I tend to jump around in classes, but spent a lot of time as an engineer this last month - looks like the sentry gun finally replaced the rocket launcher on my stats page. All of the classes have a unique angle, but I've gotten rather fond of the NG class. (until they unlock some solder goodies) A few thoughts.... in no apparent order... on playing an aggressive engineer.
Equipment does not mean a thing. I don't even know if you lose any points when someone tags your equipment, but compared to getting killed, all the structures are disposable. Once you adjust to that, you just made the first step towards combat engineering.
Without dispensers, the push will fail. Folks need ammo. I consider it more important for there to be a dispenser up front for folks to push with than a handy source of metal for me. Once I spend a couple rounds having to scavenge ammo for my rocket launcher, I'll usually switch to NG because (best case) things will end in a stalemate without the ammo to push. No loss if the opposing team takes it out, major gain for your team (and you point-wise) if they use it. If metal is scarce and you are trying to build out a level 3 sentry, it might make sense to have a dispenser handy. Once it is up, move that dispenser down to the front line! Having to climb up to the roof or run back to base to get ammo is a serious pain. I actually tested this out today - planting the dispenser just outside point 2 tunnel on warpath. I'd even tell Nutz when it was up -- the end result is it would usually get wiped out in each charge, but... they would take the time to wipe out the dispenser and *not* shot at 1) me, 2) teammates, 3) let me (and everyone else) shoot at them, 4) burn up the uber charge, and 5) if it survives you get points as everyone recovers ammo/health from the charge as well as points for fixing it.
The sentry gun's biggest problem is range. This makes snipers and solders my #1 enemy. I have to pull out the pistol or shotgun when they are halfway across the map. (more on this later). I look for build spots where the expensive (from a time standpoint) sentry cannot be shot at from range it cannot shot back. It was mentioned, but if you right click, you can specify the initial direction of the gun. Since it takes a bit of time to rotate, it is worth aiming it where you expect the enemy to show up first. Turning it 90/180 degrees also allows for some interesting building locations that have just that extra little bit of cover from ranged attacks. When you can, build the gun at an elevation above or below ground level. Takes a bit more work to aim at it, and also limits the collateral damage to your team since they have to now choose to shoot at the SG or the people shooting at them.
Oh, we are going to build a dozen or so here.
Build forward when the team is pushing, build back (far enough for the uber to be burned off) when defending. If you have two or three engineers, you should be able to spread things out enough that no one uber pair can make it to the point. Even minor dips can go a long way to making your gun hard to hit.
Failsafe coverage for that same point
Ever wonder why I stand on top of my gun? First, that is the safe way to be near it - your own gun can hurt/kill you! There are many spots where 85% of the rushes will be in front of you, but every once in a while they will show up behind you. In tight spots like the roof of the small building at point 2 (warpath), the rocket splash damage might get you. It also helps make life more difficult for the spy. Nothing is as funny as having the new spy looking up at you trying to figure out how to knife you on top of your gun that was planted on top of a cement block that requires a jump. (old pros like Jehutty, Ack, etc are not slowed down, however - don't ever feel too safe) As a bonus, you get a little different perspective on the map, and can rain down shotty/pistol fire where folks don't expect it. Positioned properly, a sniper/solder should have to step out in the open to take a shot at you or your sentry gun.
The point marks the spot where the uber should run out...
There are occasions where you can't get out in front. That initial middle rush on warpath, its hard to build out anything in the direct line of fire. Harassment fire goes a long way to helping your team. I love to rush in and try to build on the side of the canyon. For it to survive fuse, thatguy, and the other snipers picking off everything from the other side, I'll build far enough back where they can't get it. The trade off is I only cover the back third of the map, but the sentry fire slows down the rush and more often then not ties up two or three demos trying to spam the little cannon.
Say hello to my little friend!
