The thread on Grenadier perk choices and builds makes me wish we had threads to discuss all the classes, people's preferred builds, how various perks feel / perform in the field and so on, but the class that has given me the most trouble when it comes to deciding how to use it is the Technical so I figured I'd start a thread for that.
The final perk is especially troublesome and was what inspired the creation of this thread as I've finally minted my first Master Sergeant Technical and I feel like I can't afford to make a mistake and don't really know what Firestorm or Bunker Buster do exactly and I don't wanna get stuck with a Master Sergeant sitting in the AWC for 40 days or whatever to retrain.
Other than that I feel like the Technical has a ton of options to do a lot of different stuff and the middle path offers a hell of a lot in the way of creating a versatile soldier that can fill many roles. The flamethrower seems to have really terrible range which makes it mostly useless in pitched battles, but watching XWynns' LP has given me an appreciation for their use in ambushes and the burning status effect is incredibly strong so it's understandable why the range is limited. The wide array of options leave me rather spoiled for choice and while I sometimes feel that my Technicals suffer from being jacks of all trades and masters of none I've found rocket specialised Technicals with heavy armours are invaluable on those ultra-swarming 10-man no infil supply raids - 2 regular rockets and a concussion rocket buys me a lot of "well crap, I moved one extra tile and activated another huge pod" forgiveness, and I tend to run two of these guys for maximum pain.
Technical Builds?
Re: Technical Builds?
After reading the same topic on Grenadier skill choices, I too thought of the Technical, the other good pod cracker.
In another thread, trihero has suggested that I go with a primary gun-oriented build for the Technical; he only uses Technicals as Haven Advisors so making them rounded for the primary makes good sense. However, I think that's a good idea for a squad Technical too as especially early in the game they only have limited shots with the Gauntlet. I did decide to make a rarer variant pure left-side build to get the most out of the rockets.
Technical
Suppression - Fortify - Shredder - Tandem Warheads - Incinerator - Salvo - Rapid Fire
Technical Rocketeer
Fire in the Hole - Biggest Booms - Concussion Rocket - Tandem Warheads - Javelin Rockets - Salvo - Bunker Buster
To get the most out of Biggest Booms, you want to pick a soldier with AWC skills that buff crit damage.
My main build does have Incinerator for the wide and deep flamethrower cone. I'm tempted to swap in other flamethrower skills as well but I'm resisting. I'm already at 14 builds for the 8 initial soldier classes and I'd like to avoid more. However, I might skill a single soldier (without any AWC crit damage skills) with a flamethrower right-side build. Guess I'm now at 15 builds....
Technical Flamer
Roust - Napalm-X - Burnout - Phosphorus - Incinerator - Quickburn - Firestorm
Speaking of flamethrower range, apparently the fix in LW2 1.1 to get the flame to wrap around cover also has effectively shortened the range by 1 tile, as discussed in this topic.
http://www.pavonisinteractive.com/phpBB ... 095#p30224
It's being suggested to edit an INI file to extend the range to counter that effect.
It's unfortunate there's no way to invoke any sort of training ground to test these skills. However, I don't run Ironman (too likely to run into bugs, and many display bugs can be fixed by saving and reloading), so I just save the game, then give the soldier one of the skills. Then I send them on the next mission and quickly run it just to test the skill. Even if I like it, I'll still reload the save and test out the others. Then I pick one to go with.Poobah wrote:The final perk is especially troublesome and was what inspired the creation of this thread as I've finally minted my first Master Sergeant Technical and I feel like I can't afford to make a mistake and don't really know what Firestorm or Bunker Buster do exactly and I don't wanna get stuck with a Master Sergeant sitting in the AWC for 40 days or whatever to retrain.
In another thread, trihero has suggested that I go with a primary gun-oriented build for the Technical; he only uses Technicals as Haven Advisors so making them rounded for the primary makes good sense. However, I think that's a good idea for a squad Technical too as especially early in the game they only have limited shots with the Gauntlet. I did decide to make a rarer variant pure left-side build to get the most out of the rockets.
Technical
Suppression - Fortify - Shredder - Tandem Warheads - Incinerator - Salvo - Rapid Fire
Technical Rocketeer
Fire in the Hole - Biggest Booms - Concussion Rocket - Tandem Warheads - Javelin Rockets - Salvo - Bunker Buster
To get the most out of Biggest Booms, you want to pick a soldier with AWC skills that buff crit damage.
