Overview
A guide I wrote detailing the biggest noob mistakes I’ve seen, as well as my thoughts and overviews on the classes and enemies of XCOM.
Introduction
Welcome to my XCOM Enemy Unknown/Enemy Within noob guide. I’ll start off by saying that I’m by no means a highly skilled XCOM player, but I have a lot of experience over five different games, so I thought I might share the biggest do’s and don’ts I’ve found in my journeys, as well as a description of each class and enemy in the game.
1: Base Building
There isn’t as much to screw up here, but what there is can cost you dearly, especially in terms of research and engineering.
1a: Research priorities: At the beginning of a game, I’ve found that getting Meld Recombination is always a good choice, because it opens up Cybernetics for you, an essential early-game asset. Throughout the game, I always prioritize new research in this order: Autopsies, Armor, Weapons, Aircraft, base assets. Autopsies are short and can unlock many smaller, but useful upgrades. Armor, because without it you’ll end up like me in my first game, where I only had carapace for the first ⅔ of the game. I was losing a soldier a game, and this was on Easy. So always keep your armor upgraded. Weapons, because the basic weapons are really ♥♥♥♥♥♥, so laser weapons are a must. Plasma is less important, but the sniper rifle of that tier is somethin’ else. Aircraft, because they aren’t as important as the others, but if you neglect them entirely you’ll start losing both countries and satellites very fast. Base assets is last, mostly because they usually pop up while researching prerequisites like Elerium, and they have a smaller impact on the game overall. This excludes story buildings.
1b: Organization: Base organization is something that isn’t required for a successful game, but gives you lots of smaller of bonuses that do add up. It also looks nice, but that might just be me. Also on the note of organization, start excavating early. Try to always have space for when you get or want new buildings, because excavation takes some time, and will hurt you if you’re in a pinch.
1c: Equipment Management: Always keep your soldiers equipment up to date. It doesn’t matter if you can have laser rifles, only if you actually build them. I’ve done this a couple times, and it can be frustrating when you forget to upgrade your stuff three…battles…in a row… That said, you can run out of money pretty quickly when buying equipment, so utilize the Gray Market where possible. Especially mid to late-game, you start getting things like Damaged Flight Computers selling for 20$ a piece.
2: Combat
There are a lot of small things to screw up here, and a couple big ones. This covers the big ones.
2a: Cover: Cover cover cover cover. I can’t say it enough. Even a Colonel Assault can die in one turn when out of cover. Keep your troops in cover, or they will die. Lots. Often you’ll have the choice between firing and being in cover, your choice will be largely situational, but if you can’t decide, go with cover. If it’s one of those damn Berserkers about to kill your only Support, take the shot. But if you’ve got three Mutons coming, go for the cover, because you’re dead if you don’t. MECs can’t use cover, so leave the spots for your snipers and such. Heavies and Snipers have abilities that increase their survivability when in cover, so if you’re running a defensive mission, bring more of them. More on classes later.
2b: Percentages: This is one of the most important parts of the game, and one of the most fickle. I’ve gotten kills on 10% chance, and missed at 99% (no joke). My choice regarding percentages usually relies on the situation, and ammo. Oftentimes when deciding to fire, watch your ammo. You might have better luck next turn after reloading, instead of taking that 35% shot. Certain weapons seem to have better-than-advertised aim, most noticeably the Laser Sniper, but that might just be a fluke. When deciding to fire, check each shot you can take. If you’ve got a much higher shot on another enemy, it might be more prudent to deal that damage, instead of wasting your ammo on a more high-priority target.
2c: Weapons: Different weapons are good at different things. Shotguns are amazing at close range, but once you get farther than that, you’ll be better off with a pistol. Also, finish off low-health enemies with your pistol, to conserve main weapon ammo, as well as you often can get a higher percentage shot with a pistol. Snipers and Assaults should always get pistol priority, as they rely on them the most. For Covert Operations, use a Sniper with the Gunslinger ability, and your best pistol. This can turn a non-combatant into a killing machine. Makes that Achievement a lot closer. Like I said, keep your weapons upgraded, or you’ll start facing problems like not having enough ammo from a full clip to kill something. I’ve been there. It’s not pretty.
