[build] Fireballs in Space aka FQE isn't bad

The main reason to play the Quarian Engineer is that she's the strongest Incinerate in the game. She was one of the least impressive characters in the lineup up until Retaliation. The main problem? A bug with Incinerate where the frozen vulnerability double damage option wasn't working on chilled targets. With the bug fixed, she's a mook killing machine and not bad vs bosses.

Build

6/6/6/5/3, single target cryo/incinerate

Sentry Turret: I mainly use this by tossing it through a door I'm about to go through. If it starts shooting, I know something's there. I also toss it at bosses when I'm shield stripping for the free fire explosion off of the flamer. Rockets might actually be a better option, I haven't tried them in months.

Incinerate: The primary ability. Many people opt for area but that's a mistake because it takes you below the one-shot threshold for high health infantry (Hunters, Pyros, Captains).

Cryo Blast: Used for debuffing bosses (hence duration) and stopping husks/abominations in place.

Acolyte: Always Cryo Ammo III/IV. The chill proc is what makes Incinerate good. I opt for a heavy barrel after the Acolyte nerf. If you'd prefer to pistol amp then you're at 200% cooldowns. I'd use a ULM instead of magazine if my Acolyte wasn't at X.

Hurricane: High Caliber barrel because we're debuffing with both cryo ammo and cryo blast and therefore bypassing all the armor anyway.

Talon: Alternative. A Heavy Barrel V Talon VII with an Amp III hits the gold cerberus shield threshold. If you have a lower level Talon like me then you'll either have to shield strip in two shots or move up to a Power Amp IV and tweak the build for weapon damage and/or use pistol amp gear.

Wraith: Other alternative. A Wraith VI will clear the shield threshold with an Amp III.

Consumables: This build is Power Amp dependent when not facing Cerberus. I believe you can go down to a Power Amp II and still one shot everything.

Gameplay

video

It's pretty straightforward. You shoot things with the Acolyte and nuke them with Incinerate. This will drop everything up to Pyros. For Dragoons you'll need a second Incinerate. For Ravagers I like Cryo Blast then two Incinerates. For anything bigger, I switch to...

Boss Pattern: Acolyte shield strip, Sentry Turret, then Cryo Blast, switch to Hurricane, toss incinerates while shooting until dead. The incinerate cooldown tends to line up fairly well with the Hurricane clip size so you can use it for reload cancelling. I do recommend skipping the turret on Banshees and Praetorians. It needlessly puts up their power barrier when you can still debuff and incinerate when they're in an animation and not lose your power dps.

Remember to toss out your Sentry Turret through doors. It's not wall hacks but it's saved me from an ambush a couple times.

This build is effective against all factions since it's not combo damage dependent but the best match up is Geth. The ability to drop a Bomber, Pyro, or Hunter every 2 seconds dramatically decreases the amount of pressure they can put on the team. The Bomber/Pyro wave 8 is a joyous time for me on the FQE.

Now, you might wonder why I call her the strongest Incinerate in the game. Any class with Incinerate can do the CryoAcolyte->Incinerate combo (and probably should), which is largely what I show in the video. What makes the FQE's stronger is the extra 25% from Cryo Blast. With a Power Amp IV, each incinerate deals up to 4770 damage to a cryo blasted target. It's about 2k dps on top of weapon dps. Not the best but not bad considering you're completely debuffing armor for the rest of the team as well.

Math: 330 * 2 (frozen vuln) * (1 + .5 (incinerate 3/4) + .45 (Quarian Defender) + .62 (gear/amp)) * 1.5 (burning damage) * 1.5 (armor modifier) * 1.25 (cryo blast)