Suggestion: Engineers need a bit more ability to attack. Please consider these skills
Disclaimer: I am not into PVP as my main reason to play.
I like support as much as the next player who enjoys helping others, but this will never fly in PVP. As it stands now an Engineer would get shot to pieces by Operatives. Physio once made a great post about the details. All the skills take time to work, and in that time a heck of a lot can happen. Like getting knocked back, stunlocked, and basically shot way too fast before Empathy or any of the DOTs work. And once you're in this pattern, you can get stuck that way easily.
But wait, this isn't just a PVP problem. In PVE, I find that by the time I attack something and start to contribute damage, it's either already dead or somebody kills the mob I put my DOT on before it had the full effect. We also have no real AOEs, and are very vulnerable to being mobbed. There's just no way to clear five enemies attacking you fast enough, because although it's hard hitting, Transference breaks once the main target dies and the rest of the skills are single target. You just can't clear five guys fast enough before they kill you or waste a ton of pots. This is seen best in Corp 4 (I forget the number. I mean the one with the Commandos at the start) where there's a group right by the door which can even kill a level 21 during the cutscene in a full party. Back at level 13 this group handed me my second death, and pots are completely useless because they attack faster than an Engineer deals damage at that level, as well as quicker than Empathy heals. Engineer skills put out way less damage than the other two classes, by a large margin.
So I have some skill suggestions to help balance out these faults.
1. Transference should become a radius around the caster of the same distance as it currently has and it's damage and healing remain the same. Any friendly player within range of any affected mob gets healed for the total damage all mobs are taking, exactly like now. The only difference is that Transference should cease to cut out due to it's primary target dieing. Make it not require a target, and it's awesome.
2. New skill: Electric Discharge. The Engineer draws power from the gadgets they carry and puts their hands out to their sides to let loose a discharge of electricity that instantly hits all targets in a point blank AOE around the caster. Same as PL Lightning, including the armor debuff, but different animation. Should look like electricity comes from their body outward in a radius. Each rank increases damage, and possibly the magnitude of the armor debuff. Basically same effects as PL Lightning but different animation. Int scaling and weapon damage scaling as usual. 3 second cooldown, 20 Energy cost, 12 radius.
3. New skill: Turret Fabrication. Summon a small (About half the player's height) floating turret pet that will follow and shoot the same targets as it's owner is currently auto attacking until killed or desummoned by touching the skill again. The turret has it's own health (Scaling appropriately to the level of the player and content, based on rank) and should be healable by the heal skills that affect players. Ranks increase the health of the turret, armor up to 60 (10 per rank, starting with 10 at rank 1), and damage of the turret's single target beam attack. At rank 5 it gains a shield that is equal to half it's health, which slowly recovers over time. At rank 6 the turret's shield becomes equal to it's health and the shied's regeneration speed is doubled. The shield cannot be healed by anything and must come back on it's own. Any damage first hits the shield before hitting the pet. Scale all aspects of the pet on Int as usual, and possibly weapon damage. 30 second cooldown, 40 Energy cost. The cost and cooldown will mean that losing your pet immediately means you can't get it back right away and must make it last.
If a shield is overpowered, then alternatively, the pet can gain a double rate of fire at rank 5 and a cone AOE rocket barrage at rank 6, with a 10 second internal cooldown on it's AOE. Though I honestly don't think the shield is overpowered, since it cannot be healed by any means other than regenerating on it's own and as a force field it should not have any damage mitigation at all. The pet's armor should only be counted when it's taking direct health damage, but the pet should be affected by Protection and the armor/DPS buff from Res and it's damage output should be affected by any debuffs on the target.
4. The skills that deal damage should deal a bit more or get higher Int scaling. The heals are great, but the damage is just lacking. Transference should still hit the hardest out of the current group of skills, though.
I believe this whould help with the damage discrepancy between Engineers and the other two classes and fits in with the technology expert theme of the class. Also I realize an attack that isn't a DOT would be a bit different, but I really think it's needed to allow the class to have less trouble when a bunch of enemies are attacking all at once.
Please Devs, consider this.
