I have a really soft spot for bladestorm. It's a big middle finger for everything that tries to melee the ranger, especially when you proc a burn/stun.
@@jonsnow947 I was playing the first Alien Hunters story mission Bradford got grabbed by a Viper. He had the Assassin's sword so he of course killed it with bladestorm. Then EVERY SINGLE snake in the area tried to slither up to him 1 by 1 to grab him and he killed them all.
Thanks for the tips. This is game is fun, but ridiculously hard. I laugh at the term "Rookie" mode. Uh, no. There are four modes, but they should be renamed to Hard, Harder, Super Hard, and Insanely Hard.
For some reason, I didn't see your comment until now. I hope you found my guide videos helpful, I know that XCOM 2 can be really frustrating at first. Even the lead designer of the game has acknowledged that they should have made an easier difficulty level, so hopefully they'll do that if there's ever an XCOM 3.
Your videos are invaluable to me. They really help. Great job. Yeah, it's been a struggle at times. I love strategy games. In complicated one's, like this, I like to start out in the easy mode to learn the mechanics. Once I feel confident I go back into normal/veteran mode. I sure don't expect to be fighting for my life in rookie mode. lol. It really wouldn't be that hard to fix. All they need to do is have the aliens be less accurate . It's further complicated by slow loading times. Oh man, on a PS4 it takes forever to load a save. lol
I was with you 100% on your Heavy builds but I have to totally disagree with you on the Ranger. IMO the sword is one of the most dangerous weapons in the game especially once its chance of crit and aim is increased. Reaper and Bladestorm are my favourite/most used abilities in the game. With Reaper, you can easily cut down 4-5 enemies in one turn. Rapid Fire can only focus down a single unit. My best moments with Reaper are cutting down 2 Archons and 3 Codex in a single turn or 1 Archon and 2 Mutons. Sword Rangers are squad killers. On Commander+ in the 2nd last mission where you are only allowed 3 (4 if the option comes up) units. All sword Rangers all day, Flawless win every time. Jack their dodge stats with Wraith and PSC and give each a mimic along with Untouchable and you'll troll the mission.
I also see sword rangers as squad killers, just not in quite the same way. ;) I don't know if it's my play style or if I simply didn't know how to get the best out of them but I hated the melee approach. I nearly always found that I'd do more damage with a higher chance to hit in the first place using the shotgun. So I'm going to agree to disagree on this one, at least for now. If I play another campaign, maybe I'll retrain into melee after hitting Colonel and give it another try.
Yea, give it a try but remember that reaper attacks don't have to be continuous, you can switch units and then switch back and continue reaping. Your Reaper can kill a unit, switch units, damage the next enemy, switch back to the Reaper Ranger and repeat until all enemies are dead. You can use this tactic with Serial on Snipers as well, damage with another unit then switch back to the sniper to finish it off and repeat. Btw, wasn't trying to bash your style, I've just had massive success with this tactic so I had to put it out there. :D
No worries, I didn't take it as a negative. The funny thing about these guides is that as much as I believe all of the builds that I uploaded provide a solid path for someone struggling with the game, I also have taken in a lot of the feedback and found myself interested in giving another try to some of the things that others swear by. Maybe trying some of these abilities from a different angle or with a little more knowledge at my disposal will make a difference. And even if it doesn't, I'm always game to see if there's anything that I can still learn about this game.
I had a ranger once. Weird one since she had a serial skill. Would wipe out entire squads of enemies just by himself. Upped crit and dodge. Wraith suite Dual axe thingy Nwont play her on regular missions. She basically was sure win player
I stick to the philosophy that Ranger can be completely split down the middle. Take either all the Scout skills or all the Assault skills and you'll have a great unit either way. You can mix and match some of them but that takes a much deeper understanding of the game mechanics and very careful forethought and planning.
Once my ranger with bladestorm (together with sniper's zone) killed 5(!!!) cryssalids in one turn. Cryssalid saw ranger, move to him, get hit by sniper and then get finished of by ranger. That was hilarious!
TapCat I was ambushed by a flock of Chrysalids on the Avenger Defence mission. They all went and moved into melee range, got stabbed by Bladestorm and were set on fire so they couldn't attack XD The sight of 5 Chrysalids burning to death at the same time definitely isn't a bad one.
same thing with my Templar/skirmisher, when you see cryssalids just put some melee expert in the front. My ranger can clean off a room full of 4-5 vipers in one turn bcus of Reaper and Blade Master.
I would call this “Shotgun Build”, because it maximises the effectiveness of your shotgun. Personally I use a different build for a Swordsman. Bladestorm is honestly amazing for reinforcement flares.
@@brandontankersley8107 I like to run a bladestorm | untouchable ranger onto the reinforcement flare and use my specialist to give overwatch (threat assessment). You can usually take down the whole lot of reinforcements with the ranger.
If you can find a ranger with "kill zone" via AWC, and pick implacable, you can still move you ranger and kill zone will still be in effect and if another pod is activated and engages your ranger, the ranger will shoot again. You just need to position your ranger to face the location of the possible new pod.
Assault all the way down is best. Phantom seems good, but leaving one guy stealthed is worhless when there is a pod to kill. He is likely to need to fire as well. One mission type starting unstealthed is retaliation. On that mission there are plenty of people which draw fire, and surprise becomes unimportant. My 2 cents.
I almost always take blademaster (except of scout builds). Because the extra damage makes the sword or Axe from Alien Hunters even more likely to kill the enemy. Conceal is great, but I have found my scouts just don't do much each turn, except retaliation missions.
Once again, this is only my alternate perspective. I go (almost) full scout on my rangers. Phantom, Shadow Strike, Conceal. With that, I can absolutely wreck any enemy in a map at least once. What's that? Codex? Which divides when hit? Conceal---->move to cover as close as possible ---> shoot, thanks to 25% accuracy and crit boost, codex dead. I even killed my 1st Avatar that way; Bladestorm because I can stun melee enemies, always useful. Untouchable to turn my Ranger into a great bait. Rapid Fire to wreck anything. I give them a Hair Trigger though instead of expanded mags, when it activates I can really do some damage.
what do you think of reaper ranger build though? I tend to always have two rangers in my squad, one is mele focused built and one is one shotting built
I'm afraid that I've never been a big fan of the sword. A ranger with rapid fire can pump out 30+ damage every single turn and single-handedly kill almost any enemy in the game. They even take a huge chunk out of gatekeepers and sectopods. Abilities like Reaper are a lot more situational and I prefer the consistency of the shotgun. That said, if you're getting good mileage out of the melee skills and have developed a play style to take advantage of them, then I'd say to keep doing what you're doing and enjoy it!
this is for a shottie Ranger. I and many others really like sword Rangers where you take Bladestorm and Reaper, with which your Ranger can sometimes clean out a whole group of Vipers. remember Bladestorm triggers for EVERY enemy that comes in melee range, so if you have a topped out melee weapon and the AI moves dumb, sometimes groups of enemies just literally kill themselves by moving.
Serious question, what have you seen other people use? Armor piercing is the only other thing I can even try to make a case for (although obviously not what I use).
@@TapCat AP is good against all but not as good as bluescreen vs machines. AP doesn't crit like Talon. Talon and shotguns go together like chocolate and peanut butter. Besides, AP rounds are kind of rare to come by so I give them to my snipers and reapers.
Hello @TapCat You left me with my question I searched for unanswered: Blademaster says the Ranger will +2 Dmg with swords. Is this for swords only or does it apply to axes as well?
I know builds are really a more personal thing, but I'm throwing this out there, since I'm bingewatching your third playthrough. I'm at part 38 and Shadowstep has been used zero times (it could've been useful once) and Shadowstrike would've helped way more often. I believe that, unless you're going for a Blademaster, Shadowstrike is so sweet. It surprises me that especially someone like you, who's very fond of the ambush-mechanic, would prefer Step over Strike. I'm calling shenanigans on you.
