Overview
This guide is an overview of the different skills each squad member has, and an analysis of their use.
Godmother, Part 1
Notable attributes : Above average Mobility (starts at 12 against the average of 10)
Overview : Close to short range specialist with heavy damage, good movement, and cover manipulation; heavily dependent on ammunition for multiple abilities. Autoloaders and expanded magazines are almost mandatory for her in early-to-midgame for this reason, until Step Up is unlocked via her final Training option. Can be run as either a sturdy close assault damage soak, or a mobile flanker with massive crit damage.
Scattershot is a cone AOE with 4 range (3 if you’re aiming it diagonally) that requires 2 ammo to use. Although aiming it suggests that it can destroy cover features, in practice this ability will only affect destructibles like cars and explosive barrels, and maybe flimsy walls/billboards. Note that, despite Chimera maps being much smaller than XCOM maps, you’ll rarely catch hostiles bunched up enough to justify its prohibitive ammo cost. This usually means Necromancers who have just summoned Spectral Zombies; realistically, you’ll end up being able to hit two targets at most. Don’t be tempted to sacrifice a strong position to use this skill unless you’ve built Godmother into a tank with Last Stand/Untouchable (see below). For best results, try to ensure that at least one target will drop from Scattershot (which will trigger Untouchable and/or Step Up) or that a squadmate will follow up with an AOE to drop both targets. Otherwise, it’s much more ammunition and opportunity cost effective to spend a single round of ammunition with a normal shot to take down one target.
Alpha Strike is a one per mission ability used during the shooting phase of Breach. It is functionally the same as taking a normal shotgun attack during Breach; however, once the tactical phase of the encounter starts, it buffs Godmother with a first turn Timeline advantage and bonus action. The earlier Timeline bonus isn’t massive – I’ve seen Godmother still come up close to the bottom of the timeline with Alpha Strike active. However, the bonus action can be decisive in combination with her natural mobility and any breach location bonuses. While she can still only take one turn ending action (like a normal attack), this gives her the option of using other abilities multiple times as an opener. Another way to use it is by taking a Dash to flank and then shoot a hostile (or, if you have Lonely Herald, an epic shotgun, using Run N’ Gun then taking THREE movement actions all the way across the room to shoot someone up their backdoor).
A simple, strong passive that does what it says on the tin. Once per mission, this will save you from going into 0 HP and Bleeding Out, leaving you with 1 HP instead and giving you the next turn. Note that certain status effects will block this, so make sure you’re not stunned/disoriented if you’re depending on this to pop. I’m not entirely sure if burning will stop this either, but I suspect it does. This is the ability to take if you’re counting on Godmother to soak up hits as she closes and takes flank shots. Take note that relying heavily on this will almost guarantee her a Scar after the mission (and thus a 2 day downtime unless you want to live with the debuff), so I consider this a more valuable talent for Ironman/Hardcore runs than for straight tanking.
The alternative ability choice at Tier 2, Flush forces an enemy to move away from their current position. It’s treated as a normal shotgun attack that deals no damage and so takes up 1 ammo, as well as having a one turn cooldown. It’s nevertheless more cost effective than her other ammo dependent abilities, however, as it’s not a turn ender; this means you can Flush a hostile from cover and then take your next action shooting. Somewhat less obvious, you can Flush a hostile lower down on the timeline, shoot and kill another hostile that’s taking its turn after Godmother, and then leave the previous Flushed target for another squadmate to finish off. Note that you can use Flush on an enemy that’s not in cover for whatever reason, maybe in the hope of it running into an optimal AOE position. Also note that while Flush is guaranteed to move a target away from cover, it nevertheless might end up moving out of shotgun range or an otherwise LOS blocked but still coverless position. PROTIP : This does trigger overwatch, so if you have someone covering that angle, this is an easy way to deal damage twice on her turn.
I sort of undervalued this ability on my first playthrough, but I’ve subsequently reassessed it. Ventilate will guarantee a hit and destroy most cover features, at the steep cost of 3 ammo (a full, unmodded shotgun clip) and a 3 turn CD. I wouldn’t suggest using this early-to-midgame unless Godmother has an expanded mag or preferably an autoloader equipped. In this case, you can use this skill to snipe at maximum shotgun ranges (since this negates the steep accuracy falloff shotties suffer). If you’re also using this to destroy cover I would suggest that you only use it against full cover to negate the damage reduction. Using Ventilate on partial cover is not terribly cost effective and you’re better off looking for targets that you can one-shot with it. Finally, this will not destroy structural features used as cover, like the base of a monument or a support strut (although it will destroy pillars).
On the other hand, once you’ve unlocked Step Up, Ventilate basically costs no ammo if you’re sure you can drop the hostile. It’s a guaranteed hit, and with good shotgun upgrades you’ll kill anything short of praetorians and berserkers, even without crits. Unfortunately, the very nature of this skill runs counter to Godmother’s flanking capability, so don’t depend on shotgun criticals as you use Ventilate and only target hostiles you’re certain of dropping.
This is Bladestorm. With a shotgun. Yeah, just think about that for a second.
Seriously speaking, it’s theoretically that good, but the nature of Chimera Squad makes it less powerful than it would sound to XCOM veterans. CCS makes Godmother take a reaction shot against enemies that move within a certain range – I think it’s up to 2 squares away, but I’m not entirely sure yet. Unlike Bladestorm, I’m 90% certain that this doesn’t trigger when enemies leave your range, only when they enter it. Certain enemies, like high level Ronin, have built in defense against reaction fire, which usually means Overwatch but also includes this. Chimera Squad enemies tend not to gang up as much as XCOM2, unlike the hordes of Lost that would constantly trigger Bladestorm. Also note that this ability will no longer trigger once Godmother’s clip is empty (although again, this is obviated by Step Up if you manage to score a kill).
