Character class - Templar | Resistance factions XCOM 2: War of the Chosen Game Guide
Last update: 11 September 2017
The Templar class is the last unlocked by the player and the only one that the player needs to unlock on his/her own. Templars have their own abilities and are the ones that stand out the most among others - they use their psi blades to attack enemies in melee range. Killing foes with psi blades allows them to accumulate Focus points, which in turn gives them access to numerous powerful psi abilities.
General information and hints
The Templar, thanks to equipment and skills, is a character class perfectly suited for melee combat. This soldier uses Psi Blades in combat - thanks to them they can strike enemies in melee dealing psi damage. Like with the "normal" psi abilities in the game, armor and/or shields have no effect on psi damage - enemies always take full damage from those types of attacks. Templars are the only soldiers in the game to utilize the Focus resource. Focus points increase the damage those soldiers can deal and allow them to use special abilities in combat. Those points are acquired by killing enemies with the basic melee attack (Rend), or after unlocking one of abilities that make enemies drop "packs" of Focus points when killed by other means. Templars have access to an SMG-like Autopistol - it allows them to attack enemies from afar when melee combat is out of the question. However, the Autopistol deals low damage and suffers from low accuracy.
When using this class you should remember about certain things, such as:
- Templar's basic melee attack, Rend, deals psi damage and allows the Templar to acquire 1 Focus point if the attack killed the enemy. Additionally, if the target died from the attack, the Templar gains a passive ability called Momentum - it allows the soldier to perform one last action. Momentum can only be used to reposition the soldier and move him behind cover - he/she won't be able to attack.
- The Templar can accumulate 2 points of Focus. This can be increased to 3 points if you unlock the Deep Focus ability.
- This character is extremely effective when dealing with heavily-armored enemies - the amount of damage Rend does is not decreased by enemy armor and/or shield, allowing the Templar to deal full damage.
- Templars have access to the Volt ability from the moment they are recruited. This ability costs 1 Focus point and allows the soldier to shoot a lightning-like projectile dealing high damage (ignoring armor / shields). The attack has 100% accuracy and cannot miss.
- It's advised to damage the target before you send a Templar to finish him off - killing the enemy with Rend will allow the soldier to gain Focus.
- Templars can use a single utility item - grenades, medkits or any other enhancers. Additionally, they are limited to Skirmisher-only armor that has the same stats as the armor of regular soldiers.
- Templars are the only ones in the entire game that cannot use any weapon mods.
- This class is a typical "late bloomer" - Templars are weak at the beginning, but once they rank up and unlock some of their abilities they become one of the most powerful on the battlefield, capable of taking out multiple enemies in a single round.
- Their attacks and abilities aren't affected by Will.
Abilities and development
Like every other class introduced with the War of the Chosen add-on, Templars have access to three different skill threes. The following table presents all of the available abilities of this class.
Note - remember that those abilities are unlocked with AP and that there's no "one level - one ability" limit here. You can learn more about AP in the "Character development" chapter of this guide.
Rank | Psiblade | Dynamo | Sage |
Squaddie | Rend - a melee attack that deals psi damage, can stun / disorient enemies and cannot miss. Triggers Momentum and generates Focus on kills. Momentum allows the Templar to perform one additional action. The ability is unlocked from the start. | Volt - allows the Templar to launch a psionic attack dealing psi damage. If the Templar has any additional Focus points, the ability will jump to nearby units. The ability costs 1 Focus. The ability is unlocked from the start. | Focus - allows the Templar to acquire Focus points that increase his/her damage with Rend and allow the soldier to use special abilities. The ability is unlocked from the start. |
Corporal | Parry - an ability that allows the Templar to block 1 incoming attack. It can be activated once a Templar kills the enemy with Rend. | Aftershock - empowers the Volt ability. Allied soldiers will have +15% hit chance against enemies that were struck by Volt. | Amplify - marks a single enemy with psionics, causing the target to take +33% extra damage from subsequent attacks. The ability costs 1 Focus point. |
Sergeant | Overcharge - attacks made with Rend have 33% chance to generate Focus points. | Pillar - summons a pillar of psionic energy to act as a High Cover point. The ability costs 1 Focus point. | Stun Strike - allows the Templar to perform an attack that will deal damage to the enemy and knock them back in the direction of the attack. The ability costs 1 Focus point. |
Lieutentant | Deflect - when the Templar has Focus, there is a chance to deflect incoming shots, completely avoiding the damage. | - | Channel - when an enemy dies, it may leave behind Psionic energy the Templar can collect to raise their Focus level. |
Captain | Reflect - When the Templar has two or more Focus, there is a chance to reflect incoming shots back at the attacker, completely avoiding the damage. Requires Deflect. | Invert - Switch locations with an enemy unit. The ability costs 1 Focus point. | Deep Focus - The maximum Focus level is increased to 3. |
Major | Ark Wave - Rend generates a wave of Psionic energy in the direction of the attack. Damage increases with Focus level. | Exchange - Exchange locations with a teammate. The ability costs 1 Focus point. | - |
Colonel | Ionic Storm - Summon lightning to strike all nearby enemies. Costs all Focus points, but generates Focus points with kills. Damage increases with additional accumulated Focus points. | Void Conduit - Trap a humanoid in a Psionic prison, immobilizing them for multiple actions and transferring their health to the Templar. The ability costs 1 Focus point. | Ghost - Create a duplicate of the Templar from the body of a fallen humanoid. The ghost disappears when it loses all focus. The ability costs 2 Focus point.. |
Note - remember that Templars have access to a number of abilities of the rest of the XCOM soldiers (mainly from the Hunter class, but also from the Sharpshooter). More info on that topic can be found in the "Unlocking skills using AP" chapter of this guide.
Ability selection
Some tips that might be helpful when selecting abilities:
- Remember that you can use XCOM AP to unlock additional abilities of this class.
- The Parry ability should be unlocked as quickly as possible. This can be activated once a Templar kills an enemy and will allow the soldier to block the first attack directed at him/her.
- The Volt ability, coupled with the Aftershock upgrade is a perfect way to start an encounter. The ability will deal several points of damage and will mark the enemy (or enemies, if the Templar has more than 1 point of Focus) increasing the hit chance against him (them) by 15%.
- The Pillar ability allows the Templar to create a high cover point at a selected position. This is extremely useful when you've positioned the Templar or any other soldier between multiple enemies.
- The Deep Focus is the ability that you should always unlock. Additional point of Focus will increase the damage of the Templar and will allow him/her to use abilities more often.
- The Ark Wave is a powerful enhancement of the Rend ability. Thanks to that the Templar will be able to attack multiple enemies at the same time. What's more, the shockwave generated by the attack goes through cover.
- The Amplify ability is extremely useful when dealing with durable enemies (Andromedron, Sectopod, Gatekeeper) as it increases all damage those foes take by 33%.