Best Engineer Builds In Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor (2024)

The Engineer class in Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is arguably the most unorthodox among the playable dwarfs. He relies on his gadgets and gizmos to zap and take out hordes of bugs, but unlike the other classes, Engineers need to have their arsenal set up first before they can deal damage.

With enough prep time, and once the Engineer gets his weapons, he can handily eliminate swathes of the creepy crawlers without much trouble. That said, which builds are the best ones to run for the Engineer? Here are some builds that make the most of his unique play style.

Moving Turret Mode

Engineering Marvel, Realized

The Engineer’s first class mod available is the Maintenance Worker. This class mod specializes in Constructs, giving them +10% Damage and +10% Reload Speed to all Construct weapons. The bonuses on Constructs steer a lot of Maintenance Worker builds towards turrets and drones that benefit from them.

LMG Gun Platform and Krakatoa Sentinel

The LMG Gun Platform is the Engineer’s signature weapon. While it does decent damage, its main drawback is that it is a stationary turret and it only has a set range. One way to circumvent this is to have a turret-focused build: players need to choose the Tank Tracks overclock which will allow the LMG Gun Platform to follow the Engineer. As far as upgrades, the LMG Gun Platform is the top priority. The higher the level it gets, the more offensive options players can choose from to further ramp up its damage output.

After the LMG Gun Platform, the Krakatoa Sentinel is on the priority list that players should get when leveling up. Originally a Driller weapon, its Fire damage makes for an excellent crowd control weapon. Players also need to get its Tank Tracks overclock to allow it to follow the Engineer. If it’s not available, players can choose the Mining Directive overclock instead to help clear out terrain and mine minerals faster. This is especially effective for runs that have Morkite as its side mission. The Krakatoa Sentinel with Mining Directive will make quick work of Morkite deposits.

LOK-1 Smart Rifle and Deepcore PGL

Given that players will be on the move and slipping into nooks and crannies, the LOK-1 Smart Rifle is a good pickup, thanks to its ability to hit enemies even when behind cover. However, it might take players a bit more time to get the hang of its long locking and reload times.

For even more crowd control, the Deepcore PGL is a great addition to this build. Its explosive and kinetic damage will destroy swathes of bugs, and is especially effective when tagging the exploding bugs to trigger a chain reaction once the swarms start to overwhelm players.

Level and Artifact Upgrades

Leveling up the LMG Gun Platform and Krakatoa Sentinel are essential to maximize their function during the course of the run. Since the LMG Gun Platform’s bullets can be changed to elemental damage, it is up to the player which one they would like to use. Electrical and Plasma complement the Krakatoa Sentinel. Adding more beams for the Krakatoa Sentinel and picking up Lasting upgrades allow the turrets to stay on the field more.

As for Artifacts, the Popup Tripod synergizes well with the stationary turrets by ramping up their damage output. Once the turrets are mobile, they still benefit from the Tripod, since players should always be looking for the best location to hunker down and thin out the swarms.

Boomstick Galore

Shotgun-Grenade Launcher One-Two Punch

The Tinkerer is a challenging Engineer Class Mod. Instead of having the LMG Gun Platform, players start off with the Warthog Auto 210 shotgun. Players will have to keep enemies in front of the Engineer, so he can tag them with the shotgun blast. While this play style might require a bit more familiarity, one upside of the Tinkerer is that his passive starts all weapons at level 3. This means the shotgun and the second weapon will have some more kick in the early stages.

This build focuses on ramping up the damage of the Warthog and complementing it with more firepower to effortlessly mow down swarms of bugs.

Warthog Auto 210 and Deepcore PGL

Aside from the upfront damage of the Warthog shotgun, its other great ability is that its pellets push enemies back a few inches. In most cases, those few inches are the difference between getting away and being overwhelmed. Focusing on Reload Speed on the Warthog is a great way to ensure the Engineer is always firing at enemies.

The same goes for the Deepcore PGL. As a grenade launcher, this weapon synergizes well with the Warthog since it can deal explosive damage to bugs that were sent back by the initial shotgun blast. Focus on getting these two weapons to reload faster and increase their firing rate. Once this is accomplished, only the elite bugs can get to the Engineer.

