So when you level up you receive one point that you can spend on universal abilities or class abilities .

As for me, I recently reached level 20 a couple days ago so I purchased all the universal abilities as well as all of the abilities for the engineer.

So what does this mean... DO I NOW HAVE THE PERFECT ENGINEER? (okay I may be exaggerating) or am I just wasting points by not spreading them throughout all the classes.

Do you focus on one class and while playing the game you just play that role, or are you going to spread the points out so you can make changes on the fly and still maintain an effective role such as a soldier with satchel charges or an operative with hack turret and caltrops etc.

What are your thoughts and how do you spend your points?

p.s. I apologize if I did not make sense :confused:

Honestly, I did the same thing as you at first. I tried making a full-fledged Soldier... then I deleted that character (dumb).

Made a new one, FF Engineer (same as you're saying). BUT, I found quite a juicy lil helpful point distribution I could BE a full Engineer (all abilities, inc. Gatling Turret), AND, be an Operative as backup if need be. Plus, there's a sneaky lil command post combo with those 2, which works quite well when you need to distract that pesky A.I. Enemies!

I'll just say I look at my characters differently now. Like, say I was making a Soldier (which I am, he's LV10 already). I think about stuff that would be hella helpful for me (Sprinting Reload AND Grenade).

Example: I don't need Grenade Shooting or Sprinting Grenade for my Engineer/Op class, cause Op will be the only one with a special grenade (EMP). Not needed here obv. I'm a medium (mainly) Engineer with IWB (Improved Weapon Buff), most of the times my guns will take someone out quicker then they can get me. (Don't need Silent Running (more of a Light ability IMO).

Just think of stuff in depth like that. bliviongate:

My sole Character (because I dont really fancy making another right now, or ever if I can help it) is an Engineer/Operative mix.

I am about to reset it all again, and have done twice already. First I was full on Soldier but didnt enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Then I was full on Engineer but found one role and one role only (your situation) to not suit me either, because there were frustrating moments where I was like 'It would really help if I had some other abilities right about now', so I made a mix character that suited my Light style best.

Kudos to the guys who are dedicated to one class but I find myself wanting to do something I can't if i were to use my points in the same manner.

My latest Reset will be keeping the same core idea of Engi/Oper class, just with a few mistakes corrected. Want to leave out Sticky Grenade and get a few of the 'geekier' abilities instead for now.

Couldn't have said it better myself. It's not bad to be a sole engineer, operative or whatnot. It's both a blessing and a burden.

Good thing: You can defuse a bomb faster than anyone else, or plant two mines.

Bad thing: Limits your gameplay.

Because your strictly an engineer that means you can only:

A. Buff damage - 75 xp
B. Give extra kevlar - 50 xp
C. Disarm an explosive charge - 100 xp
D. Construct an objective - 5 xp (per second)
E. Kill an enemy by a mine. - 20 xp
F. Kill an enemy by a turret. - 20 xp
G. Disarm a mine. - 75 xp
H. Repair a turret.- 5 xp (per second)
I. Upgrade a command post. - 50 xp

Sure that may sound like a good amount of experience earned (and it is, at times) but then again if you play as a eng/op or sold/medi you are REALLY optimizing your gameplay because it leaves you open for more objectives and situations.

and plus your going to have a much more fun time playing the game so YIPPIE :celebration:

Most of my points are in soldier ... lvl 18 now, by the time I hit 20 ill have every soldier ability. A good number of generic abilities, and light turret/comms hack so I can be just a little more useful if I have to switch class for objectives. Medics don't need help being useful

I used to play the engineer in Wolf:ET & Quake Wars so my primary character is an engineer through and through. All points engineer (or will be once i get the last few xp needed for level 20 ).
My next character is a medic and will probably be full medic.
I don't why but i like having a focused character. I might try out a character with fewer "All" abilities so that I can fit in a secondary class but at the moment I mainly engineer throughout the match ^_^

My main is a lvl 20 medium engy / soldier. I sold my points twice before I found a balance I liked. Basically I dont have any class fully upgraded. I have almost every engy ability but opted out of ones that I didnt deem useful to me such as extra landmines and CP doubling. Then in the soldier tier I have 5 abilities (AP, extra ammo, nade radius, kevlar, faster nade charge) and finally I have 8 universal abilities. I really like this setup because the universals make any class Im using better, then I have my soldier for offense and my engy for defense. Basically this character can be silent if need be or go full out bonzo if it calls for that as well and so is a good all around character.

My other two characters that i am currently working on are a heavy medic / soldier and a light operative / medic. For my heavy i wont be getting most of the universals I put on my medium because he doesnt need silent running or a cpl others (meat tank doesn't need to be off radar) and will be focusing on most of the medic abilities and probbaly most of the soldier abilities. And the light is going to have the universals that make his job easier (silent running, combat awareness, and the one that puts u in 3rd person during objectives) but also most of the operative abilities and most of the medic abilities.

