Why use heavies?

[Scathe]

I just completed Enemy unknown for the first time and didn't use heavies at all outside like the first 3 missions or so. my highest ranking heavy was a sergeant. it helped me decide not to use them that of the 19 or so soldiers in my barracks only 2 were heavy, and also the scientists talked me out of using rockets because they wanted me to recover corpses. My first game was on normal and I am considering starting one on classic or with ironman on, and am wondering if people who have leveled up their heavies feel their spot in the group is highly important or if I can get away with not using them again?

I liked assault and support the most because they have added mobility and they could use the light plasma rifles that I recovered alot of. support definately seemed like the best at using the arc thrower because they could move the farthest and still use it. assault seemed to outpace snipers a bit at damage dealing because they get rapid fire at a lower level than snipers get double tap and I researched the tech for light plasma rifles before precision lasers. but my 1 sniper that got colonel did wind up with the most kills ( it was close 23 missions 43 kills for the sniper, 23 missions 41 kills for the top assault). most missions I used 2 assault 3 support 1 sniper or 3 assault 2 support 1 sniper. for the temple ship assault though I used 3 assault 3 support. the game seemed pretty easy with this mix. I am wondering if my common class mixes will hold up as viable on higher difficulties?

[WickedRequiem]

Well, they do get the rocket ability, which can come in handy in certain situations.

I don't think there's any other "guided" weapon besides the upgraded version of the rocket launcher.

[scolfaro]

Once they get to using heavy plasma, you might reconsider. Also, there's one ability granting heavies two shots if they don't move. I see heavies as slower, but more powerful supports. You can also armor them like mad with the late game armor, and they'll easily deal more damage than a SHIV if used right, especially if you use the double shot thing on overwatch (two overwatch shots...)...

[Hex: Student Loans]

IDK whether or not if you got the enemy within expansion but there is one gene upgrade I think is good for heavies which allows them to heal theirselves up until it gets to the armour. With that gene their able to become a bullet sponge or should I say plasma sponge.

[Milk]

What difficulty did you play on? They're much more useful in Classic.

[Scathe]

thanks for the replies, maybe I'll try using heavies more. like I said in my opening post, I was playing on normal.

[Syntax Error]

Value of Heavies (for me):
Holo-targetting. Sure +10 to hit might not seem like much, but the difference between 85% and 95% is huge. I put 85% in the "risky shot" category.

Suppression. Massively useful, if you know the right way to work it. -30% to enemy hit, or keeping them pinned in bad cover, very nice.

Rockets. Kind of like grenades with a much longer range and blast radius. The heavy can hit enemies he can't even see. And, unlike grenades, you can explode them in mid-air. Say goodbye to flying targets.

Heavies aren't really valuable for their chance to hit with their main gun, because it's not good. When they DO hit, it's nice. Their utility function is very valueable, though.

[New Moon On Monday]

Don't be afraid of destroying loot with explosives. Your first priority is always to keep your soldiers alive while destroying your enemies. Loot is secondary.

As the difficultly level goes up, your ability to consistently make good shots goes down. Rockets are always 90%, and they destroy cover to open up better shots for your other soldiers.

HEAT rockets can be very valuable in dealing with Sectopods.

If you play with the Second Wave options Hidden Potential and Not Created Equally, you can tilt the balance even more in favor of Heavies. Spending a little money to play the stat lottery with soldiers can turn up Heavies with high Aim, mitigating their primary drawback. A Heavy with high Aim, a heavy plasma, and Bullet Swarm can do a lot of damage. (Whether you take Bullet Swarm or Holo-Targeting for a particular Heavy may depend on that Heavy's Aim.)

The Support class has the least damage potential, taking 3 probably is not going to give you the damage output you need on higher difficultly levels.

[Stardustfire]

TS main problem is he only plays on normal, where it dosnt matters much what u do and still win easyly.
depending in classic or impossible (not to mentation with ironman) on LPRs brings u nowhere. when play without training roulette supports only have 2 work niches: fieldmedic and response fire.
heavys in none training roulette games literary level the field, kill clusters of low health enemys and make short work of mech units. oh yeah and make beavy enemy units with shredder faster to kill of course.

[Smokey]

Support and Assault class are the best without a doubt when they are fully ranked up
(and if taken the right choises ;)

Heavy is only useful in pvp
since in that mode you dont care about you destroy valuable resources/materials

ps. but sniper class i simply find useless to me since his movement/setup time are no match for the Assault class there also can do alot more damage

[Syntax Error]

Originally posted by Smokey:

Heavy is only useful in pvp
since in that mode you dont care about you destroy valuable resources/materials

Sorry, wrong. I won't make guesses as to what happens in your games, but I can at least say you need to accept some loss of resources, and not just from a Heavy.

[Hotzn]

The heavy will become indispensable once you play classic or impossible with ironman. That rocket can be a life saver in many situations. Suppression fire will also become more important on the higher difficulty levels.

[red255]

Heavies purpose if to keep your team alive in the first few months before getting lasers and carapace on classic.

otherwise thin men would end your campaign. but 2 heavies with a rocket and a shredder will probably be able to handle Thin men and floaters in the early stages while you are waiting for your gear to come in.

all explosives destroy are weapon fragments.

and until you start researching plasma you don't really need all that many fragments.

[Dakota]

I generally role 1 Heavy, 1 Sniper, 2 supports, 2 Assaults. The Heavy is great for suppression and dealing enormous damage to tight groups

[hereforciv]

Personally, I love Snipers. Get them up high with double tap and man oh man watch the kills mount. I tend to go 2 sniper, 2 support, 1 heavy, 1 assault. I've been using a MEC instead of a heavy a bit, those are fun too, flamethrowers and grenade launchers oh my.

[Stardustfire]

And than comes the Urban Map or the big UFO and the Sniper does nothing......