Engineer

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6182055/p-3.html Engineers are something of a hybrid rifleman/summoner class. While they can fire ranged weapons, most of their skills revolve around summoning bots and drones of various sorts that will help them in combat. Its a somewhat passive class, without a huge number of different actions that youll be performing in combat; most of the time youll simply be firing your weapon while your bots and drones help distract or wear down your enemies. The helpers that you get here will help you take on crowds of enemies with ease, but boss monsters can be a bit harder to handle. Also note that the added graphical strain of a half-dozen pets with their own attacks can be somewhat rough on lower-end machines. Equipment Youll need to graba few different weapons of various damage types here. Try to find something capable of igniting opponents, obviously, and bring along a rapid-fire weapon and a sniper rifle. You cant obtain the Sniper skill, but the Tactical Stance skill will still let you extend the range of your sniper rifles fire a good deal. As far as your armor goes, youll want to try and find stuff that boosts the stats of your minions. If you poke around long enough, youll come across items that add to the armor and health of your minions, and perhaps even attack damage. This stuff will be pretty handy, especially if you invest heavily into your drones abilities. Skills Tactical Stance, Beacon, and Rapid Fire will all be handy here, but you dont need to invest in them a huge amount; a couple points each will unlock the skills functionality and make them usable, but the bulk of your points will be going towards bots and drones. Drone Skills: Your drone is going to be your primary minion here: you can only have one of them out at a time, but theyll eventually become quite powerful, and youll even be able to upgrade them with new guns, swords, and armor. Theyll probably be taking a lot of damage, since they tend to rush forward and engage your enemies, so youll want to invest heavily into the core Construct Drone skill, as well as Repair Drone when it becomes available. Just two or three points in Repair Drone will let you cut the cooldown timer on the skill by half, which will come in especially handy during tough boss fights. Apart from that, most of the skills here are pretty self-evident. You can probably avoid the Medpak Retrofit and Shield Generator Retrofit abilities unless you play in groups quite a bit; theyre not really worthwhile for solo play. Youll need to invest quite a bit of points into the Gun, Sword, and Armor Retrofit skills, as well as the Master Engineer skill, to ensure that your drone can wield competitive equipment and stay alive in combat. Although its not exactly intuitive, in order to equip weapons and armor to your drone, you need to summon it, press the Alt key, move your mouse up to the upper left corner of the screen, right-click on the drones portrait, and select Inventory. Initially there wont be any

inventory slots for you to add anything to; theyll be unlocked as you invest points in your skills. Bot Skills: Unlike your drone, you can have multiple bots out at the same time, with one set of bots from each tree being available. (I.e. you can have inhibitor bots or haste bots out, but not both.) Bots are unkillable, but their effects are somewhat more muted than the drones. You start off with three Inhibitor Bots, which are helpful in that theyll point out the locations of nearby enemies and slow them a bit. Its probably not worth increasing your investment there, though, although you may have to to move down the tree; instead, start building up your Rocket Bots. Rocket Bots will deal more damage and can eventually learn the Molotov Assault skill, which will be handy when going up mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

=================================================================== ============= | Hellgate: London. | | Engineer FAQ | | Version: 2.5 | | Made By: Kuthu - (David Stoughton) | =================================================================== ============= Table of Contents =================================================================== ============= 1* - Versions 2* - Overview: Engineer 3* - Stats 4* - Skills 4.1* - Self Skills 4.2* - Bot Skills 4.3* - Drone Skills 5* - Equipment 6* - Credits =================================================================== ============= 1* - Versions =================================================================== ============= 2.5: Updated for the 1.2 Patch. 2.4: Read Overview for an update. All in reguards to Stonehenge. 2.3: Added "Use Type/Delay + Rate of Use" to all skills.

