The Engineer's Survival Guide

[noneo]

Hey everyone, I have updated the OP to include a "Best gear discussion" let me know what you think!

Also made some minor tweaks to the skills section.

[Herozheng]

Engineer <Mofajingling> report for duty

[noneo]

Welcome aboard!

[Rast]

Here are my thoughts; I posted this as a seperate thread, too, as my post ended up being so long. I love this guide, though, and really don't want to take anything away from it.

My focus is on party support--keeping my team alive. I don't focus on maximizing my engineer's DPS via skills; I still try to maximize my dps to help my team though. Skill choice, however, is entirely based on supporting and helping my team.

On the skills, here are my personal opinions. Take 'em for what they're worth. My engi is level 23, and I've done multiple guardian runs, but I haven't personally tested out Sonic Boom yet. That said, I don't see a big use for this skill given it's long recharge time and its lack of team support outside of just DPS. Again, my skill decisions are focused on support--not pure dps. The skill descriptions below are taken from page 1 of Noneo's guide; the commentary is mine.

Wither - (Damage over Time) - Earned at level 2
Rank 1: 8 energy, 12 second cool-down, 12m range, 10 seconds of 1 - 2 damage every 2 seconds.
Rank 2 - 6: Increased damage dealt over the same 10 seconds.

Commentary: Not a necessary skill. Mobs die too fast as is, better skills to spend your points on.

Leech - (Damage over Time, Healing over Time) - Earned at level 3
Rank 1: 10 energy, 15 second cool-down, 12m range, 6 seconds of 1 - 2 damage per 2 seconds and healing to the caster.
Rank 2-6: Increased Damage and Healing over the 6 second period.

Commentary: See Wither above. Not a necessary skill. Mobs die too fast as is, better skills to spend your points on.

Empathy - (Group Healing over Time) - Earned at level 4
Rank 1: 15 energy, 8 second cool-down, 8m range, (3) group heals of 5 - 10 HP over a 9 second period (casting every 3 seconds).
Rank 2-6: Plus 5 - 5 more heal with each level.
Note: 3 group heals means that the entire group will be healed 3 separate times in 9 seconds with one cast of this skill.

Commentary: This skill starts to set you apart. I believe in ranking this up to 6 as soon as you can. This skill will let you solo low-level maps and level with ease; this skill is fantastic high-level support, too. I can't imagine any build that doesn't include this skill.

Revive - (Bring a player back to life, Small Party Buff) - Earned at level 6
Rank 1: 20 energy, 15 second cool-down, 8m range, revived your fallen party member within range.
Rank 2-6: Reduces energy consumption by 5.

Commentary: Another must-have skill. This skill has the already-discussed amazing secret hidden buffs (Noneo's guide again) that alone make it great; the fact that you and you alone can bring a dead teammate back to life with this skill makes it indespensible. People will die, no matter how well you play. This fixes the mistake, fast. I love this skill for the mana regen. I rank this skill up to level 3 to lower the mana cost from 20 to 10. I spam this every other time I spam my Force Shield, discussed below, for the hidden buffs. It recharges fast, and it's almost always available when needed for a revive even with me spamming this. Keeping these buffs active dramatically cuts down on the number of stim pots I need per run, too.

Force Shield - (Protection to the caster, Armor Buff) - Earned at level 8
Rank 1: 10 energy, 45 second cool-down, 30 second duration, adds 20 armor, adds 2 energy regen, the shield bursts when it takes ____ damage.
Rank 2 - 6: Adds an additional 20 armor buff and increases the amount of damage the shield can take by _____ damage with each subsequent level.

Commentary: Force Shield is great for mana regeneration. I don't use it for anything other than that; I spam it on cooldown and I use Revive with it every other activation. Armor, as has been pointed out, just isn't very effective. I consider that a purely secondary effect of this skill. To me, this skill is all about the mana regen. As such, I rank it to 4 to give me 2 m/s regeneration and to keep me going.

