So for a while, “back in the day”, engineering was all about PvP. We had grenades that stunned, helmets we could use to knock someone out for a while, net launchers to catch flag carriers, scary death-rays that had scary crits… There was no question that engineering was the way to go if you wanted to go rambo on a bunch of players.

Sure, repair bots existed back then, so the profession did affect PvE, but raiding guilds likely had to have a roll off to see who would get stuck with the responsibility of being the engineer who brings the bots.

Then, in The Burning Crusade, we got some flashy new goodies! Rocket boots that can send you out of harm’s way at the speed of a flying mount, obnoxiously loud gyrocopters, and another set of brilliant (but mostly useless) trinkets. All in all, I don’t regret engineering in TBC, but it did make me question my profession more than at any other time in the game.

And here we are now… Northrend has brought us many new goodies, and although it has taken some time for everything to become available, it seems a focus for the profession in Wrath of the Lich King has finally emerged:

Laziness.

That’s right, engineering is now a profession for lazy people like me. Let’s take a look at what I have at my disposal now to make my WoW experience that much lazier:

Need eternals? That good old mote extractor from Outlands is far more useful in Northrend. Just while out mining, I run into clouds of gas that actually give me crystalized elements that I actually need!

Need to hit up the auction house? Just chat with a mechano-gnome in Dalaran! It saves you from wasting a hearthstone cooldown, and from having to talk to a real person for your auctions.

Wasted your hearthstone anyway? Bust out your wormhole generator! Now not only can you get to the right continent with the flip of a switch, you can even pick the right relative quadrant of it!

Forget your real gear because you’re wearing your engineering RP set? Perhaps you just forgot poisons or some ankhs? Bust out your mechanical butler, who also saves you the trouble of farming materials for little old scrapbots, when your group wipes because you were too busy trying to break combat to resurrect someone with your army knife.

You know, I think I might actually be able to stand farming up enough money for a second Mechano-Hog for my new main, now that I have to waste so little of my time compared to the good old days.

I showed this video to a few of my friends last night, and they were blown away that we engineers can literally fly. It always amazes me how many people have missed out on seeing the Rocket Boots & Parachute combination in action.

NOTE: The above video is for educational and guffawing purposes only. At this point in time, Blizzard has made their stance clear on the matter of actually getting to use our engineering toys to do fun and useful things - Rooves that cannot be pathed to are off limits!

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.

Ornate Spyglass

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.

Parachute Cloak

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.

Rocket Boots Xtreme

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.

Wrist-rocket

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.

Scrap Bots

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?

Gnomish Army Knife

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.