Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 Classes Explained
Meet all six Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 classes, learn their squad roles, and understand how the five base classes lead into Specialist. Verified.
The launch roster has five base classes—Marauder, Duelist, Machinist, Hunter and Medic—plus Specialist, a customizable endgame class unlocked through progression in the others.
How the class system works
Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 starts with five base classes: Marauder, Duelist, Machinist, Hunter and Medic. They are not simple name changes from the first game. The supplied class material describes each as a rebuilt successor to an earlier role, with a clearer job in a four-Marine fireteam.
Specialist is the sixth path, but it is not another fixed role to pick at the start. It unlocks through progression in the base classes and lets a player combine unlocked abilities, weapons and perks. That makes Specialist an endgame buildcrafting option, while the five base classes remain the clearest way to learn the game’s individual jobs.
Choose a class by the job your fireteam needs
Marauder is the heavy force-multiplier: the material consistently frames it around heavy firepower and controlling crowds. Duelist is the reworked Gunner and stands apart because it is described as using two primary weapons. If your group needs a player focused on clearing pressure or a more direct all-round shooting role, those two identities are the relevant starting point—not a promise that either one is universally strongest.
Machinist is the offensive technology role, with a modifiable Sentry Turret and a Bodyguard drone named in the supplied material. Hunter is the weak-point specialist: its kit is described around slowing a target and turning that window into focused damage. Medic is the team’s support insurance. It is the class to consider when keeping teammates alive and stable is more important to the squad than adding another damage-focused role.
What changes when you build a loadout
Class is only one layer of the choice. The supplied research supports a loadout with a primary weapon, an infinite-ammo sidearm and a Signature weapon, plus attachments and traits. It also reports fire, cryo, electric and piercing ammunition as a way to match damage to enemy weaknesses. The ammunition system is useful context, but it is not presented here as a complete official stat table.
This is why a class page should not pretend that one weapon list is a finished build for every player. A Hunter, for example, can be understood from its control-and-weak-point role before exact perk values are known. A Duelist’s two-primary identity changes how it approaches weapon choice, but the supplied material does not verify every optimal pairing, damage breakpoint or unlock requirement. Use the role first, then verify the current in-game values before committing resources.
The confirmed tools that define each role
The class material gives each role a concrete identity beyond its label. Marauder is shown with Blast Cannon and Titan Rockets, while its named heavy options include the M12A1 Rocket Launcher and OCAP-91 Volcan heavy flamethrower. Duelist’s showcase names the DB-48 Daittyo Heavy Rifle, HNT-1 E1 Alamein Revolver Rifle and M41A “Classic” Pulse Rifle, then pairs its flexible rifle role with Burst Configuration and Shrapnel Grenade variants.
Machinist’s named plasma tools are the SMB-94 Zephyr Plasma Emitter and EDS-93 Plasma Discharger Mk.2, alongside Sentry Turret and Bodyguard variants. Hunter is shown with the BD-03 Djinn Personal Railgun and Type 111 Directed Particle Emitter, plus Particle Pulse and Stasis Bolt variants. Medic’s named close-range tools include the Armat X1 Fireball and Type 21 Tactical Shotgun Mk.2, while its kit material names Combat Stims and Advanced Trauma Station. These names describe available class equipment; they do not prove a universal ranking between weapons.
A practical starting point for a new four-Marine squad
Start by giving the squad distinct jobs instead of trying to copy a tier-list letter. A team that expects sustained swarm pressure can look for the Marauder’s crowd-control identity; a group that needs a steadier safety net can reserve a role for Medic; and a squad that wants targeted pressure can use Hunter’s control window. Machinist and Duelist fill different offensive needs, so their value depends on the rest of the fireteam rather than a universal ranking.
Treat that as a role-selection method, not a prescribed “best team.” The supplied sources do not establish a universal composition, a mission-by-mission meta, or exact optimal perk grids. A good guide should help a player make the next decision with the evidence available, then clearly stop where the evidence stops.
Named perks are examples, not a complete build sheet
The supplied class roundup gives useful examples of how role-specific perks reinforce an identity. Marauder’s Rampage is described as stacking from kills and, at 25 stacks, improving fire rate, reload speed and movement for eight seconds at the cost of stability; Reactive Charges answers a melee hit with a concussive knockback blast on a 30-second cooldown. Machinist’s Cross-Platform Synergy is described as protecting allies near the turret, while Scalable Machine Learning rewards machine and item-turret kills with stacking reload speed and stability. These are source-reported behaviors, not a recommendation to treat every number as permanent after patches.
Medic’s Bedside Manner and Surgeon’s Hands are described as helping revives and pickups, while Hunter’s No Mercy and No Rest are tied to weak-point stopping power and damage. Those examples make the role descriptions more concrete: the support class has tools for recovering a collapsing push, and the weak-point class has perks aimed at turning control into damage. They still do not tell us every modifier, every placement rule in the perk grid, or the single best combination for a given mission. That is where the correct editorial answer is unconfirmed rather than an invented meta.
What is still not safe to claim
One launch-day video transcript reports a 42-slot perk grid, compared with 32 slots in the first game. Because the figure comes from a single transcript rather than a consistently published official specification, it is a useful version signal rather than a permanent rule. The supplied material also does not consistently confirm exact perk numbers, complete unlock requirements, damage breakpoints or a best build for each class.
That limitation is deliberate in this guide. It is better to give the confirmed class roles, named tools and decision logic than to fill the page with invented numbers. When an official build sheet, a patch note or a clearly attributable in-game source verifies those details, they can be added to the relevant class section without rewriting the page around speculation.
What is confirmed
Marauder is the heavy force-multiplier evolved from the original Demolisher role.
Duelist replaces Gunner; Machinist replaces Technician; Hunter rebuilds Lancer; and Medic updates Doc.
Specialist is not a sixth fixed job: it can mix abilities, weapons and perks from the five base classes after they have been progressed.
The supplied class roundup identifies Marauder as the heavy force multiplier, Duelist as the two-primary-weapon successor to Gunner, Machinist as an offensive technology role with a modifiable Sentry Turret and Bodyguard drone, Hunter as the weak-point specialist, and Medic as the squad’s support insurance. These are role descriptions, not a promise that every class performs equally in every mission or difficulty.
The sequel’s loadout context matters when choosing a class: supplied research supports a primary weapon, an infinite-ammo sidearm, and a signature weapon slot, plus weapon attachments and traits. Four elemental ammunition types—fire, cryo, electric and piercing—are reported as part of matching damage to enemy weaknesses; that system is supported at medium confidence rather than as a published class-stat table.
One launch-day video transcript reports a larger 42-slot perk grid compared with 32 in the first game. Because this is a single transcript claim rather than a consistently published official specification, treat the number as a useful version signal, not a permanent rule.
Class choice determines squad role and toolset; exact balance can change with patches.
Limits and current status
Exact perk values and optimized builds were not consistently confirmed in the supplied sources, so this overview does not invent them.
Sources used for this page
Sources were collected and checked on August 26, 2026. Store, balance and service information can change.