XCOM: Enemy Within - Walkthrough

Review of the Game

-----------WALKTHROUGH---------------------------------
I received reviews that this walkthrough was weak.
The original is below. The updated has been added,
this is the easiest way to beat the game. If you do
Ironman that's past this part. The original is below.

------------WALKTHROUGH XCOM: ENEMY WITHIN-------------


GAME SETUP OBJECTIVES

SETUP
-Choose Operation Progeny, Slingshot, Beginner VO.
-Choose Africa to Start

MAP STRATEGY
-Get 75% of the Meld and No Unit Kills, Move in Group
of Two, Together if Difficult, Level 1 Heavy to
Sergeant (Urban Medal).
-Squad Makeup to Promote: 1-3 Heavy, Sniper, Support, Assault.
-The Primary Objective in the First Four Months is to Obtain
as many Engineers as possible and Produce 1 Satellite
Uplink per Month, and Build All Satellites. This should
be done prior to any activities and Missions and Purchases
should be planned around it.
-Launch the Satellites just before the Council Meeting (there's
no wait time) to minimize Terror (First) and then if it's
okay, you can focus on the continent upgrades.
-When Choosing Missions, Pick the Engineers Reward at first for
the first few months, but also consider the terror on the
continent.

MONTH 1 (MARCH) OBJECTIVES
BASE MANAGEMENT
-Purchase One Interceptors for Each Continent (5 Total).
-Build 1 Satellite Uplink, 1 Workshop
-Excavate and Build 1 Workshop First.
-Research Alien Materials, Weapon Fragments, Xeno Biology,
Arc Thrower
-Purchase 1 Nano-Fiber Vest, 1 Medkit, 2 SCOPE

MONTH 2 (APRIL) OBJECTIVES
-Produce All Satellites Available First.
-Ecavate to Level 2, Build Third Sat Uplink, Power Supply,
Laboratory When Available, Fourth Sat Uplink
-Research Carapace Armor, Meld Recombination, Seeker Autopsy,
Experimental Warfare, Beam Weapons
-Build 1 Satellite Uplink, 1 Laboratory, 1 Power Generator.

MONTH 3 (MAY) OBJECTIVES
-Build Squad Size 1, Hire 6 Soldiers, 2 SCOPE, 2 Arc Throwers,
Purchase Squad Size II, 1 Carapace Armor, 1 SCOPE,
2 Scatter Lasers, 2 Laser Sniper Rifles, 2 Heavy Laser,
Hire 9 Soldiers, 3 Uplink Targetting (AIM), 3 Def Matrix
(DODGE), 1 Arc Thrower
-Build Power Generator, Excavate to Level 3, Build Alien
Containment, Steam Generator, Foundry, Fifth Sat Uplink
-Research Precision Lasers, Heavy Lasers, Interrogations, Research
Light Plasma Rifle

MONTH 4 (JUNE) OBJECTIVES
-Research Light Plasma Rifle, Plasma Rifle, Plasma Cannon,
Plasma Sniper Rifle, Complete Autopsies, Alien
Nav Computer, UFO Power Source, Elerium, Titan Armor
-Build 1 Laboratory, All Remaining Satelllites
-Purchase 10 Soldiers, Tactical Rigging (Foundry), Improved Medkit
(Foundry), 1 SCOPE, 1 Medkit, 2 Arc Thrower, 1 Plasma Sniper,
Rapid Recovery
MONTH 5 (JULY) OBJECTIVES
-After four Months, the Panic will be Neutralized and you can
win the game whichever way you like.
-Purchase 1 Sniper Plasma, 1 Alloy Cannon, 2 Plasma Rifle,
6 Titan Armorm, 2 UFO Boost, 3 Respirator Implant,
New Guy, Iron Will



------------WALKTHROUGH XCOM: ENEMY WITHIN-------------

1. REVIEW OF THE GAME

The XCom Series is probably one of my favorite video
games of all time. The Original XCOM games are
EXTREMELY difficult and time consuming, not to mention
the DOS graphics. Nevertheless, XCOM Terror from the
Deep is a fantastic video game, worthy of classic status
and still playable 15 years later. The creators of XCOM
have great attention to detail (which has been removed
in some cases in the newer versions to make the game
more playable.)

XCOM: ENEMY Within (and Enemy Unknown) is one of the best
video games of all time, without question. It is
EXTREMELY entertaining, has a variety of difficulty
levels so it can be played at a super easy level, and
the levels adjusted all the way to the classic mode
(which is as I said, basically impossible). The 2012
update to this series has fantastic graphics and gameplay
enhancements.

The Downside of the New XCOM Series is that the game is
slightly short. The plot is not extremely well developed
and there are relatively few plotline developments in
the story. It can be completed in a few days of playing
all the time. Nevertheless, this game is great, 10/10.
Purchasing a game like this at $30 is worthwhile, but
it is not worth more than that.

The system requirements of the game take 4GB of RAM
and a 2GHz Dual Core Processor at a minimum. You need
to remove all ancillary programs if you use those
processing speed or it will fry your computer after a while.
It takes a good amount of memory and CPU. The later versions
XCOM 2 have even higher graphics requirements.

The Cinematics to the game are fantastic - movie quality
and there are lots of addons and knick-knacks to play with
that make it interesting and replayable.

Overall: One of the best games of all time.

