Warhammer Online: Engineer Guide – Part 1

The Engineer: The Dwarf armies’ ranged specialist and gadget freak. In this article I will take a look at some of the abilities and skills available to this walking powderkeg, examine some of the strategies for both PvE and PvP, and hash out the strengths and weaknesses of this class as a whole. The engineer has a lot to offer to both MMO newcomers and hardened veterans.

The engineer is, at its core, a ranged damage dealing class. It is akin to the hunter classes from World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online, the Blaster archetype from City of Heroes, and other classes that use rifles or bows in order to do damage from a distance. The engineer is also a pet class, in a very unique way. The engineer has a number of turrets that deal considerable damage on their own, and are an integral part to the engineer’s combat strategy. Finally, the engineer is a utility class. They lack the pure, unadulterated single-target damage of Bright Wizards, but in return get a plethora of snares, hexes, DoTs, AoEs, debuffs, buffs and more. The engineer is a versatile and complex class – with a great deal of potential if played correctly.

Your role as engineer is, as previous mentioned, ranged damage dealing, or damage per second (DPS). There is, however, some difference between the engineer’s style of DPS and that of a Bright Wizard or Shadow Hunter. The engineer is a mid-range class – what this means is that you need to be closer than other DPS classes to reach full potential. This is because the highest engineer DPS comes from the use of grenades, skills like fire bomb, sticky grenade and acid bomb. These have a shorter range than your rifle, but do more damage. Depending on what mastery you pursue, an engineer can move farther back from the action by improving gun-based skills or boosting the range of grenades, but even having done so, the engineer will always need to be a little closer to the action to get the most out of their skills.

Another essential part of getting the most out of your engineer is proper use of the turret. There are three different types of turrets: the gun turret, the flame turret, and the bombardment turret. The gun turret has the longest range, and sports an armor debuff as its special ability. This turret will see a great deal of use in PvE and PvP – it’s your bread and butter, and is never a bad idea. The flame turret is short range, has a cone attack and a PbAOE, and its best used at choke points or in closed quarters fighting. It has more damage potential than the gun turret, but only in specific situations. The bombardment turret is useful at mid range, and has a knockdown effect. This turret works well in PvP and pairs well with grenadier path engineers. Personal preference will always play a part in choosing your turret – each has its strengths and weaknesses – but a good engineer will always be using one in order to make the most of their class.