Hello, Commander. Welcome back.
We understand you may have some questions about XCOM 2, so we've assembled this handy guide to help you out. As new questions arise, we'll try to update this post to keep you informed.
Do I need to carry out unconscious soldiers?
- If the objective of the map is to kill all enemies, then no. Your soldiers will be collected once the map is cleared. If, however, you have to reach (or place) an evac zone, then you’ll need to carry any unconscious soldiers to the evac zone or they will be captured.
Wait, what? Captured? What does that mean?
- That means ADVENT has them. For the time being, you won’t be able to use these soldiers on your strike teams, but they may appear later in the game as rescue targets during VIP missions.
How do I share a Character Pool?
- Within the folder MyDocuments/MyGames/XCOM2/XCOMGame/CharacterPool/Importable is the Character Pool file. You can email this to friends, which they can drop into the same folder on their system to use in-game. Be sure not to rename the file in Windows, as that can lead to the Character Pool not working in-game.
Hey! The Evac Timer said I still had a turn left, but the mission ended!
- The Evac Timer is inclusive, which means that if it says one turn is left, the mission will end at the end of the turn you’re on.
How do I gain Intel? I scan at Resistance HQ but never seem to have enough.
- Scanning at HQ gains you Intel but you can also complete specific Guerilla Ops missions that have Intel as rewards and Research Decrypt Alien/ADVENT Datapads will give 1 time boost. Use those when in a pinch. (I edited some of this but it seems like it’s kind of incomplete.)
Can I customize my soldiers’ appearances?
- You sure can! If go to the Armory and select a soldier (or select a soldier when you’re editing a team for a mission), choose "edit" and then "customize." From there you can edit your soldiers' appearances to your heart's content.
What are Dark Events? How do I prevent them and is there a point to spending Intel on revealing the next one?
- Dark Events are essentially counter-operations to XCOM. After a certain amount of time passes, you will have the opportunity to counter them. Dark Events initiate random modifiers to your gameplay experience, and run the gamut from something as small as improving ADVENT soldiers' gear in the field to more dramatic gameplay changes such as deploying a UFO that will hunt the Avenger. For more information, check out this detailed blog post.
How can I get more scientists and engineers?
- Certain VIP missions will task you with rescuing/recruiting a VIP who can be added to your scientific or engineering staff. Otherwise, when you’re at your home base there is an option to buy new staff and soldiers with Supplies.
I collected some loot on a mission, what can I do with it?
- Modular weapons research is required to equip any collected attachments, though it should be noted that you can collect attachments before you research the tech to use them.
Oh, awesome. I see there’s different types of loot, too. Are some more rare than others?
- Indeed! As is often the case in video games, loot in XCOM 2 comes in different rarities. The rarer the item, the more of a bonus it will provide when it’s attached to a soldier’s weapon.
How do I raise my specialist’s tech score?
- Specialists can permanently raise their tech score through successfully hacking ADVENT terminals and turrets, though these increases are not provided following every successful hack and will only come up sporadically.
What’s the point of Concealment?
- Concealment means the Advent troops on a mission map aren’t aware of your team’s presence. When that’s the case, you can take some time to set your team up for ideal attacks on the enemy while they’re none the wiser. Be aware: When you attack or enter an enemy’s field of vision, you will lose your concealment.
- Some missions will have your team starting in concealment, while others will have your team coming in hot; that means ADVENT is ready for you. Some Rangers can earn the ability to be manually concealed, which means they can flank the enemy.
Does calling in the Skyranger mid-mission let me extract my soldiers?
- On missions where you have the ability to call for EVAC, you can prematurely call for extraction and forego any potential loot, experience or mission success parameters in order to safely pull your troops out and try another day.
How do I use my available scientists? I am using my engineers to build things and work in facilities, but I can’t figure out what to do with my science team.
- Scientists provide passive bonuses to research; the more you have on your team, the faster your research progresses. You can’t assign them to different tasks/rooms like you can with engineers.
How do I Rank up Psi Operatives? They don’t seem to advance no matter how many enemies they kill.
- Psi Operatives only rank up through additional training in the Psi Lab.
My Ranger didn’t fire when they were on Overwatch and the rest of the team lost Concealment during an ambush.
- If you chose the Phantom ability for the Ranger they will stay Concealed when the rest of the team loses Concealment. Make sure to account for that when planning your Ambush and can have them be the unit that initiates the attack in order to get them to join in the fun.