What a Heavy brings to a fireteam
The Heavy does the job nobody wants: standing where there is no cover. Its official role is a frontline combatant, thickly armored and tough as nails, built to survive out in the open, and its Bulwark Ultimate defines the class — it taunts every enemy in the target area, forcing them to focus on the Heavy.
That solves the most common problem in tactical missions: an entrenched enemy in a corridor that punishes any attempt to advance. The Heavy does not need to win that exchange; it only needs the enemy to stop looking at the rest of your squad for one turn.
Using Bulwark without losing the Heavy
Taunting trades damage for position. To make it pay:
- Put the Heavy in at least partial cover. Taunt redirects damage rather than removing it; without cover, armor becomes a cushion that runs out in two turns.
- Only taunt what you can survive. A Heavy surrounded by four enemies with clean sightlines is an operator headed for the Medical Bay, or worse.
- Pop Bulwark when your Assault or Padawan is one move away from entering. The taunt is worth the turn it buys for everyone else.
- Watch stacked Injuries. With permadeath on by default, three Injuries on standard difficulty means permanent death. The Den's facilities exist so that never happens by accident.
Where it shines and where it struggles
- Shines in corridors, lifts, extraction platforms, and any wave defense — places where space is tight and enemy fire is concentrated.
- Struggles on large open maps where enemies can ignore it and shoot from two directions. One Heavy covers one vector; two vectors is one too many.
- Complements Sharpshooters and Gunslingers placed behind it: with the Heavy soaking fire, any unit can shoot without immediate reprisal.
Dual-classing and progression
The Heavy is a standard specialization, swappable at the Personnel facility. Its most common second specialization is Soldier, which reinforces the frontline role and adds squad support tools such as Squad Rally, returning Action Points to nearby allies. Focus Points are best spent on mitigation and defensive passives before damage: the class already supplies position, so what needs covering is survival. More detail in the dual-class guide.
Compositions that use it well
- Heavy + Soldier + Gunslinger + Medic: a front that does not break and constant damage from behind.
- Heavy + Assault + Scout + Sharpshooter: the Heavy taunts, the Assault flanks through the gap, the Sharpshooter executes from height.
- Heavy + Padawan + Astromech + Medic: built for long corridors; the Padawan deflects, the Astromech passes Action Points around, and the Heavy takes the hits.
When it is the wrong choice
- Stealth-oriented missions that reward not being detected.
- Long-range selective elimination on wide terrain.
- When you already run two defensive units — a third non-damage slot leaves the squad unable to close a fight.
Common mistakes
- Taunting without cover, turning the Heavy into the campaign's first permanent loss.
- Using Bulwark late. Its value is opening a one-turn window for everyone else; triggering it after the squad has repositioned wastes most of the effect.
- Treating it as a secondary damage dealer. Its heavy weapons and suppression ammo support, but the main job is area denial.