Community Engineer strategy

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You're all about to have a real bad day!

Click to listen

— The Engineer to enemies before Setup concludes

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This article is about Community Engineer strategy.

The Engineer is a unique class because of his ability to construct buildings. He can get his teammates to the front lines faster with Teleporters, create a powerful Sentry Gun to ward off enemies and can build Dispensers to heal and supply ammunition to his teammates. The Engineer's low Health and average speed make it important for him to rely on his Sentry Gun, other buildings, and his teammates for protection. While his ways can seem somewhat passive and methodical, Engineers are not to be underestimated. A talented Engineer can make it much easier for his team to hold its ground, keep up the pressure on the attack, and defend vital objectives such as control points and Intelligence.

Quick tips

A team without an effective Engineer is at an extreme disadvantage, especially while playing Defense on Attack/Defend maps.
Always stay close to your buildings. Unguarded buildings are especially vulnerable to Spies, Demomen, and Soldiers.
The Teleporter can be your most important contribution to your team's success. If properly placed and defended, a Teleporter will allow your team to keep the pressure on the enemy team.
All buildings build faster during construction if you repeatedly strike them with your melee weapon.
You can construct a building in safety, then right-click to haul it to the battle. You can even carry buildings through Teleporters!
- If you die while carrying a building, though, the building is destroyed.
You can help other Engineers by hitting their buildings with your melee weapon to speed up their construction, or by repairing their existing buildings.
Your Shotgun and Pistol are not useless in combat; use them in supplement to your Sentry Gun fire to peck away at the enemy's health.
When another Engineer has defense covered, experiment with offensive Sentry Gun, Dispenser, and Teleporter placements.
Having support from your team is vital to your success as an Engineer. For you as an Engineer your best friend is often an allied Pyro. Pyros are excellent for keeping Spies off your back (literally), destroy Sappers on your buildings with the Homewrecker, deflect incoming rockets, grenades, and Stickybombs, and easily disrupt invulnerable enemies, taking care of an Engineer's greatest weaknesses. This is also usually beneficial for Pyros as they often run of ammunition and health spamming their Flamethrower and are poor at mind to long range: an Engineer's forte.
Avoid standing in front of your Sentry Gun, this reduces the chances of your sentry shooting you, as well as lowers the chance of being shot easily, as the Sentry will take the hit for you.

General

Building

Alternate fire allows you to "haul" buildings and move them to new locations to redeploy. While hauling a building you move slower, slightly slower than a Heavy, and you are unable to switch weapons. If you are killed while carrying a building, the building will be destroyed.
- A redeploying building will construct faster than normal without help from an Engineer, though you can still speed-build the structure even faster by hitting it with your melee weapon. Once built, if the building has already been upgraded to level 2 or 3, it will then undergo the animations for deploying to those levels as well.
  - The Jag makes this process even faster.
  - You cannot speed-build or upgrade during these "upgrade" animations, as per when they upgrade normally.
- A building that is redeployed begins with the same amount of health that it had before it was packed up, and this health is the building's maximum health while it is rebuilding. While it is possible to repair damage done while a building is redeploying/unpacking, this applies only to damage it receives during the redeploying process. If a building is hauled into its new location already damaged, then this damage cannot be repaired until it fully redeploys and is functioning.
- If you are hauling a building and you encounter any enemy whatsoever, immediately place your building somewhere! Depending on who you encounter, you should then either run away or try to fight off the threat. If you are going into enemy territory carrying a Building, it's essential to have another teammate around to cover you.
- Get Soldiers with the Disciplinary Action equipped to boost your speed by hitting you. This will cut the time needed to get the building where it needs to be.
You can rotate the placement of a Building while the blueprint is out by pressing the secondary fire button. Changing a Sentry Gun's direction allows you to place them in corners and other odd spots. Rotating a Teleporter exit affects the direction one faces when exiting - an arrow on the blueprint indicates the direction. Remember that the direction one faces could mean life or death in some situations. Rotating a Dispenser has no effect on its function, but can allow you to cram it into a tight space or help conceal its location by preventing the two brightly lit panels on either side from facing outwards.
If you're planning on building a Sentry Gun in a forward area, consider building a Dispenser first, to supply you with Metal to upgrade and repair the Sentry Gun. Also build near locations with ammunition pickups to speed up construction. Ask your teammates to leave the pickups for you and promise them a Dispenser in return.
Your Sentry Gun can damage you. If an enemy runs through your Sentry Gun's line of fire and you get caught between the Sentry Gun and the enemy, your Sentry Gun will fire at you causing damage and possibly a humiliating death.
If the game goes to Sudden death mode, make sure to build a Dispenser first to provide health for your teammates and Metal for yourself, as the Resupply locker is disabled and Health pickups are not available. Ammo pickups are available, however.
Build a Teleporter Entrance outside the respawn area, and a Teleporter Exit at a location of interest. For the defensively-minded Engineer, Intelligence rooms and Control points are desirable. Be careful when building Teleporters that lead into your own key areas, as disguised enemy Spies can use them to gain access.
- Nothing beats a forward exit deep inside enemy territory. Care should be observed when placing your Teleporter; plant the entrances in obvious, but considerate places.
- Be careful about placing Teleporters on stairs to slow enemy movement, as under-fire teammates rushing back for health are just as liable to get caught on them as enemies are if not more so.
- Hiding your Teleporter Exit can help keep it from being destroyed. Just make sure your teammates know where it goes, as you do not want them to get lost.
- Clever enemies may sometimes camp unguarded Teleporter Exits, killing anyone who comes through before they can possibly react. Take care to remedy this if this happens, and destroy or move your Teleporter Exit to prevent more teammates being killed.
- Take the time after building Teleporters to inform your team of their position. Players may be hesitant to use them if they don't immediately see them or know where they lead to, so make sure they know everything about the Teleporter.
All buildings, with the exception of the Mini-Sentry, begin their construction with almost no health. Avoid starting construction of a building in an area that is under fire or within sight of enemies.
The more Metal you can get when building in a hostile area, the better. A dead player's weapon grants 100 Metal, which can considerably speed up the construction or upgrading of buildings.
Switching to a different melee weapon at a Resupply Locker will destroy all buildings you own, even if you are switching between the Wrench and the Southern Hospitality, or the Jag. Make sure you are using the melee weapon you want to be using before you start constructing buildings.
Be considerate when using the Metal from other Engineers' Dispensers. They may be relying on that Metal to build and repair, so don't leech from them unless your need outweighs theirs, or you are going to help them out. Communication is vital to teamwork, so ask before you take the Metal.
Keep the Sentry Gun's range in mind. Placing it in open areas makes it easy to take out with rockets and Sniper Rifle shots, even with the Wrangler. The best Sentry Gun location is in a small area where the range just barely covers the distance to the entrance. This makes it impossible to be out of range, plus close-range classes can't get close enough to inflict heavy damage to your Sentry Gun.
Building in high places will allow you to have a full view of the battlefield. If the battlefield is too open, it is a good idea to bring the Wrangler to allow you to kill enemies beyond the normal Sentry Gun range. Building in high places allows you to kill unaware enemies before they realize that they are being killed.

