Basic Engineer strategy

The Engineer is a fragile class with weaker weapons, but he has the unique ability to construct Buildings, with Teleporters to send his teammates to the front lines, Sentry Guns to ward off enemies, and Dispensers to heal and supply ammunition to his teammates.

General

• Hitting Buildings with the Wrench will cause them to build twice as fast. This effect stacks with each additional Engineer striking the building.

• You can pack up and carry fully constructed Buildings to new locations. This is called "Hauling".

• If you are hauling a Building and encounter an enemy, put your Building down and fight! If you die while carrying it, the building will be lost no matter what.

• You can rotate the placement of a Building while the blueprint is out with the alternate fire button. Changing a Sentry Gun's direction allows you to place them in corners and other odd spots. Rotating a Teleporter exit affects the direction one faces when exiting; failing to rotate the exit properly may result in temporary disorientation for exiting teammates.

• Switching to a different melee weapon at a Resupply Locker will destroy all Buildings you own, even if you are switching between the Wrench and the Southern Hospitality.

• Don't build right on top of other Engineers. If you're all in one place, one Demoman or ÜberCharged Pyro can kill everything at the same time!

• Stay alive! While your Buildings are important to yourself and your team, you are more important. Your Buildings are sitting ducks without you, and you can always make more Buildings if you live.

• Be aware! It's easy to focus too hard on building, but you should be ready at a moment's notice to whack a Spy or shoot a foe.

• Kill the Spy! He can place Sappers instantly, but your Wrench swings slowly and would still require two hits. Kill him first and save your Buildings afterward.

• A Pyro with a Homewrecker is your very best friend. He can ignite Spies, blow back projectiles with his airblast, and knock off enemy Sappers in a single blow.

• Engineers tend to have a high chance for Critical hits because of the amount of damage their sentry deals, use your Shotgun to dispatch foes quickly and you might get some lucky Crits.

• Don't be afraid to ask that your teammates temporarily switch to engineer to upgrade your teleporters or cover you while you set up a forward base.

Weapon Specific

A list of useful tidbits about the Engineer's tools.

Shotgun

• The Shotgun is a powerful primary weapon. At mid-range it has the same spread and damage as a Scattergun. The only difference is that at close range the damage boost is much smaller.

• The Shotgun is more useful than the Frontier Justice whenever you need to deal more damage over time. Because you aren't meting out hard-earned criticals, you can fire indiscriminately.

Frontier Justice

• The Frontier Justice has a clip size of only 3, so marksmanship is key.

• Even doing Critical damage, you still have to contend with a Shotgun's spread, so make sure you're close enough to do maximum damage.

• Whenever you move your Sentry Gun up, consider destroying it to give yourself the Revenge Crits. You can always build a new one at the new location.

• Use your Revenge Crits carefully. You don't want to fire them into a Dead Ringer Spy or waste them on a nearly dead foe!

• Revenge Crits allow you to make offensive pushes. Use Combat Mini-Sentry Guns to build criticals while delivering short-term Sentry support.

Pistol / Lugermorph

• Pistol bullets are surprisingly lethal at close range. Each one can deal somewhere between 10 and 15 damage per hit, and you have a tremendous supply. Don't be afraid to fire and keep firing.

• Watch for retreating enemies and tag them with Pistol fire. An enemy that is falling back is usually injured, so you're likely to bring them down.

• The Pistol's effectiveness at mid-range makes it a reliable weapon to use in conjunction with the Gunslinger's Combat Mini-Sentry Guns.

Wrangler

• If you use the Wrangler to aim your Sentry Gun, remember that you cannot switch weapons to repair it without disabling it for three seconds. Considering asking another Engineer on your team to repair and reload your Sentry Gun while you Wrangle it.

• With the Wrangler, you can fire your Sentry Gun at enemies outside of the Gun's normal range.

• Don't be afraid to use your Gun as a regular Sentry despite the Wrangler. It's more aware and accurate than you, even if isn't as tough or damaging.

• You can also use the Wrangler to prevent your Sentry Gun from being distracted by invulnerable enemies such as Scouts using Bonk! Atomic Punch or ÜberCharged Medics.

• The Wrangler's shield can be used to defend the Sentry from a distance, even if you can't see the enemy or fire back.

