Grenadier
While all of your soldiers can carry grenades into battle, Grenadiers specialize in raining down explosive destruction on the battlefield, and accordingly can carry more with them than anyone else. Propelled by a specialized launcher, their grenades fly further and hit for more damage over a wider radius. Because so many of the cover-providing environmental elements in XCOM 2 are destructible and armor can be shredded by explosives, Grenadiers serve primarily as a control class, reshaping the battlefield in your favor.
- The Demolitions Expert skill tree focuses on the former, with skills like Heavy Ordinance, Volatile Mix, and Salvo allowing for grenade fire to be more frequent and effective. Given how much AoE damage and environmental destruction this basic skill package provides, Suppression and Rupture from the opposing tree stand out as particularly useful over their somewhat redundant counterparts in Demolition and Saturation Fire. EXO/WAR Suits from the Proving Ground are particularly effective, as the additional armor stacks with Blast Padding to make Grenadiers into tough tanks, and the suit-mounted heavy weapons benefit from bonuses like Salvo.
- Heavy Gunner, on the other hand, emphasizes the cannon and shredding armor through direct fire. Shredder, Holo Targeting, and Chain Shot can wreak havoc on the highly-armored robotic enemies encountered later in the game, ripping through armor and setting up fellow squad mates to finish the job. Rupture remains a key skill, too, especially for huge enemies like Sectopods. Salvo from Demolitions Expert can be more tactically disruptive than the guaranteed hit from Hail of Bullets, so it's often better to compensate for the Grenadier's diminished aim through weapon modules and PCS upgrades instead. Autoloaders and Expanded Magazines also help compensate for the aggressive ammo expenditure of the Heavy Gunner's more powerful abilities.
- All of the Grenadier's grenade-related bonuses apply to all grenades, such as the defensive Smoke Grenade or the various Experimental Grenades from the Proving Grounds. Armor-melting Acid Grenades are particularly synergistic with what Grenadiers are already trying to do.
Ranger
Like Enemy Unknown's Assault class, Rangers are up-close-and-personal heavy damage dealers. Their biggest change this time around is enhanced synergy with the new concealment mechanics. Able to dish out huge damage in single shots, Rangers are perfect for finishing off the most imminently threatening enemies on the field.
- The Scout tree focuses on stealth, allowing your Rangers to extend and abuse the tactical advantage granted by concealment. Rangers with the Phantom ability start missions in concealment even when the rest of the squad does not, making them perfect for scouting ahead to determine enemy locations or quietly completing mission objectives while their colleagues distract Advent. Even used purely for combat, the combination of Phantom, Shadow Strike, Conceal, and RapidFire can allow for catch enemies unaware multiple times per mission with a devastating flanked attack from the shadows. Implacable and Untouchable together allow for Rangers to remain relatively safe even after sneaking up closely for a surprise kill.
- Assault instead emphasizes the Ranger's new sword for melee attacks. Blademaster, Shadowstep, and Reaper can combine into a devastating chain attack that rapidly finishes off a group of aliens that has already been softened up, such as by a Grenadier's bombardment. Untouchable is key for survival if you go this route, along with any equipment and PCS upgrades that improve durability. Vital tech upgrades to the sword can be built after the Stun Lancer and Archon autopsies.
- Both builds are greatly supported by the Spider/Wraith Suits from the Proving Ground and the enhanced mobility that they provide.
Sharpshooter
Redesigned from Enemy Unknown's Sniper class, the Sharpshooter's name change reflects a more robust support for their secondary weapon, the pistol. Sharpshooters focus on damage from a distance, either concentrated into powerful, single attacks with the sniper rifle, or spread out through a series of rapid pistol shots.
- The Sniper tree supports the traditional role of a high damage dealer who provides cover for the rest of the squad from a distance. Ideally you want to place Snipers in one, elevated position that covers a wide swathe of the level. As a largely stationary position, it can be tricky for Snipers to keep up with the rest of the squad and remain useful in timed missions that force you to keep moving. The Spider/Wraith Suit from the Proving Grounds can help with this, particularly with the ability to easily grapple up to high ground. Even if focusing on the powerful Sniper abilities at the top of the tree, Return Fire and Lightning Hands can add up to a lot of damage in the long run and allow for greater flexibility. Tracer Rounds, Scopes, and the Perception PCS all help mitigate the aim penalty from Squadsight. Auto-loaders, Repeaters, and Expanded Magazines can all help extend the chain of a Serial or Kill Zone attack.