After reading these your comments and thinking back, I've realized that I saw a lot more overwatch in my first couple of campaigns than I have since. The game has been patched a couple of times and I'd noted changes to AI behavior in other ways but I think this is something I missed. A Heavy MEC will go on overwatch their 1st turn every time but aside from that it appears to be a fairly occasional behavior from ADVENT troops. So I'll plead guilty of overselling the value of Shadowstep. It's very useful... occasionally. As for Shadowstrike, I still don't think it's a great ability. It adds aim and chance to crit for a soldier who routinely hits 100% in both categories. Worse, it only works if I'm still concealed meaning I can't get close to my target so the bonus is mostly getting me to the same place I would have been if I just played without it. At low level when we don't have Run and Gun I can see that it helps you get a good shot (but only your first shot per mission) but that's it. In the final analysis, I would still recommend Shadowstep but I readily acknowledge it's closer than I suggested and some people may adopt a play-style that gets more out of Shadowstrike.
"...neither are must haves." Exactly. Each can be useful at times but I don't think either is going to make or break your campaign. In one sense, this is a good thing for the game because it's better for players to have 2 valid choices so they can have fun whichever way they prefer. And, hey guys, thanks for helping me realize that one of my cherished ranger abilities isn't actually that great! ;)
I just had to comment here on this particular set of talents. I've been looking at when each of these talents proc and I have to agree with the validity of both Step and Strike. Step is good for a shotgunner or for a blademaster that is being built as an initiator. However, I have noticed that Strike is actually more viable for a Blade Ranger that has maxed out mobility. Reason being: Shadowstrike procs whenever the enemy is UNAWARE of the Ranger's exact position. I have a full phantom shotgunner and I decided to blade an alien that another trooper had eyes on since the Range couldn't get a flanking position with only one move. I noticed that since the alien couldn't see the trooper and vice versa, it ramped up her melee capabilities significantly. I have repeated this a few more times and it seems to be consistent. Having this knowledge in hand allows Shadowstrike to be used more than just 2 times per mission and allows melee attacks to become even more reliable if you can meet the above conditions and are willing to hold your blademaster back a bit.
War of the chosen i have a ranger that can chain kill an entire area with the unique sword. I do not need the scouts when i have reapers that do it way better then they can normally.
I ever so slightly disagree on the deep cover note. I do agree that it is one of the worst abilities in the game, however it can get some interesting use if you get it on a sharpshooter with aim, double moving to get into position then automatically getting the aim bonus the next turn. suuuper niche but its been solidly effective when I've gotten it.
Rookie advice who never played above commander ... yet. I think the question you should ask yourself is not about the dodge (which will get you hurt) and lead you to get some time off. It mostly about if you need more utility or mobility in your play style. TapCat seems prefer utility (talon round) and beacon mimic. Having special amunitions is fantastic. The mimic can get you and your team out of ONE pinch unless you have several. Spider suit or wraith suit can get your ranger out of trouble as well or get in close faster SEVERAL times during a mission. Also ideally you should decide that depending on the type of mission.
Wow, we play completely different. Guess that's what makes the game great, tho. I can't live without bladestorm & blademaster. Equipment has to be mindshield and sustaining sphere. Maybe I'm talking WOC and you're talking original, tho.
This guide was recorded well before WotC was even announced so it definitely doesn't reflect any of that content. That said, I never did love swords (even in the expansion) but I know a lot of people feel like they get good use out of them and if they're working for you then that's fantastic.
@@TapCat How do you handle the Archon King without bladestorm? 2 Rangers, each with bladestorm, attacking from an adjacent space can do some real damage to him. I think if all I could do is shoot at him he'd kill several of my squads before I finally wore him down. What's your strategy?
That's like asking what I have against a fork when I suggest using a spoon for soup. I'm just recommending what I see as the most useful tool for this particular job but if an expanded magazine isn't available then I would (and have) used the auto-loader as the next best option.
you've recommended expanded mags in all the videos I've seen and I was just wondering why you say that it's better. sorry for the harsh-ish wording, it was meant to be more joking/curious
The main issue with auto loaders is that I can't choose when I get the benefit of the free action, it will always be my earliest reloads of the mission. So I may use it up on turns when I'm under no pressure and then when the freebies are gone we get in a big fire fight and... oops! I need to reload, move, and shoot and this thing isn't helping me at all. The expanded magazine is more flexible and lets me top off whenever I have time without every compromising the potential value it has to offer. Those extra rounds are there and helping me for the entire length of the mission. I don't want to overstate this, as I said, I can't always get enough expanded magazines and then I'll use the auto-loaders because they're still a whole lot better than an empty slot. The classes that I most recommend holding out for the magazines are killzone snipers and specialists that specialize in the extra overwatch abilities. Grenadiers are next on the list, especially if you're using many of the abilities that chew through extra ammo. Anyway, that's my two cents on the subject... hope it helps explain the rationale behind the videos.
It needs to be the ranger, so you really want to make sure you either use him against enemies he can one-shot or to finish one of the big guns like a gatekeeper. Thankfuly, an upgraded shotgun and point-blank range deals a ton of damage and if you've got Rapid Fire, then almost every enemy in the game is easy pickings.
You still can, you just won't get the bonus. If rangers worked like psionic characters, I'd eventually take all the sword abilities as well. I don't use the sword often, but it can certainly come in handy at times. It's just that the shotgun will miss less often and do much more damage on a consistent basis which is why I recommending focusing on that.
PCS is short for "Personal Combat Sim" and it's a way to upgrade your soldier directly, not the weapon but the actual person. First, you have to pick one up as loot on a mission or buy one from the black market. Then you can equip it to a soldier by clicking on him either in the armory or when you're putting together a squad for a mission. They can definitely help take your soldiers up a notch.
Ok thanks! I haven't found any yet but will keep an eye out. I messed up and built my base as thus from left to right 1 awc 2 gws 3 proving ground 4 power plant 5 workshop 6 resist comms. Have I hurt myself long term not building awc at 2? Not starting with an empty hurt and I cleared the center first and wanted to get that squad member increase fast. I guess I can just devote an extra engineer to the awc since I won't be able to use a gremlin there
You should be fine. If I understand correctly, you can use all 4 gremlins in the power relay and resistance comms. As long as you're putting them all to work, that's all that matters.
I took a ranger with Deep Cover on the Blacksite mission with only 4 other comrades and magnetic weapons and kevlar armor. WORST. DECISION. EVER. He was the single most useless person. In fact, he was failing in all his shots. His comrades got damaged and he missed all shots. What does he do? He hunkers down. All the enemies do not attack him and all his comrades die but one lived to be critically wounded. To let his comrade live, I made him act as a living mimic beacon, just running into high cover to hunker down while moving his comrade around the Blacksite to escape. I didnt even get the vial. Yes, I know he was a major, but he was such an idiot that deflected all attacks towards his comrades. I now know the importance of the AWC.
idk i really like a swordsman ranger... super helpful against beserkers, vipers, and the odd zombie in the early game but i normally bring one scout and one samurai ranger on missions
Going for my first actual playthrough sometime next week and I remember the first time I tried to play this game about a year ago it kicked my ass so I'm compiling tips and tricks beforehand lol
Just if anyone comes back to this. A good strat to level a ranger quickly and safely up the last few levels is boost the sword skills and just have him stand in a mission where there are lost and keep him there just slaughtering everything that comes near him. Especially useful when you get to untouchable because all the lost attack at once so it all counts as one attack for the purposes of untouchable. Bring some grenadiers too if you like to speed the process up.
My build for ranger is Blademaster, Shadow steps, conceal, bladestorm, untouchable, and reaper. As for loadout, I gave him an overdrive serum and a flashbang. I use this build for commander difficulty. My squad is form around his abilities. I usually have him go crazy on the aliens causing chaos while my squadmate stay organized and pick off aliens as they move forward. Does not work at all when you are fighting against the Avatar or King and Queen aliens.
I made a sniping Ranger, aim PCS, Scope... hits a lot of the time with a shotgun at miles away, and i built my Ranger the same way he did with modification... its fucking fun. I use Implacable, and Untouchable, TO CHASE enemy's, yet i went with Bladestorm because Axe and you can outright kill all the small Shits and then leave the bigger units to grenadiers and snipers.
