XCOM: Enemy Unknown Soldier Build FAQ

	XCOM: Soldier FAQs

	 

	This particular FAQ is devoted to the soldiers within your squad. They’re the backbone of your offensive

	against the aliens and it’s important to understand what kinds of perks that they’ll have access to early

	on so that you can help plan your squad’s overall development. So what this guide is going to show are

	the perk trees for the different classes along with some recommendations for perk selections. Next

	there will be some general squad builds to toy around with that can be very effective in the field. But

	first we’ll start out with a couple questions that should be addressed first?

	 

	I’ve heard this game is tough. When do I need to be on the lookout and on my guard?

	 

	All the time! Never let your guard down, because that’s XCOM cruel trick in many cases. You may

	think that a mission is going great, and that your squad is cruising along. Suddenly you find yourself

	overextended when an Ethereal, Sectapod, or Cyberdiscs come out of nowhere bringing missiles, beam

	weapons, grenades, and mind control. If you aren’t sure what lies beyond within the darkness of the fog

	of war move slowly, and keep your character’s second turns in reserve in case something should come

	up.

	 

	Which enemies should I focus on first?

	 

	This is a tough question as it can vary on a case-by-case basis. However, in most situations you’ll want

	to focus on Chryssalids first. These guys can be very, VERY troublesome, and if they infect and kill your

	soldiers they can spawn more Chryssalids for you to deal with. Ethereals are bad too with their mind

	control abilities. Finally, there are the Sectopods which look like the ED-209s from Robocop 1. Basically

	imagine a big mech, armed with beam weapons and missiles. Usually these guys come backed up

	with drones too so be sure to take them out before dealing with the Sectopod as they have a terrible

	tendency to heal the mech when it takes damage.

	 

	Now that those are out of the way we’ll look at the soldiers. As you are probably aware, each soldier has

	a class assigned to them when they level up for the first time. Each level grants different perks which

	play to different strategies and ideals. We’ll recommend some skills here, but really you should mess

	around with different builds on your own to find out which fits your particular playstyle.

	 

	Heavy:

	 

	The Heavy is a great frontline unit. They tend to have the most life of anyone on your crew and are

	heavily armed to boot. They come equipped with LMGs by default and also gain the use of a rocket

	launcher at first level. The rocket is particularly useful as it can get your out of a bind quickly should

	something terrible arise or if the enemies are clustered together.

	 

	Squaddie: Fire Rocket – Exactly what the name says. This grants one rocket for use during a battle. Be

	careful though as it can’t be fired after moving, and will end that character’s turn after being fired.

	 

	Corporal: Bullet Swarm or Holo-Targeting – Bullet Swarm is a great skill as it lets a Heavy fire as a first

	move without it ending their turn. This is nice if you happen to be close to multiple enemies and can

	 

	take them out before they return fire or close distance. Holo-Targeting gives your squadmates a +10 Aim

	bonus when they are attacking the same enemy. It’s nice if you want to put your Heavy into a support

	role, but later on when your teammates are one-shotting enemies it kinda falls by the wayside. For this

	level we recommend Bullet Swarm.

	 

	Sergeant: Shredder Rocket or Suppression – Much like Holo-Targeting, Shredder Rocket is more of

	a support move. This causes a target to take 33% more damage from any source. Again this can be

	nice in the early game, but here we would recommend Suppression. Suppression is a fantastic skill

	that can lockdown a tough enemy with a -30 Aim penalty. Better still, if the target moves, the Heavy

	automatically gets a reaction shot against the target.

	 

	Lieutenant: HEAT Ammo or Rapid Reaction – This level becomes more of a tossup than the previous

	choices. HEAT Ammo doubles basic damage against any robotic enemies. This can be very useful later on

	when going up against Sectopods or Heavy Floaters. Rapid Reaction gives the Heavy a second reaction

	shot on Overwatch if they manage to hit the target with the first one. This may sound awesome, but

	remember that Overwatch shots are taken at an Aim penalty. Worse still, Heavies aren’t the most

	accurate class under normal circumstances, so here it’s recommended that you take HEAT Ammo.

