Proxy should have been the merc chosen , I think using her would be more beginner friendly , Bush can be so frustrating to use from placement of turret to basically it feeling underwhelming , It’s unresponsive and too easily taken out , having map knowledge helps a great deal with using his ability something newcomers won’t have yet gained.
300 hours using him makes me feel this way , not good at putting thoughts into words , so help me out clever people 
I think it should be Turtle, because he is controversially best engineer right now. But not bushwhacker, I give you that.
Giving them a seemingly useless ability, as described by yourself, is good for a new player, as it promotes the core mechanic of Dirty Bomb - gunplay. Giving players Proxy as a starter Engineer would only promote the ping pong, shotgunning, pizza delivery play style the majority of newcomers adopt now. Seeing as Dirty Bomb is supposed to be a competitive shooter, and likely will become more of one post 1.0, you want players to have the best opportunity to succeed in a competitive environment once they reach it.
I’m happy with the Bushwhacker choice personally. Proxy teaches bad habits and won’t get new players anywhere other than towards the questionable gameplay we see today already, Turtle is capable of slowing down the game to a snail speed (especially multiple of them) and Fletcher would create hell on earth with the endless sticky spam.
One could argue that multiple turrets isn’t a pleasant experience either but I still feel like it’s the best choice. Not only that but Bushwhacker also doesn’t have shotguns. 
I think you have to consider the fun factor , who is more fun to play as a newcomer ?
@JonBongNoJovi said:
I think you have to consider the fun factor , who is more fun to play as a newcomer ?
I could be playing tennis, and I would find it more fun to just throw tennis balls at peoples heads, but would I really be playing tennis? 
Well, concidering a server full of default mercs. Skyhammer, Aura and a engineer x. Shield has best synergy with health station, and should teach extra foresight against deployables. Also giving them extra punch against/with advanced players, but still focusing on teamplay.
Turrets will slow down game too, but especially on side routes. New players will choose main route, making them more vulnerable targets for assault mercs. Also planting a trap with turret take more time and practice than just covering your side while repairing and giving newcomers first vasilli more protection.
@JonBongNoJovi said:
I think you have to consider the fun factor , who is more fun to play as a newcomer ?
Many Bushwacker loadouts are a solid choice for gun fights, which I still try to believe is the heart of DB and should be the center of having fun.
And while I’ve occasionally been in games with 3 or more competent Bushwackers and can confirm that they can come up with hard to break combinations of turrets that cover each other, most players that have the skill to pull something like that off seem to strive for a well rounded merc roster and a more interesting match instead.
Proxy is like cocaine
One you use IT, You can’t stop using it
It makes your brain smaller and most importantly
You wanna rat your neighbor to DEA for doing so and hope he goes to fucking Guantanamo Bay
@LoafOfBread said:
Proxy is like cocaineOne you use IT, You can’t stop using it
It makes your brain smaller and most importantly
You wanna rat your neighbor to DEA for doing so and hope he goes to @$!# Guantanamo Bay
@LoafOfBread said:
Proxy is like cocaineOne you use IT, You can’t stop using it
It makes your brain smaller and most importantly
You wanna rat your neighbor to DEA for doing so and hope he goes to @$!# Guantanamo Bay
The only time I use Proxy is if it’s with a Hochfir; not feeling Shotguns as of late, I don’t know.
I personally think Bush is a good choice. He offers some pretty decent area denial granted you’re not tossing your turret thinking it’ll tank all of the bullets, and it’s generally good to help teach players that Engineers are Objective Specialists - fastest at working on Objectives.
I strongly hate proxy…Shes annoying to me i don’t wanna see team stacks with her(not like it doesn’t happen already)
Bush is the better choice imo. I haven’t read the other replies, so sorry if someone’s covered it already
-Proxy is mainly a shotgun oriented merc, something which aura already covers. Of course this could change in gen 3, but I doubt they’ll change her default primary.
-Proxy is widely considered painful to fight against. Whether or not she’s easy to learn is one thing, but having every level 1 player running around as a shotgun proxy would be a nightmare.
-Bush is an SMG-based merc, unlike skybro and most of aura’s cards.
-Bush is slower than proxy, meaning he’s good for getting the hang of the game.
-Bush is a good merc, but not good enough that players will want to just decide to stick with him permanently without trying out other mercs.
Bush has his problems, but nothing that can’t be fixed in a patch
I’ve seen too many noob Proxies put mines in terrible places where the enemy can shoot and kill Proxy’s own teammates…Bushwhacker is more friendly to new players because his turret can distract the enemy allowing them to sometimes get a kill.
@“Mr.Cuddlesworth” said:
I’ve seen too many noob Proxies put mines in terrible places where the enemy can shoot and kill Proxy’s own teammates
I totally forgot about that. That’s probably one of the biggest arguments against proxy tbh, she can be a major liability to her team.
It could even lead to intentional griefing too. Sure you can throw a pancake into your team for an enemy to shoot already, but opening that up for free to new players is kinda just asking for it.
Bushwhacker is a good choice. Proxy is not.
Proxy requires map knowledge to know where to place mines, and you need to be aware of their location. With Bush you can just place a turret and forget about it. You can also place it pretty much anywhere and not be useless
We already have a starting merc with a shotgun and a merc with an assault rifle, so a free merc with SMG’s will complete the set. We don’t need 2 starting shotgun mercs.
Proxy is cancer
I was gonna give you a like or agree but you had to call my dear Proxy a bad name 
Bushwhacker is a better choice than Proxy for newbies because he has more life and fine weapons. And you can transform 1v1 combats to 2v1 (you and your turret).
Proxy requires map knowledge to know where to place mines
You dont need map knowledge when you only use it as a high damage explosive that can be thrown. Because thats what every Proxy does.
Proxy the most user friendly? A squishy wild spray merc user friendly?
Just because a lot of newbs and scrubs use her for easy mine kills or spray and pray shotgunning doesn’t make her user friendly.
Plus being the squishiest Engineer doing a job that can leave you pretty vulnerable isn’t very user friendly.
Proxy is already overly popular, terribly played overall and tend to really make pubs tiresome. Let’s not make pubs even more of a shitshow than it currently is, thank you.