Thread: TF2 Blog: Engineer Update: Day One

Couldn't the Engie do the same thing whenever he wanted in TFC?

My initial thoughts and questions...

Frontier Justice:

I agree that this is probably meant for the offensive Engineer (but can also be successfully used by the defensive Engineer).

Are sentry revenge crits cumulative? For example...
(1) You build Sentry A.
(2) Sentry A gets kills/assists and gives you 5 revenge crits.
(3) You manually destroy Sentry A.
(4) You build Sentry B.
(5) Sentry B gets kills/assists and gives you 3 revenge crits.
At the end of this process, will you have 5, 3, or 8 revenge crits, assuming you haven't died or fired your shotgun?

I don't think the Engineer becomes a preferred Uber target over the Demo, Soldier, Heavy, or Pyro because he only has 3 shots before he has to start reloading.

The Wrangler:

I think this is meant for the defensive Engineer, with perhaps some other uses involving complicated teamwork.

The sentry has a maximum 'detection range'. By allowing the Engineer to control the sentry, the sentry will never stop firing and will not be limited by range. The Engineer can place his Sentry in such a way so that it is the maximum distance away from the enemy, but still have a clear line of fire to the enemy spawn and choke points. The enemy spawn and choke points will constantly be spammed so the only thing that can break through is an Uber. I don't think Pyro's will be able to successfully reflect rockets as the bullets will kill them. I don't think Bonk would be effective as the Scout will easily die from other sources as soon as the Bonk wears off. The sentry will be so far away that it will be very difficulty to hit it with Snipers, Soldiers, or Demos, not to mention the spam that they will take simply to peak out. In addition, the sentry will have a shield that triples the damage required to destroy it. Having a friendly Pyro and/or Engineer near by makes destorying the sentry even more difficult.
If an Uber does come, it will be so far away that by the time it reaches the gun, the Uber will have worn off or a Pyro will have had plenty of opportunities to air blast them away. Also, since the sentry is being controlled manually, it will not fire at the Uber; it will fire at the non-Uber'd targets... another advantage of being controlled manually.

Will the Engineer will need "line of sight" to his sentry in order to control it?

Will the Engineer need to be within a certain distance in order to control his sentry?

Can the Engineer control his sentry from spawn?
If the Engineer can control his sentry from spawn, a Spy will never be able to kill the Engineer and I don't think the Spy will ever sap the sentry either. If you place the sentry in a position where it has no blind spots, no where to jump down on to it, or come up beneath it, then the sentry can spam fire at everything that approaches it.
The only way to destroy a sentry control by an Engineer in spawn is with regular damage, as its Engineer cannot repair it (which is probably why they gave the sentry a shield).

In regards to complicated teamwork, I think the sentry would be built in one part of the map, with a few of the Engineer's teammates near by, and the Engineer would run off to another part of the map (to build another buildings, use revenge crits, or whatever). When the Engineer's teammates call for it, then Engineer would take control of the sentry. I can see at least a couple of scenarios for this:
(1) Need non-stop spam in a particular location.
(2) An enemy Uber is coming into the sentry location, with enemy teammates following the Uber. Normally the sentry will auto target the Uber first. If the Engineer takes control of the sentry, he can manually target the non-Uber'd enemy teammates before the sentry goes down.
(3) Spy checks, or teammates know there is a Spy in the area, so sentry needs to spam EVERYWHERE in order to locate the spy. Sentry would stop spamming after it seems safe.

The wrench at the bottom of the page!!! NICE!!