There are four classes of Javelin to choose from in Anthem, but which one is the best? As a Freelancer, you’ll gain access to four Javelins to traverse the world of Anthem. Each Javelin has been designed to suit different play styles and they balance each other well, even if you end up in a squad where you’re all the same class. You can swap out components and weapons, and personalise the look of your Javelin. Your loadout could be melee and shotgun heavy, whereas your teammate might favour grenades and sniper rifles. Even in the same Javelin, you can have a completely different experience to your teammate. In this guide, we’re going to look at each Javelin and their unique abilities. We’ve already written about lining up Combos using each Javelin, which you can check out here. Anthem: all Javelin classes Whether you want to chop and change your Javelin class or stay with the same one throughout your playthrough is up to you. You’ll be able to complete every mission with any class you like and you shouldn’t be at a disadvantage if your squad is missing a class. Javelins unlock at Level 2, 8, 16 and 26, so depending on what difficulty level you play on it might take longer to unlock them all. Once you’ve reached Level 30, you will have access to Grandmaster gear, the most powerful gear currently available. Each Javelin can equip two weapons, can launch attacks from a wrist component and has another slot or two for other abilities. They also have unique melee and Ultimate Abilities that unleash a wealth of damage on enemies. Ranger Anthem’s opening missions begin with you playing in the Ranger, which you might call the most versatile out of the four. It has access to every weapon type and can fly for a moderate amount of time. It’s effective in close quarters and ranged combat and is the perfect beginner Javelin. The Ranger has Grenade abilities in its arsenal which let you deal a good bit of damage from a ranged position. Frag grenade Inferno grenade Frost grenade Seeker grenade Sticky bomb It also has Assault Launcher gear which comes with: Homing Missile Energy Pulse Spark Beam Venom Darts Blast Missile Its melee is a Shock Mace which doubles as an Electric Primer, and its Support Gear is the Bulwark Point and Muster Point. The Bulwark Point drops a bubble shield for you and your teammates, and the Muster Point increases the damage dealt by those within it, kind of like Destiny 2’s Well of Radiance. The Ranger’s Ultimate Ability is the Multi-target Missile Battery. You can paint as many targets as you want and unleash a barrage of missiles on them. It is very effective against large groups of enemies, even those with higher HP. You could also target a single enemy – a Titan, maybe – which means they’ll get every missile in their face as the only painted target. Interceptor Admittedly, the Interceptor is my Javelin of choice. It can fly the longest out of the four Javelins, is incredibly fast and the Assassin’s Blade Ultimate Ability can get you out of a tough spot fast as you can cut down a number of enemies quickly while being invulnerable to damage. The Interceptor’s Assault System is a bit of a mixed bag. You have two Elemental items, the Acid Bomb and Cryo Glaive which coat your enemy in acid and freeze them respectively. You can set up a nice Combo with Cryo Glaive as it’s a Primer, and you can use your melee, Double-Bladed Daggers, to Detonate it. It’s other Assault Sytems include: Seeker Glaive Spark Dash Strike System. Star Strike Plasma Star Nove Strike Tempest Strike Corrosive Spray The Interceptor’s Target Beacon is useful against more difficult enemies as it causes the target to take additional damage when marked. Rally Cry removes any status effects like burning or acid damage from your teammates. Its Combo Effect, Aura, is quite potent as it will spread the Detonator Elemental damage to enemies near you which, when teamed with the right Component, can be a big damage radius. While the Interceptor has the lowest health and armour of the four classes, there are Components you can use to improve this and its speed more than makes up for it as you can somersault your way out of almost any situation. Storm The Storm is one of the most popular Javelin choices at the minute, with its devastating elemental effects and a really cool cape to boot. The Storm can float in mid-air the longest out of the four classes, which means you can get out of harm’s way in a flash. It’s perfectly suited for long-range weapons such as Sniper Rifles, making you a floating, one-shot nightmare. The Storm has Blast Seals Components