Overview
The need-to-know basics of XCOM and how you can improve in the epic campaign against those pesky aliens. Note that this guide’s information is on XCOM: Enemy Unknown only and on Normal Difficulty.
Welcome to War
Listen up Commander, you will now be briefed on what to do first when you play through the first couple of missions. Finer details will be covered in the later chapters.
-Manage your resources wisely.
-Knowing is half the battle. Know what your enemies are, and know their capabilities. This will make killing or stunning them easier.
-Don’t panic. Unless you’re an analytical genius, at least some soldiers WILL DIE. Don’t worry. This is normal, especially in the later levels where more and bigger enemies come out to play.
-Expand your base. Although this may seem unimportant, the extra facilities and their uses will be of great benefit to your forces on the ground.
Soldiers
Soldiers. Soldiers are what will win you the war Commander. These soldiers are the best of the best, however, all will need…experience. Be warned Commander that this war is not a game. When a soldier dies he is gone FOREVER. No respawn. He/ She will be missed. You can check his/her heroic actions in the memorial. Injured troops need to rest in the Infirmary. Now, back to serious business. Soldiers are recruited as Rookies. These ‘Rookies’ will possess perhaps no abilities at first but you can purchase an upgrade that allows any Rookie to instantly become a Squaddie the moment they join XCOM. It is up to you to hone them into the elite fighting force they are destined to become, Commander.
Ranks
1.Rookie
2.Squaddie
3.Corporal
4.Sergeant
5.Lieutenant
6.Captain
7.Major
8.Colonel
Each soldier will be categorised into 4 distinct classes.
-Assault
-Heavy
-Sniper
-Support
Assault- This is the soldier that you will want to sacrifice first as his/ her class might not be as important. This is the soldier that you will want to send in kicking doors down, entering narrow hallways, and doing recon. He/ She will have standard/ heavy armor. The weapon unique to this class is the Shotgun. Get up close to the enemy, and they will pay dearly by eating a blast to the face.
Heavy- This soldier is the one who takes out heavy targets. No matter how big, they will get the job done. Typically, his/her weapon will do IMMENSE damage at a target. Couple the Heavy’s unique weapon the Machine Gun with his/her Rocket Launcher, and you’ll have yourself a gun-toting juggernaut in your team.
Sniper- Snipers have the reputation of one-shot kills, a ability very much available if you have the Plasma Sniper Rifle equipped. The necessary tool here is the S.C.O.P.E.. It increases your accuracy and as a sniper, the last thing you want is your sniper missing a target and staring as the target kills another team mate.
Support- No team will last long without support roles. These guys are the medics of the team, providing handy first-aid to your injured members. Even when members are critically injured, (Down but not out), Supports can revive him/her. Be warned they will bleed out and die if medics dont get to them in time.
For each class’ abilities, visit [link]
Remember to have a well balanced team. An example of this – my own team- would be 2 assaults, 2 supports,1 heavy and 1 sniper. Have your sniper hang back while your assaults go in and engage the enemy. Try to promote your soldiers by letting them kill as many extra- terrestrials as they can.
Armor
Armor is what keeps your soldiers alive, Commander. Each armor has its own perks. Experiment with each to determine which type you are most comfortable with.
Armors:
- Body Armor- Default armor. +1 HP.
- Carapace Armor- Medium armor. +4 HP.
- Skeleton Armor- Medium armor. +3 HP and +10 Defense. Increases movement speed by 3. Enables grappling hook.
- Titan Armor- Heavy armor. +10 HP. Immune to fire and poison.
- Archangel Armor- Heavy armor. +8 HP. Enables 6 moves of flight. Can be upgraded to 12 fuel per mission.
- Ghost Armor- Medium Armor. +6 HP and +20 Defense. Increases movement speed by 3. Enables Grappling hook. Enables invisibility for four times per mission for one full turn.
- Psi Armor- Medium Armor. +6 HP, +20 Will, +10 Defense and +2 movement. Can only be equipped by soldiers who has Psi-abilities.
