Secondary Weapons (Long War)

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Similar to primary weapons, Long War broadens the amount of sidearms available, adding five machine pistols, one per weapon tier, and adding the Sawed-off Shotgun, a sidearm that is unique to the Ballistic tier. See the Primary Weapons page for more information on the new weapon tiers.

While the number of Rocket Launchers and MEC secondary weapons remains unchanged, explosives in general have received an overhaul. Unlike vanilla, where explosives dealt a fixed amount of damage to all enemies within the blast radius, in Long War, explosives deal a variable amount of damage that scales with the distance to the center. The further a target is from the center of the blast, the less damage it will take. This also applies to destructible environment, which is a little more durable in general compared to vanilla.

Soldiers belonging to the Gunner class and SHIV units cannot equip secondary weapons of any kind.

Soldier sidearms

Pistols

As the default sidearm weapons, Pistols are quite similar to their vanilla counterparts, but now have a limited amount of ammunition, similar to primary weapons, and need to be reloaded independently from primary weapons. In addition, Pistols incur large aim penalties when firing at longer range, though the Gunslinger perk negates this penalty entirely.

There are no Pistol equivalents for the Gauss and Pulse Laser weapon tiers, though there are Machine Pistols.

Name	Usable by	Aim	Dmg	CrD	Weapon ammo	Weapon range	Overwatch range	Special properties	Prerequisites		Cost
															Other
Pistol	Rookies Assaults Infantry Engineers Medics Scouts Snipers		1-3 (2)	3-4 (3.2)	2 (3)	30	30	Aim penalty at long range without the Gunslinger perk	XCOM starts with an unlimited supply
Laser Pistol	Rookies Assaults Infantry Engineers Medics Scouts Snipers	+6	2-4 (3)	4-5 (4.5)	2 (3)	30	30	Aim penalty at long range without the Gunslinger perk	Beam Lasers	15	30 (45)	4 (6)		0 (2)		10 days (5.0 days)
Plasma Pistol	Rookies Assaults Infantry Engineers Medics Scouts Snipers		3-5 (4)	5-7 (6.0)	2 (3)	30	30	Aim penalty at long range without the Gunslinger perk	Compact Plasma Weapons	90	120 (180)	10 (15)	30 (45)	1 (6)	1 Alien Pistol	12 days (6.0 days)

Machine Pistols

Machine Pistols can be equipped instead of regular Pistols, providing more damage at the cost of a penalty to both mobility and aim. Like regular Pistols, they have a limited amount of ammunition, and incur large aim penalties when firing at longer range, though the Gunslinger perk negates this penalty entirely.

Unlike regular Pistol, there are Machine Pistols available for the Gauss and Pulse Laser weapon tiers, though their penalties may cause you to consider if it's worth it to equip these weapons over Laser Pistols.

Name	Usable by	Mob	Aim	Dmg	Crit	CrD	Weapon ammo	Weapon range	Overwatch range	Special properties	Prerequisites		Cost
																	Other
Machine Pistol	Rookies Assaults Infantry Engineers Medics Scouts Snipers	-1	-8	2-4 (3)		4-5 (4.5)	2 (3)	30	30	Aim penalty at long range without the Gunslinger perk	XCOM starts with an unlimited supply
Heater	Rookies Assaults Infantry Engineers Medics Scouts Snipers	-1	-2	3-5 (4)		5-7 (6.0)	2 (3)	30	30	Aim penalty at long range without the Gunslinger perk	Beam Lasers	15	25 (37)	5 (7)		0 (2)		12 days (6.0 days)
Gauss Autopistol	Rookies Assaults Infantry Engineers Medics Scouts Snipers	-1	-8	3-5 (4)		5-7 (6.0)	3 (4)	30	30	Aim penalty at long range without the Gunslinger perk Ignores 0.34 of target's DR	Gauss Weapons	35	40 (60)	8 (12)	3 (4)	0 (3)		12 days (6.0 days)
Blaster	Rookies Assaults Infantry Engineers Medics Scouts Snipers	-1	-8	4-6 (5)	+8	6-9 (7.5)	2 (3)	30	30	Aim penalty at long range without the Gunslinger perk	Pulse Lasers	60	80 (120)	20 (30)	20 (30)	0 (4)		12 days (6.0 days)
Plasma Mauler	Rookies Assaults Infantry Engineers Medics Scouts Snipers	-1	-8	4-8 (6)		8-11 (9.1)	2 (3)	30	30	Aim penalty at long range without the Gunslinger perk	Compact Plasma Weapons	90	150 (225)	30 (45)	30 (45)	2 (7)	1 Alien Pistol	12 days (6.0 days)

Sawed-off Shotguns

Sawed-off Shotguns are unique to the Ballistic tier, providing an alternative weapon for the Pistol slot that allows the wielder to pack a punch. They deal the same damage as regular Shotguns, which exceeds the damage of even Plasma Pistols and Blasters, the Machine Pistols of the Pulse Laser weapon tier. Only the Plasma Mauler deals the same amount of damage.

However, Sawed-off Shotguns carry quite the disadvantage. First, these weapons can only fire once before they need to be reloaded, and no ammo capacity upgrade can improve this. Second, they can only be fired at point blank range. Third, because they are basically Shotguns, they suffer more from damage reduction than other weapons.

As they are based of Shotguns, they are unavailable to Rookies and Snipers. While they technically need to be produced, their only cost is a Shotgun, something XCOM has in unlimited supply. This basically allows you to create a bunch of Sawed-off Shotguns directly after the first mission is complete at no actual cost, keeping them available even if you currently have no plans to put them to use.