2.2: Fixed a couple more errors, and made some things easier to understand. 2.1: Fixed some spacing errors. 2.0: Finished Base-Version. 1.3: Added Credits, Spelling/Grammar Editing. 1.2: Added Equipment 1.1: Finished Skills. 1.0: Guide Started. This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. =================================================================== ============= 2* - Overview =================================================================== ============= The Engineer class was one of the most loved classes in Beta. Many people said they would consider this class for Nightmare and Elite mode. As it stands, the class is a fairly solid and fun (albeit easy) class to play. With the Stonehenge patch, they are allowing respecs, however, if you are not a subscriber, you cannot receive these and the same old rules apply to you. This guide was created to help give you some insight into their skill tree, to help you make a better decision on which skills you'd feel the best off with. As I have leveled to 50 on my own Engineer, I have seen the usefulness of most skills first hand, and I'll try to explain them the best I can, giving stats of those skills also when I'm able to get them. With the upcoming patch of Stonehenge, which, at the time of writing this, it is not out quite yet, but it is in the testing phase. There are a couple of changes coming up that conflicted with the old information on this guide. These changes range from the Skill Reset item, which is only availible to subscribers, as well as new Drone AI actions. You may be asking yourself how good that new Drone AI is, in the original testing of 0.7 is was horrible. I had a ton of complaints with the original changes and voiced my opinion. A couple people (about 8) replied to me, agreeing with me. And it seems that Flagship Studios listened to us. As this new AI is much better.

This new AI will hold its ground when he's firing, which drastically changes some of the reasons for getting or dismissing old skills. He's still got some difficulty at aiming, but it's only for a few seconds, after which he will turn in place to adjust his aim to actually hit the monster. Which is much improved from the old one, where he moved randomly; firing at everything. So, let's start, shall we? =================================================================== ============= 3* - Stats =================================================================== ============= You'll always get 5 stat points a level, and occasionally 1 from quests. I don't know the exact total from quests, yet. There are four stats. Accuracy, Strength, Stamina and Willpower. The tricky thing about Engineer, is that we require pretty much all of those stats. And a lot of all of them. There's no easy way to put stats for an Engineer, you can't tell yourself; "Okay, I'll put 2 Accuracy, 2 Stamina and 1 Willpower every level." It doesn't work that way, the best thing for you to do is never use a point. Until you get gear that requires more stats, then use them to put it on. If you have no equipment that gives bonuses to stats, you're probably never going to be able to use all the gear you would like to use. As you'll need 10-40 Strength/Stamina for every piece of gear at 50, and any Mods you put into your weapon, along with some armor and weapons will slowly eat away at your Willpower. Accuracy is needed for a few pieces of armor, and a couple of mods. The big chunk will come from a two-handed gun. Aside from being able to use things, stats have affects, like most games. Accuracy increases critical damage by 2% a point, and decreases missle spread. Missle spread is not used on all guns (beam guns) and performing criticals are NOT the staple of the Engineer class, that's held by Marksman. So it's not really useful to have any more than you need in Accuracy. Strength increases melee damage by 1%, useless for you since you cannot melee. Only get as much as you need to equip gear. Stamina increases health by 5 a point. Again, only get as much as you need to use gear, until you have a large surplus at level 50, which you probably want to do a 2/1 ratio with Willpower. Willpower increases Power by 2 a point, and increases Power regeneration. I'm like a broken record, only get as much as you need to use gear. As I said with Stamina, try to hold off putting extra points here until about level 50 when you're pretty sure you won't need more Strength/Accuracy. So, the bottom line is: "Save it until you need it."

=================================================================== ============= 4* - Skills =================================================================== ============= While I cannot tell you how to make your Engineer, I can give you information on their skills, and a general performance rating. I may be a little bias. But I'll try to be a bit calm about it here. If you've looked at a skill before and went "What's the Skill group mean?". Some gear can have affects on skills in a group. As an example, Swordsmanship for the Blademaster, some swords can reduce the cooldown of skills in the group. While it's not a big deal for Engineers, you may find a use for it, unlike me. WARNING: As I don't actually have information on all of the skills, sometimes when I list higher levels of the skill, I'm doing guess work as they seem to always rank up the same after rank 1, so some of my higher values may be off. Some things to remember: When it comes to bots, you're only allowed two, bots that fall under these rules are: Inhibitor Bots, Rocket Bot, Haste Bot, Bomber Bot and Nanobots. The Construct Drone does NOT fall under this rule. "Why are the Power costs you list so high?" Well, here's the thing, increasing a skill with points does not make it cost more than before, however... Leveling does. When you level, skills get costly. I don't know the ratio yet, but I can tell you my Construct Drone costs 111.0. So, lets start! ----------------------------- 4.1* Self Skills ----------------------------------- Tactical Stance | Required Level: 1 ---- Prerequisite: None --------------------------------------Skill Groups: Tactical Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant Rate of Use: 2 Seconds (Note: This is only for reactivating, not deactivating) In-Game Description: The Hunter's steadier aim and reduced profile as a target grant a tactical advantage over the enemy. My Thoughts: Changed in patch 1.2 now gives a damage bonus. Instead of a critical bonus while active, making this skill better. While it is useful for decreased missle spread on some guns on some targets, and the range even helps out beam guns, which both really help when killing Orbitals and other things. Note that while using this skill, you cannot move without ending the effect. Level 1 2 Damage Bonus 15% 20%