	 

	Captain: Grenadier or Danger Zone – This one is another good tradeoff. If you find yourself using a lot

	of grenades or relying on them to some major appreciable extent then go with Grenadier which grants

	the Heavy two grenades instead of one. On the other hand, if you want to try and take aliens in alive

	or would favor moves that won’t make you miss out on weapon fragments for upgrades then go with

	Danger Zone which increases the AoE of Suppression and any rocket attacks. This can be very nice if the

	AI has placed multiple enemies close together or you want to suppress multiple hostiles at the same

	time. Again in the early game Grenadier is nice, but later on you get better rockets and the enemies

	start to have more health than even two grenades. Plus suppressing multiple enemies can let you flank

	enemies much easier so you can score critical hits on them with relative ease. Therefore, it’s best to take

	Danger Zone as it aids Suppression, and is more useful than grenades later on.

	 

	Major: Will to Survive – At major level you aren’t given a choice (something that is true of every class).

	Will to Survive is a general -2 damage reduction to the Heavy if they happen to be in cover and aren’t

	flanked. All the more reason why you should move slow and deliberately place Heavies so that they

	have good range on targets downfield, and aren’t out in the open.

	 

	Colonel: Rocketeer or Mayhem – At the final level, Heavies get access to Rocketeer which allows them

	to carry another rocket while Mayhem increases the damage of AoE attacks and Suppression based

	on weapon level. This is a really tough one. In most playthroughs, having Mayhem is going to do you

	fine (especially if you have Suppression and Danger Zone). This is especially true later when you unlock

	plasma rockets. Having a higher damage for AoE attacks can stack really well with Grenadier or with

	rockets. Meaning that the real choice becomes would you rather have two rockets or one rocket that

	does a lot of damage? We recommend Mayhem, but again if your playstyle is to have a Heavy armed

	with as many explosives as they can carry then you can’t go wrong with an extra rocket.

	 

	Assault:

	 

	Assault soldiers are the spearhead of any squad usually they are frontline tactical units that need to be

	up close and personal to do any damage. This is especially true since they are armed with shotguns.

	However, the range of their shotgun improves as you gain better equipment.

	 

	Squaddie: Run & Gun – This ability allows the Assault soldier to activate an Overwatch or fire their

	weapon if activated before their second move. This is nice if you think you can eliminate an enemy up

	close or if you want to provide a forward firing position that will damage hostiles moving forward to

	close gaps.

	 

	Corporal: Tactical Sense or Aggression – At this point you have to make a decision regarding whether

	your want to provide extra defense or offense to the Assault. Tactical Sense grants +5 Defense for all

	enemies in sight (up to a max of 20). Meanwhile, Aggression provides the Assault with a +10% critical hit

	chance for every enemy in sight (up to a max of 30%). For this level we recommend Tactical Sense since

	you can’t really go wrong with it at any point in the game. The reason for this is because if the soldier

	gains a +20 to defense that’s equivalent to being in partial cover even if out in the open and exposed.

	This defensive bonus stacks with any bonuses granted by armor or items which can mean your Assault

	soldiers can wade into some hairy situations with a passive buff. Aggression on the other hand isn’t as

	nice since shotguns increase their critical percentage based on proximity to the target. Later weapon

	upgrades can confer the Aggression bonus without having to take the perk. Assaults do a lot of damage

	anyway so go with Tactical Sense for the defensive bonus. This will be especially helpful on higher

	difficulties.

	 

	Sergeant: Lightning Reflexes or Close and Personal – Close and Personal confers a +30% critical chance

	against adjacent targets with that bonus decreasing with the range from the target. Meanwhile,

	Lightning Reflexes allows the first reaction shot from Overwatching enemies to miss. Here we

	recommend Lightning Reflexes, if only because it never becomes less useful at mitigating damage.

	Moreover, there will be many times where your frontline Assault units are locked down due to

	Suppressing fire. With Lightning Reflexes you can run through it without having to worry about being hit.

	Plus with the guaranteed miss it will increase the survivability of your Assault units especially if multiple

	Overwatching enemies are taking pot shots.

