Shield Generator

Look at this thing. This awesome, awesome thing. Marvel at it, because it's the raddest thing anybody has ever designed for the Engineer. Look at those shapes! It's a completely perfect Engineer unlock in terms of its shapes, its textures, and the implied level of technology. While I think Pyanodon's ideas are visually interesting and unique, this thing is all that AND a can of creamy TF2 artstyle goodness.

And what's more, it sort of makes sense, doesn't it? It creates sort of a story behind the huge machine over Nucleus--it's a shield generator protecting... whatever the facility in Nucleus is supposed to do. Maybe they're fighting for the opportunity to control the shield generator and use it to protect vital systems from the Gravelpit Death Laser or the ICBMs stashed underneath Dustbowl.

But, there's a problem. Even with as cool as the thing looks and as perfect the design is storywise... a shield generator is just not that useful in TF2. I'm thinking about it, and a purely defensive structure (i.e. one that protected allies by reducing the damage they take) sounds like it would either be frustrating in conjunction with a sentry gun or unable to properly compensate for the "defense by murder" strategy a standard sentry offers.

TF2 has really carefully designed choke points, so Engineers tend to gravitate towards each other. An engineer with a shield generator would probably feel especially vulnerable (since his shield presumably doesn't kill enemies) and would probably get the best results by fortifying an existing Engineer nest. Stacking would be frustrating. Hateful. It wouldn't be any more effective than a level three sentry gun, but unlike a level three sentry gun the engineer doesn't become helpless on his own.

CAVEAT: I'm not responsible for the shield generator, I just think it looks awesome.