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 55% 60% 55.5

Power Cost:

--- Rapid Fire | Required Level: 10 ---- Prerequisite: Tactical Stance - 1 -------------------------------------Skill Groups: Tactical, Combat Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant Rate of Use: 10 Seconds In-Game Description: A 3-second burst that increases damage by 10% and greatly increases rate of fire at the cost of weapon accuracy. The Hunter remains stationary while using this attack. Cannot be used while in Tactical Stance. My Thoughts: Get it. Always get this skill. It's deadly in close, and with beam guns it's even good at mid to long range. If you don't get this skill you're pretty much gimping yourself. Put around 5 points into it. (Beam guns get mutiple beams that still lock on, increasing the DPS) Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Speed Bonus 100% 115% 130% 145% 160% 175% 200% 215% 230% 245% 79.9

Power Cost:

--- Beacon | Required Level: 5 ---- Prerequisite: None -----------------------------Skill Groups: Tactical Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant Rate of Use: 2 Seconds In-Game Description: The Hunter paints an enemy with infra-red light,

highlighting weaknesses in the target's defense. My Thoughts: This really eats up a bit of your Power to use, but with a couple of points to make it last, it's pretty useful on bosses. 2 at the VERY least. It's completely instant (Your character doesn't make any animation) and has very good range. Helps with picking off Orbitals a lot. I hate those guys. Also pretty nice in PvP; there's no resist factor. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Damage Bonus Duration 15% 9 Seconds 20% 10 Seconds 25% 11 Seconds 30% 12 Seconds 35% 13 Seconds 40% 14 Seconds 45% 15 Seconds 50% 16 Seconds 55% 17 Seconds 60% 18 Seconds 66.6

Power Cost:

--- Escape | Required Level: 15 ---- Prerequisite: Beacon - 1 ------------------------------Skill Groups: Tactical Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant Rate of Use: 30 Seconds In-Game Description: The Hunter activates a cloaking device to become virtually invisible to enemies for a short amount of time. Attacking deactivites the cloaking effect. My Thoughts: Personally, I've never used this skill. I never needed to either. But I imagine on hardcore this can a 1 point wonder at saving your life. It may even be useful when things come at you instead of your Construct Drone. If you wanna get this skill, put 1 point in it. It may save your life. This skill has been fixed for PvP, you will now be hidden against players. Now has a passive 1 second invulnerability when activated.

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Duration 3 Seconds 4 Seconds 5 Seconds 6 Seconds 7 Seconds 8 Seconds 9 Seconds

Power Cost:

77.7

--- Smackdown | Required Level: 10 ---- Prerequisite: None ---------------------------------Skill Groups: Tactical, Precision Strike, Combat Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant (3 second delay for explosion) Rate of Use: 30 Seconds In-Game Description: The Hunter marks an area for a precision strike that is designed to cause optimal amount of concussive damage. My Thoughts: In 1.2 this skill now has a synergy effect. Ranks in Smackdown now increase the Elemental Attack Strengths of all Precision Strikes by 25%. The radius on the explosion decreased 50%. Damage was increased by 300%. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Stun Duration 3 Seconds 4 Seconds 5 Seconds 6 Seconds 7 Seconds 8 Seconds 9 Seconds 111.0

Power Cost:

--- Shock and Awe | Required Level: 25 ---- Prerequisite: None -------------------------------------Skill Groups: Tactical, Precision Strike, Combat Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant (3 second delay for explosion) Rate of Use: 30 Seconds In-Game Description: The Hunter marks an area for a precision strike that results in a barrage of electrostatic explosions in the area of effect. My Thoughts: In 1.2 this skill now has a synergy effect. Ranks in Shock and Awe now increase the Radius of all Precision Strikes by 15%. The radius on the explosion decreased 75%. Damage was decreased by 25%. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 Damage ?-? ?-? ?-? ?-? ?-? ?-?

