Rocketeer (LWR)

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Rocketeer

The Rocketeer class is similar to vanilla. Their signature ability is Fire Rocket.

Primary Weapon: Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles, Carbines, SMGs, Shotguns, Arc Weapons.

Secondary Weapon: Rocket Launcher.

Class-Limited items: Rocket Launcher, Javelin Rocket, Airburst Actuators.

Attribute Growth: HP x2, Will x2.

Abilities

Rank	Ability
Specialist	Fire Rocket Fire Rocket Grants the ability to use and equip a rocket launcher. Rocket scatter is affected by max base HP. Firing a rocket with 1 AP triples scatter and decreases range by 20%. 2 turn cooldown.
Lance Corporal	Light 'Em Up Light 'Em Up Standard shots cost only 1 AP and gain both +3 penetration and +0.5 damage for each instance of damage their target took this turn.		Grenadier Grenadier Using a destructive grenade deals +1 damage and costs only 1 AP. Equipped destructive grenades and MEC launchers receive an additional use and have no weight.		Smoke and Mirrors Smoke and Mirrors Using a support grenade costs only 1 AP and does not trigger reaction shots. Equipped support grenades receive an additional use.
Corporal	Holo Rounds Holo Rounds Firing at a target holos them for 3 turns [Prevents stealth, incoming shots gain +10 aim and +10 penetration].		Blast Blast Grants +20% radius and +1 damage to explosives. Does not affect Gravity Mines.		Kitted Kitted Grants a medikit and a smoke grenade. If this unit does not have a scope, it gains a generic scope (+10 aim). If this unit does not have a plating, it gains a generic plating (+2 armor HP).
Sergeant	Ranger Ranger Grants +1 damage to all weapons and equipment, +0.6 mobility, and +10% throw/rocket range. Sidearms additionally gain +2 damage, +20 aim, and 1 AP reloads.		Sapper Sapper Explosives deal +1 damage, gain +20 penetration, and double environmental damage.		Acid Tech Acid Tech Acid grenades/spit damage armor on impact equal to 25% of armor HP (max 5, bypasses DR). Shots gain a 35% chance (100% if steadied) to apply corrosion.
Tech Sergeant	Shock and Awe Shock and Awe Equipped Javelin rockets gain an additional use. Rockets gain +25% damage. Explosives apply 50% more shred. Grants +1 small equipment slots.
Gunnery Sergeant	HEAT Warheads HEAT Warheads Explosives gain +40 penetration and apply 50% more shred.		Fragmentation Fragmentation Explosives critically hit exposed targets, have double the bleed chance, and apply 2 stacks if they cause bleeding.		Tandem Warheads Tandem Warheads Explosives employed by this soldier do full damage at the extent of their area of effect (instead of 50%).
Master Sergeant	Bring 'Em On Bring 'Em On This unit gains +0.5 damage on standard shots and incoming non-psionic attacks have a +5% graze chance for each enemy in sight.			Extra Conditioning Extra Conditioning Grants +2 armor HP and +0.6 mobility, and a 10% chance for all end-in-idle actions to cost 0 AP.

Tactical Advice

Role: Crowd Control / Cover Destruction / Offensive Support

The Rocketeer's tactical role is best described as an offensive AOE support. It is a slow and unwieldy class, but carries invaluable armament big enough to bring a FUBAR scenario under control. Their starting Fire Rocket gives area damage that scales with more enemies and their other perks generally focus on adding a secondary supportive role to the Rocketeer between firing. It's always best for Rocketeers to fire a rocket with a steadied weapon, but firing with two AP is still effective if the target area is at mid-range, and you can even use 1 AP rockets effectively if desperate at close range. Keep in mind that rocket scatter decreases by 4% per HP above average. Rocketeers should operate from full cover, safe from incoming fire knocking off their steadied weapon.

Rocketeers have access to Airburst Actuators to improve the accuracy of their rockets as well as make them more effective against flying targets, and also Javelin rockets that are precise and deal high shredding damage in a small area. Rocketeers tend to struggle with their mobility due to the equipment they bring along, so that should always be kept in consideration. Without Sapper, you may find the Rocketeer's cover destruction abilities lacking; when in doubt, just assume that you won't break any cover with your rockets, as LWR makes cover destruction much more difficult. As a result, this tends to make rockets best against large packs of uncovered aliens, such as Floaters or Chryssalids, as you don't have to deal with cover DR, but in a pinch, sometimes multiple explosives can turn *any* group of aliens into an uncovered group...

