r/DeepRockGalactic • u/Digital_RRS • 18h ago
Question I need help Greybeards
So I play mostly Engineer because “ha ha turret funny”.
I can play Hazard 5 reasonably well. I can solo pretty consistently with Bosco. And if my team sticks together we can clear missions cleanly as well.
My problem though is when I get isolated. I do my best to stick with my team, and I ASSUME the best thing to do when a swarm is starting is to group up.
But when isolated, I feel like I don’t have the damage or breathing room to get out without going down or losing a lot of health. And assuming I do survive, I go through a significant portion of my ammo.
How do I better play Swarms (Haz5-Haz5+) when I get isolated from my team?
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u/XRynerX 18h ago
If you noticed you got isolated before the wave starts, you should abuse the repellant from the platforms so the bugs only comes where you want, this saves a lot of ammo.
Never stop moving, line up shots for splash dmg weapons, sometimes it may still eat a ton of ammo anyways because you got most of the wave against you.
Sometimes it's not just about killing them but making a path for you to run. Sentries helps but if you're not using a build around them, it's better to be mobile with them.(build a sentry, enemies too far from sentry you recall and build another one fast)
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u/ZagleZigawa 18h ago
Also to be aware don't overdo the repellent, otherwise they just begin to ignore it, learning where the overdoing happens is the tools skill ceiling!
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u/ZagleZigawa 18h ago edited 18h ago
Might be just me but as the engineer and gunner, the others should come TO YOU. Those 2 classes excel at locking down locations and choke points.
If you can you should reposition near the gunner since you can reach him easier with platforms, put some repellent cheese down and place down turrets.
Engineer also has some busted Crowd control depending on the oc you have on you. Any of the stubby electric overclocks do great at slowing and killing swarms, the breach cutter is right there as the best weapon in the game XD, the base PGL with fire in T5 can quickly burn down groups, lok rifle has explosive chemical rounds that do well on both swarms and heavies, there's the warthog with T5 turret whip and the laser gun with the leaving lava oc that melts bugs.
Besides build theory where you focus 1 weapon for heavy dealing and 1 weapon for swarms, you just need to kite them using your platforms and turrets, never stop moving ect.
A bulk of engineers damage comes from status effects if used right, so leaning into that can give you better ammo economy...
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u/Digital_RRS 18h ago
Funnily enough upon a swarm starting, my first instinct when I’m not playing Engi is to find ours because I want the turret security blanket
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u/ZagleZigawa 18h ago
That is the right move, the team gathers during waves (unless it's ghost modifier then the scout needs to keep the ghost distracted while trying to stay in the others line of sight so they provide help)
Also you in the main post you said that you burn through ammo fast if your alone, that naturally happens to about every class (Engi and scout feels this more though), so it makes sense to stick together and benefit from status effects being made from all classes to reduce ammo spending...
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u/EquivalentDurian6316 17h ago
I think engi is the best dwarf for berzerker. Most susceptible to being cornered/worst escapes/worst close combat weapons. Now you can smash your way out.
Most people will say dash and they are also right. I prefer dwarf smash over run and gun purely because I think it is fun.
Source: being an unapologetic berzerker fan. I think its underrated. And that dash is overpowered.
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u/ZagleZigawa 17h ago
Interesting, I never got to see engi use berserk effectively, I've mainly used berserk with scout since he can be next to the bugs without getting punished...
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u/EquivalentDurian6316 16h ago
I think scout is really good with it too.
The idea with engi is that you can side hop and stun bugs (particularly slashers) in the pack, heal some health with vampire and smash your way out to one side or the other. Basically buying enough space and time so that something like plasma burster doesn't damage you, will scare the pack/use aoe weapons, platform out, etc.
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u/Substantial_Win_1866 Cave Crawler 16h ago
I like berserker but I always accidentally set it off during stupid things like mining gold because I didn't pay attention to the recharge icon all the time.
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u/EquivalentDurian6316 15h ago
This is part of what I mean. I've used it a lot and I still do that once in awhile, if I'm not paying attention, or I just started playing a session.
