Gunner (Long War)

The Gunner class is similar to a suppression specialized Heavy in vanilla XCOM. Their signature ability is Suppression, and they are the only class that can use the Light Machine Gun line of weapons. The LMG-type weapons are slightly better in Long War than vanilla XCOM, in particular they have larger magazines. Suppression is also improved, working to restrict the target's ability to use rockets and grenades as well as its vanilla effects. To compensate, the Gunner loses the vanilla Heavy's rockets.

Primary Weapon: Machine Guns, Assault Rifles

Secondary Weapon: None

Abilities

Rank	Ability
Specialist	Suppression Suppress an enemy, giving them -30 Aim and reduced range on AOE abilities.
	-1 Mobility
Lance Corporal	Holo-Targeting Shooting, flushing or suppressing enemies also confers a +10 Aim to any allies' attacks on those enemies.	Flush Fire a shot that causes enemies to run out of cover. The shot is easy to hit with, but does reduced damage.	Covering Fire '
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Corporal	Ranger +1 damage with primary weapon.	HEAT Ammo '	Shredder Ammo '
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Sergeant	Danger Zone '	Executioner '	Tactical Sense Confers +5 Defense per enemy in sight (max +20).
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Tech Sergeant	Double Tap '	Rapid Fire Take two shots against a single target in quick succession. Each shot carries a -15 penalty to Aim.	Packmaster All limited-use items in your inventory receive one extra use.
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Gunnery Sergeant	Will to Survive Reduces all normal damage taken by 1.5 if in cover and not flanked.	Resilience Confers immunity to critical hits.	Bring 'Em On '
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Master Sergeant	Mayhem '	Sentinel '	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	1	2	3	9
Sergeant	0	2	3	12
Tech Sergeant	1	3	3	15
Gunnery Sergeant	0	3	3	18
Master Sergeant	1	4	3	21

Tactical Advice

Role: Mid Range Offense / Offensive Support

The Gunner is akin to the vanilla Suppression Heavy, but with a few key differences. The Long War Gunner has mediocre aim, compared to the vanilla Heavy's abysmal aim, meaning that unlike the vanilla Heavy she can put out reasonable damage when nothing needs suppressing. In a sense the Gunner's first "perk" is their ability to use LMG-type weapons, which are simply better than assault rifles in Long War, with higher damage and larger magazines, with the only drawback being that they can't be steadied. LMGs also suffer no aim penalty and can crit when taking their reaction shot at a target that's being suppressed.

Gunners have a lot of flexibility in their builds, with many viable combinations. Several strong utility perks are available, including Holo-Targeting and Shredder Ammo and of course Suppression. Gunners can make Suppression area effect with Danger Zone and make it inflict damage with Mayhem. Some strong offensive perks are also available in Double Tap, Rapid Fire and HEAT Ammo.