?-? 111.0

Power Cost:

--- Napalm Strike | Required Level: 30 ---- Prerequisite: None ---------------------------------------------------Skill Groups: Tactical, Precision Strike, Combat Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant (3 second delay for explosion) Rate of Use: 30 Seconds In-Game Description: The Hunter marks and area for a precision strike that damages and potentially ignites enemies in the area of effect. My Thoughts: In 1.2 this skill now has a synergy effect. Ranks in Napalm Strike now increase the Duration of all Precision Strikes by 50%. The radius on the explosion decreased 50%. Damage was increased by 300%. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AoE Duration 3 Seconds 4 Seconds 5 Seconds 6 Seconds 7 Seconds 8 Seconds 9 Seconds 111.0

Power Cost:

--- Phase Grenade | Required Level: 25 ---- Prerequisite: None -------------------------------------Skill Groups: Tactical, Grenade, Combat Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant (1 second delay for explosion) Rate of Use: 5 Seconds In-Game Description: The Hunter hurls a grenade towards the enemy which emits a pulse of spectral energy. The Phase Grenade sticks to hard surfaces and detonates after 1 second. My Thoughts: Depends. If you get Bomber Bot, this won't be as useful for you. If you don't get Bomber Bot, get this skill. Phasing is awesome, especially in conjuncion with ignite. If you can get both on a boss... it's game over. You may still want to get it, even if you get Bomber Bot. It's up to you. Decent in PvP because of the "Sticky" mechanics it uses. Level 1 2 Phase Attack Strength 1,620 ?

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 44.4

Power Cost:

----------------------------- 4.2* Bot Skills ------------------------------------ Inhibitor Bots | Required Level: 1 ---- Prerequisite: None -------------------------------------Skill Groups: Bots Use Type/Delay: Summon, 2 Second Casting Time Rate of Use: Instant In-Game Description: These autonomous robots emit force beams at approaching enemies, slowing their movement. My Thoughts: Not really that useful. I really don't like these guys. The best thing anyone can say about them is their beams point out enemies. People tell me they like them so they can back-peddal and shoot, I honestly don't see the usefulness here, either. Since generally the hardest part of a zone is the entrance and you'll have no where to back up to anyway. If you picked up Construct Drone, there's no reason to back-peddal. Also, since it's a bot, it's taking the place of another bot. And on top of all that, you're hurting your own damage, quite a bit. The one decent thing I can see these for is when PvPing against Templars. But again, this is just what I think of this skill. Level 1 2 3 4 5 Slow 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 66.6

Power Cost:

--- Concussive Crash | Required Level: 10 ---- Prerequisite: Inhibitor Bots - 3 ----------------------------------------Skill Groups: Bots Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant Rate of Use: 10 Seconds In-Game Description: The Engineer commands the Inhibitor Bots to crash

into a targeted enemy and detonate. The force blast stuns enemies in the area of effect. My Thoughts: Quite a bit more useful than Inhibitor Bots themselves. It's not the most impressive skill ever, but you're forced to get it if you're going for Haste Bot or Nanobots, I probably wouldn't go for it otherwise. For PvP, it depends. Most people like to get Stun Resistance for fighting Guardians, so this skills usefulness will drop quickly. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Stun Duration 2 Seconds 3 Seconds 4 Seconds 5 Seconds 6 Seconds 7 Seconds 8 Seconds 11.1

Power Cost:

