Gunner (LWR)

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  Gunner

The Gunner class is a support fire specialist, capable of wielding the largest automatic weapons in XCOM's arsenal to either inflict heavy damage, or lock down and debuff hostiles.

Primary Weapon: SAWs, LMGs, Assault Rifles, Carbines, SMGs.

Secondary Weapon: None.

Class-Limited items: SAWs, LMGs.

Abilities

Rank	Ability
Specialist	Suppression Suppress [Pinned if protected by cover, suppressive fire if not, no reaction fire, -35 aim, -35% mobility/ability range] targets. Breaks with suppressive fire if the target acts. Requires 2 ammo, and uses the 2nd ammo if the suppression breaks with suppressive fire. Suppressing makes this unit 30% more likely to be critically hit. 2 turn cooldown.
Lance Corporal	Will To Survive All cover DR increased to 70% 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 +10 aim and can critically hit. Slayer All weapons and equipment deal bonus % weapon damage equal to the target's current HP.		Mayhem Suppression has 1 turn less cooldown and deals suppressive fire damage immediately.
Corporal	Critical System Targeting Shots against autopsied mechanical units deal +50% damage and gain +2 penetration. Does not work with the Arc Rifle or Arc Pistol.		Grit Grants +3 armor HP and %DR equal to half of the %HP lost.		Penetrator The primary weapon gains +2 penetration.
Sergeant	Double Tap Shooting or using burst allows this unit to fire an extra shot (at +25 aim/crit if it's the same target) if not out of ammo or targets. 1 turn cooldown after 2nd shot is used.		Ready For Anything At the end of each turn, if this unit did not move and is not at risk of triggering reaction fire, Overwatch activates. Grants +2 ammo to non-arc primary weapons.		Holo Rounds Firing at a target during this unit's turn holos [Prevents concealment/stealth, incoming shots gain +20 aim and +1 penetration] them for 3 turns.
Tech Sergeant	Shredder Primary weapon shots during this unit's turn apply Shred equal to the dealt as a percent of the target's max HP (which increases subsequent damage the target receives by the amount of Shred) to any unit they damage for the remainder of the battle.
Gunnery Sergeant	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.		Kitted Grants a medikit, a smoke grenade, and +1 ammo to non-arc primary weapons.
Master 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.			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.

Stat Progression

Rank	Attribute Gains
Specialist	+0-1 (50%)	+3-9	-	+2-6
Lance Corporal	+0-1 (42%)	+1-3	-	+0-2
Corporal	+0-1 (42%)	+1-3	-
Sergeant	+0-1 (42%)	-	-	-
Tech Sergeant	+0-1 (42%)	-	-	-
Gunnery Sergeant	+0-1 (41%)	-	-	-
Master Sergeant	+0-1 (41%)	-	-	-
Total	+0-7	+5-15	-	+2-8

Predictable Potential:

Rank	Attribute Gains
Specialist	+1	+6	-	+4
Lance Corporal	+1	+2	-	+1
Corporal	+1	+2	-
Sergeant	-	-	-	-
Tech Sergeant	-	-	-	-
Gunnery Sergeant	-	-	-	-
Master Sergeant	-	-	-	-
Total	+3	+10	-	+5

Tactical Advice

Role: Medium Range Offense / Offensive Support

The Gunner is mostly unchanged from vanilla. A major decision when building a Gunner is deciding if they will use a LMG or SAW-type weapon. SAW Gunners have more mobility and accuracy while LMG Gunners are slow and inaccurate but boast an improved Suppression thanks to the weapon's Danger Zone and a deep pull of ammo to draw from.

Suppression is a powerful tool used to chip down exposed targets or pin down ennemies behind cover to prevent dangerous flanks. Besides this innate utility, they also have access to a large array of offensive and defensive options which gives them a lot of flexibility in their builds, with many viable combinations.

They enjoy the high power of their class weapons, granting them a sizable damage output that will put Shredder to good use. Gunners are however quite slow with no movement growth and heavy weaponry and thus are most at home in fights that don't require a lot of repositioning.

Sample Builds

Tank Gunner

The Tank Gunner mixes sturdyness with high damage in a threatening package. It is the only biological class with access to Grit and it is put to good use to endure an impressive amount of punishment that would leave most other tank builds long dead. Double Tap rounds out the offensive capabilities of the build with strong bursts of shredding damage that can crack open heavily armored ennemies. Supression remains a reliable utility option but an alert Commander will keep an eye on available ammo lest a crucial Double Tap opportunity be missed.

