by Lewis Burnell on Jun 06, 2014
The Engineer in WildStar is one of three tanks. Unlike your typical tank in the genre the Engineer is capable of tanking from range instead of melee. Carrying a launcher (that’s a hand-cannon to you and I) the Engineer can also make use of a variety of AI controlled pets that are able to deal damage or taunt enemies. To support the Engineer as a tank and damage dealer they have access to an Exo Suit with two modes: Eradicate and Provoke. The Exo Suit allows the Engineer to run at full speed while attacking but also bolsters their defence or offensive dependant on which mode you activate. It should be noted that the Engineer when out of the Exo Suit has his speed reduced when attacking (75% movement speed) and as mentioned above is only capable of running full speed when the Exo Suit is active. For many people this can be difficult to overcome as running slower in combat compared to other classes takes time to get used to. Fortunately, even though the Engineer moves slower in combat he can absorb plenty of damage and can melt faces ridiculously quickly at level 50. No really, his damage is amazing.
The Engineers mechanic is a power bar that requires Volatility. As you attack with your builder, you’ll generate Volatility per attack which you can then unleash. When it comes to building Volatility there’s a couple of options with a direct damage attack that builds 15 Volatility per hit (Pulse Blast) or Flak Cannon which generates 5 Volatility per tick. Fortunately you don’t have to rely on just these two skills to build Volatility as there are several others (though they are on cooldowns) while your Exo Suit also generates a considerable amount:
Energy Auger Bio Shell Target Acquisition Richochet Disruptive Module Shock PulseOnce you’ve built up your Volatility you’ll need to use it and the Engineers “spenders” or “dump” skills are incredibly powerful. You can reach a maximum of 100 Volatility but can begin to spend it at any time: Electrocute is the primary spender most Engineers use because it hits like a truck and slowly uses your Volatility over a period of time. Other skills such as Bolt Caster or Mortar Strike used fixed amounts (25 and 60 respectively).
Alongside Volatility and important in generating it, is the Exo Suit. As mentioned above it doesn’t matter what mode you’re in, the Exo Suit will generate 10 Volatility per second. When combined with your builder skills, it’s relatively easy to maximise your Volatility in a few seconds. What I would recommend is that you attempt to maximise your Volatility just through skills first, then dump it using Electrocute (or other skills) followed by your Exo Suit. This way you get an excellent cycle of two periods of maximum Volatility.
The Engineer is actually a tough class to play. It has very few escape skills and the fact it runs slower when using its skills make it an easy target in PvP and in PvE. You’ll take the brunt of most attacks from enemies as they quickly approach you even if you aren’t wanting to tank. What I will say is that you need to establish a clear divide between how you play PvE and PvP with totally different skill sets. In PvE bots work reasonably well, especially the Brusier Bot that’s capable of holding aggro easily. However, in PvP bots are pretty useless and you’d be much better taking other skills to survive.
What I’d always recommend with an Engineer is that despite your heavy armor you’re very fragile if focused. The primary reason for that, certainly in a PvP environment and as mentioned above, is because escape skills are limited. Instead the Engineer relies on raw mitigation to get them through fits. Interestingly as a ranged tank you shouldn’t expect to simply stay at the back of encounters taking no damage. Instead and due to the nature of enemy encounters, once you’ve drawn aggro enemies will quickly be in melee range of you. Subsequently and unless you are using a Bruiser Bot to take aggro for you, you’ll still be face tanking like Stalkers and Warriors. Fortunately you can switch to Provoke mode on your Exo Suit and reduce the damage you take, as well as increasing your resistances.
Overall though, I found the Engineer involves a lot of positional play in PvE and PvP to keep enemies taunted but to also not leave themselves too vulnerable. In PvP if you overextend, it’s without question that you’ll die and unlike other classes you do rely very heavily on healers. Thankfully the Engineer