Making contact with the resistance | Game mechanics XCOM 2 Guide

Making contact with a lot of resistance cells is one of the key aspects of the gameplay in XCOM 2.

Making contact with the resistance is the equivalent of installing satellites above continents, a mechanic known from the first XCOM. The second installment of the series focuses on guerilla-like operations, meaning that satellites are out of the question, which is why you must find and contact resistance cells scattered around the globe. This has two effects:

• It increases your influence on the world map, allowing you to take part in missions taking place in the other parts of the globe. Those are mainly Guerilla Ops missions, which are used to counter the effects of the Dark Events, or missions focused on destroying alien facilities, which in turn decrease the progress of the AVATAR Project.
• Each resistance cell you manage to make contact with will permanently increase the amount of Supplies you get from Central each month.

As you can see, the quicker you make contact with as many resistance cells as possible, the bigger the benefits will be, and the game will become a lot easier.

To make contact with a resistance cell, you will need a free contact - the actual amount of those can be checked by looking at the top of the screen, right next to your other resources. The amount of contacts can be increased by constructing Resistance Comms facilities - at first it will only give you 1 contact, but after upgrading the facility the bonus will increase to 7. To be able to contact all the resistance cells, you will at first need 3 Resistance Comms, and after upgrading two of them one can be demolished, as you need a total of 16 contacts.

Contacting resistance cells

To contact a resistance cell, you will have to find the adequate activity on the map.

To be able to contact a resistance cell, you must first find the adequate activity on the map ("Make Contact"), after which, as always, you will have to spend a couple of days scanning the area. When it's done, you will be given the information about the amount of extra supplies you will now be given by the Council, as well as unlock the additional resistance cells that are adjacent to the one you've just made contact with.

To be able to contact additional resistance cells, you will need two things:

• A specific amount of Intel.
• A direct connection to the resistance cell you want to make contact with - you just have to make contact with another, adjacent resistance cell. The whole mechanic is represented with lines - if the line is highlighted in blue, it means that you are able to make contact, whereas if it's greyed out, it means that you lack a resistance cell somewhere.

Note: remember that the amount of Intel required to make contact with a resistance cell increases with the distance to your HQ. To decrease it, you can construct Radio Relays, which will significantly reduce the amount of required Intel. Radio Relays can be constructed near a resistance cell you've already made contact with, but the Supplies cost of each one of them increases with every relay you construct.