Rogue Company – Save the day. Look good. Get paid.

Rogue Company has been in open beta for the last few weeks and has received high praise for its solid gun mechanics, intelligent map layouts, and unique heroes. Hi-Rez Studios has been working on this third-party shooter for years and is doing a great job of incorporating community feedback into its updates.

At its core, Rogue company is a tactical shooting game that takes advantage of ability-wielding heroes. For fans of Valorant, CS: GO and Overwatch, the game will feel familiar. For everyone else, there’s a lot going on that likely won’t make any sense in the beginning.

Luckily, we’ve been able to log dozens of hours on the beta and have compiled some of our top tips for beginners. For gamers interested in trying out Rogue Company, this guide will make your first games much less confusing!

If you’re more of a visual learner, check out the video guide below!

Choose Your Rogue to Match Your Playstyle

The Rogue Company beta has 12 playable characters. While some share perks, each one has a different set of weapons, gadgets, and abilities.

Even though each rogue is unique within Rogue Company, most are some iteration of characters from other games. I’ll let you know their overall playstyle and comparable heroes from other games so you can determine the right rogue for you!

If you’d like to see a more detailed summary of each of the rogues, check out our tier list here!

Anvil

Good for: People who like to play as tanks and provide cover for their team.

Comparable to: Gibraltar or Winston

My thoughts: Great for holding a point, very strong C4, has a great shotgun

Chaac

Good for: People who like to play a lone wolf style

Comparable to: Octane

My thoughts: Decent burst rifle, self-revive is great when playing against a passive team, flashbang is excellent for clearing corners

Dahlia

Good for: People who like to support and play at close range

Comparable to: Mercy, kind of

My thoughts: Ridiculously high fire rate on SMG, very powerful when paired with Lancer

Dallas

Good for: People who like to play be aggressive and go for high-kill games

Comparable to: Reyna, kind of

My thoughts: Target finder is strong as long as you don’t use it too early, AR might be the most powerful mid-range weapon in the game, the incendiary grenade is great for zoning, great flanker when AR is fully upgraded and padded steps are purchased. My current favorite, if you couldn’t tell

Dima

Good for: People who like to blow stuff up

Comparable to: Junkrat and Raze

My thoughts: Insane burst damage with grenades, solid AR, straightforward rogue

Gl1tch

Good for: People who like to hack things and be a nuisance

Comparable to: Symmetra and Wraith

My thoughts: Seems very situational but has strong potential to counter the most troublesome enemy on the opposing team

Phantom

Good for: People who like to snipe

Comparable to: Widowmaker

My thoughts: Great if you can hit your shots (even body shots are effective @ 80 damage, followed by a couple of pistol shots), loses a lot of value if you can’t aim

Ronin

Good for: People who like versatility in their kit

Comparable to: Jett

My thoughts: Great at flanking since she doesn’t show up on the enemy mini-map, weapon options work at both close- and short-range

Saint

Good for: People who like to play support characters

Comparable to: Sage, Mercy, Lifeline

My thoughts: Should be a staple in most team comps, works well if you play a little further back from your team, tracker rounds make him a Tier 1 rogue in later rounds

Scorch

Good for: People who like to run n’ gun

Comparable to: Phoenix

My thoughts: Overheat ability will probably always be OP, possibly the greatest close-range duelist, immunity to fire is a nice bonus, not much team utility

Talon

Good for: People who like to be trackers and give their team information

Comparable to: Crypto or Cypher

My thoughts: Good at tracking plus has access to C4, picking up items from range is hugely underrated

Trench

Good for: People who like to hold down an area

Comparable to: Wattson

My thoughts: Best rogue in the game for zoning sites, perk options make Trench hard to kill in later rounds

Vy

Good for: People who are actually snakes

Comparable to: Viper

My thoughts: One of the most unique rogues, high-sustain character if you can figure out good places to throw the vile poison

Understand the Rogue Company Economy

In Rogue Company, every rogue starts the match with a small firearm, an active ability, and a passive ability. All other weapons, gadgets, and perks need to be purchased through the course of the game.

