So I was browsing through the guides section and I found myself looking at a bunch of different ones ranging from classes to tech trees, tactics, and keeping all of your countries and I thought to myself in the middle of the night "why not put all of these together and create an ultimate guide?" Flash forward a couple of days later and here I am. I would like to give credit to the people who have already put together some guides that helped me from having to spend a week getting information and putting it all together: Ssenkrad_II with writing on how to save all of your countries on normal/ironman, greentiger for saving me time of having to write out all of paths and available options and some general strategy and tips, Rensje for writing down an extremely detailed description of the classes of xcom enemy unknown, Hellbilly for writing out the recommended gene mods for the classes for those that do xcom enemy within, and finally Archmage MC for doing an extensive guide to the long war mod for those who do it, without Archmage MC I would be scrambling because personally I have never played long war and this guide is supposed to be the ultimate guide. I would also like to give a lot of credit for the xcom wiki for providing extensive stats, descriptions, and notes to help save me some time. I would like to thank the xcom community for tatics and tips to help me out. Shout out to SilverBullet, Robin, Kant019, MowingSawblade (forgive me for misspell it has been awhile), EluMoon6 (forgive me for misspell it has been awhile), Elbrus, and more who I played against but forgot their usernames for teaching me how to do multiplayer and some neat tatics that I can use in the campaign as well!


Note: For those who are looking for specific info the order for this guide is: hud explained, weapons/items/armor, aliens, exalt, soldier classes/recommended gene mods, psionics, shivs, base mangament, reasearch tree, second wave options, long war mod, (coming soon) tatics and tips, mutiplayer tatics and tips.

Another note: this is a WIP because of how much information there is for xcom (I am lazy) so bear with me when you did not find what you are looking for and I am genuinely concerned that I might find the limit for the chapters.

Okay this part of the guide right here is for those that have never played and are looking at game play of xcom and wondering to themselves "wtf does mean? Overwatch? huh?" Here is my best explanation for everything basic. Below is a screenshot where I marked the basic info.

1. This is the main weapon of the solider. It shows how much ammo is spent and remaining. The specific weapon you are looking at is the LMG.
2. This is the secondary weapon of the soldier. For every other class except heavy it is a pistol instead of a rocket launcher. The Rocket launcher can only be used once unless the heavy has the ability to use it twice. Pistols also never have to be reloaded.
3. The icon to shoot, click it to bring up the hit chances and choose which enemy to shoot.
4. The icon for overwatch. This enables the soldier to take a shot at an enemy if they move in their line of sight for a small aim penalty. Certain soldier abilities can remove this aim penalty.
5. Reload icon, the only thing to note is that if you reload it will use both moves, but you can move and then reload to maximize moves.
6. Hunker down icon, any soldier can use hunker down except for MEC class. Hunker down doubles cover bonus and provides immunity to critical hits, but reduces sight radius. Only available while in cover (which should be all time because if your soldier is not cover....You clearly named that one after your ex or least favorite person). Disables the Close Combat Specialist ability of Assault class troopers.
7. Ability and traits icons, You will see penalties, bonuses, skills, and gene mods there. For this picture you only see the shredder skill icon. You can click on the icons to get a menu that explains what every current icon means and what the soldier current stats are (aim, will, etc.)
8. Class symbol, it is there to remind the people with short term memory loss that you brought (whatever class you brought). The symbol will change slightly if you genetically modified that soldier or if they have the psionic subclass. The example class symbol is for a heavy.
9. Really? No guesses as to what that is???? Wow...It is your soldier's name.
10. The soldiers current rank, the example is the corporal rank.
11. Pause menu button (Escape key also works)
12. End turn, its in the name you click you forfeit your turn simple.
13. Bring up a menu that explains what every current icon means and what the soldier current stats are (aim, will, etc.)
14. Switch between your soldiers (Yes I know mind blowing; you can also use the tab key).
15. Switch your camera angle (or use E and Q keys)
16. How much health points your soldiers have left (Major hint if you run out of point your soldier dies or could start bleeding out)
17. How much moves/actions you have left (you only get two). Some abilities can allow for you to shoot more than once or have your actions refunded.
18. How much cover your soldier is in. Full cover= full shield, Half cover= half shield, Flanked= shield turns yellow, No cover= blank shield with yellow outline. FYI, Blue is better chance at life, yellow is a crap I got outwitted by an alien, and empty is you either lost your cover due to a grenade or etc. or misclick (at least that better be the reason).
19. How many aliens your soldier sees (note just because you cannot see them does not mean they cannot see you)
20. Open the door, by acting more civilized, aliens will not be alerted and start running to your position.
21. That blue outline says your soldier can move there and will only lose one action point.
22. That yellow outline says your soldier can move there but you will use both action points (so be careful not to misclick)
23. This is an enemy within part, It shows whether or you got the meld, lost it, or that it is still out there. In this example they were able to collect both meld canisters.
24. That is just a opened meld canister so you can get an idea of what to look for.

Soldiers carry a primary weapon, secondary weapon, and an item (two with Tactical Rigging in XCOM: Enemy Within). Primary weapons are a soldier's main source of firepower in combat; they include rifles, sniper rifles, shotguns, and LMGs. Secondary weapons vary; they include pistols, rocket launchers, and a wide range of tactical subsystems available to MEC Troopers that are installed directly to a MEC. On occasion a class ability (such as the Sniper's Headshot or a Heavy's Mayhem) is related to the weapon's technology level. These are, in order:
Level 1: Conventional weapons (excluding the Rocket Launcher)
Level 2: Beam weapons, Railgun EW, and Rocket Launcher
Level 3: Plasma weapons, Alloy Cannon, and Particle Cannon EW
Alright here we go here are the weapon stats.

Body armor is used by soldiers to protect themselves against alien weapons and environmental hazards during combat missions. All soldiers are capable of equipping themselves with body armor, except MEC Troopers who equip MEC suits instead. All body armors provide additional HP to soldiers. Damage taken against this "armor HP" does not count towards a soldier being wounded; soldiers will only require recovery time if they lose some of their base health (the green number displayed in their stats screen) during a mission. Additionally, soldiers can supplement their "armor HP" by equipping a Nano-fiber Vest, Chitin Plating, or Respirator Implant in their item slot.

XComEU Body Armor
Light Armor. This is the default set of body armor for all XCOM troops. Adds +1 HP.

Carapace Armor
Medium Armor. Adds +4 HP but doesn't have any special bonuses.

Skeleton Suit
Medium Armor. Adds +3 HP and +10 Defense, allows the wearer to use a grappling hook to get higher vantage points, and increases movement speed by 3.

Titan Armor
Heavy Armor. Gives +10 HP and immunity to fire and poison. Strangulation immunity is also conferred in XCOM: Enemy Within.

Archangel Armor
Heavy Armor. Gives +8 HP and allows 6 total moves of flight. Can be upgraded to allow for 12 fuel per mission. XCOM: Enemy Within adds fire, poison, and strangulation immunity.

Ghost Armor
Medium Armor. Allows the wearer to become invisible four times per mission for one full turn (XCOM's and the enemy's). Also contains a grappling hook, increases movement speed by 3, adds +20 Defense and +6 HP. XCOM: Enemy Within adds fire, poison, and strangulation immunity.

Psi Armor
Medium Armor. Psi Armor is the last armor available in the game and can only be equipped by soldiers who have Psi-Abilities. Grants +6 HP. Contrary to the in-game description, it increases Will by 20 instead of 30. Additionally, the armor has a hidden +10 Defense bonus and adds +2 movement.

Here is the armor comparison table from the Xcom Wiki to help save some time because I am lazy

Items are available to soldiers in XCOM: Enemy Unknown via an additional equipment slot that supplements the weapon and body armor slots. Items fulfill a variety of functions from boosting armor HP to specialty roles like healing. Most items become available for production in Engineering upon completion of certain research projects and many can receive upgrades through associated Foundry projects. All soldiers are capable of equipping themselves with a single item.
A Support with the Sergeant rank Field Medic perk will be able to use a Medikit three times; this still only requires one Medikit for the item slot.
A Heavy with the Captain rank Grenadier perk is able to use two grenades when equipping one in their item slot.
A Support who has achieved the Major rank will receive the Deep Pockets perk which grants a second item slot, but they can't equip duplicates of the same item, except Frag Grenades and Alien Grenades.
In XCOM: Enemy Within, the player can research the Tactical Rigging Foundry project to grant all soldiers two item slots and the Deep Pockets perk is changed to give an additional use to limited use items.
Items are available to soldiers in XCOM: Enemy Unknown via an additional equipment slot that supplements the weapon and body armor slots. Items fulfill a variety of functions from boosting armor HP to specialty roles like healing. Most items become available for production in Engineering upon completion of certain research projects and many can receive upgrades through associated Foundry projects.
Here are the following items:

Alien Grenade
An alien designed explosive weapon. Does 5 damage to all targets in blast area.


Arc Thrower
A specialty device designed to capture alien specimens for interrogation.

Chitin Plating
A protective plating that can be combined with body armor. Adds +4 armor HP and reduces melee damage received by 50%.

Combat Stims
A powerful drug cocktail that boosts Soldier performance. Combat Stims increase Will and movement stats and reduces damage received for a limited time.

Frag Grenade
A human designed explosive weapon. Does 3 damage to all targets in blast area.

Medikit
A medical device for the healing and stabilization of wounded soldiers. Medikits restore 4 health per use.

Mind Shield
A specialty device designed to protect against enemy psionic attacks. Increases Will by 30.

Nano-fiber Vest
A protective insert that can be combined with body armor. Adds +2 armor HP.

S.C.O.P.E.
An advanced targeting module that increases Aim by 10.

XCOM: Enemy Within Items
This expansion introduces several new items for production.

Flashbang Grenade
A tactical weapon used to reduce enemy Aim and Movement by 50% for 2 turns.

Gas Grenade
A tactical grenade that creates a poisonous cloud that last 1-3 turns, doing damage each turn.

Ghost Grenade
A tactical grenade that confers stealth on all friendly targets in its blast radius for 1 turn. Also increases critical chance by 30% if a shot is taken.

Mimic Beacon
A tactical grenade that attracts aliens within its radius for 2 turns. Enemies already in combat are less likely to be fooled.

Needle Grenade
A tactical grenade that does 3 damage to all targets in large blast area, but does not destroy cover.

Reaper Rounds
Special rounds that affect Conventional Weapons by increasing critical chance by 20% but doubling the weapon's range penalty.

Respirator Implant
A special device that confers +2 armor HP and provides immunity to poison and strangulation.

Here is the grenade list:

NOTE: THE CREDIT FOR THIS PART OF THE GUIDE GOES TO THE XCOM WIKI FOR PUTTING THIS LIST TOGETHER.

There are various bonuses and penalties that can affect soldiers and enemies in XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Bonuses and Traits
Modifier Description
XComEW- Adrenaline Surge: This unit is wounded, triggering an adrenaline surge. (+10 Aim, +10 critical chance)
XComEW- Aggression: Units with Aggression receive a +10 bonus to critical hit chance for each enemy in sight (maximum +30).
XComEU- Airborne: Flying units can bypass ground obstacles. They can remain in flight if they have sufficient fuel.
XComEW- Blood Frenzied: Units frenzied by Blood Call have +10 bonuses to Aim and Will, and a bonus +4 to mobility.
XComEW- Bring 'Em On: Enemies in sight! +1 damage on critical hits for each such enemy.
XComEW- Combat Drugs: Units in smoke that has been infused with Combat Drugs receive +20 Will and +10 critical chance.
XComEW- Combat Pheromones: Receiving bonuses: +10 Aim, +5 critical chance, and +1 movement.
XComEW- Combat Stimmed: Units under the influence of Combat Stims are less likely to panic, move faster, and take 50% less damage from all sources. (+40 Will against Panic, +3 movement)
XComEW- Council Medal of Honor: +10 Aim and Critical Chance if not within 7 tiles of an allied unit.
XComEW- Damn Good Ground: This unit gains +10 Aim and +10 Defense against enemies at lower elevation, in addition to the usual elevation bonuses.
XComEW- Dense Smoke: Units in dense smoke receive an additional +20 Defense.
XComEW- Distortion Field: Inside an ally's Distortion Field, receiving +10 Defense.
XComEU- Elevated Ground: All units receive offensive bonuses against enemies on lower ground. +20 Aim Bonus.
XComEU- Evasion: Enemies targeting this unit when it is airborne suffer a -20 Aim penalty.
XComEW- Ghost Mode: Stealthed units are much harder for enemies to see, and receive a bonus to their critical chance (requires Ghost Armor/Grenade).
XComEW- Greater Mind Merge: Psionically assisting any nearby Sectoids, granting them +25% critical chance and +1 health.
XComEW- Hardened: Hardened units receive extra protection against critical hits. Reduces the chance of suffering a critical hit by 60%.
XComEW- Hyper-Reactive Pupils: +10 Aim due to previous miss.
XComEW- International Service Cross: +2 Aim per continent bonus XCOM has earned.
XComEW- International Service Cross: +2 Will per different nationality in the squad.
XComEW- Inside Telekinetic Field: Units protected by a Telekinetic Field receive +40 Defense.
XComEW- Inspired: Will increased by the inspiration of a psionic ally (+30 for 2 turns).
XComEW- Iron Skin: All damage taken is reduced by 25%.
XComEW- Low Profile: Units with Low Profile treat partial cover as full.
XComEW- Mimetic Skin: Currently concealed from enemy view. Moving in front of enemies again or firing will reveal the unit.
XComEW- Mind Control: Using Mind Control allows control of an enemy unit.
XComEW- Mind Merge: Psionically assisting an ally, granting the ally an array of stat bonuses.
XComEW- Mind Merged-Sectoid: Receiving psionic assistance from an ally, gaining +25 critical chance and +1 health. Mechtoid: Receiving psionic assistance from an ally, gaining a psionic force shield and 50% damage reduction while the shield is up.
XComEW- Nearby Leader: The squad leader is nearby, improving this unit's Will.
XComEU- Poison Immune: This unit cannot be poisoned.
XComEW- Reinforced Armor: All damage taken is reduced by 50%. (Sectopods)
XComEU- Resilience: This unit is immune to critical hits.
XComEU- Robotic: This unit cannot be affected by fire, poison and most Psionic abilities.
XComEW- Running & Gunning: Units under the effect of Run & Gun may fire after Dashing.
XComEW- Smoke Coverage: Units in smoke receive +20 Defense.
XComEW- Star of Terra: Entire squad receives +5 Will and +5 Defense in battle. Robotic units receive only the Defense bonus.
XComEU- Stun Immune: This unit cannot be stunned.
XComEW- Tactical Sense: Units with Tactical Sense receive a +5 defensive bonus for each enemy in sight (maximum +20).
XComEW- Urban Combat Badge: +5 Aim against enemies in full cover.
XComEW- Urban Combat Badge: +5 Defense when in cover.
XComEW- Will to Survive: In cover and not flanked; incoming damage is reduced by 2.
Penalties
Modifier Description
XComEW- Battle Fatigue: This unit has suffered combat wounds, weakening its Will (if the loss is less than 50% of the unit's total health: -5 Will; if more than 50%: -10 Will).
XComEW- Catching Breath: This unit is recovering from strangulation, and has -75% mobility and -50 Aim.
XComEW- Critically Wounded: Critically wounded units will bleed out after a short time unless Stabilized or Revived by a Medikit.
XComEW- Disoriented: This unit was in a Flashbang explosion, suffering -50 Aim and -50% Movement penalties.
XComEW- Electropulsed: This unit has been disabled by electropulse.
XComEU: Elevated Ground (Penalty): An enemy unit has elevated position and can see this unit. Enemies can see you.
XComEW- Fallen Comrades: An ally has fallen, weakening this unit's Will (-5 per death).
XComEW- Hallucinating: Units subject to Mindfray suffer penalties to Aim, Will, and mobility.
XComEW- Holo-Targeting: Active Marked with Holo-Targeting: easier for all enemies to hit.
XComEW- Mind Controlled: Mind Controlled units are under the enemy side's control.
XComEW- Panicked: Panicked units have a chance to move or act unpredictably. Possible actions include Hunker Down, shooting at an enemy, or shooting at an ally. They also skip the next turn. (Sometimes though it can work out for you, example below)
XComEW- Poisoned: Poisoned units take 1 damage at the start of their turn, and suffer a -20 Aim penalty and -3 movement penalty. Lasts 2 turns; being poisoned again while already poisoned resets the duration.
XComEW- Rift: Units in a Rift take moderate damage during the first turn and much more on the next turn if they remain in the affected area. High Will can reduce the damage; low Will can make it worse.
XComEW- Sentinel Module Disabled: A critical hit has disabled the Sentinel Module's circuitry. Affected SHIVs lose the HP regeneration and close quarters reaction fire capabilities conferred by the Sentinel Drone Foundry upgrade.
XComEW- Shredded: Units hit by a Shredder Rocket take +33% increased damage from all sources for 4 turns.
XComEU- Snap Shot Penalty: Units with Snap Shot that move before firing suffer a -20 Aim penalty on sniper rifle shots. (-10 Aim in XCOM: Enemy Within.)
XComEW- Suppressed: Suppressed units take a -30 Aim penalty, and will be subject to reaction fire from the suppressing target upon moving.

