You use advanced combat tactics to take down enemies quickly, shield your comrades, and endure whatever challenges are thrown your way.

Battle Analysis: As a swift action, you can make a DC 15 Knowledge (tactics) check. If the check succeeds, you know which allies and opponents in you line of sight are reduced to at least half of their maximum total hit points. While onboard a vehicle, if you succeed at both a DC 15 Knowledge (tactics) check and a DC 15 Use Computer check, you may use this talent to determine what vehicles are reduced to at least half their maximum hit points.

Cover Fire: When you make a ranged attack with a pistol or rifle, all allies within 6 squares of you when the attack is made gain a +6 bonus to Reflex Defense until the start of your next turn. Allies within range don’t need to be within your line of sight to gain the bonus.
Prerequisite: Battle Analysis.

Coordinated Effort: When you use the aid another action to grant a bonus on attack rolls, if you are aiding the target of your Dedicated Protector talent that ally also gains a +2 bonus to damage rolls on the attack you aided.
Prerequisite: Dedicated Protector.

Dedicated Guardian: You can use each of the following actions once per encounter:

Blast Shield: Spend a swift action. Until the end of your next turn, the ally who is under the effects of your Dedicated Protector talent is treated as having the Evasion talent for the purposes of determining damage from an area attack. If the ally already has Evasion, the damage from a successful area attack is reduced by 1 die.
Take the Pain: Whenever your Dedicated Protector target would move down the condition track, you can, as a reaction, choose to move the same number of steps down the condition track instead (preventing the ally from moving down the track).
Team Effort: Spend a swift action. Until the end of your next turn, while you are adjacent to your Dedicated Protector target, any enemy that is adjacent to you and to that ally is considered flanked.

Prerequisites: Dedicated Protector, Harm’s Way.

 

Dedicated Protector: Once per encounter, you can designate one ally within 6 squares of you. Until the end of the encounter, that ally gains a + 1 morale bonus to Reflex Defense as long as it remains adjacent to you. Any individual can only be the target of this talent once per encounter.
Prerequisite: Harm’s Way.

Defensive Position: Whenever you have the benefit of cover (see pages 157-158 SECR), you can spend two swift actions to treat it as improved cover until the start of your next turn.
Prerequisite: Battle Analysis.

Demolitionist: When you use the Mechanics skill to place an explosive device, the explosion deals +2 dice of damage. You may take this talent multiple times; its effects stack.

Draw Fire: You can distract opponents and convince them that you’re the most tempting (or most dangerous) target in an area. As a swift action, make a Persuasion check and compare the result to the Will Defense of all opponents within line of sight. If the check result exceeds an opponent’s Will Defense, that opponent cannot attack any character within 6 squares of you until the start of your next turn as long as you do not have cover against that opponent. (The affected opponent may still attack you, however.) If you are the pilot of a vehicle, you may use this talent to protect allied vehicles. You may use it to protect vehicles no more than one size category larger than your own.

Hard Target: You can catch a second wind as a reaction instead of as a swift action.
Prerequisite: Tough as Nails.

Harm’s Way: Once per round, you may spend a swift action to shield a single adjacent ally from attacks, taking the damage and suffering the ill effects in your ally’s stead. Until the start of your next turn, any attack made against the protected ally affects you instead. You may elect not to shield your protected ally against a given attack, provided the decision is made before the attack roll is made. If you are the pilot of a vehicle, you may use this talent to protect allied vehicles. You may use it to protect vehicles no more than one size category larger than your own.
Prerequisite: Trained in the Initiative skill

Indomitable: Once per day as a swift action, you can move +5 steps on the condition track. This does not remove any persistent conditions that may be affecting you. You can select this talent multiple times. Each time you select this talent, you can use it one additional time per day.

Keep Them at Bay: When you use the aid another action to suppress an enemy, that enemy takes a -5 penalty on its next attack instead of the normal -2 penalty. Only 1 character may gain the benefit of this talent against a given target at a time.

Out of Harm’s Way: As a reaction, when you use Harm’s Way (which still requires a swift action to activate), you can move into the square of the ally you are protecting, and move the ally to any legal square adjacent to you. This movement does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
Prerequisites: Harm’s Way, trained in the Initiative skill.

Tough as Nails: You can catch a second wind an additional time per day.