The skirmisher's Interrupt ability seems pretty useless imo

[Brad]

The interrupt ability is the more powerful version of overwatch that allows you to perform any single action.

The skirmisher has always been my least favorite resistance soldier because of his low damage and imo weak abilities. but I've been using him more often to try and find the niche that works the best for him, and I've had some success but as for his interrupt ability I have yet to come across a situation where I felt if would be of use, mostly because since it's a single use ability it is often wasted if the enemy decides to stay put and not move that turn.
anybody have any general tips or strategy for using the skirmisher in general as well as the interrupt ability?
What's your favorite resistance fighter? Mine are the rangers

[Aranador]

I luv me my templars. Use your skirmisher to pull a key enemy out of high cover, or to put your skirmisher into flanks of enemies so the AI will try to move them (or stasis your skirmisher)
The Class is mostly thought of as weak, yes, but they have their uses. Definitely put as powerful a repeater as you can on their gun.

[Perplex]

Skirmishers are the strongest late game and my favourite. Templars can do some amazing stuff but Skirmishers have the firepower and utility where templars basicly only has firepower.
Make use of the ability to shot twice and grapple around. Also remember that they have their own bladestorm so parking them next to an enemy is usualy a good thing. Their Mortal Kombat hook is really great, same with their Batman hook. I always give them +acu PCS and Scopes. That makes them have one of the best hit ratings in the game and you can do basicly wtf you want. Also give them extended Mag. Then you can use whatever i tend to use repeater for the chanse to kill stuff outright, wich is great on a soldier that can fire twice.

Never used interrupt however as i saw it as totaly pointless.

[ElPrezCBF]

Originally posted by Perplex:

Skirmishers are the strongest late game and my favourite. Templars can do some amazing stuff but Skirmishers have the firepower and utility where templars basicly only has firepower.
Make use of the ability to shot twice and grapple around. Also remember that they have their own bladestorm so parking them next to an enemy is usualy a good thing. Their Mortal Kombat hook is really great, same with their Batman hook. I always give them +acu PCS and Scopes. That makes them have one of the best hit ratings in the game and you can do basicly wtf you want. Also give them extended Mag. Then you can use whatever i tend to use repeater for the chanse to kill stuff outright, wich is great on a soldier that can fire twice.

Never used interrupt however as i saw it as totaly pointless.

Skirmishers aren't the strongest imo because their weapon doesn't seem to cause more damage than any other and have low ammo without upgrades. Their abilities are mostly built around supporting ranged attacks so I don't bother giving them the melee upgrade. But they are the most mobile in a sense since they can grapple and can take additional actions without ending the turn early on.

Templars have been underrated imo. If I can only choose 1 of the 3 factions to bring on a "very difficult" mission, it'd be the templar. Reason is rend allows hit and run by default and I think his pistol is weak in order to balance with his very powerful ranged psionic abilities. Can you imagine a powerful enemy in some hard to reach place and you don't have time to slowly trade shots? Use the templar's upgraded ability to switch positions with the enemy so he's exposed to your squad. He also feeds off kills through psionic loot. Combo this with his loot upgrade and he would almost always get a psionic recharge with every kill. Very potent.

[red255]

skirmishers have their uses.

1.) their faction has the best resistance orders bar none.
2.) they are very good vs ADVENT.

you have a few options. best option is to use their SLASH attack which allows you to due a double move melee attack with very high accuracy, then follow thru with a second attack since it only costs one action that does not end your turn.

they can use their grapple to get up high with a flank then drop down low with a grapple attack usually at very high accuracy.

and if they die by pulling too much contact, they are easily replace by simply doing a covert operation next month.

they can normally sell themselves quite well. I like using them with Return fire, so when they get shot at they return fire. and manual override to reduce the cooldown between their abilities.

use them like a mimic beacon, they distract the enemy. if they die, get a new one. but use them FULL ham.

the interrupt thing is not very good I don't think. generally because it triggers you get a turn where only your skirmisher can move and then the aliens get their turn back.

its a solid enough unit, its just underwhelming a bit. a Templar or Reaper with good abilities is a better unit. and well you can always throw them back and get ones with better abilities.

[Perplex]

Originally posted by twel70:

Originally posted by Perplex:

Skirmishers are the strongest late game and my favourite. Templars can do some amazing stuff but Skirmishers have the firepower and utility where templars basicly only has firepower.
Make use of the ability to shot twice and grapple around. Also remember that they have their own bladestorm so parking them next to an enemy is usualy a good thing. Their Mortal Kombat hook is really great, same with their Batman hook. I always give them +acu PCS and Scopes. That makes them have one of the best hit ratings in the game and you can do basicly wtf you want. Also give them extended Mag. Then you can use whatever i tend to use repeater for the chanse to kill stuff outright, wich is great on a soldier that can fire twice.

Never used interrupt however as i saw it as totaly pointless.

