Rocketeer (Long War)

 Rocketeer

The Rocketeer class is similar to an explosives specialized Heavy in vanilla XCOM. Their signature ability is Fire Rocket.

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

Secondary Weapon: Rocket Launcher.

Class-Limited items: Rocket, Shredder Rocket.

Abilities

Rank	Ability
Specialist	Fire Rocket Fire a high explosive rocket using an equipped launcher.
	No other bonuses.
Lance Corporal	Will to Survive Gain 1.5 Damage Reduction (DR) if in cover and not flanked.	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.	HEAT Warheads Your rockets and grenades do an additional 50% damage to robotic enemies after damage reduction is assessed.
	+3 Will.	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.
Corporal	Rapid Reaction If on Overwatch, confers a bonus reaction shot (to a maximum three shots total) for every reaction shot that is a hit.	Fire in the Hole Grants +10 aim for purposes of reducing scatter if the soldier has not moved this turn. Increases range of Blaster Launcher (which does not scatter).	Snapshot For snipers, removes the sniper rifle's restriction on firing and Overwatch after taking a costly action. Any shots taken after using any costly action suffer a -10 Aim penalty. For rocketeers, reduces the aim and range penalty for launching a rocket after taking a costly action to 25% (from 50%).
	+2 Aim.	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.
Sergeant	Suppression Fire a barrage that pins down a target, granting Opportunist reaction fire against it if it moves. Imposes a -30 penalty to aim and reduces range of many area-of-effect attacks, including grenades. Also negates overwatch from the target while suppression is active. Lastly, enemy AI prioritizes breaking the suppression by shooting the suppressor, so it functions as a mini-taunt. Not possible with shotguns, sniper rifles, or strike rifles.	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).	Shredder Ammo The Shredder debuff causes any unit hit to take 40% additional damage (after DR, rounded down) from all sources. Gunners and MECs apply the Shredder debuff for the remainder of the current turn to any target struck by their primary weapon. Rocketeers get an extra rocket that is weaker than a standard rocket (60% rounded down), cannot penetrate cover, has a +50% larger blast radius, and applies the Shredder debuff to all targets struck by the rocket for the next 3 turns.
	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.
Tech Sergeant	Tactical Sense Confers +5 Defense per enemy in sight (max +20).	Opportunist Eliminates the Aim penalty on reaction shots, and allows reaction shots to cause critical hits.	Mayhem Confers +2 damage for suppression, SAWs, LMGs, explosive grenades, proximity mines and rocket launchers. Confers +4 damage for sniper and long rifles, marksman's, strike and reflex rifles using Standard Shot or Precision Shot.
	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.
Gunnery Sergeant	Extra Conditioning Confers 1-4 bonus health based on which type of armor is equipped. Heavier armor increases the bonus.	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.)	Shock & Awe Allows 1 additional standard rocket to be fired per battle.
	+3 Aim, +3 Will, +1 Mobility.	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.
Master Sergeant	Tandem Warheads Explosives employed by this soldier do full damage to the maximum extent of their area of effect.	Javelin Rockets Your rockets now travel much further(+33%) and can hit targets beyond your visual range.	Danger Zone Increases area of effect of Suppression, rockets, grenade launchers and proximity mine launchers.
	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.

*Perks tagged with blue are fixed even with Second Wave Training Roulette option is enabled

Stat Progression

Rank	/ Level			Total
			*			*
Specialist	1	3	5(-6)	1	3	5(-6)
Lance Corporal	0	3	5(-6)	1	6	10(-12)
Corporal	0	3	3(-4)	1	9	13(-16)
Sergeant	1	3	3(-4)	2	12	16(-20)
Tech Sergeant	0	3	3(-4)	2	15	19(-24)
Gunnery Sergeant	0	3	3(-4)	2	18	22(-28)
Master Sergeant	1	3	3(-4)	3	21	25(-32)

• Note that, even without Hidden Potential turned on, there is a chance of gaining 1 extra will per level (shown in parentheses above). Psionic soldiers can also gain 1-6 extra will per psi level (1 + rand(6)).

Tactical Advice

Role: Mid/Long range Offensive Support.

An offensive support class, whose value depends on the players playstyle. The Rocketeer's speciality is the Rocket Launcher that she carries with her. Unlike Vanilla, the Long War Rocketeer perk tree focus almost exclusively on ways to improve the rocket launcher.

Even though they are less reliable to hit, in Long war, the rocket launcher's primary uses are still the same as in vanilla: clearing tightly packed groups or hard cover, while letting the rest of the squad clean up any stragglers. Unlike vanilla, Rocketeers can move and fire, though with a hefty aim penalty and reduced range, which can be somewhat negated with the Snap Shot perk.

