Archon | Enemies XCOM 2 Guide

Avatars should be killed before they are able to ascend into the air.

A huge difficulty spike happens when this enemy appears on the battlefield. Those units are very mobile, they have massive amount of health and a high defense attribute, decreasing the chances of your units to hit them by 25%. Additionally, they have a 25% chance to dodge attack, turning it into graze wounds, reducing the damage inflicted significantly.

Archons can deal relatively high damage (about 7-8 from a distance and 8-9 in melee combat) and they have access to two special abilities:

• Battle Frenzy - whenever they are damaged, they are granted a bonus to mobility, granting them an additional action point. This effect happens each time they are attacked, but it does not stack.
• Blazing Pinions. The enemy will fly high into the sky, making it harder for your soldiers to hit him (while at the same time gaining an aim bonus) and will mark a few places on the battlefield - those appear right on top of your soldiers. Beams of light will drop down from the sky at the marked locations in the next round, which effects are similar to grenades - they will deal damage and detonate anything in the blast range. As soon as the markers appear you should get your soldiers out of the harm's way.

You should try to eliminate the enemy before he is able to ascend, as it makes harder for your soldiers to hit him and he will be given a high ground bonus, granting him AIM. Archons are very vulnerable to the abilities of Psi Operatives, which cannot miss or cause graze wounds - the only problem is the high will of the target (100 points), making it hard for your soldiers to mind control them.