The Engineer will give you high damage output, sustainability, friendly bots, and useful utility abilities within the first 10 levels. Upon entry into the game you can immediately start with all the boosts mentioned below except for Flask of Experience. Fastest times should be 10 - 15 hrs depending how well you complete Quests and your luck with queues. Although this may seem like the best plan, we highly recommend you take your time and enjoy all Nexus has to offer.
This guide will cover the basics to get you successfully by any situation in Wildstar as an Engineer. This is currently not a min/max lvling guide and will include some talk of features in general. Full Wildstar level unlocks and map here
XP Bonuses before you start:
5% Exp Boost - 2 Step Verification - Link
10% Exp Boost - Flask of Experience - Guild Unlock - 500 Renown
50% Exp Boost - Flask of Advancement - in game Cash Shop - 230 NCoin / 115 Omnibits
The first ten levels for the Engineer consist of many core abilities, but one listed here will come at level 12 - in the grand scheme of things though it shouldn't take long. This will ultimately give you the wherewithal for how to properly utilize your abilities. This is very important considering the way combat mechanics are usually the highest priority over straight DPS. Below you will find the abilities for this level block that are important for taking down your enemies and doing the dance that is combat in Wildstar.
Mode: Eradicate - Your class innate is used to suit up in your ExoSuit and not only offer up more damage, but will also ignore any volatility requirements for special procs.
Pulse Blast - This is your main basic attack that will generate more Volatility.
Electrocute - Your main big damage ability, will later carry some decent AoE damage as well.
Zap - Your first interrupt ability. Get use to this ability because it can stop an oppenents spellcast and create a MoO - stunning them and increasing damage recieved by 50%.
Artillery Bot - Your first bot does a decent junk of damage in AoE bursts.
Volatile Injection - This ability gives you Volatility - it's your best friend - use it as soon as its up.
Quick Burst - A DPS feeling that procs off of a multi-hit. Use whenever it is up.
Personal Defense Unit - This ability is technically a tank ability but it will help keep your downtime to a minimum while leveling. Use in heavy hitting situations.
Bruiser Bot - Your second bot and a good buddy in the leveling process. The bot will taunt your enemies and also interrupt their spellcasts.
The Engineer can dish out some DPS but its strength comes mainly in their sustainability. You want to start out in your innate Mode: Eradicate (R) and your Artillery Bot (4). After that unload the Electrocute (2) until around 30 Volatility and then use Volatile Injection (5). You can use Qucik Burst (6) whenever it procs.
The abilities you want to make sure you utilize on top of the usual DPS stuff is Zap (3), Bruiser Bot (8), and Personal Defense Unit (7). Zap (3) and Bruiser Bot (8) will allow you to interrupt your opponents armor (A brownish shield with a number next to your opponents nameplate.) - This will not only increase DPS on your enemy but it will also result in less damage taken; this is key to keeping health up and in turn getting into more fights quicker. Interrupting your enemy is Essential to combat in Wildstar and will become a must in Elder Game content - get it down, and tighten those reflexes. Use Personal Defense Unit and Bruiser Bots taunt mechanic whenever you are taking some hard hits.These abilities may fall to the bottom of your list in destroying your enemies but they are what make combat in Wildstar fun and truly engaging with your enemy. Use them well, and use them often.
But wait... that's it?
Yes and no - as you level you will get more abilities that should be played with and used as needed; but this should put you in the right direction. I get it, we all want that max DPS and to breeze through stuff. The thing is - you really need to learn how to control your character and it's abilities to not only get the most out of your character, but to also get the most fun out of it. These abilities will teach you how to flow through combat, time those interrupts, and maximize those DPS opportunities.
After the first ten levels is when your abilities start to gather more character of their own. You will receive some more abilities that may be useful depending on your situation but for the most part the real flare comes from Amp and Ability points. At Elder Game you will have to gather a few more of these to reach their caps and to fully maximize your abilities and their utility. Try our Amps and Ability Point section to see where you can grab those extras at Elder Game (lvl 50)
Electrocute - As you gather Ability points it is suggested to always put as many as you can into this ability. It will be the cornerstone of your DPS while lvling.
Pulse Blast - This is second priority for Ability points while leveling. You will use this often to build up Volatility so its probably the most effecient use of Ability points.
Artillery Bot - If you have extras then I would suggest placing the Ability points into this bot as it's another great damage dealer in your arsenal.
1. Tier up the Assault Power I,II, and III (1st Tier Assault)
2. Grab Harmful Hits (2nd Tier Assault)
3. Tier up Critical Hit I,II,III (1st Tier Assault)
4. Grab Extra Hurtin' (2nd Tier Assault)
5. Get Cruisin' for a Bruisin' (3rd Tier Assault)
This base Amp setup should have you taken care of for most of the leveling process as an Engineer. After what was stated above you can go for tiering up Critical Hit Severity I,II,III and then Unstable Volatility. This can then be followed by Strikethrough I,II,III and then Volatility Rising (Hybrid A/S Tier 2). Keep in mind some of these Amps are most beneficial by keeping your Volatility between 30 and 70. Another reason to leave you off here is because at this point you should probably start looking at various build guides to get a better sense of what to expect at Elder Game.
We hope this has been a helpful guide to getting you headed in the right direction to leveling an Engineer. Again, this is obviously not a min/max guide by any means and you hould take it upon yourself to truly try and flesh out the rest of what it means to be a Engineer in Wildstar. Special thanks to Red Velvet Ninjas for their input, which you should probably visit for those nifty builds.