There are many enemies in xcom enemy unknown and there are a few more in xcom enemy within here is where I shall describe the pains in your a**** for the game. We will start with the aliens first then exalt for those who play enemy within.

For number one we have your first enemy, the sectoid

They are low on the totem pole of beating the **** out of your soldiers but they are still a threat you should keep your eye on especially early game. They are armed with a plasma pistol. They have 65 aim for the first three difficulties and 75 aim on impossible. A crit chance of 0 for easy and normal, but a crit chance of 10 for classic and impossible. They come with a health of 3 for easy, normal, and classic, but 4 health on impossible. They have a mobility of 12 and a will of 10. They have the abilities of mind merge and suppression. Mind merge means a sectoid can use this ability on another sectoid (and in multiplayer, any unit) in Line of Sight. The ability grants +25 Critical Chance, +25 Will, and 1 additional Health to the receiving unit for one turn. The transmitting unit gets no bonus. If the transmitting unit is killed, the receiving unit also perishes (in multiplayer the receiving unit will not perish if they have high enough health and will instead receive damage this also applies to mechtoids as well). A Sectoid can Mind Merge with a Mechtoid to grant it a Psi Shield instead of the usual bonuses. The ability grants 5 Health to the receiving unit for one turn. Should the transmitting Sectoid be killed, the feedback causes the shield to implode and the Mechtoid suffers 3 damage instead of dying.
Sectoids are the first enemies to appear in the game. Their chance of being deployed declines from April to July (or April to October if the "Marathon" Second Wave option is enabled), however this is partially negated by supplemental Sectoids that escort Mechtoids beginning in June (Marathon: August). Sectoids can be deployed for most mission types, but are not encountered during Terror Site missions.
Notes:
Mind Merge often does more harm than good; it means one less Sectoid shooting at the player, it gives the possibility of a double kill by killing the Mind Merge transmitter, and worst of all, it is a dead giveaway of the positioning of 2 Sectoids in the fog of war for easy aiming of long ranged explosive attacks such as Fire Rocket.
Don't get too eager about double kills - overextending your units could open up weak positioning that the enemy can exploit next turn. This is especially true when playing in multiplayer, as enemies may Mind Merge two expendable units to bait you into a trap.
Suppression is a barrage of bullets or in this case plasma that pins down a target, granting reaction fire against it and imposing a 30 penalty to Aim to the unit under suppression.

Number two is the thin man
This tall, skinny boi is the definition of being deadly annoying even late game. They appear early game and are the staple aliens in council missions being in every one of them even late game. They are armed with a light plasma rifle. They have an aim of 65 for easy and normal, but an aim of 75 for classic and impossible difficulty. A crit chance of 0 for easy and normal, but a crit chance of 10 for classic and impossible. Their health is 3 for easy and normal, 4 for classic, and 6 for impossible. Their mobility and will are both 15 throughout all difficulties. Their abilities consist of suppression, leap, and poison spit. Suppression ,for those with horrible memory, is a barrage of bullets or in this case plasma that pins down a target, granting reaction fire against it and imposing a 30 penalty to Aim to the unit under suppression. Leap is essentially giving a middle finger to climbing so they can hop up anywhere not requiring there to be a pipe or ladder of some sort. Poison spit does not inflict base damage on impact, but rather it poisons units, reducing their health by one point each turn for the next 3 turns (3-5 in EW). In addition, poisoned units suffer -20 Aim and -3 Mobility penalties. Poison Spit leaves a 3x3 (target and adjacent tiles) cloud of poison that lingers for three turns, which can affect both soldiers and most alien units that pass through it. Those immune to the poison are Aliens: Thin Men, Chryssalids, Zombies, and all Robotic units (Cyberdiscs, Drones, Mechtoids, Sectopods, and Seekers) are immune.Humans: A Medikit confers immunity to the soldier carrying it, and can be used to cure others of poison. Titan Armor also grants immunity, and all varieties of S.H.I.V.s are immune. In XCOM: Enemy Within, the effects of Poison Spit can also be negated if a soldier is equipped with Archangel Armor, Ghost Armor, MEC suit, or a Respirator Implant. Thin Men are more likely to use Poison Spit when XCOM soldiers are clustered to maximize the number of units they poison. Though from personal experience they will spit at one soldier even though no one else is nearby.

Thin Men are a staple of Council missions throughout the entire campaign. They can appear in other mission types in lieu of Sectoids beginning in the second month (April), regardless of the game's "Marathon" Second Wave option. Their chance of being deployed in non-Council missions declines over June and July (Marathon: from August to October), to a very low late-game rate on par with Floaters and Seekers. They are not encountered during terror missions.

Number three is the floater
This is essentially target practice for snipers for mid to late game. As anything xcom related, one should be on guard around them early game and should be careful. Personally, I would mark them as a higher priority kill compared to the sectoid. Floaters have a aim of 50 for easy and normal, but an aim of 60 for classic and impossible. Their crit chance is the same as the sectoid and thin man. Their will and mobility is the same as a sectoid and they carry the light plasma rifle. The floaters’ abilities are flight and launch; they also have the trait of evasion. Flight is well flight must I explain more? What do you need the stats now? Fine......When in flight unit can go over obstacles, have the height advantage which means they have +20 aim against those who have a lower elevation. Their evasion trait means those aiming at the floater whose airborne suffer -20 aim and the floater receives +20 defense. Launch is literally move anywhere on the battlefield in a single turn (note: this takes up both points for the floater, essentially, they can go anywhere but they cannot do anything until next turn). It, however, cannot be used indoors. Launch is typically used by the floater to flank your soldiers.

Enemy number four on our list is the one of biggest annoyances you can possibly encounter at least for those who do xcom enemy within.
The Seeker is a flying squid-like robotic unit. Capable of cloaking themselves (for a limited number of turns). Seekers will appear in pairs and when initially spotted are more likely to run and hide, only to reappear after your squad has engaged other enemy units. Despite being triggered in pairs, Seekers largely act individually (i.e. can strike during different turns) and have a preference for attacking isolated units (like Squadsight Snipers).

Seekers first appear during the second month (April), regardless of the game's "Marathon" Second Wave option. Their chance of being deployed declines over the following three months (Marathon: five months, from June to October), to a low rate on par with Sectoids and Floaters. Seekers can be deployed for most mission types, but are not encountered during Terror Site missions.

The seeker has an aim of 65 throughout all difficulties, the same crit chance as the sectoid, a defense of 10 for easy and normal, but on impossible and classic 20. Their health is 4 on easy, 5 on normal and classic, and 6 health on impossible. Their mobility is 14 on easy and 16 on the rest; their weapon is the plasma pistol.

The seeker has the abilities of airborn, stealth, and strangle. Strangle can be used against adjacent humans unprotected by strangle-resistant armor, items, or abilities. It makes the soldier it is attacking unable to do anything and receive damage every turn until released; when released the soldier will receive the penalty of breathless for one turn. The stealth ability causes the seeker to become invisible to enemies. It can use its tentacles to attack from stealth mode, but must deactivate stealth mode to use its ranged attack or strangle. The seeker also has the traits of evasion, robotic, and is immune to stuns.

Enemy number 5 is the outsider

This enemy is exclusively found during ufo missions, typically found in the control/command room of the ship. They will eventually get phased out for more challenging opponents later in the game. Their aim is quite high with it being 70 for easy and normal, 80 for classic, and 90 for impossible. Their crit is the same as the previous aliens and their health is 3 on easy/normal but 5 on classic/impossible. Their mobility is 12 on every mode but on impossible it is 17 and their will is 20 throughout all difficulties. Outsiders are armed with a light plasma rifle and the only ability it has is suppression.

Okay this little (insert word here) is pure pain and is incredibly dangerous early/mid game and is still something you want to watch late game. The pure PSTD bringing creature for both you and your men is the chryssaild
I am not joking and ask any veteran commander that these things are terrifying like look at the depiction of these things Terrifying...
These "little" bugs are found in your first terror missions and throughout some missions such as a ufo raid on a supply ship, but other than terror missions you really will not encounter them that much. They have a crit chance the same as the other aliens before and defense of 10 throughout all difficulties. Their mobility is the highest being 20, a will of 120, and a damage modifier of +2 for classic/impossible (0 for easy/normal). Their health is 8.
Now those of you who are new to Xcom are probably wondering why these things are so bad, I even bet that your thought right now is "Yeah these look kinda creepy but they cannot be that bad" no they are. See their abilities consist of leap, poison claws, and implant. Their traits are melee only, stun immune, hardened, and poison immune. Implant is the ability I would like to draw your attention to, I am just gonna let this video below show you....(Yes I know it has the long war mod on, but it helps get my point across)

If payed attention at all to previous chapter then you will know how a zombie is created. For those of you who said nay nay I will not read that then the zombie is formed whenever a chyrssalid kills a person 1 turn after the killing. The zombie will turn into another chryssaild in three turns so I would recommend killing the zombies as when the chryssaild emerges they get a full turn. The zombie has 10 health for easy/normal/classic but 14 on impossible. The crit chance is the same as previously mentioned (I am starting to see a pattern here....) and have a mobility of 8. Their will is 120 and has a +2 modifier on classic and +4 on impossible. Thankfully zombies are melee only. One last thing to know, they are stun immune.

This beefy looking boi can quickly harass players in late games and can be dangerous in early/mid game. They have 70 aim easy/normal and 80 classic/impossible, the same crit chance as the others (you know what I am going to stop mentioning the crit chance unless it is different), a defense of 10, 8 health on easy/normal and 10 on classic/impossible, mobility of 12, and...a will of 10? Huh thought their will would be higher. They are armed early game with light plasma rifles then get plasma rifles mid/late game. They have an alien grenade and can do suppression. Their abilities consist of blood call and intimidate. Blood call inspires nearby allies of the same species to greater speed, focus, and resolve for 2 turns. It it has a 4 turn cooldown. Intimidate causes when wounded, a chance to provoking panic in enemies.
Mutons first appear during the third month (May) equipped with Light Plasma Rifles, or June if the "Marathon" Second Wave option is enabled. They are upgraded to standard Plasma Rifles the following month on Classic and Impossible difficulties, or two months later on Easy and Normal. Their chance of being deployed declines in August (Marathon: December). Certain missions, such as Slingshot's Friends In Low Places, may temporarily introduce this enemy before it is deployed regularly.

This alien is an xcom enemy within so for those that play enemy unknown do not have to worry about them. Mechtoids have an aim of 60 on easy, 70 for normal, and 80 for classic/impossible. A crit chance of 0 for easy and normal, but a crit chance of 15 for classic/impossible. Their defense is 10, their health is 16, 20, 22, 24 (easy, normal, classic, and impossible respectively), will is a whopping 0, and a damage modifier of -1, 0, +2, and +4 respectively. The Mechtoid is a Sectoid in a Mech suit. It is a robotic unit armed with twin Plasma Mini-Cannons and can fire twice in a turn if it doesn't move. Mechtoids don't utilize cover but have a solid block of health (20 HP on normal). Sectoids can Mind Merge with a Mechtoid and give it a Psi Shield with 6 HP durability and reduces damage against the Mechtoid by half as long as the shield is up; sufficient damage can break Psi Shield. Killing the Sectoid merger cancels the shield and causes 3 damage to the linked Mechtoid. Mechtoids utilize new Plasma Mini-Cannons in combat. These weapons have base 6-8 Damage on Normal difficulty but -1 Damage on Easy, +2 Damage on Classic, and +4 Damage on Impossible. Much like the Cyberdisc and Sectopod, these integrated weapons cannot be captured and are destroyed when the Mechtoid is killed. The mechtoids traits include hardened, stun immune, robotic, and have the abilities of plasma barrage (can shoot twice if it has not moved) and psi shield (gains a damage reducing shield when a Sectoid makes a psychic link).

