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[Neonivek]

If there is any class that I can have for the whole squad and win missions fairly easily, it is the Heavy

For me it would be the assault. It would be a total massacre.

Mind you unlike a lot of other classes I have "The ONE path" for assaults.

For Snipers I have two (but honestly I prefer reaction snipers).

Mind you not from the getgo... then again you did say 12-18 rockets so obviously those are leveled up heavies as well.

[WillowLuman]

Ugh... I remember one mission where every squaddie I had was injured except for my snipers... so nothing but snipers and rookies. I'm surprised I made it out with no fatalities. Never again...

EDIT: Four snipers and two rookies, VS mutons and floaters, btw.

[Sharp]

Well 12 rockets would be sgt level. Although to be fair in early game if you have 4 squaddies it's not too bad, typically you would only face 12 aliens max, usually sectoids, thinmen and floaters and rockets are enough to one-shot them so 4 rockets can cause lots of casualties for the aliens.

The drawback with heavies is the poor aim so usually SCOPES are required, but the ability to pretty much remove alien cover and overwhelming firepower usually makes up for the poor aiming. The other drawback is no pistol when LMG is out of ammo.

However heavies don't need to advance as quickly and aren't reliant on flank attacks unlike assaults which means when you are engaging one group of aliens you generally don't need to move around and risk setting off another group of aliens.

Maybe with a squad of 6 I might have one heavy with holo-targeting instead of bullet-swarm but firing twice is just so much fun. If an enemy is behind destructible cover then just keep firing away, if behind indestructible then thats what rockets are for

[Neonivek]

I've never needed a Flank attack with an Assault.

Also there is flanking?

Wait... is that attacking someone who has been suppressed? There are so many tactics and strategies I never used because of the optimal path I found.

[GlyphGryph]

I love heavies, personally. For so many reasons. They can get the most attacks of anyone (3!) and can target multiple enemies with them, deal double damage against the most dangerous enemies, remove terrain, get damage shaving (synergizes super well with battle stims), their weapons do significant amounts of damage, they synergize well with each /other/ - shredders, holo targeting, etc.

Honestly I think they are hands down the best units in the game.

[Neonivek]

deal double damage against the most dangerous enemies

Removed as soon as the expansion is out.

As well many of your advantages are exclusive to one build.

Then again I only use one single build for assaults... So I guess variety is an advantage. Though I guess I should personally test this.

I think the Assaults are hands down the best class in the game. They never need to risk anything because they can clear out entire rooms in single runs.

Namely the Double Run, Double Tap, With Lightning Reflexes... Alone make them the best.

[Sharp]

Maybe on Normal or Easy.

Ironman though you run to shoot some guy and then you get a whole other squad of aliens who point and wave and go "haha we flank you now!"

Assaults are good at close quarters but if they are outnumbered then they can't do much because they can only kill a maximum of one enemy in their turn (unless they have frags). Heavies on the other hand can advance securely in a leap-frog fashion, if they spot an enemy then ones in the front can hunker down while the ones in the back cover. If it's an alien with an AoE attack then the ones in the back can fire rockets, if not then overwhelming firepower after taking any enemy fire.

Removed as soon as the expansion is out.

As well many of your advantages are exclusive to one build.

It's still 50% more damage which is ok, infact due to the damage reduction it's even more of an excuse for heavy sided team of heavies. Although its a bit silly to use the expansion as an example because there are going to be new units in that. All MEC squad might be the best choice maybe.

Apart from HEAT Ammo heavies have a decent range in choice of what skills to build, you can go for more firepower or helping team-mates do more damage.

Assaults are the best for killing one alien, heavies though can kill multiple.

[Leafsnail]

Assaults are the best for killing one alien, heavies though can kill multiple.

I'm pretty sure snipers are better at both once they get to high levels.

[Mageziya]

I've started playing this again, and this time on impossible.

It's amazing how much of a butterfly affect failure at the start of the game has.

On the subject of snipers, I got a pair of snipers on my classic ironman play-through. I credit them with my success, as they decimated anything that moved. I remember taking down Elite mutons with laser weaponry because of them, or it was at least laser snipers. One of them even turned out to be a psionic.

In a nutshell, if you can get a pair of high-ranking snipers, everything will die. Everything.

