What Rooms to Build in XCOM 2: A Comprehensive Guide
Choosing the right facilities and building them in the optimal order is crucial for success in XCOM 2. The Avenger, your mobile base, provides the foundation for your resistance efforts. Careful planning and strategic construction of its rooms will directly influence your team’s capabilities and ultimately, your ability to liberate Earth from the alien occupation. This article will provide a detailed breakdown of which rooms to build and why, giving you a solid foundation for your campaign.
Building Your Avenger: Key Facilities
In essence, you should aim for a balanced approach, focusing on upgrading your soldiers, expanding your research capabilities, and increasing your resource income. Here’s a breakdown of the most important rooms you need to build, and why you need them:
1. Guerrilla Tactics School (GTS)
The GTS is the highest priority for your first build. Immediately upon construction, you should purchase Squad Size I, allowing you to bring five soldiers on missions instead of four. This is a fundamental increase to your tactical power and drastically improves mission success rates. Later, the GTS allows you to unlock advanced soldier training perks, making it an invaluable long-term investment. The ability to purchase squad size II should also be prioritised.
2. Resistance Ring
Following the GTS, building the Resistance Ring is critical for enhancing your intel gathering capabilities and bolstering covert operations. This facility allows you to execute covert missions which can provide crucial resources, such as intel, supplies and scientists, as well as provide other rewards like soldier recruits and reduced costs for certain projects. It is also your first point of contact with resistance factions.
3. Power Relay
Power Relays provide a necessary resource for all of your other facilities. You will need power to build other facilities, and placing them near facilities that require power such as the Advanced Warfare Center will allow you to gain an engineering bonus. Early in the game, one power relay should be enough to run your required facilities.
4. Advanced Warfare Center (AWC)
The AWC is a powerful facility that allows your soldiers to heal quicker from injuries and provides a chance to train them with extra random perks. This is crucial for keeping your squad fit and ready for battle. A key reason the AWC is so important is that it allows for your soldiers to train up and gain unique abilities, allowing them to be more powerful.
5. Proving Grounds
The Proving Grounds facility gives you access to experimental projects which can provide extremely valuable items such as the Skulljack and unique grenades. The Proving Grounds requires quite a lot of resources early game, so it may be best to prioritise other facilities before construction. However, you should absolutely plan to add this to your base once you have a steady supply of resources.
6. Resistance Communications (Resistance Comms)
The Resistance Comms room allows you to contact more regions and expand your global influence, giving you access to more resources and missions. This facility also enables you to reach more factions within the game, gaining more access to additional resources and missions.
7. Laboratory
The Laboratory is fundamental for researching new technologies, and should be prioritised after acquiring a few core upgrades from the GTS and Resistance Ring. New technologies allow you to gain more powerful weapons and armour, as well as unlock certain facilities to build, such as the psi lab.
8. Psi Lab
The Psi Lab unlocks the psionic soldier class. Psi soldiers are extremely powerful but take a long time to train; therefore the lab is not a priority at the beginning of the game. However, once you are able to build the facility it is a worthy addition to your Avenger base.
9. Shadow Chamber
This facility is integral to completing the game, required for accessing the final missions. The shadow chamber helps you understand the Avatar Project and learn more about your enemy. The facility will also unlock some powerful advanced missions for your resistance members.
10. Infirmary
Once your roster starts to grow, the infirmary helps your troops recover from injuries at a quicker rate. This facility is not a priority early game, but will be of greater use once your team is being injured frequently. It is also a useful facility if you have the Shen’s Last Gift DLC installed.
Optimal Build Order: A Guideline
While the ideal order may slightly change depending on your play style and the campaign difficulty, here’s a strong starting order that balances necessary upgrades with resource generation:
- Guerrilla Tactics School (GTS): For Squad Size I and early soldier perks.
- Resistance Ring: To begin covert operations and secure resources.
- Power Relay: To secure additional power.
- Advanced Warfare Center (AWC): For soldier healing and extra training.
- Proving Grounds: To unlock experimental projects.
- Resistance Comms: To expand your global reach.
- Laboratory: To progress research and acquire better weapons and armour.
Remember to always prioritize your most important facilities first, and adapt your build order based on your own game situation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is the single most important facility to build first?
The Guerrilla Tactics School (GTS) is without a doubt the most important facility to build first. The ability to bring five soldiers, instead of four, on each mission is pivotal for early-game success.
2. Should I build a Workshop early?
The Workshop’s main benefit is boosting adjacent facilities with engineers, so it’s only useful once you have multiple facilities built. It is best to acquire this later in the game, once you have built more facilities on the Avenger.
3. How do I get more Engineers?
Engineers are obtained through rewards in missions and covert operations. The Black Market may also have engineers available to purchase. The more facilities you build, the more engineers you will require, so it is important to keep an eye out for them.
4. How important is Intel?
Intel is extremely important in XCOM 2, used for contacting new regions, revealing hidden Dark Events, and purchasing items from the Black Market. You should prioritize gaining Intel whenever possible, as it’s vital to expanding your reach and gaining advantages.
5. What is the best place to put a power relay?
Power relays are best placed near other facilities which require power, such as the Advanced Warfare Centre. They will provide you with an engineering bonus if they are next to power-requiring facilities.
6. What happens if I ignore Retaliation missions?
Ignoring Retaliation missions has negative consequences, such as losing contact with regions and reducing your resource income. It is best to always prioritize these missions.
7. How many soldiers should I aim to have?
The amount of soldiers you should aim to have depends on your difficulty. 12 soldiers is enough for easy and normal, however, you will want more for higher difficulties, with a minimum of 24 being recommended for impossible.
8. What is the most powerful weapon in the game?
The Plasma Bolt Caster does the most damage per shot out of the normal weapons. However, it needs to be reloaded after every shot, which may not be ideal for all situations.
9. Should I prioritize research of weapons or armour?
It is generally recommended to prioritize weaponry before armour. More powerful weapons will allow you to take out enemies faster, reducing the damage your squad will take.
10. Can you destroy facilities on the Avenger?
Yes, you can destroy any facility you build, by selecting the facility on the Avenger build screen and pressing the red cross.
11. What is the maximum rank for a soldier?
The maximum rank for a soldier is Colonel, achieved after a soldier completes a number of missions.
12. What are “Dark Events” in XCOM 2?
Dark events are game events that provide buffs to the enemy. They can also make certain missions more challenging, such as buffing the enemies or making certain resources rarer. You should try and reveal these dark events as soon as possible to mitigate their effects.
13. How does “Combat Intelligence” work?
Combat Intelligence is a mechanic from the War of the Chosen DLC that allows soldiers to earn Ability Points faster in combat. This lets you unlock abilities that normally need to be unlocked from promotions.
14. Are Alien Rulers dangerous?
Alien Rulers are very dangerous and should be approached with caution. They have significantly increased stats and powerful attacks and are much harder to defeat. The most dangerous of the rulers is the Archon King.
15. Can Chosen weapons be lost permanently?
Chosen weapons are unique and will be permanently lost if the soldier equipped with it is killed and not evacuated. They are valuable items that should be protected at all costs.
By strategically selecting and building the right rooms in your Avenger, you’ll be well-equipped to face the challenges of XCOM 2. Remember to always adapt to your current situation, prioritize what your squad needs, and most importantly, have fun taking back Earth!