Mechtoids first appear during the fourth month (June), or August if the "Marathon" Second Wave option is enabled. There is a limit of one per mission for first month (does not apply to Impossible difficulty), and they are most prevalent from July to September (Marathon: October 2015 to March 2016). In October (Marathon: April 2016) their chance of being generated declines. Mechtoids can be deployed for several mission types, but are not encountered during terror missions.

The cyberdisc has an aim of 70 for easy/normal and 80 on classic/impossible, defense of 10, health of 16 for easy/normal and 20 for classic/impossible, a mobility of 18, and 0 will. One comment I would like to butt in on did you know these things are the size of a small car?! Okay back to the guide....
The appearance of a Cyberdisc can be very unsettling for the unprepared player. When a squad lacks firepower such as Beam Weapons, it can be difficult to bring a Cyberdisc down not only because of its high hit points, but also due to Drones repairing the Cyberdisc. Moreover, the Cyberdisc utilizes a very powerful beam weapon that will one-shot soldiers without decent armor. The Cyberdisc's abilities consist of airborne, bombard (can throw grenades over large distances), and deathblossom (Project an intense energy field from closed position, damaging all nearby enemies. 3 turn cooldown.) It's traits are evasion, hardened, stun immune, and robotic.

Cyberdiscs first appear during the fourth month (June), or August if the "Marathon" Second Wave option is enabled. There is a limit of one per mission for the first month only (does not apply to Impossible difficulty or Terror Site missions, where depending on the month all enemy pods can be Cyberdiscs). Their chance of being deployed declines over the following two months (Marathon: from October to December) as new enemy units are introduced.One or more Cyberdiscs will be deployed against the player during the Gangplank mission if the Slingshot DLC is enabled. Assuming the DLC was started as early as possible Cyberdisks will not appear again for a considerable amount of time.

The drone has an aim of 60 for easy/normal and 70 on classic/impossible, defense of 10, 3 health for easy/normal, 5 classic, and 7 impossible, and have a mobility of 12. Drones are small floating spherical robots that are often seen escorting Cyberdiscs and Sectopods. Drones tend not to pose much of a direct threat due to their low health and weak ranged attack (2 base damage); their ability to repair the robotic units they escort for 3 health can prolong the threat posed by these heavier units, however. Additionally, Drones provide a certain harassment factor due to their base +10 Defense, often boosted by their frequent use of flight, making them harder to target than ground units while simultaneously making them able to gain line of sight to soft targets, like injured units or civilians during Terror Site missions. Drones will always appear at the Alien Base Assault, though if assaulted during month two, they will not be accompanying any alien robotic units. The drone's ablities consist of airborne, overload (Overload the unit's own power source, destroying the unit but causing explosive damage similar to a grenade's. basically in the Halo announcer's voice: Suicide), and repair (restores robotic units with 3 health, can be used multiple times). The drone's traits consist of Evasion, Hardened, Stun immune, and robotic. Drones cannot be captured and returned intact to XCOM headquarters like organic units. However, after completing the Drone Capture Foundry project, they can be hacked with an Arc Thrower and controlled during a mission. A captured drone can be used to repair S.H.I.V.s and MECs, or attack aliens, and should it survive until the end of a successful mission, it will self-destruct.

The berserker is a melee only enemy that has 60 aim, 20 defense, 20 health for easy/normal/classic 25 health for impossible, mobility of 17, will of 80, a damage modifier of +1 for classic and +3 for impossible. The Berserker appears to be a larger, more heavily armored Muton. As a melee-only attacker, the Berserker relies on its superior Health, Defense and higher movement rate in order to close the distance between itself and its enemies; the Berserker also benefits from higher Will than a basic Muton. The Berserker has the Bull Rush ability, allowing it to charge towards its targets and obliterate anything in its path.The Berserker is often encountered alongside one or two regular Mutons. This combination allows the Mutons to provide covering or Suppressing fire as the Berserker advances and use their Blood Call ability to further boost the Berserker's movement range. The abilities of the berserker include intimidate (scare the crap out of low willed troops), bloodlust (everytime someone lands a hit the berserker it move towards them), and bull rush (charge in a straight line through cover to unleash a devastating melee attack.) The traits for this alien are melee only and hardened.

Berserkers first appear during the fifth month (July), or October if the "Marathon" Second Wave option is enabled. There is a limit of one Berserker per mission for the first month only (does not apply to Impossible difficulty and Alien Base Assault). Their chance of being deployed declines over the following three months (Marathon: five months, from December 2015 to April 2016) as new enemy units are introduced.

Muton Elites have an aim of 80 for eay/normal, 90 on classic, and 100 on impossible, a defense of 20 for easy/normal and 30 for classic/impossible, 14 health on every difficulty except for 18 on impossible (EW stats 14 easy/normal, 18 classic, and 20 impossible), and 20 will. Muton Elites resemble standard Mutons in appearances and physiology but the similarities end there. Physically stronger, the Muton Elites are also equipped with a heavier and more regal armor and Heavy Plasma cannons; Elites also tend to show greater intelligence and coordination than their ordinary counterparts. Muton Elites are smart and capable squad fighters that are not likely to be taken down easily. Muton Elites primarily maintain a guardian role, regularly protecting any Ethereals present among the alien forces. With such physical and mental capabilities, Muton Elites are a force to be reckoned with and extreme measures should be taken when faced with this foe. They have the abilities of suppression and bombard.

Muton Elites first appear during the seventh month (September), or February 2016 if the "Marathon" Second Wave option is enabled. After their introduction, they're a common sight in Alien Abductions and both kinds of UFO missions, but will not appear on Terror Site missions.

The heavy floater has 70 aim easy/normal and 80 aim for classic/impossible; defense of 10; 12 health for easy/normal, 14 for classic, and 16 for impossible; and a will of 25. The Heavy Floater is a superior version of the Floater, boasting upgraded weapons and heavier armor. It is more accurate than the standard Floater unit, and has three times the health. The Heavy Floater loses no mobility from its extra armor and weapons, as its jump jets now glow green and seem to be more powerful. It has braces over its upper arms that seem to assist it in hefting its Plasma Rifle, particularly due to the fact that it seems to always fire said Plasma Rifle one-handed. The Heavy Floater has a net increase in accuracy however, apparently due to the night vision goggle-like helmet it wears. The Heavy floater has launch, evasion, airborne, and bombard.

Heavy Floaters first appear during the sixth month (August), or December if the "Marathon" Second Wave option is enabled. Their chance of being deployed declines over the following two months (Marathon: three months, from February to April 2016), to a rate on par with Berserkers.

The commander sectoid is an EW alien and has a aim of 85 for easy/normal and 95 for classic/impossible; defense of 20; 10 health for easy/normal and 14 for classic/impossible; mobility of 12; and a will of 90 easy/normal, 115 for classic, and 125 for impossible. Although they look similar to their weaker brethren, Sectoid Commanders have larger heads covered in thick veins, and glowing red eyes. Like Sectoids, they are all genetically identical clones, but have been engineered with greater endurance and incredible psionic powers. While these gifts make them far more deadly than the lower caste troops they command, they are still ultimately little more than subservient pawns of the Ethereals. There main form of attack consist of these abilities mindfray (Inflicts penalties to Aim, Will and Mobility and deals 5 damage. Robotic enemies are immune. Lasts 2 turns. 1 turn cooldown.), greater mind merge (Mind Merge with all lesser allies of the same species nearby, granting them +25% critical chance, +25 Will and +1 health.), mind control (Very difficult psi technique that, if successful, grants control of the target for 3 turns. Robotic enemies are immune.), and finally psi panic (Cause target to panic on its following turn, if the target's Will is overcome. Robotic enemies are immune. 2 turn cooldown.)

The Sectoid Commander first appears during the tutorial mission in Germany in which it uses Mind Control to force a German soldier to attack the XCOM Assault team. They are not encountered in combat until the assault on the Alien Base. After this point, Sectoid Commanders appear on the bridge of alien UFOs, replacing the Outsider. They may appear individually or in small groups. After the Overseer Crash Site mission is complete, they are replaced by Ethereals. In Enemy Within they become more common again, as they can now be found in Abduction missions in order to provide Psi Shields to multiple Mechtoids – though this again becomes a possibility only after the Alien Base Assault.

A form of PTSD for any Xcom veteran they have an aim of 80 for easy/normal and 90 for classic/impossible; defense of 30; health of 30; and a mobility of 12. The Sectopod is an extremely dangerous robotic enemy. It appears around six months into the campaign (usually after researching Heavy Plasma) and is usually accompanied by two to three Drones. It is often found aboard larger alien ships and during late game Terror Site missions. The Sectopod's primary threats come from its very high health and its Cannon Fire ability which allows multiple devastating attacks in a single turn. While extremely powerful weaponry is required to reliably kill a Sectopod, these deadly machines are most definitely not invincible. In XCOM: Enemy Within Sectopods take 50% less damage from all sources, effectively doubling their health as well as the amount of damage repaired by any escorting Drones. This, combined with the reduction of the HEAT Ammo bonus against mechanical units from 100% to 50% makes them one of the most significant threats in the game. Many of the strategies listed in this article were formulated before the release of XCOM: Enemy Within and thus will not work as specified, they will have to be modified in order to be effective against Sectopods with their new trait. Sectopods cannot be selected to be on your squad in multiplayer. Sectopods have the abilities of cluster bomb (Mark a large area and, after one turn, saturate it with a barrage of explosive mini-bombs.) and cannon fire (Beam attack that causes high damage and grants free Overwatch. If the Sectopod does not move, Cannon Fire can be used twice (against different enemies). Their traits include hardened, stun immune, robotic, and reinforced armor (Reduces all damage taken by 50%. Damage taken is rounded up to the nearest whole number.)

Sectopods first appear during the seventh month (September), or February 2016 if the "Marathon" Second Wave option is enabled. There is a limit of one per mission the month it is introduced, and two per mission thereafter; however players have reported up to four Sectopods appearing on a single mission in Normal mode. These deployment limits do not appear to apply to Impossible mode. In later months of an impossible difficulty terror Site, all five enemy pods can be Sectopods. Sectopods can be deployed for several mission types, including terror sites, large UFO landing and crash sites, but are not encountered during abduction missions.The Overseer Crash Site mission features at least one Sectopod, even if you haven't reached September yet.

Ethereals have 100 aim for easy/normal and 110 aim for classic/impossible; 40 defense; 20 health for all difficulties except for impossible where they have 25; 12 mobility; and 120 will for easy/normal, 145 will for classic, and 155 will for impossible. he Ethereals are the psionically gifted, yet physically frail leaders of the alien invasion. Possibly due to extreme age or the energy requirements of their overdeveloped brains, their bodies have atrophied to an alarming degree. Some of their organs are underdeveloped and some sensory organs are not working at all. Despite being physically infirm, they are extremely resilient in combat and their devastating mental abilities can wipe out an entire XCOM squad in short order. The Ethereals used a combination of mind control and forced evolution to subjugate and mold the numerous races that comprise the alien invasion. Many of the races that XCOM faces were uplifted by the Ethereals and experimented on in order to create superior beings. Ultimately, they were all deemed failures and now serve as shock troops for subsequent invasions.
The only way Ethereals fight is with their abilities which are mindfray (Causes the target to lose grip on reality, inflicting penalties to Aim, Will, and mobility, and doing 5 base damage. Robotic units are immune. Lasts 2 turns, 1 turn cooldown.), rift (Devastate an area with a storm of psi energy. The rift does more damage against targets with low Will, and reduced damage against target with high Will. 4 turn cooldown.), psi lance (Project a bolt of pure psi force at an enemy.), mind control (Very difficult psi technique that, if successful, grants control of the target for 3 turns. Does not work on robotic enemies. 5 turn cooldown.), and psi drain (Drain health from an ally.) They also have the hardened trait.

The first Ethereal is encountered during the Overseer Crash Site mission; if playing XCOM: Enemy Within, it is possible to encounter an Ethereal first during the XCOM Base Defense mission instead. Ethereals replace Sectoid Commanders on any UFO Crash Site or UFO Landing Site mission thereafter. Ethereals are typically accompanied by one or more Muton Elite.

EXALT is a secret human paramilitary society determined to seize power while the governments of Earth are distracted with resisting the alien invasion in 2015.They are the new enemy faction introduced in XCOM: Enemy Within. They conduct operations targeting XCOM starting in May (the 3rd month of the invasion). While not allied with the aliens, EXALT harbor transhumanist ideals and sympathize with the aliens' effort to evolve the human species; where others fear or resist the alien invasion, EXALT see it as their opportunity to acquire the resources they need to seize power. So, like XCOM, EXALT is operating in the shadows and endeavoring to recover alien technology and develop sophisticated human genetic modification protocols, but unlike XCOM, their ultimate goal is to establish a world government under their control. EXALT works to disrupt XCOM's activities as they see XCOM as a rival in the acquisition of alien technology and an impediment to the aliens' human experimentation. To this end, EXALT sets up sleeper cells in Council nations around the world; the cell's hidden presence magnifies the effects of any panic the country may receive. Furthermore a cell can go active, performing one of three different EXALT Operations against XCOM: Sabotage, steals funding from XCOM; Propaganda, increases panic in the country where the cell is located; or a Research Hack, reverses progress on the project currently being researched. In addition to the strategic threat posed by EXALT, the organization's paramilitary agents present a very real tactical threat during Covert Operations. The following EXALT soldiers may be encountered in the field: EXALT Operative, EXALT Medic, EXALT Heavy, and EXALT Sniper.When first encountered, EXALT forces utilize conventional weapons that equal those of XCOM. In fact, EXALT weapons retain the same stats as their XCOM equivalents despite their visual differences; EXALT small arms are dark-colored, sleek or angular, and have elements reminiscent of modern real world (mixed western-european) firearms. As the game progresses, XCOM will encounter Elite soldiers who wear armor and utilize laser weapons and equipment that is also on par with XCOM's technology. Although EXALT weapons have completely the same stats in game mechanics as the XCOM counterparts, they tend to fire in a visually different way like performing a different burst of fire in numbers of shots. This is purely cosmetic. EXALT weapons can be recovered after a mission to be used by XCOM soldiers or can be sold via the Gray Market. Council members may request a stock of EXALT weapons in return for a larger cash bonus than would be received from a normal sale, similar to requests for pieces of alien technology.