Advanced

Help your fellow Engineers out! Hit friendly buildings with your melee weapon as you pass by to keep them repaired. Help a constructing Sentry Gun upgrade quicker if your Metal supply is high.
- On maps with a setup time, support fellow Engineers to help your team have a forward level 3 base at start time. Strongly consider getting a microphone, to help communicate about the status and location of your buildings, as well as call for help when they're being sapped.
When more than one Engineer is building a Sentry Gun in an area, work together upgrading one Sentry Gun to level 3 before building the second Sentry Gun, as the level 3 Sentry Gun will easily out-damage two Level 1 Sentry Guns.
One Engineer can cover the buildings of more than one Engineer, leaving them free to set up Sentry Guns, Dispensers, and Teleporters on other areas.
All enemy players, including disguised Spies, cannot walk through Sentry Guns and Dispensers belonging to your team. You can use this for Spy checking by placing buildings in chokepoints, such as doors and hallways. You'll know a disguised Spy if he jumps on top of these buildings when obstructed. Spies also cannot walk through Teleporters if you place them on stairs, although neither can teammates.
Any teammate that is not doing something more important (such as a Medic building an ÜberCharge) can be enlisted to switch to Engineer for a brief time to help you build and can then switch back to another class. They can be very helpful by upgrading a Teleporter entrance while the Engineer goes to place the Teleporter exit.
Don't build right on top of other Engineers. In general, it is not a good idea to build your buildings, particularly your Sentry Gun, in the exact same location as another Engineer on your team. Clustering too many Engineer buildings together maximizes their weakness to explosives or other "splash" damage and makes it easier for an enemy Spy to sap everything. In addition, remember that friendly buildings block the line of sight and line of fire of friendly Sentry Guns. While building two Dispensers together does provide excellent healing, the Sentry Guns and Teleporters are usually best if they are spread out to help your team control more of the map. Simple rule of thumb: "nearby" is good; "next to" is bad.
Familiarity with the maps you play on is important. It's not only important to know effective building locations, but also to know how the combat tends to "flow" and what spots are the best place to fortify to support your team advancing or simply holding the enemy off. Teleporters and Dispensers are sometimes the only things that can make certain routes of attack or points of defense viable, and as an Engineer, you need to know about this by knowing the map. Also, learning the names of some of the common locations on the maps you play on will make it easier to describe exactly where you have built up.
Move fast! Many Engineers fall into a mental trap: because the Engineer is often behind the front lines and not attempting to get into the thick of combat, it's easy to be lulled into a false sense of security and take too long setting up. You have to move just as fast as the other Classes to get their job done. Seconds can be the difference between getting a Sentry Gun up in time to halt an enemy attack, or watching it get destroyed during construction and having to retreat or respawn.
Stay alive! As important as your buildings are to yourself and your team, YOU are more important. While you are vulnerable without your buildings, your buildings are sitting ducks without you, and you can always construct more buildings if you live while they're destroyed. The key is to strike a balance between keeping your buildings safe and keeping yourself safe. Do not get single-minded. Expert Engineers will know when to repair their structures, when to fight alongside their structures, and when to simply run away and attempt to rebuild. Keep your eyes and ears open and try to anticipate how the enemy will come at you and with what. For example, an invulnerable Demoman is usually grounds for instant retreat.
You are extremely vulnerable while placing, building, and repairing your structures since these activities tie you down to a specific area and also force you to turn your attention away from your surroundings. Try to minimize your vulnerability by looking and moving around even while repairing and building, and stay near friendly players for protection during periods of vulnerability.
If your buildings are under attack by Soldiers or Demomen, try to time your repair hits in between enemy rockets or grenades to avoid getting killed, or build your Sentry Gun near cover that you can use to shield yourself. If your buildings are under attack by multiple Soldiers and Demomen, your buildings are likely going to go down AND take you alongside unless you have support from friendly Medics, other Engineers, or Pyros using the compression blast.
Without the protection of your buildings, you are easily the weakest combat class, having no advantage in speed, hitpoints, firepower, or any means of escape like the Spy's Cloak. While it is important to fight with your weapons to help your buildings, do not overestimate how much damage you can cause – and how much you can withstand. Almost any other class will have an advantage over you in a one-on-one fight if your buildings are not involved. Do not be afraid to ask for help in dealing with a threat.
Do not be predictable! You will find that most enemies will not continuously walk into your Sentry Gun after they die to it once or twice. They will either avoid it or begin to attack it in force with help from their team. During lulls in the fighting, relocate your Sentry Gun around to throw your opponents off and punish them for assuming that your Sentry Gun will always be in the same place. Help from other Engineers to reduce the period of vulnerability if you rebuild is also desirable. Awareness of what the enemy team is doing and where they are is important to be able to judge when it is a good time to move.
A good rule of thumb when playing Engineer is to always have all of your buildings up, no matter where they are or how upgraded they are. Following this is dependent on how much Metal you have available, but if your Metal supply is abundant such as outside of a supply cabinet, build everything you can as fast as you can. Worry about putting them in the perfect place later. A badly placed Sentry Gun or Dispenser is still better than no Sentry Gun or Dispenser at all. Even Teleporters that go nowhere can act as early warning of enemy attack, or Spy bait. Even in "safe" locations such as your team's spawn a level 1 Sentry Gun can be useful to place to cover you from Spies or Scouts while you build or upgrade a Teleporter or Dispenser. If you have the Metal, there's no reason not to use it.
Build where you can support your team and where your team can support you. Sentry Guns provide high-volume firepower at decent range, but it is still supporting fire that is best served to cover your teammates and deny areas to enemy movement. Do not expect to be able to fight off entire enemy attack groups with just your Sentry Gun. An example of poor Engineering strategy is to build in your Intelligence room on CTF 2Fort. It is very unlikely that anyone on your own team will be down there with you to support you and without your Sentry Gun in a more forward location, enemies have a much easier time getting inside the base and causing havoc.
Spread out your structures. Your buildings, especially your Sentry Gun, will often be the target of enemy explosives. Spread out your structures enough so that the splash damage to them from such attacks is minimized, but not so far apart that it's difficult to defend them. The Dispenser should often be close enough to the Sentry Gun to provide an ongoing supply of health and Metal to easily allow you to heal either building.
You can crouch behind a Level 3 Sentry Gun and use it as a shield against incoming attacks while you repair it.
If the enemy takes out the Sentry Guns of both you and your teammates, consider rebuilding one Sentry Gun at a time, to get it to level 3 faster in your time of need. A Level 3 Sentry Gun is much better than two Level 1 Sentry Guns.
- However, two Level 2 Sentry Guns is better than one Level 3. The same goes for Dispensers and Teleporters.
Building yourself into a corner may help protect you from Spies backstabbing you and sapping your buildings, since a Spy would to jump both onto the Dispenser and you to backstab you.
Many Engineers often place a Sentry Gun and immediately run back to a supply room or large ammo pickup to get a full load of 200 Metal while the Gun builds itself, thinking they can save time and also return with enough Metal to upgrade their Sentry Gun to Level 2. However this plan can be ruined if the Sentry Gun is damaged or even if it simply fires at an enemy, as you will need to use some of your 200 Metal to repair or refill your Sentry Gun, leaving your Sentry Gun still at level 1 after using up a full Metal load. It is good to get into the habit of speed-building your Sentry Gun and then using whatever Metal you have left over to upgrade it so that you ensure that your next full load of Metal will be enough to get the Sentry Gun to the next level.
Don't build Sentry Guns facing into hallways unless you have cover from your teammates, as your enemies will see them before they're in your Sentry Gun's range. Build them in the corners just outside the hallway.
If an enemy Demoman is shooting Stickybombs at or near your Sentry Gun, consider trying to shoot as many of them away as possible with your primary or secondary weapon.
If you are fighting an enemy and are in trouble, consider popping a Sentry Gun down in front of him. This wastes a few valuable seconds, but it can ensure your survival as your enemy has the decision of trying to finish you off before the Sentry Gun is built, or destroying the Sentry Gun but opening himself to attack from you. This is most effective when using Mini-Sentry Guns or if you're caught hauling a Sentry Gun, since in both these situations the Sentry Gun builds faster than normal and deploys at full health.
Lastly, sometimes the best Engineer strategy is to know when to be an Engineer and when not to be an Engineer. This requires taking into account several things, such as the map, the game type, the composition of the teams (particularly the enemy team), and the time left in the mission, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the Engineer class. Engineers are good at holding down areas, protecting objectives, and providing logistical support for allies, but are weak in other areas such as hunting down enemies and pushing into well-defended areas. For example, in many Capture Point maps the front lines are moving quite a lot, which can easily leave the Engineer and his structures sitting in a part of the map where there is no action, and depriving his team of his talents where they are most needed.
- Also, while playing Engineer on defense on Attack/Defend maps like Dustbowl or Gravel Pit is usually vital, if the time is running out and your buildings are all destroyed or if your team is getting pushed back so far that your buildings are getting destroyed as soon as you attempt to build them, it's time to think about switching to a class that can jump right into the fight.

Spies

Spies are typically the worst enemy you can face and are usually considered to be your "hard counter". No other class can cause you so many problems with as little effort as a Spy. This is because of the Spy's ability to attack your most valuable assets, your buildings, without fear of being auto-targeted by the Sentry Gun, and often without giving you any advance warning of his approach. The ability to Sap alone makes the Spy more than a match for you in a strategic sense. Sappers shut down your buildings immediately, leaving them effectively "destroyed" until you de-sap them. A Sentry Gun that gets Sapped right as other enemies attack you is usually impossible for a lone Engineer to save.
- As if that weren't enough, the Spy can even use your own buildings against you by using your own Teleporters to telefrag you, or by stealing health and recharging his Cloak from your Dispenser. For these reasons a Spy is one of the few one-on-one matchups that the Engineer often cannot handle alone in crucial situations even if he is skilled at Spy killing and protecting himself from backstabs. However it isn't all bad. One of the reasons you are so often the target of Spies is because your Sentry Gun, if well placed, creates a "no free backstab" zone for them. Strategically, this works to the advantage of your team even if it is hectic for you, since you cover them from backstabs and force Spies to reveal themselves by attacking you.
- With the release of the Mann-Conomy Update, the Spy has gained some new tricks that make him even more dangerous to you. Spies using Your Eternal Reward can now backstab without dropping their disguise, which will make Spies using it much less afraid of attacking you or your allies within range of an active Sentry Gun. However it is important to note that only successful backstabs result in an immediate disguising, a failed stab attempt will leave the Spy revealed for all to see, including a Sentry Gun. Just remember not to make yourself look like an easy target by facing in the same direction for long.
Spies can hide anywhere and can appear at anytime. As such, you cannot rely solely on your Sentry Gun to protect you. Your best defense against Spies is your own level of alertness. Remember, it's usually never a matter of "if" but "when". Even while camping your position, stay moving to make yourself a difficult target for Ambassador headshots and backstabs. Periodically Spy-check with your weapons or the Wrangler.
As a rule, do not camp behind your Sentry Gun and crouch all the time. Only do this when it is actually under attack. The reasoning behind this is that all a Spy has to do is come in under his Cloak, jump onto your head where you cannot see him, and decloak. From here, he can stab you and sap all of your buildings. If he stabs you while he is above you, it still counts as a backstab. It takes practice to do this however, so follow this rule as other players' skills allow. But beware of this tactic as it can reduce all of your buildings to rubble very quickly.
If you build a Dispenser behind you and a Sentry Gun in front of you, be very careful of staying in between them. A Spy can uncloak/remove a Disguise behind your Dispenser. This will keep them unseen by the Sentry Gun and teammates, or will make the Sentry Gun turn around and kill you. The Dispenser, however, blocks the bullets/rockets from hitting the Spy. He can then disguise himself and sap the Sentry Gun.
- Plus, remember that a backstab can work even from as little as a 90 degree angle to the direction you are facing. Having just a Dispenser at your back will not protect you.
Kill the Spy! A good Spy will often appear without warning, quickly sap your Sentry Gun, and start attacking you immediately with his Revolver or Knife, especially if you are alone. If you come under attack in this way, don't worry about your buildings, since a Spy can place Sappers faster than you can remove them. The first step is to identify the Spy if he is still disguised. It's important to not try to repair your buildings before knowing where the Spy is or you will be setting yourself up to be backstabbed. Empty your Shotgun into the Spy or suspicious teammates first. You're most likely a good enough shot to kill a Spy with this alone, but if you miss or the Spy somehow survives, don't reload. Switch to another weapon immediately to save time.
A strategy for attacking Spies who recently sapped your buildings is to hit each sapped building once and then kill the Spy. Each Electro Sapper takes two hits to remove and by hitting them once, so you take less time removing them after the Spy is gone. You won't risk the living Spy sapping your buildings after you remove them, and you can plan how to kill the Spy while hitting the Sappers.
You can "bait" an enemy Spy by leaving a Teleporter on the way to your position. If the area is quiet, few Spies will resist sapping it, which will alert you that a Spy is coming. Another useful effect of this is that you can tell when an enemy is approaching and gauge their class based on the weapon icon shown at the top right of your screen in your building's death-message.
As an extension to the above, if there's little need for your Teleporters in a map, place them both around your Sentry Gun to stall a Spy briefly, as inexperienced players will sap everything in sight. The extra second could be the difference between saving your Sentry Gun or not, and it will also help you identify the Spy before your retaliation.
It takes two swings of the Wrench to remove an Electro Sapper. Most of the time, you should save your Dispenser first, as it will break from an Electro Sapper faster than an upgraded Sentry Gun, and regenerating its Metal supply takes a lot of time. If you are staying in the same spot, saving your Dispenser first will always allow you to rebuild much faster because you'll have more Metal available. However, if the Spy has removed his disguise nearby, or there's urgent need for offense, you should save your Sentry Gun first. On some maps your Teleporter can actually be your most important building as it allows your team to keep a constant stream of reinforcements going. Losing your Teleporter is especially annoying due to the fact that you will lose both ends of it, requiring you to travel all the way to your Spawn to replant your Entrance. Teleporters take the longest to die from Sappers, but you should still try to save them. Deciding which Building to save first always depends on the circumstances. Practice is the best guide.
If possible, ask a Pyro with the Homewrecker to stay near your buildings when you suspect an imminent Spy attack; the Pyro can perform Spy checks using their Flamethrower and will be able to remove Sappers from buildings should you die or leave your buildings. However, don't use the Pyro as a replacement for staying near your buildings; a Pyro can kill Spies and remove Sappers, but cannot heal your buildings.
While being in a crowd of your own teammates usually helps you defend against Spies more easily, it can sometimes be difficult to pick out which one of your "teammates" is actually a Spy placing Sappers. Even though placing Sappers will not break a disguise, the disguised Spy will actually move its hand in a "placing" motion at your Building when it does so. This is subtle but you can use it pick out the Spy in a crowd. If you are letting your team deal with the Spy while you remove Sappers, keep your back to something!
A creative Spy will often disguise as an Engineer to try to fool you and your allies into thinking he is an Engineer trying to remove Sappers when he is in fact the one sapping. They may even use the voice command warning about Spies to add to the deception. Watch for teammates who aren't swinging or firing their weapons, as a disguised Spy cannot attack.
If you have Revenge crits, try to save some of them for the inevitable Spy attack. Having a glowing Frontier Justice out can be enough on its own to deter a Spy, and if it doesn't, deter it with a critical hit. While it's true that you might waste a shot on a Dead Ringer, don't be afraid to do it. A Spy who feigns death likely won't be attacking you for at least a short duration, giving you time to call for help.
The Level 3 Sentry Gun can sometimes be more of a curse than a blessing against Spies due to its propensity to fire rockets that can easily kill you if a Spy is undisguised right next to you. A single knife stab plus some untimely Sentry friendly fire can easily kill you, leaving your buildings undefended until you respawn even if the Spy is also killed. Beware of de-sapping your Level 3 Sentry if a Spy is close to you and you are damaged – instead try to kill the Spy and then de-sap, or wait for the Spy to be a safe distance away before de-sapping.