Remember to choose your armor wisely as it will affect the battle and the outcome, whether your whole squad comes out alive, grinning from ear to ear changing magazines, or a bloodied survivor heavily wounded.
Weapons
Let’s face it… Without weapons, your soldiers are powerless against the looming invasion. Weapons enable your soldiers to fight back. Better weapons means easier kills which means less casualties. Weapons are divided into 3 categories- Ballistic, Laser, Plasma, with the most powerful being plasma while the weakest being ballistic.
1. Ballistic
These weapons are not very effective against the aliens, but they are your starting weapons. They will get the job done, just not as efficiently as the others. You will have to make do with these weapons until you research or produce better guns. Ballistic weapons deal low damage, and also deal considerably less critical damage than other weapons. Advice- Swap out your weapons and replace them with at least laser weapons.
2. Lasers
These weapons will probably be the second category you get in the game unless you jump straight to plasma weapons which was what I did. Anyway, laser weapons deal notably more damage than ballistics and the laser pistols have a 10% chance to inflict critical damage with the rest of the weapons have no chance at all. They are a great deal less expensive to manufacture than plasma weapons so you should be able to equip all your soldiers will laser weapons in 1 go.
3. Plasma
Powerful, yet expensive to manufacture, these weapons will be the ones that allow you to one- shot lighter armored enemies and deal heavy damage to heavy enemies. Plasma rifles should be equipped with your supports, alloy cannons with your assaults, heavy plasma cannon with the heavy, and plasma sniper rifle with your sniper. Note that both the heavy plasma cannon and plasma sniper rifle can one shot heavy enemies if there is a critical hit. Combine the plasma sniper rifle with the Sniper’s In the Zone ability, and you’ll find that your sniper just vaporized every alien in the battlefield he can see with one shot. Heavy Plasma cannons will deal significant damage to Sectopods, Ethereals and Muton Berserkers.
4. Grenades
The Frag grenades are standard-issue, which means they deal 3 damage. This might be enough to take out easy enemies but will be close to useless against Sectopods and Cyberdiscs. Research the Alien grenade immediately to boost your grenade damage to 6. Grenades are useful in reducing the enemy’s cover to nothing and still damaging it behind.
5. Rocket Launchers
The Heavy uses his/her RL to reach targets beyond a grenade’s capability. Standard damage is 6 and can be considered a explosive sniper rifle with a tad less damage.
Enemies
Commander, we compiled a database of all known enemies. Make sure you study them and their capabilities, Commander. Perform autopsies if you can. It will aid you in your battle. For easier understanding I have categorized the enemies into 3 categories. Light enemies, Heavy Enemies and Boss Enemies.
1. Light Enemies
- Sectoid- 3 HP. Wields the Plasma pistol. Has the ability to mind merge with another Sectoid, giving it increased HP, Critical Chance and Will. Both dies if first Sectoid dies.
- Thin Man- 3 HP. Wields the Light Plasma Rifle. Has high accuracy. Can spit poison when attacking and when killed. Poison reduces 3 HP. Poison will dissipate over time.
- Floater- 4 HP. Wields the Light Plasma Rifle. Can bypass ground obstacles and fly over cover to flank your squad. Troops firing at it when it is airborne suffer -20 aim penalty.
- Drone- 3 HP. Main priority is to repair Sectopods and Cyberdiscs. Can fire a drone beam. Can go airborne.
- Outsider- 3 HP. Wields the Light Plasma Rifle. Only appears in crashed or landed UFOs.
2.Heavy Enemies
- Muton- 8 HP. Wields Light Plasma Rifle/ Plasma Rifle. Carries grenades. Very low will. Can suppress and intimidate, forcing troops to panic.
- Muton Elite- 14 HP. Wields the Heavy Plasma Cannon. Carries grenades. Can suppress.
- Muton Berserker- 20 HP. Only can melee. High damage melee. Can move very fast. Can intimidate and charge towards enemy. Reduced chance of suffering Critical hit by 60%.
- Heavy Floater- 12 HP. Wields the Plasma Rifle. Carries grenades. Can go airborne. Troops firing at it when it is airborne suffer -20 aim penalty.