Name	Usable by	Mob	Aim	Dmg	Crit	CrD	Weapon ammo	Weapon range	Overwatch range	Special properties	Cost
												Other
Sawed-off Shotgun	Assaults Infantry Engineers Medics Scouts	-1	-12	4-8 (6)	+4	8-11 (9.1)	1	3	4	Restricted to point blank range Enemy DR is 50% more effective	0 (2)	1 Shotgun	1 days (0.5 days)

Secondary weapons

Rocket Launchers

Long War revamped the accuracy of rockets. Instead of a fixed 90% chance to accurately hit from vanilla, the chance of an accurate shot now scales with aim and distance. When you aim a rocket, you see a distance in tiles, indicating the expected average scatter distance. 68% of all rockets will remain within this scatter distance, 95% of all rockets will remain within twice the scatter distance, and 99.7% of all rocket will remain within three times the scatter distance. Rockets can scatter left, right and in distance, but cannot scatter in height. Unblocked (no "Shot is Blocked" warning) rockets that veer off course will travel through most destructible terrain to their destination, destroying it in the process. If they encounter an allied or enemy pawn, they will detonate immediately.

A higher aim reduces the expected scatter distance, while firing a rocket over a longer distance increases the expected scatter distance. Firing a rocket after moving also decreases the range and increases the expected scatter distance. Bonuses and penalties to aim, such as steadying a weapon or carrying a small item that provides an aim bonus, do affect rockets as well. The only exception is the aim bonus provided by primary weapons, such as Beam Lasers and Carbines, which only apply to shots made with the primary weapon. When a soldier fires a rocket with 120 aim (including bonuses), the rocket will always hit accurately. This is indicated with "100%" instead of the distance in tiles.

Rocket Launchers are generally reserved for Rocketeers, but Engineers that pick up the Fire Rocket perk can also equip Rocket Launchers. This replaces their Pistol slot. Rocketeers, but not Engineers, can equip small items to provide them with additional rockets.

Name	Usable by	Mob	Dmg	Weapon range	Blast radius	Special properties	Prerequisites		Cost
													Other
Rocket Launcher	Engineers Rocketeers	-1	4-10 (7)	30	6.0	+1 mobility per rocket fired during mission	XCOM starts with an unlimited supply
Recoilless Rifle	Engineers Rocketeers	-1	6-12 (9)	30	6.0	+1 mobility per rocket fired during mission Ignores 0.34 of target's DR	Advanced Gauss Weapons	45	100 (150)	50 (75)	10 (15)	0 (4)		14 days (7.0 days)
Blaster Launcher	Engineers Rocketeers	-2	8-16 (12)	30	6.0	+1 mobility per rocket fired during mission	Fusion Weapons	110	600 (900)	130 (195)	70 (105)	3 (20)	2 UFO Flight Computers 1 Fusion Core	20 days (10.0 days)

MEC secondary weapons

MEC troopers have a variety of options for their secondary weapons, allowing them to fulfill different types of roles. In addition, MEC troopers can equip more than one secondary weapon, the exact amount depending on the Exoskeleton that they are wearing. Be advised that unlike vanilla in Long War you have to build the systems yourself and they do cost a lot of meld.

Name	Usable by	Mob	Dmg	CrD	Blast radius	Special properties	Prerequisites		Cost
													Other
Flamethrower	MEC troopers	-1	4-6 (5)	6-9 (7.5)		Can be equipped multiple times per soldier Causes panic unless targets make a will test against 50 (80 with Jellied Elerium foundry project)	Alien Biocybernetics MEC Warfare Systems	35	150 (225)			30 (35)		10 days (5.0 days)
Restorative Mist	MEC troopers	-1			5.0	Can be equipped multiple times per soldier Heals allies within the area of effect +2 charges with the Field Medic perk	Thin Man Autopsy MEC Warfare Systems	28	120 (180)			30 (35)		14 days (7.0 days)
Kinetic Strike Module	MEC troopers	-1	9-15 (12)	15-21 (18.0)		Can be equipped multiple times per soldier Melee weapon	Floater Autopsy MEC Warfare Systems	30	200 (300)	30 (45)	25 (37)	30 (37)		10 days (5.0 days)
Grenade Launcher	MEC troopers	-1	2-6 (4)		6.4	Can be equipped multiple times per soldier	Gauss Weapons MEC Warfare Systems	30	150 (225)	25 (37)		30 (35)		10 days (5.0 days)
Proximity Mine Launcher	MEC troopers	-1	6-14 (10)		4.0	Can be equipped multiple times per soldier	Advanced Gauss Weapons MEC Warfare Systems	55	180 (270)	25 (37)	40 (60)	40 (46)		14 days (7.0 days)
Electro Pulse	MEC troopers	-1	3-9 (6)			Stuns robotic units 3 turn cooldown	Electromagnetic Pulse Weapons MEC Warfare Systems	85	180 (270)	30 (45)	50 (75)	50 (56)	1 Arc Thrower	14 days (7.0 days)

See also

Long War: Loadout
	Weapons Primary Weapons Secondary Weapons
	Armor Leather Jacket Tac Vest Tac Armor Phalanx Armor Kestrel Armor Carapace Armor Aurora Armor Banshee Armor Corsair Armor Aegis Armor Titan Armor Seraph Armor Archangel Armor Shadow Armor Vortex Armor MEC-1 MEC-2 MEC-3
	Equipment