There is not much to say about these guys, they are just cheap nockoffs of XCOM. [/previewico[previewicon]n]

WIP

NOTE: BECAUSE I AM LAZY AND ALREADY SPENT ENOUGH TIME PUTTING THIS TOGETHER THIS PART OF THE GUIDE IS ALL Rensje's WORK AND THE CREDIT GOES TO THEM FOR WRITING THIS.



Every soldier who joins the XCOM project starts out as a mere rookie. Armed with only a basic assault rifle and a single frag grenade, these inexperienced lads and ladettes have to be clever and careful if they want to survive.



ROOKIE STATS
Easy Normal Classic Impossible
Health 6 5 4 3
Aim 65 65 65 65
Will* 40 40 40 40
Defense 0 0 0 0
* Will is increased by 1-6+2 for every rank up, plus an additional 1-4+2 with the Iron Will perk
** The information in this table does not apply if the Second Wave modifier Not Created Equally is selected upon starting a new game


RECOMMENDED BACKPACK ITEMS
Nano-Fiber Vest [Health +2] / Chitin Plating [Health +4, melee damage taken reduced by 50%]
S.C.O.P.E. [Aim +10]
Frag Grenade
Medikit [if squad lacks dedicated Support]

Making sure your rookies stay alive should always be your top priority. Even if they don't fire a single shot over the course of a mission, they will still receive experience points and ultimately climb in rank if they take part in successful missions.

To that end, it is probably best to equip your rookies with Nano-Fiber Vests. It probably won't save them from dying to a critical hit, but early on that +2 bonus to health can easily make the difference between injury and death.

If you fancy a more offensive playstyle, equipping your rookies with a S.C.O.P.E. to improve their aim is a good idea. Those Sectoids you encounter early on can be hard to hit when they are in high cover or far away.

Alternatively, giving your rookies Frag Grenades can make surviving early missions considerably easier. Rookies may have poor aim, but they can lob a grenade just fine. Use them to either destroy the aliens' cover or kill them outright. A solid tactic, but don't expect Dr. Vahlen to be happy about it:

"You may want to instruct your men to exercise restraint when using explosives. While certainly effective at killing aliens they also destroy the artifacts we're hoping to recover from their bodies. Just something to consider".

Only ever give a rookie a Medikit to hold if your squad does not have a Support soldier. Giving it to anyone else will effectively waste their valuable item slot, hurting their chances.

NOTE: BECAUSE I AM LAZY AND ALREADY SPENT ENOUGH TIME PUTTING THIS TOGETHER THE MAJORITY OF THIS PART IS ALL Rensje's WORK AND THE CREDIT GOES TO THEM FOR WRITING THIS.



The aggressive Assault class is great for recon, flanking, blitz tactics and capturing aliens alive with the Arc Thrower. They are not as durable as the Heavy, but their nimbleness paired with their defensive abilities keeps them alive even if they get caught in alien crossfire. Though they prefer the shotgun, an Assault soldier can also carry assault rifles into battle.


ASSAULT STATS
Rank Health Aim
Squaddie +1 +5
Corporal +0 +3
Sergeant +1 +3
Lieutenant +0 +3
Captain +1 +3
Major +0 +3
Colonel +1 +4
* The information in this table does not apply if the Second Wave modifier Hidden Potential is selected upon starting a new game


ASSAULT ABILITIES
Rank Ability
Squaddie: Run & Gun
Allows firing or Overwatch after dashing on the turn Run & Gun is activated. 2 turn cooldown.

Corporal: Tactical Sense
Confers +5 defense per enemy in sight (max +20).

Aggression
Confers +10% critical chance per enemy in sight (max +30%).
Sergeant: Lightning Reflexes
Forces the first reaction shot against this unit each turn to miss.

Close & Personal
first standard shot made within 4 tiles costs no action, however it doesn't stack with Run & Gun.
Lieutenant: Flush
Fire a shot that causes enemies to run out of cover. The shot is easy to hit with, but does reduced damage.

Rapid Fire
Take two shots against a single target in quick succession. Each shot carries a -15 penalty to Aim.
Captain: Close Combat Specialist
Confers a reaction shot against any enemy who closes to within 4 tiles. Does not require Overwatch.

Bring ‘Em On
Adds 1 damage on critical hits for each enemy the squad can see (up to 5).
Major: Extra Conditioning
Confers bonus health based on which type of armor is equipped. Heavier armor increases the bonus.
Colonel: Resilience
Confers immunity to critical hits.

Killer Instinct
Activating Run & Gun now also grants +50% critical damage for the rest of the turn.

Squaddie: Run & Gun - every Assault promoted from rookie status acquires the Run & Gun ability, and it is awesome. Being able to fire (even Rapid Fire!) after dashing really helps when trying to flank an enemy, and it's also great for closing the distance on enemies that are hard to reach otherwise.

Corporal: Tactical Sense - Although Aggression is nice, Assaults generally have plenty of crit chance as it is, especially when flanking or attacking from stealth with Ghost Armor. Also, to reach Aggression's full potential the Assault has to be within line of sight of three aliens, which can be very dangerous indeed.

Being front-line fighters, Assaults need all the extra defense they can get, especially on higher difficulties where aliens receive bonuses to Aim. This makes Tactical Sense a much better choice. Be advised that Tactical Sense has no effect against melee enemies such as Chryssalids.

Sergeant: Lightning Reflexes - Lightning Reflexes is one of the best abilities here. With it you can force an enemy in Overwatch to waste its reaction shot on you without taking any damage. This in turn allows cornered squadmates to retreat to safety. The importance of Lightning Reflexes' many possible applications cannot be overstated.

Close & Personal is a one of my personal favorites and has helped out in situations when you can land a double kill and help open up the field more.

Lieutenant: Rapid Fire - Rapid Fire is great in tandem with Run & Gun; run straight up to the enemy and blast them in the face twice at point-blank range. The damage potential is huge, and at short distances the -15 penalty to Aim is negligible.

By itself, Flush does terrible damage compared to Rapid Fire. It has some situational uses, such as forcing a well-fortified enemy out of cover while the rest of your squad is on Overwatch, but chances are good said alien will just take cover somewhere else straight away.

Captain: Close Combat Specialist - Close Combat Specialist will save your hide on terror missions, when you are surrounded by Chryssalids and Muton Berserkers. You can even trick Berserkers into charging you by shooting them from a distance; if they close to within 4 tiles you get a shot at them for free. This ability is must personally it has saved my squad so many times even when it is mixed with mimetic skin which can be annoying at times but the benefits of both tend to outweigh the consequences.

Bring 'Em On is a solid choice for the more offensive Assault, especially if you went with Close & Personal at sergeant rank. The enemies don't even have to be in the Assault's direct line of sight for the damage bonus to work, making this a potentially powerful offensive ability.

Major: Extra Conditioning - all Assaults that attain major rank gain Extra Conditioning. Have your Assault wear either Archangel or Titan Armor for the full +4 bonus to Health. Ghost Armor will give you +2 Health with this ability.

Colonel: Resilience - no matter how careful you are, at some point your Assault is going to get shot. At higher difficulties, chances an alien will score a crit against you increase dramatically. Resilience makes the Assault immune to critical hits, even when flanked. Take this ability and never look back.

However, if you went with Close & Personal and Bring 'Em On before, you have to take Killer Instinct here. If you use Run & Gun to dash right up to the enemy and then Rapid Fire at point-blank range, this deadly combination of abilities pretty much guarantees two critical hits at 150% damage, plus 1 damage for each enemy your squad can see. That's about 15-25 damage per shot with an Alloy Cannon. Boom.


RECOMMENDED BACKPACK ITEMS
Nano-Fiber Vest [Health +2] / Chitin Plating [Health +4, melee damage taken reduced by 50%]
Arc Thrower
Combat Stims [Will +40, Mobility +3, 50% damage reduction and crit immunity for 2 turns]

Assault troops usually fight in the vanguard, exposing them to enemy fire. Good defense is a necessity and because of this, equipping your Assault with either a Nano-Fiber Vest or Chitin Plating is a must. Chitin Plating is an absolute no-brainer on terror missions and will help you deal with those pesky Chryssalids. Of course, you will have to kill one before you can make any.

The Assault's close proximity to the enemy makes them ideal candidates for carrying the Arc Thrower into battle. Be advised that the Arc Thrower isn't considered a weapon and therefore cannot be used with the Run & Gun ability. Soften enemies up from a distance and rush in with the Assault to take them in for 'questioning'.

Combat Stims are another great choice for Assaults to carry, especially for those that prefer offensive abilities. Note that using it ends the Assault's turn.

For those with EW the recommended gene mods will be in the next chapter...

NOTE: BECAUSE I AM LAZY AND HAVE A LOT TIME WRITING THIS, ALL OF THE CREDIT FOR WRITING THIS PART OF THE SECTION GOES TO Hellbilly.



The skill builds may vary but the Assault has two distinct specialities. First, they are the very best at close-quarters combat with the Shotgun, Close Quarters Specialist and Close and Personal. Secondly, they are excellent frontline troopers; the best at scouting ahead and flanking the enemy with Run and Gun.

The Assault excels at fighting; whether offensive or defensive. They have several skills you can take to improve their survivability such as Tactical Sense, Lightning Reflexes, Extra Conditioning and Resilience. This means they are more difficult to kill and thus, mods won't be wasted.

The Assault enjoys the highest priority since he benefits the most from gene mods.

- Suggested Mods -

Neural Damping The Assault is one of the most lethal soldiers in your squad, especially when armed with a shotgun. For this reason, Neural Damping is the best since you do not want your Assault, under any circumstance, to be mind-controlled and be made to wreak havoc on the rest of your squad. The immunity to panic and the additional will also greatly helps Assaults with low will.


Hyper Reactive Pupils + Rapid Fire + Close and Personal + Close Combat Specialist
The best choice in almost all cases. The Assault's Rapid Fire immediately benefits from this mod if the first shot misses. Free shots like Close and Personal and Close Combat Specialist can turn a miss into an added benefit.


Mimetic Skin
This gene mod really fits the Assault's playstyle. Since the Assault is the first to scout ahead, this mod allows him to do so safely. The Assault is one of the best classes to modify with Mimetic Skin since Run and Gun opens up a lot of options. The Assault can, for example, move to Heavy Cover, spot the enemy, take Combat Drugs while the rest of the squad engages the enemy. Then, in the next turn, storm the "safe" enemy positions with a devastating flanking attack with Run and Gun.

Warning: This mod conflicts with Close Combat Specialist. If an alien moves too close to the Assault, he will fire and come out of the invisibility from Mimetic Skin. This will make him vulnerable to follow-up attacks from aliens who haven't moved yet.


Secondary Heart
These mods synergize well with the Assault's skills and give a boost to his innate survivability. The Assault can make great use of the Adaptive Bone Marrow with the high base health he can acquire from Armor and Extra Conditioning. The Resilience skill prevents sudden spikes in damage from critical hits. All these combine to make damage much more manageable and allows the Assault to soak up a bit of damage (if necessary) and always be in a state or combat readiness - if given some time to heal.

The Secondary Heart goes well with this set-up. It eliminates the will penalty from the critical wounds Assaults tend to receive regularly. Having your Assault live on only his base health is also very risky. Worst case scenario? At least the Secondary Heart allows you to stabilize your Assault instead of death. The Adaptive Bone Marrow (with Rapid Recovery) will help your Assault recover in time for the next mission should that happen.

If your Support has Revive then that's a great combo too, since the Assault can heal up to full base health by himself.


Muscle Fiber Density
The Assault excels in making bold, aggressive movements in the battlefield thanks to Run and Gun. Run and Gun allows the Assault to quickly take advantage of terrain to get flanking shots on the enemy. Muscle Fiber Density greatly improves his range of movement making flanking easier or, if flanking is not possible, take advantage of high ground for the added aim bonus. This is great on Riflemen Assaults.

- Situational Mods -

Neural Feedback - Preventing your Assault from being mind-controlled is top priority so Neural Damping is the safer bet. However, there are instances when Neural Feedback is an acceptable choice. If your Assault has exceptionally high will, whether from the Iron Will upgrade, medals or items like Mind Shield, Neural Feedback makes sense because your Assault may resist the psi attack and deal a lot of damage in return.

Depth Perception - This mod makes sense only if you took Muscle Fiber Density or armor with a grappling hook. Even then, the situations when the high ground really matters are few and far between. This mod is useless on Shotgun Specialists who need to be right next to the enemy anyway.

Adrenal Neurosympathy - If you don't care for the Secondary Heart, this mod is best on Assaults since they have the killing power to trigger Combat Rush for their squadmates. However, here are some things to consider.

Shotgun Specialists may not be the best for this mod for two reasons; first, they tend to fight deep into the enemy positions and their squadmates may not have line of sight on the Assault to receive the Combat Rush buff. Secondly, the added aim from Combat Rush is moot in close quarters and the critical chance isn't that powerful since the shotgun already has a high critical chance, not to mention flanking bonuses.

Riflemen Assaults perform spectacularly with Combat Rush. The added aim, critical chance and movement from Combat Rush fit their aggressive playstyle perfectly. The real question is whether the Assault should give up the Secondary Heart to carry this mod or just have another squadmate carry this mod since it's really only Combat Rush that matters. You decide.

Bioelectric Skin - Look, we all know Mimetic Skin is awesome but sometimes, Mimetic Skin is too costly or, for one reason or another, not an option. In which case, Bioelectric Skin also works best on the Assault since the Assault often does the scouting anyway.

Shotgun Specialists benefit from this mod since it's usually them who stack up behind a doorway before breaching a room. Bioelectric Skin can detect the threats and their positions before storming them. The immunity from strangulation is also a bonus since Shotgun Specialists are good at Seeker-peeling duties.

NOTE: BECAUSE I AM LAZY AND ALREADY SPENT ENOUGH TIME PUTTING THIS TOGETHER THIS PART OF THE GUIDE IS ALL Rensje's WORK AND THE CREDIT GOES TO THEM FOR WRITING THIS.