Skirmishers aren't the strongest imo because their weapon doesn't seem to cause more damage than any other and have low ammo without upgrades. Their abilities are mostly built around supporting ranged attacks so I don't bother giving them the melee upgrade. But they are the most mobile in a sense since they can grapple and can take additional actions without ending the turn early on.

Templars have been underrated imo. If I can only choose 1 of the 3 factions to bring on a "very difficult" mission, it'd be the templar. Reason is rend allows hit and run by default and I think his pistol is weak in order to balance with his very powerful ranged psionic abilities. Can you imagine a powerful enemy in some hard to reach place and you don't have time to slowly trade shots? Use the templar's upgraded ability to switch positions with the enemy so he's exposed to your squad. He also feeds off kills through psionic loot. Combo this with his loot upgrade and he would almost always get a psionic recharge with every kill. Very potent.

They can fire 2 times a turn that makes up the marginaly lower base damage. They also have some free attacks that can be used like the whiplash and retribution attack.

Templars are one trick ponies and recuire bladestorm to be of any real use late game. Dont get me wrong Templars are far from bad, they are really really good but the Skirmishers are even better.

[ryousanko]

The Skirmisher is that Jack-of-all-Trades "ish", but the "master of none" become all to aparent with it. I use as mobile Specialist that able to support and perform that one extra action you might need. Tactical flexibility is the name of the game with Skirmishers , they would not be your main damage dealer but the one who sets up the kills, all the abilities taht give you xtra actiosna re tehre for that

[red255]

I.....Templars are amazing as a save your ass unit.

you send someone forward and he badly activates some aliens. templar switches places with him, moves in slashes and parries. now hes got a unit thats back home safe. he's got the templar in front all slashy slashy and the templar can parry and deflect several incoming shots.

his damage output isn't super impressive without Bladestorm or Reaper Sure. but he can save your team's life.

you could also run your reaper to the endzone, exchange places with the reaper, then exchange places with the VIP to teleport the VIP out of the map for 2 focus. (or use a skirmisher and his grapple hook)

you can also use the Templars exchange to move turrets on avenger defense missions to make them useful later on before their accuracy drops to 0

it also has some other abilities I've never been disappointed with my reapers.

my skirmishers can work but they are far more situational to use.

[RandomDude]

I'm on my first playthrough of WOTC and I like the Skirmishers and Templars a lot. The Skirmisher leader does have a weaker base shot yeah but he has many cool abilities and is usually leading the charge.

Grappling to heights is great for flanking, and actually I don't have anything more to add than the previous pro-Skirmisher.

[gimmethegepgun]

Has a passive ability that wants them to shoot twice every turn but has a gun with short range and garbage ammo so they can't actually do that well. Has a short range weapon but it doesn't do jackall with only one shot like the shotgun does so it's not good at moving and fighting either (something everyone but Sharpshooter is able to do, and Sharpshooter has Squadsight). Their best ability is the one that lets someone else do something instead.

Skirmishers are a bunch of sadsacks that try to do everything and are bad at all of it. If you want a generalist with lots of utility bring a Grenadier (because grenades do pretty much everything). If you want someone that's actually good at some specific task then take your pick from the rest of the classes, as they're all better at those aspects.

[ElPrezCBF]

Originally posted by Perplex:

Originally posted by twel70:

Skirmishers aren't the strongest imo because their weapon doesn't seem to cause more damage than any other and have low ammo without upgrades. Their abilities are mostly built around supporting ranged attacks so I don't bother giving them the melee upgrade. But they are the most mobile in a sense since they can grapple and can take additional actions without ending the turn early on.

Templars have been underrated imo. If I can only choose 1 of the 3 factions to bring on a "very difficult" mission, it'd be the templar. Reason is rend allows hit and run by default and I think his pistol is weak in order to balance with his very powerful ranged psionic abilities. Can you imagine a powerful enemy in some hard to reach place and you don't have time to slowly trade shots? Use the templar's upgraded ability to switch positions with the enemy so he's exposed to your squad. He also feeds off kills through psionic loot. Combo this with his loot upgrade and he would almost always get a psionic recharge with every kill. Very potent.

They can fire 2 times a turn that makes up the marginaly lower base damage. They also have some free attacks that can be used like the whiplash and retribution attack.

Templars are one trick ponies and recuire bladestorm to be of any real use late game. Dont get me wrong Templars are far from bad, they are really really good but the Skirmishers are even better.

Well, barring upgrades, firing twice per turn is still greatly subject to both LoS and distance effect on accuracy. Psionic and melee effects are largely independent of the accuracy limit and all you need is LoS. Even grappling is not always safe without cover available. I think wiplash only has 1 available per mission compared to the templar's potential to regularly recharge his ranged attacks in a single mission. Retribution is more risky without a hit and run ability like the templar's. I think retribution also has a long cooldown unlike the templar rend. That said, skirmishers are particularly useful on lost missions where the enemy usually lacks cover and you can often grapple to any exposed area when facing melee enemies.

