Engineer

The Engineer is one of the Templar Classes you may choose to deploy on missions.

Overview
Engineers are a unique asset to the Templar forces. They are the only class capable of capturing Tact Points; this makes them required and auto-deployed on missions that cannot be completed without capturing at least one Tact Point. Engineers also have access to a variety of support skills including powerful group buffs, heat removal from allied Templars, the building of either machine-gun wielding Sentry Turrets or flame-spewing Pyro Turrets, placing Landmines, and even the capacity to repair turrets and tact points that have become damaged.

Physically they are weak and their ranged attacks are limited but combined with other Templars they can be a powerful force multiplier. Engineers have a variety of useful builds but a particularly interesting variant is the Flame Engineer which uses heavier Flame-Tank armor, a short-range flamethrower (shorter range than some of the Hydra flamethrowers), and has access to a couple special talents (while losing access to others.)

Starting Attributes
Engineers begin with the following attributes, skills, and class features:

Class Features

 * Base HP: 92 + 1 per level
 * HP Modifier: + 5 HP per Fortitude
 * Toughness Modifier: 100% of Fortitude
 * Resistance Modifier: 150% of Willpower
 * SP Cost: 600 + 5 x Level, maximum = 650

Attributes

 * Fortitude: 3
 * Willpower: 3
 * Focus: 3
 * Strength: 3
 * Quickness: 3

Skills

 * Gunnery: 2
 * Warrior: 2
 * Tactics: 3
 * Evasion: 2
 * Engineering: 4

Starting Talents
The Engineer starts with a single rank in Direct Shot, Grapple, Power Field, and Capture.

Usable Gear
The Engineer uses Revolvers, Cutter Fists, Leviathan Reactors (War Gear shared with Hydras), Sensorkit-Mods (War Gear shared with Scouts), and Infantry Armor (shared with Soldiers). The Flame engineer variant uses Hand-Flamers instead of Revolvers and Flame Tank Armor (shared with Hyrdas) instead of Infantry Armor.

Direct Shot
Basic, single-target ranged attack. Has limited accuracy and damage bonuses, although if heavily invested in they do become moderately powerful. With the more powerful pistols, this talent can be useful, even with only the single free rank. With a flamethrower build, this is a very useful talent for great fire damage output, but still isn't worth investing talent points into. Only 3 Heat cost and 2 AP can make this talent attractive to wound spawning Xeno when spending your other 3 AP on capturing a Tact Point.


 * Weapon: Revolver or Hand-Flamer
 * Max targets: 1
 * Range: weapon's range (3-5 in practice)
 * Cost: 2 AP, +3 Heat

Grapple
Single-target melee attack that ends movement when used but grants a short buff if it connects and deals damage. Uses only 1 AP and 3 Heat but still should almost never be used by Scouts due to requiring melee range, likely dealing little/no damage, and stopping movement. The buff becomes sizable at higher ranks, improving parry, dodge, and armor for 3 turns. However, this is possibly the second-worst talent for a Engineer to invest in (after Direct Shot). Downsides addressed, the gauntlets Engineers can equip come with very high penetration. This can make using even a low rank grapple situationally useful against high deflection targets that have already used their counter-attacks and are nearly dead from other Templars.


 * Weapon: Cutter Fist
 * Max targets: 1
 * Range: 1 (melee)
 * Buff: 3 turns on hit
 * Cost 1 AP, +3 Heat
 * Restriction:

Power Field
Powerful limited-use group defensive buff. Conveys a large amount of deflection, parry, dodge, and armor at higher ranks but is still useful at lower ranks. Will only affect 3 targets until Tactics is increased; this talent is a significant motivation for investing in Tactics as an Engineer.


 * Buff: for 4 turns
 * Max targets:, limited by Engineer's Tactics skill
 * Range: 3
 * Cost: 2 AP, +15 Heat
 * Restriction: ,
 * Ordnance: Engineer's Resupply

Capture
The only talent capable of weakening and ultimately capturing enemy Tact Points. Damage dealt to Tact Point is enhanced by Engineering skill level. Uses 3 AP up to level 5, reducing to 2 AP at level 6 and above; generates 15 Heat at all talent levels. Level 6 allows an experienced Engineer to cleanse a Tact Point from enemy control in one game turn; Tact Points with low HP can be cleansed & captured in the same turn.


 * Range: 1
 * Cost: 2-3 AP, +9-15 Heat

Sensorkit Scan
Recon ability that dispels fog of war from a distance. May not be used when overheated, unless a certain powerful relic is equipped... Higher ranks allow for it to be used at a greater range and reveal a larger area. Costs 2 AP and 6 Heat but at rank 5 it only uses 1 AP, and at rank 10 it only costs 3 Heat! Unlimited uses. Identical to the Scout's Sensorkit Scan but doesn't come with a free rank. May allow for a Templar force completely devoid of scouts if an engineer with this talent is present. The Engineer's limited mobility compared to the Scout's excellent mobility makes this less useful, however.


