Ammunition | Soldier equipment XCOM 2 Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
As the Avenger base becomes more and more advanced, the player gains access to additional types of ammunition, that can be equipped by soldiers. Ammunition is always unlocked as a single piece, meaning that each time you complete the "Experimental Ammo" project you will be able to equip a single soldier with it, but it does not require you to activate it in combat, as it works automatically - each shot performed by the soldier wielding it will have additional effects of the equipped ammo. You should also keep in mind that a single soldier cannot equip more than one ammo type at the same time, even if you unlock the second equipment slot by equipping the soldier with a medium armor (Predator, Warden).
A full list of all the researches and projects required to unlock a given ammo type can be found in the "New technology" chapter, as well as in the following table.
Available ammunition types
Name | Description | Cost | Requirements |
A.P. Rounds | Ignores 5 points of armor of the enemy hit. | 1x Elerium Core | Experimental Ammo (project) |
Bluescreen Rounds | +5 damage against mechanized enemies. | 1x Elerium Core | Bluescreen Protocol (project) |
Dragon Rounds | Increases damage dealt by 1 point. Gives a chance to ignite the target, dealing damage each round. | 1x Elerium Core | Experimental Ammo (project) |
Talon Rounds | Increases the chance to score a critical hit by 20%. Increases the critical damage by 1 point. | 1x Elerium Core | Experimental Ammo (project) |
Tracer Rounds | Increases the AIM attribute of the soldier by 10 points. | 1x Elerium Core | Experimental Ammo (project) |
Venom Rounds | Increases damage dealt by 1 point. Gives a chance to poison the target, dealing damage each round. | 1x Elerium Core | Experimental Ammo (project) |
You should select ammo depending on the situation:
- A.P. Rounds are perfect when you want to simply ignore the armor of the target (works especially well against heavily-armored Gatekeepers and Sectopods) and deal full damage to the enemy. Note that the enemy won't lose the armor, as it doesn't shred it, it simply bypasses it - after the attack the enemy will still have, for instance, 3 points of armor.
- Bluescreen Rounds are extremely effective against mechanized units, who at the same time lack any serious amount of armor (like an open Gatekeeper, or an Andromedon). It's perfectly suited for Sharpshooters, who will be able to take out most mechanized enemies with a single rifle shot.
- Dragon Rounds and Venom Rounds are, in theory, quite decent, but the effects those two offer are nothing compared to the rest of ammo types. 1 additional points of damage and a (small) chance to cause damage over time is a waste of a precious utility slot.
- Tracer Rounds come into action when you don't want to rely on destroying cover in order to decrease the defense of the target. They are immensely powerful during the first several weeks of the game, when your soldiers haven't reached max ranks yet and you lack upgrades to increase their AIM.
- Talon Rounds are incredibly powerful when used by Ranger-class soldiers. This class has quite a large critical chance by itself (by equipping a soldier with the best shotgun you will increase the crit chance by 20%) and this ammo just intensifies this. When a Ranger shoots an enemy from point-blank range, a critical hit is almost guaranteed - with the best equipment it means death for most enemies.
Remember that you can check what enemies your team will be facing on the battleground. To do so, you will need to construct the Shadow Chamber facility - afterwards, an information about the number and the general type of enemies will be shown in the upper right corner of the screen you accept the mission on. Use that to equip your soldiers with the best ammo for each scenario.