real rhyme or reason to its placement. This can grant you vital cover-fire and provides a distraction should the situation go south.
  • With the recent change to the Gunslinger, this strategy has diminished in effectiveness quite a lot. However, doing this in defensive situations near objectives is still effective. Cover your frontline teammates with a Mini-Sentry slightly behind them to allow them a small safe zone they can retreat to.

Southern Hospitality

Weapon	Kill Icon	Attack Interval	Damage
			Point Blank	Critical
Craft Southern Hospitality		0.8 seconds	65	195
Bleeding		40 damage over 5 seconds	N/A	N/A

• The Southern Hospitality is nearly as versatile as the stock Wrench, with only a few situational weaknesses. As such, it is an upgrade to the default Wrench unless the enemy team has more than one actively attacking Pyro. The lack of random Crits is compensated for by the Bleed status and the retained ability to wear opponents down further with other weapons.

• The Southern Hospitality favors a defensive playstyle. Camping Engineers rarely encounter Pyros without having a Sentry Gun in between to win the skirmish, whereas when pushing into enemy territory, should the Engineer encounter a Pyro, then the Engineer is at extreme disadvantage due to extra 20% fire vulnerability. Fortunately, Engineer vs. Pyro exchanges are rather uncommon due to the Engineer's Sentry Gun being able to completely zone out the Pyro, so this downside isn't as serious of a detriment as it may seem.

• The presence of bleeding on this weapon makes it an excellent anti-Spy tool, allowing you and your teammates to monitor their movements should they try to escape. However, the inability to randomly Crit makes killing Spies more difficult in a short span of time. Instead, hit them repeatedly with the Southern Hospitality, thus doing more average Wrench damage and resetting the Bleed timer each hit, or hit them with the Southern Hospitality, then switch to your Shotgun or Frontier Justice to finish them off.

• ÜberCharged Pyros are a major threat with the 20% increase to fire vulnerability. If one approaches, the most valuable building should be moved to a safe(r) location to be ready when the ÜberCharge wears off. If the Pyro is too close for you to haul a building to safety, flee, and be prepared to rebuild.
  • The Rescue Ranger can help save 2 of your buildings from a safe distance, provided you have a full metal supply.

• The Southern Hospitality is very viable within Medieval Mode, as the 40 damage added by Bleeding is a strong buff, and sources of fire damage are reduced significantly.

Jag + reskins

Weapon	Kill Icon	Attack Interval	Damage
			Base Damage	Critical
Craft Jag		0.68 seconds	49	146

• The Jag gives the Engineer a 30% bonus to construction speed; Wrench-boosting construction of buildings with the Jag will construct buildings at just shy of three times the normal rate, compared to 2.5x with most other wrenches. The Jag also swings 15% faster, further speeding up the process of creating level 3 buildings.
  • This also serves to legitimize construction of regular Sentry Guns even in an offensive situation where normally a Mini-Sentry would suffice. A level 2 Sentry will not take terribly long to make with ample metal available, and it will have a tremendous area control advantage thanks to superior DPS and durability over the Mini-Sentry. If your buildings aren't being pressured by Spies or other enemies, this could be something to consider.

• Try to avoid melee combat due to the damage penalty. If your team is good at Spy checking, however, this won't matter much, and the extra swing speed will make up for some of the lost damage.

• Get in the habit of hitting your buildings all the way to completion as soon as you plant them.

• The Jag is also useful in situations such as rebuilding a destroyed Teleporter Entrance or Exit while the other half is still up; being able to speedily rebuild the destroyed half means you can teleport back to your other buildings a few seconds faster.

• The Jag is a great weapon for "helper" Engineers who are only being Engineer temporarily to help other Engineers upgrade or maintain their buildings.
  • Although sometimes counterintuitive, you can temporarily equip the Jag to quickly construct higher-leveled buildings at spawn, and switch to another Wrench (besides the Gunslinger) to relish the Jag's bonus, but keep another Wrench as your 'main'. This is best seen in defending Dustbowl's 3rd Stage.

• The Jag pairs well with the Rescue Ranger both by being able to quickly deploy buildings hauled from long range and healing any damage suffered to them to make up for the repair rate penalty; however, it becomes detrimental to equip the Pistol because the Jag is a straight downgrade to the default Wrench in combat and the Ranger is not very good at combat either. You may switch to the Wrangler if you prefer to keep your distance or try and Wrangler jump to unusual locations. This provides great utility with the Ranger by being able to pick up your Sentry while jumping, then teleport your Dispenser to yourself.

• The Jag's repair rate penalty stacks with the repair reduction of the Wrangler's shield. It may be advisable to use a different Wrench if your Sentry spot necessitates the Wrangler.

• The Jag takes 3 hits instead of 2 to destroy an enemy Sapper. It may be useful to use a different Wrench after you deploy your Buildings.

Eureka Effect

Weapon	Kill Icon	Attack Interval	Damage
			Point Blank	Critical
Craft Eureka Effect		0.8 seconds	65	195

• The Eureka Effect gives the Engineer the ability to teleport to the spawn and their Teleporter with the reload key (default key: R) and also decreases the cost to build and upgrade the Teleporter by 50%. However, the Eureka Effect gives the user 20% less metal from ammo pickups and Dispensers, and also gives the building 50% penalty to construction speed; Wrench-boosting construction of buildings with the Jag will construct buildings at 1.25x the normal rate, compared to 2.5x with most other wrenches.

• The Eureka Effect shines in situations where time and metal are of the essence. A player can drop a level 1 sentry and a teleporter, hit the teleporter with your wrench till it's about 75% built, then teleport back and forth and have a nest built up quickly and at low personal risk as the player does need to leave the nest to forage for metal.

• With the Eureka Effect equipped Dispensers will still dispense their regular amount of metal, but the Engineer will receive a reduced amount. For example, a Lvl 3 Dispenser will dispense its usual 60 metal each tick, but the Engineer will only receive 48 metal with the remaining 12 metal lost. This can very quickly add up in high metal usage situations.

• The Eureka Effect is ineffective for sustaining a base under consistent enemy attack due to it reducing your metal pickups. Therefore, use the Eureka Effect to set up a base, then switch to the stock Wrench to defend it more effectively. Remember, buildings are not lost when switching wrenches, in most circumstances.

• You and your buildings are more vulnerable when being constructed. Try to build in safe areas and know your limits on how aggressively you can place buildings.

• Triggering a teleport forces the player to wait 3 seconds while the Engineer performs a brief taunt; since taunting leaves the Engineer completely defenseless, retreating with low health or when the enemy is advancing can result in death if care is not taken.

• The Eureka Effect can be extremely useful in game modes lacking a source of healing (such as a health pickup, Medi Gun, or a Dispenser). You can engage an enemy, go to safety when you're at low health, teleport back to base, come back with full health (and metal), and repeat.

