Scout (second specialization)

Combat Recon is 1 AP for one Advantage per enemy in the area, once a turn, and the area grows with rank. That is a squad's worth of Special Actions paid for without firing a shot: Trick's Bulwark, Cly's darts and Surge, an astromech's Coordinated Support. Tactical Timing at rank three is a 50% chance of another point on each of his own ranged or melee kills, and Ambush spends the whole pool on one shot when nobody else needs it.

Medic second keeps a Combat Stim rank in the kit, three turns of Stimulant at rank two, so the opening still has a buff in it. The Spotter marks whatever his blaster damages, which removes range and smoke penalties for everyone who shoots it next.

A blaster pistol fires for 1 AP without limit, and every Gunslinger starts with Onslaught, +1 blaster damage for each attack made in the turn. Quick Draw is a 1 AP sidearm shot on top of that, and Keen Eye at rank three is +12% critical chance on every ranged attack. So the loop is: shoot the weakest enemy first, let the damage climb, and put the last shot into the one that matters.

Scout second for the fuel and the accuracy. The Spotter marks anything the pistol damages, which strips range and smoke penalties from the follow-ups; Tactical Timing turns kills into Advantage; Open Fire spends that Advantage on two more shots without touching AP, and Ambush on one big one. A recruit can be built for this at Recruitment on day one.

Her whole kit runs on Advantage, not AP. ElectroWeb Dart Shocks a target for 2 Advantage (1 at rank six) and halves its movement; ElectroWeb Surge is 4 Advantage for a blast around Cly and around every darted enemy, and those blasts ignore Defense. Combat Jump moves her for 2 Advantage and pushes enemies at the landing. None of it spends an action point, so the three AP are still there for the pistol or a Scattergun.

Scout second is the fuel: Combat Recon returns one Advantage per enemy scanned for 1 AP, and Tactical Timing adds a chance of another on each kill. Ruthless is +4 critical damage at rank three, for the pistol shots that follow. Gunslinger instead gives Quick Draw and Keen Eye if the squad already has a Scout feeding her.

Final Shot is her talent: once a turn, when an ally's attack leaves an enemy at 8 health or less (rank three), Jae fires and kills it, no AP spent. Rank four raises that to 10 health and twice a turn, but it costs 21 of the 24 focus on its own, so three is the stop. Zero In at rank three is 1 AP for five stacks of Lethal, +25% to hit and +15% critical chance until she moves; Pick Them Off adds to Overwatch hit chance and damage; Sharpshooter Training is +10% to hit on everything.

Scout second so each Final Shot kill has a chance to return Advantage through Tactical Timing. A longarm is a Slow weapon, 2 AP a shot, but its critical damage is double a rifle's and Overwatch fires one shot per AP invested, so she sets up, zeroes in, and covers the lane. The RSKF-44 in a utility slot is the sidearm for when two points is too many.

Combat Gas is Luco's talent and the reason he is built differently to Jae on the same tree. At rank three it is eight stacks of Sharpened Senses, each +5% chance-to-hit and +1 damage, and since 1.2 all of them land on his next ranged or melee attack that turn: +40% and +8 on one longarm shot, for 3 Advantage, with the old once-per-combat limit gone. Rank three is 7 focus of the 24 and rank four is 16, two thirds of the budget for two more stacks, so three is the stop.

Zero In at rank three is +25% chance-to-hit and +15% critical chance until he moves, and it stacks with the gas. Pick Them Off at rank three puts +15% and +4 damage on every Overwatch shot, which is where a longarm's spare point goes on the turns it does not reposition. Precision Shot stays at rank one: it fires once a turn for six Advantage, so the focus does more on the two lines that improve every shot.

Scout second because the squad shares one Advantage pool and Precision Shot costs six of it. Tactical Timing at rank two returns a point on 40% of kills, which is the difference between one ultimate a fight and two. Ambush and Combat Recon stay at rank one; they are there to feed the pool, not to do damage a sniper is already doing better.