No Diving in the Gene Pool: A Guide to Genetic Modification

Overview

This is a guide aimed at putting Genetic Modification on display from the Enemy Within DLC content. Feeling lost on what to do or how to get that special mod you have been wanting? This guide will show you the way.

Updates

18 Nov 2013:

• Guide created and published.

20 Nov 2013:

• Updated Chest Modifications section for Secondary Heart ability description wording
• Updated Genetics Lab section to clarify modification switching

22 Nov 2013:

• Updated Leg Modifications section to remove references in Adaptive Bone Marrow ability description to Secondary Heart and bleed out timer
• Updated Applications section to remove references in Adaptive Bone Marrow details to Secondary Heart and bleed out timer

1 Dec 2013:

• Updated Skin Modifications section to update information about Mimetic Skin and the potential for offensive abilities to drop cloaking, as well as details about if there is a single soldier in your team for a mission.

21 May 2014:

• I removed the note pretaining to an increase in scientists causing a decrease in meld cost of modifications. After several playthroughs I found this to be incorrect and my misinformation is due to confusing Neural Feedback and Neural Damping.
• Neural Feedback cost correction
• Mimetic Skin cost correction
• Added further information on Adaptive Bone Marrow abilities in regards to recovery time and ability stacking.
• Expanded Warnings section into Warnings and Notes to provide more information on the different modifications.
• Added a Q&A section to prevent questions already asked from being buried in the comments.

29 July 2015:

• Minor update to Mimetic Skin.
• Added a note to the Introduction Section about checking out the sections Applications, Warnings and Notes, and Questions and Answers.
• Added notes about additional information being found in Applications, Warnings and Notes, and Questions and Answers sections for the following modificiations:
  -Neural Damping
  -Neural Feedback
  -Hyper-Reactive Pupils
  -Depth Perception
  -Secondary Heart
  -Adrenal Neurosympathy
  -Bioelectric Skin
  -Mimetic Skin
  -Adaptive Bone Marrow

Introduction

NOTE: Be sure to check the sections Applications, Warnings and Notes, and Questions and Answers. There are serveral things that are placed there to be aware of when using different modifications.

Genetic Modification is a new addition to XCOM included in the DLC Enemy Within. It takes on a different approach to using a substance called Meld, which is collected throughout different missions. It does not provide overpowering advantages, but the upper hand that comes from Genetic Modification is definitely noticable throughout the game.

The various modifications that become available as you advance through the campaign prove to give an edge over the alien invaders, and help you take your team straight to a solid victory.

Genetic Modification provides a height advantage through the use of Muscle Fiber Density by allowing your soldiers to traverse roof tops with the greatest of ease (and eliminating the need for ladders or drain pipes). Enemy positions become obvious with the use of Bioelectric Skin before your position is ever within their sight, and rapid movement from high cover to high cover without giving yourself away is possible with Mimetic Skin.

These are just to name a few, and the combinations make soldiers a force to be reckoned with, even when they are seperated from the rest of the squadron.

Primer to Meld

Meld is a remarkable substance. It has the capability to alter soldier genetics to allow for enhanced capabilities. Meld is the pivot point to Genetic Modification, as well as MEC trooper creation. After Meld is introduced in a tutorial (free Meld for completing the tutorial) you will receive two additional, completely optional, objectives on a majority of missions. These objectives are simply to recover Meld.

Most missions have two canisters of Meld placed randomly throughout the level. Each canister is set on a timer based on how difficult it will be to reach that given canister. At the end of the timer, if the Meld has not been recovered, it will self-destruct. If you have a soldier that is right at the canister but lacks the moves to recover it, they will get caught in the blast and recieve damage.

But, reach the canister in time and you will be rewarded. Each canister contains 10 meld each.

There is something that is immediately apparent, but definitely needs more emphasis from the game. If you destroy all enemies, or complete all objectives, in a mission before you recover all Meld that has not self-destructed, that Meld will be automatically collected and added to your total available balance of Meld resources at the end of the mission.

Also, if you collect Meld from a canister, but it is later destroyed, you still get that Meld added to your balance. However, Dr. Vahlen’s voiceover will play as though you destroyed the canister without collecting the Meld first.