• The Eureka Effect can be useful in setting up and upgrading a Sentry nest quickly; having it equipped means an Engineer is able to run back and forth between spawn or a teleport exit and their nest very quickly by using the Eureka Effect's taunt and an active teleporter, allowing an instant metal refill with each trip.

• The Eureka Effect gives the defending team an advantage on attack/defense maps; if the penultimate point is being captured, a tactful teleport can allow an Engineer to fall back and prepare for an incoming attack.

• The teleport action also allows a teleporter exit to be placed at the front lines during setup on Payload maps; a quick teleport back to spawn and the teleporter is ready to go quickly. This allows you and your fellow Engineers to teleport to the frontlines and setup your buildings more quickly.

• The Eureka Effect is great for passive chokepoint holding on the attacking team, as teleporting back to spawn can guarantee a steady teleport system and get your slower classes back to the front quickly.

• You can sneak past enemy lines on maps where the spawns change (such as Frontier), and set up a teleporter exit near the last point. Then, you can teleport back to spawn, restock, and take the teleporter to the point. Getting some of your teammates to take the teleporter can effectively "sandwich" the enemy, making for an easier fight.
  • On the other hand, if a Spy has destroyed your teleporter entrance or is currently spam-sapping it, the Eureka Effect allows you to surprise any Spies and/or rebuild an entrance.

• Crafty Engineers can possibly carefully sneak past enemy lines and plant a teleporter exit in a place where the other side won't suspect it will be, such as the Control Point building in Dustbowl after it's captured, and then teleport back to the spawn safely, where they can upgrade and repair it as needed. This allows for other classes, like Spies, to quickly go to that area without raising much suspicion.

• The Eureka Effect can be used to attempt accurate telefrags. This requires very good timing.

• Because of the Eureka Effect's con that you can only get 80% of metal from metal pick-ups, you are usually conserving more metal than using the other wrenches.

• When respawning, use the Eureka Effect's teleport ability to teleport to your teleporter, so that someone else can use the teleporter.

Map specific

Control Point (Attack/Defend)

Steel

• Steel is an excellent map when it comes to tactical Engineer-based pushes. One well placed BLU teleporter can win a game quickly and effectively, due to the ability to capture Point E without the requirement to capture Points A-D first. A Sentry Gun in the area around Point E can lock it down and provide effective cover for BLU's Soldiers and Scouts as they capture.
• While on Blu, it can often be a handy idea to use the following loadout:
  • Primary - Shotgun
  • Secondary - Short Circuit
  • Melee - Jag
• Because of the large amount of tight areas and general lack of wide open spaces on Steel, the Short Circuit can be a very helpful tool to use over the Wrangler or Pistol, as Engineers will often find themselves in situations where a Soldier or Demoman may be firing rockets, grenades or stickybombs at their base from around a corner or through a window and the Short Circuit will destroy the projectiles before they can hit the buildings or be detonated.
• The Jag can be a handy item to have when it comes to quickly placing a Sentry Gun to assault enemies where they least expect it.
  • An effective example of this would be to build your sentry to Level 3 during setup time, and then haul it up the stairs to the right of the spawn doors. Provided of course that there are no enemy Sentry Guns within direct range of yours, place it on the elevated walkway next to Point A. Although it may be destroyed shortly afterwards, it can provide ample support which will allow your team to capture the point while denying Red that entire area.
• If you are confident that your team will capture the point without support from you or your buildings, setting up a teleporter exit and base near the proceeding control points can often be a good way to catch your enemy off guard. This will allow for your team to begin capturing the points before the enemy team has a chance to set up defenses of their own.
• When defending, it can often lead to setup positions similar to the ones mentioned in the last point. If you are confident that the enemy team will capture Point A fairly quickly, it may be a good idea to have a complete setup on Point B or even C.
  • One of the most surprising sentry placements on Steel will often be the narrow area leading from Point B to Point C. Setting up your nest here while on RED can catch the enemy team off guard and allows for Point C to get a defense set up by your teammates while you prevent BLU from directly entering the area. If they do begin firing projectiles at your buildings, they can be protected by the Short Circuit. This base will often last the entire round if you defend it properly, mainly due to the lack of access points. It is recommended that you haul to another spot though, as the enemy team will usually give up trying to pass through this point and take another route.
• If BLU only needs to capture Point E to win, a very effective way to figure out where to place a sentry is to take note of where the enemy team is pushing from. Once satisfied you have the right entrance, place a sentry not guarding the entrance itself or even the point, but the area that the team needs to pass through to get to this entrance. This will prove a lot more effective than placing it exactly where they typically expect it to be, thus catching them off guard preparing for something that is sooner upon them than they thought.

Buildings

Sentry Gun

Level	Kill Icon	Health	Cost	Weaponry	Damage	Ammo
1		150 (effectively 450 with the Wrangler shielding)	130 Metal	Semi-Automatic Firing Barrel	Damage: 16 Shots per second: 4 (8 with Wrangler) Average DPS: 64 (128 with Wrangler)	100 rounds
2		180 (effectively 540 with the Wrangler shielding)	330 Metal	Dual Rotational Minigun Barrels	Damage: 16 Shots per second: 8 (16 with Wrangler) Average DPS: 128 (256 with Wrangler)	120 rounds
3		216 (effectively 648 with the Wrangler shielding)	530 Metal	Dual Rotational Minigun Barrels Target Guided Rocket Launch Support System	Damage: 16 Shots per second: 8 (16 with Wrangler) Average DPS: 128 (256 with Wrangler) Rockets fire every 3 seconds (slightly faster with the Wrangler), dealing 53 to 150 damage on direct hit (falloff is calculated from the distance of the Engineer to the target, not from the Sentry to the target). The rockets can be deflected with the Pyro's compression blast.	144 rounds 20 rocket salvos

Combat Mini-Sentry Gun

Level	Kill Icon	Health	Cost	Weaponry	Damage	Ammo
N/A		100 (effectively 300 with the Wrangler shielding)	100 Metal	Semi-Automatic Firing Barrel	Damage: 8 Shots per second: 6 (12 with Wrangler) Average DPS: 48 (96 with Wrangler)	100 rounds

