Engineer is by far the second-most favorite class in Deep Rock Galactic. Unlike the Scout class, Engineer is a hybrid class with many strong builds and strategies.
In this article, let’s take a look at the top 4 Engineer builds in Deep Rock Galactic!
Recommended Read: How to Use the Hacking Pod in DRG
We’ll cover the most popular Engineer builds, including single target build with significant damage, crowd control builds with enormous AoE damage, elemental damage like electrocute and fire, and a furious build with a high rate of fire. Without further ado, let’s see the list!
Table of contents
- Engineer Playstyle
- What Overclocks to Use for Engineer
- What Perks to Use for Engineer
- Best Engineer Builds and Weapon Loadouts
Engineer Playstyle
Same as other classes, Engineers have a total of 6 primary and secondary weapons. From a shotgun, or a submachine gun, to a heavy rifle, there is always enough gun to satisfy your play style.
Engineer’s primary weapon:
- “Warthog” Auto 210
- “Stubby” Voltaic SMG
- LOK-1 Smart Rifle
Engineer’s secondary weapon:
- Deepcore 40mm PGL
- Breach Cutter
- Shard Diffractor
Although Engineers can’t travel in the vertical axis fast like Scout class, he has a Platform Gun that can be used to shoot multiple platforms. The platforms work like normal terrain and can even remove fall damage for anyone falling from any height.
If you’re a fan of tower defense playstyle, Engineer also has a flexible Sentry Gun with high damage and range. Even though the sentry gun has limited ammo, you can pick upgrades to increase the ammo capacity or bring up to 2 sentry guns on a mission with you.
With the platforms and sentry guns, Engineer is the best class for any defense mission, not to include his grenades such as LURE, Plasma Burster, Proximity Mine, or Shredder Swarm.
What Overclocks to Use for Engineer
Below are the five best overclocks you should use for the Engineer.
1. “Warthog” Auto 210 – Mini Shells
Although it’s an unstable overclock, Mini Shells give you a lot of ammo, more magazine size, and less recoil. In contrast, the shotgun can’t stun the enemy, and the damage output is slightly lower.
For a detailed and strong Engineer build with this overclock, we have a strong build right below.
2. “Warthog” Auto 210 – Cycle Overload
Cycle Overload makes the shotgun shooter much faster with an extra +1 damage. However, the reload speed is increased by 0.5 seconds, and the base spread is 50% wider.
That said, Cycle Overload works well when you have to fight enemies at close range.
3. “Stubby” Voltaic SMG – Light-Weight Rounds
Light-Weight Rounds overclock is a good trade-off if you’re a fan of Stubby.
With +180 more ammo, you can shoot more bugs. But the downsides are -1 damage and -2 rate of fire.
4. Deepcore 40mm PGL – Fat Boy
Most Unstable overclocks in Deep Rock Galactic heavily weaken your weapons, and so does Fat Boy.
Although Fat Boy reduces 7 max ammo and slows a considerable portion of projectile velocity, each bullet will hit hard with a bigger explosion and deal damage over time in the area.
5. Deepcore 40mm PGL – Clean Sweep
If you hate Fat Boy overclock, Clean Sweep is a good alternative.
With 10 more area damage and a +0.5 radius, your bullet hits harder and can blow up even more bugs simultaneously.
Based on over 300 hours of playing Deep Rock Galactic, engineers rarely use LOK-1, Breach Cutter, or Shard Diffractor. So it’s hard to consider the best overclocks for those 3 weapons.
Instead, you should play around with them and pick the overclock that fits your playstyle the most. Rock and stone!
What Perks to Use for Engineer
Here are five vital perks to use for engineers in Deep Rock Galactic.
1. Beast Master
While the Engineer already has a strong defense system and companions, this perk allows you to tame a small bug with modified stats.
At tier 4, the tamed bug can deal 300% more damage and easily solo Glyphid Praetorians. If you’ve defeated Bet-C, you can have up to 5 companions in a single mission, including Steeve (the tamed bug), Bosco (if you play alone), 2 Sentry Guns, and a powerful Bet-C.
2. Field Medic
Field Medic allows you to instantly revive your teammate once per mission and increase the revival speed by 30% max. As such, this is a go-to perk for every class in DRG!
3. Thorns
Thorns perk can save you a lot of ammo when facing a swarm of Glyphid Spawn, Glyphid Swarmers, Naedocyte Shocker, and Shredders.
At tier 4, Thorns can deal 24 return damage to any bugs that attack you.
4. Unstoppable
If you want to move quickly in some situations like snowstorms, getting webbed, slime terrain, or earthquakes, the Unstoppable perk is the right choice.
Plus, at max tier, this perk helps you carry heavy objects such as Aquarz, Jadiz, Compressed Gold,… 25% faster.
5. Born Ready
Since the Engineer is not as mobile as the Scout class, sometimes you’ll have to reload the weapon in the middle of dangerous waves of bugs.
So, to make your life easier, the Born Ready perk automatically reloads your unequipped weapon after 15-5 seconds, depending on the tier. This perk is handy if you use Breach Cutter.
On the other hand, Resupplier, Friendly, and Second Wind are also good perks. So you should carefully pick perks depending on your next mission and team formation.