------------------------------------------------

NOTE: If the game doesn't save when you finish a battle,
don't take the promotions.

Overview of the Game

-----------OVERVIEW OF THE GAME-------------

3. GENERAL DESCRIPTON OF XCOM: ENEMY WITHIN

XCOM: Enemy Within is Set in the same style as the original
four in the series, but it has some (togglable) first person
shooting aspects which have amazing graphics. You have
a base, you build technology and ships, and get attacked
by aliens. You have to kill the aliens and take out their
home base. Fantastic game.

Your base is basically the same as the original except
that there is only one airlock, and you don't need to build
more. In the newer version there are many many things which
are updated to make life easier. You don't need to build
multiple bases, you have one base that directs everything.
The research tree is significantly shorter, but the game
is also significantly shorter. There is also a tutorial
that tells you how important it is to get the tazer (arc
thrower, which used to be the thermal tazer and thermal
shock launcher in TFTD) so that you don't get confused on
how to keep up with the aliens. The levels, again, are
totally adjustable and you can add damage roulette and
new economy and not created equally if you beat it once
which makes damage, stats and money a random variable.
This was how the original game was -- HARD. I prefer
it super easy and fun, I just leave all those off and
shoot things.


XCOM: Enemy Within is the same game as XCOM: Enemy Unknown,
and WITHIN has expansion packs. Don't buy the original,
buy it with the expansion packs and the Slingshot pack
and the elite soldier pack. It's the same price but you
get little goodies that make the game better. There is no
need to play both games. They have the same ending.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Overview of the Gameplay

---------OVERVIEW OF GAMEPLAY--------------

4. GAMEPLAY IN XCOM: ENEMY WITHIN

In XCOM: Enemy Within, you get Six Soldiers on your mission.
If you choose the default play, they all have the same
stats and stats increase on rank increase. This can be
changed, which makes the game harder. You have a base
which has an airlock, a command center, engineering and
science wings, and soldiers to manage. Inventory has
been totally revamped. There is no longer ammuntion
which you have to stock each mission. Each weapon has
unlimited ammo if you can build it on your own. This
is great. Intead of having sonar arrays or alien
detection from your base, there are now satellites
that you can deploy to various locations and all this
can be done from a single base. Also the base needs
to have facilities built just as before. New in the
game is the Panic Feature, where countries get
more panic and provide funding based on this
statistic which you must manage. This was similar
but different before.

The really big improvement in Enemy: Unknown that
makes it playable is that instead of one movement
per turn, you get two..So that you can move AND fire
in the same turn. This is a huge gamechanger.

The buildable coelanth vehichles which had tons
of armor and firepower are not as good in the new
game. But the soldiers and weapons are much more
powerful, along with Mind Control that you can
learn, the game is much easier.

Second that is new and important/powerful is the
psionic ability that is avaiable to soldiers.
Mind Control, the most annoying alien skill in
the original is now learnable, and it is SUPER
good. It's random to get a Psionic and very key
to the game.

Thirdly, XCom: Enemy Within has two key upgrades.
The first is that there are mechanized troops
which can be produced later in the game. The Mechs
which are soldiers, not to be confused with the
Shiv units which are the old coelanth vehicles which
suck. The Mechs are armored infantry units. They
are pretty good, but the gameplay with them is
funky and they are not as fun to use. I think they
are probably statistically better, but I just don't
use them myself, I just use a heavy soldier instead.
The second upgrade is Meld and the Genetically
Modified Solider. These give soldiers some boosts
to their stats which are pretty cool to checkout,
they are minor but definitely helpful. There are
also medals you can award which give some minor
boosts.

Fourthly, XCOM: Enemy Within has this EXALT
invasion. Its just the same but the enemy is
humans with your weapons. Not a huge difference
but does add some variety. They attack you, you
kill the baddies.

The Expansion Packs give some goodies. Slingshot
pack gives three missions that give you a bunch
of resources and the missions are fairly easy.
Tons of elerium and also two fusion cores which
make the guided fusion launcher (the best rocket
launcher). The Elite Soldier Pack gives some
soldiers which can be awarded or on missions
which have a set character, and also gives some
new skins for the characters.

---------------------------------------------------

Soldiers, Part 1

---------SOLDIERS--------------

5. SOLDIERS

Soldiers get skills when they earn rank, and max out
after about 15 missions. Kills also help promotions.
The Psionic Ability is learnable later in the storyline.
Soldiers start with no rank until they do one mission
with a kill. Then they get promoted to squaddie. Later
on they get genetic modifications which give small
bonuses to aim and defense +5-10, plus some special
abilities.

SNIPER - The Sniper class is the worst class in the
beginning because they cannot fire after moving. Later
in the game, they become a very solid middle to good
damage unit. It only takes a few missions. The Sniper
cannot use laser or plasma rifle, or light rifle. They
only use the assault rifle, laser sniper rifle, and
plasma sniper rifle. They do good damage and accuracy
increases at range, decreases at short range, but
their sight radius is still the same.

--SNIPER ABILITIES--

--SQUADDIE 1--
HEADSHOT - +30% Critical, Different than regular shot, 2
Turn Cooldown.

--CORPORAL 2--
SNAPSHOT - Lets you fire after moving at -10 aim Penalty.
I always choose this because it's less complicated.

