So, this mainly revolves around a loadout I use almost exclusively, and while it's on paper a very situational loadout, it actually does pretty well in nearly every circumstance, assuming you're fine with trying to leverage everything you can in your favor. Obviously, this requires the Engineer class. The loadout circles a lot around a very strange, but oddly effective Engineer playstyle. Using the Archer, and all the gadgets at the Engineer's disposal, this loadout is a specialist at setting up a nest somewhere, and poking everything he can until things start to notice. It's the ultimate 'distraction' support hero, and works amazingly well in both big and small fights. The experience you gain isn't the best for Engineer, but, for how little kills you gain comparatively, it does amazingly well in XP and certs. THE PRIMARY: NS AM-7 Archer This is the bread and butter tool of the loadout. It's highly, highly specific at what it does well, but, playing around with it, you'd be surprised at how effective it is in other roles. Obviously with this weapon, when a MAX comes stomping around, you're the go-to, and people will actually thank you for stopping a MAX with one in close combat. It's also a good weapon for killing turrets of any kind, and while you can't out-damage repairs to Phalanx turrets with it, it's enough to frustrate the gunner to either hop out, giving a lapse in firepower, or try and find the annoying bug shooting at him... hence, the name. Against vehicles, it's sub-par, with the sole exception being Flashes (3 shots) and Harrassers (6-8 shots), and you'd be surprised how much faster light vehicles go down with even one extra chunk of damage dealt by one of these. As an added fun fact, for you completionists out there, the Archer also gains 'kills' by destroying MANA turrets, Phalanx turrets, ANY vehicles, and their occupants. Popping an occupied Engineer, and then his turret, will net you two kills, as opposed to one and then a small chunk of XP. THE SECONDARY: Personal preference, as a VS player, I use either Underboss or Spiker. Sidearms are a weird bunch in this game. I play VS, so, there's a bit of bias and jealousy towards the TR and NC from me, but, the general rule of thumb is to find one you're comfortable with, and can kill well with, and stick with it. For the VS, this is exclusively limited to the Spiker (sortof), and/or the Commissioner/Underboss. The Spiker can saturate a target with holes, and while it's a shadow of it's former self since the removal of the six-round burst charge, it is still the easiest VS pistol to earn a few kills with. The Commissioner/Underboss is a given, so, I won't go into details there. THE TURRET: Spitfire Auto-Turret This is a hugely unpopular decision, but, the way this class plays, you need all the short-range firepower you can get. The Spitfire can be set up in your 'nest', and forgotten about. It always beeps when something gets too close, and that warning sign can save your life. On top of that. the extra damage it does, while mediocre, can actually turn the fight in your favor, if only slightly. A lot of people prefer to run the AI MANA turret when using the Archer, but, for the playstyle of this build, it's pretty ineffective, as it overlaps in range at what the Archer does, and removes your ability to bob and weave to try and dodge incoming fire. The AI MANA turret also glows some pretty obnoxious and unnatural colors unless you're TR, so, this can ruin your plans before you can even get them started. THE UTILITY: Proximity Mines This is also to leverage close-range fights in your favor, as with 'The Bug' loadout, you're going to be staying at a distance, and annoying the **** out of anything you see, infantry included. Once they get annoyed enough to come at your spot, a few of these mines can hurt them enough to make for an easy clean up, or out right kill them so you can focus on continuing to distract and annoy. SUIT SLOT: Flak Armor This choice doesn't seem to make a lot of sense at first, since this loadout revolves around 'bunkering' a certain spot, but, the majority of the time, you will be poking tanks, turrets, and Heavies in the eye until they look at you. These are all things that absolutely love to make you explode, so, making their explosions a little less 'explodey' is always nice. Plus, when you're in-between one nest and another position, being able to repair and resupply is made so, so much easier by this, as most repair jobs happen in close proximity to the very things that want your ping-pong ball gun dead, and it might be just me, but, resupplying friendly infantry tends to happen the same way for me. Less lethal explosions, more happy fun shooting times. GRENADE: Sticky Grenade Once again, this choice is all about close-quarters preference. Sticky Grenades stick to EXACTLY where you throw them, which makes them more predictable in closer fights. Use these as a last-ditch effort to preserve your nest, or gain a kill against someone who thinks the mines and Spitfire were your only tricks. For more ingenious shenanigans, they can also be used to 'remote detonate' proximity mines, for a bigger