Snipers are the most terrifying addition to any XCOM squad. They can kill without being seen, or disable enemy weapons from a distance. Scaling buildings or taking to the skies in Archangel Armor to find that perfect vantage point, they oversee the entire mission area. Your whole squad will rest easy knowing that their Sniper is up there somewhere, looking out for them.



SNIPER STATS
Rank Health Aim
Squaddie +0 +10
Corporal +1 +3
Sergeant +0 +3
Lieutenant +1 +3
Captain +0 +4
Major +1 +7
Colonel +0 +10
* The information in this table does not apply if the Second Wave modifier Hidden Potential is selected upon starting a new game


SNIPER ABILITIES
Rank Ability
Squaddie Headshot
Fire a shot with +30% critical chance and extra damage on critical hits based on the tech level of the sniper rifle. 2 turn cooldown.
Corporal Snap Shot
Removes the sniper rifle’s restriction on firing and Overwatch after moving. Any shots taken suffer a -20 Aim penalty.

Squad Sight
Allows firing at targets in any ally’s sight radius.
Sergeant Gunslinger
Confers 2 bonus damage with pistols.

Damn Good Ground
+10 Aim and +10 Defense against enemies at lower elevation in addition to the usual elevation bonuses.
Lieutenant Disabling Shot
Allows the Sniper to fire a shot that causes the target’s main weapon to malfunction. The target may use Reload to fix the weapon. The shot cannot inflict a critical hit. 2 turn cooldown. -10 Aim penalty.

Battle Scanner
Scanning device, when thrown creates a new source of vision for 2 turns. Can only be used 2 times per battle.
Captain Executioner
+10% Aim against targets with less than 50% Health.

Opportunist
Eliminates the Aim penalty on reaction shots, and allows reaction shots to cause critical hits.
Major Low Profile
Makes partial cover count as full.
Colonel In The Zone
Killing a flanked or uncovered target with the sniper rifle does not cost an action.

Double Tap
Allows both actions to be used for Standard Shot, Headshot, or Disable Shot, provided no moves were made. 1 turn cooldown.

Squaddie: Headshot - The Sniper's signature ability is also one of its best. Once every three turns you can fire a shot with a 30% increased crit chance and extra damage based on weapon tech. It's pretty much a guaranteed crit if you flank an alien or catch one out in the open with it. It pairs really well with Double Tap and Ghost Armor for landing two massive crits in a row.

Corporal: Squad Sight - Squad Sight defines the Sniper class. With it your Sniper can fire on any alien your squad can see, provided there are no obstacles in the line of fire. Without it, you have to waste valuable time setting your Sniper up on a good vantage point. Squad Sight means your Sniper spends less time running and more time killing aliens. Essential. Paired with Archangel Armor this ability is godlike.

Snap Shot, although not without its uses, really is more trouble than it's worth. Using it properly means flanking aliens with your Sniper and that means getting in dangerously close, exposing yourself. Being able to fire the Sniper rifle after moving is nice, but Snap Shot does hurt the Sniper's impeccable accuracy.

Sergeant: Gunslinger - This ability is a godsend in confined spaces, and early on when the Sniper is still lacking some of his best abilities. With Gunslinger your Sniper will do surprisingly decent damage using a Laser or Plasma Pistol, and it works just fine with Double Tap for those times when one shot just isn't enough.

Damn Good Ground is a nice ability in its own right, but Snipers have great Aim to begin with, especially on higher ground. The Defense bonus is nothing to write home about, either, and if you play your Sniper right he should not be exposed to enemy fire to begin with.

Lieutenant: Disabling Shot - On higher difficulties, sometimes you just know you won't be able to kill that last alien on this turn. Disabling its weapon is a pretty good alternative at that point. Disabling Shot allows you to waste the alien's turn by making it reload to fix its gun. It's also great for 'prepping' targets you want to stun with the Arc Thrower, minimising the risk of getting your soldiers killed should the stun fail.

If your Sniper took Snap Shot earlier, you might like Battle Scanner. It's great for peaking around corners without exposing yourself, but it has limited uses and does not work as well for Snipers that like to keep their distance. It will work with Squad Sight, which is nice.

Captain: Opportunist - Taking reaction shots that can crit without suffering an Aim penalty? If that sounds overpowered to you it's because it is overpowered. Opportunity turns your squad's line of sight into a murder zone. Any alien careless enough to step within range is going to get its head blown off. It works beautifully with pistols too, even over long distances. The Executioner ability does not even begin to compare to this.

Major: Low Profile - This ability means you can set your Sniper up anywhere you like. It lets you save obstacles that provide full cover for squad members who really need it, and makes ledges, balconies, rooftops and lorry trailers that much more attractive as vantage points.

Colonel: Double Tap - This is it; the hardest choice your Sniper will ever have to make: In The Zone or Double Tap?

In The Zone is excellent for those whide open spaces where you are going up against Cyberdiscs, Floaters, Drones, Chryssalids, Zombies or Berserkers, pretty much any enemy that does not take cover. As long as you can kill them with one shot and the shot connects, you can keep firing until you've emptied your rifle. It's hugely powerful, but very situational.

On the other hand, Double Tap lets you fire twice every other turn. There's a little less potential damage here, but it is much more reliable and less dependent on the situation. Double Tap works just fine with all special shots and if you use it with Ghost Armor and Headshot, you can score two huge crits in a row. More than enough to kill a Sectopod, or even the Uber Ethereal, in one turn.

If you went with Snap Shot earlier, pick In The Zone here. If not, I would strongly recommend taking Double Tap. Actually, I would always recommend it. It's both powerful and reliable and that makes it really hard to beat.


RECOMMENDED BACKPACK ITEMS
S.C.O.P.E. [Aim +10]

The S.C.O.P.E. is probably the only item your Sniper will ever need. Early on, it's vital to compensate for the Aim penalty on reaction fire, and it negates the Aim penalty on Disabling Shot completely. It will also help you make the most of In The Zone and Double Tap, making the S.C.O.P.E. the obvious choice.
Afternote: Sniper's snapshot got buffed with a reduced aim penalty but is still absurdly outclassed, even with the nerf that squadsight shots can't crit without headshot. Battle Scanners are much more worthwhile due to new additions that are otherwise a pain to deal with early on. Late game not so much. Battle scanners can be pretty janky.

The Sniper has two radically different styles. The first are the Squadsight Snipers who excel at dealing tremendous amounts of damage from a distance to high-value targets without exposing themselves to counterattack. The second is the Scout Sniper who uses his superior mobility to bring the power of the Sniper Rifle to bear without the drawbacks of having to set-up or being blocked by line-of-sight.

Snipers are glass cannons. They deal most of your damage but have little in the way of survivabilty. They rely on long range and high ground more than the other classes.

Snipers don't really need a lot of mods to be effective. They tend to stay far away from the battles. A few key mods will do and even then, there may be ways around their weaknesses such as S.C.O.P.E.S. or Skeleton/Ghost/Archangel Armor. As such, there's no hurry to modify them.

- Suggested Mods -


Depth Perception and/or Muscle Fiber Density
These mods works best with both kinds of Snipers since they ought to and should be using high ground as much as possible.

Muscle Fiber Density helps Scout Snipers since they move around a lot more and it frees them to use the heavier armors to compensate for their lack of survivability. It may not even be necessary for Squadsight Snipers since, being away from danger, they can take their time getting to high ground, could use the lighter armors with grappling hooks or use the Archangel Armor for instant high ground (overkill!).


Mimetic Skin
Talk about synergy. Mimetic Skin goes so well with Snipers, it's ridiculous. Mimetic Skin allows near total freedom of movement for the Sniper by allowing him to be invisible in any type of cover. This allows the Sniper to take the best firing position easily and in complete safety without worrying about being shot.

Scout Snipers make great use of this since there's usually only low cover at the top of buildings. Squadsight Snipers however, have no use for this at all since they don't need invisibility staying way behind the frontlines.

Those three mods are the important ones. The rest are situational or are only really relevant to the uncommon Scout Sniper.

- Situational Mods -

Neural Damping or Neural Feedback
Brain mods shouldn't be necessary since your Sniper should be far away from the threats leaving the other classes more at risk of psi attacks. Those classes should receive the brain mods first.

Still, if you feel the need for a brain mod, follow the general rule: If the Sniper has low will, get Neural Damping. If the Sniper has a high will score and a high chance to resist psi attacks, get Neural Feedback.


Hyper Reactive Pupils
They synergize sure, but the usefulness of the mod is dubious. This mod can be useful in the earlier months though, when Snipers still tend to miss often. However, if you're at the point when you have Double Tap, chances are your Sniper will have impressive aim already and won't miss often enough to justify this mod.

Bioelectric Skin - Mimetic Skin works better for Snipers but this is entirely up to the player. Scout Snipers have good use for it. Squadsight Snipers could, theoretically, benefit from the immunity from being singled out and strangled by a Seeker but you could just equip a Respirator Implant if that's a problem. Also, note that the Sniper's Battle Scanner ability may take the place of this mod.


Secondary Heart and Adaptive Bone Marrow
Squadsight Snipers have no use for these mods. They should be far away from the dangers of death and critical injury in the first place. The Secondary Heart is useful only for insurance purposes so that your "MVP" Sniper does not die a sudden death.

Scout Snipers could take these mods to improve their survivability but then again, if resources are scarce, you may have to decide if it's better on either Assaults or Heavies as they do a better job at managing damage. It depends how important you value your Scout Sniper's life. This sad choice is up to you.


Adrenal Neurosympathy
Snipers are the best at killing things. Snipers with Executioner are excellent at delivering the coup de grace and can trigger Combat Rush easily enough for your team.

Scout Snipers will make better use of this mod than Squadsight snipers because Squadsight Snipers tend to be out of sight of your other soldiers such that they cannot receive Combat Rush.

The reason this is in the Situational Mod section is that the Sniper does not necessarily need to be the one to carry this mod. If you don't want to take out an insurance policy on your Sniper with the Secondary Heart, this mod is great.

NOTE: BECAUSE I AM LAZY AND ALREADY SPENT ENOUGH TIME PUTTING THIS TOGETHER THIS PART OF THE GUIDE IS ALL Rensje's WORK AND THE CREDIT GOES TO THEM FOR WRITING THIS.



Sometimes things can get ugly; soldiers start taking hits and go down, or panic in the face of overwhelming odds. The Support is there to patch them up, strengthen their resolve and help them get back into the fight. These strong-willed warriors have good aim and run like the wind, providing covering fire for their squad or going the distance to flank enemies.


SUPPORT STATS
Rank Health Aim
Squaddie +1 +5
Corporal +0 +3
Sergeant +1 +3
Lieutenant +0 +3
Captain +1 +3
Major +0 +3
Colonel +1 +5
* The information in this table does not apply if the Second Wave modifier Hidden Potential is selected upon starting a new game


SUPPORT ABILITIES
Rank Ability
Squaddie Smoke Grenade
Deploy a smoke grenade once per mission. The smoke confers +20 defense to all units, not just allies, and lasts during the enemy turn.
Corporal Sprinter
Allows the support to move 3 additional tiles.

Covering Fire
Allows reaction shot to trigger on enemy attacks, not just movement.
Sergeant Field Medic
Allows medikits to be used 3 times per battle instead of once.

Smoke and Mirrors
Allows 1 additional use of Smoke Grenade each mission.
Lieutenant Revive
Allows Medikits to revive critically wounded Soldiers at 33% of maximum health instead of just stabilizing them.

Rifle Suppression
Fires a barrage that pins down a target, granting reaction fire against it and imposing a 30 penalty to aim.
Captain Dense Smoke
Smoke Grenades have increased area of effect and further increase units’ Defense by 20.

Combat Drugs
Smoke Grenades now contain powerful stimulants that grant +20 Will and +10% Critical Chance for all units in the cloud.
Major Deep Pockets
Confers an additional item slot in inventory.
Colonel Savior
Medikits restore 4 more health per use.

Sentinel
Allows two reaction shots during Overwatch, instead of only one.

Squaddie: Smoke Grenade - Smoke Grenades are essential for those times when you need a soldier to get in position where there is no full cover to benefit from. It's a great ability, but you only have one per mission, so make it count.

Corporal: Sprinter - +3 to Mobility may not sound like much on paper, but it makes a huge difference. You could use it to flank an enemy that is pinned down, close in on an enemy to stun him with the Arc Thrower or leg it to stabilise a friendly that was shot down across the battlefield. Sprinter is a subtle, but powerful ability.

Covering Fire is not bad, especially on higher difficulties, but it has one major flaw: your Support will only take a reaction shot after the enemy has fired, meaning it could well be too late already. It pairs well with Sentinel later on, but it's not nearly as versatile as Sprinter.

Sergeant: Field Medic - Getting 3 uses out of your Medikit per mission instead of just 1 makes this an absolutely essential ability. Watching a wounded soldier bleed out because you used your one Medikit on a paper cut is rough; don't put yourself in that position.

You could argue that having 2 Smoke Grenades per mission would allow you to prevent those wounds in the first place, but relying that heavily on Smoke Grenades is risky, especially on higher difficulty levels where the aliens receive bonuses to Aim.

Lieutenant: Revive - No medic can do without Revive. It's essential, especially in those Ironman games where every veteran soldier is worth his weight in gold. Not only can you prevent them from dying, you can actually put them straight back into the fight. Awesome.

Rifle Suppression uses up a lot of ammo and unless you took Covering Fire earlier, you are probably not going to get much use out of it. A suppressed alien knows better than to move when under fire, and at higher difficulty levels chances are good they will still hit you, even at a -30 penalty to Aim.

Captain: Dense Smoke - This is a pretty tough choice, but Dense Smoke is the slightly better choice here because the area of effect on it is bigger than that of Combat Drugs, and because +20 Defense is generally better than +20 Will and a +10% crit chance, which is negligible. Defense works against all enemies, whereas Will only really helps you against psionic abilities.

That said, Combat Drugs is not without its uses and having a second Support with this ability could be a great idea. You could use it to empower your gifted soldiers or keep soldiers with a low base Will stat from panicking in the face of terrible danger.

Major: Deep Pockets - It may be a passive ability, but Deep Pockets is a-ma-zing. You could carry both a Medikit and an Arc Thrower, or Chitin Plating and a Mind Shield, or any other combination of offensive, defensive and utlity items. Deep Pockets is a defining ability for the Support and it makes them the most versatile class by far.

