Just tossing a few more of my never-ending suggestions around. AA Turret - Ability Capable of 360-degree rotation and can pound aircraft pretty hard, but is a slightly bigger target and takes longer to deploy than other turrets. Mobile Cover - Ability Basically, some form of widespread cover to allow the user and nearby teammates to advance with some extra protection. Whether it be a large shield or something else, it would certainly be a good support item. Nanite Dart Launcher - Tool An alternative to the repair tool. Fires nanite darts that repair a good portion of vehicle HP at a decent rate. Has a fairly long reload time and sacrifices overall repair rate and consistency for range. Comes with iron sights by default but can be equipped with up to a 4x scope. Incendiary Grenade - Grenade (duh) Grenade that engulfs an area in flames for a short time. Damages enemies over time and is primarily intended for area denial. Hot thermite particles can deal light damage to vehicles. Creates a bright splotch on NV optics.
I'd be fine with all of those except the nanite dart launcher. i can see it now, one max charges, 10 engies repairing him from the spawn room....
Exactly. Heheh... In all seriousness, though, imagine being able to repair aircraft in-flight or support an armored assault from afar.
It says vehicles so I doubt it applies to maxes. Limited use however, if it had an ammo cap and was unrefillable then it would be an interesting av support build. Scratch that, if it doesn't work on maxes I'd gladly take it. I like the idea pf spawnable AAfuns. However I'd have to say it would have to be worth half a walker but can provide peck damage easily, after all AA is all about peck, I wouldn't want a turret to dwarf a vehicle mounted equivalent. Yes for the love of god get mobile cover on the engie asap. Something like turtles shield from dirty bomb or at least the models in process. Darts as long as they have limits and can't be stacked. Limited ammo supply like consumables and it would have heal much slower than the rep tool. Otherwise it would make very interesting support builds that I approve of. Incendiary grenades? Yes please. Engie advocates the defense role and helping clear a room with peck damage would be sweet, the problem is friendlies would run into it or "accidentally" throw it into allies.
I don't think repairing MAXs with the darts would be that much of an issue with the slower overall repair rate and long reload time. Even spamming darts from spawns probably wouldn't keep a MAX under heavy fire alive for long. Friendly fire from Incendiary Grenades probably wouldn't be any worse than friendly fire from frags. I see players blunder into their teammates' frags all the time.
Another idea, and an excuse to bump the thread a bit. Heheh... What about a sabotage-recycle tool as an alternative to the repair tool? Players could get in close to vehicles or deployed structures and "siphon" their HP at a decent rate. The HP collected can then be used to repair friendly vehicles and MAXs and the like faster than the regular repair tool.
I'll cling to the idea of deployable cover, since I've always thought the Engi could use it and it'd make open-field battles more viable. I propose one to two types: MANTLE shield - this would be a basic shield for open-field battles. This would be in a shape of a dome (similar to medic bubble, but different texture for recognition) that'd greatly reduce any incoming damage to people inside the dome (by slowing down bullets, dispersing plasma projectile etc. y'know - "nanites" ) and would completely negate splash damage (maybe via temporarily giving people inside a 100% flak resistance? Because we know how faulty normal shields are at blocking explosives...). BUT! The dome would be pretty small. You could fit a flash and a couple of people there, perhaps, but even harasser, not to say sundy or tanks, would stick out of it a lot. To prevent abuse of stacking such defenses back-to-back to cover a bigger vehicle, simply give it a radius in which another MANTLE can't be placed. If the dome would have a diameter of 3m, then give it about 5-6m of "no mantle deploy zone" around it. Note: Shooting from inside the shield doesn't hinder the damage. MANTLE would either have a simple, set "lifespan" or it'd remain indefinitely by default but have its own HP instead and be possible to destroy when taking a heavy, concentrated fire. Given its purpose, though, set lifespan seems a bit better - it'd prevent enemies from overcoming the shield, and if the lifespan would be short enough, it'd force players to push forward, instead of turtling inside. The purpose of this shield is to make infantry more viable in open field and not to die from endless HE spam (or sniper fire, for that matter). Another shield for different purpose: PALISADE shield - this one's purpose is to provide more consistent and long-lasting cover at the cost of directional focus. It's intended for the fights in enclosed bases (where there's not too much of a HE spam). It'd be side of about 3-4 shields from AI MANA turret, stuck side-to-side in a slightly curved line providing cover in 90-120 degrees in front of you. The PALISADE would block fire from both directions (you have to pop out to shoot, or at least stick your barrel out) but soldiers could pass through (to prevent exploits in CQC, like blocking passages etc). It'd last indefinitely and wouldn't have HP, but would be temporarily disabled by EMP and the shield's projector itself (the machine you'd drop on the ground to place the shield) would be destroyable by any damage. This one is intended for enclosed fights, but not entirely for CQC (plenty of cover there). It's more oriented towards bases that are enclosed, yet still have plenty of room inside (new BioLabs for example, if you've seen Joshino's spotlight about them) or construction bases for that matter. PALISADE would help to both advance and defend paths that now aren't in use, because they're lacking cover. This in return would cut on chokepoints by spreading the flow of soldiers more evenly, providing players with better experience.
And that, good sir, is about the most fun (in a good way) idea I've seen on these forums in a long time. More battle-oriented, high-risk high-reward Engi. I fully endorse this idea! We have to make this happen, guys Someone please link it to Wrel
Where the cover is concerned, I do like the idea of deployable cover equipment. I'd also like to have a mobile cover ability. Think "futuristic riot shield"; something to allow the user and nearby teammates to push up with some extra cover, eventually needing a "cool-down" time like the repair tool. And yes, if there's a way to mention these to Wrel, that would be nice.