SQUAD SIGHT - Fire at any target in sight of the squad,
cannot Critical Hit. This is similar, but more complicated
to use. If you have a special strategy it could be better
because you can shoot at long range, but the 1-turn require-
ment before to setup means there's less damage/turn that
is done.I never choose squad sight.

--SERGEANT 3--
GUNSLINGER - +2 Damage with Pistols. This is for sniper that
cannot fire sniper rifle after moving. I never choose this.
Choose this if you do squad sight.

DAMN GOOD GROUND - +10 Aim and Critical from High Ground.
I always choose this.

--LIEUTENANT 4--
DISABLING SHOT - Does about 3 Damage and Disables the enemy
weapon for 1 Turn. This is a pretty good ability to have on
hand. If you are about to get shot can disable weapon. Also,
helpful to do a few damage if you don't have the right pistol
equipped but want to stun the enemy. I choose this about
50+% of the time.

BATTLE SCANNER - Throws out an orb about 15-20 tiles wide that
serves as a vision source. good to look around corners. I try
to get 1-2 snipers in the barracks with this ability.

--CAPTAIN 5--
EXECUTIONER - Gives +10 Aim Enemies below 50% Health. Useful
later in the game against mechs that have lot of health. Not
useful the rest of the time. Can choose this 50% of the time.

OPPORTUNIST - No Penalty to Aim Overwatch, Can Crit. Always
useful. Choose this bit more than 50% of the time.

--MAJOR 6--
LOW PROFILE - All Cover is Full Cover.

--COLONEL 7--
IN THE ZONE - No shot cost to kill enemy in open position.
These are good for killing Chrysallids that don't use cover,
and also pesky aliens in the field. This is not as good for
the end game where the enemies have more HP. I don't choose
this that often.

DOUBLE TAP - Gives two shots per turn. I choose this most of
the time.

------------------------------------

ASSAULT - The Assault class is a solid unit very shortly after
the game gets underway but not at the beginning, and remains good
until the end portion of the game. In the early portion, without
body armor, the Assualt is not good because they operate at close
range with no extra skills, when the enemy has a high hit percent.
The Shotgun that they use has a higher critical chance, and the
range falls off over about 8 tiles. The assault class can use
the laser and plasma rifle, and the light plasma rifle, but their
normal weapon is the shotgun, the scatter laser and the alloy cannon
which are their normal weapon of choice. These weapons all need
to be researched and cannot be found from aliens. Later on,
the assault gets some great skills including lightning reflexes,
available at Sergeant Rank, which makes it much much easier to
use the arc thrower to stun aliens. This can also be accomplished
with the ghost armor or ghost grenade to get alien gear easier.
An essential member of the team, and good after only a few missions
until the end of the game. Killing Chryssalids is etremely easy
with a Colonel Assault with Combat Specialist and an Alloy Cannon,
as they will hit 100% of the time at 4 Tiles and deal 10-damage as
the enemy approaches. They will basically destroy all incoming melee
with 10- HP.



--ASSAULT ABILITIES--

--SQUADDIE 1--
RUN AND GUN - Allows Firing on the Second Move. Cannot Hunker Down,
but can overwatch after run and gun. With Colonel Rank and Killer
Instinct, use it as often as it is available. Also allows to Harvest
Meld on second move.

--CORPORAL 2--
TACTICAL SENSE - up to +20 Defense when around 4 Enemies. I always
choose this.

AGGRESSION - up to +30 Critical Chance when around 3 Enemies. This
is good at the beginning, if you Equip your Assault with Rifle.
I choose this less often, but it is good at the beginning.

--SERGEANT 3--
LIGHTNING REFLEXES - On your turn, the First shot against you
always missed. I almost always choose this. You can close quickly
and use the arc thrower.

CLOSE AND PERSONAL - 2 Shots on the Enemy at 4- Tiles. I cannot
find a use for this skill. It's hard to close to 4 Tiles without
lightning reflexes. It does give two shots.

--LIEUTENANT 4--
FLUSH SHOT - Makes the enemy move from position with high chance
to hit. The enemy only moves like 8 tiles, sometimes they don't
the skill is not that great, doesn't do alot of damage. I rarely
use it.

RAPID FIRE - Does 2 shots at -15 aim. Unloads the barrel, and
often hits twice. Fantastic skill to crit for up to 25 damage.
I almost always choose this.

--CAPTAIN 5--
CLOSE COMBAT SPECIALIST - Auto Fires on enemy closing to 4 Tiles.
Probably the best skill in the game. Auto fire at 4 Tiles for
a Shotgun is 100% to hit. Does 4-10 Damage to all melee closing on
assualt. Run your assault in once you have plasma weapons and
will kill a whole pack of chryssalids. I often choose this.

BRING 'EM ON - Does up to +5 Damage on Critical for 5 Enemies
in Sight. This is probably good if you have a rifle later on.
I rarely choose this.

--MAJOR 6--
EXTRA CONDITIONING - Gives up to about 4 Health in Heavy Armor.

--COLONEL 7--
RESILIENCE - Immunity to Critical Hits. Probably better if
you have a lower equipped squad or ar struggling to survive
missions. Probably better on Ironman or Impossible. I rarely
choose this.

KILLER INSTINCT - +50% Crit to Run and Gun. I almost always
choose this.


