The XCOM 2 walkthrough will guide you through the beginning to ending moments of gameplay with strategy tips for this turn-based strategy tactical game on the PC, Mac & Linux.
XCOM 2 is the sequel to XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the 2012 award-winning strategy game of the year. Welcome back, Commander!
Let’s start the XCOM 2 walkthrough with an introduction video!
Please note that viewers must be at least 16 to watch, so no harm comes to those with innocent eyes. This game includes Blood, Use of Tobacco, Violence.
Table of Contents
- Intro & FAQ
- Tutorials
- Mission 1: First Class (Tactical Tutorial)
- Mission 2: Download Equipment Allocations
- Mission 3: Extract The VIP
- Mission 4: Retaliation, Operation WAR Hound
- Mission 5: Destroy the Alien Relay
- Mission 6: Supply Raid Boom
- Mission 7: Capture an Enemy VIP
- Mission 8: Poison Dirge
- Mission 9: Humanity Canyon
- Mission 10: Overrun
- Mission 11: Raid The Advent Train
- Mission 12: Capture VIP, A Hero Is Born
- Mission 13: Operation Drunken Cry
- Mission 14: Retaliation, Operation Burning Night, Emancipation Valley
- Work-In-Progress
Index of XCOM 2 Guides:
- This Page: XCOM 2 Walkthrough
- Next Page: XCOM 2 Cheats
- Next Page: XCOM 2 Weapons Guide
- Next Page: XCOM 2 Achievements Guide
XCOM 2 Walkthrough
Earth has changed. Twenty years have passed since world leaders offered an unconditional surrender to alien forces. XCOM, the planet’s last line of defense, was left decimated and scattered. Now, in XCOM 2, the aliens rule Earth, building shining cities that promise a brilliant future for humanity on the surface, while concealing a sinister agenda and eliminating all who dissent from their new order.
Only those who live at the edges of the world have a margin of freedom. Here, a force gathers once again to stand up for humanity. Always on the run, and facing impossible odds, the remnant XCOM forces must find a way to ignite a global resistance, and eliminate the alien threat once and for all.
Key Game Features:
- XCOM ON THE RUN: Take command of the Avenger, an alien supply craft converted to XCOM’s mobile headquarters. New open-ended gameplay lets you decide where to guide your strike team, how to grow popular support, and when to combat enemy counter-operations.
- RECRUIT RESISTANCE FIGHTERS: Five soldier classes, each with its own skill tree, let you create specific soldiers for your tactical plan.
- TACTICAL GUERRILLA COMBAT: New gameplay systems offer more tactical flexibility in combat. Use concealment to ambush enemy patrols. Loot enemies for precious gear and artifacts. Rescue VIPs and save fallen comrades by carrying them to the extraction point.
- A NEW BREED OF ENEMY: A diverse cast of enemies from powerful new alien species to the ADVENT, enforcers of the alien regime, offer a distinct tactical challenge.
- RESEARCH, DEVELOP AND UPGRADE: Configure and build rooms on the Avenger to give XCOM new capabilities on the battlefield. Use your Scientists and Engineers to research, develop and upgrade weapons and armor to fit your preferred tactics.
- EACH MISSION IS A UNIQUE CHALLENGE: Go on missions around the world, from wildlands to the heart of the alien-controlled megacities, to the depths of alien installations. There are virtually infinite combinations of maps, missions and goals.
- CREATE CUSTOM MODS: Community-focused tools allow you to create your own campaign, tactical gameplay, aliens, classes, strategy game features, and share within the Steam Workshop.
- ENGAGE IN HEAD-TO-HEAD MULTIPLAYER: Mix-and-match squads of humans and aliens and battle head-to-head on randomly-generated maps.
Intro & FAQ
Welcome to the XCOM 2 walkthrough!
Get ready for XCOM 2 as we fill you in on everything that you need to know, including what actually happened in the dark days between XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2!
XCOM 2 Frequently Asked Questions:
Here’s a brief training program before battlefield deployment. Carefully consider these tips before engaging ADVENT forces for the first time.