As for the spy... I'm always watching for them, and when you show up or behave unlike the rest of the team, well.... Everybody gets a complementary helping of buckshot, checking to make sure you are who you claim to be. The wrench does wonders in close quarters with a spy. If you are wrenching, they are *not* backstabbing. For me, I'll make an attempt to save the sentry gun, but will usually trade off my equipment to kill the spy. Once you have the spy, then you can remove the saps if there is time. The more hitpoints on the asset, the longer it takes to sap. Also, when you disguise, you become someone on our team. I see you disguised as me -- very good chance I'll let you come in and start sapping, then give you the wrench (and unsap for bonus points). Spies disguise with the unit's primary weapon, so give an extra round or two to any medics holding the needle gun or someone who does not toggle through weapons. Spies tend to sap everything in the order they run across them - thus a nice juicy teleporter sitting out in front, giving me a second or two notice that I need to cover my SG. If you are on the ground, always be moving. I catch more spies bumping into them than I do spotting them decloak.
A minor point, but the sucker play works more often than it should. Spies will sap the teleporter entrances, all the NG's will run back to rebuild them, then the spies will sap the now unprotected dispenser, sentry, and teleporter exit. Only one NG should run back at a time. Tis also not worth having a fifth of the team running back to the first point to try an hunt down a spy. The teleporters are nice, but not worth taking resources from the front. An NG should be able to take out a spy without assistance as by the time you get back there, rebuild a teleporter, the spy will be trying to recharge the cloak -- shotty time.
Dispensers - remember those? So a group ubers in, takes down the sentry guns, and tries to take the point. As a combat NG, I'll try to always have 200 metal on my person. Once things are built up, there is a good chance the dispensers are full of metal too. If you don't get the dispensers, expect a level 2 (or better) sentry gun to rebuilt by the time you try to push through again. Terrain helps, so if you can build your equipment where the enemy has to shoot through a fence, wall, building, or any other bullet blocking cover, use it.
A great demo can take out all three, but without help, the dispensers will still be there.
Demos will make quick work of your sentry, you , and anything around them. You can try to knock them off with the shotgun - but wait for them to detonate and then fix/rebuild anything that gets damaged. Don't just stand there wrenching on it while there are stickies all over the place. Best defense against an ubered demo is to make sure the sentry guns are spaced out enough they can't take out all in one shot. Bonus if the dispensers are not by the sentry guns, making a rebuilding a snap. The normal nades are not that big of a deal, wrench away if they are using those and run if you get hurt too much. These guys end up being the bane of your construction, and the right choice for smashing the forward base. As you are covering the forward area, I also like to try and shoot the enemy stickies to a bit safer area. Hard to do with the weapons you have, but worth the trouble to clear the way for your team.
Minor note on wrenching. Wrenching cuts construction time in half - ie 5 rather than 10 seconds to set up a level one sentry. When engineers help other engineers, things really go up fast. It also lets you do a relay on getting metal - one building, the other getting more metal to finish it off. Hit everything - including your teammate's structures (and them as well, just to be sure). It takes 7 wrench swings to get a level one sentry up by yourself.
Pyros. Much like the stickies, run away and live to fight another day. They do lots of damage to your equipment, but you burn for an additional 50 points if they light you on fire and you don't have the HP as an engineer. Retreat, giving them a clip of buckshot and pistol ammo as you back away if they get close. The flame has a surprising range, so don't think standing on top of a building and the sentry will save you... If a forward base can be approached by rounding a corner, ubered up, these guys make excellent base busters.
The heavy. Unless they end up right on top of you, stay with the sentry. He has a big gun, but yours is bigger! Even an ubered heavy is not a huge threat at range. Up close, stick with the gun for a few wrench whacks and then back away. Another minor point - construction stops bullets. Much better to use equipment as armor if you can make sure it is between you and the enemy.
Also a minor point for medics doing the uber thing. I really wish I could target the sentry gun, but they tend to shoot at the first thing they see, and stay on that for as long as it can. If you do an uber, run in first so the sentry targets you and not the heavy/pyro/demo you are linked up with. That way they don't get knocked about trying to take stuff down. Another point: defending demos - use your stickies to try and separate the medics from their linked attacker. If they were silly enough to go medic last, when they get blown apart the sentry will tear apart the flying demo who just lost the uber. Up close an personal, a medic's bone saw will destroy you. Shotty retreat again.
