There is something almost soothing in the brutal simplicity of the Heavy. A fortress on two truly hefty legs, the Heavy is the champion of stalwart defense through carefully applied explosions. Every team needs an anchor, and having an ability literally called Anchor alongside a wide range of area controlling abilities make the Heavy the prime candidate for the

The first thing to be prepared for, in any turn-based tactics game and in Gears Tactics specifically, is a lot of repositioning. At the heart of the game is the back and forth of risk and Divinity Original Sin 2 Fighter reward that is the flanking system. Getting around enemy cover allows for some juicy opportunity for clean hits and solid damage, so don't be afraid to burn a point or two rounding the field to get an angle on opponents. With that being said, it is equally important to have an exit strategy in mind. Flanking will often come at the cost of wading deeper into the enemy's front lines, meaning an elevated danger of getting swamped and flanked. Be prepared to get in and out in the same breath, or at least be braced to take some damage in exchange for dishing some out. Consider whether the cost is worth it: can you eliminate an enemy with a flank move? What kind of cover can you get behind to mitigate any coming swarming? The key takeaway here is be prepared to burn a point on manoeuvering. Do not get stubborn about planting and shooting - damage and suppression is appealing, but if the cost is losing strategic ground or getting surrounded, it will just not be worth the couple of extra shots staying in place affo

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 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

The title's general fast pace comes with a significant flaw that waters down the gaming experience. It is impossible to speed up or skip enemy turns, whereas other similar games like Fire Emblem and XCOM have this feat

It is also important to note that not all cover is the same. Some cover is made out of wood or other destructible material which means if that cover takes enough damage it will break and leave your unit vulnerable. Metal cover and other indestructible covers are preferred as players can safely hide behind them without the enemy being able to break thro

While getting around is important, it is vital that the player considers not just that they are moving, but where they are moving. Having soldiers sprint around the field at random is more of a risk than anything; chaotic movement just means more opportunities to get caught alone. A solid first use of points is getting some elevated overwatch. Try shifting a soldier into a position that will allow them to watch over the battlefield and throw them into overwatch. Doing so will lower the risk of more mobile soldiers getting surrounded - making the center of the field a danger to cross can make the opponent think twice about getting into a flanking position. For the remaining soldiers, it is worth spending points to form some triangular traps. Use some points to move and create overlapping fields of fire that cover up the enemy deployments before blasting away. This will pay out in forcing enemy movement away from your troops - by threatening multiple sides of a piece of cover, players can force a well defended enemy to displace, often scoring some hits for that well-positioned overwatch soldier. Importantly, save some points to avoid bunching up. While it is entirely possible to take advantage of a good flank with multiple units, be sure to reserve an action point to put some space between the soldiers you have making the hit. More than one solider side by side is a golden opportunity for a grenade, which can be even more catastrophic if the cover itself gets taken out. By using action points to get some overwatch, triangulate on enemy positions, and keep spacey, players can keep a battlefield handily under cont

There are also different sizes of cover. Short cover allows players to shoot over the top of the cover but leaves them more vulnerable to attacks. Tall cover completely protects the player from frontal attacks, but only allows players to attack around corners and not over the top of co

Among the many turn-based tactics staples adopted by the adaptation is the action point system. What can be done on a turn is capped by each soldiers pool of points that must be divvied out between movement orders, weapon attacks, and the use of special skills. While fairly intuitive to more experience players of the genre, the new players coming to the game from the third person shooter forerunner may find themselves a bit overwhelmed by what, on the surface, looks like a fairly restrictive system. While there is certainly enough in-game time to self-teach the finer details of action points, this guide aims to arm new players with a run down on how to best use the action points in combat. From movement and positioning to the basics of point management, this guide gives new players all they need to make their team into an efficient locust-killing mach