- Gunslingers, on the other hand, are much better at maintaining pressure while staying on the move, reserving rifle shots for more specialized situations. Lightning Hands, Quickdraw, and Fan Fire can stack to allow more damage done in a single turn than nearly any other class in the game. Experimental ammo from the Proving Grounds is most effective here, with their bonuses stacking for every shot. Dragon and Venom rounds are particularly good, immediately adding +1 damage in addition to sustained burning or poison damage. Armor, however, stings much more when applied to numerous, smaller hits, so be sure to come prepared with a Grenadier capable of clearing it first.
- Note that weapon upgrades only apply to the sniper rifle, and cannot be used for the pistol.
Specialist
A flexible support class, Specialists primarily act through their flying GREMLIN drones, which heal and protect their squad mates or harass and disable robotic foes. They also specialize in another of XCOM 2's new mechanics, hacking. Having at least one Specialist focused on healing with you at all times is practically a requirement for keeping your squad alive as the game goes on. Because the two skill trees fill such different roles, doubling up on Specialists can be one of the best ways to capitalize on the increased squad size bonuses from the Guerrilla Tactics School.
- Battle Medic skills do exactly what you would expect, allowing for the Specialist to keep their squad mates fresh with Medical and Revival Protocols and Field Medic. If you're not bringing along a hacking-focused Specialist, then Haywire Protocol and Capacitor Discharge can be powerful abilities to balance out their utility.
- Combat Hackers become more important as the game goes on and you encounter some of its nastier robots, such as the Advanced MECS and the towering Sectopods. Combat Protocol may be slightly underwhelming at first, but don't underestimate its ability to do guaranteed damage that ignores cover and armor, particularly against robots. This damage increases substantially as you upgrade the GREMLIN.
- Note that all of the GREMLIN's Protocol abilities require a single action and do not end the turn, allowing for immense flexibility in how Specialists conduct their turns.
- Because Specialists benefit the most from Medkits or the hacking-aiding Skulljacks, they are particularly well-served by the additional utility item slot in the basic Predator and Warden Armors.
Psi Operatives
The fifth soldier class introduced in XCOM 2, the Psi Operative, works differently from the others. Instead of gaining promotions through field experience, Psi Operatives level up through training in a specialized facility on the Avenger. Moreover, rather than progressing linearly through a sequence of choices for new abilities, Psi Operatives choose each successive ability to train from a random selection, meaning they can get access to their most powerful abilities from the beginning, or learn both abilities from the same tier. These powers can be extremely impactful on the field, so it behooves you to get a jump on training your Psi Operatives as early as possible, which is easy with some focused research.
In order to access Psi Operatives, first kill a Sectoid in the field. Instructing Dr. Tygan to complete the Sectoid Autopsy will unlock the Psionics research project, which will in turn let you build the Psi Lab. Stick a fresh recruit in there and start them training, and you'll be mind-controlling aliens in no time. Staffing the Lab with an engineer or GREMLIN substantially accelerates the training process.
Home is where your jet is - Base Building
At first glance, your base inside the mobile Avenger looks similar to the side-on view of your underground facility in
Enemy Unknown — a bisected grid of stacked rooms reminiscent of
Fallout Shelter or
The Life Aquatic. Befitting the smaller, scrappier scale of your operation this time around, however, the grid is half the size at three by four rooms. That many fewer decisions makes each one all the more important, so here are some tips for getting the most out of your base, and details on each room you can construct (in rough order of suggested build priority):
- Make sure all of your engineers are always busy. Shen reminds you when they are totally idle, but be mindful of ones that might be staffed in inactive rooms like a Proving Ground with no project or the Advanced Warfare Center with no injured soldiers.
- Exposed Power Coils are randomly distributed with (as far as we have seen) two in the lower half of the grid. These either reduce the power cost of rooms built on them, or increase the output of Power Relays. The latter is ideal for getting the most use out of them. Similar to Steam Vents in Enemy Unknown, plan your base accordingly.