Templar gauntlets can be upgraded, which means they can possibly kill lower tier enemies in one strike, and saving ammo for the other soldiers. This and their continuous recharge potential definitely makes them more than one trick ponies even early on. In fact, I don't even need to use bladestorm to bring the templar's huge potential to good effect in missions.

[leandrombraz]

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

Has a passive ability that wants them to shoot twice every turn but has a gun with short range and garbage ammo so they can't actually do that well. Has a short range weapon but it doesn't do jackall with only one shot like the shotgun does so it's not good at moving and fighting either (something everyone but Sharpshooter is able to do, and Sharpshooter has Squadsight). Their best ability is the one that lets someone else do something instead.

Skirmishers are a bunch of sadsacks that try to do everything and are bad at all of it. If you want a generalist with lots of utility bring a Grenadier (because grenades do pretty much everything). If you want someone that's actually good at some specific task then take your pick from the rest of the classes, as they're all better at those aspects.

In really early game the lack of ammo and short range might be a problem but as you advance you can easily solve that with weapon mods. Free reloads, some aim and you can do wonders with that two shots, mostly with Zero in. If you use a PCS for the aim or get a third slot, a Hair Trigger is nice for that third shot.

I like to vary and play with every class, always using different compositions, Skirmishers never disappointed me. Justice is really good, mostly in early game and a good way to solve that short range issue. Whiplash is as great as any free action and can do some serious damage to robotics.

As for interrupt, it's an ability that seems good but you never really find a situation where it feels like you should use it. It probably will be good if you actually use it but will you?

[gimmethegepgun]

Originally posted by leandrombraz:

In really early game the lack of ammo and short range might be a problem but as you advance you can easily solve that with weapon mods.

That's when it matters most, though. The hardest part of the game is early game, where you can't afford to be missing all those shots and have such godawful mobility as the Skirmisher will give you. By the time Skirmishers stop being held back by their terrible useless gun everyone else is ascending to godhood.

[leandrombraz]

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

Originally posted by leandrombraz:

In really early game the lack of ammo and short range might be a problem but as you advance you can easily solve that with weapon mods.

That's when it matters most, though. The hardest part of the game is early game, where you can't afford to be missing all those shots and have such godawful mobility as the Skirmisher will give you. By the time Skirmishers stop being held back by their terrible useless gun everyone else is ascending to godhood.

Justice help a lot in that early game, it's a god send in Gatecrasher. Wrath can be risk but the fact it doesn't share a cooldown with justice means Skirmishers are flexible and always have an option over shooting if that won't do the trick and they can still shoot after that. Reflex is also a good early game ability for when things don't go perfectly and the aliens get to shoot. For me the Skirmisher doesn't own a thing to other classes. In my current game I got it as an early unit, So I used it a lot in early game, I didn't feel the game got harder nor had a moment where I would rather have another unit to deal with the situation.

[Chard]

"The skirmisher's _________ ability seems pretty useless imo." Welcome to Skirmisher 101!!

[ElPrezCBF]

Originally posted by leandrombraz:

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

Has a passive ability that wants them to shoot twice every turn but has a gun with short range and garbage ammo so they can't actually do that well. Has a short range weapon but it doesn't do jackall with only one shot like the shotgun does so it's not good at moving and fighting either (something everyone but Sharpshooter is able to do, and Sharpshooter has Squadsight). Their best ability is the one that lets someone else do something instead.

Skirmishers are a bunch of sadsacks that try to do everything and are bad at all of it. If you want a generalist with lots of utility bring a Grenadier (because grenades do pretty much everything). If you want someone that's actually good at some specific task then take your pick from the rest of the classes, as they're all better at those aspects.

In really early game the lack of ammo and short range might be a problem but as you advance you can easily solve that with weapon mods. Free reloads, some aim and you can do wonders with that two shots, mostly with Zero in. If you use a PCS for the aim or get a third slot, a Hair Trigger is nice for that third shot.

I like to vary and play with every class, always using different compositions, Skirmishers never disappointed me. Justice is really good, mostly in early game and a good way to solve that short range issue. Whiplash is as great as any free action and can do some serious damage to robotics.

As for interrupt, it's an ability that seems good but you never really find a situation where it feels like you should use it. It probably will be good if you actually use it but will you?

Weapon mods are great but they're also divided up among your soldiers. It's not just whether there are mods but also what type available that allow the skirmisher to max his abilities. I think aim and ammo bonuses are huge as they are guaranteed.

I believe even justice success chance is still subject to cover penalties. Don't get me wrong. I agree skirmishers are great especially early on. Thing is they still depend a lot on ranged chance like everyone else. Templars may not have conventional ranged firepower but they compensate for it with psionic range which mostly doesn't depend on ranged chance on top of their melee and continuous recharge abilities. I haven't tried all the skirmisher upgrades yet though so maybe you'd know some winning combo that I don't if you have.