Really I haven't seen ANY class that has abilities that ALL look worthwhile to me. You only have three usable slots for activated abilities and some abilities I just dont think are worth their cost in points especially over other mappable abilities (such as speed boost over Lazarus grenade for my third medic ability).

But that's the beauty of Brink you have ten characters to make so you can have chars that are focused, chars that spread the wealth, or chars that do a bit of both.

I focus into one spec. Yeah, you're limiting what you can do when you change spec, but by not taking all abilities you're limiting your primary class. If you need to switch to another class just for an objective, odds are you're doing that objective and changing right back to your primary anyway.

im making an operative build and i was wondering about the resupply rate increase ability. since the operative doesnt have any pips so to speak, is this a waste of an ability? what would it increase for an operative?

Read my Signature lol.

I am always a medic and have all my abilities in universal and medic (with 2 left over because I don't want downed fire) and I never switch my class. Yes, I understand this means I have to rely on everyone else to get the objectives done (Besides escorts), but I'm perfectly fine with that.

I'm 100% one class and am happy being so. :]

I was thinking of maxing soldier, take around 5 from universal and spread the last into engineer (at least extra landmine, nerves of steel, imp. weapon buff) and last into operative.

i went engi/operative for my first character, u can get all of the necessary skills plus the best universals, like someone said b4 me u get the hack/buff com posts from both classes

my next is medic/soldier, not as fun but still works out as a more tank like character (heavy body type)

First lvl 20 guy is all engineer, little universal, little operative.

I pretty much do this and use an engineer. But I haven't learned all the abilities for universival or engineer ones because some of them don't seem that useful to me, so the rest go to medic mostly for escort missions or for a really tough objective (and when AI medics aren't doing much).

I still switch to the other classes to complete primary objectives but then switch back if it's convenient, i.e. nearby ally command post or having to respawn, etc. Generally, since I tend to try and (temporarily) clear the area or wait for allies to create a distraction before doing the objectives, like planting a charge or hacking, there's not much else I do with the soldier or operative.

If I am not mistaken (which I might be) I think the caltrops and sticky bombs are resupplied faster. :thumbsup:

Personally, I am happy with my 100% GRADE A ENGINEER but I might reset him and remove a couple of universal abilities.

...

I will just work on new characters and make them my hybrids.

On my basically maxed engineer I found it useful to invest in a few of the more important buffs in the other classes
Im running
5/10 Universal
2/11 Soldier
4/10 Medic
7/11 Engineer I found Kevlar and Extra landmine to not be as usefull as the abilities I got in other classes
2/10 Operative

^ Not including abilities that don't need to be bought, like Molotovs, and standard kits

If I was looking for a more specialized competitive build I would certainly go 10/10 on one class and on universal

I'm making three characters, one for each body type, each one of them will specialize in a single non medic class. By this I mean all the skills in the class and the universals. The final point will go into Lazerus grenade for those "save the team" moments. I think that if you spread yourself too thin you end up jack of all trades master of none. You can do every class but you end up doing a mediocre job at it. In the long run I think it will pay to specialize. Even if you don't have an objective tailored to your specialty you can still run it effectively and help out in that class.

My characters are usually a primary/secondary build, that have a set of specific universal abilities that best support them...

Such as, i have most of the engineering/operative skills. probably 7-8 in each. There for, i only have 5 or 6 universal abilities, but the ones i do have are only the most beneficial to my class, and my choices for class specific are the ones i'll actually use, like hack turret, and not dumb stuff like, homing beacon...

not sure if this is in a faq somewhere or what.. but i was curious. since you loose a level when you sell all your points. if your already high in level or level 20 does that mean if you sell you wont have as many points to buy things as if when you get it all down the first time? (example is i guess.. you have 20 points to buy things.. if you sell them.. does that mean in the end you have 19?)

Way ahead of ya there cowboy!

I turned my Engy/Ops into an Engy/Soldier. There my 2 favorite classes, so I figured why not mash them together? Plus, it's helpful for that first push on Security Tower/Resort/Container City (Security), etc. etc.

I can plant charges, and I can disarm charges! Plus, IDK why but I'm an Ammo Camel. I love handing out Ammo to literally every HUMAN player I find that I'm playing with (I usually stick around Engineers when I'm a Soldier, but I've found myself helping alot of Operatives out there as well).

IDK what my next character might be, might just turn my LV10 Light Soldier into an Operative. Yeaaaa that's what I'll do.

I just gotta get back up to 20, again. (I just respecced not long ago to get back to 20 today, then I decided I wanted Downed Fire > Silent Running, SO I HAD TO RESPEC AGAIN!)

This is literally like... the 5th time i've respecced this character to 19?

Universal: Battle Hardened, Extra Supply, Supply Rate Up, Sprinting Reload, Silent Run, Downed Fire.
Soldier: Almost all, tend towards cutting Satchel Charges and Scavenge the most.
Operative: Homing Beacon, Comms Hack, Caltops, Turret Hack, EMP Grenade. The essentials.

Downed Fire makes it okay for me to not have Cortex Bomb. Anyways this is my fifth character, made four that specialized in one class a piece so I learned all the skills through play to know what I would consider important.