Make no mistake, though, this is still a very strong Tier 4 pick. The Gray Phoenix and Sacred Coil investigations frequently feature melee opposition, and even ranged enemies will make the mistake of crossing Godmother’s CCS range multiple times as they reposition. Debuffs like disorient will not turn this passive off, unlike Step Up. At the ranges it triggers, Godmother will often drop a Chryssalid or Muton with a hard crit, and this happens enough times to strongly justify choosing it. Both Tier 4 ability picks can be considered defensive – however, this one has the ability to remove or weaken multiple hostiles in a turn, as long as your ammo holds out, and I would consider it to better fit an aggressive Godmother play style.
Godmother, Part 2
Untouchable is the other ability choice at Tier 4 – killing an enemy on Godmother’s turn will make the next attack against her miss, exactly like the Ranger ability of the same name. AOE attacks will bypass this defense, as will enviromental effects (burning, poison, acid) and most psionics (I’m not sure if Soulburn is affected). This tends to be a stronger pick in Chimera than it was in XCOM2, since the timeline system means only a few enemies will take their turn after Godmother instead of the entire opposing force and as such means Untouchable is more likely to protect her until her next turn. This can be run with an aggressive build, as leaving Godmother exposed in order to flank becomes less dangerous, but I personally think this gets better results in a more conservative and survival oriented build.
This is Godmother’s final ability, and oh boy it’s a doozy. Popping Overtime is a free action that adds a whopping +50 crit and +35 dodge. It also guarantees her another turn after two other characters (friendly or hostile) have taken their turns; you can see this on the timeline after you first use Overtime. Not only that, the crit and dodge bonuses last until the end of this bonus turn. This ability can only be used once per mission, so use it wisely – the stat bonuses can be used both offensively and defensively, while the bonus turn can either be used to take down more hostiles, reach an objective, or evac from the mission.
I would argue that this is the ability that really brings it all together for Godmother, even more so than Overtime. Available in Training after max promotion and a steep 5 days, Step Up completely refills her shotgun ammunition after she scores a kill. I’m fairly sure this won’t work from environmental damage that she leaves behind (like patches of fire or poison, or dots from the same causes). It will, however, work on reaction fire, meaning that this will trigger off of Overwatch or Close Combat Specialist. This skill pretty much negates the small ammo capacity of shotguns and steep ammunition consumption of her abilities. This will also let you do away completely with autoloaders and extended mags and use other weapon mods instead. Ventilate and Scattershot become much less cost prohibitive, and even Flush is a non issue if you get a kill with your next action. CSS becomes theoretically unlimited if you can drop at least one of the hostiles that get in range. The training duration is a big chunk of time that Godmother is on the bench, so hopefully you have a sub trained up to temporarily take her spot, but it is definitely worth the wait.
Take note, though : Disorient does disable this skill.
- Weapon mods : In the early game, an autoloader/extended mag is almost mandatory to compensate for her shotgun ammo capacity, nevermind the expenditure from Scattershot. The other slot can fitted with either a scope if you play her conservatively, or with a laser sight if playing her as an aggressive flanker. Once Step Up is unlocked, you can replace the ammo mod with anything else; for most purposes I use scope+laser sight, though you can replace the scope. I don’t suggest the targeting system for her, though, as her abilities work best when she one shots enemies.
- Armor mod : I generally use mach weave for everything, as 50 dodge is significant graze damage reduction. On Godmother specifically, though, it works extremely well as her mid-tier training grants her 15 dodge base. Hazmat, if you can find it, is a decent option if the rest of your squad tends to lay down poison and fire and gas and you find that it limits her flanking options. Anything else is viable but largely situational (though you may want Mindshield on her if you’re facing dominators, as it’s not fun getting her mind controlled).
- Breach equipment : A target analyzer allows her to one shot tough enemies in the Breach phase. If her level and Aim are still low, a holo scanner will probably be the better option. I rarely have her carry a breaching charge or key card since she tends to do better either popping a breach buff or taking advantage of a breach point positional buff.
- Utility items : Once you’ve graduated from tranq ammo and Intel farming, you should use talon rounds to take advantage of her crit opportunities; Tracers are okay if you feel her aim isn’t up to snuff yet. Ceasefire grenades are a great option if she tends to end up exposed; I’m not a fan of smoke in Chimera Squad because the maps are smaller and Godmother will probably move out of a smoke cloud anyway. Her natural mobility makes her a great medikit carrier if you’re not using Terminal, allowing her to carry the healing where it needs to be.
Cherub, Part 1
Notable attributes : Slightly better than average aim and mobility.
Overview : Mobile short range defensive support. An intuitive and easy to use tutorial character with mostly passive skills, it becomes more difficult to effectively deploy him later on when enemy armor and hit points vastly outpace his damage output; worse, none of his abilities synergize with his weapon. His primary mechanic, Kinetic Charge, suffers from fluctuating ‘feast-or-famine’ conditions especially when attempting to use Kinetic Bash to full effect. Players intent on carrying him to lategame should focus on his support aspect.
This is the foundation block of Cherub’s skill set. Kinetic Charge is a passive that allows him to store Charge, up to 2 stacks (at first); Charge is gained and expended via the use of certain abilities. Kinetic Shield is a buff that he can put on himself or an ally (including VIPs) – it negates all damage from the next attack taken by the buffed character and then is broken. Cherub gains 1 Charge when Kinetic Shield successfully stops damage. Kinetic Shield can be cast on multiple allies unlike Safeguard, and each instance will remain until broken. Furthermore, using it does not end the turn, meaning that Cherub can cast it and then take a shooting action or a Charged Bash. Cherub’s usual playstyle involves casting Kinetic Shield and then using Charged Bash as a combination movement/attack.
Charged Bash is a 3 damage melee attack that replaces Cherub’s Subdue. The damage of this ability increases by 1 per stack of Charge stored. Furthermore, any amount of Charge creates an AOE cone behind the target (3 range, 2 if aimed diagonally), and spends all stored Charge. The AOE does not destroy cover features, but it will damage allies caught in it. You can prevent civilian casualties by targeting the Bash endpoint next to them; the civilian evac will resolve before the Charged Bash AOE takes effect. When playing Cherub as a defensive support, this ability will be a mainstay especially during early-to-midgame. While Bash does relatively minor damage, even Charged, this allows you do deal some damage while putting him in a position to lure enemy fire and soak hits via Kinetic Shield.