that inflict Elemental damage on your foes: Lightning Strike Ice Storm Flame Burst Rime Blast Living Flame It has also Focus Seals which are heavier on the damage side: Hoarfrost Shards Fireball Ball Lightning Glacial Beam Arc Burst It’s Wind Wall Support Seal blocks all enemy projectiles – even rocks – and Nexus reduces cooldown for abilities for your teammates. The Storms Ultimate Ability, Elemental Storm, unleashes successive blasts of ice, electric and fire damage to foes. It’s both a Primer and Detonator, meaning you can pull off one hell of a Combo with this move. Its melee is Fiery Strike, which is a powerful Detonator that leaves lasting fire damage on nearby foes. The Storm and Interceptor classes work well together because each of their Combo Effects is based on spreading Elemental damage, so make sure you team up for Combos when you can. Colossus The Colossus is the largest Javelin in the lineup, with the most health and armour. You can equip powerful weapons like the Rocket Launcher with the Colossus class. Its Heavy Smash melee lets you slam down from the aim which crushes smaller foes and knocks nearby larger foes down, making them more vulnerable to damage. The Colossus comes with the Ordnance Launcher, which allows you to use powerful ranged explosive attacks. High Explosive Mortar Burst Mortar Firewall Mortar Lightning Coil Shock Coil The Firewall Mortar and Shock Coil are both Primers which inflict incredible elemental damage when Detonated. The Colossus’ Combo Effect causes an explosion that damages nearby enemies, so a Storm and a Colossus setting off Combos together can create a huge area of effect. The Colossus also has Heavy Assault Launcher attacks which make taking out groups of smaller enemies or single larger ones a breeze. You can fire these abilities from your wrist launcher. Heavy Cannon Flamethrower Flak Cannon Railgun Acid Spitter The Support Abilities for this class are Taunt and Deflector Pulse. Taunt forces all enemies in the area to focus their attacks on the Colossus, giving your teammates time to revive fallen members or to flank the enemy. Deflector pulse gives your teammates a damage resistance buff that’s particularly useful against Titans and other challenging bosses. The Colossus’ Ultimate Ability, Siege Cannon, equips a large cannon and fires into the air, with multiple projectiles raining down onto a targetted area of the battlefield. For more Anthem, check out our guides on how to complete the Tomb of Yvenia, how to unlock your Legendary Legion of Dawn items and gear and where to find all the Challenges.<doc-sep>Are you ready for the official release of Anthem? Confused about how to switch weapons? Or finding Javelin unlock levels? Players have had the opportunity to try out demos and 10-hour trials of the main game, but now it's time to really see what you can do in BioWare's new open world. It doesn't do a very good job explaining how to play and maximize your time, so allow us to do the explaining for them. Here are the must know facts, tips and tricks before jumping into the world of Anthem. How To Switch and Swap Weapons in Anthem After your first mission in Anthem , you'll get access to a second weapon slot. To swap out whatever weapons you have, you'll need to head over to the Forge, which can be found to the left of the podium holding your Javelin. Once you have those weapons equipped, you can swap between them by holding down the X button on Xbox One or the square button on PlayStation 4. Anthem Javelin Stats When you equip a component, seal or any piece of gear, you'll augment the stats of your Javelin. Later endgame items, like Masterwork and Legendary weapons, come with multiple augments. Reddit user Seeings composed a chart to show you what exactly each icon on the gear screen means, in regards to your stats. A silhouette icon means that the stat is global and affects all of your Javelins gear and abilities. A gear icon means that the stat change is only for the gear that it is attached to. There's also no location in the UI that sums up all of your Javelin's stat augments, so you'll either have to do it yourself in a Google Sheet or just not care about your stats. Anthem Javelin Unlock Levels After completing the tutorial, you'll unlock one Javelin to mess around with. As you level up, you'll gain access to the other three suits, allowing you to customize and choose which one fits your playstyle. Here are the Javelin unlock levels and Component slots: Level 2 - New Javelin unlocked Level 8 - New Javelin unlocked Level 10 - Consumable slot unlocked Level 