The Bureau: XCOM Declassified – Game Guide V1

Always use Battle Focus
Pause often to issue commands. Letting your squad act on their own leads to poor positioning and wasted abilities.

Engineer + Support Combo Is OP
Drop a turret with the Engineer and shield it with the Support’s Shield Sphere. You’ll create a fortified kill zone that melts enemies.

Recon for Boss Fights
Cloak + Critical Strike can Kill high-value targets before they even react. Perfect for snipers and elite Outsiders.

Backpacks Matter
Each backpack grants passive bonuses. Prioritize ones that boost ability cooldowns, damage resistance, or healing output.

Revive Smart
Don’t rush to revive fallen agents mid-firefight. Use Battle Focus to clear threats first, then revive safely.

Save Often
There’s no autosave during missions. Manual saves before major encounters or choices can save hours of replay.


Engineer - Area Control Specialist
Abilities: Deploy Turret, Mines
Why - Turrets draw enemy fire and deal consistent damage. Mines are perfect for chokepoints.
Backpack - Cooldown Reduction* – lets you drop turrets and mines more frequently.

Support - Team Sustain & Buffs
Abilities: Team Heal, Shield Sphere, Weaken
Why - Keeps your squad alive and protected during heavy firefights.
Backpack - Cooldown Reduction – makes your support role even better.

Recon – Stealth & Burst Damage
Abilities: Cloak, Critical Strike
Why - Can eliminate high-value targets before they react. Great for bosses and snipers.
Backpack - Damage Boost* or *Critical Hit Chance* – turns him into a silent assassin.

Agent Carter

- Lift (to expose enemies)
- Mind Control (turn enemies against each other)
- Combat Stims (buff squad damage and speed)
- Backpack - Ability Recharge – lets you manipulate the battlefield nonstop.


This isn't Gears of War or Mass Effect.
Enemies in cover take less damage, while flanked enemies take extra damage. A head shot on a Outsider in cover does less than a body shot while flanked. Be aware, this counts for Agents as well. If you hear "This is a bad place boss!" it really is. And it can be fatal.

Suppression and being suppressed.

On any difficulty over Rookie, if you have two or more aliens shooting at you, don't pop up to return fire. See Rule 1 and you have three Outsiders taking shots at you. When this happens, have squad mates take the heat off you. Scatter will force shooters away from positions or Recon can Critical Strike one out. Or if all else fails, get your squad to flank the Outsiders for you.
On the other end, laser turrets are a good suppressor, like how enemy turrets are for you. Enemies that keep their heads down aren't shooting, allowing the squad to maneuver easily.

Three aliens in cover are a quick way to see an agent riddled with holes. But a quick Scatter, Mine, or thrown grenade will solve that problem...and get some payback.

The Sectopod is a deadly killing machine with two weaknesses. One is on it's back. With Recon's Diversion, a placed Laser Turret, and even a summoned blob an Agent can turn the tables in their favor with a Sectopod busy with something else.

All mines can be shot, friendly and enemy alike. If you see an Outsider in range of their own mine, remind them explosions don't have allegiances with a well placed shot.

Lifted enemies are exposed to more damage, can't attack, and can't used abilities. Better, while a lifted Muton or Sectopod are stunned, they also don't leave the ground. A Plasma Field will burn much of the armor off while they can't move, and placed and thrown explosives won't be avoided.

You have a dodge roll,when something is getting too close, find new cover. You will likely take less damage doing that then being flanked... or worse, being feet away from a Muton.

Weaken does a lot of damage.
The Support skill Weaken is known well for its utility is damaging armor on Mutons and Sectopods, but did you know it lowers defense of unarmored targets? A weakened Gunship goes down fast.

- Open with Lift + Turret: Lift exposes enemies, turret locks them down.
Use Shield Sphere on Turret: Keeps it alive longer and draws aggro away from your squad.
Mind Control Elite Enemies: They’ll wreak havoc on their own team before dying.
Cloak + Critical Strike: Use Recon to delete snipers or bosses instantly.
Rotate Squad Roles: If one agent dies, reload or swap roles to maintain synergy.
Always rotate squad roles if one agent dies—don’t stick to the same combo every mission.
Save before major encounters to retry with different tactics or squad builds.
Use Battle Focus constantly - it’s your tactical edge over overwhelming odds.
Mind Control + Turret is a devastating combo - turn enemies into bait while your turret mows them down.

Angela's Ending
After overwriting Origin's existence and giving the Stand Down order, Agent Angela then commands the remaining alien forces to kill themselves, like a mass Mind Control attack. This operation effectively makes the Zujdari extinct. While escaping the Mothership in the Avenger, she makes the Mothership drop into Earth's atmosphere, destroying it.
Ancillary operations are of the destruction of nearly all Outsider facilities, with both conventional and nuclear armaments to demolish nearly all of them, while what cannot be destroyed is sealed off to the public in one way or the other. Artifacts and weapons are, of course, kept for further study.
Lastly, the Sleepwalkers are euthanized.
With the coverup complete, and anyone who knows the truth either dead, or working for XCOM, the public at large is left entirely unaware that the invasion ever happened.
When asked of the Ethereal, Angela responds that it broke their link after the genocide!

Faulks's Ending
After overwriting Origin's existence and giving the Stand Down order, Director Faulk then commands the remaining alien forces to assist with the deconstruction of all Outsider facilities. While escaping the Mothership in the Avenger, he makes the Mothership drop it's shields, then drop to Earth, leaving few remains.
Ancillary operations are of the destruction of nearly all Outsider facilities, while what cannot be destroyed is sealed off to the public in one way or the other. Afterwards, all remaining Outsiders are executed, and the bodies buried in mass graves. Artifacts and weapons are, of course, kept for further study.
Lastly, the Sleepwalkers will remain in medical care, and will be allowed to die of age/natural causes.
With the coverup complete, and anyone who knows the truth either dead, or working for XCOM, the public at large is left entirely unaware that the invasion ever happened.
When asked of the Ethereal, Faulk responds that it broke their link after the Outsiders are exterminated

Wier's Ending
After overwriting Origin's existence and giving the Stand Down order, Dr Wier commands the Outsider forces to surrender. He then has them assist in the breakdown of all Outsider facilities in exchange for their freedom. What cannot be destroyed is sealed off to the public in one way or the other. Artifacts and weapons are, of course, kept for further study.
With the rebuilding of the world complete, XCOM returns control of the Mothership to the Zujdari, and allows them to leave Earth and continue their search for a new homeworld.
Lastly, the Sleepwalkers are able to be cured through manipulation & study of Mosaic, and fortunately have no memory of any time during the infection.
With the coverup complete, and anyone who knows the truth either dead, or working for XCOM, the public at large is left entirely unaware that the invasion ever happened.
When asked of the Ethereal, Wier responds that it broke their link after the Outsiders leave Earth!