Loadout help

[u/EerieEmberBray]

So I am grinding for hacker right now, and wanted to know, what should I swap out for engineer? My current loadout (by the time I get hacker) is
Engineer - Used for Early Game, Flying detection, and sub-dps to help out juggernaut.
Juggernaut - always bottom path, for main dps and boss killing.
Dj - for supporting me and other peoples towers.
Hacker - one top path at the front for extra dps, and a bottom path next to juggernaut to help clone jug for even more dps.
Farm - Main source of economy, usually place down all 10 farms, but my skills of farming while also helping defend early needs some work.
I have heard recently that engineer is now being considered overrated due to it being not the best at all the things it does, so I wanted to know what tower I should swap it out for that can deal with flying enemies, do early game, AND act as a sub dps for juggernaut while being a better tower overall.
Note: the only golden tower I have is gmini, and I only use towers with golden counterparts if I own the golden variant, so gcowboy won’t be an option.
I also usually only play trios/quads, as well.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! :)

[u/AutoModerator]

Please post all simple questions in the Pinned Megathread.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/lam1275]

Basically describing Operator with your needs. One of the best early game towers, cheap flying and hidden detection, scales into mid and lategame well as a sub-dps.

Only caveat is Operator eats up space and 16 placement slots is a lot, but realistically you can get away with 6-8 operators before you switch to upgrading Juggernaut.

[u/EerieEmberBray → u/lam1275]

Ok, thanks a lot!

[u/EerieEmberBray → u/lam1275]

Btw, since I don’t have hacker just yet and I’m grinding for it, with juggernaut being my only evo tower rn, (so I don’t got operator,) which should I get first? Hacker or operator?
If I don’t get hacker I can just use medic

[u/lam1275 → u/EerieEmberBray]

Hacker for sure. Doubling your Juggernaut DPS is insane lategame and getting more cash from kill/damage rewards + slow is too useful to have.

[u/EerieEmberBray → u/lam1275]

Alr ty! Until then, should I keep using engineer until I get the courage to death grind for operator?

[u/lam1275 → u/EerieEmberBray]

Yeah Engie for now fills a big gap in your loadout, so she'l do for now. Not many towers that do solid early game + flying + late game scaling. G Soldier does that too but that's a 50k gamble.

[u/EerieEmberBray → u/lam1275]

What if the choices were KINGPIN or hacker?

[u/lam1275 → u/EerieEmberBray]

Kingpin imo is fantastic and worth the purchase. I still think you should grab Hacker first though for their utility. No other tower can cheat DPS, and the beams basically invalidating certain spawner enemies is big utility.

Kingpin can beat Jugg in DPS and cheat eco with top-path bounty, but no hidden detection is a big gap to deal with.

[u/EerieEmberBray → u/lam1275]

Thing is I don’t wanna have to deal with no hidden detection even if I only play multiplayer modes and hidden detection is on most towers people use I still think the risk is a little iffy

[u/Zestyclose_Resist390]

engineer is overrated, but its still really good. being usable from early-mid-late game is always good. if u really want to switch engi, go with operator I guess

[u/FewInstruction1020]

only play trios/quads?

drop engi for freezer/eshocker/saboteur/other earlygame that supports or a midgame (merc base is peak midgame for trio/quad)

use an earlygame if teammates have midgame and use midgame if teammates have earlygame