This is more or less general advice.
Loadouts
Primary Weapons:
shotgun: reliable. can be used in every gamemode, with every wrench, and with every secondary. I use this 95% of the time.
widowmaker: Never having to reload is a very good thing. If you can hit every shot it might be worth it. With good metal management, you will always have mini sentries to place because every ~2 meat-shots you have a new mini. The downsides can be very bad at times. You cant just pepper damage at range and you wont be able to spy check as much. I use this weapon on pl offense because I dont want to worry about reloading, and I have constant metal supply from the cart so the disadvantages go away.
frontier justice: I've seen it used well, but rarely used well. The thing about highlander is you dont have constant streams of people dieing to your mini, so your crits can be few and far between. Overall, you dont always have crits, but you always have 3 shots. I never use the frontier justice.
I'm not going to be going over the other primaries because they are banned.
Secondary weapons:
pistol: reliable, but not always in a good way. At mid-long range it will reliably do terrible damage and will reliably miss half its shots. At close range it will do fair damage. I more see this as a weapon to help cover the downsides of the frontier justice and the widowmaker where spamming shots is discouraged. Scouts use their pistol to conserve scatter shots, but engineers have the mini to cover that weakness. I never use this weapon.
wrangler: reliable. It covers mid-long ranges incredibly well. It has very good damage at mid-long range, has no bullet damage falloff, no stupid spread, a 66% damage shield, and aim assist (the last two are unnecessarily good). It's down side is it being used too much and requiring a sentry (which usually isnt a problem). Using this weapon at close range reduces your potential damage by ~50%. Using this weapon too much makes you more susceptible to a flank. For me the key to using the wrangler is knowing when to long-range snipe and when to let the sentry auto fire. I use this weapon 80% of the time with minis, and is the only weapon for standard sentries.
short circuit: The unsung hero of the engineer. If you are good with this weapon you can block so much spam and single-handedly nullify a crit demo. The short circuit is great for cramped maps where the mini can pretty much see anything that can see it. Also this is really great for pl offense. There is a lot of spam directed toward the cart and the short circuit increases your survivability. I use this on pl offense, and very specific maps.
Melee weapons:
the "stock" wrench: I consider the stock wrench to be: the wrench, the southern hospitality, and the jag. Overall these wrenches dont provided any real game changing differences. I say it's more down to whichever wrench you think looks the best (carbonado botkiller wrench is damn sexy). Situationally the southern hospitality is the worst wrench because pyros are likely to be with the combo when they push your sentry and the southern hospitality can reduce your survivability when falling back. You should only be running standard sentries if you are on a defensive map (pl defense, defense on a/d, ctf). If Im running standard sentries Ill use my carbonado wrench 95% of the time.
the eureka effect: It shines when you want to put your sentry in weird spots, and in situations where nopeing back to spawn gets you to the second point faster than walking from first (barnblitz). Not picking up your sentry is not a big downside, because generally you shouldnt be moving your sentry (just makes it weak for a few seconds and not firing at anything). I use this as a situational map wrench like on barnblitz or upward first.
the gunslinger: the only wrench to be run on 5-cp, koth, pl offense, a/d offense. Any kind of offense it will always be better to have two extra guns(you and the sentry) on the frontlines than you sitting back building a defensive sentry. I use this 100.000% of the time on these gamemodes.
Gamemode advice
5-cp
I always run mini sentries, even on last. It makes it easier to push because we have that extra damage coming in. Generally you are a flanking class, try to get behind and place a mini to try to split their attention from your team.
Teles are placed on rollout, and when you die. Dont just run back to forward spawns to place a tele. Upgrade them to lv2 if you have time during stalemates or when you spawn and your spawn hasnt moved.
Dispensers are very good things to have. During stalemates build one up near your combo (remember to leave a mini watching a flank) and upgrade to lv2 if you have time. If you are able to upgrade it to lv3 it usually means the stalemate has lasted too long and you should be pushing soon.
Generally my loadout is shotgun/wrangler/gunslinger on 5-cp. Sometimes I'll be running short circuit, but that is very situational and usually will only be for 1 or 2 points on the map.
Koth
Again always run minis. When you have the point, your job is to deny people from easily accessing the point. Have a mini positioned so it isnt easily spammed out, but also so it watches the point or an approach route to the point. When they have the point try to keep the mini up denying a forward hold for the enemy.
When you have the point keep a dispenser up right behind the point for people to easily fall back to. Upgrade to lv3 when you have time. When the other team has they point keep a dispenser lv1 or lv2 near the combo.
Teleporters usually arent the most important thing of koth. I put up the entrance as I go out the door, run back into spawn, take part in the team fight, and then in my free time afterwards put up the exit. Upgrade as you see fit when spawning.
My loadout is usually a 50/50 split between shotgun/wrangler/gunslinger and shotgun/short circuit/gunslinger. As examples: Lakeside I use wrangler, and Viaduct I use short circuit.
Payload
offense
When pushing the cart, keep a mini up near you. You have constant supply to metal and will never run out of minis. Overall, push the cart. You are disposable.
