Anthem Javelin Classes Beginner’s Guide

Early on in Bioware’s latest game, Anthem, players are faced with a decision. Which Javelin suit should I choose? It can be a hard choice because each Anthem Javelin class plays a bit different. Some are offensive and some are defensive. Some are agile and some are not. And some weapons and gear can only equipped by certain Javelin types. You get the idea.

Players are able to unlock a new Javelin at levels 2, 8, 16, and 26, so you’ll be able to try them all by the time you get to the endgame, but you’re going to be stuck with your initial choices for a bit. So make sure you know which Javelin to pick in Anthem with our Anthem Javelin classes guide.

Ranger Javelin

The Ranger is a jack-of-all-trades-style Javelin and offers a little bit of every kind of play style. Being the second most agile suit, it has strong offensive and defensive abilities. The Ranger has a lot of unique skills, such as barrel rolling in the air, a regenerating shield, and double-jumping capabilities. It can also hold two pieces of assault gear and one piece of support gear (shields). Due to its all around style of play, the Ranger is a good beginning Javelin for players that haven’t quite found their preferred play style.

Anthem Javelin Classes

Abilities:

Ultimate Ability: Micro-Missiles

Attack your enemies with a barrage of missiles that lock onto multiple moving targets to do significant damage.

Melee: Shock Mace

If shooting isn’t your thing, go hand-to-hand with your opponent using a lightning stick that will give you an electrifying advantage.

The Storm Javelin

The Storm gets its energy through the Anthem, which it absorbs via Seals. Due to its ability to consume energy from the Anthem, the Storm has less armor, which can make battle a bit difficult. The Storm allows you to equip three special pieces of gear, which are the Seals. Blast Seals deal explosive damage, Focus Seals target enemies, and Support Seals offer extra defensive help. In addition to these unique Seals, the Storm also has teleportation capabilities, a kinesis shield, and the longest hover time of any Javelin. Due to its lack of armor and advanced playstyle which requires familiarity, this is one of the more advanced Javelins available and is the second least agile suit.

Anthem Javelin Classes

Abilities:

Ultimate Ability: Elemental Storm

Due to its ability to gain energy from the Anthem, the Storm can summon energy from the Anthem and rain down the full fury of nature’s elements on their enemy.

Focus Seal: Frost Shards

Shoot your enemy with frozen shards that instantly freeze them and allows for a few seconds of undefended attacks.

The Colossus Javelin

The Colossus is by far the most heavily armored, least agile, and highest damage-causing Javelin that Anthem has to offer. With it being the only Javelin able to equip a heavy weapon, the Colossus is pretty much a killing machine. It can equip two pieces of assault gear and one piece of support gear, including burst mortars, lighting coils, a flame thrower, a shield pulse, and much more. The Colossus has a few unique abilities, like a double-jumping capability, landing damage to enemies (causing damage to enemies when you land), and an air and ground shield, just to name a few. If you’re not one for tactful maneuvering and strategizing, and more of a “hell hath no fury” kind of player, then the Colossus is for you.

Anthem Javelin Classes

Abilities:

Ordinance Launcher: High-Explosive Mortar

A highly explosive projectile missile that does significant damage to any opponents that are inside its blast radius.

Heavy Assault Gear: Flame Thrower

Aim this at your enemy and they will meet a fiery death.

The Interceptor Javelin

The Interceptor specializes in dealing great amounts of damage to your enemies at a close range. With quick and smooth maneuverability, the Interceptor is able to deal loads of damage to opponents and then dash away before they can fire back. The Interceptor allows you to equip three different Systems, an Assault System (attack), Strike System (causes high damage), and Support System (extra help). The Interceptor has unique abilities that include a triple-jumping capability, chain dashing, spinning barrel rolls, and so much more! Being the most agile Javelin, the Interceptor is perfect for players who like to get their hands dirty up close and personal.

Anthem Javelin Classes

Abilities:

Assault System: Venom Bomb

Give your enemies an acid bomb to the face and cause lots of damage with corrosive attacks.

Support System: Targeting Beacon

Increase the amount of damage that one of your allies can do to an enemy that you designate.

Hopefully now you have a better idea of what each Javelin class in Anthem is and can make an informed decision on which Javelin to pick when you’re presented with the decision early on. All of the Javelins offer different capabilities to the player, so once you pick one, take some time to explore its potential and see what kind of cool things each Javelin can do!

Thanks for reading our Anthem Javelin Classes guide. Check out our other Anthem related content!

