Read here to learn more about Classes, Skills, Progression, etc.
Engineer:
Heavy:
Scout:
Sniper:
Soldier:
tl;dr: You're not limited to what you can use in classes, but bonuses and perks will maximize your points, damage, defense, etc., seriously is still stupid, and quite possibly have 10 maps at launch?
Once again, Horde pits you and up to four friends against 50 waves of enemies in a fight for survival. You’ll need to build defenses – called fortifications – to aid in your survival, and work together to come out alive.
Every 10 waves, you’ll face a Boss Wave, which includes the toughest, biggest, baddest enemies in the game. If you were watching at PAX, you haven’t seen them all. You’ll have to play the game to see the rest. After every 10 waves, a new poison is introduced that ups enemy health, damage or accuracy.
One of the main focuses of Horde 3.0 is the return to emergent gameplay. We’re putting the power and decision making back in the hands of the player by allowing you to build fortifications where you want and when you want, and move those fortifications at any time during gameplay.
This is all unlocked via the Fabricator, a new device in the Gears of War universe that is a take on a 3D Printer. The Fabricator must be placed at the start of the game wherever you choose. It should act as the hub of your defenses, and you can move the fabricator to any location at any time throughout a game.. The choice is entirely in the player’s hands. The Fabricator is how you build fortifications by using Energy – picked up from fallen enemies on the battlefield – to construct your base. The Fabricator cannot be destroyed or harmed in any way, so the only thing that has to survive in Horde is you.
Speaking of survival, if a team-mate dies, they'll drop COG Tags. You can pick these up and run back to the Fabricator to revive them during the wave - but be warned, each subsequent revival on your team during a wave will cost an increasing amount of Energy. Thankfully, make it to the end of the Wave and all your dead team-mates will return.
Engineer:
Starting Weapons: Enforcer, Gnasher, Snub
Passive Ability: Start with free Repair Tool
The role of the Engineer is to focus on fortifications – they can build more than any other class due to their discounts, make their fortifications more effective and repair fortifications faster at a lower cost.
It will be up to the player to decide how to build the Engineer. Do you want to have a varied defense by building lots of fortifications at reduced Energy Cost? Or do you want to focus your Skills on buffing particular fortifications, making them more effective than before?
The tradeoff of the Engineer is their lack of personal firepower. They have no skills that boost personal damage, and rely entirely on Energy to keep their impact on the fight at its most effective.
Heavy:
Starting Weapons: Retro Lancer, Boomshot, Boltok
Passive Ability: Start with free Boomshot
The role of the Heavy is all about dealing big damage to enemies, through the use of more powerful explosive weaponry, Heavy weaponry, or Turrets.
The Heavy has some interesting options to mix-up gameplay. Focusing on taking down big targets fast? The Marked Damage boost makes you deal extra damage to marked enemies, allowing you to take down high priority targets market by your team. Need an emergency support button? Call in the Mortar Strike to decimate a number of enemies fast.
The tradeoff to the Heavy is the focus on bigger, slower weapons. While the Heavy class can deal large hits of damage to enemies, you’ll need to make sure you’re consistently stocked with ammo to have the most impact. And don’t miss!
Scout:
Starting Weapons: Retro Lancer, Gnasher, Snub
Passive Ability: Double Energy pickups during combat
The role of the Scout is to grab Energy mid-fight from across the battlefield, capitalizing on its passive bonus of Double Energy when picked up during combat to get resources back to the Fabricator. Combat wise, the Scouts Skills focus on close quarters shotgun combat.
The Scout can be built in a number of ways, from focusing on the Energy return, to recon for your team with X-Ray vision, and even to become a tanky powerful close quarters combatant.
The tradeoff to the Scout is the inherent risk that comes with the role. While powerful in the early stages, the Scout has a much tougher time gathering Energy in later waves when multiple poisons are active. The Scout needs to be played smartly, looking for opportunities rather than rushing out into the battlefield without careful surveillance.
Sniper:
Starting Weapons: Markza Mk. 1, Longshot, Snub
Passive Ability: Start with two marksman weapons
The Sniper is all about headshots and threat identification, using its long range weaponry to weaken or kill targets before they reach the defensive line.
The Sniper can attribute its bonus to any precision weapon, offering versatility on the battlefield. While you can take the Headshot damage boost, Markza focused players can take general damage boosts and reload speed to reduce the reliance on headshots and increase their DPS. The Sniper also has two unique Fabricator skills, either for eliminating targets en masse through a Sniper Strike or marking enemies with a Radar Ping.
The tradeoff to the Sniper is the reliance on precision. Especially with masses of enemies and under pressure, the Sniper’s damage per second can drop off if they aren’t consistently landing important shots. If both starting weapons are kept, enemies like Juvies are a much bigger threat to Snipers than any other Class.
Soldier:
Starting Weapons: Lancer, Gnasher, Snub
Passive Ability: Start with Frag Grenades
The Soldier is the ultimate in core Gears combat, dealing consistent damage over time with a variety of abilities that make them tough to kill and hard hitters.
The Soldier’s skills mostly focus on increasing your damage over time with assault rifles, either through bigger clips, more damage per shot, active bonuses, or a combination of those skills. The Soldier can increase its time firing from cover to damage opponents with the Cover Boost Skill or focus more on Grenades for area of effect damage or planting minefields. The big hitter in its skill arsenal is the Hammer of Dawn Strike, costing a lot of Energy to activate but dealing massive damage across the field.
The Soldier’s core combat focus means any build has few outstanding strengths or weaknesses, but Assault Rifles are the bread and butter of this class if you want to maximize its effectiveness on the battlefield.
tl;dr: You're not limited to what you can use in classes, but bonuses and perks will maximize your points, damage, defense, etc., seriously is still stupid, and quite possibly have 10 maps at launch?