For Medic, I suggest the essentials are supply up, self revive, and Lazarus Grenade. The buffs are very situational, and health buff+ is only useful if the medic actually heals instead of reviving.

For Engineer, depends on the skills. Light turret is fine, the upgrades just fire faster, and the best way to place them is in a flanking position. If placing mines and turrets happens often near combat, faster build time is important. Main Engi skill as far as others are concerned is weapon buff tho.

At the end of the day, you can swap classes and still do the important stuff without specialized skills.

If you're an ultimately geared-up Engineer, great. If you're in a team that understands that you're their dedicated Engineer, and can do everything Engineering-wise for them, you'll be set. With randoms, though, not so much...

EDIT: "GEARED" not "EARED" - oops...

Universal, 10 points possible to spend.

Each class, 9 specific skills that can be bought.

What I didn't mention in my example is that while creating a main class is good, having a second decently skilled class is a good idea. More than likely not all the Universals and main-class skills are needed, so put the excess points towards a secondary class.

I for instance main Soldier, but I can turn Operative and do the useful stuff.

With Engineer, the skills I would suggest cutting to save on points are Extra Kevlar (are you really handing it out to everyone?) and Medium and Gatling Turrets. It only improves their RoF, so they're still just good only for surprise flanking, distractions and being grenade traps. Nerves of Steel is a universal cut, sounds nice, likely to very rarely ever matter. In practice, you'll either make it to the bomb or not.

The question is, what do you do? Do you ever shoot grenades? How often do you disarm mines? Do you play mainly in PUG's, with a dedicated team, or a revolving roster of friends? Do you ever switch classes to help with a specific objective?

I took most of the Engineer abilities. Engineer was the first class I was excited by. However, I never disarmed a mine on my way to 20. Operatives are too busy getting radar ops, and stealing faces to mark mines. That means I didn't buy Nerves of Steel. Some folks seem not to like turrets. I can see only getting Light Turret if this is you. I love turrets, so I bought; Light Turret, Medium Turret, Gatling Turret. Gear Head, and Improved Weapon Buff are a given. Extra Mine is difficult to argue against... maybe if you're a heavy, and don't have as much time to do things from being slow. I play light body type, so I took Extra Mine. Command Post Upgrade and Extra Kevlar? I see going either way. If you never take commend posts and are always working on objectives, I can see forgoing Command Post Upgrade. Let the stupid AI fight over the command posts, right? If you do take them however, why not double the benefit? I take them enough to bear the cost. Extra Kevlar is going to depend on how closely you guard your supply, and perhaps body type. If I was a heavy I might leave it off, getting the weapon buff on all the light's racing away from you is difficult enough. I took it. If I see an "X," I press "X."

As far as Universal skills. I've never tried to shoot grenades, I've never wanted to throw them while sprinting. Grenades feel more difficult to actually make go where you want, as opposed to other shooters.... I have a hard enough time getting them to go where I want when standing. So I didn't buy Sprinting Grenade or Grenade Shooting. I never noticed whatever signal Combat Intuition is supposed to give me, likely because I svck, so when I respecced in Rank 4, I dropped Combat Intuition. Sense of Perspective didn't seem to let me disengage from taking a command center, or objective, fast enough to stop my dying, so-- Sense of Perspective got dropped. Downed Fire is an open argument, I can see sense in either decision. Do you want a chance to take down the enemy who got you, and make sure the enemy has to take you out, or do you hold out hope for being ignored and having a medic arrive? Right now, I hope for medics, I didn't take it. I could see that changing. Organized groups seem to focus more on making sure you're down. I'm still running with and into lots of PUGs... if that changes then it will be worth respeccing.

Battle Hardened, Supply Max Increase, Sprinting Reload, and Resupply Rate Increase would be hard to argue against not having. I can respect someone deciding not to have Silent Running, but I'll never have a character skip it.

To review, these are my Engineer and Universal Abilities: Battle Hardened, Supply Max Increase, Sprinting Reload, Resupply Rate Increase, Silent Running, Extra Kevlar, Gear Head, Light Turret, Command Post Upgrade, Medium Turret, Improved Weapon Buff, Extra Landmine, Gatling Turret. This leaves 7 skills, which is enough to get most of a second classes abilities, especially Operative and Medic which only have 8 abilities to buy.

I took all the Operatives abilities, except Sticky Bomb, as I'm svcking with grenades. I've been thinking instead of going with a few abilities from the other three classes. Soldier; Flashbang. Medic; Increased Supplies, Improved Life Buff, Lazarus Grenade. Operative; Homing Beacon, Caltrops Grenade, and either EMP Grenade, or Comms Hack. I haven't used EMP Grenade yet, so I'm unsure how to weigh it versus Comms Hack.

http://http://brink.wikia.com/wiki/Abilities if you want to review all the abilities.

I have 1 character for every class, I maxed out my engineer abilities, then now am levelling my operative and intend to max him out, then medic, then soldier etc. I think it's better to have a pure class characters than a mediocre jack-of-all-trades.