Suppression - (Stun) - Earned at level 10
Rank 1: 15 energy, 15 second cool-down, 12m range, a 6 second mesmerize on (2) mobs within 6m of target. Any damage done to a mob while mesmerized will break the spell.
Rank 2 - 6: Adds (1) more target to your mesmerize. So at level 2 you can mesmerize 3 targets, level 3 - 4 targets, etc.

Commentary: I can see where this would be useful for solo play, but I don't solo with my engineer outside of easy runs and this isn't needed for easy runs. I don't take or use this skill.

Protection - (Armor Buff) - Earned at level 13
Rank 1: 15 energy, 10 second cool-down, 120 second duration, and gives a group buff of 10 more armor.
Rank 2 - 6: For every level past 1, you will increase your armor buff by 10 armor points.

Commentary: Armor just isn't very effective; I wish this wasn't the case. My commando really wishes this wasn't the case. See the math previously done for proof on armor and it's low effectiveness. That said, I don't have other great places to spend my skill points, so at current I have 2 points here and I'll finish with 4 points total. The little bit helps, and no other skill gives even a little bit of survival like Protection does. Until armor is more effective, though, I pass on this being a rank 6 skill.

Transference - (Damage over Time, Area of Effect Group Healing over Time) - Earned at level 16
Rank 1: 15 energy, 10 second cool-down, 12m range, __ - __ area damage, damaged targets heal teamates by __ - __ within a 10m range.
Rank 2 - 6: Adds 1 - 2 more damage dealt each level, and adds 2 - 2 more heal to group members.

Commentary: Hello, my favorite engineer skill. Welcome to great AoE damange AND great healing. Carefully timing this skill can bring a nearly dead party back to nearly full health. I use this almost on cooldown, and it allows me to be more selective with empathy. It's the best skill I know of to take care of big alpha strike damage and keep things going. Rank 6 for the extra healing. I love this skill; damange and healing all in one.

Pain - (Damage over Time, Area of Effect Damage) - Earned at level 20
Rank 1: 15 energy, 8 second cool-down, 12m range, 2 - 8 Damage, 3 second stun and knockdown and 15 - 25 area damage at the end of stun (explosion).
(After stunned, the target will explode and hurt all enemies around it.)
Rank 2 - 6: Adds 2 - 2 more initial damage to target with each level.

Commentary: I love Pain; I don't find the extra damage with anything above rank 1 worth it, however. Pain takes a mob out of the fight for 3 seconds; a stuned mob doesn't do damage, and preventing damage is as important as healing it (arguably more important.) This skill is a fantastic skill for bosses. Take it, rank it to 1, use it aggresively.

Sonic Boom - (Area of Effect Damage) - Earned at level 24
Rank 1: 15 Energy, 30 second cool-down, 6m range, 2 - 10 area damage
Rank 2 - 6: Adds 2 - 4 Area damage with every subsequent level.

Commentary: Again, I'm level 23 and haven't played with this much. That said, I play as a support engineer. I don't play as a damage engineer. As such, I don't have a big use for this skill. I don't plan to place any skill points here.

A few other points...

1. Hand Blasters are cool and are nice single-target dps. Your skills--mostly Transference--will do more damage with a rifle, however. The hand blasters are fun to use, but don't hesitate to equit a big damage rifle for maximum effectiveness.
2. You'll need pots. I believe the game was designed to need pots so that Spacetime Studios can make some money; people spend money, buy credits/plat, and buy pots. I'm totally o.k. with this, too, as Star Legends is an amazing free game at it's core. That said, I make enough money via selling greens and other items that I don't have to spend real money to get pots. Don't be cheap. Use mana pots, and use health pots if needed to keep yourself upright and fighting.
3. Have fun; I love how survivable my engineer is. My commando takes a lot of damage, but he only has pots to keep him going. My engineer can solo like a machine, as long as I'm smart, and never need pots or anything else. It's a great class to play.

