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Team Fortress 2's Engineer Getting A Serious Update

Great. Another way to die.

Team Fortress 2, for me, is a casual interest because of how often I get blasted, smashed, and pummeled. Dudes trash me thorough-like, for real. This is my excuse for not following the ongoing reveals for the Engineer update. According to Valve, this is the colorful FPS' most expansive single-class update ever, as it's set to add maps, items, and even new Steam achievements.

The free update is set to drop this Thursday, but not all is known yet. Valve has been teasing the Engineer additions via a pretty crazy system: players have been unlocking random golden wrenches (basically rare drops) whenever they craft an item, and every 25th wrench awarded to users unlocks more details about what is to come. 

According to Big Download, the 50th wrench has been unlocked, and that means we can get our eyes on another part of the update via the game's official site. In this case, it's the Wrangler, a remote-sentry controller that replaces the Engineer's pistol. 
 

No Caption Provided

== TEASER ==When used, the Wrangler turns off a sentry's auto-locking, allowing the Engineer to manually aim the sentry. And while that might not seem terribly useful, there's a cool catch. The Wrangler creates a "shield that absorbs 66% of all incoming damage" and also gives the turret a double firing rate. In all, the Wrangler sounds absolutely devastating in the right hands (and it also sounds like another solid reason why my interest in Team Fortress 2 will probably remain casual).

Another weapon revealed is a shotgun called Frontier's Justice. It replaces the Engineer's other shotgun, if he so chooses. Packing a smaller magazine, this shotgun has been crafted to dole out critical attacks. According to the game's website, the Justice gets "two crits" for every kill and one crit for every assist that an Engineer racks up with a sentry (before it's blown up).  
 
One map overviews have been teased on the official website as well. I'd feel that any commentary I have would be lacking--as in, I would only be able to say "Hey, that hill looks nice"--so do check out the official website if you're into what's going down this Thursday.  
 
UPDATE: I misunderstood a bit of game jargon. Players are unlocking wrenches by crafting rather than building turrets or dispensers. The Wrangler will also only increase missile fire at sentry level 3. These bits have been corrected in this article. 

46 Comments

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Bouke

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Edited By Bouke
@LordXavierBritish:
Maybe i'll look into that, because i really enjoyed TF2 before, and i would love to check out these new updates.
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LordXavierBritish

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@Bouke: There are a lot of programs out there specifically built to make TF2 run on low end computers. They aren't that hard to find if you take a search through Steam forums.
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Bouke

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Edited By Bouke
@Fattony12000:
No excuses here, i played TF2 on 360 and really enjoyed it a lot! But the console versions don't get the updates the PC version do, which is to bad! I would actually pay to play more TF2 (with the updates), but i'm not buying a PC for it; i rather play games from the comfort of my couch.
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LordXavierBritish

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Since someone bumped this I would like to take the time to say that the Gunslinger is a worthless piece of shit and you should craft the new wrench that is way better. 
 
Ambassador + Scrap Metal = The best thing ever. 
 
Seriously, I mean, I get what they were trying to do with it. I play as an offensive Engineer when I go Engie and a less than level one Sentry is just completely useless in a normal game, especially considering that you can pack up a  regular Sentry and place it somewhere else now. 
 
In other news, every thinks that the Frontier Justice is the greatest thing ever. MY BUCKSHOT SAYS OTHERWISE. 
 
I mean the new Shotgun is really great for defending, but any offensive Engie that would choose it over the six shot normal model is just stupid as all hell.

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fattony12000

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Edited By fattony12000
@Bouke:  
 
PC minimum requirements
1.7 GHz Processor, 512MB RAM, DirectX® 8.1 level Graphics Card (Requires support for SSE), Windows® Vista/XP/2000, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection

Mac minimum requirements
OS X version Leopard 10.5.8, Snow Leopard 10.6.3, 1GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8 or higher, or ATI X1600 or higher, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection 
 
If you're running a web browser, you can probably run TF2, don't make excuses!
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Bouke

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Edited By Bouke

To bad this isn't coming to consoles, because i don't have a gaming pc.
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Laksa

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Edited By Laksa

A lot of misinformation in this news post, was this just a copy and paste thing without verifying anything? Since this is a news post,and seeing how you dont play too much of the game, maybe you can leave ur personal opinion out of it.

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Flow72

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Edited By Flow72

So much content? That must cost around 20 Bucks! OH WAIT!

