When you load into a match of S.A.W. versus Rebellion, and also every time your SuperAnimal dies, you are given a choice of five classes.
I can describe them in a more meaningful way but it will be beneficial to first be familiar with the various weapons, if you are not already.
All classes are representative of different loadouts for a super animal. They do impact the options available to a player, as shall be seen. Each class comes in two levels and I will be going over both levels of a class, before moving on to the next.
Scout
Let us begin with the scout class.
A level 1 scout enters a match with a bow and sparrow, a S M G and a skunk bomb. That and light armour and meagre supplies.
A rookie scout’s weapons compliment each other. The S M G is good for shorter range spam fire while the bow and sparrow, in this mode, works better at range or with less pressure on you. The skunk bomb may be used to lock down a control point or an important terrain choke for eight seconds or so and so use it wisely.
A level 2 scout enters a match with a sparrow launcher, a silenced pistol, three skunk bombs. Also heavy armour, the ninja boots upgrade and excellent supplies.
A senior scout can do just about everything that the rookie scout can do, but better. Both weapons work well at range and the ninja boots help with dodging and controlling distance. Also, three chances to lock down a capture point or key area with a skunk bomb is very helpful.
Medic
A level 1 medic enters a match with Dogna’s dart gun, a pair of pistols, light armour, a cupgrade upgrade, three bananas and good supplies.
A rookie medic is pretty decently suited to patch other allies up during or following engagements. It is not exclusively limited to healing, but its lack of a spam-fire weapon can make it less apparently able to apply pressure to the enemy, and also much less able to react to oncoming masses of enemies. The cupgrade does allow the class to patch the self up faster following engagements though. If you like playing a supporting role then the medic does that well.
Oh, and don’t forget those bananas. They can be used to trap locations like flags, as well as to hinder access through choke points.
A level 2 medic enters a match with Dogna’s dart fly gun, a good quality S M G, medium armour, a cupgrade, five bananas and excellent supplies.
A senior medic is where the class becomes a lot more engaging to play. The S M G is a good upgrade in firepower but the aggressive potential of the dart fly gun is the biggest upgrade. The ability to assist one’s allies is a little better but the dart fly gun’s ability to apply pressure is greatly increased, thanks to the secondary darts. Even while healing your allies in the thick of the action from behind, you have a reasonable chance of offshoot darts helping to decide an ongoing engagement, What’s more, firing a succession of darts into a group of enemies is a very good way to weaken them as a collective, stall their advance and maybe get a kill on one or more of them.
The short of it is, once you get on the scene as a senior medic, you will want to try and stay alive, as dying as a senior medic is one time that you might want to consider switching class, if reinforcement points have dipped too low.
Assault
A problem that the next class on the list, the Assault class, does not have.
A level 1 assault enters a match with a low quality AK, a single good quality pistol, light armour and meagre supplies.
A rookie assault class sounds like a pretty raw deal but the loadout works out surprisingly well for value. Between being able to spam shorter and longer ranges with near equal effectiveness, and having a higher quality pistol to fall back on for higher mobility, closer quarters action, assault has consistently been a popular choice, and is also a solid choice for beginners.
A level 2 assault enters a match with an M16 rifle, a S M G, Two grenades, Medium armour, a super snorkel upgrade and good supplies.
A senior assault is dangerous, having a great potential to spam fire. The S M G is primarily the fallback weapon but the modestly better mobility and damage per second up-close can make a difference. However that M16 will be your weapon of choice, more often than not.
Don’t forget that you have a couple of grenades in your kit. It’ll certainly help out in those instances where you’re getting overwhelmed trying to hold off the enemy by yourself.
The snorkel will seem to be an odd choice for a power-up but you can actually get good value from it if you look for the opportunities. First of all, since allied skunk bombs do not actually harm you, you can use friendly skunk gas clouds to your advantage, either to be less noticeable to enemy human players or to enjoy better dodging mobility in the gas. Just be wary of AIs. Secondly, being able to move through a skunk gas cloud quickly can offer interesting possibilities even if it is an enemy skunk gas cloud. You don’t need to jump into every skunk gas cloud in your path but knowing that it is an option helps.
Sniper
Next up, we have the sniper class.
A level 1 sniper enters a match with a good quality hunting rifle, a pair of poor quality pistols, light armour and meagre supplies.
The rookie sniper is all about that hunting rifle, and will naturally centre much of their playstyle around it. How could they not? However the hunting rifle is a dangerous weapon and does need to be respected.
Similarly to a medic, a sniper tends to get most value when it stands behind and fires through the front line at the enemy. A sniper also gets more value from open sight lines, especially while scoped.
When things go south you do have poor quality pistols to help see you through, and this is better than nothing.
One thing about snipers that is pertinent to point out. These are the kinds of weapons that are good for either maiming or killing targets, but not both. A sniper who is unaware of this will have many of their kills unintentionally stolen away from them, and so the best way to balance this out is to intentionally snipe kills yourself, by prioritizing targets that are below full health and whom probably have no armour.
That seems mean but it does help you to get promoted when your super animal dies.
The level 2 sniper enters a match with a proper sniper rifle, a pair of high quality pistols, medium armour, a pair of cat mines, a super bandolier and good supplies.
A senior sniper is dangerous, but still operates at its best firing through the front lines from a safer distance. Perhaps all the more important, considering that sniper is a less easy class to promote within. As such this may also be another class where one might be tempted to change class if one’s level 2 sniper is killed with not enough reinforcement points left for the match to meaningfully repromote.
The senior sniper also enjoys a couple of cat mines, which may be used to block off choke points or even friendly flags, since allied players do not trigger them and aren’t harmed by their explosions. They do harm the user – so use with care.
Heavy
Last and not least on the class list is the heavy class.
A level 1 heavy enters a match with a shotgun and a good quality magnum, as well as a grenade, medium armour and decent supplies.
Having good quality poke at range as well as a nasty short range damage potential, the heavy is not a class that one will want to mess with. The one potential weakness to mention here is that both weapons feature a smaller clip size, and so a heavy’s ability to handle a rush of opponents is limited. The grenade can help with that though!
A level 2 heavy enters a match with a Jag seven, a big clucking gun, heavy armour, two grenades and very good supplies.
The heavy class is the only class that features a shift in playstyle, thanks to the long range slugger being replaced with a B C G. This doesn’t make the senior heavy any less of a class, but it is less likely to feel good as a transition.
That minor gripe aside, the Jag seven offers the class improved overall mobility in close range combat situations. The big clucking gun is also nothing to turn up one’s nose at, as those explosive eggs can wreck clustered enemies even better than a dart fly gun can. And in case that isn’t enough boom… Two grenades.
Yes, the senior heavy has more potential damage dealing capability and only modestly loses out on range.Not a bad trade off.
These are the five classes that exist, as of the moment. Players can choose to swap classes at any point, but do keep in mind that if you change class while eligible for promotion in a class, then that promotion is lost.
This covers the five SvR classes that currently exist.
Similarly, if you suspect that your opposition is focusing on the crate, then unless your team is low on reinforcement points it can be valid to work to turn all three flags green.
‘Next’, and last for SvR, we’ll touch upon the importance and use of hamster balls in SvR.