Colonel: Savior - Again, this is a very tough choice because both abilities are pretty great. Savior is fantastic because it doubles the effectiveness of your Medikits. If you completed the Improved Medikit project in the Foundy, this bumps your Medikits up to +10 Health per use. Awesome.

Sentinel is great too, as it allows you to fire from Overwatch twice. Unlike the Heavy's Rapid Reaction ability, the first shot does not even have to be a hit for it to work. Sentinel is great when you're trying to lure enemies into a murder zone, but it has one major flaw: the second shot will never trigger on enemies that you run into for the first time.


RECOMMENDED BACKPACK ITEMS
Medikit
Arc Thrower

Every Support should carry a Medikit. Supports are the best at healing squad members and their Deep Pockets ability allows them to carry another, more directly beneficial item as well. Also, the Medikit grants immunity to poison, which is excellent when fighting Thin Men.

The Arc Thrower is another great item choice for Supports, especially if you took the Sprinter ability. Supports can run long distances, making it easy for them to get into stun range. Should the stun fail, you could use your Assault to run in and clean up so nobody gets hurt.

Later, when capturing aliens alive is no longer a priority or even completely unnecessary, you could replace the Arc Thrower with any item you want. Chitin Plating is great for defense, especially on terror missions. Mind Shield will help your Support overcome psionic attacks. Combat Stims could improve their own psionic powers, etc. Take your pick, they are all solid choices.
Afternote: Supports Deep Pockets gives +1 use to most utility items and the old effect is now a foundry upgrade for ALL soldiers.

NOTE: BECAUSE I AM LAZY AND HAVE A LOT TIME WRITING THIS, ALL OF THE CREDIT FOR WRITING THIS PART OF THE SECTION GOES TO Hellbilly.



The Support Class excels at keeping the rest of your squad alive and fighting at peak condition. The Support could be a Medic, who greatly extends the lives of your troops by healing a lot of damage and making the most out of Medkits and Smoke Grenades. The Support could also act as Fire Support, preventing damage by Supressing enemies and using Covering Fire and Overwatch to shoot enemies first before they can even attack.

The Support Class is the lowest priority for mods. Why? It's because their skills are powerful enough on their own and don't synergize as much with mods. It's mostly about the Medkits, Smoke Grenades and Overwatch. Furthermore, other classes (especially Assaults), do way better with mods than the Support could.

- Suggested Mods -


Hyper Reactive Pupils
Like the Heavy, the Support has skills that revolve around Overwatch and potentially firing multiple shots in one turn. Overwatch shots aren't reliable so the mod should help turn any misses you get into useful bonuses.

Bioelectric Skin - This mod is suggested only because Mimetic Skin really works better on any other class. Bioelectric Skin naturally makes sense on a Support since the Support is typically in the middle of the group. this mod prevents Seekers from getting close as well as free up the Support to help squadmates being strangled.


Muscle Fiber Density
This mod allows the Support to get flanks where other classes can't. This allows you to play more aggressively like an Assault although, an Assault would probably do a better job as a flanker. Still, if you have a Fire Support, a height advantage should help make those Overwatch shots more accurate.


Other Soldiers with Adaptive Bone Marrow and Secondary Heart + Revive
Revive used to be terrible in Enemy Unknown since it was very risky having your soldier fight on with low health. You needed to be really lucky to be able to Revive him in the first place. Then, you'd have to waste Medkits healing him up, suffer through the will penalty from the critical wounds and if the revived soldier drops down to zero again, it's over.

The ABM and Secondary Heart combo fixes all those problems (except for dying a second time). The soldier is easier to Revive, doesn't waste as much Medkits if you use them after all the base health heals, and there's no will penalties from critical wounds. Revive is now a very powerful ability.

- Situational Mods -


Neural Damping and Neural Feedback
Supports with Sprinter are often in charge of the Arc Thrower for alien capturing duties. In that case, it may be helpful to use Neural Damping to prevent being mind-controlled.

Otherwise, follow the general rule; if your Support has low will, get Neural Damping to prevent panic during combat. If your Support has high will, Neural Feedback could be more useful with the added damage.

Depth Perception - In the same vein as a Gunner Heavy, it's better to take the Hyper Reactive Pupils, especially on the Fire Support who uses all those reaction shots. It's better to have a mod that benefits you most of the time than a mod that helps only some of the time.

Mimetic Skin - This mod is always good. The Support could use this defensively to help squadmates since using the Medkit or Smoke Grenade doesn't remove the invisibility. The issue is whether this belongs to the Support class. Again, assuming resources are limited and you had to choose which class to mod with Mimetic Skin, it may be worthwhile to mod another class.


Secondary Heart or Adrenal Neurosympathy
Either one works really, so it's up to you. If you want more survivability, the Secondary Heart and Adaptive Bone Marrow works though keep in mind the Support has no skills to mitigate damage actually received. The Support is better at healing or preventing damage rather than taking it.

Though not as good at killing as the other classes, getting Combat Rush for your squadmates is still a great bonus if you can arrange to get it. At least one of the soldiers on your team should be carrying the Adrenal Neurosympathy mod anyway.

Adaptive Bone Marrow - If you took the Secondary Heart, you might as well take this. If not, then this mod may be better when given to either the Assault or Heavy since they're a bit sturdier and won't die as easily before this mod can be useful. Still, it's not wrong to put it on the Support per se.

NOTE: BECAUSE I AM LAZY AND ALREADY SPENT ENOUGH TIME PUTTING THIS TOGETHER THIS PART OF THE GUIDE IS ALL Rensje's WORK AND THE CREDIT GOES TO THEM FOR WRITING THIS.



The Heavy is a hulking powerhouse, capable of dealing massive amounts of damage to synthetic enemies.. and pretty much everything else around them. Armed with a light machine gun and a rocket launcher, these bad boys carve a path through obstacles like no other.



HEAVY STATS
Rank Health Aim
Squaddie +1 +2
Corporal +0 +1
Sergeant +1 +1
Lieutenant +0 +1
Captain +1 +1
Major +0 +2
Colonel +1 +2
* The information in this table does not apply if the Second Wave modifier Hidden Potential is selected upon starting a new game


HEAVY ABILITIES
Rank Ability
Squaddie Fire Rocket
Fire a rocket using an equipped launcher. This ability can not be used after moving, nor more than once per mission.
Corporal Bullet Swarm
Firing the primary weapon as the first action no longer ends the turn.

Holo-Targeting
Shooting at or suppressing enemies also confers a +10 Aim to any allies’ attacks on those enemies.
Sergeant Shredder Rocket
Fire a rocket that causes all enemies hit to take +33% damage from all sources for the next 4 turns. The rocket’s blast is weaker than a standard rocket’s.

Suppression
Can fire a special shot that grants reaction fire at a single target. The target also suffers a -30 Aim penalty.
Lieutenant HEAT Ammo
+100% to damage against robotic enemies.

Rapid Reaction
Confers a second reaction shot, if on Overwatch and the first reaction shot is a hit.
Captain Grenadier
Allows to carry 2 grenades in a single inventory slot.

Danger Zone
Increases hit area of rockets and suppression by 2 tiles.
Major Will to Survive
Reduces all normal damage taken by 2 if in cover and not flanked.
Colonel Rocketeer
Allows 1 additional standard rocket to be fired per battle.

Mayhem
Confers additional damage based on weapon tech level to Suppression and all area-effect abilities.

Squaddie: Fire Rocket - The Heavy's signature weapon is the rocket launcher. Use it to dispose of cover, exposing the enemy, or to blow up explosive objects such as cars. Everything caught in the blast will die, including your squadmates. Make sure you have a medic standing by.

Corporal: Bullet Swarm - This ability allows you to fire your weapon and then move, shoot again, go into Overwatch or reload. Needless to say, Bullet Swarm is a versatile ability that's easily more useful than its counterpart Holo-Targeting.

Sergeant: Shredder Rocket - Every once in a while, especially on terror missions, you are going to get swarmed. Whether facing a zerg rush of Chryssalids or a small army of Mutons, Shredder Rocket is your ticket out of a sticky situation. Use it to soften up the masses and then clean up with a grenade. The Shredder Rocket also doubles nicely as a terraforming tool.

Suppression is not a terrible ability, but it consumes ammo both when you activate it and if the Heavy takes a reaction shot. This could mean you start your next turn with an empty gun, and that's a pretty afwul situation to find yourself in.

Lieutenant: HEAT Ammo - This ability DOUBLES all damage you deal to synthetic enemies; that includes Cyberdiscs and Sectopods. With HEAT Ammo your Heavy will one-shot Cyberdiscs every time, and if you took Bullet Swarm your Heavy can single-handedly topple a Sectopod in one turn as well. HEAT Ammo isn't just good, it's vital.

Rapid Reaction is terrible because it relies on the first reaction shot to hit. Heavies have terrible Aim and on top of that, there's an Aim penalty on reaction shots. Even if by some miracle the first shot connects, your special second shot can and very likely will miss, making this a godawful ability.

Captain: Danger Zone - This ability is pretty great, but it's also a double-edged sword. Being able to catch more enemies in one rocket's blast radius is awesome, but the increased damage radius also means it's easier to hit your own guys with it. It also makes it a bit trickier to blow up cover without killing the aliens cowering behind it; the raw damage potential more than makes up for these little drawbacks, however.

Don't take Grenadier. You will need a S.C.O.P.E. on your Heavy to compensate for his terrible Aim and on top of that, if you take Shredder Rocket and Rocketeer you will have a total of 3 rockets available on every mission. Use any more explosives than that and you will find yourself wanting for salvage before long.

Major: Will to Survive - If you position your Heavy with care, this ability will really help him survive. With this, chances are good the Heavy won't get hit for more than his armor can shrug off, meaning no more visits to the infirmary!

Colonel: Rocketeer - This is a tricky one. The extra damage on rockets from Mayhem is nice if you don't use more than one or two of them per mission, but if you didn't take Suppression (and I recommend that you don't) the usefulness of this ability is seriously hampered.

Rocketeer gives you one extra standard rocket per mission. Point for point, that is more bang for your buck than the damage bonus from Mayhem, making Rocketeer a solid choice, especially in combination with HEAT Ammo (yes, it applies to rockets too!) and Danger Zone.


RECOMMENDED BACKPACK ITEMS
S.C.O.P.E. [Aim +10]
Combat Stims [Will +40, Mobility +3, 50% damage reduction and crit immunity for 2 turns]

Heavies are terrible shots. Early on, when you have to make do with one rocket and your LMG, you will want to make every shot count. The +10 Aim bonus of a S.C.O.P.E. is a godsend for inexperienced Heavies.

Later on, when your Heavy has attained colonel rank, trading that S.C.O.P.E. for a Stim Pack allows for some interesting tactics. Your Heavy, already a pretty durable unit, can soak up damage like a sponge with the Stim Pack's 50% damage reduction and crit immunity.

On top of that, the +3 Mobility bonus allows the Heavy to run farther, enabling him to get in close and shoot the enemy from point-blank range, negating the need for that S.C.O.P.E. altogether. And the best part? With Bullet Swarm you can fire AND use the Stim Pack all in one turn!
Afternote: Heavies got a nerf to HEAT, +50% as opposed to x2 damage, and grenadier now also offers a +1 damage to all explosives on top of the prior effect.

NOTE: BECAUSE I AM LAZY AND HAVE A LOT TIME WRITING THIS, ALL OF THE CREDIT FOR WRITING THIS PART OF THE SECTION GOES TO Hellbilly.


The Heavy is XCOM's Demolitions Expert. The Heavy is the best in dealing massive area-of-effect damage using the Rocket Launcher and grenades. The Heavy can also be a Gunner; using the LMG to supress the enemy or tear them to pieces with a hail of Overwatch fire.

Like the Assault, the Heavy needs to be at the frontlines to do his job. The Heavy has mobility issues since he needs to "set-up" before using the Rocket Launcher. Survivability is also a concern since the Heavy is often in the firing line.

The Heavy is second to the Assault in Gene Mod priority.

- Suggested Mods -


Neural Damping or Neural Feedback
You will always want some kind of brain mod for your Heavy since he will be in the frontlines and will be susceptible to psi attacks.

The same rules as in the case of an Assault applies. Neural Damping is highly recommended. You do not want your Heavy to be mind-controlled and have all that weaponry turned against you. The immunity to panic helps Heavies with low will.

Otherwise, if your Heavy has very high will or you dont mind the slight chance of your own explosives used against you, get the Neural Feedback mod.


Hyper Reactive Pupils
The best choice for the Heavy especially for a Gunner. It synergizes very well the skills that allow you to fire twice: Bullet Storm and Rapid Reaction. If the first shot misses, you get a bonus on the second. The Heavy fires his gun a lot but has the lowest aim of all the classes so this mod mitigates that weakness by turning misses into bonuses.


Secondary Heart + Adaptive Bone Marrow
The Heavy is a frontline soldier and boosting his survivability is never a bad idea. The Secondary Heart and Adaptive Bone Marrow combo synergizes with Will to Survive in making damage manageable allowing you to heal up. It doesn't work as well as the Assault but it works nontheless. Be warned though, that Will to Survive is useless when flanked and the Heavy is still vulnerable to the occassional critical shot unlike an Assault with Resilience.

Since the Heavy tends to get damaged a lot, the Secondary Heart should be handy in removing the will penalty from critical wounds. In higher difficulties, you will be reliant on Heavies and their rockets to even the odds. The Adaptive Bone Marrow is crucial in making sure Heavies are always available for the next mission.


Mimetic Skin
Heavies suffer from the need to be in position first before they can launch their rockets. Gunners don't suffer as much, but the bottom line is that Heavies need to be in a good position at all times to find the range for their rockets or to cover the area in Overwatch fire. Mimetic Skin removes that weakness and gives the Heavy the luxury of getting into position in safety without being seen.

Here's a nifty trick; Provided the Heavy hasn't been seen, you can move him far and way up to heavy cover deep in enemy territory and leave him cloaked there. You can then move your squad up to engage the enemy. When the aliens take cover, the Heavy can ambush them and launch a rocket to destroy them and their cover.

Whether Mimetic Skin works better on a Heavy or an Assault depends on the player and who his "MVP" is. Still, Heavies can get a lot of benefits from this mod.

- Situational Mods -

Depth Perception - The Heavy isn't a very mobile class; other classes are more adept at exploiting high ground. Without Run and Gun, Sprinter or Damn Good Ground, you need the Muscle Fiber Density mod or armor with a grappling hook.