Anthem info dump

Anthem – EYNTK

Let's get to it, shall we?
What is Anthem?

Good question.

On the surface, Anthem appears to be the lovechild of Destiny and James Cameron's Avatar. But there's more to BioWare's new IP than meets the eye.

It is, by design, a lavish open-world adventure told through the lens of a third-person shooter. But it's the online aspect that really allows Anthem to stand on its own.
What's the Story?

There are freelancers, Javelins, and the Anthem, but what does it all mean?

Here's a little history lesson, courtesy of BioWare:

In the beginning, the gods harness the Anthem, a source of pure creation. Wondrous lands erupted into existence. Colossal beasts, creatures and monsters emerged. But before their work was complete, the Gods vanished, leaving behind an unfinished world strewn with the instruments of their creation. The power of the Anthem would not be contained, unleashing world-altering cataclysms, transforming and corrupting those that tried to wield its power.

Humanity sought a way to survive, so our ancestors created the Javelin exosuits, handcrafted armor that gave us superhuman abilities. Our world remains a constant struggle between the power of the Anthem and the instruments of the Gods who formed it. Today, the fate of humanity rests in the hands of a small band of Javelin pilots known as The Freelancers.
How Does it Play?

Like a dream, we suspect.

Last month, for instance, PSLS went hands-on with Anthem's campaign, revealing some of the bells and whistles that make up BioWare's all-new adventure.

And, much like recalling the Leviathan Axe in God of War, it seems soaring through the skies of Anthem never grows old.
A Strange Alien World

Anthem unfolds across a lush world in which the remnants of humanity have been forced to take shelter in Fort Tarsis, shielded from the dangers of the world beyond.

You see, while the so-called Gods planned to construct their world in nine days, they vanished after three, leaving behind an incomplete tapestry. That's where the story begins.
The Javelins

Navigating Anthem's gorgeous universe is made possible by the Javelin exosuits. Each armor is handcrafted to suit your every need, and there are a total of four options: Ranger, Storm, Interceptor and the hulking brute Colossus.
Ranger and Storm

Let's begin with Ranger and Storm, two of the more nimble Javelin suits available in Anthem. The first is described as a 'jack-of-all-trades' in that it's "piloted by both Freelancers and Sentinels, this iconic suit's versatility is what makes it deadly. With strong offensive capabilities, respectable defense, and something in its arsenal for every situation, the Ranger is the jack-of-all-trades your squad needs."

Storm, on the other hand, is empowered with magic, and "channels the raw energy of the Anthem through its seals to hover over the battlefield and dish out damage.
With its powerful seals and minimal armour, the Storm is a tempestuous javelin that can challenge the skills of even a veteran lancer."
Colossus and Interceptor

Finally, let's look at Colossus and Interceptor. The first is a heavy-handed weapon in Anthem's arsenal, one capable of blasting foes away with a single punch. Interceptor, by stark contrast, is a light and nimble fighter.

Here's the official intel, courtesy of BioWare:

Colossus – If you think subtlety is overrated and want enough artillery to take out a small army, unleash the pure devastation of this hulking war machine. While each javelin can equip two weapons, the Colossus is the only javelin sturdy enough to wield any of the Heavy Weapons.

Interceptor – The Interceptor excels in getting close to deal damage to enemies, then dashing away before they can react. Unleashing lightning-fast maneuverability to pull off powerful offensive abilities, the Interceptor makes the impossible look easy.
The Dominion

If The Freelancers are the allies, then Anthem's big bad arrives in the form of The Dominion, a "ferocious militaristic society" that want to harness the Anthem's world-building powers for themselves.

Per BioWare:

Our struggle against the Anthem’s world-changing power continues. And now, a new threat is growing: the Dominion, a ferocious militaristic society in the mountainous North. The Monitor, a ruthless Dominion commander, claims to have discovered a way to control the power of the Anthem. If he succeeds, no one will be able to stand in his way.

"A small band of Freelancers is all that can stop him. A battle for the future of our world is about to begin: a battle to stop the Dominion from harnessing the Anthem’s power.
Six Difficulty Tiers

Anthem features the usual three difficulty tiers from the get-go (read: easy, medium, hard), but upon unlocking the ~~endgame~~ Elder Game content at level 30, you'll gain access to another three tiers: Grandmaster 1, 2, and 3.
The Most Emotional Shooter?