Dispensers arent as necessary, but I try to put them up between pushes.
Teleporters are absolutely necessary. With the maps being usually long, having a teleporter gets your people to the frontlines fast.
Suiciding to push the cart a little, either to make it stop from falling back or to gain a little ground, is part of your job. This also gives you time to go back and upgrade/move teleporters.
My loadout is always widowmaker/short circuit/gunslinger.
defense
Sentries are the most important thing in pl defense. For this reason you get suicides in setup to give you extra metal. Once you know the sentry is going to die (comes from experience) fallback and leave it. You need to fallback early to give yourself time to setup a new sentry.
Dispensers are the second most important thing to you. Keep it near enough to your sentry to be able to easily get metal, but not too close that it will take splash damage from explosives hitting your sentry. Get this thing to lv2 at least, but lv3 is preferable.
Teleporters get your team to you faster. Meaning you are more likely to live if you have one up. I normally only have time to build it up to lv2 before my sentry is pushed.
On rollout I usually get a minimum of three suicides. This allows me to build an entrance at spawn, pick up a suicide, build a sentry, pick up a suicide, build a dispenser, pick up a suicide, build an exit, pick up metal, and start upgrading my sentry.
My loadout is generally shotgun/wrangler/wrench, but will sometime run eureka effect depending on the map.
A/D
offense
Build minis, cap points, build dispensers/teles where you are holding. Like 5-cp maps try to flank and split the attention of the defense.
My general loadout is shotgun/wrangler/gunslinger
defense
pretty much your strategy is the same as pl defense, get up a lv3 sentry, turtle a point, and fall back when necessary.
My loadout is usually shotgun/wrangler/wrench. A/D doesnt usually have long walks between points so I generally dont find use in the eureka effect.
CTF
Quickly build a sentry in the intel room to prevent a quick scout rush trying to get your intel. You will not have suicides, so managing you metal while building up your sentry and dispenser is very important.
Start putting up your dispenser once you have a lv1 sentry so you have a supply of metal, usually intel rooms arent very rich in metal so you will be using your dispenser to help you get your sentry up.
teleporters are usually worthless to get up. Intel room are usually so close to the spawn it doesnt really affect the walking time, and building teles for your team is usually a bad idea because it puts you so far away from your sentry.
On ctf try to be self reliant enough to be able to not need a pybro. A pyro with your combo will be so much more helpful than a pyro constantly spychecking for you.
My loadout is generally shotgun/wrangler/wrench
Loadouts
Primary Weapons:
shotgun: reliable. can be used in every gamemode, with every wrench, and with every secondary. I use this 95% of the time.
widowmaker: Never having to reload is a very good thing. If you can hit every shot it might be worth it. With good metal management, you will always have mini sentries to place because every ~2 meat-shots you have a new mini. The downsides can be very bad at times. You cant just pepper damage at range and you wont be able to spy check as much. I use this weapon on pl offense because I dont want to worry about reloading, and I have constant metal supply from the cart so the disadvantages go away.
frontier justice: I've seen it used well, but rarely used well. The thing about highlander is you dont have constant streams of people dieing to your mini, so your crits can be few and far between. Overall, you dont always have crits, but you always have 3 shots. I never use the frontier justice.
I'm not going to be going over the other primaries because they are banned.
Secondary weapons:
pistol: reliable, but not always in a good way. At mid-long range it will reliably do terrible damage and will reliably miss half its shots. At close range it will do fair damage. I more see this as a weapon to help cover the downsides of the frontier justice and the widowmaker where spamming shots is discouraged. Scouts use their pistol to conserve scatter shots, but engineers have the mini to cover that weakness. I never use this weapon.
wrangler: reliable. It covers mid-long ranges incredibly well. It has very good damage at mid-long range, has no bullet damage falloff, no stupid spread, a 66% damage shield, and aim assist (the last two are unnecessarily good). It's down side is it being used too much and requiring a sentry (which usually isnt a problem). Using this weapon at close range reduces your potential damage by ~50%. Using this weapon too much makes you more susceptible to a flank. For me the key to using the wrangler is knowing when to long-range snipe and when to let the sentry auto fire. I use this weapon 80% of the time with minis, and is the only weapon for standard sentries.
short circuit: The unsung hero of the engineer. If you are good with this weapon you can block so much spam and single-handedly nullify a crit demo. The short circuit is great for cramped maps where the mini can pretty much see anything that can see it. Also this is really great for pl offense. There is a lot of spam directed toward the cart and the short circuit increases your survivability. I use this on pl offense, and very specific maps.