Medics

You and your buildings face many threats on the battlefield, but three in particular are especially dangerous: 1) explosive projectiles from the Soldier and Demoman, 2) Spies, and 3) Medics. Medics are dangerous for two main reasons. First, their ability to heal damage and Overheal can make even the fragile classes much more durable, and can erase any non-lethal damage they receive from wandering into range of your Sentry Gun. The second reason is ÜberCharges. One of the primary uses of ÜberCharges is to overrun Engineer positions, and because of this you will often find yourself and your buildings the direct targets of invulnerable foes. While there is no "magic bullet" strategy that can allow you to counter them, knowing how to respond to ÜberCharges properly is still important. When executed properly, successfully fending off an Über can be one of the most satisfying experiences of playing Engineer. The most important thing to remember is that if you are a lone Engineer, a well-executed Über will usually overrun you, causing you to lose most of your buildings and often your life. It's simple math: an ÜberCharge is a tactic involving at least two players (potentially more) and you are only one. Get help! As with Spies, dealing with enemy Medics and their ÜberCharges is a team effort needing contributions from every team member. That said, here are some important tips that an Engineer can use to defend himself.

The four most common ÜberCharged enemies you will encounter attacking your position are Pyros, Heavies, Soldiers, and Demomen. Any one of them can take you and your buildings out if they are invulnerable.
One of your best assets when going up against ÜberCharged enemies is the strong "knockback" of your Sentry Gun. The force of the bullets and rockets hitting enemies will push back against their forward movement and slow down their attempts to get close. If your Sentry Gun fires on an enemy who is in mid-air, they will be launched skywards or blown across the map, which is not only amusing but usually means the end of that particular threat.
One of your best defenses against ÜberCharges is to have advance warning of them. Do your best to keep tabs on which enemies are approaching your position. Ask for information from teammates on the lookout, and listen. If you hear a Medic say "I am fully charged!" then get ready! The Medi Gun of a fully charged Medic also glows and crackles, so look/listen for that. It pays to be actively looking around and paying attention to other important information such as the Kill reporter (See: Head-up display). Do NOT simply sit passively behind your Sentry Gun. Information is a weapon.
Once you know that an Über is imminent, you have to make a decision: fight or flight! Do you attempt to hold your ground as best you can, or do you give it up for lost and retreat ASAP? Experience is the best teacher here, but these are a few important things to remember:
- Do you have support? What kind of support is it?
- Do you have somewhere to run to?
- How important to your team is holding your current position? Will holding on as long as possible help the most, or will your survival?
If you hold your ground, generally you are risking your life for the sake of trying to keep your Sentry Gun alive until the enemy Über has run its course, allowing your team to continue to hold down that area. If the enemy manages to get at point-blank range, you will most likely fail, particularly if you are repairing your Sentry Gun as it takes damage. Smart enemies will attempt to eliminate you first, and if you sit next to your Sentry Gun you make this easy. The success of this strategy depends on your Sentry Gun placement; some positions are much safer to repair from while under fire than others, usually ones that allow you to repair while around a corner. If you can hold your opponents at arm's length, they will do less damage to you (though not your Sentry Gun) than they would up close (See: Damage) and you'll have an easier time staying alive while repairing, especially if you are in range of your Dispenser. You can also switch to the Wrangler briefly to activate the shield, but keep in mind that this turns off the automatic firing, often putting you at risk if you want to aim at anything.
Alternately, you can strike a middle-ground using the Wrangler to make a "fighting retreat" – activate the Wrangler but keep your distance, and simply use your shielded Sentry Gun to stall your opponents as long as possible. This can also prevent your Sentry Gun from firing uselessly at invulnerable enemies. If you're lucky, your Sentry Gun might even outlast the Über, but if it doesn't at least you escaped to build again.
Finally, you can make a "preemptive" retreat. If you know an Über is imminent or it has just deployed, pick up your Sentry Gun immediately and make a run for it. This is a risky strategy, since your slow speed while doing this can easily get you caught and killed. Not only are you abandoning your position without a fight, you are risking both yourself and your Sentry Gun anyway. Do this if you know you can find a good fallback position and you think that something else will occupy your enemy's attention if you leave, covering your retreat. If you want to get fancy, you can even make an "escape" Teleporter that leads away from the front line and make a quick and clean getaway – though this usually means your Teleporter will not be fulfilling its usual function of transporting your teammates into the fight.
- Alternately you can leave your Sentry to buy time and instead flee with your Dispenser. This should only be attempted if you have a high level Dispenser or one that is well-stocked with Metal. Your Sentry will be destroyed, but you will have plenty of resources from your Dispenser to easily deploy another nest quickly in a safer location.
Beware of the Kritzkrieg. While your buildings do not take extra damage from critical hits, you certainly do, and your life is your buildings' lives in most cases. Critical hits are one of the major reasons it is never a good idea to simply hide behind your Sentry Gun without having vision of what is approaching your position, since a single critical rocket can kill you instantly and clever opponents will try to eliminate you with the splash. However, if you are on the ball, your Sentry Gun position can be an excellent way to counter Kritzkriegs. There aren't many things that can survive a full clip of critical rockets or grenades but a Level 3 Sentry Gun being Wrangled or repaired is one of them.

Offense

It may seem a disadvantage having an Engineer on your team depriving you of an offensive class, particularly on Control point maps. This is not the case, however, as the Engineer can be extremely useful on the front line. As mentioned elsewhere, Dispensers are important to save a long trip to the supply room and a Teleporter can save slower classed teammates a lot of time getting back to the front line after being killed. As of the December 11, 2008 Patch, one Level 3 Teleporter has the efficiency of five Level 1 Teleporters.
Another technique is to choose an approach and set a Sentry Gun on your way in, hanging around to hit it with your Wrench to half its build time. You then switch to the Shotgun and start blasting to distract enemies from its build time. When things get tough run away towards your Sentry Gun (hopefully it has survived, but listen for the 'Sentry Gun down' sound to be sure) and the Sentry Gun will take care of your pursuers. In effect this gives you an extra player while assaulting any position. Placing a Sentry Gun while on the run takes practice, as does getting a reasonable placement that will take down a few opponents before its destruction. This also combats the tendency for Engineer-heavy teams to start Turtling.
Setting up a base with a Teleporter, a Dispenser and a Sentry Gun near the front lines after capturing an initial control point can help your team maintain their position. A skilled enemy team can push you right back to your first spawn, forcing you to gain ground again even if you have already captured the first point.
Forward Sentry Gun placement can be a real headache for the opposing team. Place a Level 1 or 2 and quickly build it with your Wrench, or switch to Shotgun and blast away at some enemies. If you remain in the proximity of your Sentry Gun, you will get a few quick kills, especially if you lure the opponents around a corner hiding the Sentry Gun. The trick is not to become attached to a particular position: a soon as you have a couple of kills, move off to a new spot to set up your ambush point.
Alternative means of offensive Engineering have become possible thanks to the Engineer update. buildings can now be packed up and moved without destroying them, colloquially referred to as 'hauling' a building. This way, an Engineer can build a level 2 or 3 building in relative safety, pack it up, and haul it to the desired location. This method is high risk versus high reward, as you are significantly slower and unable to defend yourself until the Building is set down.
If you plan on hauling a sentry into position, it is best to leave it one strike away from being upgraded, as this will save precious time by allowing it to attack enemies without having to go through the upgrade animations.
The ability to haul an upgraded Sentry Gun and have it rapidly redeploy in an offensive position where it can Gun down enemies is a very effective tactic. Not only will you have a Sentry Gun in a place where it can really sink its teeth into the enemy, but you yourself can have a full 200 Metal to build another structure or repair. Remember however that your Sentry Gun is very vulnerable during its "unpacking" animation, particularly if it is a Level 3 Gun. Consider instead using a level 2 Gun that is 25 Metal or less away from level 3 to shorten this vulnerability and give you some options. A Level 2 Sentry Gun has the same "hitscan" (direct bullet damage) firepower as a Level 3 and will take less time to unpack and start firing, which is advantageous if it comes under fire while unpacking (though it does have less health). Having it almost fully upgraded also gives you the option to bring it to level 3 yourself whenever you want to. (Note: A little known fact is that a Sentry Gun that is 25 Metal or less away from the next level ignores ammunition refills to upgrade to the next level. Not counting repairing damage done to the Sentry Gun, it will never take more than one melee hit and 25 Metal to take such a Sentry to the next level.)
- There is a risky tactic where you team up with a Medic and receive an ÜberCharge while you move your Sentry Gun into its offensive position. If you have a good Medic, you can use your invulnerability to act as a living shield for the Sentry Gun while it deploys. You will also reduce the damage the Sentry Gun will take until it finishes deploying and starts firing. Conventional wisdom states that Medics should rarely give their Übers to Engineers on an offensive push, but in this instance it can be a more devastating tactic than Übering other characters. Since it will almost guarantee the Sentry Gun's completion inside of enemy territory, it also works as an excellent diversion since constructing Sentry Guns tend to attract a lot of attention from the enemy.
- Alternatively, have a Pyro accompany and defend you while unpacking with its airblast.
Normal Sentry Guns take a while to build. Consider using the Gunslinger to build a Combat Mini-Sentry Gun. A Mini-Sentry builds 4 times faster, though they deal half as much damage and cannot be repaired. While using a Mini-Sentry, it is best to defend it with your Shotgun from enemies. It's also good to distract enemies while your Mini-Sentry shoots them. Remember to stay close and fight alongside it!
See the sections on the other Engineer unlockable weapons below for more information on how to play Engineer offensively.