2d: Overwatch: Oh man. Overwatch. Both the most useful ability, and the least properly used. Overwatch can be used so effectively, but so easy just to waste a turn of firing or moving with it. My main tips for Overwatch are these:
1: Ammo. Check your ammo. If you’ve only got one shot left, maybe it will be better to reload than to waste it on a low-accuracy shot.
2: Line of Sight. Make sure you have line of sight to what you want to hit when it moves. The disappearing walls feature is nice, but I’ve wasted a turn staring a the plaster multiple times.
3: The Target. Make sure the target is in a position where they will move. On most difficulties, the AI doesn’t act with Overwatch as a deterrent. Make sure it’s going to be used, otherwise you’re better off reloading or getting to better cover.
Keep these in mind, and you’re good for basic Overwatch use. Some fun things to do with Overwatch: Use the Assault’s Flush ability to get a unit out of cover, then with your Overwatched Sniper, blow it’s brains out. Beautiful. Combine it with the MEC flamethrower, works the same way. These are best used against units in good cover, but can be used against anything.
3: Smaller Combat stuff
The smaller stuff regarding combat, not as necessary, but handy still.
3a: Order of movement: Something I often screw up, make sure you move the right units first, otherwise you can get a traffic jam. In the middle of a firefight. Needless to say, bad situation. Make sure to have at least a rough plan of your turn’s movement, otherwise you may leave that one-health unit floundering in the open. This also applies to shooting. Usually shoot AoE weapons (rockets, grenades) first, as these destroy cover bonuses and can hit friendlies. Once their cover is dust, hit them with everything else.
3b: Abilities: Know your unit abilities. Don’t be afraid to use them, as it’s better to not have needed that Smoke Grenade over losing your Major because you’re too damn stingy to use it. Again, speaking from experience. Plan your abilities, because you might be able to save one by shooting in the right order.
3c: Miscellaneous: You can destroy friendly pieces of terrain, such as Meld canisters or EXALT transmitters and encoders. Watch your missile fire, as I’ve lost missions because of not reading the fine print. Save frequently, and don’t just overwrite your previous save. I usually have two saves going, one from right after my last mission, one right at the beginning of the current mission.
4: The Classes
4: The classes:
Here I go over the classes, and things I’ve found when using each one.
4a: Rookies: I know this isn’t a class, so this’ll be a short section. The rookie is what every soldier starts as, except for mission rewards or once you get the New Guy upgrade. They have no special skills, low stats, and can only use standard rifles. Overall, pretty ♥♥♥♥. I try to avoid using them, but there’s always the time when all but one of your experienced soldiers is wounded, which is when you need to understand one thing about them: They’re expendable. They only cost 10$ and you get their equipment back if they die. So don’t worry if one dies, or even two. As long as you beat the mission, they don’t really matter.
4b: Assault: The frontline guys, CQC, whatever. These guys are good up close, and their skill trees reflect that. Always keep their shotguns upgraded, because they already suffer from bad range, so keep their damage relevant. Their skill trees are largely preference and style-based, but some nice ones are Close Combat Specialist, Rapid Fire, and Lightning Reflexes. Another interesting one I mentioned earlier is Flush, which has some clever applications. I like to take these ones, but again, largely preference-based. On the use of Assaults, I use higher-level ones as bullet sponges, because once they get Extra Conditioning and ignore criticals, they can take a huge amount of damage, especially if you have a good Support with some Medkits. They can do a lot of damage up close, but it peters out pretty quickly, so keep them up front. If you go up against Seekers, they can be handy in the middle of your squad, to cover everybody, especially with Close Combat Specialist. Other than that, they are best for brute force, but can take a lot of hits if upgraded correctly.