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DBones

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Edited By DBones
@Sharpless said:
" @MysteriousBob said:
" How can you be bad at TF2? Its the most accessible FPS game of all time. "
I'd dispute this. I actually would call it one of the most complex FPSes of all time. Each class must be learned and mastered, or else you're going to end up like Mr. Nicholson here. Until you learn each class's strengths and weaknesses, you're pretty much just Halo-ing it and getting destroyed. It is not a casual game by any stretch of the imagination, despite its outward appearance. It is a game that is very easy for the average gamer to be bad at, unless you put some thought into it. Most FPSes don't require this much thought. "
I disagree slightly.  I mean, it is one of the more complex FPSes out there, but there are a couple really accessible classes, like the Soldier, the Heavy, and the Medic, that are not hard to learn while you're still grasping the finer points of the game.  Furthermore, with the new training mode and bots, it's easier than ever to get into the game.
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baggykins

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Edited By baggykins
@ajamafalous said:
" @f33r_mai_ch33tz said:

" No thoughts concerning the guitar achievements? "

My guess is that one is for a taunt-kill and one is for taunting on an enemy's killcam, meaning it won't be the new melee unlock. "
Yeah I think that's the most probable scenario... but man.. I really wish for a guitar instead of a wrench...
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Taklulas

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Edited By Taklulas
@DriveupLife said:
" I swear to god I can not give two sh*ts about those golden wrenches, I never play engineer! It's a boring class for boring people besides high level players.   soldier of fortune, out. "
Cool story brah.
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GozerTC

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Edited By GozerTC

HELL YEAH!  Engi is my number one played class. (Twice as much time as my next highest which is Heavy. :) )  
 
Can't wait until tomorrow and the update.  Glad it's my day off!  :D 
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s7evn

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Edited By s7evn

Looking good as far as the update is concerned. I'm still wondering what they'll do after this update (the final class update).

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ajamafalous

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Edited By ajamafalous
@f33r_mai_ch33tz said:

" No thoughts concerning the guitar achievements? "

My guess is that one is for a taunt-kill and one is for taunting on an enemy's killcam, meaning it won't be the new melee unlock.
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ajamafalous

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Edited By ajamafalous

Well this was a clusterfuck of an article. 
 
Check your facts before publishing.

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xxizzypop

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Edited By xxizzypop
@DOUBLESHOCK: To be fair, they are entirely different experiences, but far be it for me to in any way defend MW2. 
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monster9999

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Edited By monster9999

Tf2 is easily now one of the greatest games ever made cause of all these updates, valve continues to be a pioneer in the industry

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MayorFeedback

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Edited By MayorFeedback
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Hef

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Edited By Hef

 Only two words put together can adiquately describe my feelings for this long, drawn out update.
 
FUCKING FINALLY!!!!!!!!!

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Dziggy

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Edited By Dziggy
@BradNicholson:
I understand you don't play Team Fortress 2 very much, and I really don't mean to insult you, but you didn't really look into this too much before posting this, did you? There is so much wrong information in this article, such as:
 

@BradNicholson

said:

"The free update is set to drop this Thursday, but not all is known yet. Valve has been teasing the Engineer additions via a pretty crazy system: players have been unlocking random golden wrenches (rare drops) whenever they build a turret or a dispenser, and every 25th wrench awarded to users unlocks more details about what is to come."

Golden wrenches are obtained randomly through the crafting system. When you craft an item in-game, there is a very, very rare chance you will receive a golden wrench along with the item you crafted.
 
 

@BradNicholson

said:

"According to Big Download, the 50th wrench has been unlocked, and that means we can get our eyes on another part of the update via the game's official site. In this case, it's the Wrangler, a remote-sentry controller that replaces the Engineer's pistol."  

According to Big Download? Why not according to the official Team Fortress 2 website? There's a live log of how many wrenches have been collected, and who has gotten each one. Currently 74 wrenches have been found. Here's the link: http://www.teamfortress.com/engineerupdate/wrenchlog/
 
 

@BradNicholson

said:

"When used, the Wrangler turns off a sentry's auto-locking, allowing the Engineer to manually aim the sentry. And while that might not seem terribly useful, there's a cool catch. The Wrangler creates a "shield that absorbs 66% of all incoming damage" and also gives the turret a double firing rate with at least a level 3 missile launch rate. It sounds absolutely devastating in the right hands (and it also sounds like another solid reason why my interest in Team Fortress 2 will probably remain casual)."

No, it doesn't give "the turret" (which level are you talking about here?) a missile launch rate of level 3, it slightly increases the missile-firing rate of the level 3 sentry (the only level of sentry which can fire missiles).
 
 

@BradNicholson

said:

"Two map overviews have been teased on the official website as well. I'd feel that any commentary I have would be lacking--as in, I would only be able to say "Hey, that hill looks nice"--so do check out the official website if you're into what's going down this Thursday.  "

  One map, not two. There are four pictures on the update page, but they're all of the same map.
 

 You could've found all of this information by just reading the two blog posts on http://www.teamfortress.com/ and the engineer update page. Again, sorry, I'm not trying to be mean or anything. Just letting you know you have some incorrect information.
 
EDIT: A second map was revealed in today's blog update, 30 minutes after I posted this.
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baggykins

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Edited By baggykins

No thoughts concerning the guitar achievements?