Generally speaking, rockets should usually be fired as one of the first actions in a turn due to their cover destruction support, somewhat random damage, and shredder application support potential. Knowing when to use them in a fight and when to hold them steady in case things go wrong is important game knowledge that can make or break campaigns. Some Rocketeer builds will ease this burden by giving the soldier utility outside of firing the rocket, while others will double down on the concept to make the rockets as impactful as possible. Broadly speaking, rockets should only be used when the situation can’t be safely handled by your other troops or to take down exceptionally dangerous units. This is due to the fact that rockets are a limited resource on any given mission and, as Dr. Vahlen will happily inform you, aliens killed by explosives do not drop artifacts, not even their own corpses or wrecks.

Another important ability is the Shredder Ammo perk, which gives a free rocket with increased AoE and increases the damage dealt by friendly forces, while also doing respectable damage on its own. A major difference from vanilla is that Shredder Rockets will not destroy cover, and will not affect units that are in cover relative to the center of the blast.

With perks like Ranger, Suppression and Danger Zone and a respectable Aim increase per level, the Rocketeer can hold her own during fire fights if built as a rifleman, though less so than Infantry or Gunners.

Unlike Vanilla, Long War Rocketeers rely on their Aim to determine how precisely they can aim their rockets; a higher aim will mean that a rocket will scatter less, also the further away the target, the higher the scatter will be. It can be valuable to end a Rocketeer's turn with steady weapon rather than overwatch. Equipment such as the SCOPE reduce scatter, but laser weapons and carbines do not influence rocket scatter.

Due to the way that rockets behave in Long War, it is very dangerous to shoot rockets while friendly forces are near the target area, as the rockets can easily veer off course and hit friendly soldiers, meaning that danger close rocket support is next to impossible.

Rocketeers can carry additional rockets in item slots, but each one has a weight of 2 (twice that of most items). This can be offset by using lighter armor, or using an SMG as a primary weapon. Even without the Javelin perk, rockets can be fired slightly beyond visual range, allowing a lightly armored Rocketeer to remain slightly back from the front line while still being able to launch rockets.

Rocketeers excel at removing groups of flying enemies; a Rocketeer with the HEAT perk can not only eliminate the support drones surrounding a Cyberdisc, but also inflict significant damage. Rocketeers can enable aggressive styles of play where rockets are used to remove cover, while others push against the enemy position.

Sample Builds

Rocketeers, more than any other unit, can save a situation gone horribly wrong, by blowing up a swarm of aliens, often clearing an entire flank or removing the cover of all opposition with a single action. They require forethought with Steady Weapon to make them effective, however, meaning they can be useless if they're caught out of position. As Rocketeers are difficult to use in the beginning of the game without careful preparation because of rocket scatter, it would be wise to choose Snap Shot; however further on in the game as aim improves, and eventually when the Blaster Launcher is available for manufacture, perk choices such as Fire in the Hole that increase the range and accuracy of rockets without moving can be highly desirable. In the midgame, Council requests allow troops to instantly be promoted from Specialist to Corporal; with this a bumbling rookie can be immediately launched to the level of a competent Rocketeer with no labor required.

Living Missile Silo

Perk progression
-	Lance Corporal	Corporal	Sergeant	Tech Sergeant	Gunnery Sergeant	Master Sergeant
Perk by tier	HEAT Warheads	Fire in the Hole	Shredder Ammo	Mayhem	Shock & Awe	Javelin Rockets
Build Overview
Stat Boosts	N/A
Strengths	devastating rockets especially against robotics
Weaknesses	demands good positioning, little use outside of rockets, vulnerable
Preferred battle sites	All
Most common Loadout	Extra Rocket(s), SCOPE
Power Ranks	CPL for decent accuracy, SGT and GSG for rocket supply
Description	This build is a massively powerful, long range mobile artillery unit that requires some preparation for maximum effectiveness. The only unit in the game that can single-handedly destroy a swarm of flying robotic units in a single turn, and can also destroy huge swaths of cover while doing massive damage. Falls off compared to MECs somewhat in the late game, only to come roaring back in the very-late game with the Blaster Launcher, becoming the most damaging unit in the game.
Strategic Analysis	A carbine or SMG is sorely needed to compensate for the mobility loss of carrying several rockets. Try to keep this soldier in position and behind cover while moving through the map before making contact so that if first contact is brutal a rocket can punch a hole in it immediately. Special care needs to be taken deciding when to use rockets on longer missions since this soldier contributes little outside of them.