16 - New Javelin unlocked Level 26 - New Javelin unlocked Anthem Early Missions: Prospero and Lost Arcanist Anthem sort of throws you in the thick of things and then expects you to understand what is going on. After getting through the tutorial, some of the early game missions can be hard to understand. If you can't figure out how to unlock rewards and complete Prospero's mission, here's a guide. The first mission that you encounter is "Lost Arcanist" where it's your job to save some workers lost in the jungle. You are looking for Matthias, one of the Arcanists that is going to be at Fort Tarsis for the rest of the game. You are going to want to follow the blue markers until you reach a radio signal. There you'll find what's left of the Arcanist camp and have to slaughter some Scar bad guys. Clear them and you'll be prompted to head to the runes where Matthias is being held captive. Kill all the enemies in the zone and you'll save Matthias from his inevitable doom. How are you enjoying Anthem? Tell us in the comments.<doc-sep>What Javelin to pick first in Anthem Learn which of the four Javelins to pick first in Anthem: the Ranger, Colossus, Storm, or Interceptor. Flying around in a Javelin and shooting aliens is what makes Anthem so great. At the start of the game, players are introduced to the basic mechanics using the Ranger class and are then allowed to pick one to keep. With a total of four classes to choose from, and the option to only pick one at the start, knowing what Javelin to pick first in Anthem can be tricky. What Javelin to pick The right Javelin for you will be entirely personal preference. Some people will prefer a faster, more nimble playstyle while others might like to shrug off damage but move real slow. It’s important to remember that you’re not limited to a single Javelin, as you will always have the option to unlock the other Javelins. Anyone who’s familiar with Destiny should be able to find similarities between the Colossus, Storm, and Interceptor Javelins with Destiny’s Titan, Warlock, and Hunter classes, respectively. Though there are quite a lot of differences, the ideology behind how these classes and Javelins function is quite similar. The Ranger Javelin is the jack-of-all-trades in Anthem. Ranger The Ranger, as experienced in the opening missions, is an average all-rounder Javelin. This class is perfect for the player that wants decent armor as well as great damage output. The playstyle of the Ranger lends itself to a more soldier-like experience, using grenades and missile barrages to combat enemies. If you’re not too sure about the other classes, the Ranger is an excellent place to start. The Colossus is perfect for the player that doesn't want to worry too much about their health. Colossus The Colossus is your walking tank. This Javelin is nearly impervious to damage, so long as it keeps moving and keeps its shield up. It doesn’t actually come with a rechargeable shield, so to make up for this it has a bigger health bar and a physical shield it holds. Due to its incredible size, the Colossus is the slowest of the Javelins, lacks any form of dodge, and will overheat faster when flying. If you’re the type of player that likes to get up close and personal with the enemy, while being able to take a lot of damage, the Colossus is for you. The Storm is best fit for the player who wants to attack from range. Storm The Storm is the mage-like Javelin in Anthem. Excelling at long range combat, the Storm keeps out of the fight and attacks using elemental-based abilities. The Storm is perfect for the player that likes a “glass cannon” playstyle, where all the points have been placed into “damage” leaving the “health” incredibly low. That is to say, the Storm is squishy, dying in seconds to basic enemies if overrun. To combat this, the Storm has a unique ability to be able to hover for significantly longer than the other classes, keeping it above the battlefield and turning it into an Apache helicopter raining down destruction. The Interceptor is a rogue fighter that excels at close-quarters combat. Interceptor The Interceptor Javelin is the classic in-your-face melee class that decimates the battlefield. Though it might not be as well-armored as the Colossus, the Interceptor is just as capable in close-quarters. To make up for the lack of armor, it can move extremely quickly, flipping around the battlefield with ease. There’s a certain style to the Interceptor’s movement, making it a prime choice for any player that likes a bit of flourish with their attacks. Picking the right Javelin for your playstyle is an important decision all players will need to make in the few moments of Anthem. While all four Javelins are vastly different, each one is just as viable as the next. In the event you don’t immediately gel with the Javelin you’ve chosen, you’ll be able to pick another one soon enough. Head over to the Shacknews Anthem game guides and walkthrough for more helpful tips.<doc-sep>