Setup time

Setup time serves two purposes for either team. For Medics, it is a time to build ÜberCharges, and for Engineers it is the only time to build a base with a guarantee of no interruption. For the defending (RED) team in particular, it is up to the Engineers to create the fortifications that the team will rely on to hold its ground as long as possible. Setup time is one of the primary advantages of the defending team, and games are often decided by how well the defending Engineers make use of it.
To make the best use of Setup time, it is important to know ahead of time where effective spots to build are and the best way to set up your buildings the fastest.
In general, a good use of Setup time will result in all of your buildings either built or nearly finished and your Sentry Gun upgraded to at least level 2. However, depending on how soon you expect to see enemies near your buildings, you may wish to concentrate on upgrading a Dispenser or Teleporter before your Sentry Gun.
Communicate with the other Engineers on your team so that you do not fight over available Metal or build locations. As stated earlier, Engineers are not as effective if they all clump up their buildings in the same spot. Try to keep tabs on where the other Engineers on your team are building and adjust accordingly.
As stated earlier, moving fast is essential. Sixty seconds is a very short amount of time in which to set up a good base, and even a few wasted seconds can be fatal in more forward build locations. It is often the most forward locations that are the most effective early on, so make good use of the time.
Make sure you inform your teammates not to steal your ammo packs! They shouldn't need to be shooting their weapons during Setup time in the first place, but a rocket jumping Soldier might take what could have been 200 Metal from you without thinking.
In maps without class limits on Engineer, try to get some non-Medic players (Medics need to build Übers) to switch to Engineer temporarily to help you build your Teleporter or other buildings. Help from other Engineers is usually the only way to have all of your buildings in place and fully upgraded in just sixty seconds. After helping to build, the other players can suicide before switching classes, leaving additional Metal for the remaining Engineers in the form of dropped weapons. Though respawn times can slow their return to the front lines.
As of the Engineer Update, it is now possible to move constructed buildings around one at a time using the alternate fire button. Engineers may consider building either their Sentry Gun or Dispenser right outside of a Resupply locker to take advantage of the unlimited Metal and then carry it with them to their eventual build location. This has the advantage of avoiding fights over vital ammunition boxes out in the field. But keep in mind that you will move much slower (slightly below a Heavy's run speed) while carrying a Building.
- Another possibility is to start building your Teleporter entry and Sentry Gun or Dispenser outside of the Resupply locker, then run and place the Teleporter exit where you want to locate your buildings. Run back or suicide ("kill" in console if there is no convenient cliff to jump off), grab your Sentry Gun or Dispenser, and use your Teleporter to move it up.
  - This strategy works especially well when you have a teammate upgrade your Sentry Gun while you are placing the Teleporter exit.
If you have good coordination with the other Engineers on your team, there are some advanced techniques that can be used to get very effective setups. Such a procedure for the defending (RED) team might look something like this:
- Every Engineer plants a Teleporter Entrance outside of spawn. Then all of them remain in spawn except one.
- This one Engineer immediately runs to near the starting gates and plants his Teleporter Exit, and then uses available Metal to start and build his other buildings.
- Meanwhile, the other Engineers that remained behind use the unlimited Metal from the Resupply locker in spawn to quickly upgrade their Sentry Guns and Teleporter Entrances, as well as the Entrance left behind by the Engineer that planted his Exit. They are not building any Dispensers at this time.
- Once the first Engineer's Teleporter is active and fully upgraded, the Engineers that built in spawn teleport carrying their constructed Sentry Guns and 200 Metal each. They each spread out to where they wish to set up their bases and then plant their Sentry Guns and begin their Dispensers. They use available Metal to upgrade their Dispensers and finally plant their own Teleporter Exits when they are ready.
  - In this way, multiple well upgraded Engineer bases can be built very far forward near the starting gates on maps like Dustbowl, and the bases can go up even in areas without existing Metal pickups since most of the construction occurred in spawn. The time it normally takes to haul buildings is drastically reduced through use of a Teleporter.

Weapon specific

Primary weapons

Shotgun

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
Weapon	Kill Icon	Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Medium Range	Long Range	Critical
Stock Shotgun		6	32	86-90	24-67	3-26	120

Of the Engineer's three Primary weapons, the Shotgun is the most versatile due to its larger (minimum) clip size and lack of reliance on a Dispenser or Sentry Gun or specific positioning of enemies.

It works well in narrow corridors. If you're intending to stay close to your Sentry Gun, make sure to build it in a spot where you can keep enemy players in groups. You will be able fight on more even ground after the Sentry Gun has softened them up for a Shotgun blast.
Its large spread pattern is quite useful for Spy checking. Fire at corners, 'team mates' or in the Spy's general direction and look for tell-tales. Often, the spread will allow for at least one pellet to hit a cloaked Spy, giving you an idea of his location.
It is good for destroying planted Stickybombs due to its spread.
It can be used to deal some extra damage against enemies outside the Sentry Gun's range or who are damaged and retreating when the Sentry Gun is not in any immediate danger.

Frontier Justice

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
Weapon	Kill Icon	Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Medium Range	Long Range	Critical
Unlock Frontier Justice		3	32	86-90	24-67	3-26	120

	Kill Icon	Damage	Duration	Details
Guitar Smash		500	4 seconds	The Engineer pulls out his trusty guitar, plays a chord, and then bashes it over the head of any enemy slow, unaware, or unfortunate enough to be in his way.

The purposes of the Frontier Justice are similar to those outlined for the stock Shotgun above but the introduction of revenge crits modifies the accompanied playstyle.

Sentry Guns should be built in more aggressive areas where kills and assists will be awarded relatively frequently.
Revenge crits should be used sparingly as the Frontier Justice's small clip size cripples it in combat unaided by Sentry Guns. The player relies more on highly damaging direct hits.
- This is even more true when the Wrangler is equipped as the removal of reserve ammunition size further handicaps unprotected players.
Revenge crits can support offensive pushes. Placing the Gunslinger's Combat Mini-Sentry Guns an upgraded sentry into enemy territory and fighting with revenge crits while it builds can buy time for your Sentry to deploy and join the fight.
- Despite this, even large supplies of revenge crits are usually insufficient to be able to take down clusters of opponents and it is usually unwise to try.
Revenge crits are only deployed upon a Sentry Gun's destruction: Sentry Guns that have gained kills and assists may be demolished for immediate crits. This is a risky maneuver that should only be used in dire scenarios, when moving up while playing offensively or when combined with the more disposable Combat Mini-Sentry Guns.
Spy checking with revenge crits is often unwise as if the Dead Ringer is equipped he could cause the wastage of a crit by triggering the feign death. Monitor the watches used by the opposing team.
Make conscious decisions whether or not to take out the Frontier Justice when not ready to fire. The crit glow on the Frontier Justice could either make you a target for the enemy team or be used to scare away stray opponents.
Dischord can be used against inattentive players or when hiding, even during Humiliation. However, the sound of the guitar chord can reveal you to the enemy and luck often plays a major role.

Widowmaker

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
Weapon	Kill Icon	Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Medium Range	Long Range	Critical
Promotional/Craft Widowmaker		1 per 30 Metal	N/A	86-90	24-67	3-26	120

The purposes of the Widowmaker are similar to those outlined for the stock Shotgun above but the replacement of standard ammunition with metal modifies the accompanied playstyle, making it preferable to both of the Engineer's other primary weapons when predominantly at close range as opposed to woeful waste of Metal at longer range.

It causes a higher reliance on metal supplies, but also ensures that you can gain metal back from enemies.
It can gain more metal than used in firing after a good shot at close-range despite only having the capacity to be fired six times with a full load of Metal.
It works well in conjunction with Dispenser or Payload cart support. This help from a Dispenser can keep the Widowmaker loaded and allow free firing whilst the metal supply lasts.
It should not be used with the Wrangler or Short Circuit unless staying nearby a constant supply of metal or consistently replenishing sufficient metal to continue shooting: should you run out of metal, you are left without any ranged weaponry to defend yourself with.

Secondary weapons

Pistol/Lugermorph

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
Weapon	Kill Icon	Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Medium Range	Long Range	Critical
Stock Pistol		12	200	22	10-15	8-9	45
Promotional Lugermorph		12	200	22	10-15	8-9	45

The Pistol has three main strengths over the Shotgun, its greater accuracy and damage at longer distances, its large ammunition reserve and faster reload time. These give the Pistol several key functions:

It can be used to ward off Snipers by instigating recoil and dealing notable damage.
It can be used to pick off retreating units who are usually doing so due to low health.
It is the most reliable weapon to use in conjunction with the Gunslinger's Combat Mini-Sentry Guns, as they also are most effective at a similar range, enabling opponents to be worn down quickly while staying at a reasonably safe distance.
Its large ammunition reserve allows it to be a great Spy checker, especially down narrow corridors.
It can be switched to when in direct combat with an enemy and the Shotgun has run out of ammunition to ensure that there is more damage per second throughout the fight done to the opponent.

