In the Daybreak update, Rogue Company introduces its most mobile Rogue to date: Juke. A true alternative to Lancer and a frankly preposterous character given the game’s semi-realistic approach, Juke is perfect for players who like to go fast and risk it all for the highlight reel. She can reposition quickly by jinking with her rocket sneakers, even in mid-air; more importantly, she can lay down defensive turrets to stop enemy flankers from catching her unawares. In this overview, we will guide you through everything you need to know about Juke in Rogue Company, including her weapons, gadget loadout, and her abilities.
Juke abilities in Rogue Company
Juke’s passive ability takes center stage because, unlike most other Rogue Company characters, her passive defines her playstyle. Juke’s Boots allow her to dash instead of rolling when she taps the dodge key or button; she can also dash while in the air, repositioning over low cover. Her Boots have three dash charges which reload on a pretty quick cooldown, and if she attempts to dodge while out of charges she will simply roll like any other Rogue. This ability makes her a great Rogue for coordinated teams who want to pull off unexpected flanks, and also a decent all-rounder on the defense, as she can get out of dodge more reliably than most other mobile Rogues in the game.
Her active ability ties into her background in Rogue Company’s lore. Juke is a multi-PhD engineer and AI researcher who has developed the world’s first self-aware artificial intelligence. Since this is Rogue Company, that marvelous scientific breakthrough is weaponized immediately to combat the game’s somewhat ambiguous antagonist, Jackal. Juke’s active ability in Rogue Company is the Laser Defense Drone: a deployable that sticks to surfaces and fires on any targets within range until destroyed. Before you go “OK, so she’s Tracer and Symmetra,” note that Juke is actually a viable pick in competitive play, so she’s quite unlike both of those Overwatch characters. The Defense Drones deal low but continuous damage and can be destroyed like any other deployable. Juke can have up to two Drones out at a time.
Like the Juke Boots, the Laser Defense Drone is more helpful when playing on defense, although both abilities are useful and flexible in symmetrical game modes like Strikeout and TDM. All in all, Juke is a great Rogue Company pick for players who prefer to trust their reaction time and game sense over superior weaponry or pure beef. Note, that Juke is a Speed 3, Toughness 3 Rogue, so she isn’t necessarily squishy either.
Juke Perks in Rogue Company
To supplement her abilities, players can choose the following Rogue Company Perks when playing Juke:
- Rare Nimble Hands: somewhat faster reload and weapon swap speed.
- Rare Life Drain: downing an enemy restores a large amount of health.
- Rare Resupply: killing an enemy drops a Resupply kit at their feet, which recharges your gadgets when picked up. This is an excellent Perk for Juke in the later rounds of a match since both of her gadgets are indispensable.
- Epic Stalker: you are not slowed down when aiming down sights.
- Epic Gunsmith: increased magazine size and damage falloff range for all guns.
- Epic Bounce Back: passive health regeneration starts much sooner.
- Legendary Energized: ability cooldown speed is drastically increased.
- Legendary Bulletproof: very high resistance to enemy firearm damage.
When picking Perks, your choice should come down to personal playstyle and preference. However, we recommend buying the following priority Perks first, regardless of match-up or game mode: Nimble Hands, Resupply, Bounce Back, and Life Drain.
Juke weapons and gadgets in Rogue Company
Rogue Company’s characters tend to be designed for flexibility rather than specialization, and Juke exemplifies this. Her loadout has a very eclectic selection of offensive and defensive tools and weapons. Her melee weapon is the Combat Knife, and her sidearm is the Warrant semi-auto pistol: a decent poke gun at all ranges. For her primary weapon she can take the Conviction, Mack’s heavy LMG which becomes more accurate the longer you hold the trigger down. This would typically be the better option when playing Juke on defense in Rogue Company’s competitive modes, but she also has a cheaper alternative in the Ibex Burst. This new SMG looks super cool but it’s just another SMG: use it when you’ve Juked yourself all the way into your opponent’s face, but don’t count on it at range.
Juke’s gadgets are both new to Rogue Company and unique to her loadout. Her Impact Grenade is the simplest and most shockingly effective of all throwables in the game: a grenade that detonates on impact, meaning you don’t need to cook it. There is never a good reason not to buy this lethal, so don’t sleep on it. Juke’s second gadget is another nod to her background as an inventor: the Reflector. This deployable projects a cone-shaped pushback wave in the direction you aim it, and can temporarily launch back any gadgets thrown into it, effectively functioning as an Active Protection System. More importantly, it also pushes back enemy Rogues and can be used to stop people from flanking you. Use it to block access to objectives and to irritate Lancer players.
