Engineer

v • e Engineers
Tech 1 Engineer
Tech 2 Engineer
Tech 3 Engineer
Tech 1 Engineering Drone
Tech 2 Engineering Station
Tech 3 Engineering Station
Other

T1 Engineers
Tech 1 amphibious construction, repair, capture and reclamation unit.[ e ]
Build costs	-260 -52 260
Storage	50 10
Build rate	5/s
Max health	150 145 120 125
Speed	1.9 (Various)
Intel (radius)	Vision: 18

T2 Engineers
Tech 2 amphibious construction, repair, capture and reclamation unit.[ e ]
Build costs	-840 -160 800
Storage	100 20
Build rate	10/s
Max health	730 710 620 640
Speed	1.9 (Various)
Intel (radius)	Vision: 20

T3 Engineers
Tech 3 amphibious construction, repair, capture and reclamation unit.[ e ]
Build costs	-3150 -490 2100
Storage	400 40
Build rate	15/s
Max health	1500 1425 1180 1230
Speed	1.9 (Various)
Intel (radius)	Vision: 26

An engineer is a unit that primarily has an engineering suite. This gives the unit multiple unique functions: build, reclaim, repair, and capture. Although it is technically unarmed, the engineer can attempt to reclaim enemy units, which gradually decreases the enemy unit's health. All engineers are amphibious, allowing them to cross water.

There are three tech levels of engineers. Tech 1 engineers can build tech 1 structures. Tech 2 engineers can build tech 2 structures, as well as tech 1 structures. Tech 3 engineers can build all structures, as well as experimental units.

Usage[]

Engineers are typically used to construct structures, including capturing mass deposits by placing a mass extractor. However, they can also use the engineering suite to assist a factory with construction of units to make production happen faster. Multiple engineers can build an object at once to add their build power together which will accomplish construction faster.

While factories and certain other structures can upgrade themselves, higher tech engineers can place construction sites for a wider array of structures, namely those of their appropriate tech level. Therefore to build a T2 power generator a T2 engineer is likely to be required. Once any project is started, any level of engineer can assist in completing the construction, even if they could not normally start building it by themself.

Significance[]

Engineers are fairly flexible, being able to assist any kind of production or construction when given the travel time to reposition themselves. For example, investing in engineers allows them to either move around to different factories to increase expenditure; or produce higher tiers of resource production structures, especially remote mass extractors, in order to increase income.

Note that engineers themselves have a non-negligible cost to produce. At 50 mass, a T1 engineer is roughly equivalent in value to a T1 tank, constraining the number of units by mass income. This is actually more expensive than a T1 mass extractor themselves, making the engineer one of the main costs of attempting to claim an expansion. At barely over 100 HP, where possible a defensive escorting force will be useful to prevent the engineer from very rapidly dying to the slightest enemy raider. Additionally, note that alongside the standard resources, they also require build time, forming an interdependent relationship to both build time and factories via construction: Engineers can spend their time to grow build power by setting up factories, which provide build power both through the factory themselves and the factory enabling efficient production of T1 engineers.

Phases of a match[]

The initial role of the engineer in a match is to assist in resource collection, including constructing resource structures for income, and reclaiming objects to provide bonus resources. In turn, towards the midgame reclaim and a portion of income is typically invested into upgrading upgrading mass extractors and other structures to further increase the overall resources available. Overall, with greater resource income comes the ability to balance it against resources expended to the player's build power.

Secondarily, engineers can increase the potential to spend resources. They are the most accessible way to place down a T1 Factory at a remote location, and the build power of the factory will consume resources. Engineers themselves are a method of efficiently and cheaply increasing build power on specific projects without investing the sunk costs of additional high tech factories, although engineers can also make or assist the upgrading of new factories to increase the base rate of expenditure. Tertiarily, Engineers are also able to assist the ACU with upgrades, accelerating production of key upgrades such as the ACU engineering suite.

Tech levels[]

Engineers of different tech levels statistically vary in cost, durability/health, and construction speed primarily. But qualitatively the most important feature of a T2 engineer over a T1 one is the increased blueprint/schematic flexibility. A T2 engineer is necessary to build a T2 power generator which is vastly more efficient than massed T1 power. They are also able to build mass extractors much more quickly, build flak turrets for AOE AA and defend the ACU from being airsniped, and TMD/TML to engage in the domain of missile warfare. The same applies for T3, with resource structures being most important but the schematic capability to produce SAMs, Shields, and SMD are also paramount.

Note that once a build site has been placed, engineers of any level can assist it to complete it. Therefore a single T2 or T3 engineer can provide "employment" for many lower tech engineers.

