Welcome to the post. This will not help complete beginners who have just started playing the game but will help players who have reached at level 4 engineering, damage 40, defense 40 and are thinking what should I focus on next also these are my recommendations for a new player reach level 4 engineering, damage 40, defense 40, few in stash and favor.
Let's start with my stats have a look at it and see where I'm in the game
As you might notice I have enough to upgrade damage and defense but I didn't upgrade those stats why?
The reason for that is because I make use of various tools to factor in my upgrade decisions. Let's take a look how do I do that - https://terracorehub.com/leaderboard
I look at my stats and players like me on the leaderboard are we somewhat on same level or where do i lack. To upgrade any stat i need to know how much it costs if i need to upgrade multiple levels at once.
https://test.hivegadgets.com/tclevelcost.html
Once I have accumulated scraps I then check the table tab on site - https://terra-omega.vercel.app/
The 1st thing i check is my defense enough to check that sort with damage and compare your defense with their attack.
My defense 140 meaning only people with 150+ attack can steal from me in above image there are 2 people and I'm ok with it. So I know defense is not my priority today.
Next I check my damage and compare it with their defense.
These are the people i can attack 100 defense or lower.
To check is it worth it to upgrade my damage and I check where people are safe currently go to accounts tab and check for targets with defense less than 100.
I found the last target with 4.74 scraps then i ask is this sufficient for me and if i upgrade my attack to 120 i can attack guy with 6.12 scraps. Now i have to make a decision for myself is upgrade worth it or not.
If u feel defense and damage are stable and can be upgraded later than engineering is way to go for u because it gives u more scraps but keep in mind it has it's consequences. Higher your engineering more u are targeted so engineering and defense goes hand in hand.
That's all for today hoping that this will help u in making better upgrade decisions. If you have other strategies do let me know. Have a good day.