Long War Class Builds - Shogun and Valkyrie
The best sidekick for the Pathfinder is a Shogun or a Valkyrie.
Instead of discussing the Shogun and Valkyrie separately, I am going to discuss them together as variations of my support MEC build.
Pathfinders are the best MECs, but they have a few shortcomings. They don’t get Collateral Damage, or Heat Ammo, and against enemies that are flying or in cover, Hit & Run doesn’t work. Enter the Support MEC, or more specifically, the Shogun and Valkyrie. These MECs have the skills that the Pathfinder is missing, and are strongest in those situations where the Pathfinder is weak. The support MEC is a solid build all by itself, but more importantly, when paired with the Pathfinder they make an incredible duo.
Shogun
Collateral Damage
Heat Ammo
Deadeye
Repair Servos
Ranger
Rapid Fire
Absorption Fields
The Shogun starts with Collateral Damage, which is great. With this ability my squad will always have a method of breaking cover even after I’ve exhausted all my rockets and grenades, while also helping to conserve them.
The Shogun is offered an ability at every rank that improves grenades: Packmaster, HEAT Warheads, Mayhem, Sapper, Tandem Warheads, and Grenadier. I don’t intend to carry a grenade launcher on the Shogun, and so I don’t even consider these abilities. Collateral damage is already available for cover destruction, and shooting is preferable when cover does not need to be destroyed. Perhaps the Shogun would make a solid grenadier if the Bombard ability was available, but it isn’t. For a true grenadier MEC, the Archer makes more sense.
I am going to grab Absorption Fields at MSGT rank. I would probably take Absorption Fields over any ability, but its an easy choice here because I already have Shredder Ammo on my gunner, and shredder rockets on my rocketeer.
I find that Absorption Fields provides sufficient tankiness for all my MECs, and so I decline Damage Control, and Automated Threat Assessment in favor of the offensive abilities Heat Ammo and Deadeye, both of which fill a huge need. I don’t have Heat Ammo on any other soldiers, and Deadeye only on my Sniper. Both are great abilities for the Shogun.
I don’t value Repair Servos highly, but choose it over Flush. Rapid Fire will usually be preferable to Flush, but not always.
Shock-Absorbent Armor is not very good, and so I take Ranger, which is very good.
EDIT: I have recently learned that the grenade launcher can be fired without ending One For All, which makes Sapper a pretty valuable perk to have if you choose to carry a grenade launcher.
Both Rapid Fire and Light ‘Em Up are great, and allow the Shogun to shoot twice, when the Pathfinder might be limited to a single shot. I prefer Rapid Fire because it is more flexible.
Valkyrie
Light ‘Em Up
Ranger
Platform Stability
Heat Ammo
Opportunist
Collateral Damage
Absorption Fields
Again, I am going to take Absorption Fields at MSGT rank. This is a tougher call than with the Shogun, as both alternatives are excellent. But I already have enough fire power on my squad, and while I could always use more, Absorption Fields is a real life saver that allows MECs to function as legitimate tanks.
I am also going to grab Collateral Damage at GSGT, as that is an essential ability for the support MEC role. This prevents the Valkyrie from going the crit build route with Aggression.
Ranger is very good, and better than Flush in my opinion.
The tough choice with the Valkyrie is whether or not to use an overwatch build with Rapid Reaction, Opportunist, and Lock N’ Load. This is very strong, but with Advanced Fire Control on my Pathfinder, and high aim on my other shooters, I feel that my squad’s overwatch traps are strong enough. There are also some problems with Rapid Reaction. It can be negated by lightning reflexes, or it can drain all the Valkyrie’s ammunition when it triggers multiple times on drones or seekers rather than a real threat. To provide enough ammo, Rapid Reaction should be paired with Lock N’ Load, which competes against Heat Ammo. Without Lock N’ Load, I don’t think Rapid Reaction works.
Instead of the overwatch build, I take Heat Ammo and Platform Stability. Heat Ammo is a great ability that fills a need for the squad, and Platform Stability pairs very well with Light ‘Em Up. I do take Opportunist, which by itself feels like a missed opportunity. Still, it is better than Sharpshooter and Damage Control in my opinion.
Shogun vs. Valkyrie
These two builds are very similar:
SHOGUN VALKYRIE
-------------------------------------
DIFFERENCES
Rapid Fire Light 'Em Up
Deadeye Platform Stability
Repair Servos Opportunist
Aim 82 Aim 86
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SIMILARITIES
Collateral Damage
Heat Ammo
Ranger
Absorption Fields
They are both great companions to the Pathfinder. I prefer the Shogun because Rapid Fire enables it to move and shoot twice, which tends to work better in practice than Light ‘Em Up.
Shoguns:
I have recently been informed that taking Shredder Ammo as a MSGT perk does not work properly with GSGT rapid fire. As in shredder ammo will not be applied by rapid fire if fired from a MEC weapon. Rapid fire and shredder does work properly for assaults with the shredder ammo item and gunners with both perks.
https://discord.com/channels/135019582984290304/135396464170893313/856974375302463498
That said, rapid fire + heat is amazing on both Shoguns and Valkyries.
I know some very good Long War players that recommend sapper on Shoguns (otherwise the same build) because it makes the grenade launcher level enormous amounts of cover, like a dangerzone rocket.
Valkyries are weird and can be built lots of different ways and I really don't think anyone should stick to a single build for them, but rather fit it for the campaign. The only obvious build they have is Rapid Reaction -> Opportunist and i've not found that build to be amazing, it in fact doesn't really pop off until very late game when you can stack battle computer + scope on a MSGT valkyrie with officer bonuses. It is intensely unreliable and unimpressive before that, at least based on my own experience attempting it.
Other builds are the target-painter build for when you don't have a shred gunner - platform stability, shedder, sharpshooter, with the holo-targeter item. And with access to heat-rapid fire they can be a very strong mec. I always recommend plat stab for light em up synergy because RTS is a terrible perk.
I never take collateral on valkyries because its a little late for that perk to be super strong and because of ammo issues. But its definitely pickable.