--- Haste Bot | Required Level: 20 ---- Prerequisite: Inhibitor Bots - 3 | Concussive Crash - 3 -----------------------------------------------------------Skill Groups: Bots Use Type/Delay: Summon, 2 Second Casting Time Rate of Use: Instant In-Game Description: This robot projects a localized time field that allows both Engineer and allies to fire weapons and use skills faster. My Thoughts: I got to use this skill back in beta. The haste sounds nice and in some cases it probably is. But for me, the haste was minor, I could barely notice it. This has since been changed, it might be a tad bit better now and might be worth it with some points. If you're building a spec which includes this, it may work out for you. This can also be pretty nice if you plan on grouping a lot, as it can effect teamates, which is one of a few things in the game that can. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Haste (Rank 2+ may be lower than in-game) 13% 16% 19% 22% 25% 28% 31% 111.0

Power Cost:

--- Nanobots | Required Level: 30 ---- Prerequisite: Inhibitor Bots - 3 | Concussive Crash - 3 | Haste Bot - 3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------Skill Groups: Bots Use Type/Delay: Summon, 2 Second Casting Time Rate of Use: Skill Dependant In-Game Description: The Engineer releases an army of microscopic robots which implant themselves in the targeted enemy. These Nanobots explode with a devastating electical charge when the enemy is damaged. My Thoughts: These might take some explaining on how they work. When you release these like any other bot, they're like glitter on the ground. This "Glitter" is a single unit that will slide around and look for a monster to jump into, when it does jump into a monster, the monster will get a green light around him, pointing him out. When you see this light, if you shoot that unit, the Nanobots will explode, dealing damage then popping out of the monster. They'll then look for a new target. They cannot infect flying units. That is, unless the flying unit is low to the ground. In some situations they can be extremely hard to find, which if you're not shooting them, they're wasting their 40 second duration. Two problems I have with this skill, besides being hard to find, is that; They take the place of another bot and the 9 skill points needed to get them. Two things I like about this skill, are that; It's amazingly powerful. The damage is very large and it's also an Area of Effect, albeit a small one. I can see these being good on a boss. They may even be pretty good for PvP. You may want to look for some gear with them, because the 9 point cost to get to them is so large, that it's almost not worth it. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Cooldown 120.0 Seconds 100.0 Seconds 85.7 Seconds 75.0 Seconds 66.7 Seconds 60.0 Seconds 54.6 Seconds 50.0 Seconds 46.2 Seconds 42.9 Seconds 133.2

Power Cost:

--- Rocket Bot | Required Level: 5 ---- Prerequisite: None ---------------------------------Skill Groups: Bots

Use Type/Delay: Summon, 2 Second Casting Time Rate of Use: Instant In-Game Description: This combat support bot launches rockets at the Engineer's targeted enemy. My Thoughts: With only a point or two in this skill, he's pretty horrible. The more you put into him, the better he gets. With 7 points, he's quite powerful and can kill groups of Fellhounds in a single shot. Another great reason to go for him is Molotov Assault. Unless you have your heart set on two bots to keep out, go ahead and get this. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rockets Shot 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 66.6

Power Cost:

--- Molotov Assault | Required Level: 15 ---- Prerequisite: Rocket Bot - 3 ---------------------------------------Skill Groups: Bots Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant Rate of Use: 10 Seconds In-Game Description: The Engineer commands a Rocket Bot to collide with a targeted enemy and detonate. The ensuing explosion creates a field of fire and may ignite enemies in the field of effect. My Thoughts: This is one of my most used skills. There are some down sides. The downsides are, like Nanobots, it can't hit air units unless they're low. It also is picky about where it explodes and sometimes it just won't. The good parts are that you can learn how he works and get it to work 95% of the time. Even if it doesn't get to ignite anything, the fire field is quite powerful. If you got Rocket Bot, get this skill. If you're going for Bomber Bot, the three to get there is enough for this. The bad thing about this and PvP is the field is easy to move out of. But the duration while they're in it, is heavy damage anyway, and if you manage to ignite them, there's some bonus damage. Level 1 2 3 4 5 Bonus Ignite Strength 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

6 7 8 9 10

125% 150% 175% 200% 225% 22.2

Power Cost:

--- Bomber Bot | Required Level: 25 ---- Prerequisite: Rocket Bot - 3 | Molotov Assault - 3 ------------------------------------------------------Skill Groups: Bots Use Type/Delay: Summon, 2 Second Casting Time Rate of Use: Instant In-Game Description: The robot ejects explosive spectral devices which may phase targets, weakening their attacks and causing them to take more damage when hit. My Thoughts: Depends. As I said with Phase Grenade, phasing is great. If you're going to go for Phase Grenade, you may not need this guy. The good thing about him, though, compared to Phase Grenades is that it doesn't cost you Power every time he throws one. It's up to you, but I really would recommend one or the other. Phasing is a great thing to have around. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bonus Phase Strength 0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250% 300% 350% 400% 450% 111.0