 * Range: varies
 * Cost: 1-2 AP, +3-6 Heat
 * Restriction:

Heat Sink
Medium-range ability to remove Base + Multiplier x Engineer skill heat from another Templar (see table below). Grows in strength with more ranks as well as higher engineering skill. With limited Engineering skill and only a single rank, this talent basically trades heat 1 for 1. However, at higher ranks and skill levels, this can burn a substantial amount of heat from an ally for very little cost. The heat cost to use this increases somewhat at higher ranks, starting at rank 4. The value of this skill is hard to overstate. Think Paladin but for healing heat instead of health. It cannot be used while wearing Flame Tank armor (but Manual Vent can). On many levels, two engineers deheating each other and the rest of the squad can keep heat from becoming a problem. On sprint levels, one engineer with a higher rank Heat Sink can deheat a Soldier once or twice to allow for repeated application of Rallying Charge.


 * Max targets: 1
 * Range: 3
 * Cost: 2 AP, +15 Heat
 * Restriction: ,

Fortify Position
Limited-use group area-control buff. Boosts critical hit chance by a moderate amount and armor by a moderately small amount, along with deflection and auto-block at a small MP cost. Unlike Power Field, this talent requires higher Engineer skill to affect more Templars; thus, you don't need to split your skill points between Engineering and Tactics to make this buff useful. At Rank 6 this lowers MP by 2 points instead of 1, making Rank 5 a potential optimization point. Gives massive, mostly defensive bonuses to a potentially large group. This makes it an excellent buff for slower tactics relying on holding TPs for many turns. Pairs well with Turret Stance, when focused on turrets. Unlike Power Field, you can use this talent while overheated, a common situation for Engineers.


 * Buff: 4 turns
 * Max targets:, limited by Engineer's Engineering skill
 * Range: 3
 * Cost: 2 AP, +15 Heat
 * Restriction:
 * Ordnance: Engineer's Resupply

Repair
Unique ability that restores health to either a Tact Point or a turret (Engineer skill multiplied by Turret HP Multiplier below). In its current incarnation, this talent fails to be a good choice compared to any other talent the Engineer can invest in, except possibly Grapple. Has limited uses, costs 3 AP, and ends your movement for the turn when used. Healing to Turrets is typically too small at lower ranks to be worthwhile. It is generally wiser to improve the maximum (and current) HP of Tact Points via Upgrades, which can be purchased without delaying your Engineer and wasting one or more talent points.


 * Max targets: 1
 * Range: 1
 * Cost: 3 AP, +9 Heat
 * Restriction: ,

Sentry Turret
Creates a stationary Sentry Turret with the useful Overwatch ability and a Burst Fire attack capable of hitting multiple foes. Has a high heat cost (30) and 3 AP, but the utility gained from the turret as both zone control, some damage, and a distraction makes it well worth your while. Gains better weaponry and armor with each odd and even talent rank invested, respectively. Can only place two turrets per Engineer without a special ordnance. The maximum number of turrets present on a battlefield is limited, with the limit varying from map to map (but most often 4). Grows significantly more powerful with higher levels of Engineering skill. At rank 10, the turret's maximum rifle range is 6 instead of 5.


 * Range: 1
 * Cost: 3 AP, +30 Heat
 * Restriction: (2)
 * Ordnance: Turret Perimeter Resupply

See Sentry Turret for details.

Pyro Turret
Creates a stationary Pyro Turret with a useful area-denial flame attack and a powerful single target flame attack. Similar in costs/limitations to the Sentry Turret but cannot be deployed unless Flame Tank armor is equipped. Losing access to Overwatch is the primary downside to this turret, but being able to place flames over enemy spawn points also serves a defensive purpose of preventing them from spawning.

See Pyro Turret for details.
 * Range: 1
 * Cost: 3 AP, +30 Heat
 * Restriction: (2),
 * Ordnance: Turret Perimeter Resupply

Manual Vent
Burns off Burnt + Engineer skill Heat (see table below) from a group of Templars at medium-range and applies an offensive buff that also lowers movement speed. The buff is a double-edged sword; it lowers MP by 3 tiles a turn but does offer significant accuracy and critical hit bonuses at higher ranks. Applies to Templars in a cross-shape and will only hit 4 Templars unless at least one point is invested in Engineering skill. Heat reduction is slightly increased at higher levels, but so is the heat cost to the Engineer.