EDIT:

Spoiler: Here you go (click to show/hide)

I've had that happen before, in fact, on the same play through that I had the two snipers. Similar enemy comp, but with sectoid commanders and mutons.

I lost a support and learned that if you abort a mission with someone mindcontrolled, you lose all the item's they were carrying.

[Neonivek]

Assaults are good at close quarters but if they are outnumbered then they can't do much because they can only kill a maximum of one enemy in their turn

And how many enemies do you tend to fight in a single round?

[Mephansteras]

Gah. The sight mechanics of this game annoy me sometimes.

Doing the train mission from Slingshot. A thin man is standing out in the open, with literally nothing between him and my squadsight sniper and with multiple guys on my side with full vision of him. Can my sniper shoot? NO! Of course not, doesn't even get an option. Grrrrrrr.

Fortunately one of my heavies blew his brains out. But it was still frustrating to have one of my best soldiers completely unable to do something that could have been critical due to a bug like that. Especially on a very difficult timed mission like that. You really can't afford to be pinned down by thin men on that mission.

Also, my Squaddie Support in that mission gets the distinction of being both the most and least useful member of the squad on that mission. She utterly failed to throw her smoke grenade where I needed it, panicked when the guy who was supposed to be protected by it got killed, and then shot my rookie with great stats in the back, killing him with a critical. Yay. She then killed several thin men and completed most of the objectives while not dying all the times I figured she get killed running through that train. So...mixed feelings on her, there.

[Mageziya]

Welp, I somehow managed to do the first Terror mission on Impossible Ironman near flawlessly. I do not know how. No one hurt, no one killed. Half of the team were rookies (Some experienced people in the infirm.), full squad size, laser rifles, a laser pistol, 2 heavies, a sniper, and a support. The only flaw was that I didn't get excellent on the civilians saved.

A combo of luck and preparation, I suppose.

I suppose I should mention I have the "Not Created Equally," and "Hidden Potential," second wave options on. It sorta acts like natural selection, with first time rookies with crappy stats dying off and those with good stats surviving.

Final note: This is not my first playthrough attempt are Impossible Ironman, though I should mention this is the first time I reached the terror mission on it.

[DoomOnion]

Uggghhgh, I really need to get back to playing this game, but knowing that there will be an expansion pack that has all the particularly interesting features that I like will be released sooner or later, I can't.

[Sharp]

I suppose I should mention I have the "Not Created Equally," and "Hidden Potential," second wave options on. It sorta acts like natural selection, with first time rookies with crappy stats dying off and those with good stats surviving.

Final note: This is not my first playthrough attempt are Impossible Ironman, though I should mention this is the first time I reached the terror mission on it.

Yeah those options make it much easier, generally off-set by higher recruitment due to "natural selection". It's crazy though having like 100 aim heavies when they are only corporals.

Ironman Classic with those options was a breeze, im still trying to do Ironman Impossible with Vanilla stuff but I keep rage-quitting too many times, my first dozen or so rage quits were my fault but later its just annoying bugs which kill key team-members which annoy me.

[Mageziya]

I suppose I should mention I have the "Not Created Equally," and "Hidden Potential," second wave options on. It sorta acts like natural selection, with first time rookies with crappy stats dying off and those with good stats surviving.

Final note: This is not my first playthrough attempt are Impossible Ironman, though I should mention this is the first time I reached the terror mission on it.

Yeah those options make it much easier, generally off-set by higher recruitment due to "natural selection". It's crazy though having like 100 aim heavies when they are only corporals.

Ironman Classic with those options was a breeze, im still trying to do Ironman Impossible with Vanilla stuff but I keep rage-quitting too many times, my first dozen or so rage quits were my fault but later its just annoying bugs which kill key team-members which annoy me.

Actually, every attempt at Ironman Impossible has been with those 2 settings. I mainly choose it to get more variety with the soldiers, more unique outcomes, if that's the word I am looking for. I am looking forward to the second wave option in Enemy Within that allows for non-class-specific abilities to be completely randomized.

All in all, Ironman Impossible is still hard as fuck. It's all so key to your first few missions. Losing a soldier on the first mission you can do, but 2? Might as well call it quits, because you NEED the soldier rank-ups as FAST as possible. Once you survive the brutal start, it's bumpy-smooth sailing from there-on out. Unless you fuck up at some point.