XCOM Chimera Squad: Status effects - positive and negative XCOM Chimera Squad guide, walkthrough
Last update: 06 May 2020
On this page of the XCOM Chimera Squad guide, we explain what are positive and negative status effects. They can be inflicted on both team members and opponents and can affect a character's behavior or health.
What are status effects?
- Status Effects - are unique character states which can be inflicted on members of the Chimera squad and opponents.
- They are usually inflicted with various skills, although this can also occur, for example, as a side effect of interacting with a burning area on a map.
- The red text on the screen informs you about receiving a new status effect. An example of such a message is shown in the image above.
- The status imposed on an agent or opponent may persist for one or more turns. It is usually possible to get rid of the status effects before they disappear on their own.
- Statuses can be seen as positive or negative depending on who they are imposed on. For example, a poison status can be something positive if it was inflicted on one of your opponents, or something negative if it was imposed on one of your team members.
- Not every status "works" on every character. You can read about protecting heroes from certain negative status effects at the bottom of the page.
List of possible status effects
STATUS EFFECT NAME | STATUS EFFECT | ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY |
Acid Burn | Acid damage - a character receives damage every turn and their armor gets damaged gradually. | Don't let your agents wearing armor receive this type of damage - when they lose protection, they will become much more vulnerable to enemy attacks. |
Berserk | Berserk - a character will attack another person standing nearby, both ally and opponent. | Axiom can use "controlled" Berserk. In this case, you don't have to worry about this character attacking other agents. You can deliberately increase his Rage level with the Psych Up ability to speed up the process. |
Bound | Bound - a character is strangled by Viper which means that they can't perform any actions. This person also receives damage every turn. | Torque is able to strangle opponents and this is one of her best attacks. Unfortunately, hostile Vipers possess similar abilities. You can free the strangled character by attacking the Viper who is using this skill (Torque can unlock the ability that protects her from this status). |
Burning | Burning - a character receives injuries every round and is unable to perform many activities outside of shooting. | Burning is usually caused by an explosion of a grenade, barrel or car. Don't place your people near objects that might explode. However, shoot at the barrels near enemy positions. |
Disoriented | Disoriented - the character's accuracy decreases and they are unable to perform many activities outside of shooting. | This status can be a side effect of using certain skills and usually only lasts for 1 turn. |
Levitated | Levitated - the character loses all cover bonuses. | Verge has the ability to launch an opponent into the air. This ability is useful when you are facing a difficult opponent or an enemy hiding behind a full cover. |
Marked / Holo-Targeted | Marked - a character becomes an easier target for opponents. | This status can often be encountered as a breach penalty or as a result of the use of a specific skill. If any of the characters are affected, place them away from their opponents and, if possible, behind full covers. |
Mind Controlled / Hacked | Mind Controlled / Hacked - a possessed character or hacked machine turns on its allies. | Verge can use mind control on enemies, and hostile Sectoids can use this skill on your team. Agent Patchwork can hack enemy robots. |
Panicked | Panicked - a character behaves in unpredictable ways and can attack their allies. | This effect can occur at unexpected moments, not just after the use of a specific ability. For example, one opponent may start to panic after a particularly successful Breach phase done by your team. |
Poisoned | Poisoned - the character receives damage every round and also has reduced mobility and accuracy. | Torque can easily poison opponents, even in the Breach phase. Watch out while fighting enemy snakes. |
Rooted | Rooted - the character cannot move. | It's one of the most common statuses. It can be caused by some skill or, for example, a negative feature of one of the Breach entry points. If your agent is rooted, use firearms or other "stationary" skills. |
Ruptured | Ruptured - the character receives additional damage from attacks. | Claymore is able to inflict such injuries by using some of his skills. Specific opponents can also cast this status on agents. |
Shrouded | Shrouded - the character receives defense (becoming a harder target for enemies) and dodging (receiving less damage upon a hit) bonuses. | This status can be linked to gadgets used by your agents and by your opponents (Commando). In the latter case, try to kill or stun them before they use a smoke grenade. |
Stasis | Stasis - the character inside it becomes indestructible but can't make any actions. | Agent Patchwork, a member of your team, has a stasis skill. You can use her to stop individual opponents or to protect seriously wounded team members of your team. |
Stunned / Shutdown | Stunned / Shutdown - a stunned character or shutdown machine is unable to move. | A character can be stunned by a skill or a Shock Grenade. |
Unconscious | Unconscious - the character remains unconscious for the rest of the fight. | Your agent loses consciousness after losing all of their hp. You have to save them from bleeding to death. The opponent can also lose consciousness after losing 100% hp. You have to use, for example, melee attacks or weapons with Tranq Rounds. |
Weapon Disabled | Weapon Disabled - a character cannot fire a gun until they reload it. | This is another common condition. It can be caused by one of the abilities or as a penalty for selecting a Breach entry point with this negative trait. You don't have to reload your weapons at all costs. Your agent may perform some other attack that doesn't require the firearm. |
How to protect from negative status effects?
It's best to start with a universal hint - try to quickly eliminate opponents who "specialize" in imposing negative statuses, such as poisoning, mind control, rooted, or stunned.
Below you will find some specific tips on how to better deal with this problem.
First of all, it is very useful to upgrade the Hazmat Sealing armor - it is able to completely protect the character from the negative environmental effects like poison, acid, and fire.
A character may have innate immunity to the negative effects of a certain status. For example, Torque is resistant to poison. However, you must remember that this mechanism always works both ways. Don't try, for example, to poison hostile snakes - it won't work on them.
You don't always have to wait until the negative status disappears on its own. You can heal your agents with a first aid kit. Besides restoring lost health points, it can also remove active negative status effects. It is worth equipping each agent with a first aid kit and upgrading it to a nano medkit.
An additional feature of each first aid kit is that it protects against poison. You don't have to use it specifically to get rid of Viper's venom.