Best Ranger build (1) Blademaster (Speed & power is key on some misions) (2) Shadow step (3) Run & Gun (4) Bladestorm (For chryssalids) (5) Untouchable (6) Rapid Fire. Pcs = Agility (Dodge) or Perception (Aim). Speed (Mobility) just leaves him on his own & is best saved for snipers or medics to catch up? xcom.fandom.com/wiki/Personal_Combat_Sims
I usually went with melee focused ranger and use the shotgun mostly for overwatch and at the end of a reaper cleaning session when the remaining ennemy is either just out of range or has just a bit too much HP. It worked wonders. On Commander but I am now very interesed it trying your play style and strategy. It differs so much from mine it makes it interesting. For example I regarded grenadiers as very little usefull with their (poor aim limited amo) and just used them to send grenades. I can see now that there is a lot more value to them. Thanks for your videos and guides. I might try legend soon.
I know this is an old comment but I'm guessing you're still into XCOM. I just read a comment from someone that made me think the exact same thing as you. "I gotta try that soldier build!!" Also, I have found that Grenadiers with an expanded mag, scope, and an Aim PCS become deadly! Throw on Bluescreen or AP rounds and use their Rupture skill and they dish out the damage pretty well on just about anything. I love them!
After WotC I fully decked out my rangers by the last mission and had an unstoppable squad. Pretty op with Wraith armor, the extra company (no spoilers) didn’t even get to fire a weapon
I have found using scout ranger with a bunch on snipers. is my word. 8 out 10 tens if done right they never get hurt. the ranger coaks up.goes hunting for the aliens and the snipers take them down. they are amazing for the mission with no timer.
How to spec your ranger in WOTC: take the entire "Assault" branch AND Implacable and Rapid Fire on top of that. Scout rangers are made completely redundant by Reapers. Also, pray for some "jackpot" talent on the third randomized branch, like Serial.
I originally saw each of the three armors as lining up specifically well for specific classes. Over time, I realized that almost any class can benefit from almost any of the armors to varying degrees. So while I do think that the viper suit is very good for the ranger, you could easily make a case for most of the other classes as well.
With 2 rangers in the squad I dont find it very helpfull to have phantom on them both. Because while theyre concealed after the rest of the party has been spotted, they will not use overwatch in order to maintan their concealment. And overwatch fire is something I rely on when my squad goes loud. So I prefer having one ranger leaning towards stealth abilities to act as a scout, and one aiming towards being more of a shocktrooper.
I used to purposely alternate abilities with my rangers but stopped because there were too many times one would be in the hospital and I'd be missing something like Phantom. Ultimately, I decided that I'd rather know I can have the abilities I value most on every mission than to have access to something I value less. The hospital times on Legend, in particular, nudged me in that direction. That said, it's an uncommon occasion that having 2 phantoms on the same mission is useful and I completely understand why someone would choose to break that up and diversify the abilities. Not only is it not "wrong," it's probably a better approach if you're confident you can keep your rangers out of the hospital most of the time.
imo, having a ranger concealed a few turn after the battle has begun is a waste of potential damage. while you move your ranger around to get to a big enemy, he couldve run and gun / used his sword and killed 2 aliens.
the conceal mechanic doesnt give you that big of an advantage to begin with. sure you can overwatch 5 guys and shoot with the last but thats a BIG waste of a turn. I usually only put my specialist in overwatch before using lightning hands to trigger the pod. later in the game, you want a certain soldier (with bluescreen rounds) to target the mecs and another to shred any other armor points. the ambush is too random otherwise and you can spend all your 5 shots on a trooper.
The next enemy that fires at your ranger is guaranteed to miss, after that everything goes back to normal. So it obviously works best if you can either kill all but one enemy or isolate the ranger near one. FWIW, I've also noticed that as long as they aren't all flanking one soldier, the aliens tend to spread their shots around and not all go for the same target whether untouchable is in play or not.
2x ranger: skills: phantom, shadowstep, run and gun, implacable, untouchable, rapid fire PCS: speed weapon: 1: talon rounds 2: mimic beacon upgrade: 1: laser sight 2: expanded magazine sharpshooter gunslinger: skills: longwatch, lightning hands, quickdraw, faceoff, steady hands, fanfire PCS: perception weapon: 1: low lvl tracer rounds, then AP rounds, dragon rounds, venom rounds 2: spider suit upgrade: 1: scope 2: expanded magazine sharpshooter sniper: skills: longwatch, lightning hands then respec with Advanced Warfare Center to deadeye, death from above, killzone, steady hands, serial PCS: perception weapon: 1: low lvl tracer rounds, then AProunds, dragon rounds, venom rounds 2: spider suit upgrade: 1: scope 2: expanded magazine 1x grenadier: skills: shredder, suppression, hold targeting, chain shot, hail of bullets, rapture/saturation fire PCS: perception upgrade: scope, expanded magazine weapon: frag grenades>plasma, acid bombs (for armor), bluescreen rounds 1x specialist: skills: medical protocol, revival protocol, field medic, threat assesment (?), ever vigilant (?), restoration PCS: perception or speed / agility weapon: 1. medikit 2. skulljack +upgrade gremlin with mech and sectoid breakdown upgrade: 1: scope 2: repeater or expanded magazine base: 1. Guerrilla tactics school 0:33 - squad size upgrade, wet work for XP, rookie training and more; build ASAP 2. Advanced Warfare Center (AWC) 2:26 - reduces healing time in half, re-spec soldiers 3. Power Relay 5:24 - just because you need more power to keep building stuff 4. Resistance Comms 5:41 - by now you're running out of contacts and you need more funds 5a. Proving grounds 6:42 - unlock plasma grenades, experimental ammo, skulljack; build first if you have enough engineers 5b. Workshop 6:32 - build before 5a if you're not doing well on engineers 6. Shadowchamber 7:45 - story requirement projects in proving ground: complete mutant autopsy in research plasma grenade, experimental ammo then: bluescreen protocol, skulljack+skullmining, battlefield medicine, acid granade, spider suit
Last day my most advanced soldier have PCS for dodge - plus mission plus snake armor - 107 dodge at last mission - plus bladestorm plus untouchable plus assasin chosen weapon - one man army
SHUB-NIGGURATTH: phantom sucks. I mean its good to not see him or her but if thats the case, whats the point of having a sword. Also. I have 88% chances to slash an enemy and it always misses. Also bladestorm doesnt always miss. But when i use implacable i get to move but at most time i dont really need to move. But the rest of the abilities h you choose i dont have a problem with and there good.
Bladestorm is better than implacable 100%. Any lost mission becomes a joke.... Also bladestorm hits more often than not. If your shotgun doesn't quite kill a tough enemy 90% of the time bladestorm will hit as long as your immediatly adjacent to a ranged enemy before they get to take their turn. and obviously any melee units as well. Great for priests that go into sustain as well. With implacable.... you get the option to run into cover..... if you kill something. that's situationaly good but planning for a bladestorm and (ab)using it accordingly is better.
To each his own, but I disagree on all points, frankly. All my rangers use a config exactly the opposite of yours and they dominate the battlefield. Bladestorm and reaper abilities are no brainers.
i will die by the statement (and have yet to) "bladestorm is the best ability in the game". you basically get a ruler reaction every time an enemy moves in or out of melee range, limited only by the number of enemies on the map. you can kill an entire enemy drop without even setting them on overwatch, or just 'double move slash' an exposed enemy, only to have them move to cover and get hit again. combine this with arc weapons 25% stun chance and even the enemies that survive your massive DPS still arent safe. you even get a free bladestorm against anything that tries to grapple you. its outrageously powerful. got it on a templar as one of their early XCOM skills, gave me a weirdly good impression of that unit
If you get a ranger with death from above as a cross-class skill it's worth giving them that and implacable and give them the (plasma)bolt caster. This is after the ranger is already maxed out in the assault class, of course
I've never had that particular combo but it sounds interesting. I'm guessing that the bolt caster won't match the shotgun up close because it won't crit nearly as often, but will do a whole lot more from a distance. Is that the basic idea?