With the basics of Meld out of the way, lets jump right into Gene Modification and its potential to turn the tide of battle in your favor.

Genetics Lab

Before any modifications are even possible, you have to research Meld through the lab. Meld Recombination is a research project that is available after collecting your first batch of Meld. Through this research it unlocks your starting capabilities in Gene Modification, as well as the MEC trooper Augmentation and MEC manufacture.

Once Meld Recombination research is accomplished it will unlock the Genetics Lab and 3 Genetic Modifications, that are available for soldiers once the lab facility is constructed. After researching Meld a cut scene will play out with Dr. Vahlen, Dr. Shen, and Central Officer Bradford discussing Meld and its applications.

Once the cut scene plays out, you are now ready to build your Genetics Lab Facility. The lab counts as a lab and will receive a bonus for being build next to an existing Research Lab.

Once you have built the lab, it is finally time to start creating your army of Genetically Modified Soldiers.

But remember, there are two modifications per category (with 3 modifications available initially). Once you have selected a modification, you can switch to a different modification within that same category at any time, but you can’t have two modifications at the same time that are under the same category. This allows for selecting modifications for rookie class soldiers and then updating to a different set of modifications once they outgrow the use of that given modification, if you decide on that route. Additionally, when switching, it will not increase or decrease the cost of a modification. It stays the same cost no matter if it is the first modification for that body part on the soldier or you are deciding to switch.

Brain Modifications

All modifications are broken down into 5 categories, which seemed the best way to break them down in this guide as well. The order of the sections is not the order that you will receive these modifications. Each one is obtained through the autopsy of either alien corpses or cybernetic wrecks. For more information refer to Required Research section. It will lay out the order you should encounter each enemy that you must kill in order to receive the option for autopsy research.

The first category is the Brain Modifications.

NEURAL DAMPING

A soldier with this modification will gain +20 Will when defending against a psionic attack. It also has a fantastic added bonus of immunity to panic and, essentially, immunity to Mind Control. If the soldier is targeted for Mind Control, fails the Will test, and would be Mind Controlled, the soldier will become stunned instead and the Mind Control is eliminated.

This is a great capability mid-late game as Psionic enemies are more and more common. It helps eliminate those hectic scenarios where you are trying to rush to the mind controller and eliminate them so that you don’t have to go through with putting your soldier down.

There is some additional information to be found in the following sections:
-Warnings and Notes
-Questions and Answers

This Modification is great for advanced soldiers that you use to explore the map for enemy positions. It will cause damage to all psi attackers who target a soldier with this modification and put all of their attacks on a 1 turn cooldown. An important note: this modification will not reduce the chance of success of any Psi Attack.

This modification is definitely good news. If you have an soldier with high Will, who can pass the Mind Control Will test, it will cause the mind control to fail, damage the psi attacker, and place their abilities on lock down. Talk about kicking them while they are down. It is a sight to behold when this occurs against a psionic dependant enemy. They are completely useless for an entire enemy turn.

There is some additional information to be found in the following sections:
-Warnings and Notes

Eye Modifications

This modification is pretty straight forward. If your soldier misses a shot, the next shot they take will have an additional +10 Aim granted. It only lasts on a shot following a miss, and it is only gained if the shot is a miss.

This modification is a good one for those soldiers who have sub-standard aim abilities. It also helps those soldiers even more if you have a slot in their inventory taken by a scope.

There is some additional information to be found in the following sections:
-Applications
-Warnings and Notes

Depth Perception is well suited to the sniper class. It grants +5 Aim and +5% Critical Hit Chance to any shots taken on a target from a height advantage.

This is excellent for the roof crawling soldier. Nothing matches the satisfaction of taking a long shot and it connecting with the intended target, and triggering Critical Hit damage.

There is some additional information to be found in the following sections:
-Applications
-Questions and Answers

Chest Modifications

This modification is good earlier on in the campaign. A soldier with this Gene Modification will enter into bleed out when they receive damage that would normally kill them the first time in a mission. The bleed-out timer will tick away starting at 5 turns. If you let the timer run out then the soldier will die. An additional perk to this modification is that it prevents a loss of Will from critical wounds when attacked by an enemy (which in turn reduced the chance of going into panic).