------------CONTINUED----------

Soldiers, Part 2

------------------------------------

SUPPORT - The support is the worst class in the game. They
are good at the beginning, but at the end are not good. In
the beginning, they are one of two classes that can use
the plasma rifle and light plasma rifle dropped by aliens,
and continue to use it at the end, which does 7 damage often
and many aliens at the end of the game have 8-10 HP, so they
don't get kills. The Medkit is essential to survival and
they also have smoke grenades which are not that great.
(These have replaced the chemical flares which allowed long
vision to kill bugs). Smoke does increase survivability, but
since it is not perfect, you cannot rely on it..smoke grenades
are mildly supporting. The medkit is essential because of injuries
in the early game. Any soldier injured below their base health
will require infirmiary time. If they have armor and take a small
hit, you can heal it (above 7HP) and they won't require injury
recoup time. If they go below 7HP, they will and that is lengthy
at the beginning and screws up everything. Support is required
and good to very good early, but not very good at the end. You
still need to bring one though.


--SUPPORT ABILITIES--

--SQUADDIE 1--
SMOKE GRENADE - +20 Defense to 10 Tile Radius. It's Like Partial
Cover.

--CORPORAL 2--
SPRINTER - 3 Extra Move Tiles. Average skill, helpful to move
over to heal, but the Support doesn't do enough damage later
in the game to make this offensive, and you only need to heal
a couple times a match.

COVERING FIRE - Overwatch Reacts on Enemy Fire. Useful if you
are overmatched. I choose this half the time.

--SERGEANT 3--
FIELD MEDIC - 3 Medkits per Match. Always choose this. Required
skill.

SMOKE AND MIRRORS - 3 Smoke Grenades per Match. Not that great.

--LIEUTENANT 4--
REVIVE - Brings a soldier back with 3 Health. This skill is nice,
but the thing is they can be killed again easily. If you revive them
normally they cannot be killed again but will survive the mission.
I choose this often, but think I should be choosing Suppression Often.

SUPPRESSION - Gives -30 to aim (1/2 Cover) to enemy and grants
reaction on fire. This skill is Good and should be chosen often.

--CAPTAIN 5--
DENSE SMOKE - +20 Additional Defense from Smoke Grenades. Almost
like full Cover. I often choose this.

COMBAT DRUGS - +20 Will and +10 Crit from Smoke Grenades. This
is not bad but I don't choose it often.

--MAJOR 6--
DEEP POCKETS - Allows limited use items 1 Additional Slot. Great
for Ghost grenades, and all types of grenades. This is replaced
in Enemy Within as all soldiers get this when researched at the
foundry.

--COLONEL 7--
SAVIOR - +4 Health to Medkit Use. Very Good skill. For use
for the heavy medkit support class. I choose this three quarters
of the time.

SENTINEL - 2 Shots on Overwatch. Can fire twice on the same
enemy as its moving. It's a pretty good skill can choose sometimes
but the problem is that the plasma rifle only does 8 damage, and
zombies for example have 10HP, so it doesn't get two kills like
a heavy or a sniper. I choose this less often. You can probably
mod-up a support with this, but I just choose another class for
the offense abilities.


------------------------------------

HEAVY - After the initial portion of the game is complete -
if you an survive, the Heavy class is the best class in the game.
At the end, they have a heavy cannon that does 10 Damage, and if
you choose your skills right, they get two shots per turn. Also,
they have a rocket, and a shredder rocket, and do extra damage
to machines, wich are all the high HP Enemies. At the beginning
portion of the game, they are just like all the other soldiers
and do 3 damage..., but they have the rocket launcher early.
Getting kills to rank them up is a good idea. They won't be
good until you can research a new weapon for them. Sectopods I
think have 20 or 25 HP, and you have to have heavies to take
them down. Heavy soldiers cannot use laser rifles, plasma rifles.
Heavy soldiers can use the laser cannon and plasma cannon, both
of which must be researched and built and cannot be found from
aliens.


--HEAVY ABILITIES--

--SQUADDIE 1--
FIRE ROCKET - Does 6 Damage in a 3 Square Radius. Cannot
be used on second move. This skill is super good, since you do
3 damage at the beginning. You don't get the weapon fragments
the enemy drops, so use it only as needed.

--CORPORAL 2--
BULLET SWARM - Gives two standard shots with the Rifle or Cannon.
Fantastic skill. Gives Heavies Huge damage output. I always choose
this.

HOLO-TARGETING - +10 to Ally Aim on Target. Not great skill.
I rarely choose this.

--SERGEANT 3--
SHREDDER ROCKER - Does 3 Damage and 'Doubles' Damage to target
after. This is not alot if enemy has some special abilities activated.
Better to Nullify Buffs than do straight damage. This skill is Required
to kill heavy mechanized.

SUPPRESSION - -30 to AIM, takes fire turn. Give this to the medic,
and take the shredder rocket.

--LIEUTENANT 4--
HEAT AMMO - +50% Damage to Robots. Fantastic for taking down a Mech.
I always choose this skill.

RAPID REACTION - Gives second overwatch shot on a hit. Good early on, but
skill comes in later. I do not choose this skill often.

--CAPTAIN 5--
GRENADIER - Gives Second Grenade, and +1 Damage to all Grenades. It's
kindof useful but to be honest, I do not use this that often. Even though
it's not great, I almost always choose this skill.

DANGER ZONE - +3 Tiles to Radius for Rocket Fire. This skill kills civilians
in the alien abduction missions, takes out too many walls, and is not that
necessary. Can do a special type of soldier for this type of skill. However,
I do not choose this skill often.