@@TapCat I guess. I had that combo and just used shotgun with talon rounds. Could take out an entire pod of advent solo, because weapon only needs 1 turn to use. So it is almost like Serial skill. Bolt caster would be able reload every turn but a shotgun is about the same damage I think
I just go straight down the blade tree. Watch them later game, they are fucking amazing. Blademaster comes into effect whenever something comes in or goes out of melee range.
I have seen all your videos on class building and I disagree in 90% of what you say lmao, this is from a player who has an iron man legendary run with only one death.
During a chosen mission, I opened a door and a swarm of Chryssalids ran in. But I had a ranger and templar on the sides of the doorway each with bladestorm. Killed them all without taking a hit.
The blade build I find works far better with War of the Chosen. But I tend to run my first two rangers one with blades one focusing on shotguns/mobility. I use the stealth/speed/shotgun build for objectives or to flank nasty critters. The blademaster build with bladestorm gets amazing vs the lost or crysalids
You say you'd recommend having 2 rangers in your squad. What would you say a good squad set up would be? Personally i try to run 2 support(1 medic, 1 combat), a sniper, and either 2 grenadiers for the heavy weapons support, or 2 rangers for recon advantage.
Most of the time, I run 2 rangers, 2 grenadiers, and 1 each of the sharpshooter and specialist. For some mission types, I'll mix that up but that's my base configuration. Like most experienced players, my build, playstyle, and group composition are all bound up together and changing any one of those will almost force you to shift the others so that they all work together.
@@TapCat I would go with 2 or 3 rangers, 1 specialist, 1 sniper & 1 grenadier. But on the War of the Chosen, i would take at least 1 reaper as well instead 1 ranger.
a lot of people below saying blademaster + bladestorm is great against chrysalids. .but i find even with top tier fusion axe, i'm usually leaving them alive with 1 hp. granted, i was playing commander difficulty and everything has 1 morre hp, so yeah that's probably why...
Exactly. My guides are meant to provide strategies that are great all the way up through legend difficulty and sword damage just doesn't scale well on higher difficulties. Also, if anyone still worried about Chryssalids and Vipers by the time you can get Bladestorm then they have bigger issues than whether they choose bladestorm or not.
I personally hate phantom most of the time. Sure it has its uses for the missions where you don't start with concealment or if you are running a sniper heavy squad but having 1/4 to 1/6 of your firepower sitout of an overwatch ambush seems like a waste.
I don't know why that would happen unless you passed too close to a civilian and that revealed the ranger. But the game makes it pretty clear when that happens.
That definitely is a lot harder, but beating even 1 especially difficult mission on Ironman is easily one of the most satisfying things I've done in gaming.
This build is incredible. My ranger with Storm Gun, Hunters instincts, Superior laser, Sup Mag, and talon rounds, killed an avatar instantly with 1 rapid fire move. No chance for teleport. Commander difficulty and the unit was missing a few hit points after skull jacking the Codex.
I typically make two main rangers who go 90% assault tree, and like then I decide on either Implacable or Bladestorm, because both are incredible perks. If course with WOTC installed, I end up taking both perks because each soldier (in my experience) gets enough points to get at least two to three extra perks. If I make a ranger that has Phantom, they typically go full scout and I use them mostly for the special missions, especially if an ambush is possible. I try to have at least one scout ranger go to help in case of an ambush, so I can better plan as I go. Also for equipment, if Talon rounds are difficult to get because RNG isnt being nice, I settle on blue screen protocol because Mechs are a pain. I also like to run my Scout rangers with rifles equipped with Repeaters and stocks, to keep them a decent distance away but still be effective if they need to fight.
An auto-loader is not a bad option, but over time you'll get more value from the expanded magazine. The main limitation of the auto-loader is that it gives you a free action the first 3 times you reload and then does absolutely nothing. If your early encounters are the ones with all the pressure where you need every advantage then they will be excellent. But many times, you'll be able to reload early in the mission without any difficulty and that free action doesn't really do much for you. Then, later on when you're in real trouble, the auto-loader is used up and you can run out of ammo, needing to reload, move, and fire all on the same turn and you're just screwed. The extra rounds in the expanded magazine will help you all mission long, every mission and that consistency is why I recommend it over an option that will sometimes be a little better and other times much worse.
Nice equip. However, when you have killed all aliens in X-COM, there were still plenty of them in UFO2Extraterrestrials for your rifles ;-) and there is also a mortar to support fire your troopers in the UFO2ET. :-)
when i started playing xcom i used the shotgun build, tried the sword build but for me it missed that bit of " oompf" but now that i'm playing WotC i just run a ranger with standard sword build but deck it out a little more with some talents like phanom/conceal and deffo skills like always vigilant or deadeye if they come along
I have a really soft spot for bladestorm. It's a big middle finger for everything that tries to melee the ranger, especially when you proc a burn/stun.
Agreed plus alot of aliens will get hit again when they try to move in their turn.
I feel like its a bit more situational, like its a given in missions where you can only bring 2 soldiers
I was gonna say I think blade storm is much more useful it's helped me so many times
@@jonsnow947 I was playing the first Alien Hunters story mission Bradford got grabbed by a Viper. He had the Assassin's sword so he of course killed it with bladestorm. Then EVERY SINGLE snake in the area tried to slither up to him 1 by 1 to grab him and he killed them all.
@Beau Marcus bot
Thanks for the tips. This is game is fun, but ridiculously hard. I laugh at the term "Rookie" mode. Uh, no. There are four modes, but they should be renamed to Hard, Harder, Super Hard, and Insanely Hard.
For some reason, I didn't see your comment until now. I hope you found my guide videos helpful, I know that XCOM 2 can be really frustrating at first. Even the lead designer of the game has acknowledged that they should have made an easier difficulty level, so hopefully they'll do that if there's ever an XCOM 3.
Your videos are invaluable to me. They really help. Great job. Yeah, it's been a struggle at times. I love strategy games. In complicated one's, like this, I like to start out in the easy mode to learn the mechanics. Once I feel confident I go back into normal/veteran mode. I sure don't expect to be fighting for my life in rookie mode. lol. It really wouldn't be that hard to fix. All they need to do is have the aliens be less accurate . It's further complicated by slow loading times. Oh man, on a PS4 it takes forever to load a save. lol
@@TapCat OMG don't say it... XCOM3 if my dream lol, I still play this game ! and still would !
Save scummin is a must
Definitly not true imo
I was with you 100% on your Heavy builds but I have to totally disagree with you on the Ranger. IMO the sword is one of the most dangerous weapons in the game especially once its chance of crit and aim is increased.
Reaper and Bladestorm are my favourite/most used abilities in the game. With Reaper, you can easily cut down 4-5 enemies in one turn. Rapid Fire can only focus down a single unit. My best moments with Reaper are cutting down 2 Archons and 3 Codex in a single turn or 1 Archon and 2 Mutons. Sword Rangers are squad killers.
On Commander+ in the 2nd last mission where you are only allowed 3 (4 if the option comes up) units. All sword Rangers all day, Flawless win every time. Jack their dodge stats with Wraith and PSC and give each a mimic along with Untouchable and you'll troll the mission.
I also see sword rangers as squad killers, just not in quite the same way. ;) I don't know if it's my play style or if I simply didn't know how to get the best out of them but I hated the melee approach. I nearly always found that I'd do more damage with a higher chance to hit in the first place using the shotgun. So I'm going to agree to disagree on this one, at least for now. If I play another campaign, maybe I'll retrain into melee after hitting Colonel and give it another try.
Yea, give it a try but remember that reaper attacks don't have to be continuous, you can switch units and then switch back and continue reaping.
Your Reaper can kill a unit, switch units, damage the next enemy, switch back to the Reaper Ranger and repeat until all enemies are dead.
You can use this tactic with Serial on Snipers as well, damage with another unit then switch back to the sniper to finish it off and repeat.
