Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | How to Play Recon

Aliens: Fireteam Elite places you in the boots of a Colonial Marine, humanity's frontline against alien threats.

Not every marine shares the same role and abilities; this guide focuses on the Recon, explaining how the class plays, how to unlock it, its weapon options, and its kit abilities and perks. 

The guide is written for beginners and presents information from the perspective of the guide: clear, practical, and focused on what you need to know to use the Recon effectively.

Unlocking the Recon

The Recon class is not initially available. It becomes unlocked as progress is made through the campaign, and the campaign is completed for the first time, after which access to this class is granted.

Role and Playstyle

The Recon is centered on precision damage and support. The class can debuff opponents, buff allies, and deal a decent amount of damage so long as accuracy is maintained with weaponry. 

The Recon is a hybrid class that rewards precise play: accuracy produces significant benefits, while poor aim reduces effectiveness.

Weapon Archetypes

When it comes to guns, the Recon can use both Rifles and close-quarters (CQW) weapons. The Recon has access to a wide range of weapons, just like the Gunner.

Rifles can do damage from a medium to long distance, while CQW weapons, like shotguns and submachine guns, can be used up close. 

The class can handle a lot of different scenarios because of this mix. The class does best with DMRs or Sniper Rifles, which work well with the Recon's kit, which is based on accuracy.

Kit Abilities — Overview

Every class in the game has access to three kit features: two kit abilities and one kit perk. The Recon's kit abilities and kit perks emphasize enemy detection, team support, and accuracy boosts.

Kit Ability: Pups

Pups is a short perimeter uplink that sends out a small drone that floats around and shows the user and friends who the enemies are.

When Pups point at an enemy, that enemy's damage is decreased by 20 for a short time. This is both a debuff for the enemy and valuable information for the team.

On higher difficulties, where enemies aren't shown when you aim down sights, Pups is a good option for finding threats.

Kit Ability: Support Drone

Support Drone is a deployable device placed on the floor that creates an area-of-effect circle. If you or your allies stand within this circle, accuracy and weapon stability are increased by 20 percent.

The drone also replenishes nearby ammo for allies and gives a few hit points whenever a nearby ally or you kill a target. This makes Support Drone an excellent situational support tool so long as teammates remain within its radius.

Kit Perk: Focus

The kit perk Focus rewards precision: getting two headshot kills within ten seconds of one another grants a stack of Focus.

Each stack increases the accuracy and stability of the equipped weapon by ten percent, and this effect can stack up to three times for a potential 30 percent increase in accuracy and stability. 

Because Xenomorphs and many enemies move quickly, achieving and maintaining Focus can be challenging.

Still, it is gratifying when successful, hence the recommendation to favor more accurate weapons such as DMRs and Sniper Rifles.

Specialization and Perk Progression

Abilities and playstyle can be further specialized and augmented through perks and progression. Builds can be tailored to emphasize more substantial support, higher sustained damage, or better survivability.

Those details are covered in more in-depth build-focused resources, but the core idea is that the Recon scales with investment in accuracy and team-support perks.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The primary strength of the Recon is its support capability: the ability to replenish team ammo, debuff opponents, and buff allies makes it a valuable support class.

The class is versatile across engagement ranges thanks to access to both Rifles and CQW weapons. 

The main weakness is the requirement for accuracy to maximize the Recon's potential—landing headshots and consistent, precise fire is necessary to stack Focus and get the most out of the kit.

Progression Note

As the campaign is completed and play continues, additional perks and options will be unlocked, enabling distinct builds and playstyles for the Recon.

Also, check our other Aliens: Fireteam Elite guides below:

• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Beginner's Guide | Gameplay Tips for All Classes
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | Everything About Horde Mode
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | How to Play Doc
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | How to Play Phalanx
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | How to Play Demolisher
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | How to Play Gunner
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | How to Play Technician
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | Phalanx Class Build for Extreme and Insane Difficulty
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | Recon Class Build for Extreme and Insane Difficulty
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | Doc Class Build for Extreme and Insane Difficulty
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | Technician Class Build for Extreme and Insane Difficulty
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | Demolisher Class Build for Extreme and Insane Difficulty
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | Gunner Class Build for Extreme and Insane Difficulty
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | Lancer Class Build for Extreme and Insane Difficulty