• The difference between excellent Sentry Gun placement and average Sentry Gun placement can sometimes be very little; a matter of inches, or an angle that is off by a few degrees, can determine whether a Sentry Gun can effectively cover a certain approach, whether it will give away its location to enemies too easily, whether it will take too long to rotate into firing positions, and so on. This does not mean that you should take a long time to adjust the Sentry Gun blueprint before placing it – doing so is a hallmark of inexperienced Engineer play. However, observe how certain placements perform, and if the Sentry Gun demonstrates any weaknesses in that position, try to place the Sentry Gun so it will be more effective in the future.
  • A good rule of thumb for Sentry Gun placement is a location that maximizes the Sentry Gun's range while minimizing its corner weakness. In other words, any location where approaching enemies will likely receive fire from the Sentry Gun at close to its maximum range but will be unable to fire back from outside that range. This is because Sentry Guns do not suffer from damage falloff at range. While this does not always limit the damage your Sentry Gun will take in return (damage falloff due to range does not apply to damage done against buildings), it does reduce the damage you will take while you maintain the Sentry Gun, and it also reduces damage from short-range and/or high spread weapons such as the Scattergun, Flame Thrower, and Minigun. Making good use of the Sentry Gun's range also gives the Sentry Gun a bigger field of fire and it gives you more warning of approaching enemies (and incoming projectiles), while denying the largest area to your enemies, one of the Engineer's primary roles.
• Sentry Guns are usually best built on high ground. However, you should avoid choosing an elevated spot that allows your Sentry Gun to be seen by enemies from beyond its ability to fire back. The best Sentry Gun placements allow a Sentry Gun to shoot at enemies at the same time or even a little before enemies are able to see and shoot back at the Sentry Gun, and high ground can help achieve this, as the diagram below-right demonstrates.
  • High ground is also great because it makes the Sentry Gun harder to hit with splash damage. As long as it is not built with its back to a wall, most projectiles will arc either too high or too low to hit hard, and the precision aiming required forces enemies to take the Sentry Gun's full weight of fire to try to take their shot. Conversely, low ground creates the opposite effect, effectively "funneling" even stray projectiles such as Grenades right into the Sentry Gun. Avoid low ground positions such as pits and valleys.
  • High ground is also very useful by making it more difficult for Spies to get into sapping range. High ground placements reduce the number of routes Spies can use to get close, making it easier for you and your team to discover and remove potential Spy threats before they get a chance to disable your Sentry Gun.
• Build in areas that are open, but not too open, and give you some room to work. This allows you to dodge and gives yourself good angles for using the Wrangler while keeping a safe distance from your Sentry Gun if it is under fire. If possible, have a wall or other cover near to the Sentry Gun that you can use as cover while you repair, but try not to have an obscured view of what is attacking your Sentry Gun.
• Avoid "gimmicky" Sentry positions such as looking down holes in ceilings, in the middle of narrow hallways, or around sharp corners. Sentry Guns can certainly get kills in such positions, but while these positions can surprise the enemy temporarily, they aren't terribly effective since they won't seriously interfere with your opponents' movement. High level Sentry Guns take a lot of time and resources to make, so building them in areas where they will be useful only rarely is a waste.
• Great Sentry positions will allow the Sentry Gun to put suppressing fire on a number of key areas and also allow it to act as a first line of defense for your team. A Sentry being repaired or Wrangled (or both) is excellent at absorbing damage that would otherwise be directed at your fellow teammates.
  • Sentry Guns should not therefore be viewed as a "last line of defense". Building with this mentality is flawed, because while an Engineer and his Sentry can fend off most lone opponents fairly effectively, as little as two enemies can overwhelm an unsupported Engineer position, even if the base is well constructed and the Engineer is skilled.
• Don't build yourself into a corner if you want to be hanging around your Sentry Gun repairing; you deny yourself a line of retreat and ensure that you get damaged as much as your Sentry Gun. Sentry Guns right around corners can catch enemies off guard, but if you build such an "ambush" Sentry Gun, don't sit right on it. Leave it on its own and maybe support it offensively with your own weapons, and then move it or rebuild it once it becomes ineffective.
• In addition to building on high ground and in a moderately open area, you should build the Sentry Gun such that it covers narrow areas in the map called "Chokepoints". This maximizes the area your team has to work with and minimizes the maneuvering room for attackers. This forces the enemy team to bunch up in narrow hallways and doorways, making them easy prey for your Sentry Gun's rockets or the splash damage from your team. Sentry Guns are at their best when they force enemies to fight from a disadvantageous position.
• Take note of where other Engineers have set up their Sentry Guns and set up yours to create overlapping fields of fire that can catch opponents in crossfire. Being within sight of another Engineer on your team makes it easy for you to help one other repair during times when either of you is dead or occupied. It also concentrates your team's defense and prevents your team from spreading too thinly. Two Sentry Guns that are spread out yet still covering the same choke point combined with adequate Spy checking can be an absolute nightmare for the enemy team to deal with and forces them to either come with everything they have or not come at all.
  • Conversely, try not to build two Sentry Guns next to each other; this doesn't help cover a wider area and allows a Demoman or Spy to take out both Sentry Guns at once.
• After building a Sentry Gun, stand behind it and build a Dispenser behind your position; if a few enemies or an ÜberCharged enemy comes, you can crouch behind the Sentry for protection and continually repair the damage done to it while having your Metal replenished by the Dispenser behind you. This strategy works well wherever enemies are forced through a bottleneck while approaching the Gun or have no line of sight to the Dispenser, but does not work well in open areas where the Dispenser can be targeted from the side or from above.

Figure 1. Dustbowl, Stage 2, Point B example of excellent Sentry placement. Both Sentries A and B are on high ground in open areas covering chokepoints, with double coverage of two major chokes. Both Sentries are nearby and face each other, making it easy for each Engineer to watch the other.

Figure 2. Illustrates the advantages of elevated placement. Sentry is in the open covering a chokepoint, is able to lock on and begin firing an instant before approaching enemies, preventing abuse of cover and maximizing Sentry damage. Attacking Demomen in particular will have poor attack angles.

Dispenser

Level	Health	Cost	Resource Output Rate
			Health	Ammo	Metal
1	150	100 Metal	10/sec	20%/sec	40/5 sec
2	180	300 Metal	15/sec	30%/sec	50/5 sec
3	216	500 Metal	20/sec	40%/sec	60/5 sec

• Build your Dispenser in a convenient location for your teammates to reach.
• Do not place your Dispenser in areas with lots of enemies nearby. Dispensers are fragile, and without anything to guard them, they will be destroyed quickly. Try to locate the Dispenser behind an obstacle, such as a crate or a low wall, which will shield it from a fair amount of incoming damage.
• It's a bad idea to place your Dispenser next to your Sentry Gun, and stand in a position where you can reach both with your Wrench at the same time. The Dispenser doesn't help your team.
• Make sure your Dispenser isn't blocking your Sentry Gun. Enemies can take advantage of blind spots behind Dispensers to destroy your buildings.
• A savvy Engineer can use his Dispenser to 'Dispenser jump.' An Engineer can jump on top of his Dispenser and then reach an otherwise unreachable ledge.
• A good placement for a Dispenser is behind cover, but still near the frontline enough that it can heal teammates. This helps your teammates stay in the fight longer.
• Dispensers stack, so sometimes putting two Dispensers near each other is a good idea. Teammates can receive two times the healing.

