The two opening skills for the support are both incredibly useful in their own right. Empower essentially hands an action point off to an ally, delegating the damage-doing to a more specialized soldier for a net increase in hurt thrown the enemy's way. Stim is simple and direct healing, a nice pop of 100 points at the skill's first level. While not exactly overly impressive, that little boost can be game-changing - 100 points of health can mean the difference between a soldier making it out of a crossfire alive or d

Few modern turn-based strategy games can compete with the engaging and enjoyable gameplay the XCOM series has. While the original XCOM games are classics, they might be difficult to get into if someone a newcomer to the ge

Lastly, it is important to know your enemy. There are four different classes of enemies in Tactics, and each one has their own abilities and stats. It is important to learn what classes look like and Couple Gaming what they do before rushing into battle because some enemies are more dangerous than others. Knowing how to defeat a certain type of enemy before engaging can give the player an upper h

Luckily, in addition to taking the series into a whole new genre, turn-based tactical shooter **Gears Tactics ** has heartily embraced the idea of free and individualized choice. The game allows players a degree of character customization unheard of in previous entries in the franchise. Players now may choose how their characters look, how they act, and, importantly, how they fight . At the heart of that particular aspect of the game is the skill system. The branching trees grant each of the five classes countless ways to alter their playstyle and combat capabilities, adding active abilities and passive buffs that help shape battles in new and interesting ways. But, with all the available options, what is the best way to go? Which skills come together to craft the perfect soldier? While there is no right answer - player choice is key, after all - there are some skills that just work well together. This guide aims to give a few such combos, breaking down some top skills in each class. From the basics everyone should have to niche ones needed to make a proper specialist, here are some skills a good Cog commander should not be with

Weapons in the XCOM games are odd in that they are important, but also don’t really add anything to the game. They have names that reflect their purpose; Sniper Rifle, Grenade Launcher, and Sword are just a few examples. The weapons in Gears Tactics have names with a little more flare to them, like the Hammer of Dawn weapon that calls down a strike from a satellite. Gears Tactics has fewer weapons, but the weapons have more variety via the game’s modding system. Armor can be modded in Gears Tactics also- unlike in the XCOM ga

It seems simple, but not allowing "friendly fire" really helps keeps the game flowing. Soldiers can accidentally shoot their squad-mates in Gears Tactics ; this can end a mission instantly if one of the main characters is accidentally killed. It makes the XCOM games slightly less realistic, but it’s not an omission that particularly gives the feeling of being less realistic. Disallowing friendly fire makes soldiers on overwatch more reliable at providing cover. No doubt thousands of hours have already been wasted by gamers who have had to restart a mission because one of their soldiers shot a character who’s necessary for the plot to conti

All of the soldiers that the player recruits are fully customized, even to their name. However, this doesn’t have to be the case. The player can customize them and make them soldiers they can actually care about. And it helps that the customization options are v

No one can put out focused damage like the Sniper. Given the proper space (and ideally elevation) to work, the ranged specialist can inflict heavy damage on any foe, softening up hard targets and mopping up damaged enemies in a single deadly sweep. The skills of the class allow the player to choose their particular flavor of deadly at a dista

The specialization branches available to the Heavy allow for the building of someone who controls a conflict zone through either stoic, unshakeable defence or sheer force of firepower. For those looking to settle in, picking up Redeploy from the Specialist branch and Dig In from Demolitionist can be incredibly useful. The ability to relocate the Anchor means more freedom on where to set up a defensive line, while the boost to accuracy to all teammates within range with Dig In means that a solid, hard to penetrate firebase can be set up with relative ease. For those looking for a more forward approach, the combination of Ultra Shot and Heat Up from the Artillery branch all but insure absolute destruction. Heat Up's 25% boost to damage that stacks with every shot is effective on its own, but pairing it with an ability that literally causes the Heavy to shot a target til either it drops or the gun goes "click" allows for an actual nightmarish amount of firepower to be leveled on an enemy. Regardless of which path the player chooses, an all-important skill is Suppressive fire. It essentially stonewalls a 4 meter cluster of enemies, breaking any overwatch they have in place and preventing them from moving for the entire subsequent turn. Suppressive Fire changes repositioning a team from dangerous legwork to a walk in the p