Engineers, tactics and why I love the ACE

[gonnagetyou]

It's been awhile since I last talked about being an Engineer in this game. I've read a few posts from new people who didn't understand how deployables worked and I've even heard a few people decry it a waste of time. They couldn't be more wrong. Getting the Combat Engineer Cert is one of the most useful and benefitial certs in the whole game and I'll get to the reason why in a moment.

First, I'll explain the different deployables for all the new guys who might be reading. All you grungy salts who know it all already, get back to playing or skip ahead to the more tactical part of this post.

Once you pick up the Combat Engineering Cert you gain access to the ACE (Adaptive Creation Engine). Each ACE can be used to create one of four different deployables.

1. Motion Sensor- Picks up enemy movement and places their location on the minimap. Can be placed on the ground or walls. Also gives off an audible ringing noise if you are near by. Great for giving away cloakers. Can be defeated by moving while crouched. You can have an allotment of 20 at one time.

2. Spitefire Turrets- Automated turrets that fire on enemy moving within range. Can also be defeated by moving while crouched. They also have a low armor value. Can be placed on the ground or along the walkways of base walls. You're allowed to have 10 at any given time.

3. Mine- Does a high amount of damage to both vehicles and infantry moving over or too close. They can be easily seen by an aware enemy and removed by weapons fire or jammer grenades. You're allowed up to 20 at one time.

4.Remotely Detonated "Boomers"- Basically a mine that can be detonated by remote. After placement, you are given a triggering device that can be equiped in one of your pistol locations. Just whip it out and press the fire button. You're basically limited to the amount of triggers you can carry at one time in your inventory. It's the only mine that can be used indoors.

At the moment you can place Motion Sensors and Spitefires anywhere on the battlefield except an enemy SOI (Sphere of Influence). Mines and Boomers can be placed anywhere. However, with the up coming patch you'll no longer be able to place Mines in an enemy SOI. At least that was my understanding.

To place a deployable, simply equip an ACE in one of your pistol locations and use the right mouse button to cycle through the four options. Pick the deployable you want to create, aim at the ground and if the targeting circle turns green you may deploy in that location by pressing the fire button. If not you'll get a warning and the targeting circle will remain red. Sometimes it will look OK to deploy but nothing happens. Just move around a little and try another spot until it does.

When you try to deploy more than your alloted number of something, your oldest deployable will be deleted and the new one will take its place. This means you don't neccessarily have to keep track of all your deployables, which is great since they are usually all the way on the other side of the continent.

There are multiple reasons that Combat Engineering is a required Cert for all my characters at some point.

Multipe engineers can create a huge defensive net around a tower and to some degree a base. Tower defense is where they really shine. Two or three engineers can creat a huge minefield around a tower that is almost impossible for the enemy to clear as long as they replace mines and spitefires fast enough. Three Engineers equals 60 mines, 60 motion sensors and 30 Spitefires. A vehicle won't be able to get within 100 meters of your tower doors without blowing up. Infantry will have to spend time shooting defenses or stepping on mines, which will allow you plenty of time to shoot them. As a Vanu player that can be very handy.

I've used this tactic during some huge fights and if you can keep your defensive network up and not allow the enemy to systematically destroy it, you will turn the tide of battle to your teams favor. The enemy base will eventually run out of resources if you hold a key tower long enough. Which means they are left to rely only on those AMS they can station nearby. Where as you keep bringing in AMSs on top of the steady stream of friendlies pouring out of the tower.

If mines are no longer allowed to be placed in a enemy SOI this tactic may not work as well for some towers that exist within the nearby enemy SOI. So, just use some common sense when deciding what tactic to use and where best to place everything.

This tactic takes some team work and a lot of dedication on the part of the engineers as far as keeping that defensive network up and running. But if you ever get a chance to try it you'll see how huge of an impact it has on a battle.

If the Engineers do it right they'll be reaping kills left and right from all the mines and spitefires as the enemy tries to take the tower back.

I get more kills this way than I do through weapons fire sometimes. Especially in large fights were there's lag and so much chaos that no on has time to really watch where they're stepping. Turret and mine farming really pays off. Especially when 4 or 5 guys are doing it in the same location, covering avenues of approach and denying the enemy cover as they advance. Even when playing solo and not as a member of a squad I can rack up huge points from MAX and vehicle kills this way. That's on top of the kills from weapons fire when not replacing deployables.

Plus there's nothing sweeter than having the guy that just killed you step on one of your mines 3 seconds later. Makes dying worth it every time.

My most used setup is 5 ACE units and a Pulsar with about 3 boxes of ammo. This allows me to run out of the tower, place 5 deployables, then go back for more. The pulsar is handy for any encounters I may have while running around. I've even run off Reavers occasionally by switching to AP rounds with the Pulsar. Gotten a few MAX kills with it also. After placing everything I can, I switch over to either the thumper or rocklet for base defense with a couple of ACEs ready to replace anything that may get destroyed. If I see that a lot of things need to be replaced, I go back to the first load out and do it all over again. All these are set up as favorites which means I spend very little time at an equipment terminal. You new guys. Please start using favorites and don't look back.

Base defense is a lot trickeir. You have way more ground to cover and it can be hard finding enough deployables or bodies to cover it all. Covering every entrance can be frustrating unless you have enough Engineers to go around. If the CC is located on the top of the building then start by mining the walkways and entrances. Also, look and see if you can place a mine on a stair step. They're a lot harder to spot when placed there and anyone using the stairs probably won't make it to the last step. Galaxy drops on the middle of the base can become a real hazzard for the enemy when doing this. Next, mine the courtyard and gates. Sprinkle with spitefires and motion sensors everywhere.

Last but not least, cover the back door! Every base has one and 90% of the time nobodies watching it. I hate being the only guy watching the back door while every enemy with half a brain is using it to get into the base. Let even one TR MAX through that door and you know there's going to be Vanu bodies pilling up in the hallways. I sometimes park an AMS near the back door just to remind people it is there and force them to defend it. Of course the AMS won't last as long there, but some people might at least notice the damn door that's trying to be used. Sorry, it's a pet peev of mine.

Base defense is hard. Pulling off enough coordination to do it right has yet to happen unless you simply out number your opponent or manage to hold the nearby tower.

Mining bridges is a no brainer. If you're not doing it then start. Often vehicles will turn off the road in order to take a short cut. Watch for locations where this happens and mine the area for some easy kills.

In essence be creative with your deployables and let them do some of the dirty work for you. It doesn't take long to set them all out and you can easily slip into some more direct combat related loadout when you're done. If everyone got this Cert and took time to use it the battlefield would be a lot more dangerous. And that's what we all want, right.

Oh, and another trick with mines. If you have an AMS deployed placed mines all around the inside edges of the cloaking sphere. Nobody can see them until it's too late. That and a motion sensor will significantly cut down on having cloakers sneak in and jack the AMS. Also helps defeat MAX units that charge inside the cloaking sphere for some easy kills.

Well, those are all my secrets I'm willing to give away at the moment. Hope you found it worth reading.