Teleporter

Level	Health	Cost	Recharge time
Level 1	150	50 Metal	10 seconds
Level 2	180	250 Metal	5 seconds
Level 3	216	450 Metal	3 seconds

• Place your Teleporter Entrance close to your team's respawn point in plain sight.
• Place your Teleporter Exit either -
  • Somewhere hidden within enemy territory, such as behind a crate or on the rooftop of a shed.
  • Near your other buildings.
• Avoid standing right on top of your Teleporter Exit, so as to avoid being telefragged.
• Make sure which direction to head is obvious to your teammates. When the Teleporter is being carried, pressing Alt-Fire rotates it 90 degrees. Use this to face your Teleporter away from walls, corners, etc.
• During setup time, or at the start of a round, it's a good idea to build a Teleporter entrance. This is a good preparation strategy. It gives you the ability to deploy an exit on demand, and respond to changes in the front line by relocating the exit.
• When defending a highly-trafficked chokepoint, you may want to place a Teleporter entrance or exit somewhere where attacking enemies will see it as they are entering your area of the map. They will often destroy it, giving you a heads-up about their presence. Beware that some players will be suspicious of the Teleporter's real function as an early warning system and will purposely leave it alone so as to retain the element of surprise.
  • However, do this only when it's absolutely unnecessary for the Teleporters to be used the way they're meant to, for example, on last point on defense, your spawn is usually close to the last point.
• Avoid building Teleporters during Arena mode. The quick nature of Arena maps and the scarcity of ammo during such games means that you're better off using your metal to build Dispensers or Sentry Guns.
• You can use the Eureka Effect to save metal on creating and upgrading Teleporters, then switch to another Wrench to get the rest of the sentry base built up.

Taunt Attacks

Guitar Smash

	Kill Icon	Weapon	Damage	Duration	Details
Guitar Smash		Frontier Justice	500	4 seconds	The Engineer takes out his loyal guitar, plays a chord, and then hits it into the head of any enemy that's in the way.

• Guitar Smash can be used on immobilized, unaware, or distracted enemies. However, the chord may give you away.
• Guitar Smash be useful during Humiliation or Stalemate.

Arm Blender

	Kill Icon	Weapon	Damage	Duration	Details
Arm Blender		Gunslinger	500	4 seconds	The Engineer pulls a rip-cord from his mechanical prosthetic, revving the hand of his Gunslinger up to vicious speeds, after which he thrusts it forward, gibbing any enemy player within reach.

• With correct timing, you might be able to kill a distracted enemy, so keep in mind that it takes some time for the Engineer to spin his hand up.
• You can use the stunning effect of Arm Blender to stun ÜberCharged enemies and waste their Über time.
• Arm Blender is also effective during humiliation.