BioWare’s latest games-as-a-service model, Anthem, has now launched across all major platforms. In Anthem, you play as a Freelancer - a mercenary tasked with protecting the haven known as Fort Tarsis. This requires you going on missions called expeditions, for which you’ll wear a suit known as a Javelin, which affords you the ability to fly, as well as a plethora of unique combat capabilities. At the moment, there are four Javelins in Anthem: Ranger, Colossus, Storm, and Interceptor. The thing is, it’s difficult to say which of these is the best, because all four suits are the best at what they’re designed to do. So, instead of telling you which Javelin is the most powerful, it’s perhaps more useful to say which Javelin will suit your playstyle best. In order to do that, we have to take a look at all four suits individually and come to a conclusion about what each Javelin is best at, as well as how each Javelin synergizes with the rest. Ranger Being the first Javelin you unlock in Anthem, it’s easy to dismiss the Ranger as a throwaway suit. Although this is the tutorial Javelin, it actually outperforms the others in certain situations, despite the fact that’s emphatically what it’s not supposed to do. It may be documented as the most balanced class, not specializing in any given combat style, but it’s actually one of the better suits in terms of providing support. In Anthem, everything is based on combos, especially at higher difficulties. To trigger a combo, you need two things: a primer and a detonator. The Ranger suit is brilliantly equipped to execute primers, which other classes can then capitalize on with devastating detonators. Also, the Ranger can use its Bulwark Point ability to put a shield up around its squad, allowing for some interesting strategies involving revivals and area control. While the Ranger isn’t the flashiest suit - unless you get really creative with customization - it’s a really powerful Javelin if your team composition is right. It’s well worth having a Ranger on every squad, and if you usually prefer all-rounder classes in shooters, this could be the Javelin for you. Colossus The Colossus suit resembles what most other online games would label as a tank - and that’s kind of what it does in Anthem too. The biggest of the suits, your job as a Colossus is to control mobs. You’ve got a far bigger health pool than all the other Javelins, although this can be deceptive given the fact that you’re way less mobile too. You can charge in and take lots of hits, sure, but you need to remember that you’re not particularly well-equipped to make an exit once you get low. That’s why the Colossus suit is probably the most difficult one to master. Using your Taunt ability will cause all nearby enemies to focus on you, and that can be great if you’re playing with a cooperative team. However, remember that this class is almost entirely founded upon teamwork and communication. It’s like Overwatch - Winston is a staple to lots of compositions at professional level, but in lower ranks he can be easily countered if his team don’t synergize with him. A Colossus pairs incredibly well with a Storm, as they can help each other trigger some of the most gargantuan detonations in the game. Just keep in mind that if you get burned or frozen while you’re in the thick of it, you’re as good as dead. Pick your fights, engage the mob at the right time, and take the heat away from the rest of your team so that you can annihilate entire mobs in one fell swoop. Storm At the moment, if there were to be a best Javelin, it would probably be Storm. It’s a little frail, having the second-shallowest health pool, but it has enough mobility to dodge incoming attacks once you get used to the movement. As mentioned earlier, most of Anthem’s combat is founded upon combos. The Ranger is a great primer Javelin, whereas the Colossus can unleash some massive detonations. Storm can do both, and can do so from a distance thanks to its ability to hover almost indefinitely - if you’re crafty. Because you’re going to be at range most of the time, you likely won’t take too many hits, especially if you’ve got a Colossus that’s good at aggroing enemies towards them.