Commentary → Forgotten, Neglected and Overlooked
It seems as if amongst their grief, many engineers have forgotten the great diversity of tools that engineering provides to them. Even though some of the higher-profile items have been toned down or excluded from arenas, there are plenty of little things people often overlook.
This is one of my favorite engineering items. If you’re not a class with a far-sight ability, this is a passable substitute. Sure, it’s more useful in cases where you can’t just fly to scout, but it is available to any level. I used my spyglass constantly while leveling, and I still use it quite a bit in world PvP.
The spyglass is also invaluable in Eye of the Storm for checking in on towers you can’t quite see to make sure your team has things covered.
Many of you may have the tinkered version on your cloaks, but the oldschool version does have a significant difference: You don’t need to be falling to activate it. Just last night I was helping a friend (who doesn’t have a flying mount) get out of the spot he logged off at in Icecrown. I simply activated the parachute cloak and mounted up, my friend hopped in the sidecar, and we glided in style down to the next tier of hills/walls. With a little rinsing and repeating, he was safely back to land-mount-accessible territory.
Unless you only ever log in to be in instances (in which case you probably shouldn’t be an engineer), chances are good that you’ll occasionally have stuff to do out in the world. If you can stand to be un-min/maxed for such errands, equipping the good old-fashioned Rocket Boots Xtreme (or Light) can be a real lifesaver. I play on a PvP server, so there’s always the possibility of getting ganked while going about my business. Because of the current state of my gear (and the warlock class), if certain classes jump me I know I don’t have a chance in hell. As long as I can manage to get an instant of un-inhibited movement to use them, the boots will blast me well out of harms way. If I’m on a hill of any sort, I can then pop out my Springy Arachnoweave on my normal cloak and glide even further away. The ability to gain extreme distance on someone, or a group of mobs should not be overlooked.
Remote Mines
Okay, so this one isn’t the most practical thing in the game… but still an often overlooked aspect of engineering. For those of you who don’t read flavor text, the personal electromagnetic pulse generator on a belt can trigger explosive decoy at significant range. There’s something really satisfying about leaving a trap for players who don’t know better and smack the decoy, but it’s even more satisfying to set off an explosion at will at your unknowing enemy’s feet. You got engineering because it’s ridiculous and fun, right? If not, then you’re probably not going to be an engineer for much longer, unless you have a lot more faith than others in your position.
The remote mines were impractical, I’ll admit, but this sucker is entirely the opposite. It is ranged, instant, and off the global cooldown.
If you’re a melee class, this is a great pulling tool, and a great finisher for runners. Why stand still and wait for your throw or shoot to go off?
If you’re a caster, this is a great out-of-mana source of damage.
If you’re anyone else, this rocket can be worked in any time you have a moment to press a keybind.
While anyone min/maxing for raids will ignore this one, I’m inclined to believe that the utility of it greatly outweighs whatever added stats you could otherwise have on your gloves.
Until things change for us, Warlocks and Hunters end up with one fewer normal bag slot than other classes. Space is even Tighter if you have a profession bag as well. A lot of vendor-trash drops in Northrend are incredibly valuable, and little is more frustrating than having to decide what to delete when there’s something you just have to pick up. Because I already have an enormous Titanium Toolbox, there’s plenty of room for scrabots in there, and the cost of the trash I vendor off to them easily justifies the cost of crafting them, in my opinion. That, and it’s a mechanognome you get to hang out with… What’s there to lose?
I’m sure most of you have one of these. It was a much needed space-saver for engineers (and other professions). But why is it that so many engineers I know forget to use theirs? The jumper cables’ success rate has never been good, but it’s still often worth a shot. It can make a big difference just to have it on hand in that case that your healer(s) kicks the bucket in an instance, or a when a friend gets wrecked while out in the world with you.
These things are also great for alts and lowbies who are tight on bag space, but that need the tools of the trade.
While there are many ways in which I would like to see engineering changed, there is still some amazing stuff available to us. Not all of it is practical, not all of it is powerful, but all of it is unique and fun. While we await the hopefully inevitable improvements to engineering in the future (they threw us a bit of a bone in Burning Crusade, didn’t they?), we might as well enjoy what we’ve got now.
If there’s anything you guys think of that even I’ve forgotten or overlooked, feel free to post it in the comments.