	 

	Lieutenant: Flush or Rapid Fire – Rapid Fire allows an Assault to take two shots against a single target

	in succession, but the shots carry a -15 penalty to Aim. Considering how inaccurate Assault soldiers can

	be from range, that -15 Aim penalty can be devastating. Plus in the later game getting close to some

	enemies is enough to send your soldier home in a box. Flush on the other hand allows you to shoot

	at an enemy and make them run out of cover. This move is very useful when multiple troops are on

	Overwatch. As a result you can setup a nice chain of free attacks on enemies that have to sprint from

	cover. Plus the shot has a high hit percentage at the cost of reduced damage. Therefore, Flush is what

	we recommend for this level.

	 

	Captain: Close Combat Specialist (CCS) or Bring ‘Em On (BEO) – BEO adds 1 damage to critical hits

	for each enemy that your squad can see (up to a max of 5) while CCS allows the Assault to have a

	free reaction shot on any enemy that closes to within 4 tiles of their position even if they aren’t on

	 

	Overwatch. We recommend taking CCS as it can give your Assault a chance to do some damage when

	you don’t have access to Run & Gun or you find yourself overextended.

	 

	Major: Extra Conditioning – This perk grants an Assault bonus health based on their armor with heavier

	armor increasing the bonus. It’s nice, but don’t feel obligated to outfit your Assaults with Titan or

	Archangel armor especially since Ghost armor confers better bonuses. Still it’s a nice perk to have if you

	want to experiment.

	 

	Colonel: Resilience or Killer Instinct – Killer Instinct grants a critical damage bonus of +50% after using

	Run & Gun that lasts for the rest of the turn. This is nice, but you’ll only have access to it every two turns

	when Run & Gun has recharged. Plus once an Assault is that close to an enemy anyway the chance that

	they critically hit is going to be pretty high already. By contrast, Resilience grants complete immunity to

	critical hits for the Assault. For this one we recommend resilience as it can be extremely useful on higher

	difficulties and can mitigate the damage done to an Assault to a weapon’s base damage. Plus the benefit

	from Killer Instinct is moot if the Assault is placed into Overwatch as successful Overwatch shots aren’t

	able to critical.

	 

	Sniper:

	 

	Snipers as their name would suggest are the masters of distance combat. Even before they get their

	maxed out plasma sniper rifles they will be the ones dealing enormous amounts of damage from long

	range. Their perks also give them the ability to hang further back than the rest of your attack force

	while attacking the same targets. This is all a good thing since being up close with a sniper rifle incurs

	an aiming penalty. If the terrain of a level has higher points of elevation consider moving your snipers

	to that location as a nest. Of course unlike the other classes, snipers cannot go into Overwatch or fire

	their rifles after moving. This means that they have to have a pistol out if you want to Overwatch them.

	Luckily the game has many different pistol improvements and snipers can also pick up perks relevant to

	pistols or negating their move penalty.

	 

	Squaddie: Headshot – Throughout the game Headshot will be a skill you fall back on constantly. Later

	when your squad’s Snipers have the ability to hit very consistently from range turning on Headshot

	will allow you to one shot even the game’s toughest enemies. Headshot fires off a round with a +30%

	critical hit chance that also adds extra damage depending on the level of the gun being used. Again it’s a

	great skill that you’ll come back to often.

	 

	Corporal: Snap Shot or Squadsight – This is a really tough trade-off! Snap Shot allows a sniper to fire

	after moving which is something that a sniper normally can’t do. Unfortunately shots taken suffer a -

	20 Aim penalty. Squadsight on the other hand allows the Sniper to fire at any target within an ally’s

	sight radius. This allows a Sniper to say nice and safe, while also being able to contribute significantly to

	combat. While Snap Shot increases the convenience of Snipers, Squad Sight is a better skill for providing

	long distance support while at the same not keeping some of your units out of harm’s way. Therefore,

	we would recommend you take Squadsight unless you really know what you’re doing.