Phalanx is a one per mission ability used during the shooting phase of Breach. In lieu of dealing damage, Cherub instead draws the fire of all Aggressive enemies in range of his breach point. All attacks are negated and he gains 1 Charge per attack, up to his Charge capacity. Use of this ability allows the squad more options during the Breach phase, as it essentially negates any incoming damage. The rest of the squad can then focus fire on Surprised/Alert enemies instead and leave the temporarily neutralized Aggressives to be dealt with during the main encounter phase. This also obviates the need for Smoke Bombs during a Breach where Phalanx is used. To a lesser extent, Flash Bombs also devalues Phalanx as the lowered response levels can mean fewer or no Aggressive enemies present. The gained Charges lets Cherub open the encounter with higher damage, AOE Bashes and depending on his later ability choices can allow him to ‘pinball’ his Bash from turn to turn.
Generator is a simple, straightforward passive that gives Cherub 1 Charge at the end of an encounter. Obviously, this is of deprecated value for single encounter random (yellow) missions. On the other hand this is offset by the fact that nearly all critical missions (purple on the city map) are 2-3 encounters long, letting this trigger at least once or twice, not to mention yellow missions that also have multiple encounters. If you find it difficult to gain Charge for Bash or Supercharge, you may want to consider choosing this at his Field Agent promotion.
Cherub’s alternative Tier 2 ability, Guard, is an excellent defensive passive. At the end of his turn he gets 1 armor, is always in at least half cover even when exposed, and also counts as half cover for allies. However, Guard is immediately canceled upon taking a hit. You can extend its life by stacking it with Kinetic Shield, making Cherub incredibly durable. Note that you always gain the bonus armor at the end of your turn, which is an effective counter for enemy shred effects. Do be careful of using Cherub to cover for more than one ally, as that tempts the AI into popping whatever AOE it has available.
Warning : There is currently an infrequent bug that occurs when using Guard wherein Cherub loses all Mobility. The only known solution for this is to Bash a hostile when in range, which for some reason restores Cherub’s movement. Keep this in mind when choosing this ability, and hopefully a patch for it is on the way soon.
EDIT : The 5/21/20 patch indicates that this might be fixed. Kindly confirm in the comments.
Another passive skill, Overload increases Cherub’s max Charge capacity to 3. Additionally, he gains bonus Mobility (+3, I believe, although I’m not 100% sure) while at max Charge. Nothing really to talk about with this skill, as you’re guaranteed to get it and it’s a passive that doesn’t need any brain cells to use. Note that this skill in conjunction with his Tier 3 Training unlock (+2 Mobility) gives him excellent coverage of the battlefield. This increased movement increases his versatility, making him a good choice for jobs like VIP extraction, objective grabbing, or even as a medikit carrier. His defensive skillset and bonus Mobility with this passive makes him a natural choice for rearguard as you evac your squad.
This ability grants 1 Charge whenever Cherub drops a hostile with Kinetic Bash. This is the preferred Tier 4 choice for more offensive builds, as you can then ‘pinball’ from target to target each turn as long as you can drop at least one of them. Note that dropping more than one hostile with Charged Kinetic Bash will still only net a single Charge. Counterintuitively, this ability obviates the previous ability Tier, since spending Charge each turn means that Overload will never trigger. This ability would seem to synergize with Overload’s Mobility bonus, but instead they cancel each other out. While this would also seemingly appear to be a good skill to build up max Charge, in practice this encourages Charge spending and exacerbates the all-or-nothing, feast-or-famine nature of the mechanic.
Resonance Field buffs allies with an active Kinetic Shield, increasing their Aim by a very significant +15, equivalent to a superior scope. Seemingly meant for a more defensive Cherub playstyle, this is actually a versatile ability that can be used on the offense as well. Even melee attackers, who also tend to be bullet lures, can make use of the Aim buff as enemies later in the game can be difficult to hit with close combat. A tanking Cherub can still use this talent in conjunction with Return Fire, allowing his retaliation attacks better accuracy against long range, a notorious issue for his pistol. Considering its ease of use and general versatility, I would strongly consider using this ability over Recharge, especially if you’re having issues with Charge management.
Cherub, Part 2
This is Cherub’s final promotion ability, a very powerful squad-wide buff that can be used once per mission as a single action that does not end your turn. Using this ability spends all stored Charge. Supercharge adds +2 to primary weapon damage (which means Bash is unaffected) and debuffs all enemies in the encounter with Holo-Targeting (increasing chance to hit them by +15%). The effects last for as many turns as the amount of Charge expended, which incentivizes storing Charge instead of spending it on Bash.
This is a pure offense ability that allows your squad to flatten the opposition for as long as it lasts. I would typically save this for the last encounter of a mission, especially one that requires you to clear the encounter zone. The value of this ability is somewhat deprecated for VIP or objective extractions, since mobility and defense buffs would be preferable in that case, but you can use it to clear the initial encounter before scampering off to evac.
This ability causes Cherub to return fire with his pistol when attacked. The skill description implies that this only works when he’s shot at with firearms, but I can personally confirm that it will trigger on melee attacks. This sounds reasonably strong, and it is, but be aware of several caveats. Firstly, Cherub uses the shortest ranged primary in the game, and any retaliation from long range will suffer the expected accuracy penalties (if he’s in range to shoot back at all). Secondly, even leaving Cherub in the middle of the room without cover is no guarantee he’ll draw fire. Using him to bait melee attacks from Zombies and Chryssalids is fairly reliable, but Mutons of all types (especially Berserkers) will sometimes ignore a nearby target to melee someone else in their movement range. Ronins don’t seem to settle for nearby targets either, and in any case their Lightning Reflexes counter this ability (which is treated as reaction fire). I wouldn’t necessarily bench Cherub to get this skill as soon as he can, but it’s a decent ability that synergizes with the rest of his skillset, so you can get it if you’ve got the time to spare.