Wrangler

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
Weapon	Kill Icon	Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Medium Range	Long Range	Critical
Unlock Wrangler		N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

The Wrangler is an unlockable secondary weapon for the Engineer. While you have it drawn, you are given the ability to manually aim and fire your Sentry Gun, along with your Sentry Gun being protected by a shield that effectively triples its health.
While using the Wrangler to aim your Sentry Gun, remember that you cannot switch weapons to repair your Sentry Gun without it being disabled temporarily. A way around this weakness is to ask another Engineer on your team to repair your Sentry Gun while you aim it. This allows you to continue to use the Wrangler for long periods, even while under heavy fire.
With the Wrangler it is possible to aim and fire your Sentry Gun at enemies outside of the Sentry Gun's normal range, meaning that it is possible to fire at enemy Snipers or Soldiers attempting to hit you from long range. However, in order to do this, you will be exposed to the return fire from such enemies, making this a risky tactic. Consider asking a Medic to heal or even ÜberCharge you to negate this weakness. Even though hitting an enemy Sniper will throw off his aim, you can't necessarily count on this to save you.
Similar to the Sniper's Sniper Rifle, the Wrangler creates a laser dot on the surface of where you aim it, along with a long laser ranging from your Sentry Gun to its current target.
The Wrangler has an auto-aim that makes it easier to lock on to enemies, especially distant enemies.
Use the Wrangler to Spy check randomly for cloaked Spies during quiet moments, and use it to target and kill Spies that are still disguised. This is especially important since Shotgun rounds and/or Revenge crits are too valuable to use for random spam and you do not have the Pistol which is your default Spy checking weapon.
Using the Wrangler doubles your Sentry Gun's firing rate. In addition to increased damage, this also causes your Sentry Gun to quickly drain its ammunition reserves, necessitating regular refills in order to keep it firing. Make sure you have enough Metal available to also make repairs. A completely empty level 3 Sentry Gun requires 240 Metal to completely restock with ammunition – 200 Metal for the bullets, and 40 for the rockets.
As a general rule of thumb, switch to the Wrangler to take out slower moving and more durable foes such as Soldiers, Heavies, and Demomen. The doubled firing rate will carve through their hitpoints fast enough to kill them even if they are being healed by a Medic. Since these classes are often the greatest threat to your Sentry Gun, having the Wrangler's shield active will also help preserve it more effectively than simply repairing, particularly in the case of a Demoman placing Stickybombs as he will need to place twice as many to take down a level 3 Sentry Gun at full health, and you can also have your Sentry Gun destroy the Stickybombs. Remember that you should dodge as much as possible if enemies switch their aim to you.
In a quiet period after a battle, switch to your melee weapon and repair and refill your Sentry Gun, and then to one of your own Primary weapons and let your Sentry Gun take care of itself for awhile. Switching modes often prevents you from becoming too preoccupied with Wrangling and getting killed and keeps your enemies guessing.
Use the Wrangler to counter opponents attempting to take advantage of a Sentry Gun's corner weakness. This is when an enemy is popping in and out of cover and firing faster than your Sentry Gun can react on its own. When this happens, take control! level 3 Sentry Guns are great for this thanks to the splash-damaging rockets, but even the bullets can punish enemies dodging around corners because you can react faster than your Sentry Gun's auto-target.
The Wrangler is a powerful defensive as well as offensive tool. The shield provides the Engineer with a much safer way to protect his Sentry Gun when it is under fire as it allows the Engineer to keep his distance from his Gun unlike with repairing, which forces him right next to the Sentry Gun and exposes him to lethal splash damage. However, if you have to stand right next to your Sentry Gun in order to aim at attackers, you lose this advantage. Make sure you have room to work with to give yourself good firing angles while you Wrangle.
You can use the Wrangler as a purely defensive measure to help your Sentry Gun survive just by switching to it for an instant. You can then switch back to a repair tool or weapon. The energy shield will last for the duration of the Sentry Gun's deactivation period. Do this only if you can afford to be without the Sentry Gun's firepower. A Sentry Gun that is unattended by an Engineer does not last long once it comes under attack, particularly from Soldiers and Demomen.
- If you ever have to leave your Sentry Gun's proximity for any reason, having the Wrangler activated can make sure the Sentry survives until you can return to it.
- If you are being attacked by an ÜberCharged Heavy, you might want to consider using this trick as the damage reduction of the shield may allow you to "keep pace" with Heavy as he damages your Gun while you repair it; and may sometimes mean the difference between losing the Sentry Gun or killing the Heavy + Medic pair.
As mentioned earlier, the Wrangler is one of your most powerful tools for countering enemy ÜberCharges. Get used to using the Wrangler when you come under heavy attack.
You can also use the Wrangler to prevent your Sentry Gun from being distracted by ÜberCharged enemies or Scouts using Bonk! Atomic Punch. Keep in mind though that the simple "push" of your Sentry Gun's fire can also prevent such enemies from accomplishing their goal by disrupting their movement.
- Remember, though, that if the Medic and his healing target are using the Quick-Fix they can quickly negate your Sentry Gun's damage and are immune to its knockback effect.
Experienced players will listen for the telltale beeping sound of a Sentry before entering certain areas such as Intelligence rooms. However, a Wrangled Sentry is silent -- use this to turn the tables on approaching foes.
- If you are using this tactic, try to hide the laser that your Sentry Gun creates when Wrangled.
Although the Wrangler's three second deactivation is a disadvantage in most respects, it can be used strategically to ambush opponents by keeping your Sentry Gun deactivated until the right moment (by fleeing from an otherwise unseen Sentry Gun, luring the enemies in front of it so that upon reactivation is can instantly attack them).
- The deactivation can also be negated to a degree should you want to continue using the Wrangler after reloading the Sentry Gun. To do this, simply switch to your Wrench or Gunslinger, whack the Sentry Gun a couple of times and then switch back to the Wrangler and the deactivation will be cut short.
- The deactivation can also be interrupted by hauling your Sentry Gun. While this is useless in terms of cutting down its inactive time (due to having to redeploy the Sentry Gun), this means that should your Sentry Gun start taking heavy fire or run out of ammo while being Wrangled, you can quickly switch to another weapon, pack it up and move out to keep it alive.
The Wrangler makes you and your Sentry Gun much more vulnerable to flanking. Even enemies that are usually easy prey for a Sentry Gun such as Scouts and Pyros can get close to you while you are Wrangling and potentially finish you off. If you want to Wrangle for long periods, make sure you are in a location that has limited avenues of attack, and that you have nearby support or a system of early warning. Otherwise limit your Wrangling to short periods when you really need it.
While it is often best to stand near or behind your Sentry Gun while your aim it, it is not strictly necessary. You can move forward or even retreat and still be able to use your Sentry Gun's fire to protect you as long as you stay within an area you know your Sentry Gun can cover. However if you do so, you may run into one of two problems. Either you will 1) have no line of sight to an area your Sentry Gun can shoot or 2) have line of sight to an area your Sentry Gun cannot shoot.
Be careful of buildings Sentry Guns in locations that are only useful if you Wrangle them but will otherwise be too far away to see much action. One of the Sentry Gun's strengths is the ability to attack on its own allowing you to do other things—depriving yourself of this advantage limits your options and forces you to Wrangle at the expense of being aware of your surroundings. Long-range Wrangling can make you less vulnerable to certain threats such as Übers but more vulnerable to others, mainly Spies and Snipers.
It is possible to use both the bullets and rockets from your Sentry Gun to propel yourself across the map. This is known as Sentry jumping. It is possible to use this technique to quickly catch up with your team, build in locations normally out of reach such as rooftops, or even to quickly build Teleporters. With practice, it is even possible to carry buildings with you on such jumps, including the very Sentry Gun you used to launch yourself! Using these jumps will drain most of your health especially after fall damage, so use this technique with that in mind.

Short Circuit

Weapon	Kill Icon	Ammo		Damage
Weapon	Kill Icon	Loaded	Carried	Point Blank	Critical
Promotional/Craft Short Circuit		1 per 35 Metal	N/A	5	18

The Short Circuit is a promotional and craftable secondary weapon for the Engineer. At a cost of uses 35 Metal for each shot, it creates a small electrical field that destroys all projectiles and does minor damage to enemies. Like the Widowmaker, it never requires reloading, and eats less Metal for ammo the the cost of no random Critical hits.

While it only uses a small amount of Metal per shot, it's wise to equip a Shotgun other than the Widowmaker unless you're stationed in an Engineer nest, as you may find yourself defenseless very quickly with two weapons eating into the same ammo pool.

Note that this weapon's primary use is defensive; should you and your sentry be cornered by a Demoman or Soldier, you can prevent them from using blast damage to destroy your sentry by vaporizing their explosives, thus forcing them to change tactics.

This weapon also has offensive capabilities on Payload maps; should your allies be under attack by several projectile-using enemies, you can provide reasonable protection from harm without risk of running out of Metal due to the Dispenser on the cart.

This weapon is extremely weak up front, dealing only 5 damage per shot. It is recommended to use the Shotgun whenever in combat, and using the other weapon for defense, support, or self-defense (such as against a Kritzkrieged Soldier).

This weapon is recommended if you are having a problem with Demomen: it negates both their primary and secondary weapons, provided you have ammo.

This weapon can be used to defuse traps made by multiple Demoman's since it can destroy a nearly unlimited amount of projectiles provided they are at range.
- It is also possible to destroy stickybombs if you are close around a corner, this can be used to disarm a trap without worries of getting blown up by the Demoman.

Melee weapons

Wrench/Golden Wrench/Saxxy

Weapon	Kill Icon	Attack Interval	Damage
Weapon	Kill Icon	Attack Interval	Point Blank	Critical
Stock Wrench		0.8 seconds	65	195
Promotional Golden Wrench
Promotional Saxxy

When a Spy is repeatedly sapping your Sentry Gun in an attempt to destroy it, your Wrench serves two purposes. First, you can use it to swing at the opposing Spy, 2-3 hits being enough to kill a Spy, ignoring critical hits. After that you can quickly turn around and repair your Sentry Gun. Two strikes from the Wrench will disable an Electro Sapper and halt the progressive damage it causes; you can then fully repair the Sentry Gun after the Spy is killed. A good strategy would be to hit the Sentry Gun a single time, and then change targets towards the Spy, kill him and then take off the Electro Sapper with another swing.
While it may be tempting to use the Wrench's high critical hit rate to club enemies to death, melee combat is usually not where the low-health Engineer shines. Unless an enemy does not see you coming, switch to something with better range.
Team Fortress 2 prioritizes repairing buildings over melee combat when using the Wrench. This means that if there is an enemy, say a Spy, next to a friendly structure and you are using the Wrench to attempt to kill the enemy, you will find that you instead hear the Wrench hitting the building near or even behind the enemy you are trying to strike. Switch to the Shotgun or Pistol to deal with enemies that are very close to one of your buildings to avoid this.