--MAJOR 6--
WILL TO SURVIVE -Reduced all damage by 2 if in cover and not flanked.

--COLONEL 7--
ROCKETEER - 1 Extra Rocket Fired per Match. Good skill, but with Shredder
Rocket I do not find the need for a third rocket. I rarely choose this skill.
Can be special type of soldier with Danger Zone, extra rockets, or so. Have
not found it useful.

MAYHEM - Additional 3 Damage to Rockets - Very good skill. I almost always
choose this skill.



MECH INFANTRY - By the time you get MECHS, you can pretty much
do what you want and/or experiment. You should know how to play the
game at this point. They are good, but comparable to a Heavy soldier.
Probably statistcally they are better, but takes different strategy.
MECHS take more damage and are not good over long battles like base
assaults. They are much better on short matches.

----MECH ABILITIES---

Just try some stuff..

Base Management

-----------BASE MANAGEMENT--------------

6. BASE MANAGEMENT

BASE INCOME - Starts at $400/Month, while expenses are about $75. Each
Satellite Launched gives $75-100/Month Additional, in
addition to increasing coverage to see/shoot down aliens.

PRODUCTION TIME - Most Production Occurs in 10 Days. Satellites take 20
Days to Produce.

FACILITIES - Excavate - $10/Level/Space
Workshop - 3 Power, $65. Each Workshop Adds 5 Engineers to
Staff. FOUNDRY production gives 10% Refund per Each. 10
ENG Req/Each to Build.
Laboratory - 3 Power, $65. each Lab Adds +20% Research Speed
(e.g +2 Scientists if you have 10), +10% Extra Per Each
LINK if Labs Build Side-by-Side.
Officer Training School - 3 Power, $125. Start Game with this.
Need to Get Squad size 5 and Rapid Recov as soon as Satellites,
Research Good.
Power Generator - $60 +6 Power. These are garbage. +2 Power for
each LINK to Power Generators (all types)
Satellite Uplink - 5 Power, $100. Gives Coverage of Two Satellites,
plus ONE Satellite per LINK between UPLINKS.
Access Lift - $50?. Need to Access that Level.
Alien Containment - 5 Power, $85. These are required to interrogate
a live alien. Must be Built Before you go on/return from the
mission.
Thermo Generator - $200. +20 Power. Must be built over steam vents.
Cybernetics Lab - 3 Power, $50. Allows Building of MECs. Gives
Refund Bonus at Foundry for LINKED to workshops.
Genetics Lab - 3 Power, $50. Allows Gene Modding of Soldiers. Gives
Research speed bonus LINKED to Laboratory.
Elerium Generator - $275, 30 Elerium, 40 Alloys, 2 UFO Power Source.
+30 Power, can be built anywhere. Expensive, gives adjacenc bonus.
Foundry - 3 Power, $75. Allows the Special Engineering Projects to be
Engineered. Buffed Grenades, Better Scopes, etc.

SATELLITES - Satellites need to be launched right away and until they are all
launched. This is a priority. All resources need to be allocated to
launching satellites in the fastest possible manner. They increase
resources and keep aliens from launching terror attacks, which kill
and wound your soldiers.

It takes 10 Engineers to build the first workshop, and you must be
awarded 1 Engineer from a mission or monthly rewards before you can
build the first one. These are $65/5 Engineers Purchased/Manuf.

Each Satellite Uplink Gives 2 Satellites to Launch, and if Adjacent to
another, up to +4 to Launch.
Each Satellite Uplink Costs $100 and Takes about 15 Days to Build.

Each Satellite costs $60 to Build and Takes 20 Days to Manufacture. Up
to 16 Can be Launched. You start with one.

All Sixteen Satellites need to built as fast as possible to make the
game easier.


PROMOTIONS/SQUAD MAKEUP - In the Beginning, Take 2-3 Heavy Soldiers, 1 Assualt, 1-2
Support and 1 Sniper (Experienced) All throughout the game, try to
take 2 Heavy Soldiers on each mission until you have everything stable
and then you can take whatever you want. In the beginning, try not to
get soldiers injuried. In particular when you do not have body armor,
be extra careful and do not get hit at all, as each hit will require
infirmiary time.

MONEY - Do not sell on the grey market. Only items that say this has no research
value should be sold. You can sell the extra bodies down to 10 units
each, but no less, and if you don't - they can be used in production,
but not really needed. To make money, you MUST launch satellites.

RESEARCH - You need to research a specific something you need rather than researching
everything at once. Weapon Fragments lead to Alien and Craft Weapons.
Alien Materials leads to body armor. Xeno Biology leads to alien
containment and interrogations/autopsies. You can build 2 labs, but
probably no need for more than that. By the time you get 25 Scientists,
you can have your research well on its way and coasting without more labs.
If struggling, Labs help when you have more scientists, not at beginning,
no more than 1-2 labs then.

