Class Builds (LW2)

Recommended builds

Recommended builds for each class. Attachments and utility items will vary depending on what is available to you.

Ranger (LW2)

Primary Weapon: Assault Rifle

Attachments: Scope, Auto loader, Suppressor

Utility Items: Grenade, Special Ammo, Armour

Specialist (LW2)

Primary Weapon: Assault Rifle

Attachments: Scope, Auto loader, Suppressor,

Utility Items: Grenade, MedKit, Armour

Gunner (LW2)

Primary Weapon: Cannon

Attachments: Scope, Auto Loader, Extended Magazine, Hair Trigger

Utility Items: Grenade, Special Ammo, Armour

Abilities

Suppressing Gunner: Grazing Fire, Lockdown, Demolition, Mayhem, Cool Under Pressure/Danger Zone, Traverse Fire, Kill Zone

Machine Gunner: Grazing Fire, Shredder, Demolition, Chain shot, Cyclic Fire, Saturation Fire, Rupture/Kill Zone

Summary:

Suppressing Gunner: This soldier is able to lay down tons of fire upon large groups of enemies. At the very least this will significantly decrease the accuracy of enemies with area suppression, or even take shots at ALL enemies in vision range with Kill zone. Anybody that tries to move will invoke the wrath of this overwatch-heavy soldier, and with an extra 25% damage and the ability to crit they can deal a lot of damage in a short space of time. Danger zone is the other alternative to Cool Under Pressure, allowing more targets to feel the debilitating effects of suppression. If there arent many enemies in the area Traverse Fire acts as your main small group tool of choice which is quite flexible with other abilities, and Demolition provides a nice anti-cover approach as well. The only weaknesses of this soldier is they will burn through ammo very quickly, and if an enemy so much as scratches the soldier the suppression is removed instantly which can knock a fair amount of man-power out of your squad.

Machine Gunner: The Anti-Thesis of the Suppressing Gunner, these troopers use their weapons much more aggressively.. This build is realtively flexible being that one can utilise area of effect abilities to kill multiple foes or at least remove their cover so others may get flanking shots. Their choice between Rupture or Kill-zone can further enhance their single target lethality or give this gunner more options for taking on multiple enemies at once. Cyclic fire is the 'ace in the hole' for really tough opponents such as andromedons or Sectopods which are heavily armed and armored. All in all this gives the gunner an impressive arsenal of abilities to clear out multiple foes or bring down the mightiest of enemies in just a few shots.

Assault (LW2)

Primary Weapon: Shotgun

Attachments: Laser Sight, Suppressor, Auto loader, Expanded Magazine

Utility Items: Special Ammo, Flash bang, Armour

Abilities:

Lightning Reflexes, Trench Gun, Killer Instinct, Extra Conditioning, Close Encounters, Close Combat Specialist, Street Sweeper

Summary: This perk tree trades armor and versatility for sheer damage output and manoeuvreability. By combining Run and Gun with Killer instinct one can inflict a lot of damage upon landing a critical hit, and the Trench Gun and Street Sweeper abilities allow for multiple enemies to be taken out in a single shot, allowing for incredible area damage, especially if used as an initiating shot (breaking concealment) where enemies will be tightly clustered. As well Lightning Reflexes allows the Assaulter to run right past multiple overwatch shots to get to their intended target, while Close Encounters and Close Combat Specialist provide gap-filling traits where Run and Gun is on Cooldown. Close Encounters may not be usable with Run and Gun but it can be used against foes within 4 tiles as long as the Assaulter hasnt used the ability and is close enough to the target, allowing for two attacks. Even if the target survives (or dodges) both shells Close Combat Specialist allows reaction fire on any foe who comes within 4 tiles, provided ammo is available - and essentially giving a 3rd and final chance before a single target can even attempt to retaliate. All in all this gives the Assault amazing damage potential against almost any foe, whether tanky opponent, or herds of footsoldiers.

Grenadier (LW2)

Primary Weapon: SMG/Assault Rifle

Attachments: Suppressor, Hair Trigger, Expanded Magazine, Auto-Loader

Utility Items: Grenade, Flash bang, Armour

Abilities

Demolition Grenadier: Sapper, Heavy Ordinance, Boosted Cores, Tandem Warheads, Biggest Booms, Volatile Mix, Combat Engineer

Support Grenadier: Rapid Deployment, Protector, Bluescreen Bombs, Sting Grenades, Dense Smoke, Volatile Mix, Full Kit

Summary

There are two paths to a Grenadier and these are the paths as displayed by the abilities above.