Gunslinger

Weapon	Kill Icon	Attack Interval	Damage
Weapon	Kill Icon	Attack Interval	Point Blank	Critical
Unlock Gunslinger		0.8 seconds	65	195
Unlock Gunslinger		0.8 seconds	N/A	195

The Gunslinger is an unlockable melee weapon for Engineers with an aggressive inclination. The added 25 hitpoints and the fact that your Combat Mini-Sentry Guns deploy quickly means that front-line duty is no longer something to shy away from. When played properly, a Gunslinger-equipped Engineer has fighting ability similar to classes such as a Scout or a Soldier; he has more health and mid range damage than the Scout and more foot speed than a Soldier. While having generally less firepower than either, a Gunslinger Engineer additionally can bring his Dispenser and Teleporter to bear to heal himself and support his team. Gunslinger Engineer can be played effectively on any map, but especially excel in smaller games with fewer players such as standard 5 Control Point maps, some Payload maps, Arena, and King of the Hill.
You are always weak without a Sentry Gun to deal extra damage and serve as a distraction. Being alone and without a Sentry is a situation to avoid at all costs. Always put up a new Mini-Sentry as soon as the old one is destroyed or becomes useless. Like the Scout, when you're equipped with the Gunslinger, you do best in areas with room to maneuver and make pincer attacks with the Combat Mini-Sentry Gun. Tactical retreats are often necessary to refill Metal and Health and rebuild the Combat Mini-Sentry Gun. Dispensers should be placed conservatively in areas farther from the combat zone to ensure that you always have a place to recharge.
The Gunslinger is less effective if you wish to set up solid, entrenched positions. Combat Mini-Sentry Guns lack both stopping power and durability, which may be exactly what you need in some situations. If the enemy team has a lot of Medics, the relatively small damage of Combat Mini-Sentry Guns can be very ineffective at killing enemies getting constant healing.
Keep in mind that while Sappers can be removed from your Combat Mini-Sentry Guns, the damage dealt by them cannot be repaired. Since destroying and moving Combat Mini-Sentry Guns is often important, being sapped delays your ability to Demolish and rebuild.
Psychology can work your advantage when using Combat Mini-Sentry Guns. Despite their low damage, many players, especially those playing lighter classes, reflexively retreat when they come under fire from any Sentry Gun, which can create a very valuable diversion for you or your teammates. If your enemies do retreat from your Combat Mini-Sentry Guns, don't let up! Keep up the pressure by rebuilding or moving your Combat Mini-Sentry Guns after them.
- It also works the other way round. Many players that have high or full health will heavily underestimate the combined power of you and your Combat Mini-Sentry. They might try and gun you down in close range, and while you avoid damage, the Combat Mini-Sentry can take a good chunk of their health away without them noticing, allowing you or your teammates to finish them off!
Avoid idle Combat Mini-Sentry Guns. They are so expendable and fast-building that defensive placement is a waste of their potential. Unless you are occupied building/repairing your other structures and need cover, your Combat Mini-Sentry Guns should be constantly going up where they can harass the enemy. It can be helpful to think of a Mini-Sentry as not a "trap" or "nest" as a normal Sentry Gun might be, but more of an actual primary Weapon that you "aim" by "building at" the enemy.
While you'll usually want to keep your Dispenser by you when using the basic Sentry Gun to keep the Sentry Gun fully repaired and loaded, you may want to place the Dispenser in spots more useful for your team rather than you. As you cannot repair or upgrade the Combat Mini-Sentry Gun, you won't have to be nearby constantly. Have you and your Mini-Sentry fighting closer to the front lines and away from the Dispenser, and have the Dispenser in a spot useful for the team to retreat and resupply at.
Furthermore, because Combat Mini-Sentry Guns cost less Metal to build, remember that you can initially deploy both it and a Dispenser before going to look for more Metal. Don't be afraid to drop one down at any time you feel threatened or suspect that there might be danger around the next corner. Just be sure to keep a watch on how much Metal you have and make sure to have enough Metal to rebuild another Combat Mini-Sentry Gun.
The aggressive play the Gunslinger encourages can make stopping to spend a minute or more making and upgrading Dispensers and Teleporters an unwelcome delay in your attacking. While you should not neglect making Dispensers and Teleporters altogether, if the situation calls for it don't be afraid to spend less time upgrading and more time fighting. Remember, without the heavy firepower and durability of a level 3 Sentry Gun, your other buildings will be less protected from destruction, wasting the time and Metal you put into upgrading them in the first place. If you find yourself getting caught up in "base making" you probably shouldn't be using the Gunslinger at all. It may be better to use your Teleporter and Dispenser similarly to how you use your Combat Mini-Sentry Guns—leave them at level 1 and don't be afraid to lose them and rebuild new ones. Alternately you can leave them with a friendly non-Gunslinger Engineer to take care of and upgrade for you.
Attempt to use your Combat Mini-Sentry Gun to pincer your opponents by planting it and then attacking. The Engineer is the only class with the ability to attack from two places at once and this is of great effectiveness when used strategically. Your opponents will have to choose between attacking either your Sentry Gun or you, and unlike with the normal Sentry Gun, Combat Mini-Sentry Guns are not as vulnerable upon starting construction and will quickly start damaging your foes if they choose to ignore it. Use your Shotgun or Pistol to attack the same target your Sentry Gun is attacking to deal a lot of damage to that target quickly.
The Mini-Sentry is quite useful against enemies with limited weapon clip sizes such as the Soldier and Scout, since they will use up some of their already limited clips destroying the Sentry Gun, making it much safer to move into point-blank Shotgun range. The damage from the Mini-Sentry, plus 1-2 well-aimed Shotgun blasts (or just one Revenge Crit), can finish off most enemies. Against Pyros and Heavies or fully-loaded Demomen, it can be wiser to try to wear them down more with several Combat Mini-Sentry Guns and Pistol fire before going for the finishing blow -- but enemy Medics can make this tactic unlikely to succeed.
Picking up the fallen weapons from dead players is crucial to keep up your supply of Combat Mini-Sentry Guns. Also try to recycle all the Metal pieces from your destroyed Guns. The Metal from 2 destroyed Combat Mini-Sentry Guns grants 56 Metal, halfway to being able to afford a 3rd.
For melee combat, the Gunslinger is most useful on servers that have random Crits disabled. With random Crits enabled, even a normal melee Weapon such as the Wrench will likely Crit at least one out of three hits anyway, and potentially Crit multiple times. Also consider the practicality of going for melee attacks on enemies, since almost every Class can deal lethal damage in return at close range.
While it may seem like a good idea to use the Gunslinger in concert with the Frontier Justice, remember the Combat Mini-Sentry Guns are weaker and may not result in as many Revenge Crits. It can be easier to build up Revenge Crits without the Gunslinger equipped and then switch to it later to go on the attack. Knowing good ambush spots is also important when using the Gunslinger/Frontier combo.
- On the other hand, the constant building/demolishing cycle of the Mini-Sentry lends itself well to using Revenge Crits, whereas a normal Sentry Gun typically doesn't get destroyed nearly as often (so while it might earn more kills than a Mini-Sentry, there is a higher opportunity cost for destroying a high level Sentry Gun). An offensively placed Mini-Sentry can also rack up a lot of kill assists (worth 1 Revenge Crit, vs. 2 for a kill).
If on defense, consider teaming up with another Engineer that is maintaining a regular Sentry Gun. Gunslinger Engineers benefit from having some "breathing room" to reload and restock their health and ammo and "vanilla" Engineers are perfect for this, plus you can mutually assist each other in repairs, removing Sappers, or upgrading.
While it is called a Combat Mini-Sentry, it's still what it is, a Mini-Sentry. Don't try and take strong classes on your own, or rely on it to take on loads of people.
It is almost always faster and safer to demolish and rebuild a Mini-Sentry than it is to reload it or haul it. Also, demolishing a Mini-Sentry will give you access to any Revenge Crits that you may have earned during that Sentry Gun's lifetime. However hauling a Mini-Sentry short distances can still be useful since it will redeploy twice as fast as a new one would take to build, which for a Mini-Sentry is nearly instantaneous.
In general, avoid using the Wrangler with the Gunslinger unless you have plenty of available Metal, since if you run out of Combat Mini-Sentry Guns your only backup Gun will be one of the Shotguns, which use up their magazines fast, reload slowly, and do poor damage at range. Wrangling Combat Mini-Sentry Guns is a great way to offset their low health and damage which can in turn help you gain a few Revenge Crits if you are using the Frontier Justice, however Combat Mini-Sentry Guns are still weaker than even a level 1 Sentry and if you ever found yourself in a position without one active you would have very few other options for damage, particularly at mid or long range.
When using the Gunslinger, place Combat Mini-Sentry Guns near often visited health kits, like those around Control Points, such as the one under the bridge on Gorge. Enemies already low on health will flock to these health kits and promptly be Gunned down. It's encouraged the use the Gunslinger here as the standard Sentry Gun is too impractical and expensive to use simply for ambushes.
The game's scripting prioritizes repairing buildings over melee combat. This means that if there is an enemy next to a friendly structure and you are using a melee weapon to attempt to kill him, you will find that you instead hear the sound of hitting the Building near or even behind the enemy you are trying to strike. Switch to a Shotgun or the Pistol to deal with enemies that are very close to one of your buildings to avoid this.
If you're attempting to keep your Mini-Sentry hidden, using yourself as a distraction while it helps you take down an enemy may prove useful if you feel you have enough health to spare and can risk being an enemy's target.
Remember that a Mini-Sentry has a much smaller profile than even a level one Sentry Gun. Dropping one in the chaos of a firefight can prove beneficial as it can be overlooked in the confusion, assuming it survives the crossfire. Hiding Combat Mini-Sentry Guns in dark places can also work, but has limited effectiveness due to the flashing beacon on its top.
Dropping a Mini-Sentry behind you is a great way to delay pursuers.
A Mini-Sentry is disposable, since it is easy to build one and can not be repaired or upgraded. Unless managed very carefully, a Mini-Sentry will not last long. Do not expect many kills from one Sentry Gun, expect many kills from a variety of Combat Mini-Sentry Guns.

Organ Grinder

	Kill Icon	Weapon	Damage	Duration	Details
Arm Blender		Gunslinger	500	4 seconds	The Engineer pulls a rip-cord from his mechanical prosthetic, revving the hand of his Gunslinger up to vicious speeds, after which he thrusts it forward, gibbing any enemy player within reach.

