Arena mode:Engie tactics

On Arena there must be something an engie can do besides making a dispenser. Teleporters are useless, and you never have a good enough team to help you make a lvl.2-3 sentry. Any advice?


P.S. I think arena should be added to the map-specific strategys forum

In my opinion, engineers are worthless in arena mode. To me, I would rather have another medic then an engineer. Medics heal faster then dispensers, and there is enough ammo in the arena. Level one sentries suck, and like you said, teleporters are worthless and it is hard to get a lvl 2 or 3 sentry up.

1. Lay down lvl 1 sentry in a sneaky spot (let build on its own)
2. Find 200 material crate which is always close to spawn
3. dispenser
4. upgrade to level 2
5. BATTLE ENGI

That is what I do when I play engi, the dispenser is a great tool for if the medic dies or somebody needs ammo, and the lvl 1-2 sentry can sometimes pick expecting people off.

Obviously on some maps there is some better placement, for example Ravine has great sentry placement and engi's can be extremely effective.

The best thing an engineer can do is form a bubble of protection on your flank.
This is extremely useful in maps like Ravine, where the ambushing and flanking occur non-stop.

I'd say the worst maps for Engineer are Arena Granary and Arena Badlands.  Badlands is extremely bad because of the multi-floor battlefield mixed with the massive amount of objects that can obstruct a sentry guns line of sight.  Granary tends to be a soldier favored map, and any soldier worth his weight in rockets can decimate a level 1 sentry instantly.

It also helps if you don't sit and guard your sentry gun.  This might seem weird, but you should be using your sentry gun as an "Anchor" point.  Keep roughly within it's line of sight/bubble of protection and fight anything that comes nearby.  Try to draw your opponents into the sentry gun, baiting them can prove very useful.

Also, if your team is intelligent they'll fight with their backs to the sentry-guarded area, forcing your opponents to either face them head on or deal with your sentry gun.

The dispenser is very useful for dealing with pyros and backing up a medic, not to mention a lot of people have this unbelievable urge to shoot them when they see them.

Your dispenser is more useful than your sentry, so long as your team can find it (tell them in other words). Sentries are good even at level 1- no-one wants to risk their neck if they know a sentry is around and there's no respawn. Use it more as a weapon of fear and passive area denial.

Change your sentry locations- I got cocky one badlands arena game, building a sentry in the same position because it was very effective. 3 rounds later, I was continually wiped out by snipers and demomen. Don't let people catch on to the same building patterns.

WATCH YOUR BACK! Engineers are one of the classes with little excuse to find a blade in their back. Your stuff isn't lost when you die like in sudden death, but it's as good as. Wrench spies to show them who's better.

For Lumberyard, try building a sentry by the healthpack. People who go for it are in dire need of health and can often forget to look for danger. Win.

For Ravine, build sentries around the deep water- burning medics especially use it alot.

Well, build in the water, or in the little entrance from the water in the main building.

Granary, in between the buildings- you gotta build fast, and don't bother upgrading, this sentry will die quick- but not before it nails someone.

Badlands, facing the little window overlooking the CP- vulnerable from snipers and demomen, but very effective if it lives.

These are just some basic stock locations- be creative- an unexpected level 1 sentry that kills one player and is then destroyed is not a waste, so long as you still live.

On Well, I was usually able to get a level 3 up on the train next to the spawn. It protected my dispencer and prevented scouts from moving around the back. It seemed to work well.

I haven't played it much on arena, but I think battle engy is the way to go; it's a lot better that extra bit of firepower up front rather than gunhumping outside your spawn area. Obviously you should first place a dispenser in a safe spot whose location is known to the rest of the team, then stick with the group with your shotgun out. If you get an opportunity to place a sentry in a hidden spot then do so, and if anything gets destroyed (particularly the dispenser); then build a new one ASAP, preferrably in a new area  so that it's not so easily found the next time.

I'm predicting some sort of new engy loadout item or a change to the arena mode soon. Engy is the most played class in TF2 isn't it?  I would bet it is easily played the least in arena mode though.  You should only play engy on a dare, to prove your leet skills, or to handicap yourself if you are playing arena.

The fact that the buildings don't die when you do, and the overabundance of ammo packs proves it to me that Valve already knows they have a problem with this class in this mode, just as engy is also a waste in comp play.

When I play Engie on Arena, the first thing I do is follow the Heavy-Medic team, which there always seems to be, to a good sentry spot. Every time I try to go build on my own, I get taken out before the sentry is up. Following your team gives you protection for a while, since the Arena maps are so small, you usually have less than 10 seconds before an enemy spots you. Also, I usually don't build teleporters or dispensers unless I'm positive no one's nearby. I find it takes too long of your attention for too little reward to take priority over sentry protection/upgrading.