Guardian (Long War)

Guardian

MEC variant of the Medic class. Guardians are classically specialised in Restorative Mist use, and can greatly increase both its charges and effectiveness. Guardians can also specialise in improving overwatch, and also have a decent selection of defensive perks.

Primary Weapon: MEC Primary Weapons

Secondary Weapon: MEC Secondary Weapon Systems

Class-Limited items: MEC Equipment items

Abilities

Rank	Ability
Specialist	Opportunist Eliminates the Aim penalty on reaction shots, and allows reaction shots to cause critical hits.
	No other bonuses.
Lance Corporal	Field Medic For soldiers, grants one free use of a medikit per mission and allows additional medikit items to be used two times per battle instead of one. Also allows Restorative Mist items to be used three times per battle instead of once.	Steadfast Never panic as a result of getting wounded, allies panicking, allies getting wounded or killed, or the intimidation ability.	Ranger Confers +1 damage with primary weapons, rocket launchers, MEC secondary weapons and sidearms. Negates the long-range accuracy penalty with sidearms when shooting beyond 14 meters.
	No other bonuses.	+5 Will.	No other bonuses.
Corporal	Platform Stability Shots taken before any costly actions have +10 Aim and +10% critical chance. Also grants +10 aim for purposes of reducing scatter if the soldier has not moved this turn, and increases range of Blaster Launcher (which does not scatter).	Automated Threat Assessment Confers 0.5 DR (50% chance to absorb one point of damage) at all times, and confers +15 defense when in overwatch until the unit takes an overwatch shot.	Covering Fire Allows certain reaction shots to trigger on many enemy actions, not just movement (excludes reload, overwatch, and hunker down actions).
	No other bonuses.	+2 Will.	No other bonuses.
Sergeant	Packmaster Limited-use small items (including those from perks) receive 1 additional use.	Repair Servos Repairs up to 50% of damage taken (max 2 per turn). Value on icon represents repairs remaining at 2 points per hp. Additional damage taken before repairs are complete reduces how much can be repaired from prior hits by 50%.	Sentinel Allows two reaction shots during Overwatch, instead of only one.
	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.
Tech Sergeant	Savior Provides 2 item-free medikit charges and +4 healing bonus to medikits. Restorative Mist units restore three more health per use.	Deadeye Confers +15 aim against flying targets.	Reactive Targeting Sensors Unit gets a free shot back at the first enemy who attacks the MEC each turn, provided there's enough ammo to do so.
	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.	+2 Aim, +2 Will.
Gunnery Sergeant	Vital Point Targeting Confers 2 bonus damage with primary guns, and +1 damage with sidearms, against humans and alien targets whose species have been autopsied.	Lock N' Load Primary weapons receive one additional shot or burst before a reload is required, and you may reload your primary weapon as the first action of your turn without ending the turn.	Absorption Fields Reduces most incoming damage to this unit, scaling up as damage increases. Specifically: reduces 40% of any damage taken after 2; after all other damage reduction has been applied.
	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.	-1 Mobility.
Master Sergeant	Ready for Anything If the unit fires without taking any other costly action, it automatically enters overwatch at the end of its turn.	Damage Control When this unit takes damage, all further damage will be reduced by 1 or 2 points (1.5 DR) for the next 2 turns.	Double Tap Allows a second action restricted to Standard Shot, Precision Shot, or Disabling Shot as long as the first action was a Standard Shot, Precision Shot, Disabling Shot, or Flush provided no costly actions were taken. 1 turn cooldown. (Note: Double Tap is cancelled in the following cases: (1) the first shot results in a kill, and no more enemies are visible to the unit, or (2) for gunners only, the first shot depletes the ammo.)
	+2 Aim, +2 Will.	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.

Stat Progression

Rank	/level	total	/level	total	/level*	total*
Specialist	1	1	3	3	2(3)	2(-3)
Lance Corporal	0	1	3	6	2(3)	4(-6)
Corporal	1	2	3	9	2(3)	6(-9)
Sergeant	0	2	3	12	2(3)	8(-12)
Tech Sergeant	1	3	3	15	2(3)	10(-15)
Gunnery Sergeant	0	3	3	18	2(3)	12(-18)
Master Sergeant	1	4	3	21	2(3)	14(-21)

• Note that, even without Hidden Potential turned on, there is a chance of gaining 1 extra will per level (shown in parentheses above).

Sample Builds

Overwatch / Healer

LCPL: Field Medic: Restorative Mist x3.

CPL: Covering Fire : Reaction shot on enemy actions.

SGT: Sentinel : Two OW shots.

TSGT: Savior : Restorative Mist on steroids (+3 HP per heal).

GSGT: Lock N' Load : Reload without ending the turn.

MSGT: Ready For Anything : Automatic OW after firing as first action.

Other than the Valkyrie, the Guardian is the other MEC unit that provides great OW perks with a high Aim progression (+21 total Aim at MSGT). This build can fire up to 3 times per turn including reaction fire on enemy actions. The Guardian is a natural healer - each Restorative Mist item is tripled by Field Medic and made more effective by Savior. So, with up to 9 RMs in your bag, your supply of HP is unlikely to ever run dry, even on the longest missions. If your squad must take damage, try to spread it out, so that you can maximize the effectiveness of RM. Since the Guardian relies on its primary weapon to engage the enemy from a distance, it doesn't benefit much from any other secondary weapons. On most turns you will either fire/OW or reload/OW. On shorter missions, where you are unlikely to need 9 RMs, consider equipping a grenade launcher. Equip anything that increases aim and defense (e.g. Battle Computer, Tactical Sensors).

Tank / Healer

LCPL: Field Medic: Restorative Mist x3.

CPL: Automated Threat Assessment : +0.5 DR and +15 defense while in Overwatch.

SGT: Repair Servos : Self-repair.

TSGT: Savior : Restorative Mist on steroids (+3 HP per heal).

GSGT: Absorption Fields : Extra DR.

MSGT: Damage Control : +1.5 DR.

The Guardian tank build is much more versatile than the Goliath tank. This "armored ambulance" can not only take a punch, but it can also heal itself and everyone around it with a healthy supply of Restorative Mist. Put it in a MEC-5 suit and load up on RM. Equip a Core Armoring and Alloy Carbide Plating to maximize tanking, and a Battle Computer for increased aim / defense. The Guardian tank is also more proficient than the Goliath at using its primary weapon due to its +10 aim progression and the Opportunist perk. Most of the time the unit will be hunkering down in One for All position, and either OW with ATA, or heal.

See also

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