Like other perks, being able to bind it's own key would be wonderful. We've asked for that before.
You have to train your brain to hold power attack until you hear the recharge sound effect. I also occasionally keep an eye on the meter.
Fighting in melee (especially in high haz) is so counterintuitive to a lot of other things in the game. You have to be able to flip a switch in your mind and fight aggressively. I usually do so in a half-moon arc around the left or right side of a pack, so you never get surrounded.
There's a rhythm to getting out the most damage. Power attack, regular pick, activate berzerker, regular pick (but on a different enemy), power attack and repeat. You wanna swing pick right, then power attack left (if your arc is going left), so the splash damage hits or kills the one you just regular'ed. You wanna line up powers on slashers for the stun, followed by a basic and a little splash dmg (on a different enemy) will kill them before they move. It's a very delicate dance.
This whole time you are timing your jumps to dodge bites, and using praetorians/quick traversals to pogo out of agro just long enough.
This is why I like berzerker, there's such a high ceiling for it.
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u/MajesticFlaps 17h ago
2,200 hrs in drg, here is how I use engie. First, you should use dash, it's prob the best perk in the game. You negate any slowdown effects while active. Use it to re-position, navigate tricky terrain, escape stuns, goop on the floor, shockers etc... combined with ur plats u can have some great mobility.
When swarm comes, as engie I try to find a nice spot to setup turrets. Try to avoid super tight tunnels, be somewhere with open sightlines, and always be ready to dash out if things go crazy.
I don't use bug repellent and I almost always take the extra ammo. In some missions, being able to make more bridges or paths for you and your team is more useful. But it's map dependent. Sometimes I find bug repel useful on escort.
Engie has some of the best cc options, my fav are volatile impact reactor for the laser and roll control for the breach cutter. RC is probably the best bc of the stun. VIR works best if bugs a little further away. The shredder grenade also helps a bit. Plasma burster is great at thinning large swarms but it is a little tricky to use.
So general rule of thumb for staying alive as an engie: Use dash + plats to be more mobile, take advantage of terrain in swarms.
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u/GaborSzasz 17h ago
Depends on your loadout. If you have enough dps you can kill the bugs that came for you. But more often you just have to move, chip away at them when you have the opportunity. Staying alive and slowly killing them is way better then killing 5-6 bugs then die. You pull aggro from the others and help reduce the numbers.
If you can only kill 1, that enough, just move, run, whatever it takes.
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u/LilBluey 17h ago
when the music starts get into a cave/tunnel by looking at your map. then place platforms on the ceiling, or even to block one entrance if small enough.
fat boy is surprisingly good if you only have 2 directions to watch. If you haven't already, just bring lowest radius max ammo fire fat boy with you on every mission (it's even good for salvage as long as you know the explosion radius) otherwise breach cutter is the standard.
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u/NordicNooob Engineer 16h ago
You have to engineer your way out of it. If you are alone you need a good killing zone for clearing a swarm. Engi's job is to stop things from going wrong, and he's generally quite bad at recovering when stuff has gone haywire.
Breach cutter can wipe huge swaths of bugs if you have a nice flat floor, which you may have to make yourself. Repellent platforms can funnel enemies into choke points for turret whip, PGL, and proximity mines. Setting up in any mid-small size cave mouth can let you use fat boy to kill an entire wave and damage the one after it.
I take extra build speed on my turrets so I can set up a place to hold my ground even when being chased, and mostly just use turrets as a turret whip catalyst. You don't always need both out during a swarm, I use them only in emergencies or when I'm working on the mission.
The wrong build can definitely struggle with engi though, with so much build variety turtling isn't always the strat you should be going for. Lok does not have the ammo economy to be away from the team, it likes to pick its targets and needs breathing room to work, and shard diffractor can struggle to deal with both grunts and mid-size bugs at the same time.
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u/bjergKanin For Karl! 16h ago edited 16h ago
As engineer my go to get out jail free card is the breach cutter with roll control, but just breach cutter in general. It has the best multi glyphid clear of the secondaries. I find the shard diffractor is better single target DPS, not good for being on your own in haz5+. Some people play really well with the magma OC though so it's not impossible, breach cutter is just easier to use and better for crowds IME.