Melee weapons:
the "stock" wrench: I consider the stock wrench to be: the wrench, the southern hospitality, and the jag. Overall these wrenches dont provided any real game changing differences. I say it's more down to whichever wrench you think looks the best (carbonado botkiller wrench is damn sexy). Situationally the southern hospitality is the worst wrench because pyros are likely to be with the combo when they push your sentry and the southern hospitality can reduce your survivability when falling back. You should only be running standard sentries if you are on a defensive map (pl defense, defense on a/d, ctf). If Im running standard sentries Ill use my carbonado wrench 95% of the time.
the eureka effect: It shines when you want to put your sentry in weird spots, and in situations where nopeing back to spawn gets you to the second point faster than walking from first (barnblitz). Not picking up your sentry is not a big downside, because generally you shouldnt be moving your sentry (just makes it weak for a few seconds and not firing at anything). I use this as a situational map wrench like on barnblitz or upward first.
the gunslinger: the only wrench to be run on 5-cp, koth, pl offense, a/d offense. Any kind of offense it will always be better to have two extra guns(you and the sentry) on the frontlines than you sitting back building a defensive sentry. I use this 100.000% of the time on these gamemodes.
Gamemode advice
5-cp
I always run mini sentries, even on last. It makes it easier to push because we have that extra damage coming in. Generally you are a flanking class, try to get behind and place a mini to try to split their attention from your team.
Teles are placed on rollout, and when you die. Dont just run back to forward spawns to place a tele. Upgrade them to lv2 if you have time during stalemates or when you spawn and your spawn hasnt moved.
Dispensers are very good things to have. During stalemates build one up near your combo (remember to leave a mini watching a flank) and upgrade to lv2 if you have time. If you are able to upgrade it to lv3 it usually means the stalemate has lasted too long and you should be pushing soon.
Generally my loadout is shotgun/wrangler/gunslinger on 5-cp. Sometimes I'll be running short circuit, but that is very situational and usually will only be for 1 or 2 points on the map.
Koth
Again always run minis. When you have the point, your job is to deny people from easily accessing the point. Have a mini positioned so it isnt easily spammed out, but also so it watches the point or an approach route to the point. When they have the point try to keep the mini up denying a forward hold for the enemy.
When you have the point keep a dispenser up right behind the point for people to easily fall back to. Upgrade to lv3 when you have time. When the other team has they point keep a dispenser lv1 or lv2 near the combo.
Teleporters usually arent the most important thing of koth. I put up the entrance as I go out the door, run back into spawn, take part in the team fight, and then in my free time afterwards put up the exit. Upgrade as you see fit when spawning.
My loadout is usually a 50/50 split between shotgun/wrangler/gunslinger and shotgun/short circuit/gunslinger. As examples: Lakeside I use wrangler, and Viaduct I use short circuit.
Payload
offense
When pushing the cart, keep a mini up near you. You have constant supply to metal and will never run out of minis. Overall, push the cart. You are disposable.
Dispensers arent as necessary, but I try to put them up between pushes.
Teleporters are absolutely necessary. With the maps being usually long, having a teleporter gets your people to the frontlines fast.
Suiciding to push the cart a little, either to make it stop from falling back or to gain a little ground, is part of your job. This also gives you time to go back and upgrade/move teleporters.
My loadout is always widowmaker/short circuit/gunslinger.
defense
Sentries are the most important thing in pl defense. For this reason you get suicides in setup to give you extra metal. Once you know the sentry is going to die (comes from experience) fallback and leave it. You need to fallback early to give yourself time to setup a new sentry.
Dispensers are the second most important thing to you. Keep it near enough to your sentry to be able to easily get metal, but not too close that it will take splash damage from explosives hitting your sentry. Get this thing to lv2 at least, but lv3 is preferable.
Teleporters get your team to you faster. Meaning you are more likely to live if you have one up. I normally only have time to build it up to lv2 before my sentry is pushed.
On rollout I usually get a minimum of three suicides. This allows me to build an entrance at spawn, pick up a suicide, build a sentry, pick up a suicide, build a dispenser, pick up a suicide, build an exit, pick up metal, and start upgrading my sentry.
My loadout is generally shotgun/wrangler/wrench, but will sometime run eureka effect depending on the map.
A/D
offense
Build minis, cap points, build dispensers/teles where you are holding. Like 5-cp maps try to flank and split the attention of the defense.
My general loadout is shotgun/wrangler/gunslinger
defense
pretty much your strategy is the same as pl defense, get up a lv3 sentry, turtle a point, and fall back when necessary.
My loadout is usually shotgun/wrangler/wrench. A/D doesnt usually have long walks between points so I generally dont find use in the eureka effect.
CTF
Quickly build a sentry in the intel room to prevent a quick scout rush trying to get your intel. You will not have suicides, so managing you metal while building up your sentry and dispenser is very important.
Start putting up your dispenser once you have a lv1 sentry so you have a supply of metal, usually intel rooms arent very rich in metal so you will be using your dispenser to help you get your sentry up.
teleporters are usually worthless to get up. Intel room are usually so close to the spawn it doesnt really affect the walking time, and building teles for your team is usually a bad idea because it puts you so far away from your sentry.
On ctf try to be self reliant enough to be able to not need a pybro. A pyro with your combo will be so much more helpful than a pyro constantly spychecking for you.
My loadout is generally shotgun/wrangler/wrench
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