Coming into the Warhammer Online Beta, the Engineer class was the one I was most interested in. I even debated saving it for launch, but I could not resist. I took the Engineer up to Rank 11. Anything more and I felt I would be seeing too much. Please keep in mind that it is very difficult to make judgments on the entire class at this low rank. Anything I say only applies to Rank 11 and below.
The early life of an engineer is not an easy or glamorous one. It is important to know what you are getting into with this class choice. We are not the highest DPS, nor do we heal or have the ability to tank. Engineers are a hybrid DPS and utility class with a defensive mindset. Luckily, that appeals to me. The fact we probably can't solo anyone does not really bother me. We are team players.
Most of my playtime consisted of Public Quests, Scenario's and Open World RvR in the Dwarf T1 zone. In the Public Quests, I did not have much trouble being in the upper half of the contribution lists. I was rarely in the top few spots, but luckily the Vegas system still lets me win loot.
The primary attack you will use as an Engineer is your Gun Blast. It does some good damage, but has a 2s cast time. We also eventually get Incendiary Rounds, which help our with our DPS. Once the enemy gets close you have some melee attacks, like Spanner Swipe and Friction Burn. However, it is usually a good idea to not let them get too close.
When an enemy gets too close, or we just want to trap a squad of Orcs we can toss out some Barbed Wire. I like the animation for this one, nothing too fancy. It works well and I am sure is annoying to those melee fighters.
One of the hallmarks of the Engineer class is the turret. there are three kinds of turrets: Gun, Bombardment and Flame. There are different times to use each one. For example, the Gun turret has a longer range, so it may be better for open field engagements. Their DPS improves as you rank up and also depending on which mastery you decide to put points into. Sadly, their DPS is a bit disappointing and they don't really strike fear into the enemy. It is rumored that they are getting a buff before release.
We get 2 types of grenades (by Rank 11): Flashbang and Acid. I am not sure how useful Flashbang is due to the cast time and the fact it is not AoE. I tend to toss these at those nasty little goblin healers. The Acid grenade is pretty nice to use on those Chosen and Black Orcs that are so popular.
The most fun I have had with my Engineer is using the Point Blank morale skill. in the Gates of Ekrund scenario, Destruction casters and Squig Herders like to get on the side of the walls. So when I see them up there and have the right angle, I fire off Point Blank and they go sailing off the wall down to the ground. The fall may not kill them, but putting a healer out of the battle for 20 seconds can make a huge difference. Is it just me who finds knockback just plain fun?
After playing to Rank 11, I am still sold on Engineer being my main's class.
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3 comments:
Knockback sounds great. You've almost sold me on making an engineer my main. If I just didn't have this penchant for healing... :P Maybe I can resist it and become a sniper :)
Luckily, Sniper is reachable in the mastery tree even if you go full in grenades or tinker.
I will do a whats on the horizon after R11, it is much more interesting :)
I remember my first trip off the Ekrund walls. Sadface.t
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