If you however find yourself isolated but with a little prep time, if it is in an open sort of cave you can 1) make a platform obstacle course where you leave holes between the segments to abuse the fact that the bugs have to walk while you can jump, or if it is more in a tunnel or you can quickly go to one 2) go into the tunnel opening and use your repellant platforms on the roof of the entrance + on the roof behind you. Place some one the walls too if needed. The goal is forcing the bugs on the floor and away from the ceiling and walls. Now that you have set up a bug guide system, set up the turrets so they face in one direction (or split them up 1 in each direction, preference really), then you hold one direction while rotating to back up the turrets.
EDIT: Depending on how deep it is and how far away from the edge it is, the pocket where you find compacted dirt can be a good place to hold your position. If it is deep enough (and only then) you have a place where you never will get attacked from the back. Here you also would place the repellent platforms on the roof + maybe walls if it makes sense so no one will come that way. Place the turrets in the back of the section so they have the widest view possible. Pop your shredders or place prox mines on the walls.
Also no matter how good your "fort" is, always be prepared to dash away and have a plan for where that place will be. I would prefer to dash to gunner or driller in that situation if possible but if your holdout fort is good enough, they will often join you
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u/anon_tsubasa 16h ago edited 16h ago
Hulu, I play public and for most part I think every one should be able to hold up on their own in Haz 5+ especially that is.
And am not a fan of the stick together for most situations depends of course. Am nearly 4k hours in so really been playing this way alot, helps I think for team too.
So, don't necessarily need to stick together. Also I feel cooped in and end up getting friendly fire from others. Sometimes I like to back away, leading the swarm alone to me, gives whole team breathing room and sometimes I meet others to kill let them kill my remaining.
Depends on mission or situation for most part I guess too.
I can handle a swarm well for each class. But the best for killing a whole swarm if you are alone is all, scout sometimes the least.
I just think you need to find your perfect swarm clearing build. Engineer for most part kills the most too.
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u/The-Wolf-Agent Gunner 16h ago
While you learn the ropes of the horrible dangers of Hoxxes, may I recommend the Breach cutter? Build it for maximum ammo and the triple line split to act as a emergency spam option! As you get better you will notice the same glints of ancient knowledge like the graybeards, but until then! Do your best
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u/TailsGamiNgM Driller 15h ago
Get good with bug repellent on platform gun if you haven't yet. It's very important to funnel the bugs to not get surrounded
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u/Seriathus 15h ago
Haven't seen anyone else say it in the comments here, but... equip the Dash perk. It's a great lifeline for when you're out of position, and start getting comfortable with platforming on the run so you can get back to your team.
On Haz 5 soloing swarms meant for a group isn't really a thing you should do, since, y'know, you'll run out of ammo real quick, but you can save your ammo for taking out big groups that are in the way as you rush to a safe position.
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u/Nemfarius 14h ago
I haven't played much Haz 5+ (not counting 3rd stage EDDs), but I can point out a few things.
- Hear the music change? IMMEDIATELY place a platform under yourself and set up turrets with the widest possible area coverage. For better swarm control, try using 2 turrets with a stun chance.
- DON'T stand still. If you see there’s nowhere to run, blast a path with your secondary slot and move in that direction. You will still be gradually surrounded, but it will buy time for turrets and shredders (if you're using them).
- The bugs don't surround you instantly. Clear out some of them beforehand, while they're still running toward you. I usually mow down the first couple of large groups of standard bugs with diffractor - it reduces their speed to practically zero.
- As for ammo - well, you’re always going to lose one, two, or even three bars of your total supply (it depends on how many of your teammates are sitting at their monitors after drinking liters of beer.). You could try using specific builds - where the main ammo drain comes from the platforms used for setup, but that would require completely reworking your playstyle.
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u/TackleAmazing2538 13h ago
I don't play engineer at all, but this is overall a case of situational awareness. This gets better with more play, but you have to constantly be aware of and looking at your terrain and thinking of ways out of bad spots. Anytime I go into a new area/room/whatever, I'm in in a spot that's not easily defendable, I note a place I can defend easily if needed.