My main build does have Incinerator for the wide and deep flamethrower cone. I'm tempted to swap in other flamethrower skills as well but I'm resisting. I'm already at 14 builds for the 8 initial soldier classes and I'd like to avoid more. However, I might skill a single soldier (without any AWC crit damage skills) with a flamethrower right-side build. Guess I'm now at 15 builds....
Technical Flamer
Roust - Napalm-X - Burnout - Phosphorus - Incinerator - Quickburn - Firestorm
Speaking of flamethrower range, apparently the fix in LW2 1.1 to get the flame to wrap around cover also has effectively shortened the range by 1 tile, as discussed in this topic.
http://www.pavonisinteractive.com/phpBB ... 095#p30224
It's being suggested to edit an INI file to extend the range to counter that effect.
Re: Technical Builds?
I run one of each when I can run 10man squads (one borrowed from beta team). One rocketeer and one flamer.
Had bunker buster for a while on my main technical, it can be fantastic for collapsing an entire building (fall damage on aliens) and it has a large radius as well. It suffers from range though, no bonus from the perk that extends it afaik.
Yet to try the final fire perk, got it last evening, trying it in a moment though. From what I can figure you double-move with it and or use a berserker stim, add a Command on them and hopefully wipe a lot of dudes, we'll see how it goes.
As for range on the flamer, it's been stated the range is meant to be the listed seven, but it only goes to six at the moment. Search the forums and you will find the thread, basically make the range 8 in the ini file for the various gauntlets.
Double rockets is great and a necessity to soften the large pods, especially when you can ambush double 8man pods at once. Being able to do double flamer with the free activation perk is also great, can even do three flames with a Command. Getting aliens burning is the absolute best way to crowd control that I know of, short of gas grenades and falling back (that poison effect lasts for bloody ever).
Just so many tools and great things to keep the balance even when faced with over 20 aliens at once, and I find that technicals are an absolute must for the opening blows and getting things controlled.
As an aside my next play-through will definitely see me focusing on gunners' aim a bit more, Saturation fire can be an insane opener with the right kit and ammo (viper rounds on everything hit, yum).
Had bunker buster for a while on my main technical, it can be fantastic for collapsing an entire building (fall damage on aliens) and it has a large radius as well. It suffers from range though, no bonus from the perk that extends it afaik.
Yet to try the final fire perk, got it last evening, trying it in a moment though. From what I can figure you double-move with it and or use a berserker stim, add a Command on them and hopefully wipe a lot of dudes, we'll see how it goes.
As for range on the flamer, it's been stated the range is meant to be the listed seven, but it only goes to six at the moment. Search the forums and you will find the thread, basically make the range 8 in the ini file for the various gauntlets.
Double rockets is great and a necessity to soften the large pods, especially when you can ambush double 8man pods at once. Being able to do double flamer with the free activation perk is also great, can even do three flames with a Command. Getting aliens burning is the absolute best way to crowd control that I know of, short of gas grenades and falling back (that poison effect lasts for bloody ever).
Just so many tools and great things to keep the balance even when faced with over 20 aliens at once, and I find that technicals are an absolute must for the opening blows and getting things controlled.
As an aside my next play-through will definitely see me focusing on gunners' aim a bit more, Saturation fire can be an insane opener with the right kit and ammo (viper rounds on everything hit, yum).
Re: Technical Builds?
Thanks for the info!
I saw the same thread. It's the one I link to near the end of my post 2 up from here.Daergar wrote:As for range on the flamer, it's been stated the range is meant to be the listed seven, but it only goes to six at the moment. Search the forums and you will find the thread, basically make the range 8 in the ini file for the various gauntlets.
Re: Technical Builds?
Honestly, I think Technicals are awesome once you have Burnout and Exo Suit.
4 Flamethrower Charges, 2 Roust Charges, and smoke wherever you go. Even on extended missions, this is plenty for them to not run out, especially if you give them a non-SMG (you're in the enemies face, in smoke, enjoy those flank shots!).
Formidable, Fortify and Tactical sense aren't bad extra protection for the Technical, if you're not confident in the Smoke alone (a perfectly reasonable conclusion), and their alternative choices for flamethrower aren't vital to a flamethrower build. Rapid Fire can also be a fair choice if you can fit a Shotgun or Rifle onto your technical. As I said, you're in the enemies face, in smoke. Firestorm is powerful, but very chancey. You have to get surrounded by enemies. But with Burnout, and whatever other defensive abilities you took (not to mention, the possibility of CC) this isn't that big of a risk. Throw on some Aid Protocol, and you should be all set.
