Engineers are the vehicle specialists in BF4. They’re experts at destroying enemy vehicles and repairing up allied ones. Engineers are perfect for defensive play. Their PDWs and Carbines are good for close quarter fights whilst their various different gadgets are excellent for blowing up tanks, helicopters, jets, boats – ok you get the idea, they’re good at blowing stuff up.

Engineers start off with PDWs, the MX4 is the first gun; it has an insane rate of fire at 830 and is great for hip firing. So when you’re running at a tank, you don’t have to bother looking down your scopes to deal with infantry, well, maybe just a little. The carbines are generally more accurate and stable than the PDWs although they all have a fairly similar damage output. Engineers also get access to the DMRs allowing a more defensive player to sit back and take out enemies from a distance, and shotguns allowing offensive players to get up close and personal with the enemy infantry.

Players who like being offensive and using vehicles to win the game should equip the repair tool, this way even if your vehicle is hit you can get out and repair it. This is great for teamwork as well, especially if you’re playing with friends in a squad you can team up as driver and gunner. Personally I like to be the gunner if I’m the engineer, this way I can get out and repair the vehicle while the driver can continue attacking the enemy. Of course you can switch about and it does work the other way round too, but if you’re getting attacked by an enemy vehicle it’s better for the driver to stay in. The repair tool can be used to deal damage to enemy vehicles and infantry, too, it just takes a while.

More defensive players would be better off equipping the M15 AT Mine, M2 SLAM, EOD BOT or the AA Mine. The M15 AT Mine is best for maps which have a lot of tank orientated gameplay, setting them up around an objective or a popular enemy route is perfect. If the mines aren’t seen and/or destroyed the M15 Mines usually provide enough damage to destroy enemy vehicles. The M2 SLAM is a Selective Lightweight Attack Munition which can be used as an AT mine or a land mine, it does less damage than the M15 AT Mine but it can still disable enemy armour.

The EOD BOT is a remote controlled Explosive Ordinance Disposal bot. If you’re going to use this, please find somewhere safe and discreet to lie down and remote control it, standing out in the middle of the battlefield and pulling out your remote controls is a terribly bad idea. You will get shot. You will die. So once you are in a safe place you can drive your EOD BOT and cause all sorts of mischief. It can repair allied vehicles, damage enemy ones, disarm explosives and it can arm/disarm Rush objectives – super useful if your team is stuck and can’t approach without being blown to pieces. The AA mine is only available with the Naval Strike expansion, once set up it will automatically target any air vehicles in its radius.

The Engineer also has access to a wide variety of different rocket launchers. Starting with the MBT LAW, the Engineer Class is capable of taking out enemy vehicles even if they’re brand new. The MBT LAW is a low damage smart anti-tank missile launcher, it can lock onto laser-designated targets and the warheads automatically detect enemy vehicles and are guided to the target. Unfortunately its damage output is pretty low. Next up is the RPG-7V2, this powerful rocket launcher is capable of disabling heavily armoured vehicles, if you aim at sides and rear. However, it has no auto-targeting system, you have to aim manually. Once you reach a 96,000 engineer score you will unlock the MK153 SMAW, it does less damage than the RPG but its trajectories are faster, again it is best to aim at the sides and rear of enemy vehicles.

The FMG-148 JAVELIN is a guided anti-tank missile launcher, this one locks onto land vehicles but you must maintain the lock on in order to hit the target. It hurts pretty badly from any angle so normally a couple of shots will take out most armour. Next is the FMG-172 SRAW, similar to the JAVELIN in terms of damage but the missiles from the SRAW can be manually guided to the target as long as you’re in aim mode. This weapon is great for causing mass damage to enemy vehicles if you have good aim.

Lastly there are the FIM-92 STINGER and the SA-18 IGLA. The STINGER is a short range anti-air missile launcher, once fired the missile will guide itself to the target so it is perfect for using if you’re a very fast paced player. Simply fire in the aircraft's general direction then carry on. Unfortunately the missiles can be stopped by flares. The IGLA is a medium range anti-air missile launcher, the player must maintain lock on until the missile reaches its target. Again the missiles can be stopped by flares so timing is everything. Also with the IGLA it’s not a good idea to stand in the middle of an open area to fire at an aircraft because of the time you have maintain locked on. Whilst in lock-on mode you can’t see what’s going on around you or draw your primary weapon without losing the lock-on. Find some kind of cover first, or wing it, you might get lucky.

This overview should just give you a general idea of the different play styles, weapons and gadgets available to the engineer class and hopefully will help you in beginning to master the class.