I recomend researching in this order: Alien Materials (Produce 4-6 Carapace
Armor When you have time), Xeno Biology (Manufacture Alien Containment
and Produce 1-3 Arc Throwers when you have money), Interrogate Alien when
there is one, *Do Not Research Outsider Shard* until later, Weapon
Fragments, Light Plasma Rifle (When one is found), Plasma Rifle, Plasma
Cannon (Produce 5 Plasma Cannon for Craft as can $200 Each), Plasma Sniper
Rifle, Plasma Cannon, UFO Power Source, Titan Armor (Produce 6 Titan Armor),
Alien Nav Computer, New Fighter Craft (Produce 5 Firestorm). Then you can
research whatever you want. Can Interrogate alien here or there between as
they die after 3 months? 6 months?

ENGINEERING - Build only what you need for 6 soldiers at first. but it is useful to have
a stock for when the base invasion occurs later. Will go over the foundry
mods later and items later.

PANIC - Every alien terrorization adds 2-3 panic. Every successful elimiation terror
reduces 1 below that. Missions that are passed over add 1-2 panic. Launching
a Satellite Reduces Panic by 3.EXALT operations can increase panic by 2 randomly.
Eliminating an alien base reduces panic worldwide by 2-3. Eliminating EXALT
reduces panic worldwide by 2-3. I believe raiding the alien skyship reduces
panic worldwide by 2-3.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weapons, Armor, Items

--------------------------------------------------------------

WEAPONS/ARMOR -
STARTING HP - 7 HP. Reduction below 7HP results in infirmiary time.
CARAPACE ARMOR - Adds 4 HP. $20 to Manufacture.
SKELETON ARMOR - +3 HP, Grappling Hook. Also +10 Defense and +3 Movement
TITAN ARMOR - +10 HP, Immunity to Fire, Poison, Strangle (Within).
ARCHANGEL ARMOR - +8 HP, Flight 6 Turns
GHOST ARMOR - +6HP, Hook, +20 Def, +3 Movem
PSI ARMOR - +6HP, +20 Will, +10 Def, +2 Movem
ASSAULT RIFLE - Assault/Support, 3 Damage, 20 Range, 0$, 10% Critical
SHOTGUN - Assault, 4 Damage, 10-20 Range, 0$, 20% Critical
SNIPER RIFLE - Sniper, 4 Damage, 30 Range, 0$, 25% Critical
LMG - Heavy, 4 Damage, 20 Range, 0$, 0% Critical
PISTOL - All, 2 Damage, 20 Range, 20% Critical
LASER RIFLE - Assault/Support, 5 Damage, 20 Range, 25$, 10% Critical
SCATTER LASER - Assault/Support, 6 Damage, 10-20 Range, 30$, 20% Critical
LASER SNIPER RIFLE - Sniper, 6 Damage, 30 Range, 30$, 30% Critical
HEAVY LASER - Heavy, 6 Damage, 20 Range, $30?, 0% Critical
LASER PISTOL - 2 Damage, All, 20 Range, $20?, 10% Critical
LIGHT PLASMA RIFLE - Assault/Support, 5 Damage, 20 Range, 0$, 10% Critical, +10
AIM
PLASMA RIFLE - Assault/Support, 7 Damage, 20 Range, 0$, 30% Critical
PLASMA SNIPER - Sniper, 9 Damage, 30 Range, 35% Critical
HEAVY PLASMA - Heavy, 8 Damage, 20 Range, 0% Critical
ALLOY CANNON - Assault, 9 Damage, 10-20 Range, 20% Critical
PLASMA PISTOL - All, 3 Damage, 20 Range, 10% Critical
ROCKET LAUNCHER - 6 Damage, 0$
GUIDED FUSION LAUNCHER - 12 Damage, §275, 65 Elerium, 50 Alloys, 1 Fusion
Core, 2 UFO Flight Computers, 35 Engineers


ALIEN TECHNOLOGY -
ALIEN GRENADES - 5 Damage grenade when researched in Foundry.
ALIEN NAV SYSTEMS - The Wide Bench 10 Units Wide with two screens shaped in an
I-Formation
ALIEN POWER SOURCE - The Glowing Green tower usually in the command module.
They are explosive.


FOUNDRY PROJECTS -
ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION - Accelerate Construction at cost
ADVANCED FLIGHT - Doubles Flight Length
ADVANCED REPAIR - Reduced Repair Time Shivs
ALIEN GRENADES - 5 Damage Grenade
AMMO CONSERVATION - Doubles Ammo to Reload
DRONE CAPTURE - Can Capture Drones
IMPROVED ARC THROWER - Can stun at 6 HP and Below (Instead of 3)
IMPROVED MEDKIT - 50% More heal to Medkit (4 to 6)
IMPROVED PISTOL I - Critical +20% Pistols
IMPROVED PISTOL II - Accurary +20% Pistols
IMPROVED PISTOL II - +1 Damage Pistols
HEAVY WEAPONS PLATFORM - Allows Construction SHIV
SHIV LASER - Upgrade SHIV weapons to Laser, +10 Accuracy
SHIV PLASMA - Upgrade SHIV weapon to Plasma, +15 Accuracy
SHIV REPAIR - Can Repair SHIVS in combat with arc thrower
SHIV SUPPRESSION - Shiv's get suppression
STEALTH SATELLITES - Decreased Satellite Shoot Down Rate

TACTICAL RIGGING - Deep Pockets for All Soldiers, 2 Items
SHAPED ARMOR - +3 Health SHIV and MEC
ADVANCED SERVOMOTORS - Increased MEC/SHIV Mobility
SENTINEL DRONE - Upgrade SHIV HP Recovery, Reaction Fire/Shots
JELLIED ELERIUM - Flamethrower to 9? Damage
MEC CLOSE COMBAT - Kinetic Strike to 12 Damage

