Engineer

Character Introduction[]

Themba Mbale is a Sol Force Engineer. Born in South Africa, he is among those in the empire who believe creation is more important than destruction, especially when it comes to settlements ravaged by war or colonies on rough frontier worlds. He is a man of the people, and his crew on Arbuda IV was assigned to develop infrastructure and advance terraforming.

It was while working on an aqueduct in the Feldspar Mountains that he met Doctor Wooley, a retired xeno-archaeologist, who was working on an unusual site--the famous "Valley of Bones", where thousands and thousands of the planet's previous inhabitants, known as "Arbuda sapiens", had once died.

When reports of grisly murders and sickness in the city started coming in from the cities, Themba felt responsible for the isolated old man's safety and went up to Wooley's remote cabin to check on him. There he found Doctor Wooley dead, and his loyal robot companion dying, badly damaged by enemy machines who had come to seize the old man's computers and destroy his Node array.

It was obvious to Themba that the Xombie plague had been caused by a non-human agency, and that his only hope of finding the cause--and possibly the cure--was to follow the trail of the enemy deeper into the mountains. Using the signal frequency provided by the dying AI companion of Doctor Wooley, he tracked the Retrievers and found the entrance to the Pit.

Class Introduction[]

The Engineer starts out somewhat weaker than the other characters, due to low-quality starting equipment and low Might / Psionics. He grows to be quite versatile however, with the strongest non-combat starting skills in the game and well-balanced level up stats. While relatively dependent on having good Recipes, he is also the best class when it comes to discovering them and crafting some of the more advanced equipment..

The Engineer is an even more advanced class than the Scout, requiring good inventory management, knowing what recipe ingredients and skills you need as well as often avoiding direct combat through various methods. With a high Foraging skill tied to his preferred stat, if you can get him past the first 15 floors or so, he becomes versatile and supplied enough to overcome almost anything.

Starting Equipment[]

Initial Stats[]

35 Might
55 Finesse
75 Brains
45 Power
2 movement
0 base armor
72 Inventory size (54 + Might / 10, rounded down, x 6)

Initial Bar Stats[]

45 Health
165 Psi points (Brains + 2x Power)
350 Food (10x Might)

Initial Skills[]

Lockpick: 25
Electronics: 55
Mechanical: 50
Computer: 55
Engineering: 60
Pistol: 40
Rifle: 25
Aslt Weapon: 5
Hvy Weapon: 1
Decipher: 35
Knife: 30
Blade: 10
Spear: 1
Traps: 40
Medical: 45
Melee: 1
Foraging: 20
Biotech: 35
Empathy: 1
Telekinesis: 5
War Mind: 1
Redaction: 1
Manifestation: 1
Mecha Empathy: 10
Resistance: 1

Level-up Stats[]

+30 health (+15 health in the original game)
+2 Psi points
+2 Stat points
+6 Skill points

General tips[]

Don't be afraid to use your starting Knifes and especially Pistol more often than you would on other characters. Not only do those skills need to be raised but his Knifes can be repaired and his Pistol consumes ammo slowly.
It has been confirmed that in an average run, you will find approximately 3 Armors by the 20th floor. So preserve your Jumpsuit for as long as you can to account for bad RNG, hopefully with the help of Repair Stations since the Engineer's starting repair kits eat a sizeable amount of max durability each time they are used.
Should you acquire a Melee or Blade weapon and your current Weapons and ammo situation is dire, you can resort to repeatedly attacking an empty square next to your character. This will raise your skill without costing durability or exposing you to constant misses in combat. Do this by holding CTRL and Left clicking, but be aware that each attack costs a turn, so your food meter will decrease rapidly.
The Engineer gains XP at a faster rate than other classes (see the XP guide for details). This mean more free health and psi from level ups, and more stat points and skill points in the endgame.
Get Telekinesis to 25 for Manipulation as soon as possible, and use it to Booby Trap or Engineer devices inside dangerous rooms. Closing and opening doors from a distance can often be safer as well.

Hard/Insane/Seriously?! tips[]

Arguably not viable on higher difficulties unless you have most/every recipe in the game.
Train your melee early to make use of the crowbar
Don't ignore psionics
Mechanical skill one of the best skills for looting/crafting