There’s a “buy” stage that occurs before each round, giving players the opportunity to uplevel their kit. Everyone starts the game with the same amount of money and then earns cash throughout the match by getting kills, reviving teammates, hacking sites, etc.

In the ‘Extraction’ mode, each player starts with $5k. This is enough to pick a gadget, low-cost perk, or upgrade your secondary weapon. My advice here is to not buy anything!

This may seem counter-intuitive, but there’s a decent likelihood that new players won’t contribute much in the first round. In this case, you’ll still have enough money to buy your primary weapon in round two, even without having done anything productive during round one.

The philosophy is a little different in Rogue Company’s ‘Strikeout’ mode. Here, everyone starts with $13k. Most rogues should buy their primary weapon and their main gadget to start off this mode.

Buying Strategy in Rogue Company

As each match progresses, you’ll earn more and more money, leaving you with many options. Here’s a general prioritization for my pre-round buying:

1. Primary weapon
2. Main gadget
3. Low or mid-cost perk, depending on how the first two rounds go
4. Primary weapon upgrade
5. Main gadget upgrade
6. High-cost perk
7. Mid-cost perk
8. Primary weapon upgrade
9. Secondary gadget
10. High-cost perk

In most games, you won’t earn enough money to get through all ten of these buys. That’s okay! 

It’s also okay for you to be flexible in the timing of your purchases. Some games will require you to fully upgrade your primary weapon in order to be effective. Be flexible in your purchasing but have a general strategy for which order you’ll buy.

You may have noticed that I didn’t include any slot to purchase the melee weapon. That’s because I think the melee weapon is currently overpriced at $4k. Hear me out.

Melee weapons are incredibly situational. The majority of your fights will occur at mid-range, with very few encounters within an arm’s reach. If you’re lucky, you may see two opportunities per match to effectively use your melee weapon.

Contrast that to a grenade or $4k perk, where you are getting value out of the purchase every round, and the melee weapons just don’t make much sense.

The one exception here is if you plan on going full samurai mode with an upgraded sword to chop down your foes. This strategy is entertaining but will be countered easily by good players.

Use Third-Person to Your Advantage

One of the biggest differences between Rogue Company and Valorant or Rainbow Six Seige is the players’ perspective. A third-person view lets you see around corners and walls without exposing yourself to direct danger!

As you move around the map, try to peek around corners by rotating your rogue’s perspective. Using this technique, you can see oncoming enemies and line up your crosshairs to quickly get the kill.

You’ll also want to make sure that you are taking advantage of the shoulder swap mechanic. This allows players to keep their cursor in an open space instead of having the crosshairs focused on a wall.

Crouching behind short barriers is a great way to get the jump on your foes! You’ll be able to line up your crosshairs as the enemy approaches, pop out of cover, and fire off some quick rounds. If you aren’t able to kill them before emptying your clip, duck back down to reload.

Speaking of which, always try to reload in cover. Most reload animations take 1-3 seconds to complete. If you’re trying to reload out in the open, especially midfight, it’s likely that you’ll be gunned down. Get to cover as quickly as possible and adjust your view to keep the enemy in your line of sight.

Communicate With Your Team

I get it, randos on the internet can be scary. Even so, the transfer of useful information via team comms will always improve the chances of winning in a tactical shooter.

You don’t have to become friends with these people (although, I’ve already met a few really nice folks on Rogue Company), but there are some basic things that you should communicate to help your team win the round:

• Location of enemies (bonus points if you can call out which rogue you spotted)
• When an enemy is low on health (generally less than 30 health)
• If you are going to flank the enemy
• Any time you are trying to revive a teammate

If you can get down these four basics, your team will be in a much stronger position to win.

Becoming an Elite Rogue

Rogue Company is incredibly fun once you’ve got the basics down. Here’s a quick recap of the strategies to get started:

1. Find a handful of rogues who fit your playstyle
2. Get a handle on spending your cash
3. Peek around corners
4. Work on team comms

Now you just need to get out there and practice! As with all things, getting better at this game will take time. Take breaks when you need them, remember the fundamentals and you’ll continue to improve!

Let me know if you have any Rogue Company tips in the comments section!

Also, we just started a new podcast! Check out episode one here, where we talk about the free-to-play gaming model!