	 

	Sergeant: Gunslinger or Damn Good Ground (DGG) – Gunslinger adds 2 bonus damage to pistol attacks

	that are successful. At first this sounds kinda lame, but then you remember that by default Snipers

	have to Overwatch with a pistol after moving to a location. This bonus damage also stacks with some

	upgrades for the pistol that are available in the Foundry later on, and also stacks with the base damage

	based on the weapon being used. By contrast, DGG provides a +10 Aim and +10 Defense bonus against

	enemies from a lower elevation. This can be nice, but then you may run into problems maneuvering

	your Snipers into a position where the buff kicks in. Moreover, enemies that can fly or hover will

	immediately negate a height advantage, and some maps do not grant a significant enough elevation

	difference in the terrain to be of help. Therefore, Gunslinger is a better choice overall as a plasma pistol

	with Gunslinger can be very deadly in the hands of a Sniper on Overwatch.

	 

	Lieutenant: Disabling Shot or Battle Scanner – Disabiling shot can be a great way to shut down a major

	enemy as it causes a target’s main gun to malfunction. This can be nice if your squadmates have found

	themselves in a middle of a suppression or overlapping fields of fire. Battle Scanner on the other hand

	allows the Sniper to throw a projectile that expands their vision to the area where the orb is thrown for

	2 turns. That perk can also be used up to two times per battle. While Disabling Shot has its advantages,

	you’ll probably want to go with Battle Scanner since it caters more to a carefully managed playstyle.

	Additionally, Squadsight stacks with Battle Scanner and when thrown it doesn’t cause the enemies

	to trigger. This can allow a Sniper to pick off targets before they become a problem and make things

	significantly easier for your squad.

	 

	Captain: Executioner or Opportunist – Executioner confers a +10 Aim bonus against targets that have

	less than 50% health. This is nice as it will allow you to finish off most weakened enemies. Opportunist

	on the other hand removes the Aim penalty from reaction shots. Better yet, it also allows reaction shots

	to critical. For this level we recommend Opportunist as being able to critical on Overwatch and fire

	without Aim penalties is just too good to pass up. This is especially useful if you have Squadsight as it

	will allow you to reach a position with a good line of sight much earlier which will allow the Sniper to

	Overwatch with their rifle instead of a pistol.

	 

	Major: Low Profile – Low Profile allows partial cover to count as full cover for the purposes of damage

	calculations and will saves. It also stacks with defensive bonuses from armor which means that keeping

	your Snipers in an area where they won’t get flanked becomes even more of a bonus to the squad.

	 

	Colonel: In the Zone (ITZ) or Double Tap – ITZ provides an unusual bonus. If the Sniper kills a flanked

	or uncovered target then the shot does not count as an action. This can be very nice against enemies

	that are unable to take cover such as Floaters or Ethereals as multiple shots could be fired in a single

	turn. Double Tap is basically the Sniper equivalent of Bullet Swarm in that it allows for two shots to

	be fired in a single turn provided the Sniper did not move as a first action. Unfortunately this can be

	problematic when trying to take an alien alive as the second shot of a Double Tap must be used to fire

	something. In these situations it’s nice to have Disabling Shot to minimize damage to a potential capture

	target while also making it safer for your squadmates to approach. This one is tough to offer a concrete

	recommendation for so it will entirely depend on playstyle. However, if you have two Snipers, it’s nice

	if one has ITZ and the other has Double Tap. Then you just have to remember which one is which when

	 

	targeting enemies.

	 

	Support:

	 

	Support class soldiers are Jack of all trades characters. They are armed with assault rifles which give

	them good range and nice damage with ample opportunities to critical. They’re basically a good cross

	between a Heavy and an Assault. Depending on the route you decide to go they can act as a medic for

	your team or act as a full support gunner. As such, for this class we won’t offer any recommendations,

	but general pros and cons of the different perks at each level.

	 

	Squaddie: Smoke Grenade – Smoke Grenade, as its name would imply, allows the Support class to throw

	a smoke grenade that at base level offers a +20 Defense to all units within the cloud. Notice how we

	said all units? That’s because this tactical benefit can also go to the enemy if they find their way into

	the cloud. Given how fast some battles can shift this skill has its uses, but can be problematic if used

	incorrectly.

