Infantry (LWR)

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  Infantry

The Infantry class borrows elements from the Assault and Heavy classes. Their signature ability is Light 'Em Up, which reduces the AP cost of standard shots to 1, allowing them to fire twice per turn.

Primary Weapon: Carbines, Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles, SMGs, Shotguns.

Secondary Weapon: Pistols, Machine Pistols, Sawed-off shotgun.

Class-Limited items: None.

Attribute Growth: Aim x2, Will x2.

Abilities

Rank	Ability
Specialist	Light 'Em Up Standard shots cost only 1 AP and gain both +5 aim and +1 damage for each instance of damage their target took this turn.
Lance Corporal	Will To Survive Increases DR of partial cover to 55% and full cover to 65% but grants 15 less defense. Grants +3 armor HP and Steadfast. Steadfast Provides immunity to panic (except from flame/psi attacks) and reduces injury time by 50%.		Sentinel Fire an additional reaction shot during overwatch. Gain +20 defense when on overwatch. Grants Opportunist. Opportunist Reaction shots gain +15 aim and can critically hit.		Grenadier Using a destructive grenade deals +1 damage and costs only 1 AP. Equipped destructive grenades receive an additional use. Grants 1.3 mobility.
Corporal	Tenacious Defense Grants +3 armor HP. Grants +20% crit resistance when protected by cover.		Lock N' Load Reloading any weapon costs only 1 AP. Dashing automatically reloads the active weapon.		Payload Grants +50% weapon damage to explosives.
Sergeant	Extra Conditioning Grants +3 armor HP, +0.6 mobility, 10% throw range, and a 10% chance for all end-in-idle actions to cost 0 AP.		Impact Grants +1 damage and penetration to all shots. Hitting a target with a non-reaction shot clears their overwatch and disables their Reactive Targeting Sensors.		Kitted Grants +1 armor HP, a medikit, a smoke grenade, and +1 ammo to non-arc primary weapons.
Tech Sergeant	Ace Grants +2 damage to all weapons and equipment, +1.3 mobility, and +30% throw range. For sidearms: No long-range aim penalty and reloading costs only 1 AP.
Gunnery Sergeant	Bring 'Em On Grants additional shot damage equal to half the number of enemies in sight. Grants additional aim and graze chance equal to 5x the number of enemies in sight.		Pistolero Reaction shots from pistols gain +70% weapon damage and the ability to crit. If idle at the end of turn, this unit will switch to their pistol if it has ammo. If this unit is wielding a pistol, grants a reaction shot at any enemy within 4 tiles that acts. [Pistolero reaction shots bypass half of cover DR/def and require hit chance >30]		Tandem Warheads Explosives employed by this soldier do full damage at the extent of their area of effect (instead of 50%).
Master Sergeant	Aggression Grants the primary weapon +20 crit and additional crit damage equal to the number of enemies in sight or squadsight.			Packmaster Equipped medikits, grenades, and mists receive an additional use. Grants +1 ammo to non-arc primary weapons. Grants +1 HP to healing from Restorative Mists.

Tactical Advice

Role: Medium Range Offense

Infantry serve as the versatile backbone of XCOM team compositions, wielding mid-range firepower alongside a range of defensive and utility perks. Their ability to fire twice per turn without moving makes them adept at wearing down enemies over time. To maximize their effectiveness, Infantry typically favor rifles and carbines over shotguns or SMGs, which rely more on positioning. For a more mobile approach, the Assault class is better suited.

The key to Infantry's potency lies in their Light 'Em Up ability, which stacks and allows for occasional bursts of high-accuracy damage. However, their rapid fire rate necessitates careful ammunition management. Early on they can choose to go Sentinel overwatch route or grenadier/tanking route, but whatever the choice, Infantry preserves the ability to fight twice per round. If you opt for AOE approach, Grenadier build offers high amounts of damage in full blast range with early 50% bonus already at CPL level. Tank build has some of the best tank perks available early as well, which makes it possible to gear Infantry to do significant damage, while still fulfilling tanking role effectively. They are also one of the best users of high-penetration Battle Rifles and Arc weapons and excel in role of bringing down sturdiest of aliens.

Finally, Infantry has access to strong utility Kitted and Packmaster perks, allowing them to meet the needs of the team with extra medikits, granades or other utility items.