Overwatch Rocketeer

Perk progression
-	Lance Corporal	Corporal	Sergeant	Tech Sergeant	Gunnery Sergeant	Master Sergeant
Perk by tier	Ranger	Rapid Reaction	Platform Stability	Opportunist	Extra Conditioning	Danger Zone
Build Overview
Stat Boosts	+5 aim, +3 will, +1 mobility
Strengths	decent overwatch utility and survivability
Weaknesses	rockets are underwhelming late game and fewer overall, burns ammo quickly
Preferred battle sites	All
Most common Loadout	Extra Rocket, SCOPE
Power Ranks	TSG for Overwatch, MSG for rocket upgrade
Description	An interesting hybrid rifleman that is both a powerful shooter and rocket slinger. Suffers from the fact that rockets need a lot of specialization to become truly useful and cannot get key perks to be both an optimal Overwatch and Rocket build. Platform Stability compensates for the lack of Fire in the Hole and synergizes with Rapid Reaction to give +10 aim and crit to all three shots.
Strategic Analysis	This build focuses much more on Overwatch power than rocket power. This means you will only have 2 or 3 rockets per mission even in late game fights, so spend them wisely. Ammo management can also be difficult due to lack of access to Lock N Load, so reload whenever possible.

Snapshot Survivalist

Perk progression
-	Lance Corporal	Corporal	Sergeant	Tech Sergeant	Gunnery Sergeant	Master Sergeant
Perk by tier	Will to Survive	Snapshot	Shredder Ammo	Tactical Sense	Extra Conditioning	Javelin Rockets
Build Overview
Stat Boosts	+3 aim, +6 will, +1 mobility
Strengths	very mobile and durable for a rocketeer, line of sight easily managed, frees good cover for squadmates
Weaknesses	trades power for its survivability, rocket accuracy often somewhat lacking
Preferred battle sites	All, doesn’t mind maps with bad line of sight
Most common Loadout	Extra Rocket(s), SCOPE
Power Ranks	SGT for rocket supply, TSG and GSG for durability
Description	This build is focused on being able to fire rockets even with badly placed Rocketeer, and survive the consequences. Consequentially this Rocketeer is much more durable and doesn’t mind being part of the frontlines, especially with heavier armor. Javelin Rockets may seem counter intuitive, but it gives back the range lost when snapshotting which can be needed sometimes.
Strategic Analysis	Positioning and good cover is less important with this build, meaning the good cover positions can be left to other squadmates while the rocketeer moves forward into the frontlines. Snapshot is useful for repositioning, but SHOULD NOT BE USED UNLESS ACTUALLY NEEDED. Steadying will still give much more accurate rockets, so don’t neglect keeping rockets steadied until needed.

Rifleman Rocketeer

Perk progression
-	Lance Corporal	Corporal	Sergeant	Tech Sergeant	Gunnery Sergeant	Master Sergeant
Perk by tier	Ranger	Fire in the Hole	Shredder Ammo	Tactical Sense	Shock & Awe	Tandem Warheads
Build Overview
Stat Boosts	N/A
Strengths	powerful rockets, decent firefight damage, relatively safe on frontlines
Weaknesses	lacks the pure devastation of HEAT-Mayhem rockets, still vulnerable if a shot actually connects on it
Preferred battle sites	All
Most common Loadout	Extra Rocket(s), SCOPE
Power Ranks	CPL for decent accuracy, SGT and GSG for rocket supply
Description	This build keeps a heavy focus on powerful, accurate rockets but invests slightly more into survivability and rifle damage with Tactical Sense and Ranger. Tactical Sense also makes advancing toward enemies less risky, meaning Tandem Warheads or Danger Zone can more easily be taken over Javelin Rockets for more damage or cover destruction respectively.
Strategic Analysis	A carbine is generally preferred for the accuracy boost on shots, though an SMG for better mobility before rockets are fired also works nicely. This soldier can use its rockets a bit more freely since it can still contribute meaningfully to firefights without them via noteworthy chip damage. Tactical Sense certainly helps keep fire away from this soldier but care must still be taken to avoid flanks, stray shots, and of course enemy explosives since it lacks any true tank perks and can’t afford to carry tank items.

Rockets

Rockets in Long War behave quite differently than in vanilla. See Rockets for more details.

Rocketeers get one rocket as part of their standard loadout, and can gain additional rockets with the Rocketeer and Shredder Rocket (renamed Shredder Ammo) perks as in vanilla. Additional rockets and shredder rockets are also available as carried items, however rockets are heavy, so carrying additional rockets as items will cause a mobility penalty due to encumbrance.

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