As I said, this modification is a good one to select early on. You do not have to worry about being stuck with this if you only want to use it on a new soldier who needs to rank up. It can be switched to the other modification later on.

There is some additional information to be found in the following sections:
-Applications
-Warnings and Notes

Adrenal Neurosympathy: long name, amazing results. This is a great Genetic Modification that has a big area of effect. When a soldier kills an enemy, it causes them to emit pheromones in an Area of Effect buff to allies nearby, granting offensive benefits (increases movement rate, Critical Hit Chance, and Aim). Even though it is not able to happen more than once per 5 turns, it is still great when it goes off.

I haven’t been able to pin point a tile count in a radius for a rough estimate of how far this effect radiates from the modified soldier, but it reaches a good distance.

There is some additional information to be found in the following sections:
-Warnings and Notes

Skin Modifications

This ability tends to prevent sticky situations from happening. This modification generates from the soldier in an outward fashion, causing enemy locations to be revealed, when you have yet to put a visual on them. The effect seen in battle is a transparent circle that pulses. An great addition to this modification is an immunity to strangulation.

This modification is awesome for urban and spacecraft battles. The enemy locations are revealed through walls and around corners, allow you to better plan your moves based on enemy locations. The effect from this modification that reveal the enemy are rather faint, so you need to be watching for it.

There is some additional information to be found in the following sections:
-Applications
-Warnings and Notes
-Questions and Answers

This modification has a few conditions for its full capabilities to show through. It changes the pattern of the skin to match the cover. Mimetic Skin works only when you move to full cover, so partial cover will not trigger the invisibility effect (unless this ability is given to a sniper with the Low Profile skill). It will not activate if an enemy has line of sight on your starting location before you move to full cover. Finally, the modified soldier will be revealed if an enemy possesses special capabilities.

The first thing that comes to mind in regards to the special capabilities is when you face off against mid to late game Exalt forces who have undergone Genetic Modification to gain Bioelectric Skin. This happens if an ally has Bioelectric Skin and the area of effect for showing enemy location happens to have an invisible Seeker move through. The Seeker will reveal where it stands.

Mimetic Skin carries the highest price tag out of any modification available. The whole reason is that it can allow your modified soldiers to act as stealth units, as long as the requirements for the ability to trigger are met and remain that way.

A word of warning, the use of any offensive ability will result in the cloak dropping, so use caution when using a soldier who is currently cloaked.

There is some additional information to be found in the following sections:
-Applications
-Warnings and Notes
-Questions and Answers

Leg Modifications

Muscle Fiber Density gives your soldier the ability to leap up to the roof of just about any structure without the need to look for ladders, pipes, or stairs. It grants and instant height advantage and you don’t have to sacrifice extra tiles for movement to get to a climbing aid.

This can be argued as the single most important modification for a sniper class. The ability to so easily reach the highest point possible makes it so much easier to get into position for abilities like Squad Sight and Damn Good Ground. In many ways, it can be a good choice for all classes, since it allows rapid movement across the map. No more going through building when you just have to quickly jump to the roof and cross.

Adaptive Bone Marrow is a great modification for those troops that stay in the heat of battle. It improves survivability by allowing the modified soldier to regenerate 2 HP per turn, with no maximum HP per battle, up to their HP max (no counting the HP bonus from armor).

Also, this modification will increase recovery time of a wounded soldier by 66%. Additionally, this bonus stacks with Rapid Recovery. So much win for your tank soldiers.

This is an excellent choice if you also have the modification for Secondary Heart.

NOTE: When looking at the inventory of a soldier, the white numbers represent total HP without armor. The number in parenthesis is the additional HP from items and armor. The regenerative effects of Adaptive Bone Marrow take effect if your soldier loses HP equal to the number in parenthesis.

There is some additional information to be found in the following sections:
-Applications

Required Research

Below will be a section on the required research necessary to unlock all Genetic Modifications for the Genetics Lab. I did my best to place them in the order that they become available for research. Also, all Genetic Modifications become unlocked from performing alien autopsy research. The only exception is with Meld Recombination, which unlocks Hyper-Reactive Pupils, Depth Perception, and Adaptive Bone Marrow.

