Today, I’m going to mix things up a bit and go with the class I currently have the second most play time with, the engineer. A team of good engineers can make or break a team’s defense and in some cases the offense as well.



Overall:

You are the guardian of the flag and the capture point, the final line that stands between victory and defeat, the placement of your sentry is critical, and your access to reserve metals is also critical. On offense, your teleporters are what push the team forward and your SG position keeps the enemy from pushing you back into your own spawns.


Your SG needs a little love, HUMP IT!

An engineer sitting behind an SG with a dispenser behind them is neigh impossible to get rid of, bar spies, even an uber’d heavy will have a great deal of trouble dislodging you. In some cases where you are getting a lot of action, you might as well open up the console, type ‘+attack’ and let the wrench swing itself. At this point you can get up, take a break, grab a brew, and odds are the SG will still be there, and might have picked up a few kills. However at the same time…


If your SG could speak and feel love, and the TF enrichment center reminds you that it cannot…

It would tell you to move on and not worry about it; hence the dichotomy of being an engineer. In order to keep your gun up, you must hump it, but if you come off the gun, you can set up your teams teleporter, and lend your shotgun to the general flack flying at the enemy team, it also gives you the opportunity to attack spies before they can SAP MAH SENTRY.


Spies SAPPIN’ MAH SENTRY

Your biggest bane will be spies, just shoot everyone who even looks at your SG funny, and whack the crap out of anyone who comes to your dispenser with the wrench. Two whacks with a wrench will destroy any sapper; just make sure to keep hitting it to repair the damage.


In case of uber, your SG is your shield and your sword

When that uber’d heavy or soldier comes around the corner, get behind the profile of the gun, and make sure every second to turn around and repair the dispenser too, if the dispenser goes down or you are exposed, you will get killed and your SG will fall.


Dispenser – to save for yourself or to help others

Do you place your dispenser behind the SG, or somewhere where the team can easily use it? This depends on the map, on an attack/defend map like dustbowl, gravel pit, or a CTF map like 2fort, you should place it behind the gun in case of uber. On a map with moving spawns where you will likely be moving your gun up with the team, place it in a location where your team can easily use it to reload and heal behind the lines.


Move with the team – gear in the far back is useless

In maps like well or granary, move your shit up, a well placed SG will help consolidate the hold on a cap point and allow your team to gain a foot hold while it goes after the last cap. The order goes like this -> build dispenser – place tele exit -> place SG -> move tele entrance (if needed). Don’t fret if your gear gets destroyed it may take several tries to get a good placement going.


Place SG in Enemy Base
???
Profit!

While it’s difficult to do in some maps, you might get lucky and get behind the enemy in a secluded part of their base. If this is the case, put a teleporter and an SG inside the enemy base. Nothing screws a team over faster in Well than an enemy SG in the attic. A once impenetrable defense will crumble in seconds…if you can get past them and lay down the stuff that is.


Working on projects together means less TPS reports

Two engineers working together gets things up much much faster than just one, and for some things, like setting up foreword SGs, it’s critical that the SG get up to at least level 2 as quickly as possible. One extra engineer just means that much extra metal going into the gun. It also means an extra set of eyes to watch for SPIES SAPPIN MAH SENTRY.


That pretty much sums up what you need to know to be a good engineer, much like the scout, just make sure to always stay paranoid, because spies are always out looking to SAP MAH SENTRY.