- Weapon mods : There’s two schools of thought regarding Cherub’s pistol – a) its damage is so bad you should buff it as much as you can, and b) its damage is so bad that you shouldn’t bother relying on it. The first option wants laser sights and scopes to make up for its deficiencies and give it a chance to burst. For the second option, you should consider using targeting systems and/or stocks; the first will allow him to mark out targets for the rest of the squad to take down, the second will let him act as a ‘closer’ to finish off weakened hostiles. On the other hand, the pistol does have the largest ammo capacity in the game and not even Return Fire is likely to empty it, so there’s rarely a point to giving him an autoloader or extended mag.
Giving him the epic pistol Artful Fathom allows him more firing options, and Lightning Hands isn’t restricted to one per mission. Endless Brevity is more suited to Blue Blood, and is unlikely to significantly upgrade Cherub’s damage output especially since its special ability is only useable once per mission. Played as defensive support, Cherub does fine with a regular pistol, so you needn’t go out of your way to find or purchase an epic pistol for him specifically.
Note : He can’t equip an impact frame for reasons. Base 5 damage Kinetic Bash at the cost of a weapon mod slot would have gone a long way towards making him more viable for offensive combat. No idea if this is an oversight, a bug, or just questionable design.
- Armor mod : I pretty much recommend mach weave for everyone, everytime, but if you got the Guard ability you might consider a plated vest to stack with his bonus armor from the skill. I’m sometimes tempted to equip the infiltrator weave on him on missions with vents and when I’m not running Torque; the fact is, though, that he’s better off on breach points with highly Aggressive enemies, and vents usually give you Surprised hostiles instead.
- Breach equipment : The tutorial equips him with the squad’s breaching charge by default, and he does all right leading a breach group thanks to Phalanx. I would keep things like the breaching charge and the auto key (if you don’t have Terminal or Patchwork) on him. If you have someone else leading the breach (cough Axiom cough), then you can kit him out with bombs or scanner/analyzers instead (always read the mission description for expected breach point types).
- Utility items : A big part of this loadout choice will depend on if you use his pistol. You can give him tracer rounds in the early game or one of the dps ammo types (dragon/venom/caustic rounds) when you get them. On the other hand, his mobility and defenses makes him a great backup medic, and I would seriously consider making him a medikit carrier (which also allows him to Bash into/through poison clouds). Once you upgrade your armor and get a second utility slot, think about equipping him with smoke grenades. You can throw them as a free action right before he Bashes, allowing him to hold the area he’s moved into (try to throw it so that you end up inside and your Bash target is outside of the cloud, though).
Terminal, Part 1
Notable attributes : Slightly better than average starting health (9 vs 8).
Overview : Unsurpassed healing and support skills with adequate direct combat capability. Can be readily customized to lean more towards either combat or support thanks to training at Tier 3 for an extra Utility slot. Her final Training unlock, Guardian, turns her into an Overwatch machine that effectively multiples her damage output several times over.
Safeguard is Terminal’s signature ability that combines the XCOM2’s Specialist skills Aid Protocol, and Medical Protocol – except even better, as OP as that already sounds to XCOM2 veterans. This means a 4 HP heal, burning/acid/poison status removal, and a +20 to Defense (this Defense bonus only lasts while Safeguard is maintained on an ally, and will be removed should Safeguard be used on someone else). This skill is so good, especially if you’re an old hand at XCOM, that using Terminal is essentially tuning the difficulty down one level if not more.
Unlike in XCOM2, this is usable repeatedly, once per turn. That’s right, it has no charges, so no need to carry a medikit to increase its uses. It will cover an entire map the size of the first City Hall encounter, so as far as I know it has unlimited range. Furthermore, it’s not a turn ending ability, meaning you can freely use Safeguard at the start of your turn and then either move or shoot or do anything else.
Gremlin Stabilize is a corollary of this skill, only usable on squadmates that are Bleeding Out. Instead of the usual effects, this will immediately Stabilize said squadmate. Gremlin Stabilize otherwise follows all of Safeguard’s rules for range, reuseability, and action cost.
Terminal’s second basic ability is Hack Door, a Breaching action that allows you to use Security Door breach points. This saves the squad from having to spend credits or breaching equipment slots on an auto key, a fairly significant saving in the early game. Hack Door may be used unlimited times, although obviously Terminal can only be at one breach point per encounter.
This one per mission ability will heal all allies at her breach point for 2 HP. This is only useable at the initial Breach phase (not the shooting phase of Breach), and in any position except for first. The value of this skill depends entirely on your Heal Between Encounters difficulty setting; it’s useless on Full Heal, occasionally valuable on Half Heal, and a lifesaver on No Heal.
This skill is a powerful contingency passive. Whenever Terminal would Bleed Out (reduced to 0 HP), she instead goes down to 1 HP and is put into the Stasis condition for 1 turn. While Stasis means she can’t be healed by anyone else, this also renders her invulnerable to enemy effects until the turn ends. Note that this passive can only trigger once per mission. While I’m not 100% sure, I suspect that like a lot of passives, Disorient will turn this off, so try to avoid that. You might be tempted to tank with Terminal in conjunction with Safeguard, but having this skill trigger will almost certainly leave her with a Scar. It’s better to use Safeguard supporting real bullet soaks or other allies caught exposed, and have this skill handy to keep Terminal in the fight. Like all other certain death counters, this skill is even more valuable in Ironman/Hardcore conditions.