ITEMS -
ALIEN GRENADE - 5 Damage, 3 Tiles
ARC THROWER - Stun, 3 HP or Below, Drops intact weapon
CHITIN PLATING - +4 HP, -50% Damage Melee
COMBAT STIMS - Increases Stats Limited Time
FRAG GRENADE - 3 Damage, 3 Tile Radius
MEDKIT - Heals 4 HP
MIND SHIELD - Will +30
NANO FIBER VEST - +2HP
SCOPE - +10 Aim
FLASHBANG GRENADE - -50% Aim/Movement 2 Turns
GAS GRENADE - 1-2 Damage/Turn 1-3 Turns, 5 Tile Radius?
GHOST GRENADE - 4 Tile Radius, Ghost 1 Turn, +30% Crit
MIMIC BEACON - Attracts Aliens 2 Turns, 20 Tile?
NEEDLE GRENADE - 3 Damage, 6 Tile Radius, Line of Sight Damage
REAPER ROUNDS - +20 Critical, -15 Aim, No Laser or Plasma
RESPIRATOR IMPLANT - +2HP, Immun Poison, Strangle


-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Additional Base Management

-------------------------------------------------------

7. ADDITIONAL BASE MANAGEMENT

EXALT - Make sure to keep a covert operation going every so often.
They are not too difficult and after you do 15 covert ops, you
will find the EXALT base and can raid it. If you do them as often
as you can, you will take out the EXALT base shortly and it is
easy to take out. When you do an EXALT mission, try to take
3 heavy soldiers with bullet storm. The extra shots will make
short work of them, and the rocket launchers will help.

MECHS - The better MECH is the Kinetic Strike, Grenade Launcher,
Proximity Mine Mech. Level it however you think is good. By this
time you should know how to play. They do require a lot of meld,
so choose carefully. Will usually only get to build 1-2 MECHs
per game.

GENE MODS - The gene mods are also self explanatory. Your final
6 Soldiers should be completely modded out. Wait to do the gene
mods until you find out if you have psionic soldiers, at the end
because that skill is dominant, and cannot be reversed.

PSI LABS -
After you do the Spaceship Invasion? you will get to learn
psionic abilities. You want as many of these as possible. Buy/Use
the psi-armor because that makes the psi troops super good. Mind
contrl is awesome, and choose PSI PANIC, not the other one.
Do not submit a soldier for Psionic testing unless they are a
Rookie (50% Chance) or a Colonel (25% Chance for Psi Gift). All
other Ranks have lower percent to become gifted. Extremely critical
to get lots of psionic gifted soldiers. Very very useful.

-------------------------------------------------------

Research Tree

--------------RESEARCH TREE-----------

See Online. There are three Research Areas: Alien Materials is Armor,
Weapon Fragments is Weapons and Alien Xeno Technology is Alien Capture
Ships are researched by researched the captured alien nav computer
and power source.

Storyline

---------------STORYLINE---------------

1. Tutorial/Meld Tutorial - Choosing the Tutorial Mode does not affect
what you get. It does make you choose the right section in research
engineering, soldiers. Gives you a heavy that is promoted. You also
are guaranteed off the bat to get a +1 Engineer mission which gets
you a guaranteed jump start on first satellite. However, it takes
about 30 minutes. I usually skip both tutorials, they have no
advantage if you know how to play.

2. Alien Base Invasion - Bring several heavy soldiers, and if you
have an assault with close combat, definitely bring that. There
are lots of Chryssalids, which can eviscerate at close range. Need
to have good armor, and good skills on your heavy soldiers and assault
soldiers. Don't perform the Alien Base Invasion until very very very
far later. As soon as you do, the world panic goes down by three but
all the enemies get harder. There is no advantage to doing it early.
Level up your squad first, even take care of exalt before you build
the key and invade.

3. Earth Invasion - After you meet Annette Durand in Enemy Within
your base will get invaded. Keep all your soldiers equipped with
body armor if you have money to make them and also buy or taze yourself
some extra plasma weapons to equip BEFORE the invasion occurs and it
will be easy.

4. When you Select the Chosen one as your psionic you will initiate
the way to the final mission to complete the game (theres a couple missions
between until you select it). Its an Alien air base assault and the final
cutscene will play and the game will end.

----------------------------------------------------

Maps

------------------MAPS----------------

1. SPLASHED UFO - Stay in Cover, Try to Stun as many Aliens with rifles
that you need to save production resources. Move quickly to the meld in
cover with two heavies leading, Charge in with Assault to Run and Gun.
Take no damage if have no armor, or expect infirm time. When get armor
can take 1 hit each match each soldier and still with 25 soldiers keep
good rotation. Need to have Body Armor. Get to Plasma weapons as soon
as possible. Focus on Research on Skills that will keep you alive. eg
more satellites = less frequent missions = stay alive. Body armor = stay
alive. Better weapons = stay alive.

2. Terror Missions. Charge in Full Force. The Aliens will attack civilians.
Need to kill as many as fast as possible. When confronted by a large enemy
to take down when out of position. Take one turn to reposition all troops,
running, rather than take 1 move and shoot. You will take one hit, then
your whole team will converge and usually kill the target. If you dabble,
they can run around and do more damage to you. Need to slam enemy full
force.

