Gunner (LWR)

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  Gunner

The Gunner class is a support fire specialist, capable of wielding the largest automatic weapons in XCOM's arsenal to either inflict heavy damage, or lock down and debuff hostiles.

Primary Weapon: SAWs, LMGs, Assault Rifles, Carbines, SMGs.

Secondary Weapon: None.

Class-Limited items:

Abilities

Rank	Ability
Specialist	Suppression Suppression Suppress [Pinned if protected by cover, suppressive fire if not, no reaction fire, -35 aim, -35% mobility/ability range] targets. Breaks with suppressive fire if the target acts. Requires 2 ammo, and uses the 2nd ammo if the suppression breaks with suppressive fire. 1 turn cooldown. [Suppressive Fire deals 40% standard shot damage]
Lance Corporal	Will To Survive Will To Survive Increases DR of all cover to 60% but grants 10 less defense. For XCOM, grants Steadfast. Steadfast Steadfast Provides +2 armor HP, immunity to panic, and reduces injury times by 30%.		Sentinel Sentinel Fire an additional reaction shot and gain +20 defense during overwatch. Grants Opportunist. Opportunist Opportunist Reaction shots gain +10 aim and can critically hit.		Mayhem Mayhem Suppression damages enemies immediately with a round of suppressive fire. Suppressive Fire can cause bleeding.
Corporal	Penetrator Penetrator The primary weapon gains +15 penetration.		Regen Biofield Grit Grants +4 armor HP and %DR equal to a quarter of the % total HP lost.		Holo Rounds Holo Rounds Firing at a target holos them for 3 turns [Prevents stealth, incoming shots gain +10 aim and +10 penetration].
Sergeant	Double Tap Double Tap Shooting allows this unit to fire an extra shot if not out of ammo or targets. The extra shot gains +20 aim/crit if it's the same target. 1 turn cooldown after 2nd shot is used.		Ready For Anything Ready For Anything At the end of each turn, if this unit did not move and is not at risk of triggering reaction fire, overwatch activates. If this unit has not moved, reaction shots gain +10 aim.		Shredder Shredder Primary weapon attacks apply Shred equal to the damage dealt as a percent of the target's max HP (which increases subsequent damage the target receives by the amount of Shred) for the remainder of the battle.
Tech Sergeant	Critical System Targeting Critical System Targeting Shots against autopsied mechanical units deal +20% damage and gain +20 penetration (+50% damage and +50 penetration if steadied). Does not work with Arc Weapons.
Gunnery Sergeant	Tenacious Defense Tenacious Defense Grants +2 armor HP. Grants +20 crit resistance when protected by cover.		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.		First Aid First Aid Grants 2 medikits.
Master Sergeant	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.			Lock n' Load Lock n' Load Reloading any weapon costs only 1 AP and dashing automatically reloads the active weapon.

Attribute Progression

Rank	Attribute Gains
Specialist	0-1 (60%)	+3-9	-	+2-6
Lance Corporal	0-1 (60%)	+1-3	-	+0-2
Corporal	0-1 (60%)	+1-3	-	-
Sergeant	0-1 (30%)	-	-	-
Tech Sergeant	0-1 (30%)	-	-	-
Gunnery Sergeant	0-1 (30%)	-	-	-
Master Sergeant	0-1 (30%)	-	-	-
Total	+0-7	+5-15	0	+2-8

Predictable Potential:

Rank	Attribute Gains
Specialist	+1	+6	-	+4
Lance Corporal	+1	+2	-	+1
Corporal	+1	+2	-	-
Sergeant	-	-	-	-
Tech Sergeant	-	-	-	-
Gunnery Sergeant	-	-	-	-
Master Sergeant	-	-	-	-
Total	+3	+10	0	+5

Tactical Advice

Role: Medium Range Offense / Offensive Support

The Gunner is mostly unchanged from vanilla. A major decision when building a Gunner is deciding if they will use a LMG or SAW-type weapon. SAW Gunners have more mobility but shorter range, so will value some mobility and defense as well as offense. LMG Gunners will be more interested in offense.

Gunners have a lot of flexibility in their builds, with many viable combinations. Several strong utility perks are available, including Holo Rounds and Shredder and of course Suppression. One potential offensive support build combines the debuff perks; Gunners can suppress in AoE using an LMG, apply Holo Rounds on those targets, make it inflict damage with Mayhem, and thus shred them with Shredder. Some strong offensive perks are also available in Double Tap, Penetrator and Critical System Targeting.

Sample Builds

Damage/Tank Gunner

The aim of this build is to focus the Gunner on being able to dish out powerful damage while being able to tank incoming fire. The SAW deals 150% base damage, and has a large pool of ammo to draw on, this grants the Gunner the ability to deal significant damage and be able to constantly fire.

Penetrator not only helps the Gunner be able to effectively punch through enemy mechanical armour, but also helps in punching through cover defence which can help against certain aliens such as Mutons. Double Tap gives the Gunner more ability to lay out significant fire per turn. Will to Survive, Tenacious Defence and Extra Conditioning grant this Gunner a signficant boost to their survivability and help them tank damage, however TD and EC only come online for high ranked Gunners.

Sample Damage/Tank Build: Will To Survive -> Penetrator -> Double Tap -> Critical System Targeting -> Tenacious Defense -> Extra Conditioning.

Will To Survive Will To Survive

Penetrator Penetrator

Double Tap Double Tap

Critical System Targeting Critical System Targeting

Tenacious Defense Tenacious Defense

Extra Conditioning Extra Conditioning

Recommended Equipment: SAW, Scope, Ceramic/Alloy Plate

Debuffer Gunner

A Debuff build focuses on making the Gunner provide effective debuffs to hostile targets to allow other Squad members to provide more accurate and damaging fire, it also allows the Gunner to be able to deliver reliable, albeit minor, damage if needed. The Debuffer Gunner can also provide effective Supressive fire on troublesome hostile targets. The LMG is a heavier weapon to wield, incurring mobility and accuracy penalties, however it deals 175% base damage, thus making it very effective for a support debuffer Gunner who relies more on suppressing the enemy.

Mayhem guarantees a small amount of damage on a target via surpression, which scales with weapon tech, this ensures you can guarantee apply debuff Shredder on a target, this can be combined with the Flush ability to grant +20 aim bonus to a shot and deal near comparable damage to a regular shot. Shredder is an effective way to remove damage resistance from hostile targets and provide overall bonus damage to anyone else engaging the target. Holo Rounds ensures allies will have a better chance to hit the target. Tenacious Defence provides a survivability buff while Lock N' Load helps keep the Gunner shooting.

Sample Debuffer Build: Mayhem -> Shredder -> Holo Rounds -> Critical System Targeting -> Tenacious Defense -> Lock N' Load.

Mayhem Mayhem

Shredder Shredder

Holo Rounds Holo Rounds

Critical System Targeting Critical System Targeting

Tenacious Defense Tenacious Defense

Lock n' Load Lock n' Load

Recommended Equipment: LMG, Hi Cap Mags.

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