Her second Tier 2 option, Terminal fires at an enemy for no damage, but in exchange delays their next timeline action. Like most weapon based abilities, this costs 1 ammo, and has a 2 turn cooldown. However, Pin Down has a 100% chance to hit regardless of range or cover, and is not a turn ender. The hostile is typically pushed 3 turns down the timeline; however, Pin Down cannot be used to push an enemy’s turn into the next Round in order to effectively remove it from the current Round. This ability is typically used to ensure a squadmate goes before a hostile, especially if you can’t guarantee being able to eliminate that hostile on Terminal’s turn. In conjunction with Cooperation and Team Up, this ability will allow your entire squad to overwhelm an encounter early in the timeline, leaving fewer enemies to deal with later on and thus making the overall encounter easier.
Cooperation allows Terminal to spend an action in order to give a squadmate a single action (for example, a movement or an attack but not both). That squadmate immediately takes the action (meaning that if Terminal performed Cooperation as her first action, the squadmate goes next, and then Terminal goes again to take her second action). The squadmate must be unimpaired to be eligible for this bonus action, which mostly means they can’t be Stunned or Panicking. I believe Disorient also counts, although I’m not sure about burning. The ability description also uses the word ‘nearby’, although I’ve personally tested this skill to reach the same ranges that Safeguard does. Finally, note that Cooperation has a three turn cooldown, so it should be used when it will be most effective.
Terminal’s first Tier 4 ability choice is a straightforward passive that increases Safeguard’s buffs by 1 armor. Like the Defense bonus, this buff is removed should Safeguard be retargeted elsewhere. It is a simple, strong effect (Safeguard can be retargeted on the same person to counteract Shreds) that for most purposes is usually a better pick than Resilience.
Like Refresh, the value of Resilience depends entirely on your Heal Between Encounter settings. This skill heals Terminal to full HP between encounters; as such, its potency depends not merely on how much healing your settings give you, but also the amount of damage Terminal takes. In this case, Refresh is far more versatile, and Terminal has better things to do with her actions than being put in a position to take hits. This ability obviously has greater use in Ironman/Hardcore settings, but even then the passive damage reduction of Safeguard is probably more useful, as it actively prevents her from acquiring time-consuming Scars.
Terminal, Part 2
Terminal’s final promotion ability, Second Wind, applies the healing effects of Safeguard (though not the +20 defense and the +1 armor from Armor System) to the entire squad, as well as automatically stabilizing any team members Bleeding Out. This skill can only be used once per mission, and will end the turn even if used as the first action. Frankly speaking, this is one of the less impressive Tier 5 abilities, as you should be aggressively using Safeguard to prevent needing to heal more than one team mate at a time. At the level you unlock this, 4 HP damage isn’t a massive loss, though healing it off is probably a good idea to prevent possible Scars. If anything, this is a convenience at best that prevents you from having to choose between healing or stabilizing. In practical terms, though, this is a niche case that rarely comes up.
Guardian allows Terminal to trigger Overwatch multiple times as long as she has ammo. This ability is almost on par with Godmother’s Close Combat Specialist, depending on Terminal’s positioning and ammo reserves. Like CSS, this talent is especially useful in melee heavy investigations such as Sacred Coil and Grey Phoenix, but can be used against shooters if you can bait them into closing from outside their range. Remember that you can also use forced movement like Flush, Relocate, or a Panic proc from Smash to trigger Overwatch. However, its reactionary nature means Guardian is somewhat situational to use; while it’s an excellent ability to have, you can hold off on benching Terminal to learn it until you can afford to.
- Weapon mods : As a support unit expected to also engage in direct combat, the standard loadout of scope+laser sight functions well on her. With Guardian unlocked, the laser sight can be replaced by an expanded magazine to allow her extended Overwatch fire. On the other hand, if you prefer to use Terminal for support actions and only shoot opportunistically, you can mod her weapon with a stock for finishing off weakened enemies or a targeting system to assist squad shooting. I recommend using Surly Constant over Crucial Symmetry for her, especially if you’re using an expanded mag, as you can use Hail of Bullets for guaranteed kills.
- Armor mod : Mach weave, as usual, although infiltrator weave is a valid choice if you don’t have Torque. Terminal should usually be holding a strong position without needing to move around much, especially with the range of Safeguard, so things like extra padding or a plated vest shouldn’t be necessary for her.
- Breach equipment : Terminal can breach security doors by default, and at Tier 1 comes with the Refresh gremlin. Keeping that in mind she’s better off carrying bombs and scanners than breaching charges. You can have her carry the more offensive scanner or analyzer and rely on Safeguard to heal off any damage taken from Aggressives during the breach.
- Utility items : At Tier 3 promotion, Terminal can be trained to carry another slot, which in combination with upgraded armor gives her a whopping 3 utility choices. Special ammo makes her Guardian ability more dangerous and makes her more effective in direct combat in general. The choice of defensive or offensive grenades depends on how you expect to play her, though played as support she’ll sometimes be out of range to use offensive grenades (though smaller maps, which aren’t uncommon, may mitigate this). A kinetic screen is a good choice for a defensive support character, while a relocation disc (my personal recommendation for the third slot) allows her to reposition without spending actions on movement.
You might be tempted to carry a medikit on her for redundancy, but frankly it’s just overkill. If you have to heal off 8 damage at a single go you’re probably better off trying to kill hostiles to stem the incoming damage. I also don’t see much of a reason to run Terminal in or through poison, so I recommend against having her carry one.
Verge, Part 1
Notable attributes : Higi Psi (90), slightly less base hitpoints than average.
Overview : Psionic support/disabler with a good primary weapon. Passive bonuses from abilities can turn him into a capable frontline combatant.
This is Verge’s primary mechanic; each application of Neural Network adds +10 to his aim. This is granted by successfully using his basic abilities Stupor and Battle Madness (and possibly Slam later on). Neural Network stacks can be seen via the small purple brain icon on the lower left near Verge’s portrait, and the enemies affected easily found via the purple beam connecting them to him. Note that Neural Network is removed when a hostile is killed, but not if they are rendered Unconscious instead. This incentivizes trying to use Subdue or tranq rounds on Neural Network victims. On the other hand, you don’t need to stack Neural Network too high to give Verge a 100 percent hit chance against most targets, and so you don’t need to be too careful about killing off hostiles. This passive is what makes Verge a relevant threat in direct combat.
