No balance things here yet, but I do have a question - Take Cover! is slightly different to the same skill on the Assault Infantry, as the AI's version does not have an Ever Vigilant style "Hunker if only moved". Will the AI get this or will this new feature be unique to the Reaper?

This was part of the recent Class Pack update and is the same ability that the Assault Infantry can get. I originally had Deep Cover in that position for the Reaper, but turns out, it still triggers when you overwatch, which was not what I wanted.

The additional effect on Take Cover doubles down by giving this skill a use for Assault Infantry units that take Deep Reserves at Sgt, as well as filling the role I wanted for refilling the Reaper's Shadow Stacks.

So the Assault Infantry does also get the Ever Vigilent Style Hunker Down if they have Take Cover! as well?

Yes... Though now that I think about it I need to make sure priorities are setup correctly to work alongside Ever Vigilant.

Alriht thanks

I think I've made my peace with being stuck using the normal faction hero promotion mechanics... This does however pose a small problem with the Colonel level skills - they are hardlocked to be 25AP and I've currently got skills plugged in there that I priced at 15AP.

I have a plan to handle Annihilate... I'll tack on plus one additional charge of Banish per mission. That should make it worth the 25AP cost. But I'm not quite sure what to do with the other two spots... What are your guys thoughts?

Target Definition is hard... maybe a sort of Battle Scanner/Scanning Protocol attached to it, that doesn't break concealment and reveals them permenantly because of the default Target Definition?

Steady Hands you could just buff up the stat values imo

Those particular skills don't necessarily have to stay - they were just ones that fit at the power level I was looking for and at least made sense in their respective trees. Neither were integral parts of the design... They are more-or-less fillers.

So what kinda things or builds should these Reapers be able to have, but don't currently?

Ok so bare in mind I haven't played with this new Reaper, and this is exclusively from the skill tree.

In the Operative tree, we have mainly Pistol skills, making the Reaper the only true Gunslinger in the pack, at least currently. To go with this, I propose thusly:

Weapon Specialist - Maybe tweak this a bit, keeping the +1 damage on Primaries, but buffing it to +2 for Secondaries. This gives them a real focus on the Pistol, and further strengthens their subsequent skills.

Then to replace Target Definition, I propose a Passive that makes Pistol shots Rupture and/or Shred armour, maybe make this based on Shadow Stacks? Unsure

Wraith, the sneaky damage dealer. No major changes I can see, apart from maybe switching Shadowstep with Shadowstrike in Phase. Maybe increase Haunt's damage bonus, since when paired against Weapon Specialist I'd say it's more appealling. Anyway what you suggested for Annhilate sounds good.

And the Predator, a true stealth assassin, picking off key targets at longer ranges than most. This is the toughest one, and I don't think anything is needed to be changed aside from Steady Hands. Side note, I *love* Xenovore, very cool. Anyway I like the idea of reinforcing the stationary Reaper at Colonel, so how about a skill that increases damage the more turns you stay still? This tree suffers from not having a skill that increases damage on *all* targets, as Weapon Specialist and Haunt can both be triggered on *all* targets, whereas Xenovore is only 5 enemies.

I like the idea of a small rupture on pistol shots for the final Operative tree ability. It pairs very well with many other abilities and builds and it keeps Faceoff very competitive with Banish, even considering the extra charge you will be able to get with Annihilation.

I think I'm going to go for a 1HP rupture effect. It may be a little small for a 25AP ability, but I think 2HP rupture would be too much.

Steady Hands' bonus may also be a little small for a 25AP ability... it will just be getting bumped from 10% Aim/Crit to 15%, but given the Vektor Rifle's crit damage and the other sources of crit available to the Reaper, I think it can still be worthwhile.

Changed my mind a little bit already on Steady Hands and the pistol rupture abilities - these will be the Colonel level abilities in the next update and I think now they are all worth their 25AP cost:


Undermine: Pistol shots no longer require a kill to trigger Silent Killer and will rupture the target(s), causing them to take +1 additional damage from all subsequent attacks. (This will not prevent excluded abilities like Faceoff from breaking concealment though)

Annihilation: Continue firing at other targets until you run out of ammo when using Banish. Can now use Banish twice per mission. (Banish will have a 4-turn cooldown between uses)

Steady and Deadly: If you didn't move last turn, gain +15% Crit Chance and deal +1 Critical Hit Damage. Bonus is lost after moving.

Yeah I like those! Glad to help

Some thoughts on ability balance:
1) Lieutenant's skills definitely need some diversity. Usually when you rank up you get a choice between abilities that reinforce different playstyles. And your own Proficiency Classes do that well too. But here we have three same-ish abilities? I don't have any good suggestions, but these abilities definitely need some work.
2) I think Target Definition needs the be back. Maybe push Death from Above to Lieutenant and put Target Definition in Sergeant? I think it would synergize excellently with Reposition and Fade/Vanish as it would allow to run out of vision to regain concealment while still having enemies visible.
3) We get pistols, but no Fan Fire? Then can we at least have Banish tweaked so it would be able to land critical hits?
4) I definitely wouldn't mind seeing Lightning Hands somewhere among abilities.
5) As a replacement for Remote Start maybe you can make retuned version of Fuse from Psi-Ops? I.e. "detonate enemy's explosives with a precise shot" or something along the lines. Maybe with a cooldown and/or hit chance tweaks.

I like the 5th suggestion the most

Why is failsafe on the xcom abilities list? To my knowledge the only failable hacks are: Towers (gremlin only, unless you changed that somehow), Haywires (definitely gremlin only although the resultant mental image is amusing) and skullmining (you can do that one albeit second action skullmines are riskier iirc), leaving you with a perk that has lost most of its functionality