Part 21

Learn the best perks for Sniper and Assault classes in XCOM: Enemy Within, including Rank 5 abilities like Opportunist and Rapid Fire.

Sniper Class Perks:

Rank 5:

• Executioner: Grants +10 aim against targets with less than half health. This is mostly useless as +10 aim is a weak bonus.
• Opportunist: Removes penalties on overwatch shots. This is very useful, allowing Snipers to go on overwatch with a high chance of hitting if an enemy spots you. It stacks with squadsight, effectively pinning enemies as any movement risks a fatal shot.

Rank 6:

• Low Profile: Grants half cover (press the cover button to crouch behind walls or objects) the same defensive bonuses as full cover. This can be stacked with the memetic skin gene mod (a community-made modification that changes the game) for constant free cloaking.

Rank 7:

• In the Zone: Shots that kill enemies out of cover do not count as an action. This allows Snipers to kill enemies in massive chains, but requires one-hit kills. Any misses will end the turn. A one-hit kill can also be achieved with a pistol, but only once. Remember that you can destroy an enemy's cover to meet the conditions for this ability.
• Double Tap: Shooting as the first action does not end the turn. Has a cooldown of 1 turn. This allows you to perform a headshot (a shot that lands on the enemy's head, usually an instant kill) on one alien and then disable another.

Assault Class Perks:

The Assault is a close-range combatant, effective with shotguns or assault rifles. Shotguns have greater range penalties for mid to long shots but offer more damage and a massive critical chance at close range. It is recommended to equip Assaults with shotguns unless you lack the funds or research for an appropriate tier, meaning you shouldn't give a ballistic shotgun to an Assault when others use plasma rifles.

Assault Base Stats:

• Aim: 89
• Hp: 8

Rank 1:

• Run and Gun: Allows the Assault soldier to dash (move two whole movements at once) and then fire. This makes the Assault excellent for closing distance and attacking, but also makes them risky due to the dangers of dashing. Dashing towards an activated enemy squad could activate another squad or several. This is not the class for Thin Man missions.

Rank 2:

• Tactical Sense: Confers +5 defense for each enemy in sight, for a total of 20. This is useful but not exceptionally so, as it implies your Assault is being shot at four times, and the +20 bonus may not be sufficient. Recommended only if Aggression is not chosen.
• Aggression: Confers +10 critical chance for each enemy in sight. While this helps achieve critical hits against hardened enemies, the Assault generally doesn't need it. Choose this if you want to guarantee a critical hit.

Rank 3:

• Lightning Reflexes: Causes the first overwatch shot to miss. This is situational and may not be necessary, as dashing provides full cover defense against overwatch shots, and enemies rarely go on overwatch.
• Up Close and Personal: The first shot against an enemy within 4 tiles of the Assault does not count as an action. This cannot be combined with Run and Gun and is therefore mostly useless. It might be useful against Chryssalids if MECs are unavailable. Given the Assault's slow speed, this ability is only usable if the enemy positions themselves such that the Assault can move using the blue movement field (1 action bar) and end up right in front of them, which rarely happens.

Rank 4:

• Flush: Fire a shot that does half damage but has a +30 aim bonus and forces the target to move out of cover if hit. This is a team-player ability that synergizes well with Snipers using 'In the Zone' or Heavies with low aim, creating a strong setup to neutralize enemies.
• Rapid Fire: Fire a special shot that is effectively two shots at once, with each shot having a -15 aim penalty. This is very deadly and can be combined with Run and Gun. The -15 aim penalty is offset by the massive close-range bonus a shotgun provides. This ability is ideal if you want your Assault to handle enemies solo.

Rank 5:

• Close Combat Specialist: Grants a free reaction shot to any enemy who walks within 4 tiles of the Assault. This is deadly against melee enemies, but they are built to survive hits, so your Assault could still be lost. This ability is also useful when enemies surround your squad (which happens when the AI detects no available actions for shooting or overwatch). It is fairly useless but not the worst ability.
• Bring em On: Adds one critical damage for each alien in sight, up to a maximum of 5. This ability encourages putting your squad in danger, as having 5 aliens shooting at you for a potential +5 extra critical damage is risky, especially if your Assault is killed. It is useless, even when fighting 5 aliens simultaneously.

Rank 6:

• Extra Conditioning: Grants bonus HP based on the armor worn: +4 for Heavy armor, +2 for Medium armor, and +1 for Light armor. This is considered false reassurance for those likely to be shot.