A well aimed sentry will make quick work of scouts. Far more interesting is going after them with the shotty. Up close, their shotgun is better than yours. But... you do considerable damage and you usually have more health available to recover. I'll try to gun scouts down like I would a spy. Even fight in my book.
Ah heck, one more set of comments about dispensers. You (and the other team's spies) can stand on your dispenser and sentry gun. Your teammates can walk through both. One of the better places to drop a dispenser is right on top of the health and metal - that way when they swing through for resupply, they get the nice boost of the packs in addition to your dispenser help. Rotating it 90 degrees makes life easier for you, as you can get at the health and metal sticking out the sides. Every once in a while you can have some cover, have a forward sentry gun, and have the dispenser feed you metal and heath - works great, till the uber demo shows up with the stickies.
Looks good on paper... but it will never last more than 3 minutes.
Teleporters should never, ever, ever, be placed on health or metal! (I've made it a point not to screen shot the culprit who did this.) When you do, it can block both from getting picked up. Nothing like running all the way back to a health pack on fire, only to find you cannot pick it up. That said, you can get to some interesting elevations on some maps by building a sentry gun or dispenser, climbing on top, jumping and planting a teleport exit where folks would not expect one. Teleport up, blow equipment, and move up.
No no no....
The NG shotty is great. In theory, the pistol should be the medium weapon of choice... but in practice, the shotty is a better pick in all shooting scenarios. I swear, the pistol shoots like it is a single shotgun bb, as it has an accuracy cone that leaves much to be desired. Still, very nice multiplier on it, so pull it out once you empty the shotty and find yourself in distance combat. Regardless, you should always be shooting at the action. Up close, pull out the wrench! Just because you have a sentry gun up does not mean you can't go hunting or help the push.
There can be too many of a good thing. Two to three engineers on a 32 person warpath map is about perfect, IMHO. More, and it usually means the map is going to turtle at that capture point (or lose).
Equipment does not mean a thing. I don't even know if you lose any points when someone tags your equipment, but compared to getting killed, all the structures are disposable. Once you adjust to that, you just made the first step towards combat engineering.
Without dispensers, the push will fail. Folks need ammo. I consider it more important for there to be a dispenser up front for folks to push with than a handy source of metal for me. Once I spend a couple rounds having to scavenge ammo for my rocket launcher, I'll usually switch to NG because (best case) things will end in a stalemate without the ammo to push. No loss if the opposing team takes it out, major gain for your team (and you point-wise) if they use it. If metal is scarce and you are trying to build out a level 3 sentry, it might make sense to have a dispenser handy. Once it is up, move that dispenser down to the front line! Having to climb up to the roof or run back to base to get ammo is a serious pain. I actually tested this out today - planting the dispenser just outside point 2 tunnel on warpath. I'd even tell Nutz when it was up -- the end result is it would usually get wiped out in each charge, but... they would take the time to wipe out the dispenser and *not* shot at 1) me, 2) teammates, 3) let me (and everyone else) shoot at them, 4) burn up the uber charge, and 5) if it survives you get points as everyone recovers ammo/health from the charge as well as points for fixing it.
The sentry gun's biggest problem is range. This makes snipers and solders my #1 enemy. I have to pull out the pistol or shotgun when they are halfway across the map. (more on this later). I look for build spots where the expensive (from a time standpoint) sentry cannot be shot at from range it cannot shot back. It was mentioned, but if you right click, you can specify the initial direction of the gun. Since it takes a bit of time to rotate, it is worth aiming it where you expect the enemy to show up first. Turning it 90/180 degrees also allows for some interesting building locations that have just that extra little bit of cover from ranged attacks. When you can, build the gun at an elevation above or below ground level. Takes a bit more work to aim at it, and also limits the collateral damage to your team since they have to now choose to shoot at the SG or the people shooting at them.