Stupor is Verge’s first debuff, a Psi attack that causes Neural Network as well as Stunning a target for 1 or 2 actions. Stupor is not a turn ender and can be followed up by another action, even another Psi attack; however, a hostile already in the Neural Network cannot be targeted again by Stupor or Battle Madness. A 2 action Stun is basically a full lockdown that negates a hostile’s turn, but even a 1 action Stun is a significant impairment, as sometimes the target will spend its single action moving away instead of shooting. Note that Stupor has significant range, roughly the same as his assault rifle, and is not affected by either distance or cover (although LOS will prevent it being targeted). As a Psi attack, its success rate is dependent on Verge’s Psi versus the target’s Will, which is why frequently you’ll see his chances to be 100% or close to it. Later on in the game you’ll find high Will targets which can reduce this chance greatly.
This is the second basic debuff in Verge’s repertoire, which inflicts Neural Network and Berserk. Berserk will cause the enemy, if they can, to attack the nearest enemy target immediately regardless of their normal place in the timeline (however, if they are unable to find an enemy in range they may attack one of your squad members instead). Used judiciously, this can be used to eliminate a nearby damaged hostile or simply weaken one enough to be finished off with a second action. Using both Stupor and Battle Madness is significant disruption and a valid alternative to shooting. Battle Madness follows Stupor’s rules for action use, range, and success rate.
This is Verge’s Tier 1 and Breach Mode ability. Levitation may be taken instead of an attack during the Breach shooting phase, and will both remove any cover bonuses as well as canceling Alert/Aggressive status (although this will not reduce the target to Surprised with all the attendant Aim bonuses). This is a somewhat difficult choice to make, as Verge has a strong primary weapon with good range capable of taking down hostiles. Levitation does effectively put Aggressives out of play for the Breach phase, so you can use this for a potentially troublesome enemy that you know you won’t have the damage to take out during Breach. To take advantage of this ability, you can have him go last in order to see how Breach plays out and if Levitation will be needed. On the other hand, having him use Levitation as the first action of Breach allows the rest of the team to target an exposed and particularly tough hostile such as a praetorian. Experience will probably be your best teacher on how this skill fits your particular playstyle and squad makeup.
Crowdsource is a passive that strengthens Neural Network considerably, increasing its bonus by an additional +5 to Aim and a +10 to Critical. Choosing this ability at Tier 2 makes Verge a more dangerous combat unit almost on par with Godmother and Axiom for simple direct fire capability. For example, two Neural Network debuffs, which can easily be achieved on his first turn, will give a total of +30 to Aim and +20 to Critical. In conjunction with the range and damage of his assault rifle, this allows him to deal firepower comparable to flanked shotgun hits within a large arc of the map, and AR ammo capacity allows him to sustain this without the need for autoloaders, expanded mags or special abilities. However, the need to keep enemies alive to keep the bonuses will require a more complex tactical playstyle or else the willingness to have Neural Network fluctuate during the course of an encounter. This factor keeps Crowdsource in line with its Tier 2 alternative.
This ability makes it so that enemies affected by Neural Network will be knocked Unconscious instead whenever they are killed. At first glance this seems like a passive that only serves to help farm Intel, but remember that Unconscious hostiles remain in the Neural Network and continue to buff Verge even when they’ve been removed from play. Collar allows you to continue playing a smashmouth assault style with no regard for Subdue attempts or tranq rounds, and still maintain Verge’s Aim bonuses. This is a much easier passive to use for Verge and allows you be more versatile in your action and loadout choices; however, the passive increase to Aim and Critical given by Crowdsource balances this out. Ultimately this is a rare occurrence where both Tier 2 abilities are evenly valid, and the choice is more dependent on your preferred style.
Verge gains this talent at Tier 3, which is a turn ending action that deals 3-4 damage to all hostiles affected by Neural Network; the damage from this will knock them Unconscious instead of killing them. This is a somewhat mediocre ability, as the damage from this is about half that of an Enhanced AR versus a single target, and barely paces even at two targets. The best use of this normally is for niche cases where Verge can ‘execute’ a priority or armored enemy with the minimum 3 damage Mindflay causes (This damage is Psi and will bypass Armor stacks).
On the other hand, Mindflay is more useful if you play Verge as a hard disabler using Psi attacks on both his actions. In that case you’re more likely to be able to spread Neural Network more quickly amongst hostiles, and a well timed Mindflay will cause significant if spread out damage. Once all possible targets have been included in the Neural Network, you can then switch to the rifle and start picking off enemies weakened by Mindflay thanks to what should be a massive Aim bonus at this point.
A simple passive, this heals Verge by 1 HP per enemy debuffed by Neural Network. This is a surprisingly strong ability – two Networked enemies is the equivalent of regen weave, an investigation Assembly reward. If you’re able to put hostiles down Unconscious instead of killed, this can stack higher and makes Verge surprisingly sturdy. I managed to do the Takedown mission for Sacred Coil with him tanking a large number of melee enemies, thanks to a combination of this and high dodge (his Tier 3 Training includes +20 dodge).
Verge, Part 2
The Tier 4 alternate choice, this ability smashes an enemy down for 1-3 damage and Neural Networks them. Unlike his other Neural Network skills Slam can be used on enemies already in the Network; in addition, as a psionic attack this will use his naturally high Psi stat and ignore cover and range. Although weak in terms of damage output, this is his only direct Damage Psi attack, and will also render enemies killed Unconscious instead. Its versatility puts it on par with the stronger but situational Network Healing, making either skill a valid choice depending on how you use him.
