Rocketeer (Long War)

The Rocketeer class is similar to an explosives specialized Heavy in vanilla XCOM.

Primary Weapon: Assault Rifles, Carbines, SMGs

Secondary Weapon: Rocket Launcher

Rockets

Rockets in Long War behave quite differently than in vanilla. See Rockets.

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.

Abilities

Rank	Ability
Specialist	Fire Rocket Fire a rocket using an equipped launcher.
	-1 Mobility.[Verify?]
Lance Corporal	HEAT Warheads Rockets and Grenades do 50% extra damage to robotic enemies.	Covering Fire Overwatch reaction can trigger on enemy attack; does not work with suppression	Rapid Reaction Confers a second reaction shot, if on Overwatch and the first reaction shot is a hit.
	'	'	'
Corporal	Snap Shot Reduces the aim and range penalty when firing rockets after moving.	Suppression Can fire a special shot that grants reaction fire at a single target. The target also suffers a -30 Aim penalty and reduces the range of all AOE attacks.	Smoke Grenade Carry a smoke grenade. Deploying a smoke grenade as your first action no longer end your turn.
	'	'	'
Sergeant	Shredder Ammo Grants a special Shredder Rocket, which increases damage done to hit targets, but can't penetrate cover.	Tactical Sense Confers +5 Defense per enemy in sight (max +20).	Opportunist Reaction shots no longer suffer aim penalty and are allowed to crit
	'	'	'
Tech Sergeant	Will to Survive Reduces all normal damage taken by 1.5 if in cover and not flanked.	Ready For Anything If the unit fires without moving, it automatically enters overwatch.	Ranger +1 damage with primary weapon.
	'	'	'
Gunnery Sergeant	Mayhem Confers extra 2 damage to LMGs, Sniper Rifles, Rockets, Suppression, Grenades, and Mines.	Javelin Rockets Increases rocket range by 33% and rockets can be fired beyond visual range.	Danger Zone '
	'	'	'
Master Sergeant	Rocketeer Allows 1 additional standard rocket to be fired per battle.	Sprinter +3 mobility.	Extra Conditioning Confers bonus health based on which type of armor is equipped. Heavier armor increases the bonus.
	'	'	'

Stat Progression

Rank	HP at level	Total HP	Aim at level	Total Aim
Specialist	1	1	3	3
Lance Corporal	0	1	3	6
Corporal	0	1	3	9
Sergeant	1	2	3	12
Tech Sergeant	0	2	3	15
Gunnery Sergeant	0	2	3	18
Master Sergeant	1	3	3	21

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, this can be somewhat negated with the Snap Shot perk.

Another important ability is the Shredder Ammo perk, which 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 Covering Fire, Suppression and Danger Zone and a respectable Aim increase per level, the Rocketeer can hold her own during fire fights, even though they should still be kept away from the front lines.

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.

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.

As mentioned before, the usefulness of the Rocketeer depends entirely on the playstyle. Rocketeers tend to favor more aggressive styles of play, where rockets are used to remove cover, while others push against the enemy position.