On Playing As The Devil Himself

I’ve been out of the loop when it comes to Team Fortress 2 for a while, so I don’t really know if Engineer is still considered evil and hated and all of that. From what I’ve seen, it’s still Pyro and Sniper who people seem to hate, for various reasons. Engineer though is a bit more complicated, both in how loved and hated he can be and why. But I have a bit of a secret that I’ve been hiding for ages: I’ve… always technically been a bit of an Engineer main.

“But wait! You’re MEDIC! Not Engineer!”

Yeah, I know. I’ve actually been moving away from the name Medic for a while, mostly since I’ve stopped playing TF2. But before I latched on to maining Medic, I played a lot of Engineer. In fact, before I joined old SPUF, I had only recently changed my Steam username from Engineer to Medic. While Medic always ended up being the class I enjoyed the most, I still have a soft spot for Engineer.

Particularly Gunslinger Engineer.

“But Gunslinger Engineer is evil!”

I don’t think so. Gunslinger Engineer is no different from any of the many strange loadouts people use. If you’re fine with things like Demoknight and shotgun Heavy, which completely change gameplay, then Gunslinger Engineers are fine. Sure, there’s times where the Gunslinger was a bit too strong, but you can say that about any weapon. Well, not all of them, but most of them.

I never considered Gunslinger Engineer as bad as a normal Engineer though. Gunslinger Engineers have to keep moving. Normal Engineers can camp in a position as long as they like. Normal Engineers are also normally defending and have tons of buddies to help them.

Then again, back when I was playing Engineer, I was playing Ninja-neer, using the Jag because I didn’t have a Gunslinger yet. Level 1 sentries in amusing places, as well as sneaky teleporters. Same general playstyle, just without the Gunslinger benefits.

It’s harder these days

While playing Engineer in general has always been pretty easy, playing Gunslinger Engineer is trickier now. Mostly because the Gunslinger did kinda get nerfed. After all, we’re not allowed to annoy Scouts. Always gotta appease those Scouts. But it’s still a perfectly viable tactic. If anything, I always liked Gunslinger Engineer simply because it gave Engineer a role when on the offense.

Sure, people might hate me for playing Engineer, but eh, so what? I don’t like people who play Demoknight, but I don’t bitch at them unless they’re genuinely bringing the rest of the team down. It’s all fair and square, and it’s not like you can’t easily kill a mini-sentry these days. They fall apart so easily.

But Gunslinger isn’t what I’m good at

Seriously. The Gunslinger, the mini-sentries, the shotguns, it’s all a distraction. The real power of the Engineer, especially on offense, isn’t the sentry gun. All the power an Engineer has comes from the Dispenser and Teleporters.

Dispensers give you a place to take a breather before you push forward again. Teleporters though are like gold. While you might not always manage a level 3 teleporter, if a level 1 teleporter shaves 10 seconds off the time it takes for a Medic or Heavy to get to the front lines, then you’re doing a great job.

The reason why I like to play Engineer isn’t because of the sheer power of the Sentry Gun! It’s all because of how insanely powerful your utility is, not just to you, but to your whole team.

In a way, Medic and Engineer are very similar. They’re supporters. People who are credit to team. And I love being credit to team.