Rifleman

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Overview

Imperial Rifleman
Northern Faction Rifleman

Riflemen are the undisputed masters of infantry combat. They can use the most powerful rifles and machine guns, wielding them with an ease no others can match. In addition, these troopers spawn with explosive grenades and a suit of body armor, making them a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

The rifleman's skills are focused on what he does best: infantry to infantry combat. Two offensive skills increase the damage dealt by his weapons, and one defensive skill decreases damage dealt to him. Damage Increase and Vehicle Damage increase damage dealt with hand and vehicle weapons, respectively, and Dig In decreases blast damage dealt to the soldier while crouched, reducing it by up to 70%.

Tips and Tactics

  • Your accuracy will be much better while crouched with certain weapons like the Heavy Machine Gun.
  • Your accuracy will be increased by another 25% when using the weapon's iron sights (default: right click).
  • If not using the Heavy Machine Gun, the extra ammo skill is crucial.
  • Explosive grenades are very effective against infantry, turrets, and even heavy tanks (you'll see tanks shake when hit). The trick is getting close enough to use them without getting killed.
  • The secondary fire button on rifles (except the Heavy Machine Guns) allows you to zoom in. The zoom level is nothing like the Scout's ranged rifle, but it helps nontheless.

Upgrade Guide

See Also: Rifleman Skills

The biggest drawback for any Rifleman is his lack of ammunition. (Beta 1.03) The Assault Rifle has three clips, which means that he will be able to kill, at most, 6 people. On average, he might fire an entire clip into one opponent. This upgrade guide assumes that you will never be far from engineers or the front lines of the battle to restock ammo. If this is a problem for you, take the increased ammo skill before one of the other skills, depending on how far from your squad mates you intend to be. Furthermore, this set assumes you will be playing an infantry dominated stage of the game. Dig-in can be useful, but when it's needed, chances are there are very few infantry units threatening the Rifleman and more tanks that he will have difficulty dispatching.

Beta 1.031 skill set:

  • 'First Upgrade: Accuracy:' Rarely will you ever choose anything but accuracy as a Rifleman. This skill makes a heavy machine gun fire like an assault rifle, and an assault rifle will now be able to out-snipe a Scout with ease. Take this skill to dominate the map.
  • 'Second Upgrade: Increased Damage:' Although a 10% bump is a fairly small amount of damage, if you take both of the above skills, you will be able to outshoot any infantry unit on the map. Any infantry unit at all.
  • 'Third Upgrade: Health:' This will just give you that extra edge to outlast anyone you get into a gun fight with. Note that you should NOT take health regeneration, as you'll probably be running back to healing units just to get more ammo anyway.
  • 'Fourth Upgrade: Ammo Upgrade:' Chances are, if you're skilled enough to get the fourth upgrade, the preferred upgrade will heavily depend on your playstyle. Extra ammo is always a good choice.