Btw, wasn't trying to bash your style, I've just had massive success with this tactic so I had to put it out there. :D
No worries, I didn't take it as a negative. The funny thing about these guides is that as much as I believe all of the builds that I uploaded provide a solid path for someone struggling with the game, I also have taken in a lot of the feedback and found myself interested in giving another try to some of the things that others swear by. Maybe trying some of these abilities from a different angle or with a little more knowledge at my disposal will make a difference. And even if it doesn't, I'm always game to see if there's anything that I can still learn about this game.
I had a ranger once.
Weird one since she had a serial skill.
Would wipe out entire squads of enemies just by himself.
Upped crit and dodge.
Wraith suite
Dual axe thingy
Nwont play her on regular missions. She basically was sure win player
I stick to the philosophy that Ranger can be completely split down the middle. Take either all the Scout skills or all the Assault skills and you'll have a great unit either way.
You can mix and match some of them but that takes a much deeper understanding of the game mechanics and very careful forethought and planning.
Once my ranger with bladestorm (together with sniper's zone) killed 5(!!!) cryssalids in one turn. Cryssalid saw ranger, move to him, get hit by sniper and then get finished of by ranger. That was hilarious!
It's pretty awesome when things fall into place for a dominating turn like that!
TapCat I was ambushed by a flock of Chrysalids on the Avenger Defence mission. They all went and moved into melee range, got stabbed by Bladestorm and were set on fire so they couldn't attack XD
The sight of 5 Chrysalids burning to death at the same time definitely isn't a bad one.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
same thing with my Templar/skirmisher, when you see cryssalids just put some melee expert in the front. My ranger can clean off a room full of 4-5 vipers in one turn bcus of Reaper and Blade Master.
I would call this “Shotgun Build”, because it maximises the effectiveness of your shotgun. Personally I use a different build for a Swordsman. Bladestorm is honestly amazing for reinforcement flares.
I definitely did NOT think about bladestorm for reinforcement flares
I will second bladestorm is amazing for reinforcements and super useful against priests that have gone into stasis.
@@brandontankersley8107 I like to run a bladestorm | untouchable ranger onto the reinforcement flare and use my specialist to give overwatch (threat assessment). You can usually take down the whole lot of reinforcements with the ranger.
Brandon Tankersley I’m lucky I got bladestorm on my Templar
I kinda got turned off of it after my ranger missed 80% of all bladestorm hits he ever made in the entire campaign
If you can find a ranger with "kill zone" via AWC, and pick implacable, you can still move you ranger and kill zone will still be in effect and if another pod is activated and engages your ranger, the ranger will shoot again. You just need to position your ranger to face the location of the possible new pod.
Assault all the way down is best. Phantom seems good, but leaving one guy stealthed is worhless when there is a pod to kill. He is likely to need to fire as well. One mission type starting unstealthed is retaliation. On that mission there are plenty of people which draw fire, and surprise becomes unimportant.
My 2 cents.
The advantage of phantom is the first shot is going to be high chance hit and critical
I got serial on my ranger, so I just picked conceal and shadowstep so that I could position them better and start off their serial killing spree.
same lol
I almost always take blademaster (except of scout builds). Because the extra damage makes the sword or Axe from Alien Hunters even more likely to kill the enemy. Conceal is great, but I have found my scouts just don't do much each turn, except retaliation missions.
Also, I have learned extra HP for melee builds is more important over speed. Speed is good for scouts or EU/EW assault style classes.
And you don't need a scout on retaliation because th enemies are always wasting shots on npc losers.
BZ BZ npc losers ? You can say that again
I prefer conceal over run and gun, the ability to instantly reposition without a worry and scout after ambushing is insanely strong.
The only repositioning a ranger needs to do is forward to the next alien corpse to tea bag.
:)
Once again, this is only my alternate perspective.
I go (almost) full scout on my rangers.
Phantom, Shadow Strike, Conceal. With that, I can absolutely wreck any enemy in a map at least once. What's that? Codex? Which divides when hit? Conceal---->move to cover as close as possible ---> shoot, thanks to 25% accuracy and crit boost, codex dead. I even killed my 1st Avatar that way;
Bladestorm because I can stun melee enemies, always useful.
Untouchable to turn my Ranger into a great bait.
Rapid Fire to wreck anything.
I give them a Hair Trigger though instead of expanded mags, when it activates I can really do some damage.
Obrigado pelo vídeo! Incrível como sempre
what do you think of reaper ranger build though? I tend to always have two rangers in my squad, one is mele focused built and one is one shotting built
I'm afraid that I've never been a big fan of the sword. A ranger with rapid fire can pump out 30+ damage every single turn and single-handedly kill almost any enemy in the game. They even take a huge chunk out of gatekeepers and sectopods. Abilities like Reaper are a lot more situational and I prefer the consistency of the shotgun. That said, if you're getting good mileage out of the melee skills and have developed a play style to take advantage of them, then I'd say to keep doing what you're doing and enjoy it!
this is for a shottie Ranger. I and many others really like sword Rangers where you take Bladestorm and Reaper, with which your Ranger can sometimes clean out a whole group of Vipers. remember Bladestorm triggers for EVERY enemy that comes in melee range, so if you have a topped out melee weapon and the AI moves dumb, sometimes groups of enemies just literally kill themselves by moving.
I normally use my Rangers as swordsman. More than a few times I have used the Ranger as a defender and line blocker for the team.
It should also be pointed out that Sectoipods and Gatekeepers explode, which is always a bad idea for Rangers.
Sword is so powerful now I have burn. I love using it with overwatch to run and strike!!
D
New subscriber
Finally, someone pairs ranger with talon rounds.
Serious question, what have you seen other people use? Armor piercing is the only other thing I can even try to make a case for (although obviously not what I use).
@@TapCat AP is good against all but not as good as bluescreen vs machines. AP doesn't crit like Talon. Talon and shotguns go together like chocolate and peanut butter. Besides, AP rounds are kind of rare to come by so I give them to my snipers and reapers.
@@TapCat OK, anything midgame works with a shotgun but yours is the 1st video to openly mention using the talons with the ranger that I seen.
Hello @TapCat
You left me with my question I searched for unanswered: Blademaster says the Ranger will +2 Dmg with swords. Is this for swords only or does it apply to axes as well?
It will also apply to your axe.
I know builds are really a more personal thing, but I'm throwing this out there, since I'm bingewatching your third playthrough. I'm at part 38 and Shadowstep has been used zero times (it could've been useful once) and Shadowstrike would've helped way more often. I believe that, unless you're going for a Blademaster, Shadowstrike is so sweet. It surprises me that especially someone like you, who's very fond of the ambush-mechanic, would prefer Step over Strike. I'm calling shenanigans on you.
After reading these your comments and thinking back, I've realized that I saw a lot more overwatch in my first couple of campaigns than I have since. The game has been patched a couple of times and I'd noted changes to AI behavior in other ways but I think this is something I missed. A Heavy MEC will go on overwatch their 1st turn every time but aside from that it appears to be a fairly occasional behavior from ADVENT troops. So I'll plead guilty of overselling the value of Shadowstep. It's very useful... occasionally.
As for Shadowstrike, I still don't think it's a great ability. It adds aim and chance to crit for a soldier who routinely hits 100% in both categories. Worse, it only works if I'm still concealed meaning I can't get close to my target so the bonus is mostly getting me to the same place I would have been if I just played without it. At low level when we don't have Run and Gun I can see that it helps you get a good shot (but only your first shot per mission) but that's it.
In the final analysis, I would still recommend Shadowstep but I readily acknowledge it's closer than I suggested and some people may adopt a play-style that gets more out of Shadowstrike.
"...neither are must haves."
Exactly. Each can be useful at times but I don't think either is going to make or break your campaign. In one sense, this is a good thing for the game because it's better for players to have 2 valid choices so they can have fun whichever way they prefer. And, hey guys, thanks for helping me realize that one of my cherished ranger abilities isn't actually that great! ;)
I just had to comment here on this particular set of talents. I've been looking at when each of these talents proc and I have to agree with the validity of both Step and Strike.
Step is good for a shotgunner or for a blademaster that is being built as an initiator.
