Zero Company displacement explained

Displacement was scattered across four pages on this site before it was one. Overwatch describes pushing an enemy into a cone, cover describes pushing one out of cover, the Concussion Grenade record describes a grenade that shoves, and the Jedi Padawan class describes the Force. They are the same mechanic seen from four angles, and treating them separately hid what they have in common: they all take a decision away from the enemy.

That is the actual value. A tactics game is a sequence of enemy decisions, and a squad that can move enemies is a squad that removes those decisions rather than reacting to them. Every other build answers the question of what to do about where the enemy is. A displacement build changes where they are.

Four sources are evidenced. Tel-Rea Vokoss' Force Push, which EA name directly. Her Force Pull, named by the trophy list. Kabb Uppercut's Uppercut, which EA name as a way to knock an enemy out of cover. And Concussion Grenades, which a previewer used to shove enemies off the map.

The list is short, and its shape matters for squad building: two of the four belong to specific authored Operators who cannot be replaced, and only the grenade is available to anyone. A squad that wants reliable displacement is largely a squad that has already decided who is in it.

Out of cover. Cover reduces incoming hit chance, so removing an enemy from it is a damage increase for the whole squad rather than a control effect for one Operator.

Into a prepared Overwatch cone. This is the strongest officially supported synergy known before launch — EA describe both Force Push and Uppercut as ways to feed a squadmate's Overwatch, which is unusual, because EA rarely describe combinations at all.

Into another enemy. A trophy requires using Force Push or Pull to knock one enemy into another. What the collision does to either of them is not stated, and that is the most build-relevant unknown here.

Off the map. A trophy requires knocking an enemy out of the combat space, and a previewer did it with a Concussion Grenade. An enemy removed this way is defeated, which makes displacement a damage source and not only a setup tool — an enemy near an edge effectively has less health than the same enemy in the open.

Everything quantitative. Push distance is unpublished for all four sources, and distance is what decides whether a push into a cone is a plan or a hope. Nothing states whether heavier units, armoured units or bosses resist displacement, and a control build a boss ignores is a control build with no late game.

Treat ring-outs in particular as opportunistic until launch. The mechanic is confirmed; how often a map actually offers an edge to use is not something any preview reports, and a build that assumes one will be nearby is assuming level design nobody has described.