Weapon combinations

Example Combinations
Combo			Usage
Shotgun or Panic Attack	Pistol or Short Circuit	Wrench or Southern Hospitality	For a purely defensive Engineer. This combination allows the Engineer to hold positions against attack, albeit with high cost in Metal and upgrade time. The Short Circuit and Pistol provides defense against rockets and explosives (the greatest bane of a Sentry Gun), although it increases the Engineer's reliance on having a functioning, upgraded, and well-placed Dispenser. The weak damage of the Short Circuit can leave you open to other attacks, such as Spies and flank attacks. The Pistol by comparison is a great weapon for attacking enemies from long range, along with the increase of ammo for defending the buildings. Nonetheless, as the sentry is free to fire on its own and won't be disabled by the Wrangler, this combination allows the defensive Engineer to be a bit more independent. This weapon set will allow you to preserve your Sentry Gun as long as possible and use the Shotgun to weaken foes or kill any Spies in range, or use the Panic Attack as a means to quickly confront a lone threat to any of your buildings and use it in conjunction with Sentry Gun fire to deal additional damage in a short burst, which can come in a handy if an enemy has a Medic providing Overheal. The Southern Hospitality provides excellent defense against Spies and prevents them from escaping via invisibility, however your weakness to fire can make any sort of offensive pushing much more risky; if there is a great number of Pyros on the other team, and constantly ambushing your buildings, try using the Wrench over the Southern Hospitality.
Frontier Justice or Widowmaker	Pistol	Jag	For an advanced supportive Engineer. This set allows you to deploy your buildings quickly with the 30% faster construction rate granted by the Jag. This may give you more time to walk around and help maintain the buildings of other Engineers. The Revenge Crits will become useful if your sentry happens to be destroyed. The Widowmaker is a great weapon if you don't need time to reload and drop the enemies health. The Pistol provides an alternative firearm and is great for conserving your Revenge Crits or not use metal if you used the Widowmaker. You can freely use the Wrangler instead for long-range offense with your sentry to keep your opponents at bay, though this will distract you from your and other Engineers' buildings.
Shotgun	Wrangler	Jag	This combination is similar to the advanced supportive Engineer set but there are small changes. You can use your Wrangler to dispatch Snipers quickly and weaken enemies at a long distance. But having no bonus health means you are more likely to die. This can also be a good loadout for an Engineer who likes to try and build behind the enemy lines. The Jag helps build up the base more quickly and the Wrangler can help the Engineer build in some unusual locations and immediately attack foes with the enhanced firepower.
Frontier Justice or Widowmaker or Panic Attack	Pistol	Gunslinger	This set is for an assault-oriented Engineer who doesn't want to camp in the enemy base for the whole battle and get out and fight. The Gunslinger paired up with the Frontier Justice gives you many stored Crits because the combat mini-sentry is very weak and will get destroyed often. Alternatively, the Widowmaker can be used at close range to replenish your metal quickly. In addition, the Panic Attack's increased damage at closer ranges, in addition to the fixed spread giving greater consistency can be deadly at closer ranges, allowing for over 100+ damage in one shot. The Pistol also gives you the upper hand when fighting from a distance, and you can also use it to finish off enemies weakened by a revenge Crit. The extra 25 health from the Gunslinger gives you extra fighting time and the ability to take more damage. You can also place your mini-sentry to give you some more firepower in a battle. But this set is sometimes risky when going against classes that have a larger amount of firepower than you do, such as soldiers. An Engineer using these weapons can be used for support, as he can be effective when he sticks by his teammates and helps them out with his revenge Crits and mini-sentry. You still pack a punch in most battles, think before you whip out your mini-sentry, as sometimes enemies will have much more firepower than you do. If so, plant you mini-sentry and retreat before they can catch you.
Frontier Justice	Wrangler	Gunslinger	This is another assault oriented setup, however this gives you a range advantage with a wrangled Mini Sentry and allows you to get more revenge Crits from said wrangled Sentry Gun. Wrangled sentry kills still count as kills that can go towards your revenge Crits so using your Wrangler a lot can benefit you in good areas. For the most part, if you get at a distance from an enemy attacking your mini you can pump rounds into him by firing your sentry at him where 1 of 3 things will happen, either he will destroy your sentry without it having kills where you can simply run away, he'll destroy it with kills on it and you can mow him down with revenge Crits, or you'll just get another sentry kill. With this setup, you can hold down offensive lines very well, but be careful of Heavys or Medic combos as they will have little trouble with you and your Sentry Gun.
Widowmaker	Short Circuit	Wrench or Gunslinger	The Deus-Ex Set This set will eat up your metal very quickly. Enough misplaced shots from the Widowmaker will render you useless, and force you to replenish your metal. These weapons are best used after you've already constructed your Sentry Gun and Dispenser. This way, you still have other means of survival, and the Dispenser can replenish any metal you lose with missed or poor shots. You can also use the Short Circuit to prevent enemy Soldiers or Demomen from destroying your buildings. This setup does, however, leave you with no reliable medium/long range weaponry, so stay close to your Sentry Gun in order to not be taken by surprise. Alternatively, when using the Gunslinger, you can make use of the reduced cost of the Mini-Sentry to fire a few shots and then still have enough metal to place a Mini-Sentry. Also, you can use the metal output to recharge your supply to continuously throw down Mini-Sentry Guns, keeping a constant force of pressure on the enemy. However, this leaves you mostly defenseless, as a Mini-Sentry is not something to hide behind when you're out of metal. Stay within running range of an upgraded Dispenser to always have a source of ammo.
Frontier Justice	Pistol	Eureka Effect	For a defending Engineer who focuses more on building than retaliating. The Eureka Effect is perfect for jumping back to the nearest spawn quickly for an instant refill, which allows faster nest building and grants the option to quickly fall back and rebuild (or to surprise a Scout/Spy making a bee line for the last control point). Since the Eureka Effect repairs slower, the Frontier Justice counters this hindrance through granting easy Crits when your Sentry is inevitably destroyed by an enemy or yourself when falling back/repositioning your nest. Finally, the Pistol/Lugermorph allows you to defend yourself over ranges the Frontier Justice cannot reach and/or to avoid wasting Crits.
Shotgun	Wrangler or Short Circuit	Gunslinger	This set is for an Engineer on offense, although not going directly into combat. The Gunslinger's Mini-Sentry Guns are useful for harassing the enemy, and providing an extra gun on the battlefield. The Shotgun is a reliable weapon compared to the Frontier Justice or the Widowmaker, allowing you to provide extra firepower when against the enemy without much fear of losing metal or being stuck in a situation where you need to reload. The Wrangler is useful for setting up your Mini-Sentry farther back and utilizing the Wrangler to harass the enemy from far away, while the Short Circuit is used when you are up close with your team to destroy any incoming projectiles on the cart or a point.
Pomson 6000	Wrangler or Short Circuit	Eureka Effect	Dr. Grordbort's Brainiac Pack The Braniac Pack is well suited to a purely defensive lone wolf. The Pomson 6000's drain effect allows Engineers to slow down oncoming Medics and Medic buddies, or to prevent Dead Ringer Spies from escaping. The Eureka Effect can be used to gather metal from your spawn room while maintaining momentum, and to quickly build during set-up time. However, if your position is overrun, it can also serve as a convenient means of escape. The Short Circuit works well with the Eureka Effect, as its high metal consumption is offset by the Eureka Effect's ability. Alternately, the Wrangler can be equipped to harass incoming enemies from a distance and increase your Sentry Gun's rate of fire and survivability. However, The Pomson fares poorly against enemy Engineer buildings, meaning you will be hard-pressed to counter encroaching Engineers without additional team support.
Pomson 6000 or Frontier Justice or Rescue Ranger	Short Circuit	Jag or Gunslinger	This setup is designed for Engineers who are sharing a nest with other Engineers. The Pomson's ability to drain Cloak and Ubercharge from enemy Spies and Medics may make holding a defensive position easier, whereas the Frontier Justice may be used to store utilize extremely deadly Revenge Crits if your Sentry happens to be destroyed in a rush, making future defensive efforts (or fending off a rush that resulted in the destruction of your Sentry Gun) easier. The Rescue Ranger is used to repair buildings from long range and to harass incoming enemies from range(making up for the lack of a Pistol) and to make an urgent retreat by falling back yourself and then pulling your most important building towards you. The Short Circuit's ability to disintegrate projectiles is very useful for resisting enemy Demomen and Soldiers, and with at least two nearby Dispensers it should not be difficult to maintain a steady supply of Metal for this purpose. The Jag's ability to help buildings build faster is very useful for rebuilding a nest if buildings are destroyed, and can be used to help your fellow Engineers get their defenses up faster as well. The Gunslinger, and the mini-Sentry Guns it provides, are not as useful for long-term defense, but are a decent way to temporarily fill a defensive hole, and cost less metal than a regular Sentry Gun, making defense somewhat more tenable if your use of the Short Circuit has depleted your metal reserves.
Rescue Ranger	Pistol	Jag or Gunslinger	This is a recommended setup for mobile Engineers who are always on the move, but want to be able to have a Level 3 Sentry instead of a Mini-Sentry. The Rescue Ranger allows an Engineer to move his buildings from distances and repair it from a distance, at the cost of metal. The Jag helps to quickly rebuild Buildings that the Engineer just moved to get them ready for action as quickly as possible. The Pistol is used for combat, as both the Rescue Ranger and the Jag are inefficient when in battle. This loadout is especially recommended for Control Point maps where moving buildings across long distances quickly is a necessity. However, players may choose to use the Gunslinger for a more suitable offensive push. With the Rescue Ranger, this eliminates the need to pick up your sentry normally or even destroy it, but at the cost of 100 Metal (The same as deploying a new Mini-Sentry). This is a good combination for Gunslinger Engineers who don't want to waste time deploying a new one. This combo also maintains the ability to attack/defend easily, this allows the Engineer to constantly attack/defend anywhere while moving from place to place. This is also resolves the issue of the long redeployment time of a Level 3 Sentry Gun, as with the Mini-Sentry, you can constantly grab it with the Rescue Ranger and haul it to a new location to attack/defend.
Rescue Ranger	Wrangler	Wrench or Southern Hospitality or Jag	This weapon combination focuses on providing Engineers with greater utility, opening up a variety of strategical options. The Rescue Ranger, while less usable as a weapon, fires bolts which can repair buildings, allowing you to maintain them from a distance. In the event that movement is necessary, such as with an offensive push or hasty retreat, you can easily bring your buildings with you so long as they are in sight. The Wrangler increases the power and usable range of your Sentry Gun while also greatly shielding it from damage. With it, you can neutralize or rid of threats that are too much for an unwrangled Sentry to handle. In addition, Wrangler Jumping, when used in conjunction with the Rescue Ranger's hauling and ranged repair abilities, can give access to otherwise impossible building locations. Due to the lack of a Shotgun or Pistol, you will often have to resort to your melee weapon in direct combat. The Wrench has no downsides, however the Southern Hospitality provides an additional bleeding effect which can help with fighting enemies at the cost of no random Critical hits and extra fire vulnerability. The Jag's increased attack speed can often allow the Engie to have an better chance to deal Critical hits, along with quickly rebuild and upgrade fallen buildings. Choose the one which better fits your situation. For Mann VS Machine, this setup, when paired with the Jag, allows the Engineer to properly support his buildings in the middle of a wave. Since most of the Engineer's credits will be spent on his buildings and (maybe) resistances, he doesn't need to invest points in more than his Wrench's swing speed. As such, this setup excels above all others in MVM, due to the repairing capabilities of the Rescue Ranger, the versatility the Wrangler provides, and the quick building and upgrading speed of the Jag.