Sample Builds

Tank Infantry

The Tank Infantry is a potent and straightforward hybrid build that leverages the excellent Infantry stat growths and the innate offensive power of Light 'Em Up to produce a well rounded combatant capable of dealing and tanking damage at a variety of ranges. Depending on roster needs, the build can be either taken in a more offensive or defensive direction and all available enhancements (Officer, Psi, Genemods) can be equally used to great effect to improve its capabilities.
Sample Tank Build: Will To Survive -> Tenacious Defense or Lock n' Load -> Any -> Ace -> Bring 'Em On or Pistolero -> Aggression

Will To Survive

Tenacious Defense Lock N' Load

Extra Conditioning Impact Kitted

Ace

Bring 'Em On Pistolero

Aggression

Recommended Weapons: Assault rifle, Battle Rifle, Arc Rifle. Secondary Autopistol.
Recommended Equipment: Drum Mags, Special ammo, Platings, Combat Stims, Psi Defender/Conduit.

Notes

• This build is one of the most versatile builds in the game, as it covers offense, defense, and sometimes utility depending on item/perk choices.
• Tenacious Defense can be switched out for Lock n' Load for more offensive uptime. When combining a Psi Defender and a plating on a Psi Infantry, you may also find the extra crit resist redundant anyways.
• Extra Conditioning against Kitted is a toss up between extra stats + free action chance and additional sustain.
• Infantry are top-tier Conduit users as they take multiple actions per turn that can benefit from its free action chance, and the flat damage bonus never hurts.
• Arc Rifles pair well with an Autopistol to cover both biological and mechanical threats, and LeU can even make the Arc Rifle do decent damage to biologicals in a pinch. Both MSGT perks are wasted when using one, however.

Overwatch Infantry

This straightforward build focuses on using mid-range reaction shots to cover front-line tanking soldiers and lock down alien movement as the AI generally dislikes running into reaction fire. Since this build forgoes any defensive perks, other soldiers with tanking builds must be placed between this soldier and any foes. With Lock n' Load and Sentinel providing constant offensive uptime and precise reaction fire, this build is very effective against enemies in cover and will rapidly rack up damage during protracted firefights. Light 'Em Up also allows it to shoot directly at a target if needed and immediately return to Overwatching, enabling a valuable maximum of 3 shots per turn. This can be further increased with Inner Fire (Psi, +1 OW shot) or Enhanced Metabolism (Gene mod, +1 OW shot).
Sample OW Build: Sentinel -> Lock n' Load -> Any -> Ace-> Bring 'Em On -> Aggression

Sentinel

Lock N' Load

Extra Conditioning Impact Kitted

Ace

Bring 'Em On

Aggression

Recommended Weapons: Assault rifle, Battle Rifle, SMG
Recommended Equipment: Drum Mags, Damage-increasers, Aim-increasers, Special ammo.

Notes

• This build will put Gene Mods to good use, especially Predictive Tracking for the added aim on reaction shots, Enhanced Metabolism for an extra Overwatch shot, and Adrenal Neurosympathy which is more likely to trigger thanks to the high number of actions per turn.
• Psi is also a strong option thanks to the Infantry's high will growth, Inner Fire, and the power of Conduit when taking multiple actions per turn.
• The choice at SGT is pretty open: Extra Conditioning is solid all around, Impact for situational Overwatch removal and extra damage, and Kitted gives some utility and ammo.
• Lategame, flying armors give extra defense, aim and increased sight to target multiple aliens and utilize extra overwatch shots. But beware of exposing your soldiers too much.

Grenadier Infantry

The Grenadier Infantry is an efficient package that delivers both fire support and explosive damage from mid range. Infantry grenadier brings high reliable amounts of damage to full AOE blast, further boosted by uniques Ace perk. Packmaster perk available very late into the build makes it possible to equip 9 granades on single soldier.
Sample Grenadier Build: Grenadier -> Payload -> Extra Conditioning -> Ace -> Tandem Warheads -> Packmaster

Grenadier

Payload

Extra Conditioning

Ace

Tandem Warheads

Packmaster

Recommended Weapons: Assault Rifle, SMG, Carbine, Arc Rifle. Secondary autopistol.
Recommended Equipment: HE grenades, AP grenades, Alien/Plasma grenades, Psi Frayer/Conduit.

Notes

• This build will enjoy Psi powers to use when out of grenades or if throwing grenades is not an option.
• High aim growth and Light 'Em Up make the Arc rifle a viable option for a large burst of damage against hard to crack mechs.

See also

Long War Rebalance: Soldiers
	Soldiers Assault Infantry Rocketeer Gunner Sniper Scout Medic Engineer
	MEC Troopers Marauder Goliath Jaeger Shogun
	Officers Psionics Gene Mods S.H.I.V.s