1. How to acquire valuable Intel on – and off – the battlefield?
Gathered Intel provides invaluable resources for XCOM’s efforts. Scan for Intel at Resistance Headquarters in between combat, and be sure to take advantage of Guerilla Ops missions that reward you with extra Intel simply for completing objectives. If you find yourself running low on Intel, consider researching Decrypt Alien / ADVENT Datapads. Intel will help the war effort in several ways:
* Expanding the resistance network.
* Use on the Black Market to acquire items and personnel staff for your base, the Avenger.
* Reveal upcoming Dark Events activity of ADVENT forces.
2. How to deal with Dark Events and hobble ADVENT activity?
As XCOM continues to chip away at ADVENT, Dark Events are alien counter-operations running in the background. If unchecked, ADVENT will turn up the search intensity and make XCOM’s tasks even harder.
Dark Events range from something as small as improving ADVENT soldiers’ gear in the field to more dramatic gameplay changes like deploying a UFO that will hunt the Avenger.
3. When to carry unconscious soldiers to safety?
If the objective of a map is to kill all enemies, make sure downed soldiers are in a secure, safe location – they will be retrieved once the mission has been accomplished. If, however, you must reach an evac zone, all unconscious personnel must be carried to the exfil point. Failure will result in their capture by ADVENT troops.
You may have opportunities to recover captured units in later VIP missions.
4. How to share your XCOM troops with other Commanders?
We need to increase XCOM’s ranks. If you want to share your XCOM forces with allied Commanders, simply consult your tactical computer to locate data files for active units. By default, the “Character Pool” folder can be found in the following directory:
My Games\XCOM2\XComGame\CharacterPool\Importable
Inside is the Character Pool file. Transmit this file to friends, which they can deploy into the same folder on their system to use in-game.
Important: Be sure not to rename the file in Windows, as that can lead to the Character Pool not working in-game.
5. How to make the most of proper concealment?
ADVENT troops on a mission map aren’t always aware of your team’s presence… at least, not at first. Whenever the opportunity arises, take your time. Set up triangulations of fire whenever possible and properly prioritize your fire teams’ targets well ahead of time. 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. In the latter cases, ADVENT is ready for you. Properly trained Rangers can earn the ability to be manually concealed, which means they can flank the enemy. Press the advantage however you’re able, Commander.
6. 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.
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 to 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.
7. If you collected some loot on a mission, what can you 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.
There’s different types of loot. Are some more rare than others? Yes! 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.
8. 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.
9. How do I Rank up Psi Operatives?
They don’t seem to advance no matter how many enemies they kill.
That’s because 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.
Tutorials
Chris will be your voice-over commentator showing you around the game’s areas, starting with these tutorials.
Facilities Base Management Overview:
This video is to share some insights about the various facilities available to be built inside the Avenger. I’ll be covering all of the available facilities which include the Psi Lab, Defense Matrix, Guerilla Tactics School, Advanced Warfare Centre, and…The Shadow Chamber.
How The Character Pool Works:
This video guide aims to explain how the Character Pool works, how to share your files, and import files from your friends.
Need more starter tips? Check out our XCOM 2 Tips and Tricks and the XCOM 2 Weapons Guide.
Mission 1: First Class (Tactical Tutorial)
This begins the XCOM 2 campaign walkthrough on on Legend Ironman-enabled difficulty level.
This first mission’s video guide includes the opening story cinematics, the tactical tutorial, first mission gameplay, character pool entries, the 3 mods from the Long War Studios team and much more!
Tip: Always attempt to flank enemies before attacking them. They will be easier to hit and score critical hits against.
Mission 2: Download Equipment Allocations
Let’s bring our new rookie out on a dangerous mission to hack and download some equipment allocations. We also learn more about Tygan’s involvment with the chip that was planted in our head.
Mission 3: Extract The VIP
We need to rescue one of our XCOM soldiers who is trapped in an Advent cell… and he has company. Do we get him out, though?
Mission 4: Retaliation, Operation WAR Hound
We need to stop the Advent retaliation!
Mission 5: Destroy the Alien Relay
We need to destroy an Alien relay inside of… you guessed it… a church.
XCOM 2 Walkthrough continues on Page 2 with Mission 6: Supply Raid Boom.