Genetic Modification Combinations

Highlighted are some of my personal favorite combinations of Genetic Modifications for each class. If you are not planning to play the game nice and long, then Meld will be a finite resource for you. In that case, modifications need to have an order of importance per class, and even overall across your barracks. Running as quick of a game as possible will tend to make Meld a tight resource, so you need to spend it wisely.

(Assuming the Second Wave option for Training Roulette is disabled)

The first set of lists will be combinations of all of the categories of Genetic Modifications that are best suited to each class (personal opinion). The second set of lists will be 2 of the most important modifications per class to help with low Meld games.

As always, go experiment and see which ones best work with your current mission needs.

Top Class Picks

Sniper class:
Neural Damping | Depth Perception | Adrenal Neurosympathy | Mimetic Skin | Muscle Fiber

Explanation:

• Neural Damping: The clear choice default for all classes, until the situation changes and Psionic enemies become a problem. It gives +20 to will and immunity to Panic.
• Depth Perception: With snipers, the higher ground is always the best choice. +5 Aim and +5 Critical Hit Chance are never a bad thing. Snipers only get a single chance to hit their target so no reason to spend the Meld on Hyper-Reactive Pupils.
• Adrenal Neurosympathy: Being on high ground and as far away from enemy fire is the key to any good sniper. Having this modification means an enemy kill by the sniper gives off the offense boosts to allies. The reach of the boosts is pretty far reaching, and seems to reach ground level from the roof as well, so ground soldiers will get the benefit of the buff as well.
• Mimetic Skin: This is a perfect choice for a sniper. Moving from high cover to high cover allows you to scout with your sniper to find that perfect high cover location to set up for high ground with a view of a majority of the enemy locations. It can even allow you to act as a recon scout for buildings, to show where the enemies are waiting.
• Muscle Fiber Density: This is a must have for any sniper class. Nothing compares to rapidly getting to high ground.

Assault class:
Neural Damping | Hyper-Reactive Pupils | Adrenal Neurosympathy | Bioelectric Skin | Adaptive Bone Marrow

Explanation:

• Neural Damping: The top pick for all classes until it Neural Feedback is needed to combat Psionic enemies.
• Hyper-Reactive Pupils: This is a top pick for Assault classes because it applies to Rapid Fire.
• Adrenal Neurosympathy: Most of my Assault classes are fighting close to the rest of the allies, with space to move in for a Rapid Fire kill when needed.
• Bioelectric Skin: This ability is not so much for scouting the map for enemies in the early parts of the game as it is a defense against Seekers. Once a Seeker enters the area of effect for Bioelectric Skin their invisibility is dropped and they are revealed.
• Adaptive Bone Marrow: Assault classes tend to take damage during just about every battle. Having this ability lessens the overall impact of damage on the soldier.

Heavy class:
Neural Damping | Hyper-Reactive Pupils | Secondary Heart | Bioelectric Skin | Adaptive Bone Marrow

Explanation:

• Neural Damping: Added +20 Will and immunity to Panic. Easy choice.
• Hyper-Reactive Pupils: +10 Aim applies to Bullet Swarm and Overwatch
• Secondary Heart: Being in the thick of the fighting gives this an advantage to a Heavy class. Having that insurance against death is a good thing.
• Bioelectric Skin: This is the class I try to advance as quickly as possible so this modification is good to have for locating enemies. Also a good defense against Seekers.
• Adaptive Bone Marrow: This is a good HP regen ability. It makes it less stressful to go into a fight head first knowing you can recouperate HP from any damage done.

Support Class
Neural Damping | Hyper-Reactive Pupils | Secondary Heart | Bioelectric Skin | Muscle Fiber Density

Explanation:

• Neural Damping: Easy choice to gain +20 Will and immunity to Panic. Can be changed as more Psionic enemies appear later in the game.
• Hyper-Reactive Pupils: +10 Aim will carry over into the next shot, so this is good for those Support classes who do not have the best aim around.
• Secondary Heart: Since support classes are better suited to assist other classes, go with Secondary Heart. This prevents you from losing your favorite Support Soldier in battle.
• Bioelectric Skin: This is more precautionary. Support class is meant to be as far back from fighting as possible while still being close enough to the squad to assist them. Bioelectric skin gives them the ability to spot seekers before they strangle an ally.
• Muscle Fiber Density: This is to make it faster to reach an ally in need, and to stay up and out of the way of ground based melee enemies (Berserkers and Zombies come to mind).