- Unlike in Enemy Unknown, adjacent rooms of the same type no longer confer any bonus to efficiency, and thus should not factor into your layout decisions. In general, you will rarely want to build more than one of any given facility, upgrading those you have instead of redundant expansion.
- Clearing out rooms comes with the added bonus this time around of giving you valuable supplies and alien resources for your trouble. Barring anything in particular you need them to do, this is the best default task for your engineers to be doing.
Guerrilla Tactics School
The GTS serves two functions. First, it allows you to purchase new Combat Tactics, which unlock bonuses for your whole squad, such as bonus experience from kills, extra item pickups, and — critically — increasing the size of the squad you can deploy on missions. For this alone, the GTS should be an early priority to build. Its secondary benefit is also extremely useful, however. Rookies can train here to take on a new class of your choosing, rather than by random assignment from leveling up in the field. This lets you proactively fill any staffing holes by training whatever class you need the most. Be sure to always have someone training if you have rookies, because it's essentially free experience.
Advanced Warfare Center
The primary effect of the AWC is that it decreases the healing time of your injured soldiers when staffed, which can be critical for maintaining a viable, field-ready squad at all times. Its second function is a little less clear, but can be game-changing. After the AWC is built, every soldier is secretly assigned a rank at which they will acquire a random out-of-class skill along with their standard choice. Soldiers already past this rank will not retroactively acquire the additional skill, so building the AWC as early as possible ensures that the maximum number of soldiers will receive their bonus. Like the GTS, the AWC offers two useful functions that you want to utilize early and often to get the most bang for your buck, so it should likewise generally be a priority to build.
Workshop
The Workshop essentially gives you two engineers for one. Staffing it provides two Staffing GREMLINs that can act as engineers in rooms adjacent to the Workshop. To ensure the most flexibility, you will want to build it in one of the two central rooms. Note that it only works with vertical and horizontal adjacency, and not diagonal. You also can only have one Workshop at a time, so you can't build two and then have them staff one another, unfortunately (although mods will almost certainly change this at some point). Fortunately you can upgrade it to allow another engineer to operate two more GREMLINs. Be sure to surround it with rooms you will want to staff with Engineers, such as Resistance Comms, the Psi Lab, Power Relays, and the AWC.
Resistance Comms
Unlocked early in the course of the story, this is a critical facility that lets you maintain more regions on the map as part of your rebellion, which in turn increases your monthly income. Accordingly, you will want to build this early to expand your network as quickly as possible, because that early income will add up in the long run. Upgrade and staff it proactively so you aren't stuck unable to contact a new region with an important Avatar facility to raid, for instance.
Power Relay
A straight-forward and essential function of expanding your base, each facility has a power requirement that, in total, must stay within the limits of the Avenger's capacity, which is boosted primarily by building relays. Your starting power capacity will only support a few facilities, so an early Power Relay is almost always essential, barring a lucky continent bonus or random event reward to boost your capacity. Mind your resources, plan ahead, and build Relays proactively, rather than in response to your need, in order to avoid a situation where a lack of power acts as a bottleneck to your overall progress. Build on top of Exposed Power Coils whenever possible for maximum efficiency.
Psi Lab
Unlike the four standard classes, the Psi Operative can only be trained in the Psi Lab. Classless rookies can be sent there to train, mastering one new ability at a time, chosen from a random sampling of all possible abilities regardless of level. Building the Psi Lab is expensive, and requires completing the time-consuming Psionics research, so it can't be one of your first priorities. Psi Operatives can be very powerful, however, and only level up through time, so building it earlier will ensure you the most powerful telepaths by the endgame. Upgrading allows for two to be trained at once.
Laboratory
Scientists, rather than engineers, can be staffed here to boost Dr. Tygan's research. Scientists currently have no other use, so building and upgrading the Lab relatively early can accelerate your research quite a bit in the long run.
Proving Ground
This engineering facility lets you build special projects and unique equipment, sometimes with a bit of randomness. It becomes available early in the story to facilitate constructing the Skulljack, and allows you to also build things like specialized armor or randomized special ammo and grenades that are unique, rather than being available to all soldiers at all time like primary weapons and armor once constructed. These items are extremely useful in the long run, but require materials that are not plentiful early on, and their effects don't snowball as much as other early infrastructure like the
