Warhounds Classes: All Five Operator Types
Warhounds has five mercenary classes. Each fills a distinct tactical role; a well-balanced squad uses complementary classes to cover the approaches that any single role would leave exposed. This guide covers what each class does and when to use them.
Each of the five classes brings a distinct role to the squad; mixing them correctly is the core of squad building.
Assault
The Assault is a mobile ground-control unit built to dislodge entrenched enemies and apply pressure at close-to-medium range. Assaults excel at breaching positions that snipers cannot directly engage and at keeping enemies from resetting in cover. Deploy an Assault on the flank whenever the enemy has settled into a fortified position — the goal is to force repositioning, not to win the firefight alone.
Squad tip: pair the Assault with a Grenadier. The Grenadier strips cover; the Assault moves in before the enemy can relocate.
Specialist
The Specialist is the squad's utility backbone — managing tools, support equipment, and technical resources. Specialists deploy and operate drones, combat scanners, and optical camo, giving the squad vision and information that other classes cannot generate. If you are flying blind on an unfamiliar map, a Specialist with scanner equipment solves that problem.
Squad tip: Specialists shine in operations where enemy position is unknown. Their reconnaissance tools directly reduce the number of bad surprises that cost you a veteran.
Sniper
The Sniper is a long-range control unit who needs to be placed on high ground before the action begins. With Warhounds' ballistics system, elevation genuinely matters — a Sniper on a rooftop has firing lines that simply do not exist at ground level. Position the Sniper first, before activating any engagement, and point their overwatch cone at the likeliest enemy approach route.
Squad tip: snipers are vulnerable if an enemy reaches their position. Always assign a second unit to cover the Sniper's immediate perimeter.
Machine Gunner
The Machine Gunner specialises in suppression and area denial — restricting enemy movement rather than eliminating targets outright. A well-placed Machine Gunner forces enemies to stay in cover, creating windows for Assaults to flank or Grenadiers to strip their protection. Per-shot burst penalties mean accuracy decreases over a sustained burst, so Machine Gunners are most effective as zone controllers, not precision killers.
Squad tip: Machine Gunners pair well with Snipers. The Machine Gunner pins enemies in one place; the Sniper eliminates them from elevation with a clear shot.
Grenadier
The Grenadier destroys cover and handles grouped enemies — best used early in an engagement before enemies scatter. Because cover in Warhounds is destructible, removing it is often more reliable than flanking around it. A Grenadier who strips a wall at the start of a turn can create clear firing lanes for the entire squad's remaining actions.
Squad tip: use the Grenadier before anything else commits. Once enemies start moving in response to your squad, they may spread out of blast radius — front-load the Grenadier's actions.
A full squad combines multiple class types — no single class can cover every tactical situation in Warhounds.
Veterans vs. Recruits
Beyond classes, Warhounds distinguishes between ten unique veteran operators and a pool of recruitable soldiers. Veterans have individual traits, story arcs, and abilities, and their own tempers, emotions, and grudges that affect squad dynamics. Recruitable soldiers are more generic and can be customised with cosmetics. Both can be permanently lost if killed in action, so the veteran roster is a resource to be managed carefully across the campaign.