4c: Heavy: Mr. Boom. High damage main weapons, and great for defending positions with their rocket launcher and Bullet Swarm. I always like to have at least one, because you never know when you’ll get the perfect rocket opportunity. A nice Gene mod to give them is Hyper-reactive Pupils, because paired with Bullet Swarm, it can be very handy. The Heavy skill tree is largely geared toward lots of bullets, and big explosions. I always take Bullet Swarm, but the others vary a lot more. I do like Shredder Rocket, mostly because it’s a second rocket, but Suppression is also quite nice. I choose mostly based on what holes my squad makeup has, so it’s largely situational. One situation to keep them out of is in the open, with two reasons. One, they are very exposed, and they benefit more from cover than other classes. Two, they have to move next turn, meaning you cannot get full damage potential out of them. Thus, plan your movement accordingly.
4d: Support: Support is your medic and cover fire specialist. They can only use standard rifles, but their skill trees allow them to become the best medics in the game, or be able to suppress and control the enemy quite effectively. I always bring at least one Support, because their Medkits are key to minimal soldier casualties. And soldier casualties are bad. Very bad. Medkits become even more important when you start using Secondary Heart, because you’ll have a lot more Critically Wounded soldiers requiring medkits. The ability for a single Support to carry a total of six Medkits (OMG) means these soldiers can be invaluable if kept alive and speedy, so make sure to keep them out of the direct line of fire. I’ve lost a soldier because my Support was suppressed by an Elite Muton, and I was not happy. Supports don’t need the best weaponry, but they are one more gun, so keep them upgraded if you can, but Snipers and Assaults take priority. I find that Supports can be misused, being used as cannon fodder or something similar to Snipers. Avoid doing this, your soldiers will thank you for it.
4e: Snipers: Ah, the Sniper. My personal favorite for alien ass-kicking, and one of the most powerful classes. The Sniper has the best range (for obvious reasons), and the highest damage potential per shot. I say potential because they have good base damage, but with good use of the Headshot ability, I’ve gotten close to twenty damage in one shot. Twenty. Yeah. It was crazy. I usually go for the more mobile side of the skill tree, because I like sneaky flanks and stuff like that, but for defense a stationary Sniper with Double Tap can wreak some serious havoc. I almost always take Gunslinger, because (for overall strategy reasons) Damn Good Ground is very rarely useful to me. Also, high pistol damage allows your Operative on EXALT missions to be of more use to you. I also like to take Battle Scanner over Disabling Shot, but recently I’ve become more accustomed to the latter after a few EXALT missions where the enemy never even fired a shot. Battle Scanners are nice for planning your moves, especially on Ironman, because one stray Berserker could easily kill a soldier in a turn. On most missions, I take as many Snipers as I can after one of every other class, mostly because of that damage potential. This also lets me have a wider variety of skills, which is extremely handy. For the Colonel skills, I’m torn. I often take Double Tap, because it potentially doubles my damage output, but In the Zone has the potential for infinite shooting. Which sounds awesome. Overall, I keep my Snipers in the middle and back of my squad formation, and if defending usually out in the flanks.
4f: MEC: The MEC troopers are like souped-up Assaults. Even more health, even more damage, these bastards are crazy. They are extremely powerful early-game, when you have limited access to Gene Mods, because of the increased damage and health. They can lead your squad into battle, soaking up bullets like a metal wall of death. To a point. If you rely too heavily on MECs, you’ll find yourself outflanked and outrun, because these metal men are much slower than regular soldiers, at least early-game, and cannot utilize cover. I forget this sometimes, and they get pounded because I put them up too far in cover that they can’t use. I limit myself to at most two MECs per mission, because I’ve gone all MECs once, and I didn’t collect a single Meld canister because of it, and lost two of them for lack of Medkits. This brings me to their next big flaw: versatility. MECs cannot take items like Medkits or S.C.O.P.Es, which means over-reliance will lead you to be lacking in the smaller stuff you need, which is potentially deadly. But a well-used MEC supporting a squad of regulars can be the most powerful unit in the game, with increased damage and health. They’re also damn fun, with flamethrowers burning aliens out of cover, and giving those damn Berserkers a taste of their own. Overall, I put these guys at the front of the squad, because of their health and lack of cover. Their skill tree is interesting, but each choice is basically damage vs defense, or mobility vs support. This makes them much more situational, but it’s nice to have a trooper with each set, for more tactical choice. A tip about the suits themselves: Keep them upgraded, even more so than regular armor. As well as this, I like to keep a spare MEC trooper around, maybe one for every two suits, as they do still need healing time. This also helps spread promotions around, and it is easier to rank up MEC troopers without them dieing, because of their increased health.
