Your Engineer is not a one-trick pony; he or she should always be looking for a new way to be useful. The Utility Bears Excellent Return (UBER) build does just that. This build is part support, part crowd control and all fun. It uses each skill in various ways to keep the team alive and get you to level 30 (or 31) along the way. You will get lots of friend requests using this build correctly.
This build can be accomplished without respects if you skip the tutorial and disable auto-leveling. Otherwise, use 2 plat after level 8. I'll set forth the build first, then how to level it, how to use it and a suggested skill map. Your comments appreciated:
A. THE BUILD
0 - Wither
6 - Leech
6 - Empathy
1 - Revive
6 - Force Shield
3 - Suppression
0 - Protection
6 - Transferrence
1 - Pain
0 - Sonic Boom
0 - Decay
NOTE: Some Engineers are dropping Force Shield in favor of Wither, which is better for bosses. I have used both, but am preferring Force Shield right now because I tend to spam Wither, even on trash mobs. It adds some damage, but I end up using a lot more stims. You might like Wither if you use it more conservatively.
B. HOW TO LEVEL IT
2. Save Point (1)
3. Leech (1)
4. Empathy (1) (2)
5. Empathy (3)
6. Revive (1)
7. Empathy (4)
8. Force Shield (1)
9. Empathy (5)
10. Suppression (1)
11. Force Shield (2)
12. Force Shield (3)
13. Force Shield (4)
14. Empathy (6)
15. Leech (2)
16. Transferrence (1)
17. Transferrence (2)
18. Transferrence (3)
19. Transferrence (4)
20. Pain (1)
21. Transferrence (5)
22. Transferrence (6)
23. Suppression (2)
24. Leech (3)
25. Leech (4)
26. Leech (5)
27. Leech (6)
28. Suppression (3)
29. Force Shield (5)
30. Force Shield (6)
(31). Ya, right.
C. HOW TO USE IT
This build is more advanced than those straight "buff" builds, where the Engineer can "fire and forget" skills. Played correctly, however, this build is probably my most effective Engineer build so far. An understanding of basic group dynamics is necessary, as the Engineer needs to know where she is, where the enemy is and where she needs to go.
First, the group. People in groups tend to stay relatively close together in sort of a "shell" formation (except stragglers and cowboys, of course). Many Engineers simply turtle inside or right behind this shell. This Engineer does not. She will cast Empathy and Revive inside the shell, then dart out to use other skills, then return as neeed.
Second, the enemy. This is the reason the Engineer leaves the shell. She will approch the enemy from the side, or even ahead of the group, and Suppress and/or Pain specific groups of enemies: the back row, the second wave, or the stragglers. She will Pain mini-bosses and heavy hitters. These two skills help her control the battlefield. She uses Transferrence on groups of enemies (although not ones that have been Suppressed), especially if they have penetrated the shell.
Third, her placement. This Engineer is almost constantly moving and kiting. With a lot of skill usage, she uses Force Shield as needed to buff regen, or Leech to protect her when she gets aggro. She is constantly looking to see whether she can move to a better position on the field.
D. SUGGESTED SKILL MAP
1. Empathy
2. Transferrence
3. Suppression
4. Pain
5. Empathy
6. Revive
7. Force Shield
8. Leech
1 and 2 are the heals. 3 and 4 allow the Supression / Pain tactic, or they can be used separately as needed. 5 makes sure you always have Empathy ready. 6 and 7 are buffs. 8 is for when you take damage or have aggro.
So what do you think?
