Aliens: Fireteam Elite is out now, allowing players to join others in co-op for a romp through the Aliens universe. To get through Aliens: Fireteam Elite’s campaigns and Horde Mode, players will be able to take on one of five classes.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite’s classes are composed of Doc, Demolisher, Gunner, Technician, and Recon. To unlock the Recon class, though, players will need to beat the campaign first. Each class has a somewhat customizable “skill tree” of sorts, which allows them to modify their abilities slightly. Each also has some abilities that they can use, but as many load up the game, the big question may be: which class is best?
Aliens: Fireteam Elite Classes – The Best of the Best
Because Aliens: Fireteam Elite is about constantly gunning down enemies, it should come across as no surprise that the Demolisher and Gunner are top-tier classes. In every squad, at least one is recommended but both are certainly welcome.
The Demolisher class in Aliens: Fireteam Elite is the best all-around, as not only can it use its heavy weapon to mow down mobs, but the damage output is good at taking down large enemy spawns as well. Complete with rockets for taking out decent-sized clusters of enemies and an ability that pushes enemies away from the Demolisher, it’s all about putting out tons of damage and keeping ammo for heavy weapons on hand. Mobility and ammo reserves may be its biggest issue, but the second ability at least makes one of these a smaller problem.
The Gunner uses assault rifles and close-quarter weapons, allowing it to do decent damage on its own. It comes with a frag grenade that can help break up small clusters and the ability to boost the DPS on every member of the squad. In general, it’s not as big of a workhorse class as the Demolisher, but it can hold its own and assist allies.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite Classes – The Second Tier Classes
This puts the Doc, Recon, and Technician classes all into a second tier of sorts. For these, the Doc seems like a solid choice, but players have to change up their playstyle. Damage, crowd control, and all the big elements tied to Aliens: Fireteam Elite’s gameplay are absent. The doc’s redeeming quality is its Trauma Station, which allows it to throw down a small AoE heal.
It’s not easily recharged, it doesn’t heal the quickest, but it is sometimes the most reliable aspect in battle. Due to the nature of the Xenomorphs and other enemies, it can be really hard to get heals off in battle, and the Trauma Station helps alleviate that. Players shouldn’t expect to do a ton of damage, but they might be able to keep teammates up and in the action.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite's Technician class is the best when it comes to controlling crowds, but it has to be played carefully. With turrets dealing damage down a line of sight and aggroing enemies to it, players will want to pick their lanes and defend their turret. Its Charged Coils ability slows enemies and adds further to that control element. With some passive squad buffs, the Technician is a good pick for support.
Finally, there’s the Recon class which is just as good of a support class, if not better, than the Technician. It can scan enemies which helps identify where they are coming from, but perhaps its biggest benefit is a drone. This ability grants lifesteal, buffs defense, and perhaps most importantly, refills ammo.
Based on these classes, a lot will come down to how players prefer to play. The Demolisher and Gunner offer the best DPS of the group, while the other three offer support with differing specialties. The Recon serves as a jack-of-all-trades style class, as its support is great and offers a ton of benefits, but it can’t control like the Technician and may even out with Doc in terms of heals. Either way, forming a three-man co-op group out of these for Aliens: Fireteam Elite means that going wrong is hard, as long as players lean on their strengths, optimize their abilities, and build a good gun loadout.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.