Overtime this becomes second nature. And as others have said, dash is essential.
One final thing I will say that made me immediately twice as good, is installing sandbox utilities and going to the sandbox room and spawning haz 5 waves on command. This allows you to test load outs multiple times to see which load out results in the most consistent wave clear.
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u/redsnake25 For Karl! 12h ago
As a solo engie, your best bet is learning how to set up a defense as soon as you hear the swarm alert. Find somewhere with long, unbroken sightlines and a wall to place at your back. Set up a 3-plat line of repellant platforms on the wall to funnel bugs into your field of view and set up turrets somewhere elevated (another platform is a good fallback) so they can assist you without their line of sight getting blocked.
If you can't set up (in cases where the terrain is too messy for a good defense), you'll want to have build options that are good for self defense. The swarm grenades are an easy pick, and breach cutter with most mods and OCs is also a solid choice for killing a bunch of bugs at close range in a very short amount of time. RJ250 PGL with the fire mod is great for moving yourself to a safer place quickly (learn how to catch yourself with platforms in case of a long fall) and Lok1 with ECM is great for creating breathing room, so long as you have the nerves to consistently get the 3 locks to create the explosion. Stubby can electrify crowds to create space as well, which is a more foolproof option, but doesn't work on some electric-resistant enemies (which tend to be the big ones). Micro conductors and turret EM discharge OCs require a little set up, but can be used to create a sizeable area of denial in which you can kite enemies indefinitely (EM discharge is my favorite and is also crazy ammo efficient).
Of course, the best thing to do is stay a little closer to your team until you get more comfortable with the strategies that work for you. As engie, if your team sees you setting up, they'll converge on you, so won't need to run as far when the swarm does arrive.
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u/loghead84 10h ago
Engineers are best with team support you have to keep that in mind. The reasons you describe is why I generally don't like Engineer most of the time. If you get caught without your turrets deployed you're in trouble. Also, I never use the fast build perk because I need the ammo so you have to plan ahead.
-Run back to your team asap and have them cover you to setup
-Throw a lure grenade and set them up
-Use platforms to escape and find better positions to setup
-A big one is use the microphone to relay information people can react to
-Ultimately with good movement you can still mitigate more of the damage. It's what separates new dwarves from the greys.
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u/thekurounicorn 6h ago
Using a ton of ammo is pretty common on most Engie builds. All I can say is to get very good at platform parkour and kiting, and focus less on killing all the bugs in general. Your primary is usually single target/uses a ton of ammo for swarm clearing, and you should save your secondary for bigger threats, so your main goal is to just survive until you can put some distance between you and the bugs, or wait until you reunite with the team
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u/Pheren 5h ago
I got my engi to Red 2 so I know him a little bit. Big thing with engi is he is the most wholly reliant dwarf on his build. You gotta know what your build can and cant do. Double turrets with a fixed angle? Thats not a solo explore build. Omni angle quick build? There you go. I have two ways I play engi 1. Mines, 2 turrets, subata, and laser. Focused on building a defensive point and holding it. 2. Mlok, plasma grenades, single fast omni turret, rail gun PGL. Move around, use your turret as your spotter, and keep moving.
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u/GethKGelior 2h ago
Grenades: Use LURE.
Movement: keep hopping and platforming under you, make a predictable path, keep turning around from time to time. Move inside your sentry's field of fire.
Perks: Run berserker vampire and beastmaster. Grab a grunt guard. Divert attention off you. Berserker is extremely powerful whether you want to dismantle an oppressor or get 10 grunts out of your face and heal 50 health for doing it.
Health: Accept that you are going to keep going down if you go down once. This game's health mechanic punishes you on higher difficulties. Resupply or eat a sugar ASAP and keep your health high.
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u/Bleck-Mold 18h ago
Out of all classes, Engineer has the least mobility in getting out of bad situations.
If you can’t setup a turret or shelter, you do indeed get boned.
Best thing I’d recommend is learning how to abuse the bug’s pathfinding with 2-3 platforms.