the engineer has a lot of different weapons, each with their own perks and downsides, and some more usefull than the others, but each weapon choice comes with its own unique twist on how an engineer should be played. while there is no "Right choice" when it comes to an engineer loadout, there are several that are more appropriate for an average match than others. in this section i will explain how each weapon is used, and how they can be used to gain an advantage on the other team~

MELEE
Stock wrench:

• no up or down side to using it

Stock weapons tend to be the most useful GENERALLY, they present no up or downside, and are the least situational weapon you can pick.
sense there is no up or down side i will use this session to go over wrenching basics.
wrenching a building that is in the process of it being built will cause it to build significantly faster, this is helpful when an enemy is inbound, and you need some defences up pronto
while building you can press the alternate fire button (right mouse) to rotate buildings. a teleporter of sentry facing a wall can be detremental to a teams success, so spin those suckers around till they are facing the correct way
If a building is not where you want it, you can press the alternate fire button to pick it up and move it, at the cost of no longer being able to shoot, and lower move speed.
the stock wrench is the best for hunkering down, and defending a point Generally

Gunslinger:

• Replaces standard Sentry Gun with Combat Mini-Sentry Gun.
  
• Increases maximum health by 25 points.
  
• Guarantees a Critical hit on a third consecutive punch.
  
• No random Critical hits

The gunslinger, a personal favorite, and one of the biggest engineer game changers. the gunslinger takes away one of the engineers BIGGEST damage dealers, and replaces it with a small, weak, disposable sentry, that can NOT be repaired (so dont bother)
the mini sentry, while horrible at defending, can provide emergency covering fire, that will either catch your enemy by surprise and finish them off, or at the very least keep them from shooting at YOU, giving you time to retreat.
while the gunslinger does not allow you to get off random critical hits, it instead allows you to get GUARANTEED critical hits by stringing three punches together non stop, most enemies cant survive the three punch combo, unless they are being helped by a medic, and even then, the critical punch tends to sit them down. but hand to hand combat can be very risky, so its best to use in emergency situations, or if you are called upon to melee fight, in an honor duel.
the best strategy for the gunslinger is to hit and run. as an offensive engineer you no longer need to stay in one place, and are VERY mobile, sense you dont have to baby sit your sentry, exchanging damage for the ability to give that extra push your team needs to get past enemy defences.
also on a side note, dont bother picking up your mini sentry, just destroy it, its not worth lugging around. its called disposable for a reason.

Southern Hospitality:

• On hit Cause target to bleed for 5 seconds
  
• 25% weakness to fire
  
• no random crits

The southern Hospitality is a favorite to ALOT of engineers, trading extra damage from pyros, and no critical hits for additional damage over time. once you strike an enemy they will be afflicted by the "Bleed" effect, as they take damage for 5 deconds, which can only be cured by a medic, healthkit, or trip to the respawn supply. ontop of taking damge, if a spy is hit with this little beauty, he will no longer be completely invisible, making it easier for you to destroy his stupid face.
the Southern hospitality is an amazing defending weapon, able to keep spies from being too much of a problem, however you now should run from a pyro on sight, because they will eat through your health FAST.

JAG:

• Buildings construct 30% faster
  
• 25% less damage dealt

the JAG! Whats it mean? Does it stand for something? is it an abbreviation of "Jagged"? no one knows. what people DO know is that this thing can put up buildings like its NO ONE'S buisness. trading off damage, for the ability to construct buildings like some kind of brick laying monster. while pretty much garbage in a melee fight, its great for getting sentries up FAST, which is really handy when you hear a heavy just around the corner, coming in

Eureka Effect:

• Reloading this weapon teleports you to spawn, or your teleporter exit
  
• 50% slower repair rate
  
• 50% slower upgrade rate

Ahh~ the Eureka effect, such a brilliant idea, but such a garbage weapon. it doesnt matter WHAT side your playing, attack or defence, this is NOT a good weapon. at the time of me typing this the Eureka effect is pretty much the second most garbage weapon in the entire game. giving up the ability to withstand ANY sort of attack against your sentry, for the ability to teleport to your teleporter exit, even if there is no enterance. if you have this weapon, feel ashamed, because the enemy team could pretty much LOOK at your sentry funny for a second, and it will go down.
the only good thing about this weapon is the ability to ninja behind enemy lines, and not having to wait in line for your teleporter...HOORAY?! it might have been tollerable, if you could repair your sentry at a decent rate, but you cant...so dont use it...seriously never use this...ever...put it down and walk away...dont look at me like that, just do it...dont you sass me.

Stock Pistol:

• no up or down side

or maybe just pistol...the engineer only really has one choice for bullets on this slot. the pistol is my favorite weapon for the secondary slot. Run out of shells in your shotgun, no problem, pistol has got your back m8.