Again, there's my extended two cents. Hope it helps someone.

Tiran--Engineer
Rast--Commando

[noneo]

I added the skill point assignments for levels 1 - 26 using my current skill build.

[Herozheng]

I added the skill point assignments for levels 1 - 26 using my current skill build.

kill Distribution:
6 Empathy
1 Res
1 Force Shield
5 Protection
5 Transference
1 Pain

I'm not 21 yet, nor will I be so before beta ends and level cap goes up soon after, but would probably max Transference with that point. I find I only get to use one DOT before stuff dies from my party members pounding it, so I figured I'd only get the strongest one, and it heals. The only time I solo is helping others on considerably lower level stuff, so I don't need anything else. I can kill stuff, but unlike my Mage I designed my Engineer to lean more toward support for now. Engineer desperately needs an instant cast AOE, as very often by the time I cast one skill (Usually transference or Pain) stuff is dead before I could cast a second, or it's not worth the time so I auto attack instead. Would be nice to be able to help clear stuff out better. We need a good instant cast AOE, but I realize that might be counter to the theme.

Skill Mapping:
Set 1: Pain, Transference, Empathy
Set 2: Res, Protection, Force Shield

Gameplay/tips:
I typically go into a fight with Set 2 open, cast anything I need to, then switch to Set 1. This works for me because although I use the first one more often, going in with the second one visible means I can buff when a fight starts then heal throughout while still being able to use attack skills. If I miss I have a problem, but usually not. Really wish all the skills could be shown at the same time.

Protections stacks ONLY if people have different ranks, otherwise they just retime each other. I have 5 because most people max it, so in a party with me and another Eng, we are almost guaranteed to have at least 2 of it.

Suppression and Pain might be good complementary skills at some point when there's more skill points to throw around. Currently this seems to be the most viable "combo" if SL ever gets combos. Think about it. Suppress three to five guys, then use Pain on one. Pain explodes unopposed because it stuns the main target and they all take damage. Nobody wakes up because main Target is stunned (Wakes up but can't attack) and others don't wake up until Pain explodes so it will not break Suppression too early. Repeat, and if you get good at this you can avoid taking damage at all. Solo strategy of course, and will remain useless in parties forever because people are impatient. Doing this in 1v1 PVP might have some utility, and expect Suppression and Pain to get nerfed at some point if people get too good at doing this. Except for cooldowns, there's no way for the opponent to not be stunned or asleep.

Speaking of which, Pain deals a small amount of undocumented damage when it is first applied. This is easiest to notice on enemies with low health, like if you go to Dynastar. Dunno if this initial damage goes up with rank, but somebody feel free to test it and report back.

well , i did a little differentiate ... i am lvl21 atm .

i didn't put any pts in pain ,cuz we only got 8 slot in map skill , i can't see pain do any good atm ,maybe useful at high lvl ....

compare Engineer with Enchant in PL , Engineer are more like warlock use DOTs (damage over time) also healing over time , enchant are more like war-priest (mage)

Dots : Wither cost 8 mana ,12 sec cool down , 10 sec duration (5tic) ,single target dots , mainly use for mini boss or boss fight , it's kid of weak as damage over time spell , also most our job are support atm , so i think only 1 pts in this skill for now .

Dots : Leech cost 10 mana ,15 sec cool down , 6sec duration (3 tic) damage over time also heal caster per each damage tic ; this spell got lone cooldown and short duration ... but it's do damage and heal at same time , for ppl like me who likes solo , it is one of the good single target DOTs on boss fight , i put 5 pts , may max it later .

buff : Empathy our major healing over time spell , must max 1st .

buff : Protection SL 's gear got high armor then PL , most lv20+ ppl got 200~300 armor , this buff gives very small + armor base are our current armor ,it is still good at low lvl ,but when we lvl up it will become more and more useless just like iron blood in PL .

buff : Force shield good mana regen for us , so far we got very low regen , this buff helps a lot , base on it's 30 sec duration , but shield bursts when it take damage , so you should not cast it in combat ... and 1 pts are good for it .