Demolition Grenadier: This perk tree is purely catered towards removing the cover that many enemies use and/or doing tremendous amounts of area damage. While it lacks versatility its destructive power is unquestioned and can turn even the most dug in enemies' defenses into their own grave. Combined with other abilities from other X-COM Soldiers, a Grenadier can set up a massive kill-zone for other soldiers, especially so for a Sniper with Serial. Less orthodoxly, it can also be used to destroy obstacles that may be obscuring lines of sight for other soldiers or more aptly, Snipers. While Heat Warheads may seem tempting, there are more suitable perks for other soldiers to deal with armour and you lose a lot of potential damage from Tandem Warheads that may stop a Grenadier from inflicting lethal damage on certain enemies.

Support Grenadier: This tree focuses on providing support for fellow X-COM soldiers, or inflicting debilitating effects on large groups of enemies. Flash grenades (which become stinger grenades) at higher ranks are much more effective, since they gain the ability to stun an enemy for 1 round, and this effect can stack with multiple grenades although the disorient does not. Full kit then grants even more grenades so a Grenadier can pepper entire platoons of enemies with Sting Grenades or protect their entire team with Smoke Grenades, providing significant defensive benefits for all within. Rapid deployment then rounds this out with a means to fire two grenades in one round or fire a grenade and still take normal actions. Ghost Grenade is another very tempting perk but is only useful in specific situations and doesn't outweigh the extra area of effect the support grenades get from Volatile Mix.

Shinobi (LW2)

Loadout

Primary Weapon: SMG

Attachments: Suppressor, Hair Trigger, Expanded Magazine

Utility Items: Grenade, Flash bang, Armour

Abilities: Ghostwalker, Lone Wolf, Covert, Bladestorm, Conceal, Tradecraft, Rapid Fire

Summary

The Shinobi’s the true strength is concealment; this build lets the rest of the squad benefit from the absolute wealth of reconnaissance information our hidden ghost can provide.

Technical (LW2)

Loadout

Primary Weapon: SMG

Attachments: Suppressor, Hair Trigger, Expanded Magazine

Utility Items: Grenade, Flash bang, Armour

Abilities: Fire in the Hole, Napalm-X, Burnout, Formidable, Incinerator, Tactical Sense, Bunker Buster

Summary

The Technical’s value depends entirely on the use of their cover-busting rocket and their debilitating flamer; this build makes the best of both their strengths while trading out their weaknesses.

Sharpshooter (LW2)

Overwatch Sniper-Team

Loadout

Primary Weapon: Sniper Rifle

Attachments: Scope, Auto Loader, Stock

Utility Items: Pistol, Special Ammo, Armour

Abilities: Death from Above, Damn Good Ground, Long watch, Centre Mass, Aggression, Hunters Instinct's, Serial

Summary

Create a sniper team with another soldier to provide proximity security and close-range flanking assistance. Sharpshooter hangs way back from the fighting and let the squad spot targets for them. Incredibly lethal as they rank and learn the very wanted Hunter's Instinct and Serial. While Serial operates on a very long cooldown, a well-timed Serial in conjunction with other XCOM operatives can potentially swing a bad situation into your favour. Serial does lose damage with each kill much like reaper however, so ordering may be required to achieve the best results.

Designated Marksman

Loadout

Primary Weapon: Sniper Rifle

Attachments: Scope, Auto Loader, Stock

Utility Items: Pistol, Special Ammo, Armour

Abilities: Death from Above, Hi-Def Holo, Long watch, Independent Tracking, Vital Point Targeting, Multi-Targeting

Summary

Sharpshooter marks targets for their allies to pick off. Can gradually be built up to offer up to +20 aim, critical chance, and +2 extra damage on each attack for 2 rounds which even provides the Sharpshooter a chance to reap some of the benefits. Once a Sharpshooter reaches GSgt for the multi-targeting perk and manages to get a Mk II Holotargeter, they can start marking entire groups of enemies which allows for very swift interdiction from other XCOM soldiers. While Rapid Targeting may seem the more Logical perk to choose at Lcpl rank, it operates on a multiple turn cooldown, only affects one enemy and stops a Sharpshooter from giving his/her fair share of sniping with Death from Above. Those who can live without Long Watch could also take Phantom instead to allow for the Sharpshooter to continue stealth operations and marking out targets without too much fear of detection, and instead of aggression, one could pick Conceal to make for a true stealthy Sharpshooter. The final rank grants some flexibility for the commander in question to fill in the gap wherever it is needed.

Notes

This page should be in table format and be expanded to include; SPARKS class, Level perks, AWC perks, Leader Perks, Perhaps moved in to the class description page (?), add squad builds depending on mission type & infiltration time