• The Wrangler makes you and your Sentry Gun much more vulnerable to flanking.

• Be careful of making Sentry Guns in locations that are only useful if you Wrangle them but will otherwise be too far away to see much action.

• It is possible to use both the bullets and rockets from your Sentry Gun to propel yourself across the map. This is known as Sentry jumping.

• Standing behind your Sentry while wrangling can keep Snipers from hitting you; the Sentry has a larger hitbox than one would think.

Wrench / Golden Wrench

• The game prioritizes repairing buildings over melee combat when using the Wrench. This means that if there is an enemy Spy next to a friendly structure, you may find that you will hit the building instead of him. Step back a bit or switch to your Shotgun if this happens.

Gunslinger

• Psychology works to your advantage. Most enemies fire at the Mini-Sentry first, giving you a chance to fight back.

• Avoid idle Mini-Sentry Guns. They are so cheap and fast-building that purely defensive positions are a waste of their potential.

• Pick up the fallen weapons from dead players. Each one is a free Mini-Sentry.

• It is almost always faster and cheaper to demolish and rebuild a Mini-Sentry than it is to reload it. Also, you'll load up any Revenge Crits that it may have earned.

• When using the Gunslinger, surprise can be powerful. Place Sentry Guns in ambush positions to help while your team pushes.

• Since you start off with 200 metal, you are capable of constructing two Mini-Sentries, but only one at a time. It is a good idea to use the Gunslinger when you feel that you can not rely heavily on Resupply Cabinet or Ammo Packs.

Southern Hospitality

• The Southern Hospitality does a great deal more damage than the Wrench, making it nearly as versatile. Use it unless the enemy team has extremely aggressive Pyros.

• While not a common occurrence on some maps, be very careful of ÜberCharged Pyros. They will destroy your Sentry nest easily because fire is not blocked by Buildings.

• The Southern Hospitality will make it easier to track down cloaked Spies. A hit of your Wrench will cause them to bleed, making it much easier to track them as they retreat.

Jag

• The Jag is a good alternative to the Gunslinger. Haul upgraded Sentry Guns and hit them for an extremely rapid deployment, or build a new Sentry at a forward location.
• Rebuild Dispensers and Teleporters rapidly at new locations. With the Jag, you can establish a new nest very quickly.
• The Jag is the least powerful Wrench in combat. Avoid melee whenever possible, and keep your Shotgun loaded for close range encounters.

Buildings

A list of useful tidbits about the Engineer's constructions.

Dispenser

• Dispensers are key to holding positions for long periods. Where Medics and map pickups fail, Dispensers will carry the weight. A level 3 Dispenser heals many people rapidly and refills their ammo.

• They can be used to block enemies in narrow corridors.

• You can hop on your own Dispenser and climb up to inaccessible places.

• They give you a regenerating supply of metal for your Buildings.

• Try to hide your Dispensers in seclusive areas. Particularly, it should be away from the battlefront, but it should be close enough so that teammates could use the Dispensers.

• Check the area around your Dispensers regularly. Canny enemy Spies can use higher level Dispensers to remain invisible indefinitely, waiting until the see an opening before attacking you and your buildings.

Teleporter

• Inform your team! Tell them where it is and where it goes.

• Build Teleporters often, but be aware that the Teleporter Exit's placement will change your team's strategy. Poor placement can draw your defenders away or concentrate your teammates in a poor offensive position. Placing a Teleporter far behind the enemy spawn may seem clever, but you'll often lose if your whole team comes through!

• They are crucial for most Attack/Defend and Payload maps.

Sentry Gun

• The difference between an excellent placement and an average one can sometimes be very small. Even a few inches can make the difference between a rock solid defense and an exposed Sentry Gun. Look where the Sentry shoots and where the enemy can fire from.

• Avoid "gimmicky" Sentry positions such as looking down holes in ceilings, in the middle of narrow hallways, or around sharp corners. They'll score kills, but they're generally easy to destroy. These are best used for Combat Mini-Sentry Guns, which are disposable.

• Sentry Guns are best for area denial, not killing. You want to keep the enemy from pressuring your team, while your team keeps the enemy from pressuring your Sentry Gun.

• Constantly move your sentry guns to a new location around your base; the enemy will not suspect this.

See also

• Team strategy