AoE : Transference one of our most useful aoe damage and heal spell , i will max it asap (3 pts atm) , more mobs cost more damage and healing .


Revive : just like rev in PL Revives dead ppl , only put 1 pts in this skill .

Suppression : it is a crowd control spell , useful for a skill team to fight high-end game or solo , more like mage's polymorph in WOW , but you can stun 2 mobs at rank one , 1 pts just good .


that is my skill map for now .

[Nourish]

Subscribed. Enough said

[roguedubb]

I think the support value of Engineer DPS is under rated. If an Eng is doing more DPS, mobs die quicker, which means less demand for healing and the shorter combat times mean less time to die. Doing more DPS directly influences your support role.

[noneo]

Rast, great commentary! It was all very helpful, and I couldn't agree with you more about the Pain skill, I find it incredibly usefull.

Hand Blasters are cool and are nice single-target dps. Your skills--mostly Transference--will do more damage with a rifle, however. The hand blasters are fun to use, but don't hesitate to equit a big damage rifle for maximum effectiveness.

This is a great point, I think the best method of fighting is to use the Gauntlets during multi-mob combat, and then switch to a rifle during boss combat. This allows you to kill easier mobs faster, and then heal/damage more on the boss when you really need to.

2. You'll need pots. I believe the game was designed to need pots so that Spacetime Studios can make some money; people spend money, buy credits/plat, and buy pots. I'm totally o.k. with this, too, as Star Legends is an amazing free game at it's core. That said, I make enough money via selling greens and other items that I don't have to spend real money to get pots. Don't be cheap. Use mana pots, and use health pots if needed to keep yourself upright and fighting.

I really think this is based off of how you play. I don't use a single mana or health pot in any level besides Uncharted Ruins. And the only time I use pots is if I have the aggro from the Guardian. I actually harvest pots in Outer Limits all the time. And I by no means slack on my skill casting, I am constantly hitting Empathy, Transference, and Pain. It really is how you play though. (also the force shield regen is like a slower mana pot, and works wonders )

[noneo]

i didn't put any pts in pain ,cuz we only got 8 slot in map skill , i can't see pain do any good atm ,maybe useful at high lvl

I personally, can't live without it (and I know my team appreciates when I use it). It offers the incredibly function of freezing any enemy for 3 seconds while the entire team wails on the mob, and then to top it all off it explodes and does AOE damage. This is one of my most used skills (third to Enpathy and Transference). I'll give you an example, when running Uncharted Ruins, there are a whole slew of Vulars ( I call them Lobsters) running around with powerful damage and large amounts of armor. When one casts Pain, it essentially protects the entire team from taking ANY damage (which is a great time for me to cast Transference/Empathy to get the whole team to 100% health), and also gives everyone time to unload their damage dealers on it. And the same thing can be said in a boss situation. Alternatively, when discussing a standard multi-mob situation (i.e. during parts with the burrowing dog/moles, or when fighting lanterns) this skill is pretty pointless as all the mobs have too low of health/armor to even last long enough for the skill to explode.

Also note, if you have two engineers on a team and both have the pain skill, you can keep ANY mob infinitely stunned for the entire fight. Think about it, one Eng casts pain on a Lobster, and just as it is about to explode, the other casts Pain. This will renew the stun for another 3 seconds, which allows pain to regenerate for the other Engineer, and then he casts it to renew pain. Wash, rinse, repeat..

Dots : Wither cost 8 mana ,12 sec cool down , 10 sec duration (5tic) ,single target dots , mainly use for mini boss or boss fight , it's kid of weak as damage over time spell , also most our job are support atm , so i think only 1 pts in this skill for now .

