Valkyrie (Long War)

  Valkyrie

MEC variant of the Infantry class.

Primary Weapon: MEC Primary Weapons

Secondary Weapon: MEC Secondary Weapon Systems

Class-Limited items: MEC Equipment items

Abilities

Rank	Ability
Specialist	Light 'Em Up Standard shots no longer end the turn, if taken as the first action.
	No other bonuses.
Lance Corporal	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.	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.	Flush Fire a shot that may cause non-flying enemies to run to new cover. The shot is easy to hit with (+30 aim), but does reduced damage (-50% base weapon damage), and consumes extra ammo (2 ammo). Hunkered units will not relocate.
	No other bonuses.	+2 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).	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.	Rapid Reaction If on Overwatch, confers a bonus reaction shot (to a maximum three shots total) for every reaction shot that is a hit.
	No other bonuses.	+2 Aim, +2 Will.	No other bonuses.
Sergeant	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.	HEAT Ammo Your primary weapon, not including shotguns, does an additional 50% of its base weapon damage to robotic enemies after any damage reduction is assessed.	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	Sharpshooter +10 critical chance in all situations, +10 Aim against enemies in full cover.	Opportunist Eliminates the Aim penalty on reaction shots, and allows reaction shots to cause critical hits.	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.
	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.
Gunnery Sergeant	Collateral Damage Area of effect attack that destroys most cover and hits all eligible targets for 1/3rd damage. Unlike most abilities, damage increasing items and perks also only apply 1/3rd damage (note: HEAT and flak cannot be reduced below +2 damage though). This attack cannot critically hit. Shredder ammo and holo-targeting are NOT applied.	Aggression Confers +10% critical chance per enemy in sight (max +30%). Aliens visible via squadsight are not counted for bonus.	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%.
	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.	No other bonuses.
Master 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.	Rapid Fire Take two shots against a single target in quick succession. Each shot carries a -15 penalty to Aim.	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.

Stat Progression

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

Tactical Advice

Intended Role: Frontline Offensive Support

With a decent selection of both offensive and defensive perks, this versatile MEC can lock down aliens with precise overwatch or simply brute force it's way through firefights.

The Valkyrie is nearly identical to the Infantry class in terms of roles and versatility. With Light 'em up as the first ability, the Valkyrie's primary weapon is its Main Gun.

With perks such as Automated Threat Assessment, Rapid Reaction, and Opportunist the Valkyrie can excel in Overwatching enemy troops and locking down terrain during firefights. although it sacrifices defensive capabilities for this and importantly lacks Covering Fire. With a decent aim progression and it's increased damage output, by virtue of being a MEC, it handily replaces the Infantry's role as the primary Overwatcher during the late game. At Sergeant the Valkyrie can pick up HEAT Ammo, Shredder Ammo, or Lock 'n Load, adding to the squad versatility; if your squad already has Shredder Ammo, use a HEAT Valkyrie, and vice versa. Rapid Reaction allows the Overwatch build to fire up to four times per turn.

As it utilizes its main gun, due to its abilities, it's very important to keep an eye on its ammo reserve. Reloading often and giving it perks and utility items that increases its ammo capacity, ensures that it will never run dry, during a critical moment.

Sample Builds

Overwatch

Perk progression
-	Lance Corporal	Corporal	Sergeant	Tech Sergeant	Gunnery Sergeant	Master Sergeant
Perk by tier	Automated Threat Assessment	Rapid Reaction	Lock N' Load	Opportunist	Aggression	Vital Point Targeting
Build Overview
Stat Boosts	+2 will
Strengths	great damage potential
Weaknesses	lack of covering fire can make it too passive
Preferred battle sites	All
Most common Loadout	Battle Computer, SCOPE, Tactical Sensors
Power Ranks	TSG brings overwatch online, MSG for dmg
Description	The overwatch Valkyrie has staggering damage potential. However, Lack of Covering Fire makes Flush support necessary to make this damage a reality consistently. It also makes the build very underwhelming against large mechanical units who may not even move on their turn. Secondary weapons are entirely up to preference, if you bring any at all.
Strategic Analysis	Plays similarly to any other overwatch build, except with LOTS of damage and no need for cover which often gives better sightlines. Interestingly, the only truly core perks for overwatching are Rapid Reaction and Opportunist. ATA, Aggression, and VPT can all be exchanged for Ranger, Repair Servos, or Absorption Fields depending on your personal desire for tank vs damage. Even LNL can be dropped for HEAT ammo if you don’t mind having turns where you can’t overwatch because you need to reload.

Bot Blaster

Perk progression
-	Lance Corporal	Corporal	Sergeant	Tech Sergeant	Gunnery Sergeant	Master Sergeant
Perk by tier	Ranger	Platform Stability	HEAT Ammo	Damage Control	Repair Servos	Rapid Fire
Build Overview
Stat Boosts	N/A
Strengths	good damage, good durability, shreds mechanicals
Weaknesses	goes through ammo very quickly
Preferred battle sites	All
Most common Loadout	Battle Computer, SCOPE, Hi Cap Mags
Power Ranks	SGT for mech crushing, GSG for durability, MSG for damage output
Description	If you hate enemy mechanical units so much you want to turn Level 9 squad leader mechs into speedbumps, this is the soldier for the job. Also provides good damage against non mechs.
Strategic Analysis	Mechtoids and Sectopods are sitting ducks against this build, but flyers can be problematic due to lacking Deadeye. However sheer volume of fire with holo support is usually enough to take them out or at least chunk them severely. Awkwardly, however, the high level mechanicals that this build wants to gun down will also sometimes have HEAT ammo, so try to kill them in one turn or be ready to debuff with Chem Grenades and Suppression for a turn. Furthermore while this build is relatively durable it isn’t really a true tank and shouldn’t be expected to bear the brunt of enemy fire too often.

Shredder Support/DPS

Perk progression
-	Lance Corporal	Corporal	Sergeant	Tech Sergeant	Gunnery Sergeant	Master Sergeant
Perk by tier	Flush	Platform Stability	Shredder Ammo	Damage Control	Repair Servos	Rapid Fire
Build Overview
Stat Boosts	N/A
Strengths	great damage, good durability, good support
Weaknesses	goes through ammo very quickly
Preferred battle sites	All
Most common Loadout	Battle Computer, SCOPE, Hi Cap Mags
Power Ranks	SGT for shredder support, GSG for durability, MSG for damage output
Description	Plays similarly to the Bot Blaster, but trades raw power against mechanicals for better support and damage against non-mechanicals. Rapid Fire increases the odds that at least one shot will connect and apply Shredded under most circumstances and provides loads of damage if both shots hit, but Vital Point Targeting can be taken to conserve some ammo and synergize better with Flush.
Strategic Analysis	Flush consistently applies Shredder, sets up easy kills for overwatching teammates, and still deals a noticeable chunk of damage due to MEC Primaries’ large base damage. Use it liberally against cover based enemies in good cover positions. Against coverless enemies like Berserkers, Mechs, or hapless souls whose cover recently exploded make it rain with Rapid Fire. The biggest limitation of this build is ammo so bring Hi Cap Mags, prioritize the Ammo Conservation foundry project, and reload whenever possible to stay ready for the next pod.

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