As far as elemental upgrades, the Warthog can either be slotted with either Electrical or Plasma damage. This way, the initial spread shot can hit even more bugs. Eventually, when players feel that the fire rate of the shotgun and grenade launcher are satisfactory, they can focus on improving the damage of both weapons. Ideally, the shotgun still has priority over the grenade launcher.

Stubby Voltaic SMG and LMG Gun Platform

While the Warthog and Deepcore PGL firing rates are not yet up to speed, the Stubby Voltaic SMG and LMG Gun Platform can carry the brunt of the DPS. The Stubby Voltaic SMG shoots Electrical bullets that will go through as many enemies as they can for decent damage. As a light sidearm, this weapon excels at doing supplementary damage, but given that this build focuses on the shotgun and grenade launcher, the Stubby won’t be getting many upgrades.

The LMG Gun Platform makes its appearance again in this build, since it is the weapon that defines the Engineer. However, similar to the Stubby, the LMG Gun Platform is here only for suppressive fire while the big guns are reloading. One upside of the LMG Gun Platform is that players can choose which elemental attack it will get, but this means overclocking it. Only level up the LMG Gun Platform when the Warthog and PGL are firing at a decent rate and dealing massive damage.

Level and Artifact Upgrades

The Popup Tripod is the best artifact for this build. Since the shotgun blasts will keep enemies at a safe distance, ramping up the Tripod's charges will significantly increase the damage output of the Engineer’s other weapons, provided he stands still for a few seconds.

Reflex Calibrator and Barley Bulb Juice provide last-minute movement speed boosts to ensure the Engineer can escape dicey situations. These are especially essential during the Dreadnought fight, since the enemy has a leaping attack that can catch players off guard if they aren’t careful.

Grenade Lob City

Explosive PGL and Grenade Clearance

The Demolitionist is the last Class Mod for the Engineer. It improves weapons that deal explosive damage, and has the Engineer wield the Deepcore PGL grenade launcher as his starting weapon. This build focuses on capitalizing on the +20% Explosion Radius and +20% Reload Speed to all Explosive weapons the Demolitionist brings into the fight when it is chosen as the Class Mod.

Deepcore PGL and Warthog Auto 210

The first two weapons for the Demolitionist are the Deepcore PGL and the Warthog Auto 210 shotgun. This combination allows the Engineer to easily take out enemies at the early stages. Given that the PGL has a slow reload speed and fire rate, they need to position themselves properly to let the Warthog shotgun hit the enemies. Players who want to invest in the Warthog can do so, but it will be harder to see results, as the Demolitionist favors explosive weapons more than conventional ones.

Getting the PGL up and running is the top priority when leveling up. Since it can’t get elemental bonuses, focus on increasing its damage, reload speed, and firing rate. Once they get access to its Akimbo overclock, the PGL becomes even deadlier, since it can now shoot both in front and behind the Engineer.

Incendiary Grenade and Cryo Grenade

As far as grenade types are concerned, the best combination for this build is the Incendiary and Cryo Grenades. These both complement the explosions of the PGL and the knock-back power of the Warthog shotgun.

Incendiary Grenades deal Fire damage after the initial explosion. Enemies that cross its fire puddles will get damaged over time. During swarms, the Incendiary Grenade helps clear out the weaker bugs, and soften the hardy ones for the PGL and Warthog to clean up.

The Cryo Grenade is used more for utility in this build. When the swarm seems to have the jump on the Engineer, tossing Cryo Grenades gives him that extra second to come up with an escape plan. Offensively, the Cryo Grenade also works to freeze the beefier bugs and Elite bugs while the PGL and Incendiary Grenade do their thing to destroy them.

Recommended Upgrades and Artifacts

Aside from ensuring the PGL is chucking grenades at a fast clip and dealing massive damage, upgrading the throwable weapons is a good way to go. This will greatly affect the impact of the Incendiary and Cryo Grenades during hectic moments. Such upgrades include a general boost to throwable weapons’ damage, reload speed, and firing rate.

For Artifacts, the Popup Tripod remains an excellent offensive bonus, even though players need to stand still for a time to achieve its maximum impact. Defensively, both Reflex Calibrator and Barley Bulb Juice provide movement speed to let the Engineer have a quick getaway.

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

Platform(s)

PC

Released

February 14, 2024

Developer(s)

Funday Games

Genre(s)

Shoot 'em Up