This will be rather short, i’m not much of a writer, more of a tester. ^^)
This build assumes that you at some point will get your hands on Ihringer’s Helmet with +1 to engie skills, and a ring with +1 to engie skills.
Skills.
-
Inhibitor Bots - 2 points, 1 point you have there by default so add 2 more to unlock CC.
-
Concussive Crash - 1 point.
Need only 1 point in concusive crash because so long as the mobs stand on the field they get stun anyway therefore there is no reason to extend stun time by leveling concussive crash.
Place these on hotkey 1 and 2, very comfortable there.
Note that inhibitors do not target air mobs, only ground.
But they damage air targets regardless if they get into the field.
This skill set is very useful in many situations, it’s an ass-savior quite often.
Inhibitors will create a safe stun/physical damage field where you are basically untouchable for the duration of the field. You can stand in the field like a god and cast other stuff. ^^)
Each inhibitor bot creates it’s own field so they can be used as a nuke, to do so you need to spawn them and then immediately use concussive crash so that they have no time to disperse.
This may require you to get into close range with your targets, so take care. -
Spider Mine - 8 points.
I place these on hotkey 3.
This is THE engie’s nuke, needless to say you go all-in or you simply not take it at all.
So if you do take it, max it.
This is the kind of skill that can make a pack of colored mobs go boom all at once, if you can stack them into a 5 meter radius and then spawn the spiders right into the pile of them.
This skill spawns 5 spider mines no matter what level the skill is at, they then proceed to seek out ground-only targets and explode into them dealing damage and creating a short-lasting physical/stun damage field under the targets they exploded into.
Sometimes the targets of the spiders are behind corners blocked by pillars or something like that, this may result in no damage dealt so it’s best if you have a clear view on your targets before using.
I strongly recommend to max this skill no matter which type of engie you are because not only this is a great skill but it also does not count towards the maximum amount of bots you can have out. -
Haste Bot - 5 points.
This buggy thing will speed the rof (rate of fire) of your weapons, making you and your group fire your weapons faster.
It also has a secondary effect that decreases the cooldowns of certain skills (not all skills, just some).
The bug with it is that quite often it likes to just disappear somewhere along with the buff it was supposed to be granting you and your allies at all times.
The haste bot apparently works on minions as well. -
Construction Drone - 2 points.
You get plenty of hp and what-not from gear so no need to waste points here. -
Gun Retrofit - 2 points.
You need 2 here to unlock the next skill we require for this build. -
Tactical Mode - 4 points.
This is one of the skills you will be using often to melt a boss or quickly melt a pack of colored mobs.
It grants the drone a very large rof (rate of fire) bonus making him unload all he’s got, so to speak.
I use it along with aggressive mode to make the drone close-in on the target first, then i activate tactical.
This is because as long as tactical mode is active the drone will not move from the spot he was at when you activated tactical mode. Plan your assault well before using.
I place this skill on my mouse button for easy activation when i need it. -
Aggressive Mode - 1 point.
A one point wonder if i ever saw one.
This skill is a toggle, so you only need to activate it every time you leave a station and enter combat area.
With this skill the drone leaves behind his dead-beat ways and becomes your very own personal tank.
You will always find him going melee with this toggled on so he will be tanking for you pretty much all the time. Plan accordingly.
There is one problem with this skill, the drone sometimes will go outside the range of your repair drone skill so you will need to close the distance yourself or wait till it’s teleported back to you to repair it. -
Advanced Tactical Mode.
This is either a one-pointer or no-pointer. Entirely up to you.
When you use tactical mode this grants the bot extra shielding.
Shields in this game kinda always sucked, especially in comparison to armor so… it’s meh at best. -
Repair Drone - 2 points.
This skill you will be using fairly often to restore hp to your drone, but it needs no more than 2 points.
I bind this skill to my mouse button for quick access. -
Armor Retrofit - 2 points.
This allows your drone to use armor.
Only one piece though, the torso.
I usually go with Sol’s Invictus with the highest armor values you can get your hands on. -
Master Engineer - However-much points you want.
This skill beefs armor for your drone so you want as many points as possible in it.
Especially if you’re using aggressive mode with which he will be tanking for you all the time.
However, initially i would only put 1 point in it and only put more points in it once your other essential skills are sorted out. This skill is the last one you max, if you can that is. -
The Strikes: Napalm, Smackdown, Shock and Awe - All must be at 4 points.
I only use Napalm and Smackdown but because of their synergy you also need to ‘waste’ points in shock one as well.
Napalm is fire-type that ignites everything in it, Smackdown is physical type that stuns/damages everything in it. Shock is just meh, and that’s giving it too much credit.
This is the stuff that will clear rooms and make “safe-fields” for you to stand in.
This is the stuff that makes collecting loot, that will be all-over the place, into such an annoying chore…
But do have fun.
I recommend placing these at hotkeys 4 and 5, for napalm and smackdown.
I think like me you probably won’t bother using shock. -
Beacon - 1 point here if you want.
Or you can just ditch it entirely.
Reasons being that solo you don’t really need it anyway, and in groups other classes have better options.
Plus other engies will probably have one too.
Up to you really. -
Escape - no points.
It’s garbage.
Large cooldown, short active-time, especially without a bunch of points in there.
Don’t think it has movement speed boost, yet replaces your movement capabilities.
Can’t pass through mobs if you get locked by them, can’t pass through obstacles either.
No, just no.
Inhibitor bots will be faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar more efficient at saving your ass than this crap.
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Gear.
I won’t go into too much details on gear, you may refer to Bryan’s topic for that if you want.
Aside from Ihringer’s with +1 to Engie skills that you will absolutely require.
As well as a ring with +1 to Engie skills.
You will also be using 1-handed weapons.
I prefer rail-pistols.
*High damage output, and with rof being boosted by haste-bot.
*Extremely long range, allowing you to easily reach key-targets such as summoners, orbiles, etc.
*Can have both, tactical and combat augs, ON-EACH rail-pistol.
*Each high-end rail-pistol can have up to 3 mod slots (i wish they could have 4), allowing you to fill them with +% to minion damage or +% to combat damage or +% to tactical usage rate, as you choose.
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I have leveled this engie to 50/25, completely solo, with 0 deaths.
Soloed ab’s up to level 58, paul’s station quests, squadro, gatekeeper in the party dungeon in parliament.
All with minimalist-level gear.
Have fun.