4 Flamethrower Charges, 2 Roust Charges, and smoke wherever you go. Even on extended missions, this is plenty for them to not run out, especially if you give them a non-SMG (you're in the enemies face, in smoke, enjoy those flank shots!).
Formidable, Fortify and Tactical sense aren't bad extra protection for the Technical, if you're not confident in the Smoke alone (a perfectly reasonable conclusion), and their alternative choices for flamethrower aren't vital to a flamethrower build. Rapid Fire can also be a fair choice if you can fit a Shotgun or Rifle onto your technical. As I said, you're in the enemies face, in smoke. Firestorm is powerful, but very chancey. You have to get surrounded by enemies. But with Burnout, and whatever other defensive abilities you took (not to mention, the possibility of CC) this isn't that big of a risk. Throw on some Aid Protocol, and you should be all set.
Re: Technical Builds?
Those rockets are pretty much the only thing left in the game that makes terrain go away en mass. If you've tried the shredder cannon, it feels good, but doesn't obliterate everything in its cone anymore. Rockets tend to do that.
The flamer is something of a precision tool, oddly enough. Very powerful in the right situation. The early flame perks are all valuable, but I'm really not sure about Firestorm. I have no MSgt Techs, but the idea of using a burst attack on a squishy fleshling doesn't sit right with me. MECs got away with it because they could be built to take the retaliation. Humans want to be as far away from the late game aliens as possible, except when mopping up pods.
The flamer is something of a precision tool, oddly enough. Very powerful in the right situation. The early flame perks are all valuable, but I'm really not sure about Firestorm. I have no MSgt Techs, but the idea of using a burst attack on a squishy fleshling doesn't sit right with me. MECs got away with it because they could be built to take the retaliation. Humans want to be as far away from the late game aliens as possible, except when mopping up pods.
Re: Technical Builds?
Get Tactical Sense, Fortify and Burnout. Your Technical will be sitting pretty with +60 defense and no flanking penalties even if he's sitting out in the open. Add in the enemies you've set on fire who can't act, and you'll have all the defense you need. If you got formidable as well, you've also got 1 point of armor backing you up. Alternatively, if you take Napalm X instead of Fortify, you'll 'only' have 40 defense, but almost everyone you hit will be burning, panicked or disoriented. The odds of anything you hit being able to hit you back through all you've done to them are still pretty low.Devon_v wrote:Those rockets are pretty much the only thing left in the game that makes terrain go away en mass. If you've tried the shredder cannon, it feels good, but doesn't obliterate everything in its cone anymore. Rockets tend to do that.
The flamer is something of a precision tool, oddly enough. Very powerful in the right situation. The early flame perks are all valuable, but I'm really not sure about Firestorm. I have no MSgt Techs, but the idea of using a burst attack on a squishy fleshling doesn't sit right with me. MECs got away with it because they could be built to take the retaliation. Humans want to be as far away from the late game aliens as possible, except when mopping up pods.
Re: Technical Builds?
I just did a supply raid on a forest map with a train to one side, very cool map overall.
What I found was the funniest combo so far; two msgt technicals, one with Bunker buster and the other with Firestorm.
Had eleven enemies all huddling together behind trees and full cover boulders, sent in a Buster and everything was just wiped clean, leaving weakened and shredded enemies in the open. Berserker stim on the other technical, run into the middle with double-move, Command from the officer and Firestorm unleashed to the full potential. Not sure I've gotten an eleven kill combo before.
Aside from that extreme example, Firestorm is certainly in a good spot when it comes to range and damage and being left in the open (unless you can get away with a single move and the free flamer use ability).
Once you get a 10man squad filled with msgts going, you truly feel like you got so many fun tools to deal with swarming missions, sheer joy to play.
What I found was the funniest combo so far; two msgt technicals, one with Bunker buster and the other with Firestorm.
Had eleven enemies all huddling together behind trees and full cover boulders, sent in a Buster and everything was just wiped clean, leaving weakened and shredded enemies in the open. Berserker stim on the other technical, run into the middle with double-move, Command from the officer and Firestorm unleashed to the full potential. Not sure I've gotten an eleven kill combo before.
Aside from that extreme example, Firestorm is certainly in a good spot when it comes to range and damage and being left in the open (unless you can get away with a single move and the free flamer use ability).
Once you get a 10man squad filled with msgts going, you truly feel like you got so many fun tools to deal with swarming missions, sheer joy to play.
Re: Technical Builds?
Having played around with it I must say I find Bunker Buster to be incredibly useful and entertaining because of how massively effective it is at deleting cover.