Build order[]

At the start of a match, engineers are typically directed to claim hydrocarbon deposits before fanning out to mass deposits all over the map to capture as many of them as possible with mexes. Engineers are faster than the ACU and so are suited to claiming faraway deposits and quickly gathering valuable reclaim like abandoned buildings. When doing so an escort such as a cheap T1 light assault bot for defence, or a T1 light air transport for speed may be useful support units, as the engineers are vulnerable and targeted by enemy harassment. Finally once the initial mass extractors are claimed, those engineers can reclaim rocks for mass near the destination, and create walls to sculpt the terrain.

When upgrading Tech levels, the unlocked engineers also unlock a new level of power generators. Depending on the faction played the new combat units may have priority for a rush attack, but a new engineer allows more efficient power generation to commence sooner.

Build speeds[]

Higher tech level engineers have higher build rate than lower ones, expending resources at a correspondingly greater rate. A Tech 2 engineer builds twice as fast as a Tech 1 engineer, and a Tech 3 engineer three times as fast as a Tech 1, or 1.5 times as fast as a T2.

Tech 1 Engineers only build half as fast an ACU. However, an ACU with a Tech 2 upgrade builds 3 times as fast as a Tech 2 engineer, and a Tech 3 upgraded ACU, 6 times as fast as a Tech 3 engineer (or 18 times faster than a Tech 1 Engineer).

Engineers of any Tech build exactly 1/4 the speed of a factory of the same level. This means that it takes no more than 4 engineers to double a factory's build speed, aside from the short delay while finished units leave the factory.

The following table compares standard engineering units. For more detailed information on other units' construction speeds, see build rate.

Unit	HP	Costs			Production speed
Unit	HP	Energy	Mass	Time	Production speed
Tech 1 Engineer	135	260	52	260	5/s
Tech 2 Engineer	675	840	160	800	10/s
UEF T2 Field Eng. Sparky	1040	1000	225	1000	10/s
Tech 3 Engineer	1330	3150	490	2100	15/s (20 for Aeon and Sera in 3603)
SCU	32750	114000	9600	36000	60/s 90/s
ACU	11125	5000000	18000	60000	10/s 30/s 90/s

HP* = Calculated as an average value of all 4 factions
Production speed* = Multiple values indicate upgradeable units

In sheer construction time per resources spent, the Tech 1 engineer is best, followed by Tech 2, Tech 3 and finally, SCU. However, Tech 1 requires more micro managing, and die much easier. SCUs are extremely expensive, but have really good build speed and they shine on the battlefield: They are the only engineering units that can build things while taking a beating, making them the perfect combat engineer. They excel at creating point defense creep.

Factional differences[]

Engineers of all 4 factions cost the same, build at the same speed, move at the same speed, build at the same range, and are overall statistically equal. However, there are some qualitative and aesthetic differences.

Note that while all engineers are amphibious, both Aeon and Seraphim engineers hover rather than float. This makes them immune to torpedo type weaponry, but in return they have significantly less HP than Cybran and UEF, which travel in the water like surface ships. The other differing factor is their directionality of their engineering suite, which may be fixed, turreted, or remote drones.

Aeon engineers, as well as their SCUs are unique in the fact that they also have the ability to sacrifice themselves—the engineer is destroyed but it instantaneously gives its own mass and power cost to the object being built. This is not only useful to speed up the building process of a must-finish object, but it is a easy way to recycle near death engineers, or to get rid of excess T1 engineers late game, without wasting mass. Aeon utilise a wide beam for construction, that forms and draws up the structure from the ground.

Aeon and Cybran engineers are omni-directional; they can initiate operation instantly without turning their body, as long as the targets are within range. They still have to turn to move to the target though. Cybran deploy remote whirling cresent-shape flying objects to solidify their structures.

UEF engineers utilize a turret that can turn to the target much quicker than turning the whole body, and the turret has a 360 turn radius thus UEF engineer can initiate operation almost as fast as Aeon. UEF use a turreted laser for construction, ablating away matter from a cubic template.

The Seraphim engineers is the least efficient when it comes to initiation as their turret is front mounted and can only turn about 45 degrees on the front, thus they have to turn their whole body if the target is slightly off their front, and hovering units turn slower than units on wheels (like Cybran engineers). Seraphim use a wormhole beam, which appears to pull in their structures from an alternate dimension onto the battlefield.

Other construction units[]

There are other units with an engineering suite, especially within the UEF faction, and a few in Cybran and Aeon. There most used are the fixed helper-type building engineers, which automatically repair, build, assist or reclaim any units in their range, UEF T2 Engineering Station: The Kennel (attached to flying drones) and the Cybran T2 Engineering Station: The Hive, and their respective upgrades. The UEF also has some other flying Engineer drones, the C-D1 "Rover", C-D2 "Rover" and the C-D2 "Rover-2" attached to the appropriately related ACU upgrade.

The Aeon Harbinger Mark IV carries an engineering suite. Also the Mantis Cybran T1 Assault Bot is equipped with an engineering suite. Finally, note that there are some similarities to mobile factories, and some mobile factories can produce engineers. This includes the Megalith and Fatboy in particular.