However, I have noticed that Strike is actually more viable for a Blade Ranger that has maxed out mobility. Reason being:
Shadowstrike procs whenever the enemy is UNAWARE of the Ranger's exact position. I have a full phantom shotgunner and I decided to blade an alien that another trooper had eyes on since the Range couldn't get a flanking position with only one move. I noticed that since the alien couldn't see the trooper and vice versa, it ramped up her melee capabilities significantly. I have repeated this a few more times and it seems to be consistent. Having this knowledge in hand allows Shadowstrike to be used more than just 2 times per mission and allows melee attacks to become even more reliable if you can meet the above conditions and are willing to hold your blademaster back a bit.
Shadowstrike is great. Great enough to make you select the stealth skills, which makes it suck because you dun fucked up then.
:l
War of the chosen i have a ranger that can chain kill an entire area with the unique sword. I do not need the scouts when i have reapers that do it way better then they can normally.
Nice
I ever so slightly disagree on the deep cover note. I do agree that it is one of the worst abilities in the game, however it can get some interesting use if you get it on a sharpshooter with aim, double moving to get into position then automatically getting the aim bonus the next turn. suuuper niche but its been solidly effective when I've gotten it.
interesting, I use agility PCS and a stock instead of the magazine
yup hlpfull thank
I'm trying to decide my ranger's armour go light with dodge or heavy with armour.
Any advise?
Rookie advice who never played above commander ... yet.
I think the question you should ask yourself is not about the dodge (which will get you hurt) and lead you to get some time off. It mostly about if you need more utility or mobility in your play style. TapCat seems prefer utility (talon round) and beacon mimic. Having special amunitions is fantastic. The mimic can get you and your team out of ONE pinch unless you have several. Spider suit or wraith suit can get your ranger out of trouble as well or get in close faster SEVERAL times during a mission. Also ideally you should decide that depending on the type of mission.
Wow, we play completely different. Guess that's what makes the game great, tho. I can't live without bladestorm & blademaster. Equipment has to be mindshield and sustaining sphere. Maybe I'm talking WOC and you're talking original, tho.
This guide was recorded well before WotC was even announced so it definitely doesn't reflect any of that content. That said, I never did love swords (even in the expansion) but I know a lot of people feel like they get good use out of them and if they're working for you then that's fantastic.
@@TapCat How do you handle the Archon King without bladestorm? 2 Rangers, each with bladestorm, attacking from an adjacent space can do some real damage to him. I think if all I could do is shoot at him he'd kill several of my squads before I finally wore him down. What's your strategy?
what do you have against auto-loaders?
That's like asking what I have against a fork when I suggest using a spoon for soup. I'm just recommending what I see as the most useful tool for this particular job but if an expanded magazine isn't available then I would (and have) used the auto-loader as the next best option.
you've recommended expanded mags in all the videos I've seen and I was just wondering why you say that it's better. sorry for the harsh-ish wording, it was meant to be more joking/curious
The main issue with auto loaders is that I can't choose when I get the benefit of the free action, it will always be my earliest reloads of the mission. So I may use it up on turns when I'm under no pressure and then when the freebies are gone we get in a big fire fight and... oops! I need to reload, move, and shoot and this thing isn't helping me at all. The expanded magazine is more flexible and lets me top off whenever I have time without every compromising the potential value it has to offer. Those extra rounds are there and helping me for the entire length of the mission.
I don't want to overstate this, as I said, I can't always get enough expanded magazines and then I'll use the auto-loaders because they're still a whole lot better than an empty slot. The classes that I most recommend holding out for the magazines are killzone snipers and specialists that specialize in the extra overwatch abilities. Grenadiers are next on the list, especially if you're using many of the abilities that chew through extra ammo.
Anyway, that's my two cents on the subject... hope it helps explain the rationale behind the videos.
Clip on snipers first, loaders on skermish,gren, reaper.
In that orser.
With Untouchable, does the ranger have to get the kill or can it be any team mate?
It needs to be the ranger, so you really want to make sure you either use him against enemies he can one-shot or to finish one of the big guns like a gatekeeper. Thankfuly, an upgraded shotgun and point-blank range deals a ton of damage and if you've got Rapid Fire, then almost every enemy in the game is easy pickings.
You gotta get the dodge up
it's a good build, but sometimes you want to use that sword.
You still can, you just won't get the bonus. If rangers worked like psionic characters, I'd eventually take all the sword abilities as well. I don't use the sword often, but it can certainly come in handy at times. It's just that the shotgun will miss less often and do much more damage on a consistent basis which is why I recommending focusing on that.
hey brother what is a pcs
PCS is short for "Personal Combat Sim" and it's a way to upgrade your soldier directly, not the weapon but the actual person. First, you have to pick one up as loot on a mission or buy one from the black market. Then you can equip it to a soldier by clicking on him either in the armory or when you're putting together a squad for a mission. They can definitely help take your soldiers up a notch.
Ok thanks! I haven't found any yet but will keep an eye out.
I messed up and built my base as thus from left to right
1 awc 2 gws 3 proving ground 4 power plant 5 workshop 6 resist comms. Have I hurt myself long term not building awc at 2? Not starting with an empty hurt and I cleared the center first and wanted to get that squad member increase fast. I guess I can just devote an extra engineer to the awc since I won't be able to use a gremlin there
You should be fine. If I understand correctly, you can use all 4 gremlins in the power relay and resistance comms. As long as you're putting them all to work, that's all that matters.
Yes I can still put them there
I swear the only reason why I like the ranger, is simply because its seemingly the only class that doesn't abide by the stupid random chance system.
Nope, it's depend on your plan and style
I took a ranger with Deep Cover on the Blacksite mission with only 4 other comrades and magnetic weapons and kevlar armor. WORST. DECISION. EVER. He was the single most useless person. In fact, he was failing in all his shots. His comrades got damaged and he missed all shots. What does he do? He hunkers down. All the enemies do not attack him and all his comrades die but one lived to be critically wounded. To let his comrade live, I made him act as a living mimic beacon, just running into high cover to hunker down while moving his comrade around the Blacksite to escape. I didnt even get the vial. Yes, I know he was a major, but he was such an idiot that deflected all attacks towards his comrades. I now know the importance of the AWC.
Sounds like you learned a valuable, if painful, lesson that day!
TapCat Why didn't I see this earlier. I just unlocked a new ability on my Ranger yesterday and took Deep Cover as the new ability.
God ok this guide is useful like hell, but god damn your voice is slow and it gets really distracting
imPLACKable
Phantom is garbage, blade master forever!
I find Blademaster + Bladestorm to be a devastating combo against those zerglike things (can't remember their name).
You play Starcraft too?:D
crysalids
idk i really like a swordsman ranger... super helpful against beserkers, vipers, and the odd zombie in the early game but i normally bring one scout and one samurai ranger on missions
Who still plays?
James Goddard started playing again recently.
Going for my first actual playthrough sometime next week and I remember the first time I tried to play this game about a year ago it kicked my ass so I'm compiling tips and tricks beforehand lol
me
i do
Just got it 2 weeks ago
Just if anyone comes back to this. A good strat to level a ranger quickly and safely up the last few levels is boost the sword skills and just have him stand in a mission where there are lost and keep him there just slaughtering everything that comes near him. Especially useful when you get to untouchable because all the lost attack at once so it all counts as one attack for the purposes of untouchable.
Bring some grenadiers too if you like to speed the process up.
I guess that could work if u got the patience to do it. Lost only gives you as low exp as u can get. 1-2 exp at most.
My build for ranger is Blademaster, Shadow steps, conceal, bladestorm, untouchable, and reaper. As for loadout, I gave him an overdrive serum and a flashbang. I use this build for commander difficulty. My squad is form around his abilities. I usually have him go crazy on the aliens causing chaos while my squadmate stay organized and pick off aliens as they move forward. Does not work at all when you are fighting against the Avatar or King and Queen aliens.
Damn this guy got the exact opposite of my Ranger build lmao
I made a sniping Ranger, aim PCS, Scope... hits a lot of the time with a shotgun at miles away, and i built my Ranger the same way he did with modification... its fucking fun. I use Implacable, and Untouchable, TO CHASE enemy's, yet i went with Bladestorm because Axe and you can outright kill all the small Shits and then leave the bigger units to grenadiers and snipers.