 * Max targets:, limited by Engineer's Engineering skill
 * Range: 3
 * Buff: ? turns
 * Cost: 2 AP, +16 Heat
 * Restriction: ,

Scorch Order
Limited-use group debuff that makes foes easier to hit with ranged weapons (lowers Dodge) and significantly lowers Fire Resist. Useful if you have multiple attacks that have Fire damage as a main component and you are facing foes with at least some Fire Resist. Potentially useful for flame tank engineers that have low accuracy and a high fire damage component to their, and their turrets', attacks.


 * Max targets:, limited by the Engineer's Tactics skill
 * Range: ?
 * Hinder: 3 turns
 * Cost: 1 AP, +6 Heat
 * Restrictions:
 * Ordnance: Pyro Resupply

Turret Stance
Powerful limited-use single-target buff that also prevents movement. Grants powerful defensive and offensive bonuses but completely stalling movement for 3 Turns is rarely a good idea for Templar. Also works on turrets and landmines which cannot move anyway and thus is a powerful buff for them.


 * Max targets: 1
 * Range: 1
 * Buff: 3 turns
 * Cost: 1 AP, +9 Heat
 * Restriction:
 * Ordnance: Pyro Resupply

Landmine
Creates a stationary Landmine with a powerful area-of-effect self-detonation talent and a defensive talent. The landmine is manually triggered. The landmine will explode upon being destroyed as well, hopefully taking down nearby foes. Bolt-seal, a defensive talent landmines come with, grants some protection from attacks at the expensive of penetrating power upon detonation. Every rank of this talent either upgrades the landmine's armor or its attack, similar to how the turret talents work. The heat cost is cheaper than turrets (12) but because you can place more of them in a battle, that can still add up to a significant heat total.

See Land mine for details
 * Range: 1
 * Cost: 3 AP, +12 Heat
 * Restriction:
 * Ordnance: Demolitions Resupply

Builds
On paper, Engineers are almost as squishy as Scouts in terms of HP (both in base and that gained per Fortitude). In practice, Scouts can equip the Ballast Pilot Kit (+32 HP) which makes them sturdier. In order to keep them alive, Engineers thus must never be exposed to enemy attacks. In addition to being fragile, Engineers have no AoE attacks.

However, only Engineers can capture Tact Points, deheat other Templars, deploy Sentry Turrets, drop Landmines and can inflict non-negligible damage against single targets.

The Engineer is a very versatile class and there are too many builds possible to list here. The following builds are the most common starting points which can be combined provided there are enough talent points. Leftover points are to be allocated to Sentry Turret and Landmine. When it comes to gear, for most builds Cyclone Reactor (+1MP, +60 Heat) is the default choice. Other than that, going for the longest range Revolver available is recommended.

Blitz Sink
For missions taking about 5-8 turns, the Engineer should put 3-5 points into Heat Sink to keep the squad from overheating. This is especially important with high-rank Rallying Charge which increases MP thus overheating, but is Heat Restricted. The main job of a Blitz Sink is to cool the Soldier down enough so that a second Rallying Charge can be used.

Blitz Turreteer
This is for slower-paced, more defensive blitz missions such as Leo Drop Zone where a second Rallying Charge is not necessary. Dump most points in Sentry Turret with maybe one extra rank in Capture for missions where there is a TP of significant HP, and 1 or 2 points in Landmine.

Flash Field
This build is for flash missions (max 4 turns) where a squad members have to separate (most likely a Scout Runner), and tight defense with lots of Overwatch, turrets and Landmines is not feasible. The idea is to buff the whole squad with a strong Power Field before they go on their separate ways. Since Power Field lasts only for 4 turns, this is obviously not effective for longer missions. On the positive side, this means no points in Heat Sink are necessary.

Capturer
This is definitely a late-game build. From rank 6, Capture costs only 2 AP so it can be used twice a turn which allows a single Engineer to neutralize and capture a TP in a single turn in most cases. There are a couple of missions (e.g. Infiltration_Site, Kaldun Factory Core, Prime: Drop Zone, Orbital Defense Battery) where such a skill comes in handy.

To make the Capturer less of a dead weight in the rest of the deployment, at least one point in Sentry Turret and Landmine is needed. For longer deployments Heat Sink 3 or 4 is definitely a sound choice, if you have enough points and an outlook to deploy a second Engineer.

Paired Sinks
Two Engineers with Heat Sink 3-4 can keep an entire squad running indefinitely without too much trouble. For the higher level of the pair, the rest of the talent points may go to Sentry Turret with 1 or 2 in Landmine. For the lower level one, it's either the same, Power Field or Capture 6.

Paired Sinks are a huge benefit on all longer missions.