Verge’s final ability is a tide-changing skill that swings the momentum of an entire encounter your way. Usable once per mission, Puppeteer Mind Controls all enemies in the Neural Network for the remainder of the turn. Note that this is defended against by Will and seems to have a lower base chance than his other Psi attacks, as it’s not uncommon for one or two hostiles to resist it. Also, the Mind Control is used on the hostile’s normal turn, so it’s best to trigger this when Verge is high up on the Timeline and most of his Neural Network is going after him. Popping this at the right moment though not only takes away that enemy’s turn, you can use it to have them kill each other, or even just move them out into the open for other squad members to take down. A large portion of this ability’s effectiveness depends on its timing; it’s best to use it as a sudden momentum swing if you’re on the back foot, or as an encounter finisher if you have most of the enemy under Neural Network.
Mind Lash increases the damage Mind Flay does by 1 point. For a Training unlock that takes 5 days, I find this to be somewhat lacking. As mentioned above, Mind Flay is highly situational, somewhat janky, and by the time you get to Tier 5 you should be able to have much better damage output with upgraded AR’s and Neural Network Aim bonuses. This is easily an ability you can put off getting until you’re absolutely sure you don’t need Verge anywhere else.
- Weapon mods : As a disabler with strong direct fire capability, the standard loadout of scope+laser sight works well on Verge. He has a commanding range with his assault rifle, so you might find the scope superfluous. In that case, rare mods like hair triggers or targeting systems are a valid option. The AR has a reasonable clip size, so you shouldn’t find the need for autoloaders/expanded mags unless you’re using the rare weapons. In terms of epic ARs, Impetuous Spire is usually a better option than Fortunate Blossom as you can use Banish to remove a specific enemy from play, whereas Serial is dependent on multiple badly hurt enemies to be fully effective, a much more situational condition.
- Armor mod : Mach weave stacks with his Tier 3 training to total 70 dodge, a number only matched by Torque, and allows him to survive otherwise heavy hits. As an edge case, though, regen weave works very well with him if you chose Network Healing at Tier 4, allowing him to regenerate obscene amounts of HP a turn.
- Breaching equipment : Verge is very versatile in this regard, and can be chosen to either lead a breach or to carry support equipment like bombs or even a medipatch. While Levitate is best used on Aggressives, it’s also useful to negate Alerts or yank a Surprised hostile out of cover; there’s no real need to hesitate from using response-level reducing bombs like Ceasefire or Flash with him.
- Utility items : The loadout choice here will depend greatly on how you use Verge. Tranq rounds are valid for him even towards the lategame because he can use them to maintain his Neural Network bonuses; on the other hand, dps rounds will enhance the effectiveness of his already strong primary weapon. Then again, if you play him as a heavy disabler, you can even do away with using special ammo and instead have him carry damage grenades for shredding and AOE. Since he usually finds a good spot and holds it, leveraging his range in exchange for mobility, kinetic screens or relocation discs are also a valid option. On the other hand, he’s not particularly beefy or fast, and so isn’t a high priority for being the medikit carrier.
Torque, Part 1
Notable attributes : Highest base dodge in the game that be upgraded even higher via training and promotion. Naturally able to use Vent breach points.
Overview : Good combat unit with an expansive toolkit for damage and positioning. Can effectively remove a single target from play using Bind except for very large enemies. Viper waifu.
This is a core skill for Torque and can be used as the basis for an entire build. This ability causes an enemy next to her to be wrapped up, immobilized, and unable to take any actions. This causes a base 2 damage on the first turn it is used, increasing by another 2 damage for every uninterrupted additional Bind she applies (2, then 4, then 6, etc). Releasing the target for any reason resets the Bind damage to 2. Enemies can’t be attacked while bound, but Torque can, and taking damage will release the Bind unless she has the Reinforced Scales ability. This is not treated as a normal attack, and therefore always hits. Furthermore, certain large enemies are immune to this ability, notably praetorians, berserkers, and andromedons (Although any other kind of muton is fair game). In addition, you can release the Bind on your turn, take certain actions, and then resume the Bind.
The skill description indicates that this is a free action, but note that it is with significant caveats. Using Bind as your second action will end your turn, and taking a turn ending action like shooting or dashing will prevent you from using Bind, even if you have an enemy next to you. Most notably, using Tongue Pull as your second action will let you use Bind as a free action right after.
With the range and accuracy of Torque’s Tongue Pull, Bind should be used to remove a potentially troublesome enemy from the Timeline, not just whichever enemy is coming up next. Highly disruptive opponents like dominators, necromancers, ronin, and codexes should be a high priority for Bind. While this also effectively takes Torque out of play during the Bind, using this on the correct hostile should be worth it.
Tongue Pull is a non turn ending action that, if it hits, will pull the target next to Torque. This can be used on both allies and hostiles, making it a versatile ability for repositioning. Allies will automatically be hit, while against enemies this skill has significant bonuses to Aim (+20 base, +20 for weapon accuracy). It also has significant range, a little under her SMG reach. This will be your main mechanic for using Bind, but keep in mind its potential other uses for yanking enemies out of cover, triggering Overwatch, and saving exposed squad mates.
As it says on the tin, this renders Torque immune to poison and poison effects (but not acid). This includes venom rounds and chryssalid attacks, as well as poison attacks from other vipers.
Another signature ability, Torque is able to use Vent breach points naturally. Vents usually offer a strong position and typically results in Surprised enemies around it, although they’re somewhat uncommon. Torque does well in direct combat and can use this position to either wreak disruption via abilities, or to simply attack enemy flanks.
Usable during each Breach shooting phase of a mission in lieu of shooting, Toxic Greeting is a poison attack that deals 3 damage base and poisons for 2 damage, over 2 rounds. Quite strong in the early game for being able to take out anything up to 5 hp (and because of its base accuracy, an incredible +100 Aim), the damage of this ability quickly drops off relative to enemy hp and becomes less useful by the end of your first investigation. You’ll end up using this only when there are no good targets for Torque’s gun, which will be somewhat rare, or to debuff an enemy’s Aim with poison. However, this is a good setup for the Synthetic Venom ability should you choose to get it later on. Note that this ability does not crit.