I got an all assault ranger, equipped her with axes, got her to Colnel, and nicknamed her 'Ax Murderer.' I also named my spark unit Wall-E.
The Stalker Wall-E ? Bwahahah
Best Ranger build (1) Blademaster (Speed & power is key on some misions) (2) Shadow step (3) Run & Gun (4) Bladestorm (For chryssalids) (5) Untouchable (6) Rapid Fire. Pcs = Agility (Dodge) or Perception (Aim). Speed (Mobility) just leaves him on his own & is best saved for snipers or medics to catch up? xcom.fandom.com/wiki/Personal_Combat_Sims
Sounds good for a offensive ranger, i will try it.
I usually went with melee focused ranger and use the shotgun mostly for overwatch and at the end of a reaper cleaning session when the remaining ennemy is either just out of range or has just a bit too much HP. It worked wonders. On Commander but I am now very interesed it trying your play style and strategy.
It differs so much from mine it makes it interesting. For example I regarded grenadiers as very little usefull with their (poor aim limited amo) and just used them to send grenades. I can see now that there is a lot more value to them. Thanks for your videos and guides. I might try legend soon.
Good luck!
Thanks.
I know this is an old comment but I'm guessing you're still into XCOM.
I just read a comment from someone that made me think the exact same thing as you. "I gotta try that soldier build!!"
Also, I have found that Grenadiers with an expanded mag, scope, and an Aim PCS become deadly! Throw on Bluescreen or AP rounds and use their Rupture skill and they dish out the damage pretty well on just about anything. I love them!
After WotC I fully decked out my rangers by the last mission and had an unstoppable squad. Pretty op with Wraith armor, the extra company (no spoilers) didn’t even get to fire a weapon
I have found using scout ranger with a bunch on snipers. is my word. 8 out 10 tens if done right they never get hurt. the ranger coaks up.goes hunting for the aliens and the snipers take them down. they are amazing for the mission with no timer.
It's a little specialized for my taste, but I can certainly see that configuration being amazing in certain situations.
Snipers are only good for killing fallen.
How to spec your ranger in WOTC: take the entire "Assault" branch AND Implacable and Rapid Fire on top of that.
Scout rangers are made completely redundant by Reapers.
Also, pray for some "jackpot" talent on the third randomized branch, like Serial.
Funny, it’s usually my specialist that has the viper queens armor to skull jack hostels.
I originally saw each of the three armors as lining up specifically well for specific classes. Over time, I realized that almost any class can benefit from almost any of the armors to varying degrees. So while I do think that the viper suit is very good for the ranger, you could easily make a case for most of the other classes as well.
With 2 rangers in the squad I dont find it very helpfull to have phantom on them both. Because while theyre concealed after the rest of the party has been spotted, they will not use overwatch in order to maintan their concealment. And overwatch fire is something I rely on when my squad goes loud. So I prefer having one ranger leaning towards stealth abilities to act as a scout, and one aiming towards being more of a shocktrooper.
I used to purposely alternate abilities with my rangers but stopped because there were too many times one would be in the hospital and I'd be missing something like Phantom. Ultimately, I decided that I'd rather know I can have the abilities I value most on every mission than to have access to something I value less. The hospital times on Legend, in particular, nudged me in that direction. That said, it's an uncommon occasion that having 2 phantoms on the same mission is useful and I completely understand why someone would choose to break that up and diversify the abilities. Not only is it not "wrong," it's probably a better approach if you're confident you can keep your rangers out of the hospital most of the time.
imo, having a ranger concealed a few turn after the battle has begun is a waste of potential damage. while you move your ranger around to get to a big enemy, he couldve run and gun / used his sword and killed 2 aliens.
the conceal mechanic doesnt give you that big of an advantage to begin
with. sure you can overwatch 5 guys and shoot with the last but thats a
BIG waste of a turn. I usually only put my specialist in overwatch
before using lightning hands to trigger the pod. later in the game, you
want a
certain soldier (with bluescreen rounds) to target the mecs and another
to shred any other armor points. the ambush is too random otherwise and
you can spend all your 5 shots on a trooper.
Does Untouchable work for only one enemy shot? Or will the entire enemy team miss?
The next enemy that fires at your ranger is guaranteed to miss, after that everything goes back to normal. So it obviously works best if you can either kill all but one enemy or isolate the ranger near one. FWIW, I've also noticed that as long as they aren't all flanking one soldier, the aliens tend to spread their shots around and not all go for the same target whether untouchable is in play or not.
2x ranger:
skills: phantom, shadowstep, run and gun, implacable, untouchable, rapid fire
PCS: speed
weapon:
1: talon rounds
2: mimic beacon
upgrade:
1: laser sight
2: expanded magazine
sharpshooter gunslinger:
skills: longwatch, lightning hands, quickdraw, faceoff, steady hands, fanfire
PCS: perception
weapon:
1: low lvl tracer rounds, then AP rounds, dragon rounds, venom rounds
2: spider suit
upgrade:
1: scope
2: expanded magazine
sharpshooter sniper:
skills: longwatch, lightning hands then respec with Advanced Warfare Center to deadeye, death from above, killzone, steady hands, serial
PCS: perception
weapon:
1: low lvl tracer rounds, then AProunds, dragon rounds, venom rounds
2: spider suit
upgrade:
1: scope
2: expanded magazine
1x grenadier:
skills: shredder, suppression, hold targeting, chain shot, hail of bullets, rapture/saturation fire
PCS: perception
upgrade: scope, expanded magazine
weapon: frag grenades>plasma, acid bombs (for armor), bluescreen rounds
1x specialist:
skills: medical protocol, revival protocol, field medic, threat assesment (?), ever vigilant (?), restoration
PCS: perception or speed / agility
weapon:
1. medikit
2. skulljack
+upgrade gremlin with mech and sectoid breakdown
upgrade:
1: scope
2: repeater or expanded magazine
base:
1. Guerrilla tactics school 0:33 - squad size upgrade, wet work for XP, rookie training and more; build ASAP
2. Advanced Warfare Center (AWC) 2:26 - reduces healing time in half, re-spec soldiers
3. Power Relay 5:24 - just because you need more power to keep building stuff
4. Resistance Comms 5:41 - by now you're running out of contacts and you need more funds
5a. Proving grounds 6:42 - unlock plasma grenades, experimental ammo, skulljack; build first if you have enough engineers
5b. Workshop 6:32 - build before 5a if you're not doing well on engineers
6. Shadowchamber 7:45 - story requirement
projects in proving ground:
complete mutant autopsy in research
plasma grenade, experimental ammo
then: bluescreen protocol, skulljack+skullmining, battlefield medicine, acid granade, spider suit
SHUB-NIGGURATTH: Also mimic beacons dont last very long. Especially if your dealing with a sectopod or a heavy mech.
Last day my most advanced soldier have PCS for dodge - plus mission plus snake armor - 107 dodge at last mission - plus bladestorm plus untouchable plus assasin chosen weapon - one man army
SHUB-NIGGURATTH: phantom sucks. I mean its good to not see him or her but if thats the case, whats the point of having a sword. Also. I have 88% chances to slash an enemy and it always misses. Also bladestorm doesnt always miss. But when i use implacable i get to move but at most time i dont really need to move. But the rest of the abilities h you choose i dont have a problem with and there good.
Bladestorm is easily the best ranger skill in the game I can't believe you chose implaccable wow.....
Bladestorm is better than implacable 100%. Any lost mission becomes a joke.... Also bladestorm hits more often than not. If your shotgun doesn't quite kill a tough enemy 90% of the time bladestorm will hit as long as your immediatly adjacent to a ranged enemy before they get to take their turn. and obviously any melee units as well. Great for priests that go into sustain as well. With implacable.... you get the option to run into cover..... if you kill something. that's situationaly good but planning for a bladestorm and (ab)using it accordingly is better.
I disagree. Blademaster and bladestorm are a killer combo, especially with the Assassin’s katana’s guaranteed hit.