I really don't see a point in putting 1 point in Wither. The amount of damage it does at level one is pretty low (even with powerful equips). I would either put 5 points in this skill, or none.

[quote]Protection ... it is still good at low lvl ,but when we lvl up it will become more and more useless...[/qoute]

Couldn't agree more.

Force shield good mana regen for us ... you should not cast it in combat ...

I agree with this statement as well.

Nice analyzation!

[Rast]

I really think this is based off of how you play. I don't use a single mana or health pot in any level besides Uncharted Ruins. And the only time I use pots is if I have the aggro from the Guardian. I actually harvest pots in Outer Limits all the time. And I by no means slack on my skill casting, I am constantly hitting Empathy, Transference, and Pain. It really is how you play though. (also the force shield regen is like a slower mana pot, and works wonders )

My Engineer is now level 24. I don't need really any pots anymore either. I was burning a bunch of 'em at level 20 and 21 or so on Guardian runs, but now that I've gained a few levels and I'm more selective about when I cast Force Shield for mana regen, I don't have any pot issues at all.

Rast

[noneo]

My Engineer is now level 24. I don't need really any pots anymore either. I was burning a bunch of 'em at level 20 and 21 or so on Guardian runs, but now that I've gained a few levels and I'm more selective about when I cast Force Shield for mana regen, I don't have any pot issues at all.

Rast

Ah yes, I did forget you mentioned that you were only lvl 20. That explains it!

[Redbridge]

Noneo, what's you take on this thread, should I RESPEC and lose Protection & Force Shield.

http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...ighlight=Armor

[noneo]

Hey Red,

I posted a response in the other thread.

[noneo]

I updated the Force Shield description to correctly explain the M/S gain for its respective levels.

[IBNobody]

Noneo,

I bit the bullet and respecced with Revive at 6/6. Here's the current effect:

Rank 1: Cost = 20, Range = 8
Rank 2: Cost = 15, Range = 8
Rank 3: Cost = 10, Range = 8
Rank 4: Cost = 10, Range = 9
Rank 5: Cost = 10, Range = 10
Rank 6: Cost = 10, Range = 12

A rank 6 revive did not heal any better than a rank 1 revive.

A rank 6 revive did not provide any difference in buffs.

Please update your guide with this. Thanks for all the hard work!

[Hullukko]

Someone should do the level checks for each skills. Pain for example adds 2-2 damage when going from 1 to 2, but 2 to 3 is only 0-2. Dont know what it is after that.

EDIT: equally the damage increase in leech varies between different skill levels.

[noneo]

Noneo,

I bit the bullet and respecced with Revive at 6/6. Here's the current effect:

Rank 1: Cost = 20, Range = 8
Rank 2: Cost = 15, Range = 8
Rank 3: Cost = 10, Range = 8
Rank 4: Cost = 10, Range = 9
Rank 5: Cost = 10, Range = 10
Rank 6: Cost = 10, Range = 12

A rank 6 revive did not heal any better than a rank 1 revive.

A rank 6 revive did not provide any difference in buffs.

Please update your guide with this. Thanks for all the hard work!

This is GREAT, thanks a ton IB, I will add it right now.

I would like to do this same thing to all the different skills for an ENG.

Someone should do the level checks for each skills. Pain for example adds 2-2 damage when going from 1 to 2, but 2 to 3 is only 0-2. Dont know what it is after that.

EDIT: equally the damage increase in leech varies between different skill levels.

Thank you for pointing that out. I unfortunately have only 1 plat left (since STS made plat game specific), and do not have means to get any more plat at this time. I would be extremely grateful if someone could assist me and note all of the level increments for each skill and note down the respective values.

I would add their name as an Author of the guide as well

[noneo]

Also, keep an eye out for I will be updating my skill point advancement chart, and my main build in the near future (given some revolutionary armor stat discussion on the forums).

[noneo]

I updated both the "Route to 26" skill distribution, and my main "build setup" sections.