3. EXALT. Exalt missions are easy they have low HP. Run to the area to
protect. Put one assault inside the area and all six other (including operative)
soldiers on the firinig line right outisde of the key area. Pick off the
EXALT one by one from under cover as they come by. Use Rockets but
not grenades (low damage.)

4. ALIEN SPACESHIP - The Alien spaceship is harder. There are several
Cyberdisks and Sectopods which have high HP and damage. These need to
be Shredded with a shredder rocket and pummelled with heavy firepower
Double Tap/Bullet Swarm. If in a remote location, Ghost Armor or a
Ghost Grenade for your Assault with Lightning Reflexes can drop a
grenade to pull them into your firing range area. Move slowly. If you
have mind control on one of your psionics, just MC an alien and send
him in and see what happens, and will be extremely easy.


----------------------------------------------------
Love this game! Sorry to skip some parts. Hopefully this walkthrough
helps.

Happy Playing,
-Albert
[e-mail]

Walkthrough - First 3 Months

MONTH 1 (MARCH) OBJECTIVES
-1 Satellite Uplinks (Adj Init), Excavate to Second
-1 Workshop on the Right
-One Interceptors for Each Continent (5 Total)
-Research Xeno Biology, Alien Materials, Arc Thrower,
-Build Alien Containment on Left
-Excavate to Steam, 1 Power Generator, Excavate to Another
-Choose Missions Only to Maximize Satellites Launched
-Terror Missions increase Panic on the Whole Continent,
Launched Satellites Instantly Reduce Panic to 1. Plan
Missions Chosen and Launches very Carefully
-Level 1 Heavy to Sergeant, Urban Combat Medal (Def)
-Purchase 2 Nano Fiber Vests
-Excavate to Lab and 2nd Workshop on Right, Toward Steam Vent

MONTH 2 (APRIL) OBJECTIVES
-Purchase 3 Satellites for Launch
-Try to Rank up your second or third Heavy Soldier
-Build Second Power Generator
-Build 1 Arc Thrower, and a Second, give them to the Rookies.
-Build a Third Satellite Uplink
-Take Cash Missions, Watch Panic Closely.
-Research Carapice Armor, Interrogate All Aliens, Weapon
Fragments, Light Plasma Rifle
-Build Laboratory on the Right
-Build Steam or Generator
-Build Second Workshop on the Right
-Prep for Fourth Sat Uplink in MAY
-Purchase and Equip 4 Carapace Armor
-Launch the 3 Satellites at the End of
the Month

MONTH 3 (MAY) OBJECTIVES
-Build 3 Satellites, 1 Sat Link at the Quad after Workshop
-------Purchase: Squad Size I---------------------
2 Carapace Armor, 2 Medkit, 3 Scopes, 2 Arc Throwers,
2 Defense Matrix [Dodge], 2 Uplink Targetting [Aim],
-------Squad Size II, Hire 3 Soldiers-------------
-Later on Pick up Rapid Recovery, Another 3 Soldiers.
-Try to Rank up 1-3 Snipers, 1 Assault and 1 Support
-You should be mostly setup now, make sure you have six
Light Plasma Rifles and the game will flow pretty evenly.
-If youve done everything correct you dont have to research
the Outsider Shard until you're ready to beat the game. It will
reduce world panic.
-Plasma Rifles make the St Johns Mission Much easier if you'd
like to rearrange things. Can be done with six armed toons.
-Research (Complete) Light Plasma, Outsider Shard, Autopsy/Interrog,
Meld Recombination,

-TO BE CONTINUED

CONTINENT BONUSES
South America - We Have Ways - Interrog/Autops Instant
North America - Air & Space - 50% Maint/Purchase Aircraft
Africa - All In - +30% XCom Funding
Europe - Expert Knowledge - 50% Maint/Purchase Labs/Workshops
Asia - Future Combat - 50% Cost Foundry/Officer Projects

[Xythe]

Can you intercept UFOs in countries that don't have satellite coverage? I don't think so.

[joris24]

What an extensive write op, thank you very much!
I do find it strange that you pass on the Squad-Sight ability for Snipers, it's the best there is. Just find a high elevation on urban maps and the sniper can start killing left and right. Especially when you combine it with In the Zone and over-watch, the sniper can easily kill 4 targets in one turn, when they present themselves.
This ability is worthless for indoors, that's why I also build a Snapshot sniper. Yet having gunslinger very much mitigates the downside of not being able to shoot after a move.

[runestyr]

Since the game is so random, I'm not sure a walkthrough is possible But this one makes a good effort.

To be honest, I still prefer XCOM Apocalypse (aka XCOM 3) when I feel like playing XCOM...and this is from a guy who bought a Pentium-90 computer in 1994 just so he could play the first XCOM.

[Jatopian]

The Earth/XCOM Base Invasion does not always wait until after you get Annette.

[[CoH] Joker]

As a basic guide to starting up, relating core information, it's decent, albeit short.

A walkthrough though, people expect at least a rough idea of how to handle missions, be they specific ones with set enemy locations, or the generic missions that only get a cursory "Don't be this sort of dummy" commentary.
That's mostly what I was snarking on.

[albert.brady12]

Jeez thanks for the compliment. OK i added the beginning a real walkthrough at the end

[[CoH] Joker]

Hardly a walkthrough when you don't give tips on missions...