Dealing with the Spy

See also: Engineer match-ups

• The Spy is typically the mortal enemy of the Engineer. Due to the Spy's ability to sap your buildings, it makes him more than a match for you in a strategic sense. Sappers shut down your buildings immediately, leaving them effectively "destroyed" until you remove them. A building that gets Sapped while under fire is typically impossible for a lone Engineer to save.
  • The Spy's ability to disguise himself as any class on either team is also quite bothersome. While wearing a friendly disguise, the Spy has access to your buildings, allowing him to restore health and Cloak from your Dispenser. Note that this also prevents your Sentry Gun from shooting at him until he loses his disguise.
• Watch for Spies using the Your Eternal Reward. This knife, upon a backstab, allows the Spy to take the form of his victim without dropping his disguise. Spies using it will not hesitate to backstab you or your allies within range of an active Sentry Gun if they get the chance.
• Spies have the potential to hide anywhere and appear as anyone. As such, you cannot rely solely on your Sentry Gun to protect you. Remain alert at all times and refrain from being stationary even while protecting your position to prevent Ambassador headshots and backstabs. If someone seems suspicious, don't be afraid to Spy-check them.
• A good Spy will often appear without warning, quickly sap your Sentry Gun, and start attacking you immediately with his Revolver or Knife, especially if you are alone. If you come under attack in this way, worry about the Spy first. A Spy can place Sappers faster than you can remove them and repair your buildings. It is much more important to eliminate the Spy before he causes any more damage. Use your Shotgun or melee weapon to dispatch the trespasser before repairing your buildings.
• Most of the time, you should save your Dispenser first, as it will break from a Sapper faster than an upgraded Sentry Gun, 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 Gun first. On some maps, your Teleporter can actually be your most important building as it allows your team to keep a constant stream of reinforcements going. Losing your Teleporter is especially annoying due to the fact that you will lose both ends of it, requiring you to travel all the way to your Spawn to replant your Entrance. If you have sentry-jumped to your location, you may wish to save your teleporter so you can get back. Teleporters take the longest to get destroyed from Sappers, but you should still try to save them. Deciding which Building to save first always depends on the circumstances. Practice is the best guide.
  • In a nest, watch out for Spies with the Red-Tape Recorder. This Sapper will reverse the construction of your buildings, but takes far longer to destroy them. If on the offensive or under fire from enemies, consider saving the Sentry Gun before it downgrades to a level which will allow enemies to easily overwhelm it, then quickly dispatch the Spy.
• While being in a crowd of your own teammates usually helps you defend against Spies more easily, it can sometimes be difficult to pick out which one of your "teammates" is actually a Spy placing Sappers. Even though placing Sappers will not break a disguise, the disguised Spy will actually move his hand in a "placing" motion at your Building when it does so. This is subtle, but you may be able to use it pick out the Spy in a crowd. If you are letting your team deal with the Spy while you remove Sappers, keep your back to something.
• A creative Spy will often disguise as an Engineer to try to fool you and your allies into thinking he is an Engineer trying to remove Sappers when he is in fact the one sapping. They may even use the voice command warning about Spies to add to the deception. Watch for teammates who aren't swinging or firing their weapons, as a disguised Spy cannot attack. Even better, Spy-check anyone nearby.
• If you have revenge Crits, try to save some of them for the inevitable Spy attack. Having a glowing Frontier Justice out can be enough on its own to deter a Spy. While it's true that you might waste a shot on a Dead Ringer Spy, don't be afraid to do it. A Spy who feigns death likely won't be attacking you for at least a short duration, giving you time to call for help.
• Simply standing with your back facing the wall or continuously moving greatly minimizes the Spy's danger to you as it makes it harder for them to instantly kill you. The Spy is therefore forced to attack one of your buildings, which destroys their disguise. In this case, make it your priority to kill the Spy before attending to your buildings.
• If your building is continually being sapped as you remove the Sapper, attack your Wrench in multiple areas around your building, as a Spy will be distant from you as you swing your Wrench.
• If a teammate appears to be standing directly on top of you, attack them immediately. Enemy Spies are able to stand on top of you, while teammates cannot.
• Constantly watch your back and be aware of your surroundings at all times, especially when constructing and upgrading your buildings. While this applies to practically any class, the Engineer should take special care as to not become the victim of a Spy, as it can result in the total loss of all of his buildings, thus forcing them to rebuild from scratch. Spycheck as often as you can by firing at corners, "teammates" and other hiding spots where you think they could be at.
  • However, don't become overly paranoid and stray too far from your equipment. This is what the Spy wants, as he will be able to destroy your gear without interference.
• If a Spy saps your Teleporter, make sure you are not standing on top of it when you take the Sapper off. Spies often try to get your attention with a Sapper, stand on the entrance, and when you remove it, they go through, telefragging you. They will not lose their disguise with this strategy, making it easy for them to destroy your other buildings once they have telefragged you. To defend against this, make sure you are far enough from the Teleporter that you can still take a Sapper off, but Spies cannot telefrag you.
• Be aware of trickstabs when you are attacking a Spy, as they can use stairstabs, matadors, cornerstabs, and a variety of other trickstabs to kill you, even if you are aware that they are a Spy. Due to this, it is not advisable to chase a Spy with your Wrench, especially outside of your Sentry Gun's range. Use your primary to kill them, and stay a good distance back. Take corners wide, and do not follow a Spy up a set of stairs if you cannot see him. If you think a Spy will go for a stairstab, start backpedaling down the stairs. The Spy will often jump in front of you, facing forward, which gives you a moment or two to shoot him before he can turn around or defend himself.
  • Alternatively, you can call for your teammates to deal with him instead.
• The Spy's Revolver has a longer range and less spread than the Engineer's Pistol or Shotgun does, so it is recommended you stay at a medium-range whilst combatting a Spy. At long range, you are susceptible to the Spy's Revolver; At close-range, you are exposed to being backstabbed.

