In Risk of Rain 2, Engineer specializes in keeping most monsters at bay while securing a safe haven in the middle of a warzone. Engineer sports a consistent damage output from his infinitely scaling turrets and other defensive abilities. Although he may not be able to take down enemies as quickly as some of the other classes, his long-range capabilities and traps make him a very formidable opponent.
If you’re looking to play Engineer in Risk of Rain 2, we have prepared all of the advice you need to build and use him effectively on your next run!
How To Unlock The Engineer in Risk of Rain 2
Engineer – Engineering Perfection
The Engineer might seem hard to unlock in Risk of Rain 2 since the Engineering Perfection Achievement requires you to complete 30 stages. Yet, this isn’t that big of an obstacle. Playing on Drizzle difficulty or simply looping at Sky Meadows on a good run will guarantee you unlock Engineer in RoR2 at a pretty consistent pace.
How Do Engineer’s Abilities Work?
Primary Ability – Bouncing Grenades
Bouncing Grenades is Engineer’s only primary ability and is the weakest part of his entire kit. Holding down the primary fire button charges up to eight grenades that deal 100% base damage, each with a base 1.0 proc coefficient for each grenade. While this ability doesn’t have fall-off damage range, the grenades don’t travel very far and scatter the further they fly.
This ability is hands down the weakest part of Engineer’s build in Risk of Rain 2. Moreover, it makes it challenging to survive independently without his defenses. This ability’s only advantage is that you can sprint while charging it.
Secondary Abilities
Pressure Mines – Default
Pressure Mines is Engineer’s default secondary ability which places down a stationary mine that explodes on contact. Four Pressure Mines can be deployed and armed, with each mine dealing 900% base damage when fully armed. When using Pressure mines, it’s crucial to remember that they need extra time to arm fully, and they don’t stick to enemies or allies.
Spider Mines – Unlockable
Spider Mines are the Engineer’s other secondary ability, which functions like Pressure Mines, but Spider Mines lets each mine launch itself at the closest target. Each Spider mine doesn’t require time to arm, and they rush towards enemies after deployment. Only four Spider Mines can be out simultaneously.
The only downside is they deal slightly less damage at 600% base damage, losing around a third of the primed damage from Pressure Mines.
How to Unlock the Spider Mines Ability on Engineer
To unlock the Spider Mines, you must finish the 100% Calculated challenge, which requires defeating any teleporter boss in under five seconds after it spawns. A guaranteed way to complete this challenge is to use the Trophy’s Hunter’s Tricon, single-use equipment that executes any boss.
If you don’t have access to the Survivors of the Void DLC to obtain the Tricon, we recommend using the Preon Accumulator since it still offers a ton of burst damage.
Related Article: When You Should Use Egocentrism in Risk of Rain 2
Utility Skills that the Engineer Has in RoR2
Bubble Shield – Default
Engineer’s first Utility skill is the Bubble Shield, which deploys a defensive bubble that blocks all external damage. Enemies and allies can pass through the shield, but nothing outside of the shield can damage anyone inside.
This works as a great measure to negate high burst damage like the kind from a Wandering Vagrant or as an excellent method to block your turrets off from enemy fire. This ability can be deployed while sprinting, but you’ll most likely want to stay within it once deploying it.
Thermal Harpoons – Unlockable
Thermal Harpoons are Engineer’s second utility skill offering a more aggressive option than a defensive shield. This ability allows the Engineer to fire heat-seeking harpoons that deal 500% base damage each, holding up to four charges. To fire the Thermal Harpoons, you must lock onto targets before firing, meaning you cannot spam fire or use this ability without a target.
Unlocking Thermal Harpoons
To unlock Thermal Harpoons, you must complete the Zero Sum challenge. To complete this challenge, you must finish charging the teleporter with zero monsters remaining on the stage.
The easiest way to finish this challenge is to charge the teleporter to 99% by killing non-boss monsters until only the boss is left. Once the teleporter is at 99%, monster spawns will cease, and you can finally defeat the boss once you have checked the stage for any hiding monsters. The challenge won’t be completed if any regular monster remains after the boss is defeated.