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Sharpless

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Edited By Sharpless
@MysteriousBob said:
" How can you be bad at TF2? Its the most accessible FPS game of all time. "
I'd dispute this. I actually would call it one of the most complex FPSes of all time. Each class must be learned and mastered, or else you're going to end up like Mr. Nicholson here. Until you learn each class's strengths and weaknesses, you're pretty much just Halo-ing it and getting destroyed. It is not a casual game by any stretch of the imagination, despite its outward appearance. It is a game that is very easy for the average gamer to be bad at, unless you put some thought into it. Most FPSes don't require this much thought.
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Sharpless

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Edited By Sharpless
@DriveupLife:  ...says the person who probably sucks at playing Engineer.
 
Every single class in this game is awesome and has their own strengths and weaknesses. Each one is well-crafted by Valve. It's fine if you have your own preferences, but it is straight-up incorrect to say that any class sucks. Engineers in particular are crucial to almost every game. They frequently make or break games, and only work when handled by someone who knows what they're doing. True facts.
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zaglis

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Edited By zaglis

The Wrench Connection...that was so good.
 
Also.
Not owning TF2 should be illegal. THERE IS NO EXCUSE.

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Lethkhar

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Edited By Lethkhar

I really should buy this game, huh?

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halberdierv2

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Edited By halberdierv2

Nice.

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FuzzYLemoN

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Edited By FuzzYLemoN

"Another Way To Die" is also the name of a Disturbed song about global warming. I wish I was joking.
 
Anyway, this is rad. Engie is my favourite class.

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DriveupLife

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Edited By DriveupLife

I swear to god I can not give two sh*ts about those golden wrenches, I never play engineer! It's a boring class for boring people besides high level players. 
 
soldier of fortune, out.

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MysteriousBob

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Edited By MysteriousBob

How can you be bad at TF2? Its the most accessible FPS game of all time.

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JoelTGM

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Edited By JoelTGM

Awesome. You know, these kinds of updates make Activision look bad.  I was playing MW2 yesterday and I realized to get the maps it would cost me a whopping $30... whereas with TF2 I can enjoy free updates, not to mention all the user created maps out there.

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Aarny91

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Edited By Aarny91

TF2 wins.

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FoolishChaos

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Edited By FoolishChaos

Every single update has added weapons, maps, and achievments. And there have been... 8 updates before this. :P 
 
Well, maybe one or two didn't add maps, but yeah valve = gods. 

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Olivaw

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Edited By Olivaw

I fuckin' love TF2.
 
Sad that my internet sucks so I can't play it right now.
 
BUT SOON I SHALL.

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2HeadedNinja

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Edited By 2HeadedNinja
@Sweep said:
" The thing is these weapons aren't just unlocked at release. You have to keep playing until you are randomly awarded them. I have played for 50 hours this week and I still don't have all the OLD weapons, let alone the new ones. "
Every class based unlock in the game can be gained randomly or by achievement or can be crafted. If a player is interested enough in a certain class it's not hard to gain all the unlocks by just doing the achievements.
 
The execption are the community weapons. Those can only be crafted or found.
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Sheephead

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Edited By Sheephead

I'm actually excited for this update for a change!

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sweep

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Edited By sweep  Moderator

The thing is these weapons aren't just unlocked at release. You have to keep playing until you are randomly awarded them. I have played for 50 hours this week and I still don't have all the OLD weapons, let alone the new ones.

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clapperdude

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Edited By clapperdude
@TheMasterDS:   True (they increased the drop rate this week to give more people chances to craft), and it also is worth mentioning that they actually turn people to gold.
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TheHT

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Edited By TheHT

oh my the wrangler sounds amazing.

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MisterMouse

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Edited By MisterMouse

I am excited for the update!

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2HeadedNinja

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Edited By 2HeadedNinja

I understand that not everyone is into TF2 the way I am (573 hours and counting) but in times where Activision makes you pay 15 bucks for a couple of maps there should be the time to emphasie on how cool it is that all those updates are free (the Engi-Update is just one of them, and from what valve said there will be at least one more round of updates for every class).
 
That and the way those updates are done (WAR!-Update anyone?) are the reason why valve is so popular in the PC gaming community.

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metalsnakezero

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Edited By metalsnakezero

Looks like I'll be playing TF2 again.

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yungfloppa

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Edited By yungfloppa

Unfortunately the game continues to run worse and worse on my PC with everything they add.

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TheMasterDS

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Edited By TheMasterDS

The golden wrenches are unlocked whenever someone crafts an item dude, not when they build a sentry or dispenser. If they had done that everyone would be rolling Engineer non stop, and they can't have that. It'd be horrible!

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A_Dog

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Edited By A_Dog

Will I be first? 
 
Can't get the quest though.... 
 
lol third. 

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timmy

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Edited By timmy

Do want a golden wrench

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sjolle

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Edited By sjolle

niiice