To each his own, but I disagree on all points, frankly. All my rangers use a config exactly the opposite of yours and they dominate the battlefield. Bladestorm and reaper abilities are no brainers.
i will die by the statement (and have yet to) "bladestorm is the best ability in the game".
you basically get a ruler reaction every time an enemy moves in or out of melee range, limited only by the number of enemies on the map.
you can kill an entire enemy drop without even setting them on overwatch, or just 'double move slash' an exposed enemy, only to have them move to cover and get hit again. combine this with arc weapons 25% stun chance and even the enemies that survive your massive DPS still arent safe.
you even get a free bladestorm against anything that tries to grapple you. its outrageously powerful. got it on a templar as one of their early XCOM skills, gave me a weirdly good impression of that unit
If you play on legendary you absolutely need a pure scout with conceal.
What u think about experimental armors like wraith? Thanks from Brazil!
i can’t believe you would actually go with phantom over blademaster , why do you think the ranger have a sword
If you get a ranger with death from above as a cross-class skill it's worth giving them that and implacable and give them the (plasma)bolt caster. This is after the ranger is already maxed out in the assault class, of course
I've never had that particular combo but it sounds interesting. I'm guessing that the bolt caster won't match the shotgun up close because it won't crit nearly as often, but will do a whole lot more from a distance. Is that the basic idea?
@@TapCat I guess.
I had that combo and just used shotgun with talon rounds. Could take out an entire pod of advent solo, because weapon only needs 1 turn to use. So it is almost like Serial skill. Bolt caster would be able reload every turn but a shotgun is about the same damage I think
I just go straight down the blade tree. Watch them later game, they are fucking amazing. Blademaster comes into effect whenever something comes in or goes out of melee range.
This build is obsolete in WOTC, bladestorm and reaper are far more viable options and stealth is not needed for scouting because of reapers.
I have seen all your videos on class building and I disagree in 90% of what you say lmao, this is from a player who has an iron man legendary run with only one death.
I did my first play through with no tips or anything on easy mode and got squashed like a bag only made it through about half the campaign lol
If anyone here has WoTCh, use bladestorm, in missions in lost cities its almost like immortality
Blademaster and blamestorm has saved one of my girls from total annihilation from a buncha chrysalids
No Bladestorm?? Has he not faced Chryssalids? hehe
During a chosen mission, I opened a door and a swarm of Chryssalids ran in. But I had a ranger and templar on the sides of the doorway each with bladestorm. Killed them all without taking a hit.
I was surprised as well. I'm really aggressive with my rangers and damage based. And yes... Chyssalids...
Ranger can be shot gun mode and blade mode if u have enuff sp to learn all...
The blade build I find works far better with War of the Chosen. But I tend to run my first two rangers one with blades one focusing on shotguns/mobility. I use the stealth/speed/shotgun build for objectives or to flank nasty critters. The blademaster build with bladestorm gets amazing vs the lost or crysalids
scouting rangers are useless compared to reapers. I'm guessing this was released before WOTC.
You say you'd recommend having 2 rangers in your squad.
What would you say a good squad set up would be?
Personally i try to run 2 support(1 medic, 1 combat), a sniper, and either 2 grenadiers for the heavy weapons support, or 2 rangers for recon advantage.
Most of the time, I run 2 rangers, 2 grenadiers, and 1 each of the sharpshooter and specialist. For some mission types, I'll mix that up but that's my base configuration. Like most experienced players, my build, playstyle, and group composition are all bound up together and changing any one of those will almost force you to shift the others so that they all work together.
@@TapCat I would go with 2 or 3 rangers, 1 specialist, 1 sniper & 1 grenadier. But on the War of the Chosen, i would take at least 1 reaper as well instead 1 ranger.
a lot of people below saying blademaster + bladestorm is great against chrysalids. .but i find even with top tier fusion axe, i'm usually leaving them alive with 1 hp. granted, i was playing commander difficulty and everything has 1 morre hp, so yeah that's probably why...
Exactly. My guides are meant to provide strategies that are great all the way up through legend difficulty and sword damage just doesn't scale well on higher difficulties. Also, if anyone still worried about Chryssalids and Vipers by the time you can get Bladestorm then they have bigger issues than whether they choose bladestorm or not.
god my col. ranger just got killed and idk how to feel lol
I personally hate phantom most of the time. Sure it has its uses for the missions where you don't start with concealment or if you are running a sniper heavy squad but having 1/4 to 1/6 of your firepower sitout of an overwatch ambush seems like a waste.
If I were recording this today, I would also recommend Blademaster over Phantom.
I noticed on a few occasions when shadowstep would be active but my ranger has been revealed for a few turns. Is there any explanation for that?
I don't know why that would happen unless you passed too close to a civilian and that revealed the ranger. But the game makes it pretty clear when that happens.
I like to take two rangers, 1 geared towards offence and swords and the other geared towards stealth.
Video is so much better on 1.25x
Found your series recently and even though Im not even paying attention half the time I find your voice very calming, love your stuff
lol, glad you enjoy it!
I have beaten "Legendary" mode many times but not on Iron Man Mode (yet)
That definitely is a lot harder, but beating even 1 especially difficult mission on Ironman is easily one of the most satisfying things I've done in gaming.
This build is incredible. My ranger with Storm Gun, Hunters instincts, Superior laser, Sup Mag, and talon rounds, killed an avatar instantly with 1 rapid fire move. No chance for teleport. Commander difficulty and the unit was missing a few hit points after skull jacking the Codex.
That's awesome, congats on taking out the avatar that way!
If you upgrade say s normal shotgun with scope or such
Does it stay on it when you get storm
Gun ?
Yes when you upgrade, the new version will still be equipped with the scope or other equipment.
All on the right side is best in my opinion
I typically make two main rangers who go 90% assault tree, and like then I decide on either Implacable or Bladestorm, because both are incredible perks.
If course with WOTC installed, I end up taking both perks because each soldier (in my experience) gets enough points to get at least two to three extra perks.
If I make a ranger that has Phantom, they typically go full scout and I use them mostly for the special missions, especially if an ambush is possible. I try to have at least one scout ranger go to help in case of an ambush, so I can better plan as I go.
Also for equipment, if Talon rounds are difficult to get because RNG isnt being nice, I settle on blue screen protocol because Mechs are a pain. I also like to run my Scout rangers with rifles equipped with Repeaters and stocks, to keep them a decent distance away but still be effective if they need to fight.
Wouldnt the upgrade that allows free reloads be better than the large clip?
An auto-loader is not a bad option, but over time you'll get more value from the expanded magazine. The main limitation of the auto-loader is that it gives you a free action the first 3 times you reload and then does absolutely nothing. If your early encounters are the ones with all the pressure where you need every advantage then they will be excellent. But many times, you'll be able to reload early in the mission without any difficulty and that free action doesn't really do much for you. Then, later on when you're in real trouble, the auto-loader is used up and you can run out of ammo, needing to reload, move, and fire all on the same turn and you're just screwed. The extra rounds in the expanded magazine will help you all mission long, every mission and that consistency is why I recommend it over an option that will sometimes be a little better and other times much worse.
Run and gun is useless. Just use slash
Nice equip. However, when you have killed all aliens in X-COM, there were still plenty of them in UFO2Extraterrestrials for your rifles ;-) and there is also a mortar to support fire your troopers in the UFO2ET. :-)
does killing the andromedon pilot count as a kill for untouchable and implacable, or do i have to kill both phases to pop it?
Thankfully, it counts as a kill.
awesome, thanks!
Blademaster "reaper", Shadowstep, run and gun, Bladestorm, Untouchable and Reaper. Pcs Superior Agility.
when i started playing xcom i used the shotgun build, tried the sword build but for me it missed that bit of " oompf" but now that i'm playing WotC i just run a ranger with standard sword build but deck it out a little more with some talents like phanom/conceal and deffo skills like always vigilant or deadeye if they come along
This is the shotgun build.
Tulok, is that you?
I always thought shadowstep meant your own soldier wouldnt trigger Overwatch! But now I know better
Bladestorms helps to end vipers is funny when you see how viper try get your ranger and bladestorm kills her.