Oh, we are going to build a dozen or so here.
Build forward when the team is pushing, build back (far enough for the uber to be burned off) when defending. If you have two or three engineers, you should be able to spread things out enough that no one uber pair can make it to the point. Even minor dips can go a long way to making your gun hard to hit.
Failsafe coverage for that same point
Ever wonder why I stand on top of my gun? First, that is the safe way to be near it - your own gun can hurt/kill you! There are many spots where 85% of the rushes will be in front of you, but every once in a while they will show up behind you. In tight spots like the roof of the small building at point 2 (warpath), the rocket splash damage might get you. It also helps make life more difficult for the spy. Nothing is as funny as having the new spy looking up at you trying to figure out how to knife you on top of your gun that was planted on top of a cement block that requires a jump. (old pros like Jehutty, Ack, etc are not slowed down, however - don't ever feel too safe) As a bonus, you get a little different perspective on the map, and can rain down shotty/pistol fire where folks don't expect it. Positioned properly, a sniper/solder should have to step out in the open to take a shot at you or your sentry gun.
The point marks the spot where the uber should run out...
There are occasions where you can't get out in front. That initial middle rush on warpath, its hard to build out anything in the direct line of fire. Harassment fire goes a long way to helping your team. I love to rush in and try to build on the side of the canyon. For it to survive fuse, thatguy, and the other snipers picking off everything from the other side, I'll build far enough back where they can't get it. The trade off is I only cover the back third of the map, but the sentry fire slows down the rush and more often then not ties up two or three demos trying to spam the little cannon.
Say hello to my little friend!
As for the spy... I'm always watching for them, and when you show up or behave unlike the rest of the team, well.... Everybody gets a complementary helping of buckshot, checking to make sure you are who you claim to be. The wrench does wonders in close quarters with a spy. If you are wrenching, they are *not* backstabbing. For me, I'll make an attempt to save the sentry gun, but will usually trade off my equipment to kill the spy. Once you have the spy, then you can remove the saps if there is time. The more hitpoints on the asset, the longer it takes to sap. Also, when you disguise, you become someone on our team. I see you disguised as me -- very good chance I'll let you come in and start sapping, then give you the wrench (and unsap for bonus points). Spies disguise with the unit's primary weapon, so give an extra round or two to any medics holding the needle gun or someone who does not toggle through weapons. Spies tend to sap everything in the order they run across them - thus a nice juicy teleporter sitting out in front, giving me a second or two notice that I need to cover my SG. If you are on the ground, always be moving. I catch more spies bumping into them than I do spotting them decloak.
A minor point, but the sucker play works more often than it should. Spies will sap the teleporter entrances, all the NG's will run back to rebuild them, then the spies will sap the now unprotected dispenser, sentry, and teleporter exit. Only one NG should run back at a time. Tis also not worth having a fifth of the team running back to the first point to try an hunt down a spy. The teleporters are nice, but not worth taking resources from the front. An NG should be able to take out a spy without assistance as by the time you get back there, rebuild a teleporter, the spy will be trying to recharge the cloak -- shotty time.
Dispensers - remember those? So a group ubers in, takes down the sentry guns, and tries to take the point. As a combat NG, I'll try to always have 200 metal on my person. Once things are built up, there is a good chance the dispensers are full of metal too. If you don't get the dispensers, expect a level 2 (or better) sentry gun to rebuilt by the time you try to push through again. Terrain helps, so if you can build your equipment where the enemy has to shoot through a fence, wall, building, or any other bullet blocking cover, use it.
A great demo can take out all three, but without help, the dispensers will still be there.
