Best 5 man Squad for loot missions

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WanWhiteWolf
Posts: 138
Joined: Tue May 16, 2017 10:09 pm

Best 5 man Squad for loot missions

Post by WanWhiteWolf »

In the mid-game you have the chance to spawn a lot of missions. Definitely more missions than what you can do. From infiltration perspective, you can usually deploy 5/6 squad on a Smash&Grab / Save VIP ..etc.

Assuming we are talking about SGT / SSGT level, what do you guys find the best combo?

For me it's always:

Shinoby - Sword build + Officer
Specialist - OW build
Ranger - OW build
Technical - Flame / tank build
Crit Assault / Snapshot Snipper

Speciliast + Ranger can each shoot 3 times during enemy + your turn in best case scenarios. Since their class gets the first weapon upgrades and scopes/hair are the most efficient on them - seems like a pretty straight choice. I think technical flamers are the strongest class early/midgame so that's an easy pick. You basically flame the first pod. rocket and OW the 2nd pod.

For the 5th guy it's usually an Assault on VIP missions - since you have a lot of corners and you can close the distance quite easily. For S&G I like the snapshot sniper since high cover it's usually scarce and having someone in the back that doesn't need one seems good enough to me. Plus it hits like a truck once you get DeadEye. If you manage to get fire grenades then a Grenadier with Ordonance makes sense; otherwise it's a wild card. Plus anyone can carry fire grenades. That 1 range rarely comes into play.

What I find to weak for this types of missions:
DFA Snippers - no mobility
Technical Rocketeers - Concussion ...really?
Stealth Shinoby - You need the extra firepower and the basic scouting can be done with a sword build. Also ...drones will reveal you regardless so why bother ? :)
Stun Assaults - I like the first point in stun for dissorient but afterwards, it's either tank or crit build.
Specialist hackers - you can use the OW SPEC to hack objectives; and a hacker doesn't guarantee early even the casual drone hack. Combat protocol is good but that's all he can do.
Specialist medics - I don't think anyone plays this build.

If the infiltration allows the 6th guy then it's a PSI or Support Grenadier. They are both cheap and can control pretty easily the battlefield.
Dwarfling
Posts: 524
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:16 pm

Re: Best 5 man Squad for loot missions

Post by Dwarfling »

What do you mean by "loot missions"?

My tactic on 1.4 Legendary GOps is to find the first "real" pod, crush it, then push towards the objective, like in vanilla, spending consumables quickly to reduce enemy count before reaching the objective defender pod. My bread and butter to make this happen smoothly are Grenadiers with incendiaries and Breacher Assaults. Those two classes can kill/control whatever pops, except for MECs, which I bring something else for, usually a Ranger but a Cooldown Gunner works too. If you start concealed then I bring a Fireman Technical. If the mission is a hack then I bring a Specialist. And if I can spare it, a Shinobi, which as of 1.4 I take mostly sword spec. Tank SPARKs can sub for Assaults, I play them the same way. If it's a 6-man, I try to fit a DFA Sharpshooter, unless it's a VIP extract.

So my ideal team for, say, a Hack Data Cache from ADVENT facility mid-late game would be:

Boomer Grenadier: 3 incendiaries, 2 frag/plasma.
Breacher Assault: flashbang, vest, plating.
Fireman Technical: flashbang, vest, plating.
Infantry Ranger: ammo, vest, plating.
Specialist: EXO, plating, skulljack, flashbang.

For GOps where you start revealed, I bring no Technical and double on the Grenadiers if possible, to control the turn I activate.

For retals I try to double the Grenadiers and Assaults.

For full salvage missions I try to double on the shooting classes.
stefan3iii
Posts: 319
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2017 3:49 am

Re: Best 5 man Squad for loot missions

Post by stefan3iii »

Grenadier - Incendiary, Frost, Flashbang

Shinobi

Technical - Fire in the hole, Napalm, Burnout, Tandem. Rockets are still good at this point, concussion is worthless. Roust is maddening, would be a lot stronger if didn't make things move. They usually just end up falling back into even harder to reach positions.

2 Assaults/shinobis/rangers/SPARKs. Replace one with a specialist if there is a door hack reward (ex jailbreak, workstation, etc). I assume the rangers at least have lasers and scopes by now.
Jacke
Posts: 623
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2017 1:10 am

Re: Best 5 man Squad for loot missions

Post by Jacke »

Dwarfling wrote:What do you mean by "loot missions"?
I think he means Smash 'n Grabs.
Dwarfling
Posts: 524
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:16 pm

Re: Best 5 man Squad for loot missions

Post by Dwarfling »

Jacke wrote:
Dwarfling wrote:What do you mean by "loot missions"?
I think he means Smash 'n Grabs.
Yeah, but then he went on to talk about other types of missions.

For Smash 'n Grab there's little point in bringing Technicals, since you always engage mid-long range. You're better served by the Grenadiers for AoE and DFA Sharpshooters to activate the stuff outside the facilities. I try to go: Shinobi, Grenadier, Assault, Ranger, Sharpshooter. The Assault might be counter-intuitive after I said mid-long range, but they're just so good mid-late game. Ranger can be any spec and still kill MECs and whatever the sapper exposes. Only issue is when the fight ends up inside the facility and I have to move the Sharpshooter to non-high ground.
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