A soldier of a special forces unit with the very best equipment and melee skills. Has ranged weaponry. Drops from the sky.
Skin "Pilot" was inspired by a Reddit user u/MicrowaveSon
Health
Ranged Damage
Melee Damage
Crit. Chance
Crit. Damage
Speed
Prepare Time
Courage Cost
Agility
Aggression
Detection Range
Charisma
Valor
Special Ability Range
Bullet
Poison
SpecOps is a soldier of an overarching governmental force. He is armed with an AK-47 and a pistol, and dressed in a green camo uniform with the sleeves rolled up, green camo pants, a flak jacket, and a green military helmet with a green mandible guard and a dark yellow visor. He carries a green backpack with a bedroll secured on top of it.
Pilot is SpecOps' first exclusive skin. He wears a beige fighter pilot uniform with a flak jacket, a gray fighter pilot helmet with a hose, and a black backpack. He wields some kind of rifle.
To unlock SpecOps, players must purchase the SpecOps Pack for 500 money.
SpecOps is a Shooter. He has average damage for his class, along with relatively high health, courage cost, and moderate movement speed.
SpecOps fires his AK-47 in three-round bursts up to seven times before having to perform a very fast reload. His firing speed is a little slower than on most shooters.
If confronted at melee range, he does a melee attack that consists of three closely-spaced hits, all of which cause knockback. Unlike most other ranged units, SpecOps prioritizes melee above shooting his targets.
SpecOps is immune to poison, and has 90% resistance to bullet damage. He won't turn into a zombie on death, and will instead fire three shots with a backup weapon, each dealing normal damage values. This attack is subject to the Fury buff, if he was affected before death. He will not be able to use this attack if his body is destroyed by incendiary sources or Energy Sphere.
Similar to support items, SpecOps can be dropped on the battlefield anywhere. After selecting the desired position for him to land, it will take SpecOps around ~4 seconds before he becomes available. Until he lands, idle enemies are not alerted to his presence, and Insectoid and Abby won’t pounce onto him. This does not apply in a sandstorm, and instead he walks out of the bus like most other units.
SpecOps' level will automatically scale with that of the Bus. Unlike most ranged units, SpecOps does not have Fat Zombies among his prioritized enemies.
SpecOps' special ability guarantees to provide him with 5 seconds of the fury buff once his landing animation finishes. The aforementioned bonus is identical to the buff item the player can use, and will not stack with it.
This buff serves as a nice aid for SpecOps, most commonly helping him with fighting off enemies that manage to get too close while he is still landing. It truly shines with Military's 3/3 power, synergizing with free SpecOpses in a seamless way. It's recommended to buy it if you are actively using this unit.
SpecOps can be seen as an upgrade to Sonya to some extent. He has the same stats as Sonya but benefits from several more perks but costs more courage. He has additional resistances and his triple melee attack combo comes out quick while causing knockback on every hit. He also doesn't require any Power Points to upgrade, since he scales with the bus.
SpecOps' most unique perk allows for reactive deployment, since he can be placed closer to threats and does not have to walk all the way up. It can be used selectively to skip threats so other units could deal with them.
Possessing both bullet and poison resistance, SpecOps has a favorable matchup against poison/bullet-based threats like Robber, Epidemiologist and Slob, as well as being usable in Toxic Fog levels. In any case, it wouldn't be a bad idea to slightly improve his accuracy by dropping him closer to his targets. Additionally, his melee attack can keep such foes at bay as long as they are vulnerable to it.
Despite being a good ranged unit overall, SpecOps is considered to be less preferable in Main Campaign, if not outright useless, mostly due to his high courage cost, 4-second deployment animation and poor accuracy, which reduces his DPS in practice compared to other equivalents, most notably Carlos and Sonya, as raw DPS is often necessary to melt through enemies. It doesn't get better with his perks, as both bullet and poison-based threats are only relevant for so long. As such, he tends to be a poor investment until Austin has been acquired to reliably source coins.
In League, SpecOps is a very strong choice thanks to his high health, high rate of fire, and speed which make him a very versatile unit. His bullet resistance and speed greatly increase his survivability against enemy ranged units, even to those with strong damage output. His on-death attack could be useful to occasionally finish off enemies. However, his poor accuracy can hinder his damage potential against bullet-resistant enemy units. It should be noted that while his perks allow him to defeat enemy units even after being slain, this won't save his side from defeat.