With correct timing you might be able to kill a distracted enemy, so keep in mind that it takes some time for the Engineer to spin his hand up.
You can use the stunning effect of Organ Grinder to stun ÜberCharged enemies and waste their über time.
Organ Grinder is also effective during humiliation.

Southern Hospitality

Weapon	Kill Icon	Attack Interval	Damage
Weapon	Kill Icon	Attack Interval	Point Blank	Critical
Craft Southern Hospitality		0.8 seconds	65	195
Bleeding		40 damage over 5 seconds	N/A	N/A

The Southern Hospitality is nearly as versatile as the normal Wrench, with only a few situational weaknesses. As such, it is an upgrade to the default Wrench unless the enemy team has more than one actively attacking Pyro. The lost damage is compensated for by the Bleed status and the retained ability to wear opponents them down further with other weapons.
The Southern Hospitality favours a defensive playstyle. Camping Engineers rarely encounter Pyros without having a Sentry Gun in between to win the skirmish whereas when pushing into enemy territory, should the Engineer encounter a Pyro, they're in trouble and unprotected
The presence of Bleeding on this weapon makes it an excellent anti-Spy tool, allowing you and your team-mates to monitor their movements should they try to escape. However, the inability to randomly crit makes killing Spies more difficult in a short space of time. Instead, hit them repeatedly with the Southern Hospitality, thus doing more average Wrench damage and resetting the Bleed timer each hit, or hit them with the Southern Hospitality, then switch to your Shotgun or Frontier Justice to finish them off.
ÜberCharged Pyros are a major threat with the 20% increase to fire vulnerability. If one approaches, the most valuable building should be moved to a safe(r) location to be ready when the Übercharge wears off.
The Southern Hospitality is very viable within Medieval Mode as the 40 damage added by Bleeding is a strong buff, and sources of fire damage are reduced significantly.

Jag

Weapon	Kill Icon	Attack Interval	Damage
Weapon	Kill Icon	Attack Interval	Point Blank	Critical
Craft Jag		0.8 seconds	49	146

Due to a bug in how construction rate is calculated, however, the Jag only adds a 15.79% faster build rate to under-construction buildings being hit with the Jag. Consider this when determining your loadout.
Try to avoid melee combat due to the damage penalty. If your team is good at Spy checking, however, the loss of damage won't matter much.
Get in the habit of hitting your buildings all the way to completion as soon as you plant them. Where the Jag really shines is in the construction of Dispensers. Taking 84.21% of the time to build a Dispenser speeds up supply of Metal which in turn can speeds other upgrades and buildings.
The Jag is also useful in situations such as rebuilding a destroyed Teleporter Entrance or Exit while the other half is still up; being able to speedily rebuild the destroyed half means you can teleport back to your other buildings a few seconds faster.
The Jag is a great weapon for "helper" Engineers who are only being Engineer temporarily to help other Engineers upgrade or repair their buildings.

Weapon combinations

Weapon Combinations
Combo			Usage
Shotgun	Short Circuit	Southern Hospitality	For a purely defensive Engineer. This combination allows the Engineer to hold positions against attack, albeit with high cost in Metal and upgrade time. The Short Circuit provides defense against explosives (the greatest bane of a Sentry Gun), although it increases the Engineer's reliance on having a functioning, upgraded, and well-placed Dispenser. The weak damage of Short Circuit can leave you open to other attacks, such as Spies and flank attacks. Nonetheless, as the sentry it free to fire on its own and won't be disabled by the Wrangler, this combination allows the defensive Engineer to be a bit more independent. This weapon set will allow you to preserve your Sentry Gun as long as possible and use the Shotgun to weaken foes or kill any Spy in range. The Southern Hospitality provides excellent defense against Spies and prevents them from escaping via invisibility, however your weakness to fire can make any sort of offensive pushing much more risky.
Frontier Justice	Pistol	Jag	For an advanced supportive Engineer. This set allows you to deploy your buildings quickly with the 30% faster construction rate granted by the Jag. This may give you more time to walk around and help maintain the buildings of other Engineers. The Revenge crits will become useful if your sentry happens to be destroyed. The Pistol provides an alternative firearm and is great for conserving your Revenge Crits. You can freely use the Wrangler instead for long-range offense with your sentry to keep your opponents at bay, though this will distract you from your and other Engineers' buildings.
Shotgun	Wrangler	Jag	This combination is similar to the advanced supportive Engineer set but there are small changes. You can use your Wrangler to dispatch Snipers quickly and weaken enemies at the long distance. But having no bonus health means you are more likely to die. This can also be a good loadout for an Engineer who likes to try and build behind the enemy lines. The Jag helps build up the base more quickly and the Wrangler can help the Engineer build in some unusual locations and immediately attack foes with the enhanced firepower.
Shotgun	or Pistol or Wrangler	Gunslinger	The Gunslinger is geared toward an assault-oriented Engineer, and thus, to maximize his firepower, is best to combine with a Shotgun. Typically, the Pistol maximizes the Engineer's personal firepower at close to mid-range and allows you to pincer opponents with Combat Mini-Sentry Guns, wich gives opponents two targets to worry about. The Shotgun is for close range ambushing and for finishing off injured enemies. As the Mini Sentry is weaker and has less health than the standard level 1 Sentry Gun, the Engineer mustn't rely much on his Sentry Gun and should use it as a weapon alongside his other guns, or a distraction while he flees or finishes off foes. However, using the Wrangler allows a much longer range attack due to the high accuracy of a wrangled Sentry Gun, but will require the Engineer to have good aim in order to maximize the Shotgun's potential at longer ranges. This is especially helpful in fast-paced CP servers, where depending on the situation, the Engineer may set up the Sentry defensively to prevent a capture or offensively to prevent the enemy from interfering with a capture. When compared to Wrenches, the lower Metal cost and setup time of the mini-sentry allow a base to be readily setup, which can be important in arena/KoTH games.
Frontier Justice	Wrangler	Jag	For the Engineer that likes to control his Sentry Gun. The Jag allows you to quickly deploy your Sentry Gun and the Wrangler grants you manual control over your Sentry Gun. If the Sentry Gun is destroyed while you are off getting Metal, you will be granted Revenge Crits. An important aspect of this set is that you should deploy your Sentry Gun in a hidden and safe spot, then slowly move it to the front lines while (hopefully) being accompanied by a Medic or a strong class (such as a Heavy) that is more likely to attract enemy fire. The Frontier Justice' reduced magazine size is not that much of a problem, since you will be spending more time defending yourself with the Sentry Gun than with a Shotgun.
Widowmaker	Short Circuit	or Wrench or Gunslinger	The Deus-Ex Set This set will eat up your metal like Wildfire. Enough misplaced shots from the Widowmaker will render you useless, and force you to replenish your metal. These weapons are best used after you've already constructed your Sentry and Dispenser. This way, you still have other means of survival, and the Dispenser can replenish any metal you lose with missed or poor shots. You can also use the Short Circuit to prevent enemy Soldiers or Demomen from destroying your buildings. This setup does leave you with no reliable medium/long range weaponry, so stay close to your Sentry Gun in order to not be taken by surprise. Alternitavely, when using the Gunslinger, you can make use of the reduced cost of the Mini-Sentry to fire a few shots and then still have enough metal to place a Mini-Sentry. Also, you can use the metal output to recharge your supply to continuously throw down Mini-Sentry Guns, keeping a constant force of pressure on the enemy. However, this leaves you mostly defenseless, as a Mini-Sentry is not something to hide behind when you're out of metal. Stay within running range of an upgraded Dispenser to always have a source of ammo.

Class combat strategies

Soldier

The Cow Mangler 5000's Charge shot can disable any building. You can repair the damage while the building is disabled, but any building won't perform its function until the 4 seconds are over. 4 seconds without buildings such as the Sentry Gun or the Dispenser could lead to your position being overrun. It may be in your best interest to fall back and live to build again if the Soldier is not alone.
When the Frontier Justice is equipped, attacking Soldiers who have activated their Battalion's Backup with Revenge crits is unwise: switch to another weapon or use your Sentry to attack the Soldier instead if waiting for it to wear off is not ideal.

Demoman

A smart Demoman will arc his grenades over your Sentry Gun, so don't rely on it to provide a shield from him.
If you have Revenge crits stored, don't be afraid fight the Demoman, since the Critical shot will kill him instantly at close range.
If a Demoman has a location advantage, and he keeps firing Stickybombs at your buildings, it's better to run away than trying to constantly repair your buildings and be killed.

Heavy

Position your Dispenser in a location that is not only convenient to yourself, but also allows a Heavy to infinitely fire their Minigun at enemies incoming to your position like a Sentry Gun.

Buildings

Sentry Gun


1

150 (effectively 450 with the Wrangler shielding)

130 Metal

Semi-Automatic Firing Barrel

Damage: 16
Shots per second: 4 (8 with Wrangler)
Average DPS: 64 (128 with Wrangler)

100 rounds


2

180 (effectively 540 with the Wrangler shielding)

330 Metal

Dual Rotational Minigun Barrels

Damage: 16
Shots per second: 8 (16 with Wrangler)
Average DPS: 128 (256 with Wrangler)

120 rounds


3

216 (effectively 648 with the Wrangler shielding)

530 Metal

Dual Rotational Minigun Barrels

Target Guided Rocket Launch Support System

Damage: 16
Shots per second: 8 (16 with Wrangler)
Average DPS: 128 (256 with Wrangler)

Rockets fire every 3 seconds (slightly faster with the Wrangler) dealing 53 to 150 damage on direct hit (falloff is calculated from the distance of the Engineer to the target, not from the Sentry to the target). The rockets can be deflected with the Pyro's compression blast.