Could this be the most emotional shooter of the bunch? That's how Game Director Jonathan Warner viewed Anthem. He told EDGE magazine the following:

[We might have] the most emotional shooter of our decade! Games you don’t connect with emotionally are not games that you end up talking about years later. To me, that is the delight of making games, because I know that somewhere some young person is going to pick up Anthem and play it, and it is going to be that game for them. It’ll be their game. That’s such an amazing privilege.

It can sound so pretentious to say, 'We really want you to emotionally connect to this game.' I do, but I want it to connect to lots of different people emotionally in different ways – whether it’s a touching story, or a character that you particularly love, or an adventure that you tell your friends about, or whether it’s just that adrenaline rush. It's all emotional.
The Launch Bay

The Anthem Launch Bay is, in essence, a 16-player social hub in which you'll be able to rub shoulders with your fellow Freelancers. And yes, it's available form day one.
The Alliance System

Anthem is "best played with friends." There's no two ways about it, really, and one such mechanic that rewards players for the cooperative endeavors is the Alliance System which, as Lead Producer Ben Irving explained, offers an XP boost to your friends–even if they aren't online.

"Anytime you complete an expedition (Mission, Contract, Freeplay, Stronghold) you earn experience. That experience also goes into the Alliance System. Even better, the experience from the other people in your group also goes into the Alliance System. Even better still, players on your friends list who play without you—their experience also goes into the Alliance System.
Only Three Stronghold Missions at Launch

Taking a leaf from Destiny's Strikes and Raid missions, the Stronghold missions will force Anthem players to form groups of four and battle alien threats together. More are said to be on the way, but on day one, you'll have access to three.
Microtransactions, Explained

Coin and Shards are the game currencies around which Anthem is built, and they can be used to purchase various cosmetic items in BioWare's shooter.

However, to their credit EA has been quick to stress that, when it comes to Anthem, nothing will be locked behind a paywall.

There are no items, including cosmetics and emotes, that are only available for purchase with Shards. Everything is either available for Coin only or has a dual price, giving players the option of saving up their Coin or dropping real money on Shards for an emote or skin.
A Fragmented Launch

Anthem's launch period is nothing if not fragmented. Much to the chagrin of players across the world, EA has mapped out a series of preorder incentives, most of which offer early access to the game itself.

The only problem is, things got very confusing very quickly. But rest assured, things ought to blow over by Friday—regardless of whether you're playing the game early or not.
VIP Demo Issues

Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, Anthem's much-hyped VIP demo raised more questions than answers, thanks in large part to those pesky server issues.

BioWare later apologised for the turbulent launch period and has vowed to iron out any and all teething problems prior to D-day.
No Loot Boxes

In the eyes of BioWare Lead Producer Michael Gamble, loot boxes "serve no purpose," and will not be a part of Anthem in any shape or form.

We aren’t going to add loot boxes. It serves no purpose. The cosmetics and MTX [microtransactions] plan is what we’ve outlined. Legion of Dawn is four new armor packs. They aren’t just skins. Each Javelin has four armor bits. You get 16 with LOD + weapons + other goodies.
Endgame Content

Known as the Elder Game, upon completing Anthem's campaign you'll be able to enjoy a truckload of endgame content which, as Blake Grundman soon discovered, proves the longevity of BioWare's new IP.
Player Guilds Inbound

Though they won't be available at launch, BioWare has been keen to stress that player guilds are on their way and will be introduced in the coming weeks.

While we believe the Alliance System is a great way to encourage social interaction with Anthem, we also understand Guilds play a critical role in helping players form organized groups with people of similar interests and play styles. Our goal is to release Guilds as soon after launch as we can.
Next-Gen Ready

Head of Live Service, Chad Robertson, took to Twitter recently to announce that, yes, players will be able to port their Anthem progress over to next-gen consoles–whenever that day may be.
Day-One Patch

Anthem's day-one patch is a biggie and is designed to address far-ranging issues like enemy shields and long load times.
Post-Launch Support

True to the developer's word, BioWare has ample post-launch support waiting in the wings, beginning with Act 1 in March 2019. The details of can be found here.
Trophy List

The official Anthem trophy list has leaked onto the interwebs. But fair warning, here lie spoilers.
Conviction

Curious to know more about Anthem and its many mysteries? Neill Blomkamp's (District 9) live-action short ought to do the trick.

If anything, it makes us want to see BioWare's latest make the jump to the big, big screen.
Launch Trailer

If this electrifying launch trailer doesn't get you stoked for Anthem, well, we don't know what will.
Our Final Verdict

Our own Blake Grundman is heading up the review for PSLS, so stay tuned for his final verdict when it hits the site soon.