	 

	Corporal: Sprinter or Covering Fire – Sprinter allows the Support class to move an additional 3 tiles on

	the battlefield. This can be very nice if you decide you need a frontline gunner in a hurry or have to get

	a medkit to a soldier that’s about to bleed out. Covering Fire allows the Support class to have reaction

	shots to enemy attacks as well as movement. Covering Fire can be nice later on in the game when you

	have equipment that can minimize the Aim penalties from reaction shots, but Sprinter is a good skill to

	have for a party medic or if you want a long range recon unit that can retreat quickly if necessary.

	 

	Sergeant: Field Medic or Smoke and Mirrors – Smoke and Mirrors allows for the use of an extra smoke

	grenade while Field Medic allows the Support class to use an equipped medkit 3 times in a single

	battle. While an extra smoke grenade can be nice in some situations later levels in the game due to the

	extreme lethality of combat will call for medkits for resuscitating/reviving downed soldiers. Usually,

	Field Medic is a good way to go especially if your support gunner is in the back too far to engage well

	within combat.

	 

	Lieutenant: Revive or Rifle Suppression – Rifle Suppression is the Support class’s version of the Heavy’s

	Suppression perk. It can be nice, but usually your Heavies will have Suppression which can make this

	perk kinda redundant. Revive on the other hand allows you to revive a critically wounded soldier at

	33% of their max health. This allows you to bring a soldier that would otherwise be unconscious for the

	remainder of combat back into the fight.

	 

	Captain: Dense Smoke or Combat Drugs – Dense Smoke adds +20 Defense and increases the AoE of

	Smoke Grenade. Combat Drugs adds a +20 Will bonus and also adds +10% critical chance to the smoke

	from Smoke Grenade. Both are good perks, but generally Combat Drugs takes it. The bonus to Will can

	mean the difference between a missed shot or a critical hit on one of your people. Again though…make

	sure that the enemy isn’t inside the cloud!

	 

	Major: Deep Pockets – This is perhaps the best perk in the whole game. Supports gain the ability to have

	two inventory items equipped instead of just one. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that you can equip

	 

	two medkits and then have six kits (assuming you picked the Field Medic perk). However, it does allow

	you to get the best of both worlds by being able to equip a S.C.O.P.E and a medkit. Improving accuracy

	and allowing the use of 3 medkits per battle. Really the possibilities are endless. So try out a combo that

	works for you.

	 

	Colonel: Savior or Sentinel – Savior increases the healing power of medkits by 4 HP. Sentinel on the

	other hand allows two reaction shots per Overwatch instead of just one. Of course, the standard Aim

	penalty applies to the reaction shots so it might be best to stick with Savior, especially if your Support

	class already has Field Medic and Revive.

	 

	General Squad Builds:

	 

	Now we can talk about some general build strategies. It goes without saying that these builds assume

	that the increases in squad size have been unlocked. To start with one particularly useful build is to

	have 2 Heavies, 2 Snipers, 1 Support and 1 Assault. This is a nice build because your Heavies can have

	overlapping fields of fire while being in Overwatch positions. This is a great move if you want to back

	up a forward unit. Here the Assault acts as a forward recon unit that can encounter enemies. Since it

	has Run & Gun it can be placed into a forward Overwatch position or can take out an enemy before the

	rest of your squad takes their turns firing. Sighing the enemies with an Assault also gives your Snipers

	a chance to use Squadsight. Provided they have a line of sight to the target, this can be invaluable in

	taking out targets quickly and without much fuss. As for the Support, in this scenario you can have either

	a gunner or medic, but always place them in the rear either near the Snipers or between the Snipers and

	the Heavies into an Overwatch position. That way if the enemies should spawn to either side of you and

	attempt to flank you can have a gunner ready to help prevent a problem.

	 

	Another useful build is to have 2 Heavies, 2 Assaults, 1 Sniper and 1 Support. Having two Assaults is

	nice when you want to make sure that your forward troops have adequate backup. Of course, this build

	can run into problems when enemies rush in. That’s why the Heavies should, again as above, take up

	forward Overwatch positions to help protect the Assaults. Meanwhile, the lone wolf Sniper could be

	placed anywhere with a good line of sight while the support can again be used to prevent flanking.