Remember that the Heavy has poor aim. You will probably miss more often than get a chance to use high ground. Better to have Hyper Reactive Pupils, which will benefit you all the time, than Depth Perception, which will benefit you some of the time.

Adrenal Neurosympathy - It's a mixed bag. On the one hand, Demolitions Heavies can trigger Combat Rush easily, but firing rockets don't benefit from the aim and critical chance bonuses of Combat Rush and if you had to use a rocket, chances are that it won't take much to finish the job anyway.

On the other hand, Gunner Heavies may not have the killing power since they're usually supressing or going into Overwatch in the hopes of getting a double shot from Rapid Reaction. They certainly benefit from Combat Rush though; two Bullet Storm shots while under Combat Rush is pretty fun.

Survivability is often more important but if you don't care for the Secondary Heart, get Adrenal Neurosympathy for the Heavy and watch him kill things.

Bioelectric Skin - A Heavy could, theoretically, detect aliens behind a wall or on the roof and fire a rocket at them. The immunity to strangulation is nice. The question though, is whether the Heavy should be the one to carry this mod? You decide.

Muscle Fiber Density - It's situational. It helps the Heavy's mobility but the Heavy is not meant to be a class that zips through the battlefield getting crazy flank shots like a Run and Gun Assault or have any skills which provide high ground bonuses like the Sniper's Damn Good Ground. It's good to have but perhaps the other classes can get more out of this mod.

The Mechanized Exoskeletal Cybersuit Trooper is a new soldier class introduced in XCOM: Enemy Within. MEC Troopers are not generated at random during Rookie promotion like other class assignments, but are created by augmenting soldiers in the Cybernetics Lab. Rookies and Psionic soldiers are ineligible for augmentation.Converting a soldier to a MEC Trooper is a permanent class change. They lose their abilities and Gene Mods, but retain their stats, rank and experience. MEC Troopers do not use the same weapons or equipment available to the other classes but instead utilize Mechanized Exoskeletal Cybersuits in combat. MECs grant MEC Troopers significant health and Will bonuses, access to heavy weaponry and advanced Tactical Subsystems, as well as immunities to fire and poison; they also gain the Hardened trait. MEC Troopers wear their Base Augments when outside of a MEC Suit. In comparison to the standard rifles used by Rookies, Supports and Assaults, MEC Trooper weapons provide a +2 base damage bonus and a +4 Crit damage bonus. This effectively raises the MEC Trooper's weapon by one tech level (i.e. the damage output of the Minigun matches that of the Laser Rifle); their damage within a given tech level is surpassed only by the Sniper's Headshot ability, which is able to inflict comparable critical damage to targets, but with much greater frequency.
Upon undergoing augmentation, MEC Troopers gain a special inherent ability based on their previous class: Assault Class, damage received from enemies within 4 tiles is reduced by 33%; Heavy Class, The nearest visible enemy suffers -20 Aim and cannot critically hit this unit; Sniper Class, Any shots taken without moving have +10 Aim and +10% critical chance; Support Class, Nearby allies in cover receive +10 Defense.
Additionally, MEC Troopers gain experience and ranks conventionally and have their own unique training tree:
Rank1-Squaddie
Collateral Damage: An area of effect attack that destroys most cover and hits all eligible targets for 34% damage. This attack cannot cause critical hits.
Rank2-Corporal
Advanced Fire Control: Shots from Overwatch no longer suffer any Aim penalty.
Automated Threat Assessment: Confers +15 Defense when in Overwatch.
Rank3-Sergeant
Vital-Point Targeting: Confers +2 Damage against all humans and autopsied aliens.
Damage Control: When a MEC takes damage, all further damage will be reduced by 2 for the next 2 turns.
Rank4-Lieutenant
Jetboot Module: When activated, confers the ability to jump to normally inaccessible heights for the rest of the turn.
One For All: When activated, the MEC becomes a high cover element. Moving or using an arm-based weapon will return the MEC to standard posture.
Rank5-Captain
Repair Servos: Confers 2 health recovery at the start of each turn. A total of 6 health can be regenerated per battle.
Expanded Storage: Allows additional use of Restorative Mist, Grenade Launcher and Proximity Mine Launcher in each mission. Increases primary weapon base ammo by 50%.
Rank6-Major
Overdrive: Firing the MEC's primary weapon as the first action no longer ends the turn.
Rank7-Colonel
Absorption Fields: Any hit that does more damage than 33% of the MEC's maximum health is reduced to that number.
Reactive Targeting Sensors: The MEC gets a free shot back at the first enemy who attacks the MEC each turn, provided there's enough ammo to do so.
When equipped with a MEC Suit, MEC Troopers gain the hardened trait.

MEC Troopers have the most complex skills and customize builds of any soldier class. Players who have completed the game on Classic or Impossible difficulty levels, recommend choosing Vital-Point Targeting, Jetboot Module and Expanded Storage.

Inherent Ability
MEC Trooper skills should complement their inherent ability for a common purpose.
Shock-Absorbent Armor for flanking and close-quarter rushes.
Body Shield for tanking and mid-range firefights.
Platform Stability for ambushes and long-range sniping.
Distortion Field for supporting rigid squad formations.
Advanced Fire Control vs. Automated Threat Assessment
Advanced Fire Control is preferred for most cases, and Automated Threat Assessment only in conjunction with Body Shield.
Advanced Fire Control is functionally identical to Opportunist (without the critical damage).
Advanced Fire Control's reaction fire often kills weaker foes attempting to outflank or run away in one hit.
Automated Threat Assessment increases Defense by 15 (for a total of 25) while on Overwatch.
Body Shield reduces the nearest enemy's Aim by 20, granting a total defense of 45 in regard to that unit only
Automated Threat Assessment ends if the MEC Trooper takes an Overwatch shot, further reducing its utility.
Automated Threat Assessment works best with Kinetic Strike Module when MEC Trooper falls short a few tiles of an alien in full cover; or in situations where a normal shot would most likely miss.
Vital-Point Targeting vs. Damage Control
Damage Control is preferred for most cases, due to AIs preference for targets with a high hit probability leading resulting in MEC Troopers often drawing enemy fire.
Vital-Point Targeting increases the Miniguns' 6-8 damage range, generating a reliable source of 10-damage hits.
Vital-Point Targeting applies to standard shots only; not Flamethrower, Proximity Mines, or Grenade Launcher.
Damage Control effectively grants MEC Troopers 4-6 health per turn in Firefights.
Damage Controls mitigation comparatively prolongs a MEC Trooper's lifespan. On higher difficulties this is a marginal amount; two consecutive hits from a Thin Man's 6-9 damage range kills a Level 1 MEC.
Damage Control can be very powerful when combined with Absorption Fields. A 15 hit point Warden will take a maximum of 4 damage per hit due to Absorption Fields, subsequently reduced to a maximum of 2 damage per hit with Damage Control. A Warden starting with 15 hit points will therefore require a minimum of 7 hits to kill (at least until Damage Control wears off), making them very rugged.
Jetboot Module vs. One For All
Jetboots is preferred for most cases, as clustered units will trigger AI's grenades and Area of Effects.
Jetboots can be used to reach high ground and grant good fields of fire over the map.
Jetboots and Kinetic Strike can quickly close distances with the enemy by moving straight over normally impassable terrain.
One for All is functionally identical to Alloy S.H.I.V.'s Armored Shell ability.
One For All ends if the MEC Trooper takes an Overwatch shot, moves, or uses any other low-tier abilities, further reducing its utility.
High-tier abilities do not cancel the effect.
Repair Servos vs. Expanded Storage
Expanded Storage is preferred for most cases, due to superior utility and healing options.
An exception is for Kinetic Strike MECs on Impossible, where Repair Servos allow an aggressive MEC to repair on the move, reserving turns for useful action.
Restorative Mist will still be taken for healing potential and total hp as Grenade Launcher is much less effective on Impossible. There is no difference in the amount of self-healing compared to 2x Restorative Mist if the MEC has not been awarded the Defender's Medal.
If the MEC has been awarded the Defender's Medal, the difference is 2 hp.
An aggressive Kinetic Strike MEC makes many kills with Kinetic Strike throughout the game from beginning to end and makes much more use of Electro-Pulse than Proximity Mine Launcher, and thereby the other needs for Expanded Storage are negated.
Repair Servos effectively grants MEC Troopers 4-6 health per mission.
Repair Servos, by itself, is inferior to Damage Control, Restorative Mist and Savior Support.
Expanded Storage + Restorative Mist heals 4 per use for two uses, for a total of 8 points of healing.
This rises to 6 per use, for 12 total, after researching Improved Medikit.
Restorative Mist heals in a small AoE instead of just healing the MEC.
Restorative Mist requires an action to use, as opposed to Repair Servos, which is passive.
Repair Servos should only be taken if no other viable healing options are available, and only in conjunction with MEC Troopers defensive skills.
Expanded Storage Increases MEC Troopers' primary weapon base ammo by 50%, and allows 1 additional use of Restorative Mist, Grenade Launcher and Proximity Mine Launcher in each mission.
Repair Servos might be preferable for Grenade Launcher MEC Troopers for a balance of healing and offense.
Absorption Fields vs. Reactive Targeting Sensors
Reactive Targeting Sensors is preferred for most cases, due to MECs having very high health pools and the Hardened trait; Absorption Fields only if in conjunction with Body Shield.
That being said, this changes on Impossible, where Absorption Fields are the way to go unless you like relegating your star MEC to a secondary role.
Absorption Fields effectively reduces incoming damage to 33% of MEC Trooper's maximum Health.
Absorption Field is comparable to the Assault's Resilience ability
Absorption Fields' threshold damage reduction, prevent all damage above a certain threshold, while having no effect on damage below that threshold.
Absorption Field scales backwards; its usefulness gradually decreases as the MEC Troopers' HP bar increases.
Absorption Field is vital to the survival of a brand-new MEC-1.
Absorption Field is useless to the survival of a fully upgraded MEC-3.
Absorption Field contributes weird occurrences such as a Sectopod hitting a baseline MEC for 4 damage with a cannon that can normally deal 15 damage.
Absorption Field almost never applies itself on difficulties below Impossible, as on average, only Sectopods deal more than 33% of a MEC Trooper's health (without critical damage).
Reactive Targeting Sensor effectively provides a free shot during the MEC Troopers' turn, provided there's enough ammo to do so.
Reactive Targeting Sensor depletes ammo fast, often against insignificant targets with a very low probability of connecting return fire.
Reactive Targeting Sensor shot has normal reaction shot penalty (confirmed by missing on shot that has 100% accuracy after enemy's turn), therefore it has no synergy with Advanced Fire Control.
Reactive Targeting Sensor's synergy with the Aim bonuses Platform Stability are currently unknown. Ultimately, a MEC Trooper should be built to suit the player's play style and complement the abilities of the squad. A MEC Trooper built in the early game can still be trained in a way so that it can be effective late game. An understanding of the capabilities of the player's squad and the various builds and abilities of MEC Troopers is required before choosing any build.
Engaging Psionic Enemies
Players should be careful with their MEC(s) when fighting psionic foes (Sectoid Commanders, Ethereals) who possess the Mind Control ability. MEC Troopers have no pistol option to switch to, and pack a lot of firepower. Thus, having a Mind Controlled MEC is a highly dangerous proposition, and is made all the more possible by the fact that they cannot equip Mind Shields or be gene modded with Neural Damping. Thus, it may be advisable to augment soldiers with high Will to make Mind Control more difficult.
When a MEC Trooper is at high risk of being Mind Controlled, there are the options of emptying the MEC's primary weapon using Collateral Damage or simply firing at the psionic enemy in question, to deprive the MEC Trooper of some offensive options should it be mind controlled.

NOTE: BECAUSE I AM LAZY AND ALREADY SPENT ENOUGH TIME PUTTING THIS TOGETHER THIS IS PART OF THE GUIDE IS ALL Rensje's WORK AND THE CREDIT GOES TO THEM FOR WRITING THIS.

After building the Psionic Labs, you can test your soldiers for 'the Gift'. All classes can become Psionics and they will get a special purple class icon to convey that they are gifted. Psionics can get inside the minds of their enemies, causing them to panic and fire on their allies. The most powerful Psionics can even deflect bullets with their mind, or make an alien do their bidding.

Note that Psionic soldiers can only gain ranks and access new abilities by actively using their powers. Use psi powers often and well to unlock new, even stronger powers more quickly.



PSIONIC ABILITIES
Rank Ability
Adept Mindfray
Causes the target to lose grip on reality, inflicting penalties to Aim, Will and mobility, and doing 5 base damage. Robotic unit are immune. Lasts 2 turns. 1 turn cooldown.
Specialist Psi Inspiration
Removes Mindfray and panic from all allies within 3 tiles, and strenghens their Will by +30 for 2 turns. 4 turn cooldown.

Psi Panic
Cause target to panic on its following turn, if the target's Will is overcome. Robotic enemies are immune. 2 turn cooldown.
Operative Telekinetic Field
Create an immobile telekinetic field that lasts through the enemy turn. The field distorts and deflects incoming attacks, granting +40 Defence to both allies and enemies within the field. 4 turn cooldown.

Mind Control
Very difficult psi technique that, if successful, grants control of the target for 3 turns. Robotic enemies are immune. 5 turn cooldown.

Adept: Mindfray - Every gifted soldier starts out with this ability. Mindfray is an excellent power because it does not factor in distance or cover, making it a good choice against enemies that are in full cover. The penalties to Aim and Mobility make it a very good substitute for Suppression and the Will penalty makes the enemy more susceptible to panic or mind control.

Specialist: Psi Inspiration - This ability comes into its own against enemies like the Sectoid Commander and Ethereal. Being able to bolster your squad's defense against mental attacks is vital, and strengthening their Will to prevent panic is also important. You could even use it to improve another Psionic soldier's powers, improving their chances of nailing a Mind Control.

Psi Panic is a decent ability, but panic in itself is too unreliable to count on as a combat strategy. There's simply no telling what a panicked enemy might do: he could run away in fear, attack his own allies, or he could go berserk and fire on you again instead. Using Psi Panic is like rolling the dice and I would recommend against using it.

Operative: Telekinetic Field - It may be the safe, boring option, but make no mistake; Telekinetic Field is powerful. It adds +40 Defense to whatever Defense bonuses were already in place, and the area of effect is massive. This ability will save your squad from Sectopods and Muton Elites more than a few times before the alien invasion is over. Just keep in mind that enemies can benefit from it as well, so use it wisely.