Power Cost:

---------------------------- 4.3* Drone Skills ----------------------------------- Construct Drone | Required Level: 1 --- Prerequisite: None --------------------------------------Skill Group: Drones Use Type/Delay: Summon, 3 Second Casting Time Rate of Use: 20 Seconds (Delay appears after the Construct Drone dies) In-Game Description: The Engineer constructs an autonomously motivated Drone to accompany him on the battlefield. The machine is equipped with a built-in laser but several upgrade and retrofit options exist to enhance the base model.

My Thoughts: If you want to go for the Drone, expect to spend a lot of points. He's not a beastly tank, but gets the job done if you build him that way. I personally do like him, but it's up to you if you wanna spend the points. I would recommend around 5 points to give him enough health at 50. Maybe less if you get a lot of gear with +% Minion Health. Couple of notes about the Drone, he gets 2 stat points when you level. These are used either to give him health (Stamina) or let him use gear. It works a lot like your own character in the way you give him stats. "Save it until you need it." As I see a lot of people ask, to get to his stat/equip screen, hold down alt to bring up your mouse, and right click on his portrait in the top left. Please Note: With any Drone Stat altering skill, you may need to relog. Until you relog (Maybe zone) you will not get the new bonuses from the skill. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Health Bonus (Has nothing to do with his base) 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 225% 111.0

Power Cost:

--- Gun Retrofit | Required Level: 10 ---- Prerequisite: Construct Drone - 3 -------------------------------------Skill Group: Drones Use Type/Delay: Passive Rate of Use: Passive In-Game Description: The Engineer alters the targeting and firing control systems of the Drone so that it can be retrofitted with a gun. The Drone's armament assumes the damage and effects of the added weapon. My Thoughts: If you wanna go down for Sword Retrofit and Gyroblade, you have to get this, the skill itself though, is decent at best. If you are going for Sword, you shouldn't put more than two points here. Though you can use a Gun and a Sword at the same time, it is not recommended. For every point you put here, you'll need less stats to equip him with guns. Leaving more stats for armor (if you get that skill) or Stamina for health. Please Note: With any Drone Stat altering skill, you may need to relog.

Until you relog (Maybe zone) you will not get the new bonuses from the skill. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Accuracy Bonus 7 14 21 28 35 42 49

Power Cost: Passive

--- Tactical Mode | Required Level: 15 ---- Prerequisite: Construct Drone - 3 | Gun Retrofit - 2 --------------------------------------------------------Skill Groups: Drones Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant Rate of Use: 40 Seconds In-Game Description: The Engineer's Drone shifts to tactical firing mode. This causes it to cease movement in order to increase its rate of fire and skill use. My Thoughts: This skill isn't that good. It's for more viable for you to get Rapid Fire as your damage will always be better than your Drones. The power cost is slightly higher on Rapid Fire, but the rate of use is half a minute faster, including the +10% Damage from Rapid Fire. You should be using better, higher damage weapons on yourself. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Speed Bonus 100% 120% 140% 160% 180% 200% 220% 66.6

Power Cost:

--- Advanced Tactical Mode | Required Level: 25 ---- Prerequisite: Construct Drone - 3 | Gun Retrofit - 2 | Tactical Mode - 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------Skill Groups: Drones Use Type/Delay: Passive (Upgrade for Tactical Mode) Rate of Use: Passive In-Game Description: By adding stationary graviton deflectors, the Drone gains additional defenses while in Tactical Mode.