This passive upgrades Bind to do more than double normal damage, from a base 2 damage to 5. This allows you to either eliminate low HP enemies in a single Bind action, or else more quickly remove more sturdy opponents. You can get this ability relatively early, when the extra damage will be very strong, and it remains significant throughout the game.
Hard Target grants a Mobility bonus on an encounter’s first turn, as well as a permanent Dodge bonus of +30. While the added movement is minor, the extra Dodge is powerful, granting Torque the equivalent of mach weave in base stats and greatly increasing her survivability. This ability is more general purpose than Tight Squeeze and should be used for a Torque played more as a normal combat agent, but it does have powerful synergy with Reinforced Scales (as will be noted below).
Torque releases a sphere of poison 5 squares wide (3 squares diagonally) in a range roughly equivalent to her Tongue Pull. This attack does not end the turn, deals 3 damage and inflicts poison status, as well as leaving behind a lingering cloud that poisons anyone who enters it. Note that Torque can freely use this at point blank ranges because of her natural immunity (and one of her achievements calls for her to Poison Spit herself and then Tongue Pull an enemy into the cloud. You can then also Bind that enemy for cumulative Bind+poison damage). While it does not shred, it’s a decent substitute for grenades and rounds out her kit with natural AOE and is reusable every 3 turns.
This is the culminating ability of a Bind focused Torque – she gains 1 Armor when applying Bind and damage will no longer cause the victim to be released. Reinforced Scales essentially allows her to permanently take a single target out of the encounter, and effectively tank while doing so. While it seems counterintuitive, Torque can still Dodge during Bind. It’s a footnote without this ability; with it, however, she’ll graze off most incoming damage while keeping her victim trapped. This is why, although Tight Squeeze appears to be superior for Bind builds, Hard Target is equally effective as it makes her tank during Bind. You can even release the target and re-Bind it if your Armor gets shredded to get a stack back, although you’ll lose the cumulative damage bonus.
The Tier 4 alternative, this ability is geared more towards direct combat. Torque has bonus Critical when attacking poisoned enemies, and heals whenever her turn ends inside a poison cloud. The healing is somewhat of a niche benefit as she only has one true melee skill and only two ways to create a cloud (Poison Spit and gas grenades), so you’ll rarely be using this. On the other hand, she has a whole bunch of ways to apply Poison status (including venom rounds), starting with Toxic Greeting at the beginning of an encounter, and can take advantage of the bonus crit to deal large burst damage with her primary weapon.
As a final tier ability, Vicious Bite seems to not really fit in her toolkit and is somewhat lackluster. It’s a turn ending melee attack that deals 5 damage and applies Poison, with a 3 turn cooldown. It’s obviously not compatible with Bind, and exposing her in melee to set up Synthetic Venom is inefficient. Somewhat worse, its accuracy is completely dependent on her base Aim, which means even at lategame it’s got a 1/4 chance to whiff. However, it does ignore Armor, which the description doesn’t state; therefore, this ability can be used as a somewhat risky finisher for 5-7 damage depending on poison vulnerability.
Torque, Part 2
This increases the versatility of Tongue Pull, granting an ally targeted by it 1 bonus action. This can be used offensively by increasing volume of fire per turn (since Torque can still take her own shot if she used Tongue Pull as her first action), or defensively to reposition an ally who can then immediately move into a better location. This will probably find more use in direct damage Torque builds, as Bind based ones will rarely use Tongue Pull defensively. Its priority for training will therefore depend on how you play her; it’s somewhat ignorable for Bind style play, moderately important otherwise.
- Weapon mods : Her wide skillset means she’s also capable of using a large array of gear. Scope+laser sight is the obvious combo for direct damage; if depending on her poison abilities, however, the scope doesn’t do anything so you can actually skip it. Autoloaders/expanded mags allow her to sustain fire, stocks act as finishers, hair triggers allow her to burst. The only mod I don’t recommend is the targeting system, as ideally she should either be eliminating enemies with direct attacks or removing them from play via Bind, instead of setting them up for others.
- Armor mod : Mach weave + her base stats + Tier 3 training equals 90 Dodge. If you really don’t like taking big hits, Hard Target brings it up to 120, which is somewhat excessive but means you’ll basically reduce every direct hit that connects to a graze. This is arguably equal to Axiom’s Shrug It Off, which reduces any damage taken down to 1 but can’t be improved to proc more. Because of this, there’s literally no reason to take anything else.
- Breach equipment : Torque naturally breaches Vents, so shouldn’t be made to carry a Breaching Charge or Auto Key. Holo targeting and analyzers will improve her shooting during Breach, but won’t do anything for Toxic Greeting. For maximum versatility, the defensive Breach bombs that reduce response level like Flash and Ceasefire are probably her best options.
- Utility items : If you’re playing Bind, you can actually do away with special ammo, giving you more options. If you’re running Synthetic Venom on the other hand, you probably want others to carry poison rounds to help set it up (although there’s nothing wrong with Torque using them herself). Gas grenades are another way to proc it in an area and complements Poison Spit nicely.
Relocation discs are a great way to get close to someone for Bind if you’re not happy with your Tongue Pull chances; they also work great for direct fire by helping to flank. If you really want some unbreakable Bind-tank shenanigans, popping a Kinetic Screen or Overdrive Serum before a Bind will basically make you an titanium ball gag, especially in conjunction with Reinforced Scales. If you frequently use Tongue Pull, consider having Torque carry a medikit if you’re not using Terminal as it means she can both pull an ally into safety and then immediately heal them.
Axiom, Part 1
Notable attributes : Improved starting health and mobility. Innate panic proc when leading main door/side door breach points.
Overview : Rugged frontline combatant adept at both melee and short range. Applies heavy enemy disruption via breach procs and close combat attacks. Surprisingly mobile assault unit thanks to a combination of training bonuses, inherently high movement, and the ability to move twice with melee attacks via Adrenal Surge.