Specials
TR12 Gauss Auto-Turret – Default
The primary bread and butter of the Engineer’s kit revolve around his deployable turrets. Both Engineer’s turrets inherit all items you pick up, making for exciting and unique combinations. Each turret deals 100% base damage, has a proc coefficient of 1.0, and two can be placed at a time unless you have a Lysate Cell, which increases the deployable sum to three.
TR58 Carbonizer Turret – Unlockable
The Carbonizer Turret is the Engineer’s second special skill and functions similarly to the alternative, Spider Mines. We draw this comparison to the Spider mines because, unlike the Gauss Auto-Turret, the Carbonizer Turret moves with the Engineer but has less range.
The pros of using the Carbonizer Turret in your Risk of Rain 2 Engineer build include a natural 50% base slow, no fall-off damage, and each turret deals 200% damage per second, but at a much shorter range.
How to Unlock the TR58 Carbonizer Turret for Your Engineer Build in Risk of Rain 2
To Unlock TR58 Carbonizer Turret, you must complete the Better With Friends challenge. This challenge requires recruiting 12 minions at one time. Minions include drones such as strike, healing, missile, or gunner drones. Engineer Turrets, squid turrets, and ghosts from the Happiest Mask all count toward minions, which makes this challenge incredibly easy to complete.
Related Article: How to Beat Risk of Rain 2 and Obtain Every Ending
What Should Your Risk of Rain 2 Engineer Build Include?
The Engineer struggles to build specific items compared to all the other Survivors. Although the Engineer has specific beneficial items, the only real consistent build option is healing and on-hit effects. Engineer synergizes perfectly with Power Elixir and Delicate Watch, as long as they don’t fall below the 25% health threshold.
Since each turret copies all the items on Engineer, falling below the threshold only consumes it for a single turret and will be replaced upon redeployment. Bustling Fungus is the best item for the TR12 Gauss Auto-Turrets but is useless for the TR58 Carbonizer Turret.
Other items that help keep the turrets alive include Topaz Brooch, Tougher Times, and Leeching Seed. Engineer benefits perfectly from Aegis, Rejuvenation Rack, and N’kuhana’s Opinion since they all synergize with the constantly healing playstyle that Engineer is almost forced to use.
Related Character Guide: Risk of Rain 2 Bandit Build and Play Guide
The Best Abilities for Different Engineer Playstyles in Risk of Rain 2
For abilities, we always recommend choosing Engineer’s Spider Mines since the default mines have a meager payoff for such high dedication. The Engineer can run two different playstyles, and if you want to play more passively with late-game scaling, we recommend the Bubble Shield and the TR12 Gauss Auto-Turrets.
If you wish to have a more consistent early game with a more aggressive playstyle, we recommend Thermal Harpoons alongside the TR58 Carbonizer Turrets.
Tips & Tricks to Maxing Your Risk of Rain 2 Engineer Build
- Thermal Harpoons lock on faster if you shake your aim back and forth.
- Bustling Fungus will always be active on TR12 Gauss Auto-Turrets.
- Although the TR58 Carbonizer Turret moves, it doesn’t technically sprint. Getting Sprint items on Engineer doesn’t affect the turrets in any way.
- Acquiring at least one Hardlight Afterburner allows for almost 100% uptime of Bubble Shield.
- Bubble Shield can be used to avoid massive AOE attacks such as the Wandering Vagrant’s Supernova.
- Acquiring the Visions of Heresy replaces the turrets’ attack with Hungering Gaze, which increases their damage and proc chance.
- TR12 Gauss Auto-Turrets can block each other’s shots if they’re placed too close to one another.
- Obtaining the Lysate Cell is necessary for the Engineer in Risk of Rain 2. It provides an ability to increase your number of turrets from two to three, significantly increasing damage output.
Wrapping Up Our Guide on How to Play and Build the Engineer in Risk of Rain 2
Overall the Engineer is one if not the only high defense survivor that can lock down parts of a stage or dominate teleporter events the variety of defensive options in his kit. While they have the drawback of being one of the least mobile Risk of Rain 2 characters, their turret scaling with items makes for some fun, chaotic moments while having a more passive gameplay experience in such a hectic roguelike.
Are you a huge Engineer fan in Risk of Rain 2? What do you think of our build, tips, and guidance? Do you have any additional advice for our other readers? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
For additional advice on how to play other Survivors in Risk of Rain 2, check out our guide on how to play and build the Huntress in Risk of Rain 2.