My Thoughts: Horrible. Shields on Drones is flat out horrible. Not to mention the fact he has to be in Tactical Mode for this to help him. Let's do a little bit of math, shall we? Decent Shield gear up around level 50, has at least 150 shields, I'm sure you can find a modded one to have 200. 200 Shields, while wasting at least 10 points on this skill, it will net you an extra 1600 Shields. So around 1800 Shields. Which is not affected by armor, and he can only use for a short amount of time. Useless if you ask me. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Shield Bonus 80% 160% 240% 320% 400% 480% 560% 640% 720% 800% Passive (When in Tactical Mode)

Power Cost:

--- Sword Retrofit | Required Level: 20 ---- Prerequisite: Construct Drone - 3 | Gun Retrofit - 2 --------------------------------------------------------Skill Groups: Drones Use Type/Delay: Passive Rate of Use: Passive In-Game Description: Through clever manipulation of armatures and micro-server motors, the Engineer has altered the Drone so it can wield a melee weapon. The Drone's armament assumes the damage and affects of the added weapon. My Thoughts: I personally prefer a gun over the sword. Though you can use a Gun and a Sword at the same time, it is not recommended. Two things to remember about this skill. One, you're forced to get Gun Retrofit to get this. Second, he only uses one at a time. He will never run up to a monster to shoot and stab at the same time. Please Note: With any Drone Stat altering skill, you may need to relog. Until you relog (Maybe zone) you will not get the new bonuses from the skill. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Willpower Bonus 7 14 21 28 35 42 49

Power Cost:

Passive

--- Gyroblade | Required Level: 30 ---- Prerequisite: Construct Drone - 3 | Gun Retrofit - 2 | Sword Retrofit - 2 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Skill Groups: Drones Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant Rate of Use: Skill Dependant In-Game Description: The Engineer modifies the Drone with gryo-servos and rotation-maximizers to enable a spinning sword attack. My Thoughts: This is the one skill I've yet to see. I have little information on this skill, and none on how it works. I've still yet to see this skill in action, but I've heard from players that this skill is horrible, not only for the cooldown, but both the power cost and actual effects of the skill. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Cooldown 40.0 Seconds 32.0 Seconds 26.7 Seconds 22.9 Seconds 20.0 Seconds 17.8 Seconds 16.0 Seconds 14.5 Seconds 13.3 Seconds 12.3 Seconds 177.6

Power Cost:

--- Medpack Retrofit | Required Level: 5 ---- Prerequisite: Construct Drone - 2 ---------------------------------------Skill Groups: Drones Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant Rate of Use: 40 Seconds In-Game Description: By implementing an automated micro-injector system on the Drone, it can heal the Engineer and allies in the heat of battle. My Thoughts: Mediocre. This skill will not save your life. The best this skill will ever do is save you some health injectors. When you activate this skill, the Drone will get an aura, he will still move freely and still attack normally, however, you have to be close enough to get the effects of the aura, another thing to note is that it "pulses". It's not an instant heal, it ticks for smaller amounts slowly.

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Healing 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% 140% 160% 180% 200% 111.0

Power Cost:

--- Shield Generator Retrofit | Required Level: 20 ---- Prerequisite: Construct Drone - 2 | Medpack Retrofit - 2 ------------------------------------------------------------Skill Groups: Drones Use Type/Delay: Triggered, Instant Rate of Use: 40 Seconds In-Game Description: The Engineer alters the Drone to allow the emission of an energy distortion field containing a high concentration of gravitons to recharge the shields of all allies. My Thoughts: Terrible. Like Medpack Retrofit, it will not save your life. It works exactly the same as that skill. Michael brought to my attention that this skill will actually hault your natural regeneration. So it's made even more worthless by that fact. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Shield Recharge 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% 140% 160% 180% 200% 111.0

Power Cost:

--- Repair Drone | Required Level: 5 ---- Prerequisite: Construct Drone - 2 -------------------------------------Skill Groups: Drones Use Type/Delay: Triggered, 2 Second Casting Time

Rate of Use: Skill Dependant In-Game Description: The Engineer can repair the Drone using a little elbow grease and a heavy wrench. Heals the Drone for 50% of it's maximum health. My Thoughts: If you put at about two points into this skill it's very good. You don't want less than two because it takes way too long to come back. And any more than two and the bonus isn't enough to merit the point use. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Cooldown 20.0 Seconds 11.4 Seconds 8.0 Seconds 6.2 Seconds 5.0 Seconds 4.2 Seconds 3.6 Seconds 3.2 Seconds 2.9 Seconds 2.6 Seconds 66.6

Power Cost:

--- Armor Retrofit | Required Level: 15 ---- Prerequisite: Construct Drone - 2 | Repair Drone - 2 --------------------------------------------------------Skill Groups: Drones Use Type/Delay: Passive Rate of Use: Passive In-Game Description: The Engineer can use armor from the inventory to better protect the Drone from damage. My Thoughts: A very, very nice skill. Your Drone can equip anything. Reguardless of class. So it's best to give him Guardian armor because that has the highest armor value. Not only that, each point you put in here gives him about 35 health from the Stamina gain alone before any bonuses such as the Construct Drone skill and +% Minion Health. Please Note: With any Drone Stat altering skill, you may need to relog. Until you relog (Maybe zone) you will not get the new bonuses from the skill. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strength and Stamina Bonus 7 14 21 28 35 42 49

Power Cost:

Passive

--- Master Engineer | Required Level: 25 ---- Prerequisite: Construct Drone - 2 | Repair Drone - 2 | Armor Retrofit - 2 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Skill Groups: Drones Use Type/Delay: Passive Rate of Use: Passive In-Game Description: The superior craftsmanship of the Drones created by the Engineer is evident in their clean lines and hardened armor. My Thoughts: A very, very good skill to use in conjunction with Guardian Armor. You'll need to balance out the diminishing returns, though. Meaning that the higher his armor gets, the less damage reduction per-point. I would say 2-4 is a good number. But if you really need this guy to tank, you could always go higher if you've got the points. Please Note: With any Drone Stat altering skill, you may need to relog. Until you relog (Maybe zone) you will not get the new bonuses from the skill. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Armor Bonus 35% 70% 105% 140% 175% 210% 245% 280% 315% 350%

Power Cost: Passive =================================================================== ============= 5* - Equipment =================================================================== ============= When it comes to gear, it's whatever is best for you at the time. You'll need to remember that Sniper Rifles are not very good for Engineers. And we all know how much people love Sniper Rifles. I've found that Automatic Rifles and Beam Guns work very well. Keeping an Area of Effect gun around (like Firefox Launcher) may be a good idea. For mods on weapons, look for damage bonus, I found a gun with +50% damage to demons and I used it since level 38 all the way to 50, and it's still the only gun I actually use. I modded it with +% Physical Damage and other things.

When you're looking at armor, if you're a Bot heavy build +Minion Health will be practically worthless for you. Having that for a Drone though, the affects are extremely large with all the other bonuses. You should try to find a balance. If you get way too much +Minion Health, your damage/stats may suffer. +Minion Damage is always a good thing to have. If you're looking at Resistances, your best resistance is to stay away from things and let your Drone tank it. Unless you're into PvP, where you will need stun, phase and ignite defense. You may want a bit of stun resist for PvE. If you wanna use the best Armor/Shield gear you can find, you'll need to find gear that has bonuses to attributes, if you do not, you'll find yourself quickly running out of points, and you may even run out before getting it all. Finding gear with +% to health for you is a great thing to find. Another thing to consider is Shield Penetration/Overload. Overload will help you burn a monsters shield down quicker, as where Penetration will ignore it by a percentage. If you have 100% Penetration (Which is hard to do) you do not need Overload. It may not seem like much at first. But when you start getting to harder areas with monsters that focus on shields; it's a VERY nice thing to have around. As a general rule of thumb, always look at requirements. Sometimes that shiny piece of slightly better gear requires 2-3 levels worth of stat points that you just don't have. =================================================================== ============= 6* - Credits =================================================================== ============= -Contributors: Michael, for the Shield Generator Retrofit update. -Links: HG:L Guild: http://www.drow.org (I'm not the leader, sorry) Character Planner: http://hellgate.ingame.de/skilltree/engineer My Build: http://hellgate.ingame.de/skilltree/engineer/?l=50&s=10557024002130500000a040000 Thank you for reading my guide, if you have any questions or comments, please contact me any of the following ways. -E-Mail: ramthen@gmail.com -US-Shulgoth: Nefn -AIM: Vamku -Yahoo: Vamku0 Note: Please don't contact me about spelling/grammar errors. I know that there

are a lot of them, and I don't need to be told about each and every one. -Copyright: 2007 David Stoughton