With his special ability unlocked, SpecOps becomes an even bigger threat, making all the new SpecOps that will arrive thanks to the 3/3 military team power be even stronger due to the fury buff. The short duration of the special ability won't be much of a downside due to how fast skirmish fights usually are.
Like any shooter, SpecOps benefits most from the Hunter set, as it provides him with highest increase to raw damage. However, in case his poor accuracy becomes a significant issue, using Military can also be fruitful, as extra bullets spawn with their own trajectoies, providing a safety net.
In context of skirmish, Hunter and Tactical are the best options, in a fashion typical for the mode. Hunter might be more preferable, thanks to access to legendary items. However, at top level play the best set for him ends up being Lucky Guy, as it can help SpecOps avoid getting two-tapped by maxed out Polina, alongside it synergizing well with Military's 2/2 power. In fact, LG can see use on SpecOps in missions with Insectoids too, should he be treated as a strictly secondary shooter. In that context, this set acts as an extra leyer of protection, allowing him to defend his teammates with less risk to himself.
SpecOps benefits most from flat boosts to damage. Percentages are only effective for health on him. Among books, +% health is the best option, since SpecOps poor accuracy makes critical builds even more unreliable on him in PvE, meanwhile in PvP any form of extra protection is always important. Being a ranged unit, a prep. time watch is the best option, especially with his parachuting animation delaying his appearance. However, it's also important to upgrade SpecOps agility to at least 80 through extra buffs, otherwise he will struggle to defend himself at close quarters. In case you are only plannning to use SpecOps in PvP, it's okay to give him an agility watch instead.
Cost reduction is quite important for Specops, as it compensates for some of his issues by making him easier to play. It's especially crucial in skirmish, as he is one of the key members of Military, and cost reduction is the only way his team can have access to the 5/5 power in that mode. Full reduction is highly advised for PvP, meanwhile in regular missions it shouldn't matter as much beyond -5.
SpecOps, along with his respective skins, is part of two teams: Military and Marines.
| Name | SpecOps | Pilot |
|---|---|---|
| Skin |
|
|
| Unlock Req. | 500  (SpecOps Pack) |
300 / 5000 
|
| Team | Military |
Marines |
For Military, SpecOps proves to be a crucial member of the team, since he is the only versatile ranged unit in it. He is especially valuable for the tier 2 team, since he helps with keeping the 3/3 condition active. At the same time, his presence in the deck ensures that spawned SpecOpses won't be at level 0, which would make the synergy pointless.
In Marines, Pilot is generally one of the weaker options. This is because he is too similar to Sonya, sharing multiple upsides with her, but also having his own major drawbacks that aren't an issue for his contemporary. However, it's worth acknowledging that Marines' 3/3 can max out Pilot's agility, which, at base level, is very low on him. Using him in that tier allows to properly min-max Pilot's stats, making it possible to make him both stronger and beefier, and therefore – better performing. Running him alongside Sonya also proves to be a great combo.
| Units | |
|---|---|
| Base game | |
| Humans | Redneck • Farmer • Builder • Mechanic • Pepper • Firefighter • Chopper • Gunslinger • Glenn • Policeman Diaz • Grenadier • Sheriff Charlotte • Private Rodriguez • Sniper Polina • Welder • Carlos • Guard • Carol • Medic • Ranger • Willy • Sonya • Juggernaut • Builder Abby • Lionheart • Light Soldier • Paramedic Nancy • Rogue |
| Inanimate | Empty Barrel • Medkit • Red Barrel • Molotov Cocktail • Generator • Nitrogen • Turret • Drone |
| Plot | Sheriff Bill • Minor Characters |
| Premium | |
| TMF | Flamethrower • Soldier • Cap • Swat |
| Circus | Berserker • Saw • Queen |
| Scientists | Dr. Miller • Dr. Kane • Dr. Norman • Drone |
| Other | Jailer • SpecOps • Austin • Agents |
| Event | |
| Halloween | Turbo • Andrea |
| Christmas | Lester • Cashier • Red Hood • Maria |
| Escort | Princess |