Sample Builds

Light 'Em Up Rocketeer

The LeU Rocketeer is a hybrid build packing the useful long range explosive prowess of the class with some added fire support capabilities. The combination of Light 'Em Up and Holo Rounds - which allows tagging two targets or focusing down one target - is a valuable addition to any squad. This is especially true early on when XCOM aim values are quite low and straight shooting is unreliable. When rockets are on cooldown, this build plays much like an Infantry, but with a focus on utility and penetration instead of raw damage output and noticeably less mobility.

Light 'Em Up Light 'Em Up

Holo Rounds Holo Rounds

Ranger Ranger

Shock and Awe Shock and Awe

HEAT Warheads HEAT Warheads Tandem Warheads Tandem Warheads

Bring 'Em On Bring 'Em On

Recommended Weapons: Assault rifle, Arc rifle
Recommended Equipment: Damage-increasers, Aim-increasers, Javelin Rocket.

Notes:

• Access to Light 'Em Up makes the Arc rifle a viable option for a large burst of damage against hard to crack Mechs. Keep in mind however that this choice prevents the Rocketeer from defending himself in close combat, especially against bios, as the class doesn't have access to secondary weapons.
• The GSGT perk is flexible for pretty much every Rocketeer build:
  • Heat Warheads is the utility option, for dealing with heavily armored targets. It's also helpful when cover DR comes into play.
  • Tandem Warheads is the crowd control option, giving a modest increase in damage that's especially noticeable in crowds with aliens at the edge of the blast.

Smoke and Mirrors Rocketeer

The S&M Rocketeer bundles rockets and reaction immune support grenades in an efficient if somewhat slow package. This lack of mobility is mitigated somewhat by a higher than average throw range with the Rocketeer's high HP growth and potential Ranger perk. When taking Acid Tech this build can use Acid grenades to seriously strip dangerous armored targets. Finally, rockets are always a good fallback if the use of support grenades isn't optimal during a turn.

Smoke and Mirrors Smoke and Mirrors

Holo Rounds Holo Rounds Kitted Kitted

Acid Tech Acid Tech Ranger Ranger

Shock and Awe Shock and Awe

HEAT Warheads HEAT Warheads Tandem Warheads Tandem Warheads

Extra Conditioning Extra Conditioning

Recommended Weapons: Carbines, Arc Rifle
Recommended Equipment: Support Grenades, Utility.

Notes:

• Like the previous build, any GSGT perk will do the job: HEAT Warheads for utility or Tandem Warheads for crowd control (especially on regular rockets).
• Psi is a strong choice to add some more team support or single target debuffing. Psi also unlocks the use of Psi grenades and Psi Frayer for some more exotic support options.
• Officer training is another strong choice for this build, as the health increases for throw range and added support potential mesh well together.
• Smoke grenades can be used better by other classes, but are equally effective against Overwatch and still profit from the extended range of the build.

Grenadier Rocketeer

The Grenadier Rocketeer foregoes any notion of a hybrid build to bring a withering array of explosive ordnance to the battlefield. With long range throws and access to boosted rockets, this build can deliver destruction at any range and will leave many an alien exposed, disoriented, or dead in the aftermath. At GSGT they can choose to specialize their grenades and rockets for utility, damage, or crowd control. Unfortunately, this build is left with no useful options once that equipment runs out and is thus a good candidate for Psi training or Officer training.

Grenadier Grenadier

Blast Blast

Sapper Sapper Ranger Ranger

Shock and Awe Shock and Awe

Tandem Warheads Tandem Warheads

Extra Conditioning Extra Conditioning

Recommended Weapons: Carbines, Arc Rifle
Recommended Equipment: Explosives, Javelin Rocket, Airburst Actuators.

Note:

• It may be occasionally worth sacrificing some of the raw explosive power of Blast and Sapper for added utility in the form of Kitted's medikit + smoke and Ranger's throw range + mobility.
• Any field of improvements will work well with this build, but Psi is a standout due to Kinetic Blast increasing the power of explosives and providing a non-consumable offensive option.

See also

Long War Rebalance: Soldiers
Soldiers	Soldiers Assault Infantry Rocketeer Gunner Sniper Scout Medic Engineer
MEC	MEC Troopers Marauder Goliath Jaeger Shogun
Sub-classes and abilities	Officers Psionics Gene Mods S.H.I.V.s