Aliens: Fireteam Elite - Demolisher Class Guide

Some classes in Aliens: Fireteam Elite are Jacks-of-all-trades, while others work best as complementary soldiers who keep everyone else around them in the fight. And then there's the Demolisher, a straight shooter whose goal in the game is to do as much damage as possible to anything that stands in their way. Armed with an arsenal that gives new meaning to the phrase "bleeding-edge weaponry," Demolishers give as good as they get and then some.

If you're looking to rack up the biggest killstreaks in every mission, here's everything that you need to know about the Demolisher in Aliens: Fireteam Elite.

Weapons

Demolishers can use rifle-class weapons as their primary guns, but they're the only class that can equip heavy weapons. This gives them access to room-clearing gear like flamethrowers and rocket launchers, as well as the Smartgun that automatically locks onto even the most agile runners in a Xenomorph hive. What makes the weapon even more deadly is a generously-sized magazine that holds up to 200 rounds when fully loaded, allowing for the class to take out an entire mob within seconds.

The drawback to these heavy weapons, though, is that they burn through ammo surprisingly quickly, so they're best kept for when you know that a swarm is headed your way. Demolishers can make good use of regular weapons like the pulse rifle, thanks to their perks and modifiers, to make up for this shortcoming.

Abilities

• Micro-rockets
• Blastwave

Demolishers feature two abilities designed to either keep them from being overrun or annihilate any enemies before they can invade their personal space. Blastwave's area of effect is small, but it does a good job of taking out any mobs around you and knocking heavier opponents down, while Micro-rockets require a brief charge-up time before they can be unleashed. Together, these skills also form a quick strategy for disrupting more dangerous foes, as Demolishers can knock down Warrior and Praetorian Xenomorphs and then unload a series of rockets directly into them while they're vulnerable.

Combined with other perks, the Demolisher is able to leave enemies debilitated and in a perfect position for the team to unload all their ammo into big targets before they can do serious damage.

Unique ability - Clear the Room

Activating an ability grants one stack of Clear the Room and an additional stack for each enemy hit with that ability. Each stack increases your gun damage by 2.5% and lasts for 15 seconds. When new stacks are gained, previous stacks automatically expire.

Core Perks

• Demolisher Heavy Training - Increases the max ammo of heavy weapons by 20%, and their reload speed by 15%
• Demolisher Rifle Training - Increases the max ammo of rifles by 20%, and their fire rate by 15%
• Down and Out - You deal 20% more damage to enemies that are stunned or knocked down
• Sidearm Expertise - Your sidearm damage is increased by 20% and the gun is automatically reloaded whenever you reload another weapon
• Ready and Able - You break out of stuns 25% faster, and after being stumbled, you are immune to stumbles for a longer period of time.
• Rough and Tumble - Area-of-effect attacks deal 50% less damage to you

Modifiers

• Concussive Rockets - Your Micro-rockets ability now fires four Concussive rockets that deal considerably less damage, but have a larger explosion radius that knocks down enemies
• Napalm Rockets - Your Micro-rockets ability now fires 12 smaller rockets that explode into fiery fields that damage enemies; these rockets deal less damage on impact and have a much wider trajectory range
• Loud and Clear - Increases the attached ability's damage dealt by 20% and causes it to generate an additional stack of Clear the Room
• Assault and Battery - Each target hit by Blastwave reduces its cooldown by 10%
• Fire and Forget - Your Micro-rockets ability now debilitates enemies, causing them to take 25% more damage from area-based attacks and bleed for 8% of their total life over 8 seconds.
• Demolisher Heavy Expertise - Increases the radius of heavy weapons by 15% and damage of heavy weapons by 10%
• Demolisher Rifle Expertise - Increases the range and stability of rifles by 15%
• Bigger and Better - Increases the radius of the attached ability by 40%
• Sidearm Mastery - Increases the fire rate of sidearms by 25%; switching to your sidearm is almost instantaneous
• Demolisher Rifle Mastery - Increases the reload speed and accuracy of rifles by 15%
• Demolisher Heavy Mastery - Fire rate and stability for heavy weapons are increased by 15%
• Dazed and Confused - Enemies hit by Blastwave are dazed, which decreases their movement speed and the damage they deal by 20% for 10 seconds
• Quick and Dirty - Whenever Clear the Room expires, your ability cooldowns are reset by one second for each stack that was lost

Strategy

Demolishers should be a focal point for any team's support members, as these Marines are designed to clear the way forward. With the heavy weapons they wield and the abilities they can unleash, Demolishers keep smaller and more tenacious enemies at bay while other fireteam members focus on bigger threats coming their way. Clear the Room makes them useful for these boss fights after mobs have been taken out, with the damage boost working well with their weapons to deliver a punishing offense.

The Demolisher's one weakness is that their weaponry often leads to tunnel vision, and with Xenomorphs favoring to attack from all sides with pincer strategies, teammates will have to keep more cunning enemies away and funnel them into chokepoints that this class can tear apart. The Demolisher makes mincemeat out of anything in front of them, especially when other classes keep this bruiser stocked up on ammo and healthy enough to shrug off any damage.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite is out now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC. For more on the game, you can check out our review and our other guides that'll get you prepped for the fight ahead.