Opponents | How to play to win XCOM: Enemy Unknown Guide

Last update: 11 May 2016

Sectoid

The weakest enemy in the game, which will meet in the first challenge. Usually comes in larger groups, often after the injury or the loss of a number of allies runs away. Accuracy of its attacks is small and can only be dangerous to XCOM recruits. Their strongest ability is Mind Merge - psionic power another alien life improves by 1 point and critical strike chance by 25%. But it has a huge flaw: the death of an alien using this power causes the enhanced target to die.

Floater

The second enemy that we will face in the game. In contrast to Sectoids, he is much more aggressive and often charges on positions taken by the XCOM soldiers. His name comes from his ability to float over the battlefield, making the accuracy of the attacks against him be reduced by 20%. In addition, he can make a jump, automatically moving to any point of the battlefield.

Thin Man

Resembling humans, these aliens are extremely fast and have a very good ability to climb - it allows them to shoot our soldiers in the direction you least expect. In addition, they have the ability to spit poison at a distance (this is an area attack!) and after his death they leave behind a cloud of toxins. Most of these aliens meet during the attack on UFOs and various missions commissioned by the council, in particular with the VIP escort.

Muton

Main striking force of the aliens - very resistant to fire, with an impressive firepower. He has the Blood call ability, which allows him to increase the accuracy, speed and willpower of other Mutons. In addition, he is perfectly equipped for battle, and can use either plasma rifles (regular shelling or barrage) and alien grenades (make five points of damage). Responds to the fire with a roar that could inspire panic in soldiers who are mentally weak.

Chryssalid

Fast, strong, ruthless. Most common during the Alien Terror Attack, he can move at long distances and overcome steep hills to hunt down their prey. He attacks with claws that poison enemies, and if he manages to kill a human, he leaves an alien embryo within the corpse. The corpse returns to life as a zombie to soon turn into a new, fully-fledged Chryssalid and start the whole cycle over again. Because of this ability, each such alien should be eliminated first, before the plague can get out of control.

Heavy Floater

More resilient brother of the Floater. Just like his predecessor, he is able to quickly move around the battlefield and float in the air indefinitely. However, he is much more resilient, has better accuracy and can attack XCOM soldiers with grenades. He is one of the biggest risks that they may come across: you can not afford that a Heavy Floater begins a turn next to our soldiers, mainly due to the use of his explosives.

Commander Sectoid

When we first meet him during the attack on the alien base, he will then appear mainly in the UFOs and during the most difficult missions. In contrast to a Sectoid, he is much more resistant to fire, but it's not his strength that is his greatest asset. It can use much more advanced psionic powers than its predecessor: the default Mindfray damage, the Psi Panic that causes panic, and the most dangerous Mind Control. What's worse, Commander Sectoid just loves to take control of XCOM soldiers, so have to kill him as fast as it is possible as soon as we detect him. If the attack is successful, we can regain control over our soldier by killing the alien commander.

Elite Muton

If Mutons have been a problem for us, this aliens will be a nightmare. In general, they can be described as: more of everything. More points of life, greater resistance to fire, larger caliber of weapons. Like his predecessors, he can put the suppression fire and throw grenades over a long distance. Fortunately Muton Elites are quite slow, so do not always have to be eliminated first.

Berserker Muton

The toughest of Mutons, a melee fighter. He can break through walls, has a huge number of hit points and, if he is attacked, he often runs in the direction of the enemy. He is still more dangerous than Chryssalids and he should never be allowed in the vicinity of our soldiers. We should focus on him the fire of the entire team, especially the most powerful character classes: assault and sniper. If you allow him to attack, the soldiers will be killed like flies.

Drone

A small flying robot capable of rapid movement and attacks from the flank. It is poorly armed, so eliminating it should not cause any difficulties. His arrival, however, usually announces troubles, because it often occurs in tandem with...

Cyberdisc

Cyberdisc, an airborne arsenal hidden inside a disc. He shoots accurately, using grenades and inflicting great damage. He can also withstand the fire response. A large number of points of life and increased resistance to critical hits often allow him to eliminate the goal - our soldiers. In addition, he is quite fast and the destruction explodes injuring all around. The only way to fight him is to attack him from a distance and never allow him to arrive to our lines.

Ethereal

The commander of the largest alien ships, a perfect psionic and, unfortunately, very resistant to fire. Like Sectoid Commander, he can use the abilities Mindfray and Mind Control. Unfortunately, this is not the end of his ability. Ethereal is able to attack the soldiers with pure psionic energy: Psi Lance, and use the strongest attack in the game: Rift. He is the number one target. If we meet this alien, we should fall back on pre-determined positions, or try to kill him in one turn. We can not ever let him carefree attacking our soldiers.