Aliens: Fireteam Elite - How Combat Rating Works

Descending into the very depths of hostile alien territory sounds like an express elevator ride straight to hell in Aliens: Fireteam Elite, but provided that you've spent some time making certain that your Colonial Marine has slotted in some accessories and skills into their build, it's not an impossible challenge. Progression in Aliens: Fireteam Elite requires some self-improvement, as the game makes use of a Combat Rating system to gauge just how prepared you are for the action that lies ahead. Below, we detail everything you need to know about Alien: Fireteam Elite's combat rating system.

How The Combat Rating System Works

The Combat Rating system works across two parts of a character build: Weapons and class perks. For example, an ordinary pulse rifle may carry a combat rating of 40, but once you unlock and start adding some modifications to it, you'll be able to boost its stats so that it carries a combat rating of 90. Using a particular weapon also levels it up, and with a few thousand bugs killed, you'll be wielding a rifle that shoots harder, faster, and more accurately. Each class can carry two weapons, and each weapon can have three modifications added to it that provide several extra statistical bonuses and an overall increase in character power.

One magazine for a submachine gun may provide 20% extra ammo carrying capacity; another might refill the gun by 10% for every enemy you kill. These weapon mods are earned throughout the campaign as rewards, as well as from finding hidden caches and completing tactical opportunities. If you've got some credits to spare, you can purchase new weapons and modifications from the supply store on the Endeavour.

Experiment with these mods--constantly check your inventory to see what you've unlocked, and once you've put them together, you'll be dropping bugs quicker than ever.

Constantly tinkering with weapons is only half of the formula for increasing your Marine's combat readiness though, as you'll want to spend time experimenting with character perk grids. Each class has a grid into which you can slot modifiers, which allow for improved stats for handling weapons and alterations to how the unique skills of a particular class function.

Take a Demolisher for example, who can fire off micro-rockets as part of their offensive package. Using the grid system after the Demolisher has been sufficiently leveled up allows for that ability to be altered so that instead of firing a small cluster of missiles, the class launches a small spread of napalm rockets that leave behind a trail of flames, which will continue to damage any enemies that pass through them. Each modifier carries a combat rating total as well, so the more modifiers you slot in, the more powerful your class becomes. You're also incentivized to strategically pick the mods and perks that can give you the highest combined rating.

Even better, each class can unlock a series of modifiers that can be applied to other classes, allowing them to quickly catch up in the power arms race. It's worth noting that slots and abilities are unlocked as you level up, although you can buy more modifiers from the supply store. Keep an eye on where you place your more unique modifiers, though, as linking them directly to your abilities chains them together so that your bonus buffs gain an extra edge along the way.

The perk grid is a deep system that presents a few interesting opportunities for mixing and matching perks, all of which go a long way toward creating a marine that can be tailored towards your personal style of play.

For more on Aliens: Fireteam Elite, keep an eye on GameSpot this week, as we'll have more guides up throughout the week, tips for surviving everything that a Xenomorph hive can throw at you, and our final review on the game.