- Cyberdisc- 16 HP. Can fire a high damage beam weapon. Carries grenades. Can project a area damage attack near it. Can go airborne. Reduced chance of suffering Critical hit by 60%. Cannot be captured. Usually accompanied by Drones.
- Chryssalids- 8 HP. Only can melee. High damage melee. Can move very fast. When scores a kill the victim becomes a Zombie. Can poison enemies. Can jump onto elevated platforms. Cannot be captured.
- Zombie- 10 HP. Only can melee. High damage melee. Spawns a chryssalid hatchling if not killed in 3 turns. Chryssalid Hatchling is identical to Normal Chryssalid.
- Sectoid Commander- 10 HP. Wields Plasma Pistol. Carries grenades. Can mind control. Can cause target to panic. Can inflict penalties to aim, will and mobility and cause 5 damage.
3. Boss Enemies
- Sectopod- 30 HP. Can fire a mortar of bombs onto a marked area. Can fire a devastating beam weapon that grants free Overwatch. Reduced chance of suffering Critical hit by 60%. All damage taken reduced by 50%. Cannot be captured. Usually accompanied by Drones.
- Ethereal- 20 HP. Can mind control. Can inflict penalties to aim, will and mobility and doing 5 base damage. Can devastate an area with a storm of psi energy. Can project a psi beam to damage target. Can drain health from ally. Reduced chance of suffering critical hit by 60%.
- Uber Ethereal- Final Boss. 25 HP.Can mind control. Can inflict penalties to aim, will and mobility and doing 5 base damage. Can devastate an area with a storm of psi energy. Can project a psi beam to damage target. Can drain health from ally. Reduced chance of suffering critical hit by 60%. Accompanied by 2 Ethereals and 2-4 Muton Elites. Kill this boss and the game ends.
Facilities
Alright Commander, resource managing is IMPERATIVE to success. Countries will continue to fund you if you suppress panic levels in their own. However, everytime an abduction occurs, you have three choices which you can only pick one. Needless to say, the country which you pick will reduce its panic levels while the other two will increase. If panic levels go unmaintained in a country, they will withdraw from the XCOM project and cease their funding to you = Less money to buy and upgrade stuff. You lose 8 countries, you lose the game. Consider yourself warned!
Now, your priority for your resources are
1.Upgrading Weapons/Armor
2.Buying tools- Medpacs/ S.H.I.Vs/ S.C.O.P.Es
3.Building Facilities
You might be wondering ‘Hey only 3? Not too bad!’. Wrong, in order to suppress countries’ panic levels, you need to build a ton of stuff. Satellites, facilities to control those satellites, Interceptors, power generators to sustain the facilities, the whole works. Chances are, you won’t have enough money. Fret not, as you can sell items on the black market as a cash-boosting method. You can sell just about anything…Say…1 Alien body for $1. With the number of missions you’re going to execute, you are going to get a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of bodies. Satellites reduce the panic level by about 3 and could save a country from withdrawing. If resources permit, then by all means produce satellites for each country but be warned they are very VERY expensive to operate as you need the aforementioned facilities to launch a satellite.
Next, you need to build a Foundry to upgrade important stuff such as medpacs and weapons. These upgrades range from an accelerated construction of items to increasing the base damage of all pistols by 1 to building a S.H.I.V (Super Heavy Infantry Vehicle). You WILL NEED THE FOUNDRY.
Lastly, you need to build training facilities such as Officer Training School and a Psionic Lab. The OTS enables you purchase an increase of squad cap and earn very beneficial upgrades to your soldiers while the Psionic Lab is not necessary until late game. It unlocks the psychic power of a soldier which must be chosen. He/ She then becomes very powerful with the ability to mind control biological enemies as well as create a devastating rift storm.
The rest of the facilities are then required to progress in the game and hence will be explained by your Assistant.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading this guide! Feel free to add me and ask me any questions about XCOM. Don’t let my number of hours fool you, I have the Xbox Version too. Once again, thanks for taking the time to read this guide and go kill some aliens Commander!