Wrangler:

• When drawn, sentry becomes remote controlled and will manually fire on your command
  
• sentry fire rate is doubled, and a laser sight helps your aim
  
• your sentry forms a shield that protects it from 66% of all damage
  
• if put away, or you die, the sentry will be deactivated for 3 seconds

the wrangler, amazing for big open spaces, that your sentry cant cover on its own. whever you aim, so will your sentry, as long as it has a FOV of the target. it also has an aim assist, where it will lock onto targets near where you are pointing. if you know how to repair your sentry quickly, and defend against spies, then this will be an AMAZING weapon for you.

Short Circuit:

• creates an electric field that destroyes all projectiles, when fired (arrows, grenades, rockets, flares)
  
• -15 ammo for destroying a projectile
  
• no reload
  
• uses metal not ammo
  
• -5 ammo per shot
  
• no crits and low damage
  
• while active, no metal from dispensers

A complicated piece of equipment, that can be a LIFE saver. this thing destroyes arrows, bombs, grenades, flares, stickys, ANYTHING thats not a bullet pretty much at the cost of spending metal instead of ammo, and dealing ♥♥♥♥ damage, you can keep your sentry nest alive for a LONG time

Stock Shotgun:

• No up or downside

a classic in the engineers choice of weapon, a reliable six shots, when fully loaded, and deals decent damge at close range (dont try and shotgun snipe, it wont work)

Frontiere Justice:

• stores two guaranteed crits for every sentry kill, and one for every sentry assist kill
  
• every death is put into a revenge counter (max 35) and is granted when your sentry is destroyed
  
• half stock shorgun's clip size

a beautiful piece of gun. for every kill your sentry gets, you get crits, and when it is destroyed (by you or an enemy) you get GUARANTEED critical hits, which means each shot you deal an extra x3 damage.. this weapon paired with the gunlsinger make for constant fun, when your weak little disposable sentry is killed, you get yourself a handful of crits to unload on the jerk who broke your baby sentry.

Widowmaker:

• no reload
  
• uses metal instead of ammo
  
• every point of damage you deal with this gun, gives you more metal

this gun is a POWERFUL piece, as long as you hit the target, your going to get rewarded with more ammuntion, which you can unload in an endless cycle of pain. this gun teaches a VERY VERY important lesson, and i recomend newer players play with it, to understand shotungs in the game. the lesson this gun teaches is "Only shoot if you can guarantee you will hit something" this lesson will serve any player well, and help them get those salty tears flowing from that stupid heavy who doesnt know why you didnt reload.

Pompson 6000

• shoots a slow projectile instead of shotgun shells
  
• can light a huntsman bow
  
• does not require ammo
  
• shot cant be deflected by pyros, or short circuits
  
• on hit medics lose 10% of their uber
  
• on hit spies lose 20% of their cloak
  
• Deals less damage to buildings
  
• has four shots instead of six

THIS gun can make or break yah. giving up damage for team support, this weird laser type thing can ruin anyones day. while it shoots a slow, easy to avoid laser round, on hit it can make a medic lose their uber, effectivly ruining their heal targets day, as well as reveal a spies location, by removing their invisibility.
if ammo was ever a problem than this is the gun for you, however dont expect to be dealing massive ammounts of damage. this gun is significantly weaker than a shotgun, and easy to dodge. if your gonna use it, use it to support the team by targeting medics and spies. i promise it will go better than shooting at the others.

Rescue Ranger:

• at the cost of metal, teleport a building from a distance to you
  
• fires bolts that can heal friendly buildings and cost no metal
  
• Has four shots instead of six
  
• half the max primary ammo count
  
• when holding a building you are marked for death (take x2 damage)

This gun is another game changer for the engy, giving the community what they begged for, for years: a way to heal your machines from a distance. while it cannot remove sappers, it does fix damage that other classes can deal to your poor machines, and if things are getting too hairy, you can teleport your machines into your arms, away from the bullies that hurt it, so you can build it somewhere safer.

Panic Attack:

• is multi class
  
• starts with no ammo in the chamber, upon holding the fire button, you begin to load in a max of four shells, once released or the maximum number of shells has been put it, it will begin to automatically fire.
  
• Has a faster reload speed
  
• the lower your health the faster you shoot
  
• the lower your health the wider the bullet spread

People asked for weapons and boy howdy did we get them. this shotgun is a mess that requires alot of tweeking to fix. as it stands the weapon is not very useful to the engineer, and doesnt provide anything that the stock shotgun, or frontiere justice can do better. on paper it is a decent idea, but its hard to have the kind of forsight this weapon demands from you,and ontop of that, it asks you to risk your life to have a higher damage output. in my oppinion stay away from this weapon until it is fixed.