Cooperative Class Strategies

 Scout

While Engineers cannot do much for a Scout aside from his already inherent roles, a Scout can help out an Engineer immensely just by simply doing what he already does well enough without the Engineer.

• Scouts can make for serviceable bodyguards when an Engineer is on the move with his buildings, provided that a Pyro is not available. Scout's speed advantage and high burst damage makes keeping any pesky Spies or Demomen at bay while the Engineer sets back up quite the simple task.
• Scouts are good at getting behind enemy lines and taking out enemy Snipers and Spies, which will make friendly Engineers' lives much easier.
• Scouts with the Backscatter and/or Mad Milk are fairly effective at spychecking, which can seriously help out allied Engineers.
  • The Boston Basher's and Wrap Assassin's bleed damage will also highlight enemy Spies, though the Wrap Assassin can't do this very often.
• Scout's version of the Pistol does not come with much ammo, meaning that Dispensers are invaluable when the Scout loses access to it.
• The Sentry Gun circumvents Scout's biggest weakness: his lack of range. Sentry Guns have a very long and wide radius of damage that they can cover, which gives a Scout an excellent place to fall back on when he needs to retreat.
  • Dispensers also give the Scout a safe spot to recover health after taking too much damage while frequenting the flank routes.

 Soldier

Soldiers are one of your best friends when at the frontlines due to his immense power. The potential for protection that a Soldier possesses allows an Engineer to be more liberal with the placement of his Sentry nests.

• Soldiers are a slow class without rocket jumping, and a fragile one with it. Teleporters reduce the need for rocket jumps, which allows the Soldier to save his health pool for when it is needed most.
• A Soldier makes a decent bodyguard for an Engineer trying to move his buildings. This is especially true if he has the Disciplinary Action, which will allow the Engineer to get where he's going much more quickly.
• Soldiers will tend to hang around the front lines, making Dispensers around those areas imperative for a team.
• Soldiers also are very good at spychecking with their large blast radius on rocket launchers.
• The Battalion's Backup gives the Engineer much needed resiliency when moving buildings. This is especially useful when the Engineer is using the Rescue Ranger, as the Marked-For-Death attribute when hauling buildings is nullified by the Backup's effects.

 Pyro

A Pyro is, overall, an Engineer's best friend when maintaining a defensive hold is imperative.

• Pyros can airblast projectiles away from friendly Engineer nests, nullifying the advantages Soldiers and Demomen gain against them.
  • Pyros can also deny ÜberCharges, a common response to stubborn Engie nests, by airblasting them away.
  • Neither of the above are as effective with an airblast-disadvantaged flamethrower, such as the Backburner, the Dragon's Fury, and especially the Phlogistinator, which can't airblast at all. The presence of a Dispenser will actually nullify the Backburner's airblast penalty, which merely makes airblasting ammo-inefficient.
• Pyros (without the Dragon's Fury) are the most consistently efficient Spy-checkers in the game and are overall an absolute nightmare for Spies.
  • By equipping the Homewrecker or Neon Annihilator, a Pyro can remove Sappers from friendly buildings. This is a lower priority than hunting down the Spy who placed the Sappers, however, but is crucial if you end up dying during the skirmish.
• A Pyro with a flare gun can harass enemy Snipers, making life much easier for friendly Engineers.
• A Pyro with a shotgun, the Detonator, or the Scorch Shot can destroy stickybombs near the Engineer's buildings.
• With airblast and a shotgun, a Pyro becomes a very effective bodyguard and escort for Engineers trying to move buildings between new locations.
• A Sentry Gun can deal large amounts of damage from well outside a Pyro's effective range, allowing the Pyro to not have to worry as much about mid-ranged threats such as Heavies.
• With a Dispenser active, a Pyro can keep up a constant stream of flames or airblasts, as long as they stay within the Dispenser's range. This is useful in Spychecking or reflecting projectiles, respectively.

 Demoman

Demomen and Engineers are two of the best defensive classes in the game. Together, they can create a nigh-impenetrable defense.

• A Demoman can lay down sticky traps to block off routes enemies might take to evade a Sentry Gun, and vice versa.
• A Sentry Gun will mow down Pyros and Scouts that could otherwise very easily kill a Demoman.
• A Teleporter will allow a Demoman to quickly reach the front lines without taking self-damage, while a Dispenser will provide a reliable means for the Demoman to heal self-damage off.
• A Demoknight can pick off pesky Spies and Snipers to make the Engineer's life easier.
• Demomen with the Scottish Resistance or Quickiebomb Launcher can destroy the stickybombs of enemy Demomen threatening an Engineer's buildings.
• Demomen make excellent spycheckers with their stickybombs. Placing a few stickybombs near friendly buildings and waiting for the Engineer to call out a Spy for sapping his buildings will allow a Demoman to shut down a Spy's assault almost instantaneously.

 Heavy

Heavy benefits significantly from the buildings that Engineers build. Additionally, the Heavy's presence in and of itself can help an Engineer by diverting attention from a Sentry Gun's placement until it's too late for the enemy.

• Build Teleporters. A Heavy's single greatest weakness is his low mobility, to the point where he may simply not be able to participate in some crucial fights because he can't get to them in time. Teleporters allow Heavies to reliably reach the front lines quickly and keep the pressure on, which in turn allows you to constantly be on the move with your buildings.
• If a Heavy stands next to, or in front of your Sentry Gun, he automatically creates a dilemma for the enemy team, since they will need to divert their firepower across both sources of damage, and your combined firepower may be able to stop all opposition short of an ÜberCharge.
• A Heavy on the move is always in constant danger of being without ammo in his Minigun, since his slow movement speed makes it unlikely he will reach ammo packs before his foes do. This makes the Dispenser a crucial building for Heavies, as they can keep up a literal constant stream of bullets while standing next to it.
  • A Dispenser is also the single most reliable way to keep a Heavy with the Huo-Long Heater from running out of ammo.
• A Sentry and a Heavy can deal a barrage of damage that is unparalleled by anything other than two Sentry Guns placed next to each other. Place Sentry Guns in areas where your team's Heavy may roam, such as down long hallways, and around corners to capitalize on this and block off any areas that enemies may flood into.

 Engineer

While one Engineer on his own is quite powerful, a pair or group of Engies can make for a level of defense that is unrivaled by even the most resilient classes.