4 Best Engineer Builds & Weapon Loadouts
In each build and loadout below, we list the primary and secondary weapons you should use and the required overclocks and modifications for each.
Engineer Best Build #1: Fat Boy
While Fat Boy is an excellent overclock for your grenade launcher, its ammo is significantly decreased. On the other hand, Fat Boy massively increases the damage and radius of the weapon.
This build is suitable for low to medium-range attacks, so it’s best to maintain a reasonable distance between you and the bugs.
Primary Weapon: “Warthog” Auto 210
- Overclock: Mini Shells
- +78 Max Ammo
- +6 Magazine Size
- -20% Recoil
- -2 Damage
- -10% Stun Chance
- -3s Stun Duration
- Modifications:
- 1 – Supercharged Feed Mechanism
- 2 – Loaded Shells
- 3 – High Capacity Magazine
- 2 – Bigger Pellets
- 2 – Miner Adjustments
Secondary Weapon: Deepcore 40mm PGL
- Overclock: Fat Boy
- +330 Area Damage
- +1 Effect Radius
- -7 Max Ammo
- -84% Projectile Velocity
- Modifications:
- 2 – Extra Ammo
- 1 – Expanded Ammo Bags
- 1 – Incendiary Compound
- 2 – Nails + Tape
- 2 – Spiky Grenade
Using the Friendly perk is recommended because you will accidentally damage your friends with the radiation damage from the Deepcore 40mm PGL.
Engineer Best Build #2: Frenzy Build
If you want to go crazy with your guns, this frenzy build may satisfy your needs!
You can shoot more and reload faster by picking a short and medium-range weapon with Light-Weight overclocks. Therefore, your DPS is massively increased.
Primary Weapon: “Warthog” Auto 210
- Overclock: Light-Weight Magazines
- +18 Max Ammo
- -0.4s Reload Time
- Modifications:
- 1 – Supercharged Feed Mechanism
- 1 – Expanded Ammo Bags
- 3 – High Capacity Magazine
- 2 – Bigger Pellets
- 2 – Miner Adjustments
Secondary Weapon: Breach Cutter
- Overclock: Light-Weight Cases
- +3 Max Ammo
- -0.2s Reload Time
- Modifications:
- 2 – High Capacity Magazine
- 1 – Expanded Ammo Bags
- 1 – Quick Deploy
- 2 – Disruptive Frequency Tuning
- 2 – Plasma Trail
For tier 5 modification, the Tripple Split Line may be good at first glance. But it only increases the damaged area, not x3 the damage.
This is also a medium-range build, so avoiding range enemies such as Menaces or Spitball Infectors is best.
Engineer Best Build #3: Explosive Loki
If you’re a fan of the smart automatic rifle, this build is a good choice because of its AoE damage with fear effect. Plus, you can land good hits on any heavy enemies with the armor-breaking effect.
Primary Weapon: LOK-1 Smart Rifle
- Overclock: Explosive Chemical Rounds
- Explode the enemy with 3 locks
- -5 Damage
- -36 Max Ammo
- Modifications:
- 2 – Expanded Ammo Bags
- 1 – CCD Array Add-On
- 1 – Electro-Chemical Rounds
- 1 – Shutter Speed Sensor
- 1 – Electric Generator Mod
Secondary Weapon: Breach Cutter
- Overclock: Inferno
- Fire damage
- -175 Beam DPS
- x0.25 Armor Breaking
- Modifications:
- 2 – High Capacity Magazine
- 1 – Expanded Ammo Bags
- 1 – Quick Deploy
- 2 – Disruptive Frequency Tuning
- 2 – Plasma Trail
To maximize the effect of the LOK-1 Smart Rifle overclock, you should only lock enemies with 3 max locks. Then fire and repeat to create massive explosions.
Engineer Best Build #4: Electrocute Storm
This build is for anyone who loves element damage, primarily electric and fire damage.
With the Turret EM Discharge overclock, you can use your turrets to electrocute and fear enemies in a large area.
Primary Weapon: “Stubby” Voltaic SMG
- Overclock: Turret EM Discharge
- Turn your turrets into an electric explosion
- -5 Magazine Size
- -2 Damage
- Modifications:
- 2 – Upgraded Capacitors
- 1 – High Capacity Magazine
- 2 – Expanded Ammo Bags
- 2 – Conductive Bullets
- 2 – Electric Arc
Secondary Weapon: Deepcore 40mm PGL
- Overclock: Hyper Propellant
- +385 Direct Damage
- +350% Projectile Velocity
- x0.3 Radius
- -2 Max ammo
- Modifications:
- 2 – Extra Ammo
- 1 – Expanded Ammo Bags
- 1 – Incendiary Compound
- 1 – Homebrew Explosive
- 2 – Spiky Grenade
While the primary weapon is already good for AoE, we pick Deepcore with Hyper Propellant overclock for single-target purposes. This Engineer build is good for Elimination missions and can even one-shot a boss’s stage in Elite Deep Dives.
Those are the 4 best Deep Rock Galactic Engineer builds!
What’s your favorite build? Let us know in the comment below, and feel free to share your own build as well. Rock and stone, brothers!