Sample Tank Build: Will To Survive -> Grit or Critical System Targeting -> Double Tap-> Shredder -> Tenacious Defense or Lock N' Load -> Extra Conditioning or Bring 'Em On

Will To Survive

Grit Critical System Targeting

Double Tap

Shredder

Tenacious Defense Lock N' Load

Extra Conditioning Bring 'Em On

Recommended Weapons: SAW
Recommended Equipment: Reinforced plating/Alloy plating/Regenerative plating, Flak Ammo, Combat Stims, Walker Servos.

Notes:

• Critical System Targeting sacrifices the tanking potential of Grit in favor of absurd shredding numbers on Mech opponents. A choice for bold Commanders.
• Tenacious Defense can be switched for Lock'n Load for more offensive uptime, although the lost crit mitigation will hurt late game when out of smoke.
• Extra Conditioning is a good all-rounder choice. Bring 'Em On will boost damage to even more impressive levels.
• Defensive Gene Mods will noticably boost tanking abilities

Overwatch Gunner

The Overwatch Gunner is an offensive build that utilizes the high damage of the SAW with Sentinel and Shredder to deliver hefty damage through reaction fire and lock down ennemy movement. Ready for Anything grants some much needed aim as well as free overwatching as long as the Gunner does not move. For this reason, this build is most at home in heavy and protratcted firefights where it can fire uninterrupted - racking up shredding damage to overwhelm the opposition. Pairing this build with another overwatch class will wear down ennemy battle lines at an alarming pace. Supression - while still useful - is less optimal than on other builds.

Sample Tank Build: Sentinel -> Penetrator or Critical System Targeting -> Ready for Anything-> Shredder -> Lock N' Load -> Bring 'Em On

Sentinel

Penetrator Critical System Targeting

Ready For Anything

Shredder

Lock N' Load

Bring 'Em On

Recommended Weapons: SAW, Assault Rifle, LMG
Recommended Equipment: Scope, Alloy Bipod, Flak Ammo, Respirator Implant, Alien Trophy, Damage boosting ammo.

Notes:

• Critical System Targeting combined with Flak ammo allow a high specialization against Mechs. Penetrator is less specialized but usable against many targets.
• This build will put Gene Mods to good use, especially Predictive Tracking for the added aim on reaction shots and Adrenal Neurosympathy which is more likely to trigger thanks to the high number of actions per turn.
• The LMG is an uncoventionnal choice for this build due to the steep aim penalty. Sufficently mitigated however (e.g Mind Merge + Holo Rounds), the resulting damage will put most other offensive builds to shame.

Mayhem Gunner (Bullet Wizard)

The Mayhem Gunner build focuses on debuffing and crowd control through Suppression boosted by Holo Rounds and Shredder to allow other squad members to provide more accurate and damaging fire. With Mayhem and Danger Zone from the LMG, the Gunner can suppress and debuff entire groups of ennemies; denting targets and pinning them down if in cover. The cooldown turn of Suppression can be put to good use by repositioning, reloading or simply using the unwieldy LMG to deliver a powerful if innacurate (Flush is advised) shredding shot to a target. While slow, this build can fix this problem thanks to a great freedom in terms of equipment choices.

Sample Debuffer Build: Mayhem -> Penetrator -> Holo Rounds -> Shredder -> Lock n' Load or First Aid -> Extra Conditioning or Bring 'Em On

Mayhem

Penetrator

Holo Rounds

Shredder

Lock N' Load First Aid

Extra Conditioning Bring 'Em On

Recommended Weapons: LMG
Recommended Equipment: Alien trophy, Respirator Implant, Proximity Sensor/Extrasensory Vest, Walking Servos, Medikit.

Notes:

• First Aid can picked over Lock N' Load to offer some more staying power to the squad.
• Extra Conditioning offers some added mobility. Bring 'Em On might up suppressive fire damage by a few points if enough opponents are visible.
• Predictive Tracking is a good choice for the Suppression reaction shot and the boost to Flush Damage
• This build has the particularity to be very stat-independant, even Gunners cursed by low stat totals are salvageable as a Mayhem Gunner.

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