Just finished my first campaign run as the Engineer. Once I figured out what his powers did (beyond just cheaper drones) it was nice bringing effectively 2-3 drones to a fight. and having all my fuel + energy safe in a satellite. The logic blocks on either side translate my standard control keys/buttons to drone specific ones depending on which I am flying at the time.
Drop the miner in the bucket release the combat drone. clear the planet / complete mission. then strip mine the planet or have a second drone to complete mission if I accidentally got the combat drone killed.