Mind Control is an amazingly powerful ability that can really turn the tide in battle. With the right combination of gear, items and abilities, you could even use it to mind control an Ethereal, which will grant you an achievement if you succeed. It's also just really, really cool, but it has drawbacks. Unlike Telekinetic Field, it can fail, and if it does you won't be able to use it again for five turns. In the thick of a firefight, five turns is an eternity.

If you have more than one gifted soldier on your team, have one take Telekinetic Field and the other take Mind Control. Two Psionic soldiers working together spell disaster for the aliens.



RECOMMENDED BACKPACK ITEMS
Mind Shield [Will +30]
Combat Stims [Will +40, Mobility +3, 50% damage reduction and crit immunity for 2 turns]
Chitin Plating [Health +4, melee damage taken reduced by 50%]

The Mind Shield's description can be deceptive. It's intended purpose is to shield the wearer from offensive psi attacks, but it can also be used to power the user's own Psionic abilities. Use it together with Psi Armor to have a real shot at mind controlling those darn Ethereals. You will have to kill one before you can build it, though.

Going with Combat Stims is good if you can't build the Mind Shield yet. The +40 bonus to Will is excellent and the damage reduction certainly does not hurt either. You can use this to empower your Mind Control ability, but remember that it takes up a turn to use it. Don't leave your soldier exposed while the stimulants take effect.

Of course, you could argue that a Psionic has plenty of mental defenses as it is, especially if wearing Psi Armor. You could therefore decide to bolster his physical defense, and that's where Chitin Plating comes in handy. +4 to Health is nice, especially considering Psi Armor is medium-class and only provides +6 to Health, rather than Titan Armor's +10 Health bonus.

A NOTE ON PSI ARMOR
After clearing the Overseer Crash Site, XCOM's second essential story mission, you will have the opportunity to research Psi Armor. I strongly recommend developing it at the earliest possible convenience. Psi Armor grants a +20 bonus to Will, making it that much more likely your Psionic powers will work succesfully.

The S.H.I.V. (Super Heavy Infantry Vehicle) is a weapons platform in XCOM: Enemy Unknown that can be manufactured in the Engineering Lab. S.H.I.V.s can be deployed as substitutes for human soldiers on missions and require a space in the XCOM HQ barracks.
Tactical Info:
Autonomous mini-tank.
Poison immunity may be useful on the Council Missions that exclusively involve Thin Men.
S.H.I.V.s are incapable of taking cover.
Cannot act as cover for troops.
While stronger than the average Rookie or Squaddie, S.H.I.V.s still end up quite weak in comparison to higher-level soldiers. They are useful when faced with a shortage of able-bodied competent troops, although a few low-level soldiers should be taken in the squad to get promotions.
S.H.I.V.s are very powerful against Chryssalids because of their immunity to poison and zombification. If you have the S.H.I.V. Suppression upgrade from the Foundry, they can also be helpful in stopping ranged units from supporting the Chryssalids.
Contrary to what one might expect, a S.H.I.V. can rescue civilians on a Terror Site mission, though they do not emit a soundbite when reaching the civilian.
In the same vein, a S.H.I.V. can activate objectives and collect Meld from canisters.

WIP

What?! Did you really expect me to write out all of that? No I am not. Deal with it.

This is generally the order I research various items (this doesn't include autopsies or interrogations, I generally wait until I can get full coverage over South America to make them become instant--except for the Outsider interrogation since that advances the story).

Xenobiology -> unlocks Alien Containment
Weapon Fragments -> unlocks SCOPE
Alien Materials -> unlocks nanofiber vests
Arc Thrower -> to capture aliens
Beam Weapons -> allows to build laser rifles
Carapace Armor -> allows you to build better armor (YOU WILL NEED this for Chryssalids)
Experimental Warfare -> unlocks Foundry
UFO Power Source -> unlocks Elerium Generator
Heavy Lasers -> lasers cannons for Heavies
Laser Pistols -> laser pistols for sidearms
Alien Grenades (Foundry, if available)
Improved Medikits (Foundry, if available)
Tactical Rigging (Foundry, if available)
Alien Nav Computer -> unlocks Satellite Nexus
Elerium -> unlocks Titan Armor
Stealth Satellites -> UFOs that aren't shot down can't find sateliites
Plasma Rifles -> allows to build plasma rifles
Titan Armor -> allows you to build titan armor
Ammo Conservation (Foundry, if available)
Improved Arc Thrower (Foundry, if available)
New Fighter Craft -> unlocks the Firestorm fighter, the best in game
Heavy Weapons Platform (Foundry, if available)
SCOPE Upgrade (Foundry, if available)
Outsider Shard -> unlocks alien base assault mission *
Fusion Lance -> best fighter weapon in the game
Sentinel Drone (Foundry, if available) -> SHIVs can repair themselves
SHIV Suppression (Foundry, if available) -> SHIVs can do suppressing fire
SHIV Laser -> SHIV weapons upgraded to lasers
Meld Recombination -> unlocks MECs and Gene Mods for soldiers
Skeleton Suit -> armor that I don't use but to count towards research
Archangel Armor -> armor that I don't use but to count towards research
Heavy Plasma (2 needed) -> build Heavy Plasma for Heavies
Advanced Repair -> shorter repair times
Advanced Flight (Foundry, if available) -> more flight time
Shaped Armor (Foundry, if available)
Blaster Launcher (2 needed)
FOCUS SHOULD NOW BE ABOUT DESTROYING EXALT'S HEADQUARTERS
Alloy Cannon -> unlocks alloy cannons for assaults
ASSAULT THE ALIEN BASE
DEFEND HEADQUARTERS
OVERSEER SHIP MISSION
WORK ON BEATING THE GAME

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=809053440


I am not copy and pasting all of that in here just no. Besides go give the man some credit.

The following Second Wave options are available by default:
Damage Roulette: Weapons inflict a wider range of damage (minimum 1 damage, and maximum 150% of the weapon's base damage).
Does not apply to explosives.
Random damage range varies between 1 and the weapons' base damage + 50% (rounded down), a critical hit adds the base damage value to the previously calculated random damage. Example: an Assault Rifle with a 3 damage stat can deal up to 1-4 damage or 4-7 critical damage.
New Economy: Randomizes funding provided by Council members from 10% to 400% of regular funding.
Not Created Equally: Rookies have random initial stats.
Range of Will: 25~59 (normal 40), values will vary by increments of 2 to the lower 25 limit.
Range of Aim: 50~80 (normal 65), varies in increments of +5. Note that this is one way to make the Heavy class more useful in the endgame, at the expense of having to hire, screen and fire a lot of soldiers after getting the OTS New Guy perk.
Range of Movement: 11~14 (normally 12), 1/3 chance of getting 11, 1/3 chance for 12, 1/6 chance for 13, 1/6 chance for 14 movement.
All soldiers will have the same Health Points, value is defined by the difficulty level.
Hidden Potential: As a soldier is promoted, their stats increase randomly.
Normal Difficulty
If the player completes the game on Normal difficulty, additional Second Wave options are unlocked:
Red Fog: Combat wounds degrade the soldier's Aim and Movement attributes for the remainder of mission. Does not impact Aliens (reference).
Absolutely Critical: A flanking shot guarantees a critical hit.
The Greater Good: Psionics can only be learned from interrogating a psionic alien.
Marathon: The game takes considerably longer to complete.
Causes a delay in the initial deployment of most alien species, triples research time, doubles facility construction time, doubles infirmary recovery time, and doubles the cost of Engineering projects (i.e. constructing facilities and items). This increases the difficulty of the early game.
Classic Difficulty
XCOM-EU 2nd wave
If the player completes the game on Classic difficulty, additional Second Wave options are unlocked:
Results Driven: The funding provided by each nation is determined by its panic level.
+25% funding at level 1 panic, ±0% funding at level 2 panic, -25% at level 3 panic, -50% at level 4, -75% at level 5.
High Stakes: Random rewards for stopping alien abductions.
Diminishing Returns: Increased cost of satellite construction.
More Than Human: The psionic gift is extremely rare.
Impossible Difficulty
If the player completes the game on Impossible difficulty, additional Second Wave options are unlocked:
War Weariness: Council funding decreases over time.
E-115: Elerium degrades over time.
Total Loss: Lose all soldier gear upon death.
Alternate Sources: Doubles the power requirements to build facilities.
EW adds more choices to second wave options The following Second Wave options are available by default:
Aiming Angles: Units receive Aim bonuses the closer to flanking an enemy they are.
Save Scum: Loading a saved game will reset the random number seed, so taking an identical action may yield different results.
Training Roulette: Each soldier's training tree is mostly randomly generated. Does not apply to MEC Troopers.If the player completes the game on Normal difficulty, additional Second Wave options are unlocked:
Mind Hates Matter: Psionic soldiers can't become gene modded or vice-versa.
Classic Difficulty
If the player completes the game on Classic difficulty, additional Second Wave options are unlocked:
Itchy Trigger Tentacle: Non-cover aliens have a 50% chance of firing at soldiers upon being spotted.
If triggered these Robotic units (Mechtoids, Cyberdiscs, and Sectopods) will fire in place of entering Overwatch as normal.
A spotted soldier will finish their move before the alien(s) fire, meaning any cover bonuses will be in effect (notably, Low Profile, Will to Survive, Damn Good Ground, and the effect of Distortion Field).

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=573645447&searchtext=tech

Listen to what you hear. MEC trooper have a very distinct sound as well as chryssailds and ethereals.
Camera zoom ins are not randomn that can tell you that the enemy sees you or something else important.
Change your strategies very often remember you are fighting another person if you give them patterns the will beat you senseless.
Try to have a lot of counters on hand example bio electric to counter mimetic skin.
If you are in an unlimited be careful of aliens you choose ethereals have low movement and cannot keep up with other units well.
Think outside the box, if you know the enemy armed the door and is waiting for you make your own door.
Try to have a medic on hand at all times, I cannot express how many times most of squad started bleeding out and if I had a medic with revive could have put them right back in again.
PUT A MEDKIT ON THE MEDIC. Ask me how I know....
Listening can also tell you if (being the brutes they are) if your opponent broke a window or kicked open a door.
The fog of war is not super effective, let me explain. If you hear a breaching noise (broke window/kicked open door) and move your camera you can see which window or door was broken/opened. If you hear no noises and notice all doors are closed and no windows are broken, you can safely assume they are no enemies waiting/moving inside.
Ethereals are much better on enemy unknown than they are on enemy within.
Pay attention to the point limits above when building your squad.
Also pay attention to your opponents point count as they can tell you what units they have. All aliens squads tend have numbers like 19,000 or 14,200. When the numbers are more like 32,549 that will tell you they have soldiers. I was once able to deduce on a match that my opponent had 5 ethereals and 1 soldier due to the points.

There are a lot I am only going to put down a couple for now and add in more later.
The bouncer method (EW/EU unlimited): Okay everyone in a way has done this one before on a smaller scale. Essentially have 4 sniper, 1 medic, and 1 assault. Have the snipers get set up on the high ground and give them squadsight (it is a requirement). Have the assault have the mimetic skin and a mind shield send them out to "paint" the enemy and have the snipers rain down heck. The support is there to help when things go wrong.
The spartan method (EW unlimited): Have one support and five mec troopers. Have three of the mec troopers wear the Ifrit mec suit and the other two the typhoon suit. Make the support mimetic skin and/or the bioelectric skin but have them wear ghost armor. The goal here is to keep the support alive and hidden to prevent targeting and bring any mec troopers who are bleeding out to revive them. The reason why you have three ifrits is for the mines. See an enemy or enemies toss a mine or two and if you do not want to wait for them to move have one of the typhoon toss a grenade over to activate them but only do it after you put down all your mines for the turn. Flamethrowers are something you are not going to use much but can work if close enough to an enemy and want a guaranteed hit. A note about this deck is that if they have a weakness to psionics and you can end up finding some or most of your squad mindcontrolled. Also never group them ever. I learned this lesson the hard way so do not repeat my mistake.
The Flood strategy (EW 20,000): This build is all about killing and converting enemies to your side. Consists generally of a scout (try doing a rookie with mimeitc skin it is cheaper than a seeker but still allows the ability to scout and unlimited charges!), a sectoid commander, mechtoid, two chryssalids, and a mec trooper typhoon. I personally like to name them as (flood watcher, gollum, flood artillery, flood infector, and the gravemind respectively) If no one caught the references I am disappointed in you. This deck requires you to quickly get sight of the enemy and plan to accordingly. Try to move everyone close to the enemy but not in sight. The chryssailds should move behind a wall or on a roof nearby the opponent and then reveal and strike. Weaken soldiers to a low enough health that when the chyrssalids strike you will receive another unit. Do not have the chryssailds use both moves on moving right in front of the opponent as they will target them as high priority and kill them. You have to be sneaky with them. Downside to this deck is if the entire squad for your opponent are aliens it will ruin the entire purpose of the build.

This technique is special enough that I have decided to give it's own chapter. This for me is one of my biggest secrets I figured out after doing the a lot of multiplayer matches. This build is most effective against, well ethreals as the title suggests. It is also only possible on unlimited matches (if doing multiplayer) and it works better with Enemy Within than Enemy Unknown. You need six soldiers that are either sniper or assault (your preference though I would highly recommend assault as it does better), give them psi armor, mind shield, maximum rank, alloy cannon or plasma sniper, and the gene mod of neural feedback, and the bone marrow one ('bastion' gene mod for multiplayer). By doing all of this correctly ethreals the strongest psi unit finds their strength turned into their weakness as ethreals will receive a lot of damage just for attacking the soldier even if the attack fails, the chances of are very low. The soldiers have chances to mind control the ethreal with a 70% chance success without psi inspiration or mindfray on the enemy while the ethreal has a measly 20% chance success rate of mind control on the soldier! Another thing to note is that soldiers receive less damage because they have such high will (ex. psi rift does 12 some damage on a normal soldier the special one receives only 4 damage!) and what damage they do get they will heal at a certain point thanks to the bone marrow mod! So make sure to remember this and if anyone tries to run six ethreals....Obliterate them.

Guess what? You made it is the end for now. I know there is no way I managed to get everything, but I believe I got the majority. I will be coming back and editing more info later. I know you just read a lot of info so congratulations! I wish you the best of luck on battlefield commander!