(In order of importance)

Sniper: Mimetic Skin | Muscle Fiber Density | Depth Perception
Assault: Hyper-Adaptive Pupils | Bioelectric Skin | Adaptive Bone Marrow
Heavy: Secondary Heart | Hyper-Reactive Pupils | Adaptive Bone Marrow
Support: Neural Damping | Bioelectric Skin | Secondary Heart

Applications

Now for the special section! This will outline the different applications of Genetic Modifications and how they can be applied to class specific abilities (assuming Second Wave option for Training Roulette is disabled)

Hyper-Reactive Pupils:
This modification has synergy with the Assault class Rapid Fire and Close Combat Specialist, the Heavy class Bullet Storm, the Sniper class Double Tap, and the Support class ability Sentinel. This modification carries over into Overwatch as well.

It is also assumed, but unconfirmed, that this will effect a Sniper class Snap Shot if they missed in their last turn. The same goes for Support class abilities Covering Fire and Rifle Suppression.

Depth Perception:
This modification gains added benefits when a Sniper has Damn Good Ground.

Secondary Heart:
This modification’s power doesn’t come from synergy with soldier class abilities, but from the ability to add time to the bleed out timer. This will give you extra time to clear the area of hostiles completely to get the soldier back to base, or to get your medic to his side to stabalize him.

Bioelectric Skin:
This allows for uncovering cloaked enemies. Most important on that list are the Seekers introduced with the Enemy Within DLC. This is also great for scouting enemy locations through walls and around corners.

Mimetic Skin:
Another sniper benefit. Mimetic Skin actually stacks with Low Profile, which turns all partial cover into full cover. Now Mimetic Skin will remain active indefinitely, or until the sniper fires on an enemy.

Adaptive Bone Marrow:
You can never have enough health regeneration. This ability goes right along with the S.H.I.V. ability Sentinel Drone.

Warnings and Notes

Finally, I felt it necessary to provide some emphasis on certain details regarding some of the genetic modifications. As the pros, cons, and hang-ups of Genetic Modifications come to light I will update this section.

Mimetic Skin in conjunction with MEC ability One for All:
Mimetic Skin requires full cover, no enemy line of sight with the start position, and no enemy capability to reveal cloaked units. With all conditions met, you can use a MEC utilizing One for All to become full cover as a point to activate Mimetic Skin’s cloaking. However, if the MEC is set to Overwatch and it triggers, the MEC will leave One for All to fire on the enemy, revealing the originally cloaked ally unit (unless the MEC is set up as full cover next to another piece of full cover). Even though this ability exists, it is usually best left unused since a MEC can be targeted. This is especially evident when encountering grenades.

NOTES ON VARIOUS MODIFICATIONS

Neural Feedback
The effects of Neural Feedback will still occur if a soldier possessing this modification dies from a psi attack.

Neural Damping
I wanted to expand on something for Neural Damping. It is a great choice for Assault and Heavy classes since it cancels mind control and eliminates the chance of panic. The last thing you want during a lengthy battle is for panic to happen, or mind control to take hold, and watch as your entire team is completely wiped out by your own teammate.

– Occurs when a soldier possessing the Neural Damping modification is in Overwatch. If Neural Damping activates and the soldier is stunned/knocked unconscious, the game will enter a continuous loop that will require the game to be restarted.

Hyper Reactive Pupils
The bonus from this modification will occur after the following scenarios:

• Set to Overwatch, Overwatch is triggered, and the shot misses
• Any time you use the rocket launcher
• If a soldier with Rapid Fire misses the first shot.

Adrenal NeuroSympathy

• When triggered, the bonus from this modification will effect the soldier that possesses this modification as well as all ally soldiers in line-of-sight within 13 tiles.
• The bonus from this modification is +10 Aim, +1 Movement, +5% Critical Chance, and panic removal.
• The bonus from this modification does not stack.

Secondary Heart

• Chryssalids are able to bypass the effects of this modification if they kill the soldier.
• The Sectopod Cluster Bomb, as well as Grenades, will bypass the effects of this modification.
• If a soldier with this modification is using a vehicle for cover, and a rocket destroys the vehicle, the damage from the rocket combined with the damage of the vehicle explosion may bypass the effects of this modification.

