Talk: Engineer Guide (Mass Effect 2)

Discount?

What is this discount on the cost of researching upgrades mentioned in the article? Is it mentioned anywhere else, and exactly how much is it? UERD 06:48, February 12, 2010 (UTC)

It says something about it when you are selecting classes at the beginning of the game... can't remember if it's -20% or -25%. Matt 2108 06:56, February 12, 2010 (UTC)

I believe the M920 Cain dropped from 25000 iridium to 17500 iridium, someone correct me if im wrong, but I hope that helps you. The discount is substantial enough to warrant one to choose to go for it, as it makes you spend less time probing planets. Kudo sensei 07:25, February 12, 2010 (UTC)

According to Engineer, the amount of the discount varies with your level in the passive class talent. 5%, 10%, 15%, and 25% for each rank respectively (your class specialization doesn't matter). This makes Kudo's claim slightly off (at max ranks you should only be dropping from 25000 to 18750), but I assume you can figure this out in game yourself. Either way, it's an unnecessary bonus, though for those of us without the patience to mine incessantly it can make upgrading much easier (and save the credits you would have spent on more probes). I'm OCD, so mining out worlds isn't an issue (I ended my first playthrough with over 300K Iridium and nothing to spend it on), but other people probably appreciate it. ShadowRanger 22:17, February 16, 2010 (UTC)

Bonus Powers?

I've been thinking that dominate would be a fab bonus power to an engineer. You are basically able to control anything in the game with AI Hack & Dominate. Haven't tried it yet (will try engineer after I finish sentinel). Anyone tried it? Marotti 15:47, February 12, 2010 (UTC)

It sounds mostly okay until you realize that you've just given an enemy a defense against which you are weak (barriers). Nifty in concept ("Call me the Puppet Master"), but potentially problematic if the enemy survives the reprisal from his comrades. On the other hand, if you keep around an NPC with Warp, you might be able to get some nifty combos going: Dominate an opponent, then Warp him (either before or after the Dominate wears off). The Barrier gets removed, and you get a force blast from the Warp (this is suggested in the Adept Guide, but I haven't tested it personally). If you do it early, you might catch a lot of enemies in the blast radius, at the expense of weakening your traitor. ShadowRanger 22:12, February 16, 2010 (UTC)

I'm taking back my suggestion, or at least saying it would only be fun at lower difficulty levels, because once you get to the point where opponents are unarmored and unshielded, there isn't much of a point. Probably better trying a 3 engineer bot attack than converting a bunch of weakened enemies against one another... Marotti 19:42, March 5, 2010 (UTC)

Justify Reave > Warp Ammo

Aside from the stylistic element (of using powers over weapons), I see no particular justification for using Reave over Warp Ammo. After all, adding Warp Ammo to a class that already comes with ammo powers means you have to choose between ammo types; adding it to a class without ammo powers means an easy choice and less powers to manage, plus it makes your weaker than usual weapons good for something. Can someone explain (particularly with reference to higher difficulty levels) why Reave would be preferred over Warp Ammo?

The wording is also a bit silly; using terms like "magician" and "magic" throughout the guide doesn't provide any useful information to compensate for the jarring element of referring to a techie as a magic user. Clarke's third law not withstanding, the Adept is clearly the closest to the traditional "magic user". ShadowRanger 21:56, February 16, 2010 (UTC)

I rewrote the Notable Bonus Powers section to remove specific recommendations. On lower difficulties either power should be perfectly adequate, and I'd like a strong argument from an Insanity veteran for recommending one over the other. ShadowRanger 22:04, February 16, 2010 (UTC)

I agree with ShadowRanger on the term "magician" used here, it contradicts the Engineer page itself which states clearly that the Engineer is a tech specialist (he/she uses an omni-tool, not biotic amps!). Perhaps more information on powers would be good to have here, for example Overload gaining "Sabotage" abilities from Rank 3 onwards and where is the info on the different types of Combat Drone(i remembered seeing Explosive and Attack variants information somewhere here before), the engineer is a bit weak power wise against barriers but submachine guns can be pretty good against barriers(one upgrade gives +50% damage to barriers and another gives +50% thermal clip efficiency), and as for the bonus power my opinion is that if the player always has a squadmate to provide a great squad ammo power then Reave should be taken, if the player brings squadmates like Miranda and Thane(shredder ammo is not that good)/Samara then Warp Ammo may be more useful(but i am still playing a Vanguard now so I'm probably not very qualified to offer these thoughts on the Engineer) CsAtlantis 04:27, February 23, 2010 (UTC)

Thinking of a rewrite

I'm thinking of rewriting this page; it seems to need a lot of cleanup, and it doesn't really jibe with my experience of playing an Engineer on Hardcore. (I haven't done one on Insanity yet, but I have a feeling Engineer might be one of the stronger classes on Insanity because they tend to have good battlefield control even against enemies that still have their defenses up, and are good at taking down defenses.) I'd try to incorporate the things that didn't seem downright silly, but this article has bugged me ever since I first read it. Is there any particular procedure for this, or should I just cut loose and trust that if my work isn't good, it will get reverted? Diyartifact 07:04, March 21, 2010 (UTC)

Since nobody has objected, and I've completed my Insanity run with an Engineer (which worked surprisingly well), I'm going to rewrite. Feel free to revert if it's unwelcome. Diyartifact 00:51, April 10, 2010 (UTC)

I agree that it is in great need of a rewrite. It is horribly lacking in details, and does not inspire the desire to play this class at all, unlike, say, the Vanguard guide, which has extensive detail listings. Using the Adept and Vanguard guides as a general outline is highly suggested, as those seem to have been worked over the most. Skelethin 01:24, April 10, 2010 (UTC)

All right. First draft of rewrite is up. It's kind of a wall of text; the best thing I could to with it at this point is make it less stuffy, but at least it has details, recommendations, and supports the idea (which I whole-heartedly endorse!) that Engineers are fun to play. Diyartifact 05:27, April 10, 2010 (UTC)

Good job as it is more detalied and better worded. A few cleanups and it will be great. Again great job. Lancer1289 05:30, April 10, 2010 (UTC)

Check out my Sandbox page. I've done an overhaul of the Engineer Guide. Tell me your comments.Braveangel 07:49, June 11, 2010 (UTC)

I think it could use some going over for style and flow, but I can't really claim any proprietorship over this page any more, since I no longer have time to play Mass Effect or work on the wiki. I think it would be better to work with what's there and improve incrementally, but if you want to take the Engineer Guide in your own direction, be my guest. Diyartifact 23:41, June 20, 2010 (UTC)