explosion and better chance at wounding a target encroaching on your nest. Implant: Regeneration This ultimately boils down to personal preference, but, as the name and game of this build is annoying sustainability, Regeneration is a must-have in my book. It allows you to disengage from a fight, wait a little while, and come back with full health. It also allows you to avoid using Med Kits or Restoration Kits for that same purpose, freeing up a spot for the Proximity Mines mentioned earlier. PLAYSTYLE This part is the trickiest, and at first, it goes against a lot of shooter mechanics. You want to use a primary weapon, a rifle, and find anything that looks like it'll need a wrench to fix, and shoot it. This isn't very effective on it's own, but, combined with this loadouts ability to find a spot somewhere semi-safe, throw down mines, a turret, and an ammo pack, and continually poke mechanical things in the eye until they explode, makes it a dangerous loadout to fight. It's not going to be the awe-inspiring sniper that everyone trembles from, or the door-kicking, facepunching Light Assault that makes everyone yell expletives at a respawn screen, but it's definitely going to leave opponents scratching their heads, and occasionally, groaning in annoyance as their turrets and mechanical defenses are slowly plinked away. It goes without saying that this build is not a strictly solo loadout, as it's strengths and weaknesses are far, far too specialized to be of any help to itself. However, when attached to a squad, platoon, or zerg, it finds a wonderful niche as both a destroyer of gadgets, and an annoyer of infantry. Distracted enemies will run at you, hoping for an easy kill, only to be gunned down by your friendlies. This is especially hilarious with tanks and turrets, as they'll never see the rockets or other explosives coming from a direction that isn't yours, and the constant back-and-forth of them figuring out who's more irritating is always fun to watch. With that said though, if things don't go your way, don't be discouraged to get up close and personal. The Archer is a surprisingly accurate weapon from the hip, and while against people it's awful, the burst damage it can do can leverage a fight in your favor for your chosen sidearm, assuming you can find cover to swap from OR to it in a pinch. As well as that, the mines and Spitfire this loadout hold are perfect for setting up killzones in buildings and control points, and you're already a step ahead once the defenders decide to crash the party with MAX units. All in all, it's a wonderfully fun, yet stupid take on the Engineer, and I'd recommend trying it out, just to see the sheer chaos and looks of annoyance you can spread around. It makes a refreshing change, as well.
Interesting overlap with my preferred loadout, which is more about mobile CQC combat and support in bases. I too, am a devotee or AI mines and burst pistols (so, Spiker and Prox on my VS alt). I'm still farming kills with my AV mana turret but I am starting to think about the Spitfire turret as I sometimes end up nesting in a cap point with mines at the doors. So the Spit does start to look like a decent early warning system and a distraction to invaders I too run sticky grenades, just becasue I like them to go where I threw them rather than bouncing around. And Maxes are a CQC hazard in bases so the bigger bang than you get with frag is a plus. I also run regen. It is the only implant I've found worth bothering with tbh. But I run Nano in the CQC base capping or defending scenario and only put on the flak if I find myself doing the more traditional engineer thing, repairing etc. in one of those long range, tank-heavy fights. I have only just certed into the Archer (I normally run slug shotty or burst carbine) and ironically, my first and only kill so far was a regular infantryman I sniped at long range (I've equipped the 7x sight as I am treating it as a long range weapon atm), although I have frightened off quite a few light vehicles and Maxes. After two years of playing I think the engineer is far and away the most versatile and fun class to play if, like me, you like variety.
This is similar to my anti-max loadout. Honestly I see a weak point in the spitfire. It's too fragile and it needs to be resupplied every time so I find it highly unreliable unless you're defending your Sunderer. But in a couple of weeks you'll do much better with an ANT. The Archer then is good against Maxes but that's real crap against everything else. Sometimes it's fun but it fills a microscopic niche: tank mines c4 and rocket launchers do the job much better.
The niche it fills is microscopic, yes, but, against everything else it works wonders as a 'distraction' tool. In big fights, you can make someone wonder what they're being shot by, and then get the assist by someone else with a better weapon killing them while they search for you. And, the ability to hit a MAX from any range is something that's not to be downplayed. The Archer is more effective at long range than any rocket launcher, save for maybe the NC's Phoenix, and up close, it's way less punishing to miss.