• Coordination with your fellow Engineers is key in combining your buildings effectively. If an Engineer has one chokepoint or area of track covered by a Sentry Gun, move your gear elsewhere on the map to cover any less common routes that the enemy could use to circumvent their Sentry Gun. Spreading out your Sentry Guns also reduces the risk of them simultaneously being turned to rubble in a short time interval by splash damage.
• Having multiple leveled Dispensers in play at once is crucial in extended autonomy. With near-limitless sources of metal placed strategically around the map, Engineers can build and rebuild their destroyed gear much quick, which positively impacts the versatility of your team.
• If one Engineer dies, the other Engineers can maintain his buildings until he respawns.
  • However, Engineers cannot move a fellow Engineer's buildings, meaning they must abandon them if the necessity arises to move their buildings to meet their team's requirements.
• Engineers protecting a Control Point will do well to spread their buildings out, lest they become cannon fodder for the Demoman's Stickybombs or the Loch-n-Load.
• Variety is the spice of life, so choose your weapons accordingly-- having Engineers on your team equip different wrenches and weapons can maximize your effectiveness.
  • The Jag is great at constructing buildings quickly, but not as good at healing them. A second Engineer with a normal wrench, however, can heal the Jag Engie's buildings for him, while the Jag Engineer can upgrade the other Engie's buildings.
  • A Gunslinger Engineer who wants to focus on combat can leave his Dispenser and Teleporters near other Engies. The other Engineers can upgrade and maintain his buildings, while he goes to the front lines with his mini-sentry. On defense, his quick-building mini-sentry can help deny enemy movement for a short while, buying the other Engineers some time to set-up their buildings.
  • A Southern Hospitality Engineer can help in tracking down enemy Spies thanks to the bleed it causes.
  • An Eureka Effect Engineer can help in upgrading buildings if the nest is far from the spawn, thanks to the teleportation ability. The other Engineers can then help construct his buildings faster and protect his Teleporter exit which allows him to teleport back.
  • A few Engineers can use shotguns such as the Widowmaker to help defend buildings from attacks, while others can use the Rescue Ranger to maintain them. A Pomson 6000 Engineer can also help drain away the Cloak of a Spy And ÜberCharge of the Medic, two more classes that can counter the Engineer.
  • Having at least one Engineer with the Short Circuit can help destroy enemy projectiles, countering the Soldier and Demoman, both of which have explosive ordnance that devastate buildings. Wrangler Engineers can help in fighting enemies outside of the range of Sentry Guns as well as holding ground against an enemy assault, while those wielding the Pistol can aid in spychecking, and pester enemies in spots a wrangled Sentry Gun cannot reach.
• If your fellow Engineer is using a primary weapon that is more suited for support than offense, like the Pomson 6000 or the Rescue Ranger, equip a hitscan primary such as the Shotgun or Frontier Justice. This allows you to be the damage dealer if a situation gets out of hand, and you must fight back without your buildings readily available.
• Having multiple Engineers on a team allows them to maintain an effective defense; however, after about three Engineers (fewer on small teams), the team starts to suffer from having too few combat classes.

 Medic

Medics rarely keep company around, or heal their team's Engineers due to the necessity of keeping combat classes alive. Medics take a lot of fire from enemies and are considered a top priority target by Scouts, Snipers and Spies. All of the Engineer's buildings can directly help or protect a Medic who is under fire and allow them to flee with their ÜberCharge percentage unscathed.

• The Engineer makes for a highly situational ÜberCharge patient due to their slow speed and may only be used as a means of retreat. However, the Engineer's generic weapons are still very capable, and can give the Medic some sort of protection when there are no better-suited classes around.
• Building Teleporters helps the Medic to reach the front lines (and thus heal teammates and build ÜberCharge) more quickly.
• Your Dispenser can be invaluable to the fragile Medic in more ways than one. Not only does it allow a Medic to heal off heavy damage incurred while on the front lines, but its hitbox is large enough that a Medic often can hide inside of it, treating it as a sort of secondary armor, to survive their attackers while your teammates or Sentry Gun finish them off.
• The Kritzkrieg combined with the Widowmaker can allow an Engineer to deal a constant stream of critical damage without the need to reload.
• A Medic may ÜberCharge an Engie to aid in keeping an important Sentry Gun active for as long as possible. It can also be used to pick up an important building, such as a high-level Dispenser, and save it.
• Since you are often near your Dispenser anyway, Medics may neglect to heal you, even if they see you wandering around at low health. Don't be afraid to call out for them to get their attention. Since Engineer is a light class, it should not be an issue for them to quickly buff you, and get back to work.

 Sniper

Engineers and Snipers do not have much synergy, but still can help cover each others' weaknesses.

• An allied Sniper is obviously one of the more effective responses to enemy Snipers. Allied Snipers taking out enemy Snipers will allow allied Engineers to breathe much easier and safely place his buildings in areas where a team might not expect them.
• A Sniper who sits near a Sentry Gun doesn't have to worry about Scouts or Pyros as much, since the Sentry Gun will generally kill these classes long before they can reasonably reach the Sniper.
• A Sniper with Jarate or the Tribalman's Shiv can help in Spy-checking.
  • The presence of a Jarate Sniper also increases the effectiveness of the Southern Hospitality, as quick extinguishing will nullify the fire vulnerability, and the guaranteed Mini-Crits are far more useful with spychecking, as the Spy will both visibly bleed and shed yellow droplets, even under cloak. The combined power of your tools may make a Spy reluctant in approaching you at all.
• The Pomson 6000 and the Short Circuit can light friendly Huntsman arrows on fire.
  • The presence of a Dispenser will counteract the low ammo count of the Huntsman.
• A Sniper can take out enemy Medics to deny them ÜberCharge, one of the main counters to an Engineer's Sentry nest.

 Spy

Due to the differing roles of the classes, Spies and Engineers generally don't work together well. However, one can indirectly help the other, even without knowing it.

• One of the Spy's main goals is to pick apart the enemy lines by taking out Medics, Offense classes, and especially other Engineers to make their team's job easier and safer as they traverse through the map. Engineers benefit from this the most because it allows them set up their buildings without the worry of instant retaliation.
  • Spies can take out enemy Medics to stop ÜberCharges before they happen. They are also a main counter to Snipers, which love to cause headaches for Engineers.
• The Engineer's Dispenser is an important building to Spies. The building generally stays out of sight, like the Spy himself and therefore allows him to recover from a fight much quicker by retreating to one. This can be a double-edged sword though, since you will be used to see a friendly Spy around, and may think a disguised enemy Spy is your teammate. Constantly spycheck “friendly” Spies that approach your Dispenser and quickly kill them before they cause any more damage.

See also

• Team strategy