144 rounds
20 rocket salvos

Combat Mini-Sentry Gun


N/A

100 (effectively 300 with the Wrangler shielding)

100 Metal

Semi-Automatic Firing Barrel

Damage: 8
Shots per second: 6 (12 with Wrangler)
Average DPS: 48 (96 with Wrangler)

100 rounds

The difference between excellent Sentry Gun placement and average Sentry Gun placement can sometimes be very little; a matter of inches, or an angle that is off by a few degrees can determine whether a Sentry Gun can effectively cover a certain approach, whether it will give away its location to enemies too easily, whether it will take too long to rotate into firing positions, and so on. This does not mean that you should take a long time to adjust their Sentry Gun blueprint before placing it – doing so is a hallmark of inexperienced Engineer play. However, observe how certain placements perform and if the Sentry Gun demonstrates any weaknesses in that position, try to place the Sentry Gun so it will be more effective in the future.
- A good rule of thumb for Sentry Gun placement is a location that maximizes the Sentry Gun's range while minimizing its corner weakness. In other words, any location where approaching enemies will likely receive fire from the Sentry Gun at close to its maximum range but will be unable to fire back from outside that range. This is because Sentry Guns do not suffer from damage falloff at range. While this does not always limit the damage your Sentry Gun will take in return (damage falloff due to range does not apply to damage done against buildings), it does reduce the damage you will take while you maintain the Sentry Gun, and it also reduces damage from short-range and/or high spread weapons such as the Scattergun, Flamethrower, and Minigun. Making good use of the Sentry Gun's range also gives the Sentry Gun a bigger field of fire and it gives you more warning of approaching enemies (and incoming projectiles), while denying the largest area to your enemies, one of the Engineer's primary roles.
Sentry Guns are usually best built on high ground. However, you should avoid choosing an elevated spot that allows your Sentry Gun to be seen by enemies from beyond its ability to fire back. The best Sentry Gun placements allow a Sentry Gun to shoot at enemies at the same time or even a little before enemies are able to see and shoot back at the Sentry Gun and high ground can help achieve this as the diagram below-right demonstrates.
- High ground is also great because it makes the Sentry Gun harder to hit with splash damage. As long as it is not built with its back to a wall, most projectiles will arc either too high or too low to hit hard, and the precision aiming required forces enemies to take the Sentry Gun's full weight of fire to try to take their shot. Conversely low ground creates the opposite effect, effectively "funneling" even stray projectiles such as Grenades right into the Sentry Gun. Avoid low ground positions such as pits and valleys.
- High ground is also very useful by making it more difficult for Spies to get into sapping range. High ground placements reduce the number of routes Spies can use to get close, making it easier for you and your team to discover and remove potential Spy threats before they get a chance to disable your Sentry Gun.
Build in areas that are open, but not too open, and give you some room to work. This allows you to dodge and gives yourself good angles for using the Wrangler while keeping a safe distance from your Sentry Gun if it is under fire. If possible, have a wall or other cover near to the Sentry Gun that you can use as cover while you repair, but try not to have an obscured view of what is attacking your Sentry Gun.
Avoid "gimmicky" Sentry positions such as looking down holes in ceilings, in the middle of narrow hallways, or around sharp corners. Sentry Guns can certainly get kills in such positions, but while these positions can surprise the enemy temporarily, they aren't terribly effective since they won't seriously interfere with your opponents' movement. High level Sentry Guns take a lot of time and resources to make, so building them in areas where they will be useful only rarely is a waste.
Great Sentry positions will allow the Sentry Gun to put suppressing fire on a number of key areas and also allow it to act as a first line of defense for your team. A Sentry being repaired or Wrangled (or both) is excellent at absorbing damage that would otherwise be directed at your fellow teammates.
- Sentry Guns should not therefore be viewed as a "last line of defense". Building with this mentality is flawed, because while an Engineer and his Sentry can fend off most lone opponents fairly effectively, as little as two enemies can overwhelm an unsupported Engineer position, even if the base is well constructed and the Engineer is skilled.
Don't build yourself into a corner if you want to be hanging around your Sentry Gun repairing; you deny yourself a line of retreat and ensure that you get damaged as much as your Sentry Gun. Sentry Guns right around corners can catch enemies off guard, but if you build such an "ambush" Sentry Gun, don't sit right on it. Leave it on its own and maybe support it offensively with your own weapons, and then move it or rebuild it once it becomes ineffective.
In addition to building on high ground and in a moderately open area, you should build the Sentry Gun such that it covers narrow areas in the map called "chokepoints". This maximizes the area your team has to work with and minimizes the maneuvering room for attackers. This forces the enemy team to bunch up in narrow hallways and doorways, making them easy prey for your Sentry Gun's rockets or the splash damage from your team. Sentry Guns are at their best when they force enemies to fight from a disadvantageous position.
Take note of where other Engineers have set up their Sentry Guns and set up yours to create overlapping fields of fire that can catch opponents in crossfire. Being within sight of another Engineer on your team makes it easy for you to help one other repair during times when either of you is dead or occupied. It also concentrates your team's defense and prevents your team from spreading too thinly. Two Sentry Guns that are spread out yet still covering the same choke point combined with adequate Spy checking can be an absolute nightmare for the enemy team to deal with and forces them to either come with everything they have or not come at all.
- Conversely, try not to build two Sentry Guns next to each other; this doesn't help cover a wider area and makes the Spy's job of sapping Sentry Guns easier.
After building a Sentry Gun, stand behind it and build a Dispenser behind your position; if a few enemies or an ÜberCharged enemy comes, you can kneel behind the Sentry for protection and continually repair the damage done to it while having your Metal replenished by the Dispenser behind you. This strategy works well wherever enemies are forced through a bottleneck while approaching the Gun or have no line of sight to the Dispenser, but does not work well in open areas where the Dispenser can be targeted from the side or from above.

Figure 1. Dustbowl, Stage 2, Point B example of excellent Sentry placement. Both Sentries A and B are on high ground in open areas covering chokepoints, with double coverage of two major chokes. Both Sentries are nearby and face each other making it easy for each Engineer to watch the other.

Figure 2. Illustrates the advantages of elevated placement. Sentry is in the open covering a chokepoint, is able to lock on and begin firing an instant before approaching enemies preventing abuse of cover and maximizing Sentry damage. Attacking Demomen in particular will have poor attack angles.

Dispenser


1

150

100 Metal

10/sec

20%/sec

40/5 sec


2

180

300 Metal

15/sec

30%/sec

50/5 sec


3

216

500 Metal

20/sec

40%/sec

60/5 sec

The primary use of the Dispenser is to provide logistical support to yourself and your team. Dispensers act as unlimited health and ammo pickups that can be used by any number of teammates at once, making Dispensers more and more essential the greater the number of players on your team. Dispensers take time to build and are expensive and time-consuming to upgrade, but once they build up a good supply of Metal, they enable you to keep your buildings repaired almost indefinitely except under the most concentrated attacks. The Sentry Gun can secure an area from immediate attack, but it is upgraded Dispensers that can truly fortify a location.

It can be used as an obstacle: members of the opposing team can't walk through your buildings so Dispensers can be strategically used to jam up doorways and stairs. or distinguish between Spies and teammates. Building a Dispenser in a location solely to detect Spies is typically not recommended since it most likely can be more beneficial elsewhere.
It can be used to defend an area. Dispensers allow Heavies and Pyros to defend an area constantly with unlimited ammo (with the added bonus of slow healing).
It can be built in certain areas to allow the Engineer to reach or build on a higher location. Since the Engineer's buildings are only solid to him and not his teammates however, this only benefits the Engineer unless he builds a Teleporter to allow teammates to follow. Placing a teleporter exit at the peak of a jump off a Dispenser can significantly increase maneuverability.
Dispensers can block your Sentry Gun's line of sight, so try not to build them in front of your Sentry Gun whenever possible.

Teleporter

Level	Health	Cost	Recharge time
Level 1	150	125 Metal	10 seconds
Level 2	180	325 Metal	5 seconds
Level 3	216	525 Metal	3 seconds

Teleporter Exits should be placed so that that teammates will instantly have a good idea of where to go when they use it, they can react more quickly to incoming enemies and it is harder to be backstabbed by enemy Spies (Alt-fire also rotates the Teleporter by 90 degrees, but pressing fire while it rotates can cause it to build at a 45 degree angle).
The status of Teleporters should be known by the whole team as soon as possible: where they're built and whether or not they're being Sapped or attacked. It's also a good idea to give the team an Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) of when the exit will be built so that if someone is just spawning they can wait by the entrance.
If you have just built the exit and a teammate immediately uses it then picking it up and putting it down and hitting it with your Wrench will rebuild and recharge it in less than half the time (about 5 seconds) than if you just let it recharge by itself (about 10 seconds) until you can find enough metal to upgrade it.
When playing on Control Point maps, the Teleporter should usually be the first thing built. Place an entrance outside spawn, replenish your metal within spawn and place the other Teleporter just out of the way of the front line.
Enemy players such as Spies and Scouts will often try to sneak past your team and attempt to destroy your Teleporter Entrance, which is often not guarded by your Sentry Gun. If this happens repeatedly, you might consider moving your Sentry back to your Spawn to cover it, along with yourself. This can be less of a trade-off if there is another friendly Engineer who can pick up the slack on the front lines and cover the buildings back at the Exit. Often you can get away with doing this only temporarily, since once you have denied several attempts to kill your Teleporter Entrance the enemy will usually stop trying, and you can move back to the front lines.
Never stand atop your Teleporter, because if an enemy Spy goes through your teleporter while you are standing on it, you will be instantly killed, otherwise known as a Telefrag
When removing Sappers from Teleporters, ensure that you do not stand on the exit, preventing Spies from potentially Telefraging you.
It's often better to be more conservative in the positioning of Teleporters. Building and upgrading a Teleporter is very time consuming, and potentially risky and thus should not be deliberately repeated. It's better to have a Teleporter remain active and take your allies 75% of the way to their destination, than to have a Teleporter go the whole distance but gets destroyed due to its proximity to the action.
Teleporters leave a particle trail on the feet of anyone who uses them, revealing to enemies the presence of an active Teleporter nearby. This is yet another reason to think conservatively when placing your Teleporter.
When playing in a purely defensive role and Teleporters are not needed to reach the front line, they can be used to retreat to reach the back line or any other safe position quickly. Be sure to let your team know why the Teleporter goes backwards.
Placing Teleporter Exits in locations where they have an increased chance of causing telefrag kills against enemies can potentially be a legitimate possibility. Usually this will mean placing an Exit in a narrow area where there is no room to step around the Exit, forcing any enemies rushing through the area to be at risk of a Telefrag.
- One example of this would be on Dustbowl Stage 1 Point B on the stairs leading from the sliding doors to the control point – enemies are often under fire and simply trying to move quickly through onto the point, and won't usually stop to destroy a Teleporter Exit which can easily result in telefrags.

When Teleporters are not needed for transportation purposes, they still have great value

If a Teleporter is not needed to advance forward, then it can be used as an effective block similar to the Dispenser. A Teleporter built in front of under-fire buildings can absorb damage in place of a Sentry Gun or Dispenser without getting in the way of the building. Explosives and stray bullets will often hit the Teleporter instead of more important buildings, which can be repaired via the other Teleporter from a safe distance.
In common situations where you can't build a Teleporter for your team, Teleporters can also be used as bait by placing one close to your base. An enemy will often destroy or sap the Teleporter, notifying the Engineer to prepare for an incoming enemy.