4g: Psi sub-class: Not really a full class, but I didn’t know where else to put it. Psionics in XCOM are basically a set of different abilities, geared toward sapping the enemy or boosting your squad’s resistance to both enemy Psi attacks and regular attacks. You only get these soldiers by testing them in a Psionics Lab, and only some will be tested positive, so it’s worth testing as many as possible. I haven’t had that much experience with Psionics on the battlefield, because usually once you gain access to them, you’re close to the end of the game. They have a lot of pote
5: Enemies
With your classes out of the way, here comes what’s going to kill them. And how it will do it.
5a: Sectoid: The Sectoid is the classic alien, your “little green man”. He’s the first enemy you will encounter in the game, and is armed with a plasma pistol, doing about 2-3 damage a shot. It may not sound like much, but early-game that’s half your health. So again, stay in cover. They only have 3 health, so late-game, they become a bit of a joke, but their psionic abilities can be a pain in the ass, especially the Mechtoid shield power. They usually appear in groups of 2-3, so avoid triggering multiple groups at once for fear of being overwhelmed.
A1: Mechtoid: The Mechtoid is the alien equivalent to your MECs. Lots of health powerful weapons, and can have it’s health increased by a shield that cuts incoming damage in half. This is provided by a nearby Sectoid. One thing I’ve found is their weapons, while powerful, seem to be somewhat lacking in aim. On more than one occasion, I’ve had them miss me at point-blank. I don’t rely on it, but it’s a nice olive branch that balances an otherwise quite powerful enemy.
A2: Sectoid Commander: This is a better version of the Sectoid, with health increased to 10, and some powerful psionics. These guys aren’t to be ♥♥♥♥♥♥ with, but one good turn of firing will kill them off. Either way, their Mind Control can force you to kill your own soldiers, so kill them as soon as you see them.
5b: Thin Man: Another early-game unit, these little jerks are similar to Sectoids, but have been engineered to look human, as well as have some ridiculous flexibility and jumping abilities. They have the same weapon as the Sectoids, but also have a Poison ability, which fires a cloud of poison at one of your soldiers. This can be especially deadly when your soldiers are grouped, as the damage over time adds up, especially early-game. Late-game, your armor ignores said poison, so they aren’t as much of a threat. They spawn in groups of 2-3, and certain missions (the bomb mission) are exclusively Thin Men, meaning armor upgrades or Respirators are in order.
5c: Floaters: Floaters are the first flying unit you’ll run into, and they can be pesky at times. They have 4 health, are fast, and their weapons are upgraded from the Sectoid, to about 4-5 damage. Their most problematic ability is the Launch ability, which lets a Floater fly behind your lines. It costs them the whole turn, so you can kill it without too much trouble, but it can be a problem when you’ve got other targets to worry about.
C1: Heavy Floater: The more advanced version, a late game threat boasting heavier weapons and more health (12). Comes in packs of 3, and can be a much bigger problem than its predecessor.
5d: Seekers: The Seeker is an odd unit, boasting stealth mode and an immobilizing melee attack, but they’re only an annoyance if you fight them properly. If they can catch a soldier alone, they can do a significant amount of damage over a few turns, but if you keep your squad together, and Overwatch after seeing them Stealth, you should be fine, at most suffering the original 2 damage should Overwatch fail.
5e: Chryssalid: Over your first few games, you’ll learn to hate these giant bugs. One of the (IMO) worst enemies in the game, they are fast, cause poison damage, use melee, and turn things they’ve killed into Zombies. They appear in Terror missions and at St. Johns, and can be a huge problem if they get into your squad. Keep them away and dead, otherwise you’ll find yourself outnumbered by Zombies and baby Chryssalids faster than you can kill them.
