best mutation unlocks for the first 3 classes?

[.VM8RA]

I heard it's not possible to unlock everything, so I want to be careful what I get.

I have just unlocked up to the first juncture on the first 3 heroes, but I would like to be careful.

Like I know the female has a good CC move (which I have) but I think it has to be used at ground level, where as she has skills which are clearly aimed at high ground attacks.

am I supposed to pick what role I want her for up front then only unlock those relevant abilities? (well one for each shape)

it's just I already have a mix on her. I have her first one which is for jumping up hights, but then I have her CC move as well (the CC one is just too useful right now for when I have to aggro a group)

maybe I will use her as a sniper later, but the duck also has sniper related stuff. I have his wings unlocked, but I think I had to unlock them to move on with the tree.

is the duck better with his stealth stuff and his big crits from invisible than his flying and stuff? I have found the flying underwhelming so far, but I put this down to him not really having a weapon for this yet. with a good sniper rifle or something it will probably be awesome.

anyway guys, wondering if anyone knows what the best builds are for these classes. thanks.

[akimbojoe]

I can't tell you what "THE BEST" skills are, but I can tell you what I've found useful.

Bormin:
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Bormin's Hog Rush is great, as is his stone skin. I have only used Run and Gun once, although I loved the ability in XCOM it's simply not as good as Twitch Shot which occupies the same spot. I only use Run and Gun when Twitch shot is on cooldown. Drawing all attention to yourself, I never specc'ed into, and it might be nice combo's with Stone Skin, but usually, just standing out in the middle of everyone with no cover and Stone Skin on is enough of a way to draw attention to Bormin... absorb it all Bormin, then Twitch Shot them down.

Dux:
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I probably initially had the most trouble speccing Dux. I went Skull Splitter, and I use it a lot. 100% crit can occasionally be the difference between finishing an enemy and letting them have another turn, it made a big difference when I was too cheap to upgrade the crossbow (I was holding out for another pistol or needle gun but I'm in The Forbidden City and still only have one of each) and it has made the difference in later fights. The ability to immobilize a target might be useful, but the target is still dangerous and can shoot back or overwatch and hit you, and it only applies to organics. I guess it would be useful on mele enemies, or to stop tank charges, but there's not a lot of mauraders and there are other ways to deal with tank charges (stone skin, vines, anti-charge armors, mind controlling their allies and having them draw the charge) so I don't regret Skull Splitter one bit... at least that's what I'll tell myself, lol.

Moth wings, obviously required, are useful stacked with his 50% elevation perk when you don't have a weapon long range enough or there's simply no highground around and you want to increase your crit chance. Bear in mind though, that you've always got Skull Splitter so, if you need to crit and have a good chance to hit you may as well take a 100% chance to crit. With the right weapons, gear, and skills though, Dux can get a crit% from the air that's nothing to sneeze at.

The third choice, short circuit vs Eagle Eye was the hardest for me. I reloaded and tried both out and was all set to go Short Circuit for a while, but then I had misgivings, and I reloaded about 30 mins of progress and left it unspecced forever lol. Eventually I went Eagle Eye for a few reasons: 1) Dux is the only one who can get Eagle Eye; 2 )Other squaddies can get Short Circuit; 3) There are EMP mods to deal with robotic/inorganic enemies. The only unfortunate thing about Eagle Eye is that it shares the passive slot with Alpinist but I swap them out as needs be, and sometimes forget but it all still works out anyway. Even if you leave Alpinist in and there's no easily accessible highground, at least you get the bonus on your one Moth Wings shot. I would say though, that if you went Short Circuit here, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Selma:
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Super Tendons, the other choice is interesting, drawing attention to yourself, but without stone skin, in some fights it's kind of suicide. I guess you could draw attention you yourself and then... run away? So that the enemy can't see/shoot you but are forced to try anyhow? I suppose that could work though it's a tad unorthodox wouldn't you say?

Tree Hugger because obviously, you must pick it, it's the bottleneck on the skill tree so you're picking it no matter what. It's got it's uses and can keep enemies from running or charging but it's not much use for keeping things quiet. It's a good opening when you've got multiple targets to take out to keep them from running for cover.

The third choice is another difficult one, I went Contortionist though I think that's probably a mistake. A lot of this character's kit is mobility based, though I suppose you could take her sniper... I think if you combined Run n' Gun with Super Tendons or the Frog Legs (which you're forced to pick anyhow) then you might have a good rush down character for pesky instances where you've got a guy you can shoot who keeps taking pot shots at your crew. Then again, the inability to combine Double Shot and Run 'n Gun sort of limits the ability to persecute runners and sort of leaves your characters in vulnerable positions for doing so (unless they can finish the enemy in one attack). I went Contortionist because finding high cover can be difficult at times, especially when you need to set up on high ground. If there's not 3 good High Cover spots for an ambush (say around a window or there's 2 trees and a planter), I can have Selma take a low cover spot and know if it goes awry she'll at least have a highcover bonus while the others don't have to give up their spot for her. For the last choice on her, I went Twitch Shot, which helps with some stealth kills like say, at the Spear of Heaven when you've got 2 Pyros outside of the Cathedral though you might also go Alpinist because to tell the truth I don't know that increasing grenade range by 3 tiles is all that jazzy. A properly set up Ambush doesn't usually require throwing grenades much farther than the default anyhow. I guess some people do like to rain mortars down from extreme distance, but that seems resource intensive to me. Maybe if she generated free grenades it would seem like a better deal I guess.

[SirDmitry]

Don't spend EXP points to unlock +1HP/+2movement/etc perks and you will have enough EXP to unlock all abilities.
For silent takedowns you must obtain Mothwings and elevation crits for DUX. It provides 10 crit DMG(with all possible upgrades and add-ons) with 100% crit chance. Add 7+7 regular DMG from other silent weapons and you can silent kill all monsters with 24HP which are 90% of mid-game.

[.VM8RA]

thanks guys. yeah I'm not gonna buy the stat upgrades this run as it's on normal so I don't need the extra health as much. the extra movement could be nice, but accuracy is better.

as for run and gun on the hog. it;s great combined with his rush ability. you ran mow them down and then still fire a round. I find for taking down pairs this is great as you can disable one guy and still get a shot off on the other.

I'm about to test this now, but I don't think the guy you mowed down can call his buddies for another turn which gives you another round to kill him.

I can 2 shot with the duck and the woman anyway right now, but the board couldn't take care of the other guy on his own, so I think this is a good one/two method, providing the ability prevents him from calling his buddies.

I did this earlier though and I'm sure it worked. I reloaded though and approached the area slightly differently though so can't remember (went and hunted down all the goons before interacting with the leader who took 2 turns to kill)

[.VM8RA]

also I was building dux that way already (for taking advantage of high ground) I have the top hat on him now with with the long range mutation as well. this free's up my weapon mod for a crit scope until I get the crit mod later. he's the best opener for stealth killing as he can use his wings every time. it's great.

it plays a lot like xcom 2. I remember this is how we'd play that. we would do focused attacks on one enemy and take it down to thin the heard.

in fact I'm sure we could do this in the original xcom reboot as well. it was more the entire playstyle of xcom 2 though. it was more focused than open ended, but I happened to like the playstyle so it wasn't an issue for me.

[Everlion]

Bormin's Hog Rush is game-breaking. There's no level cap or diminishing return on it. You can be level 15 and take down a level 45 enemy because of it. Just sneak, ambush, have 2 characters use silent weapons, then use Bormin's Hog Rush. Enemy is down for 2 full turns, which is 6 MORE attacks by everyone. It's so broken, and the best way to farm EXP in the beginning.