Aliens: Fireteam Elite Guide | How to Play Demolisher

This guide explains how to play the Demolisher in Aliens: Fireteam Elite, presenting role, weapons, abilities, and playstyle in clear, actionable paragraphs.

The Demolisher is the iconic damage dealer of the game: the character who uses the Smart Guns, wields the heaviest weaponry, and has access to explosives.

This combination makes the Demolisher a disruptive, area-of-effect damage specialist that excels at dealing sustained damage to Xenos. This guide is based on the attached file. 

Role Overview

In Aliens: Fireteam Elite, you play as a Colonial Marine — humanity's best when it comes to alien threats — but not every Marine has the same role and abilities.

The Demolisher is the damage dealer: heavy weaponry and explosives define the class and set it apart from other roles.

The Demolisher is best used to clear swarms, control space with area effects, and output sustained high DPS with heavy weapons.

Weapons

When it comes to the weapon archetypes available to the Demolisher, the class has access to Rifles, which could be anything from automatic-fire Rifles to DMRs to even Sniper Rifles if desired. These provide versatile mid- to long-range options. 

The highlight of the Demolisher is the heavy weapons: it is the only class that gets to use heavy weapons such as Smart Guns, Heavy Flamethrowers, Grenade Launchers, and more.

If this class is being used, it is primarily for the heavy gun; they are exceedingly fun to use and, while ammo issues can occur at times, they nonetheless define the class. Favorites include the Heavy Flamer or the Smart Gun.

Abilities

Every class in Aliens: Fireteam Elite has three abilities: two kit abilities and one kit perk. For the Demolisher, the first kit ability is Micro Rockets — a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher which, when activated, fires three rockets that detonate on impact, creating a large shock wave that damages foes and knocks them back. 

The next kit ability is Blast Wave — a close-range concussive shock wave that, when enemies get close and the ability is used, unleashes an AoE concussive blast around the user, dealing damage and knocking enemies away; sometimes this can completely knock them over, leaving them vulnerable, so it functions as the Demolisher's defensive ability.

Perk

The kit perk is Clear the Room, a stackable buff. When an ability such as Micro Rockets or Blast Wave is used, a stack of Clear the Room is gained, with additional stacks granted for the number of enemies hit by those abilities. Each stack increases the gun damage of whatever weapon is being used by 2.5% for 15 seconds. 

When new stacks are gained by using another ability, the previous stacks automatically expire. 

The ideal way to play this class is to use Micro Rockets or Blast Wave to hit as many opponents as possible, activating Clear the Room and stacking multiple stacks to increase weapon damage and maximize DPS.

There are ways to augment and change abilities for different builds, which are addressed more deeply elsewhere.

Pros and Cons

Every build has pros and cons. The biggest pro for the Demolisher is damage output: thanks to the heavy weaponry and the Clear the Room perk, the Demolisher can deal large amounts of damage regardless of the mission.

Another pro is wide-area effectiveness: the class has significant AoE potential from Micro Rockets, Blast Wave, and heavy weapons, making it excellent against swarms. 

The biggest con is that it doesn't have any support abilities. The Demolisher can use Blast Wave or Micro Rockets to knock down enemies, but it doesn't heal allies, which limits its support role. 

If the objective is to play an iconic class from the Aliens franchise that deals large amounts of AoE damage, the Demolisher is strongly recommended.

Progression

These are the basics of the Demolisher in Aliens: Fireteam Elite. As progression continues in the game, perks and unlocks for characters will become available, allowing for different builds and further customization of playstyle.

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 Recon
• 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