E1: Zombies: These guys aren’t as bad as Chryssalids, but they eventually turn into them, and have 10 health. They are slow, but their melee attack can one-shot early-game soldiers, so keep them at bay as well.
5f: Mutons: These are, in game terms, the Sectoid’s big brother. They have better weaponry, more health, and an ability similar to the Sectoid’s called Blood Call. It increases nearby Mutons stats, so watch for that. Their weaponry eventually gets upgraded from Light Plasma Rifles to the standard version, and they get Grenades, meaning a pack of Mutons late-game can be a real problem. They lack melee, so tend to take cover much more often than their melee friends, the Berserkers. They appear in packs of three, sometimes with a Berserker in tow.
F1: Berserker: The Berserker is similar to the Muton, but has far more health, moves faster, and will kick your ass in melee. They have a trait that makes them charge anyone who wounds them, which can, if done well, be used to lead them around, continually hitting it while avoiding its powerful melee. Keep them out of your squad, and you should do fine.
F2: Elite Muton: Similar to a Heavy Floater, they have more health, better stats, and a much bigger gun. Watch out for these hulks later in the game, as they can do a lot of damage with their Heavy Plasma.
5g: Cyberdisc: These are the ranged equivalent of the Berserker in terms of damage inflicted, and a real pain in the ass. They have two different weapons, one being a 8-10 damage heavy cannon, and the other a powerful grenade. They can be healed by Drones, and spawn with 1-2, forcing you to kill those first, as they will heal 6 health a turn total. Their weaponry can one-shot a mid-game XCOM soldier, and the grenade will make your life hell if you aren’t getting shot. They don’t have too much health, so with a good Sniper and a MEC, you could one-turn kill it. Could. The only enemy I hate worse than it is the Sectopod, and we’ll get to that bastard later. Overall, a powerful mid-to-late-game unit, but can be killed if you have the firepower. And kill the Drones first.
G1: Drones: These guys spawn with Cyberdiscs, and aren’t much of a threat. But they heal the disc for 3 health a turn, so I always kill them first. They have a weak ranged attack, 1-3 damage, but I don’t worry about that. They fly, so they are harder to hit, but only 3 health means most hits will put them down. There is a way to take control of them, but I’ve never found a use for it in my tactics, but hey, you might.
5h: Outsiders: These are an interesting unit, that only spawn in downed UFOs. They are comparable to Sectoids for health and other stats, but have a slightly more powerful weapon. They aren’t much of a threat, but can do some damage if you are caught unaware. Their main purpose is for the story, but I won’t spoil it too much.
5i: Sectopod: I hate this bastard. It flaunts 30 health, a ridiculous main cannon, and free Overwatch against everything. Oh, and it can be healed by the 2-3 Drones it spawn with. This ♥♥♥♥, plus a 50% damage reduction similar to a Mechtoid’s Psionic Shield, makes this possibly the hardest regular unit to kill in the game. And it has no problem killing your units. Once, I discovered one by running into to room with it, leading to that soldier’s unfortunate death at it’s Overwatch, before it walked out and killed a second soldier with it’s main cannon, and a third next turn to it’s Overwatch and a main cannon burst. Needless to say, I rebooted from the save. I still lost two soldiers to it. These robots are extremely powerful, and you can have up to two per mission, which will result in a lot of pain. For you. The only strategy I have that works is hit it with everything, after killing its Drones. EVERYTHING.
5j: Ethereal: These are similar to Sectoid Commanders, except with double the health and a Psionic Shield, as well as more powerful powers. They can be a big problem, much bigger than the average Commander, but they aren’t terribly common, thankfully. They spawn with 1-2 Elite Mutons, which makes them more of a problem, but that’s what AoE is for. Their worst power is the Mind Control, and this can lead to serious problems inside your squad. Kill them before they can use it, or you will face a hard choice.
J1: Uber Ethereal: I won’t spoil this guy for you 😉