I would like to mention that these setups are my opinion and that other people may have different ideas. Please know that I also respect their opinion.
So let’s say that this is the scenario.
You are a new member and you like playing as the engineer. You already know what tool does what, and you know what parts of the ship are more important than others to fix (example: Hull before guns).
You are looking for a good captain in a lobby and you find one. You see that this captain has a crew of all high experienced players and you feel as if you aren’t good enough to join to join them. Nonsense! Even if you are a new member, you can still be a great engineer but, being a great engineer isn't just about being able to beat things with the proper tool. It is also about being efficient with your repairing based on what ship you are on.
The Pyramidion
So, for the first round, let’s say that the captain has chosen a Pyramidion and you have a mallet and wrench. Because the two most important parts of the ship (Hull and Balloon) have been separated by quiet some distance, while taking heavy damage you will not have enough time to go running back and forth from the hull to the balloon. In an ideal situation, you would have one engineer on the bottom deck of the ship and one engineer at the top of the ship (where the two front guns are). The engineer at the bottom section of the ship is responsible mostly for the hull and three engines. The engineer at the top of the ship is responsible for the balloon and the two front guns whether it is repairing the guns or putting out the guns fire. It would also be a good idea if the engineer at the top of the deck would be on the left front gun because then, the balloon would practically be right behind him/her.
In a situation where you only have one engineer, that one engineer would stay on the bottom deck while the two gunners up top would have to manage the balloon and guns.
The Junker
Now because of your great engineering skills on the first round your team has won the game. Now the captain decides to switch ships and you must now engineer on the Junker. Unlike the Pyramidion, one engineer can manage most of the ship by himself if it is necessary, but ideally, it would be much better if you would have two engineers taking care of the ship.
Here is one of the two setups I will show you for the Junker. In my opinion, both work pretty well.
Setup 1: (A bit more fire power than setup 2)
One engineer will be in charge of the hull, balloon, and the two upper engines. This may seem like a lot, but once you have gotten used to it, it can be accomplished fairly easily because of the fact that the Junker's Hull, Balloon, and two engines are fairly close together. Occasionally this engineer might want to shoot a few rounds from the two side guns on the upper deck at a ship if not taking too much heavy fire.
The second engineer will be either at the front gun if a gunner has not occupied it, or at one of the two guns on the lower deck next to the main engine. This engineer will be responsible for taking care of the front gun, the two side guns on the lower level, and the main engine that is located near the two side guns on the lower level. This engineer will also help shoot at enemy ships with gunner. In this case if an enemy ship is at either the left or right side of the Junker, it is a better idea for the gunner to stay on the lower deck and the second engineer to go to the top deck and shoot from one of the two side guns at the ship. This way, the second engineer will be a lot close to the Hull and Balloon so that in a pinch, the second engineer can also help the first engineer repair the more important parts of the ship.
Setup 2 (Bit more safer than setup 1)
This time, lest say you want to take a bit more of a safer approach. Engineer 1 and 2, for the most part will be on the upper deck. Engineer 1 will be in charge of repairing the hull, engine, and may he/she occasionally want to use the guns if the ship is in good condition. Engineer 2 will be in charge of maintaining the hull and the two side guns while when in a safe condition, checking in on the main engine located at the bottom deck but not staying there. This leaves the gunner to take care of his own equipment and he will also not have someone else firing at the same ship but this setup is sure to get you out of sticky situations as bit more easily than setup 1.
The Galleon
Alright! You won the second game also. The crew is starting to enjoy playing with you but your captain switches the ship again to the mighty Galleon! For the Galleon especially because it is such a massive ship, you will almost always need at least 2 engineers although like all other ships, it can manage with one if necessary.
Engineer 1 will be on the top deck of the Galleon and he will be in charge of everything on the top deck but he will be repairing something’s more than others. The main focus if you are on the top deck is to keep an eye out for the hull and balloon as usual. It would also be a good idea to check in on the main engine located on the top deck even in a heavy fire fight. Galleons are slow so if you don't have your main engine up, you’re sitting ducks! Although you may want to keep an eye on the Upper Deck guns, when taking heavy fire, focus on the more important parts of the ship. Engineer 2 will be on the bottom deck. Because one of the Galleons perks is having massive fire power, it is important to keep those guns online. Engineer 2 will be repairing the guns and the two engines at the back while if not taking too much damage shooting one of the big guns. It would be a good idea though to take one of the guns closest to the engines so that you can be as quick as possible if you need to tap those engines a few times.
Thanks for reading! I'll be out with part 2 shortly.