Demos will make quick work of your sentry, you , and anything around them. You can try to knock them off with the shotgun - but wait for them to detonate and then fix/rebuild anything that gets damaged. Don't just stand there wrenching on it while there are stickies all over the place. Best defense against an ubered demo is to make sure the sentry guns are spaced out enough they can't take out all in one shot. Bonus if the dispensers are not by the sentry guns, making a rebuilding a snap. The normal nades are not that big of a deal, wrench away if they are using those and run if you get hurt too much. These guys end up being the bane of your construction, and the right choice for smashing the forward base. As you are covering the forward area, I also like to try and shoot the enemy stickies to a bit safer area. Hard to do with the weapons you have, but worth the trouble to clear the way for your team.
Minor note on wrenching. Wrenching cuts construction time in half - ie 5 rather than 10 seconds to set up a level one sentry. When engineers help other engineers, things really go up fast. It also lets you do a relay on getting metal - one building, the other getting more metal to finish it off. Hit everything - including your teammate's structures (and them as well, just to be sure). It takes 7 wrench swings to get a level one sentry up by yourself.
Pyros. Much like the stickies, run away and live to fight another day. They do lots of damage to your equipment, but you burn for an additional 50 points if they light you on fire and you don't have the HP as an engineer. Retreat, giving them a clip of buckshot and pistol ammo as you back away if they get close. The flame has a surprising range, so don't think standing on top of a building and the sentry will save you... If a forward base can be approached by rounding a corner, ubered up, these guys make excellent base busters.
The heavy. Unless they end up right on top of you, stay with the sentry. He has a big gun, but yours is bigger! Even an ubered heavy is not a huge threat at range. Up close, stick with the gun for a few wrench whacks and then back away. Another minor point - construction stops bullets. Much better to use equipment as armor if you can make sure it is between you and the enemy.
Also a minor point for medics doing the uber thing. I really wish I could target the sentry gun, but they tend to shoot at the first thing they see, and stay on that for as long as it can. If you do an uber, run in first so the sentry targets you and not the heavy/pyro/demo you are linked up with. That way they don't get knocked about trying to take stuff down. Another point: defending demos - use your stickies to try and separate the medics from their linked attacker. If they were silly enough to go medic last, when they get blown apart the sentry will tear apart the flying demo who just lost the uber. Up close an personal, a medic's bone saw will destroy you. Shotty retreat again.
A well aimed sentry will make quick work of scouts. Far more interesting is going after them with the shotty. Up close, their shotgun is better than yours. But... you do considerable damage and you usually have more health available to recover. I'll try to gun scouts down like I would a spy. Even fight in my book.
Ah heck, one more set of comments about dispensers. You (and the other team's spies) can stand on your dispenser and sentry gun. Your teammates can walk through both. One of the better places to drop a dispenser is right on top of the health and metal - that way when they swing through for resupply, they get the nice boost of the packs in addition to your dispenser help. Rotating it 90 degrees makes life easier for you, as you can get at the health and metal sticking out the sides. Every once in a while you can have some cover, have a forward sentry gun, and have the dispenser feed you metal and heath - works great, till the uber demo shows up with the stickies.
Looks good on paper... but it will never last more than 3 minutes.
Teleporters should never, ever, ever, be placed on health or metal! (I've made it a point not to screen shot the culprit who did this.) When you do, it can block both from getting picked up. Nothing like running all the way back to a health pack on fire, only to find you cannot pick it up. That said, you can get to some interesting elevations on some maps by building a sentry gun or dispenser, climbing on top, jumping and planting a teleport exit where folks would not expect one. Teleport up, blow equipment, and move up.
No no no....
The NG shotty is great. In theory, the pistol should be the medium weapon of choice... but in practice, the shotty is a better pick in all shooting scenarios. I swear, the pistol shoots like it is a single shotgun bb, as it has an accuracy cone that leaves much to be desired. Still, very nice multiplier on it, so pull it out once you empty the shotty and find yourself in distance combat. Regardless, you should always be shooting at the action. Up close, pull out the wrench! Just because you have a sentry gun up does not mean you can't go hunting or help the push.
There can be too many of a good thing. Two to three engineers on a 32 person warpath map is about perfect, IMHO. More, and it usually means the map is going to turtle at that capture point (or lose).
