Jag or Stock Wrench?

[Grey Bigfoot]

Which one is better and why. If they are about equal, what situations is each one best for?

6/12/2020 edit: wow y'all are really sending messages in a 2 year old thread

[GhastlyGhostJr]

Use both.

Set up with Jag the switch to stock when you can.

On last desperate holds just run Jag the whole time.

With random Crits still being a thing the jags only downside is it takes 3 swings to kill a sapper.

[medkit]

jag's pretty neat but if your disp and sentry are level 2 or 3 use normal wrench

[misut]

You also have to keep in mind that due to its damage penalty, you need three hits with the jag to kill a spy. If your one of those engines that like to run wrangler and rescue ranger, then use stock/southern hospitality, since your going to need more self-defenses against spies since the rescue ranger does pitiful damage.

[borgir]

use the shotgun/widowmaker wrangler and jag

[Kitt 🌟 Stargazer]

JAG is probably the best over all, but I still use Stock as well...

[✣ Alecto ✣]

Stock fits better with turtling (eg people running rescue ranger)
Jag fits better with strong independent engi who don't need no sentry to back him up at all times but still wants to have the ability to build level 3s

Your sentry placement also plays a big factor in this - in the more 'typical' a spot (build a fortress blocking the objective on defence) stock would probably be a better choice. If you're putting the sneaky sentry where people don't expect it, moving it around frequently and trying to give them two targets by being a bit more seperate from your sentry and using your shotgun, the jag is for you.

[siivooja]

I use the prinny machete for this purpose as I prefer the wrench, but who wouldn't want to hit their buildings with a machete?

[RoyalCake[⇄]SendTrade/JoinG]

Jag is faster

[The Tempted Man]

I prefer southern hospitality honestly, but Jag is for fast setup only just like Eureka effect

[Xenos]

The only thing the Stock Wrench is better at is turtling, which just isnt a fun playstyle. The Jag's lower healing rate only becomes a problem if theres an Uber heavy point-blanking your sentry, and in that situation you should be running away anyways.

Sure, taking three hits to break a sapper can be annoying, but it's only an issue if your sentry is super low health, and it would have provably gotten taken down by chip damage anyways.

The Jag is best because you can rebuild much faster than Stock when your stuff goes down. Starting the round with the idea of successfully turtling the entire round and never let your nest die is a pipe dream. Once it inevitably goes down, the Stock caves hard under pressure due to the slow, slow speed it builds things. I've seen so many engineers that tried to turtle on the first point get run over on the second because they only have a level 2 sentry and a level 1 dispenser.

Running the Rescue Ranger counters the healing downside because it heals even more efficiently than the Stock.

If building speed isnt your highest priority, like on offense, the Eureka Effect is just better than Stock since it essentially gives you unlimited metal anywhere on the map and rapid rollout from a teleporter. Build at spawn with Jag, switch to Eureka, place exit, take sentry through, teleport back, take dispenser through, and boom, full nest anywhere on the map in under 10 seconds. The Eurekas only downside is the initial construction speed, not the healing or sappers like the Jag, making it just as good as turtling as Stock but can remove the effective setup time and gives you a "get out of jail free" card if things start going south. Even the very good sentry man Dane agrees the Eureka is probably Engineers best wrench right now.

tl:dr
Use Jag for rebuilding, but use Eureka for rapid deployment and turtling.

[maDEMOman]

if the prinny knife ever got a strangifier id be using that. but since i have a strange jag its usually that.

[rad_knight]

In the words of uncle Dane “the jag is good at getting your gear up, stock is good at keeping it up”

[AstroHazard☢]

Jag because it's good for upgrading your buildings

[Q. northropi]

I like to use jag with the frontier. I just rack up kills with my Sentry, and if a spy saps my gun, so be it. I got 10 crits ready to use on his team!

[Sander]

In repair they're the same but Jag helps build/deploy faster unlike stock wrench but in my experience stock feels better all tho Jag sometimes could fit more in my playstyle where i just place lvl 2 to catch off guard but the fact where you have to hit 3 times to get rid of the sapper is huge downside so in my opinion:
Jag for offence or stresful defence.
Wrench for defence or slow offence.