Tips for beginner Engineer?

[Eukari]

Heyo. I have a couple of questions for people with experience playing the engineer class. Some of it I'll puzzle out on my own eventually, but I would like to get other perspectives. As a side note, I played the game back in beta last year, but just got back into it recently. (I remember when the pyramidion was a new ship, for instance) I never really liked engie back then, but I've come to appreciate it more after playing with some helpful crews who gave me some pointers.

• My base loadout has been Mallet/Spanner/Extinguisher. That seems to give the best range of options for a primary engie. Are there any other "good" loadouts to try?
• What's the point of the spray? Is preventing fires useful enough to use it?
• Is buffing worth the time? I was thinking of trying a Wrench/Buff/Extinguisher loadout and seeing how that worked.
• What's a good general-purpose ammo to bring, for when I'm called upon to shoot things? I've mostly been bringing heavy ammo, but have thought about burst.

[N-Sunderland]

1. Mallet/spanner/extinguisher is the standard, most reliable loadout. Other options include mallet/spanner/chem (for when your pilot wants that), wrench/buff/exinguisher (or chem) (for when you want to extinguish and buff), and mallet/spanner/buff (for when you need to buff but don't need to extinguish).

2. Chem spray is an extremely useful tool that lets engineers focus on repairs/gunning rather than worrying about fire. Due to the recent changes to extinguishing (it doesn't work during cooldown anymore), you'll often be stuck with fires during hull repairs. A well-timed chem means that this isn't a problem. It's generally good to have one extinguisher and one chem spray per ship.

3. The buff hammer is so, so important to success. While the main engi should stick with mallet/spanner/fire tool, the other engineer(s) should usually have a buff hammer. It makes you more resilient, more manoeuvrable, and more powerful. A gungineer buffing their Gatling will easily outperform an enemy gungineer with an unbuffed Gatling, and that's without mentioning the buffed hull's advantage.

4. I don't really like telling people what a good general purpose ammo is, since there really isn't one (though heavy is likely your best bet). It's so gun-dependant. Always ask your captain what they want you to bring, and if they don't respond, check out the loadout and see what would go well with the guns they have.

[Alistair MacBain]

Sunderland got most of it.
I just want to add that loadouts are ship dependand. On a Goldfish or a pyra u can easily bring a buff loadout. As long as one engi is going for normal repair loadout everything is fine. A buffed frontgun on a goldy increases the problems the enemy gets extremly. A buffed Gatling on a pyra is the same.
Similiar things can go for the spire, the junker and the galleon. With a good main engi u can bring buff on nearly every ship.
A Squid is a diff thing. Ill say one buff hammer is essential on a squid just to have the hull buff. (which is another argument for the above ships)
It increases ur survival on a extremly fragile ship really hard. And a buf on the shooting gun can make even more problems for the enemy preventing him from giving you hell.
But I dont see a buff loadout atm at a mobula.

For guns ull have to always see what u may use. See what ur captain has and if he doesnt name a specific role for u figure it our by yourself and tell ur sec engineer. Or ask him what he wants to do.

[Pickle]

Buff Hammer.. always ask the Captain in the match lobby before the game starts whether he wants you to bring a buff hammer.  If you're one of two or three crew members that have all brought buff hammer, expect to get bawled at by the Captain.  Avoid indiscriminate buffing and stupid errors like buffing engines on one side only.  Buffing steering engines has an extremely noticeable effect on manoeuvrability if the buffing is uneven. Buffing the balloon can come as a shock to the pilot is he doesn't know you're doing it.

[Captain Smollett]

Buffing is so important on a Squid that I actually insist on two buff hammers.  That being said however, I pretty much never buff the hull of a Squid.  It's actually rarely worth the time imho to bring the ships armor from 230 to 299. 

I mainly bring it for weaponry and engines, because for me on a Squid, mobility is life.  Doesn't matter how little armor you have if the enemy can never get gun arcs.

[Alistair MacBain]

True thing smollet but when u get 1-2 shots unlucky on ur squid u really want that buff to not instadie just because bid of unluck. And a Squid doesnt need much to loose its armor.

[N-Sunderland]

True thing smollet but when u get 1-2 shots unlucky on ur squid u really want that buff to not instadie just because bid of unluck. And a Squid doesnt need much to loose its armor.

A buffed Gatling does 127 DPS. You're buying yourself an extra half-second on armour uptime in exchange for several seconds of buffing that could be better alotted to different components. It's not really worth it.

[HamsterIV]

Most captains will assume an engineer carries a Spanner, Mallet, Extinguisher/Chem Spray. It is best to live up to your captain's expectations lest you find yourself being yelled at on a ship with no fire extinguisher or poor ability to rebuild. It is ultimately the captain's duty to make sure the crew is equipped for the strategies he/she wants to use. Many captains are negligent in this duty and a good engineer should be prepared to make up for their captain's short comings.

[Alistair MacBain]

Thats a point Sunderland but its not like ur infight for the whole time. U can prepare the buff when out of fight where u have much time left and the engines already buffed and guns prebuffed. Than u can mostly still prepare a buff on the hull to start.

True thing hamster but with bid of communication in the lobby you still can bring sth ur captain doesnt expected before.

[N-Sunderland]

Thats a point Sunderland but its not like ur infight for the whole time. U can prepare the buff when out of fight where u have much time left and the engines already buffed and guns prebuffed. Than u can mostly still prepare a buff on the hull to start.

Sure, but it should be a lower priority than other components. And on some maps, you don't get very much time to prepare before engaging.