Bioelectric Skin

• This modification will reveal the location of enemies in, roughly, an 8 tile radius outside of the line-of-sight (through walls and unopened doors).
• Only give this modification to a single member of your squad. If you have more than one soldier with this modification in a given battle, only enemies within the range of all soldiers with Bioelectric Skin will be revealed.
• This modification will reveal cloaked Seekers.
• Enemies detected using Bioelectric Skin will not be available for squadsight.

Mimetic Skin

• If you are running a single soldier in a mission: If your soldier is cloaked and reveals the location of enemies, the revealed enemies may surround the soldier’s location as though they can see them, but will not attack. They will just stand by until the soldier is revealed or the group is spotted by other members of the squad
• Ghost Armor and Ghost Grenades will not work with soldiers who possess the Mimetic Skin modification as long as a soldier possesses the Mimetic Skin modification. Honestly, if you have Mimetic Skin, do not bother with equiping Ghost Armor unless you are seeking the various benefits that Ghost Armor provides.
• The ability Low Profile will work with the Mimetic Skin modification and moving to partial cover with a solider that has the Low Profile ability will trigger Mimetic Skin, as long as the requirements for its activation have been met.
• If a soldier is in cover, has Mimetic Skin activated, and the cover is destroyed, Mimetic Skin will deactivate due to the cover being no longer available.
• Reloading, Hunker Down, Psi Inspiration, Overwatch that did not trigger and deploying grenades that do not deal damage (smoke grenades for example) will NOT cause Mimetic Skin cloaking to drop.
• Chryssalids will cause Mimetic Skin cloaking to drop when they get too close to the soldier’s location.

Questions and Answers

This section will be the home of questions that have been asked in the comments section to prevent them, and their answers, from being buried.

1. Is there any change in cost to switch the modification of a soldier from one mod to another?

There is no change. Each time you switch, the cost is the same as selecting a modification the first time.

2. If you collect a Meld Container, but it gets destroyed later on in the battle, will you lose the Meld collected?

Not at all. If you collect the Meld, it goes to your total pool of Meld. However, if the container is later destroyed after collection, Dr. Vahlen will tell you to avoid destroying the containers.

3. Does Depth Perception work with Archangel Armor’s flight mode?

Yes it will. If you have a higher elevation than the enemy you will always gain the bonus from Depth Perception.

4. What causes Mimetic Skin’s cloaking to deactivate?

This can occur for a number of reasons. The biggest things that usually cause this are offensive abilities, like Mind Fray, throwing a grenade, or having Overwatch trigger. Also, cloaking will drop if you take a turn to move into full cover, come into the line-of-sight of enemies and then try to move again. A rule of thumb, if you see the red alien head symbols in the corner, do not move or else cloaking will deactivate.

5. Does Mimetic Skin work with Low Profile?

Yes it does, as long as the requirements for Mimetic Skin’s cloaking have been met.

6. Why doesn’t my Bioelectric Skin work?

The main reason for this to happen is if you have a squad where more than one soldier has the Bioelectric Skin modification. If more than one possesses this mod, then each member has to be within range of a hidden enemy in order to reveal their location. A tip for this is to only ever have a single member of your squad with the Bioelectric Skin modification.

7. Over the course of my game, I had to revive a soldier from critical wounds multiple times and now their will is really low. Am I stuck with Neural Damping?

I hate to say it, but you’re best bet would be to modify that soldier with Neural Damping to reinforce their will and prevent panic.

8. Why can’t I have sleeves!?

It was the choice of the developers to go that route. However, you are in luck! There are mods out there that can be installed to give genetically modified soldiers sleeves.

9. If you get all of the genetic modifications, will most of the scenarios be a cake walk?

With the right combination, yes it can be, dependant on the difficulty of the game.

Additional Credit

Details on currency/Meld cost for modifications and various notes on modifications were obtained from:
( [link] )

All images were taken using the Steam snapshot shortcut (F12).

This area will also be open to place the names of those that comment and what their contribution to the guide was. I know I can’t think of everything that should be in this guide.

Thanks for helping improve this guide goes out to: