Prioritizing Your Success: A Comprehensive Guide to What Matters Most in XCOM 2
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XCOM 2 is a challenging and rewarding game that demands strategic thinking at every turn. New commanders often find themselves overwhelmed by the numerous options presented, leading to potentially disastrous consequences. So, what should you really prioritize to ensure your survival and ultimately liberate the planet? The answer lies in understanding the interconnected systems that drive your campaign. Here’s a breakdown of the core elements you should focus on, combining resource management, research, and strategic expansion.
The Core Priorities: A Three-Pronged Approach
Fundamentally, success in XCOM 2 hinges on three main pillars: Expanding the Resistance, Advancing Your Technology, and Developing Your Soldiers. Each of these is crucial, and neglecting any will cripple your efforts.
1. Expanding the Resistance: Securing Your Resources
At the beginning of the game, your contact with the world is limited. Your most important initial priority is to grow the Resistance early and often. This means several things:
- Contacting New Regions: Every new region you connect to represents an increase in your monthly supply income. This resource is the lifeblood of your operation, funding everything from facility construction to research and soldier recruitment.
- Building Radio Towers: Once you’ve established contact with a region, quickly build a Resistance Comms facility and then Radio Relays in your new regions. These structures increase the reach of your communication network, allowing you to support more regions and generate even greater income. This should be done as soon as you unlock it through research.
- Monthly Supply Income: It is critical to maximize your monthly supply income. This is the most basic and important thing you should focus on in the long term. Early income from regions is slow, but it will rapidly increase as you unlock new facilities and establish more contacts.
This proactive expansion is essential for establishing a stable economic base, enabling you to support the growing needs of your resistance. Ignoring this aspect will leave you perpetually struggling with limited funds and hinder your progress.
2. Advancing Your Technology: Weaponry and Research
While income provides the means, technology provides the power. It’s crucial to prioritize research effectively.
- Weapon and Armor Upgrades: Consistently prioritize researching weapon and armor upgrades. The starting weapons are inadequate for long-term engagements, and upgrading your weaponry is critical to surviving encounters with increasingly powerful alien threats. The same goes for armor; keeping your troops safe is always the top priority.
- Autopsies: While not every autopsy is crucial, some are definitely worth prioritizing. The Muton autopsy is useful for plasma grenade research, and the Andromedon autopsy is essential for advanced grenade launcher. Other autopsies can also unlock very valuable gear. Be very careful which autopsies you choose to ignore!
- Early Research Focus: Xeno-Biology is the first tech to investigate. Doing so unlocks the Alien Containment facility which is required to advance the story. Then aim to research Alien Materials as soon as possible.
- Proving Grounds: Early access to the Proving Grounds should be sought out, as it allows for a variety of unique items to be crafted, and some can be very powerful. Focus on getting some unique grenade types through research to start.
- Skulljack: Make sure to research the Skulljack, especially if you are using a Specialist. The Skulljack can be upgraded with a Skullmining upgrade at the proving grounds which increases its hack stat by 25 on normal difficulty, making it extremely useful for Specialists.
3. Developing Your Soldiers: The Backbone of Your Resistance
Your soldiers are your most valuable asset. Neglecting their development can lead to catastrophic mission failures.
- Intel, Scientists, and Engineers: Whenever possible, prioritize getting Intel, Scientists, and Engineers as mission rewards. Scientists are crucial for faster research times, while Engineers are vital for construction, and Intel will allow you to expand much more quickly across the world.
- Balanced Build Order: A solid approach is Advanced Warfare Center > Guerilla Training School > Power Relay > Resistance Comms > Proving Grounds > Psi Lab. The Advanced Warfare Center allows soldiers to heal faster, the Guerilla Training School allows for squad upgrades, and the rest are necessary for keeping your base running efficiently and building needed items.
- Soldier Abilities: Don’t just focus on leveling up soldiers; carefully plan their ability builds. This lets you create diverse and effective squads to adapt to any mission.
- Grenadiers: If you’re looking for power and fun, the Grenadier class is a great choice. They are exceptional at destroying both enemies and cover, and they excel at long-distance engagements.
- Don’t Split Up the Squad: Keep your squad grouped up, especially early in the game. This prevents you from being flanked by the aliens.
- Plan Ahead with Soldier Abilities: When leveling up your soldiers, think strategically about how each new ability will contribute to your squad dynamic.
- Use Frag Grenades Liberally: Early in the game, frag grenades are a must. They help destroy cover and do massive damage to grouped up enemies.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is the best weapon in XCOM 2?
When it comes to raw damage, the Plasma Bolt Caster is the most powerful. However, it requires reloading after each shot, so keep that in mind when deploying it on the field.
2. Which enemy should I focus on mind controlling?
Mutons, Heavy Floaters, and Muton Elites are excellent targets for mind control. They have low will, do significant damage, and often carry Alien Grenades, making them capable suicide bombers.
3. Is there a time limit in XCOM 2?
While there isn’t a strict time limit, the aliens will start the Avatar Project early on in the game. The doomsday meter for this project will increase over time. If this meter fills up, you lose the game. Thus, it is important to always be aware of this meter and take steps to reduce it by destroying facilities.
4. How can I make XCOM 2 easier?
There are options available to make the game easier. Lengthy Scheme doubles the Avatar Project timer, and Time Turner doubles the length of mission timers. You should always start on the default difficulty for your first playthrough.
5. Is it okay to skip missions?
Yes, it’s okay to skip some missions. However, skipping Council and Retaliation missions means losing contact with that region, which is a significant setback. Guerilla Ops and Supply Raid missions are generally safer to skip if necessary.
6. What is the best first research in XCOM 2?
Start with Xeno-Biology to unlock Alien Containment, then move on to Alien Materials. These will help kickstart your campaign very effectively.
7. What is the best starting country in XCOM 2?
It depends on your playstyle. The United States is good for aircraft right away, but Europe is the better choice if you’re planning on making research and engineering a focus.
8. What should I build first in my base in XCOM 2?
Rushing satellites is generally a good strategy. Build a Satellite Uplink and then prioritize getting Engineers as mission rewards to support Workshops and more satellites. Satellites always take 20 days, and uplinks take 14.
9. How long after XCOM: Enemy Unknown does XCOM 2 take place?
XCOM 2 takes place 20 years after the events of XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
10. How important is Combat Intelligence?
Combat Intelligence (War of the Chosen DLC) determines how quickly your soldiers earn Ability Points in combat, allowing for more frequent ability upgrades.
11. Who is the hardest alien ruler?
The Archon King is the hardest alien ruler. He is incredibly powerful and takes a great deal of skill to beat.
12. What happens if I ignore retaliation missions?
Ignoring Retaliation missions will scatter the Resistance in that region. This will lead to a permanent reduction in the region’s income, destroyed radio relays, and the loss of contact with the region until contact is reestablished.
13. What is the max rank in XCOM 2?
A soldier can progress through these ranks: Rookie, Squaddie, Corporal, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, and Colonel.
14. What is the difference between XCOM 2 and War of the Chosen?
XCOM 2 is a turn-based tactical game about resisting alien invasion. War of the Chosen expands on the base game with new enemies, story elements, hero characters, modifiers, and altered campaign structure.
15. Should I start with XCOM 2 or War of the Chosen?
It is generally recommended that you play the “ordinary” XCOM 2 first. War of the Chosen adds several new, difficult enemies, and it’s recommended that you familiarize yourself with the base game before diving into the expansion.
Conclusion
Prioritizing these key aspects of XCOM 2 – expanding the resistance, advancing technology, and developing your soldiers – is essential for survival and success. By strategically managing your resources, research, and troop development, you can overcome the challenges that XCOM 2 throws your way and ultimately reclaim the planet. Remember to stay adaptable, learn from your mistakes, and never underestimate the importance of sound strategic thinking. Good luck, Commander.