#Xcom 2 covert actions free#

(It doesnвЂ™t replace the existing one where youвЂ™re shot down by a UFO and have to defend вЂ“ itвЂ™s a whole new threat on top of that.)Д«ut, importantly, the three Chosen characters are not working together вЂ“ theyвЂ™re in competition, racing to be the one to defeat XCOM and thus be left in control of Earth by the Elders. Eventually, theyвЂ™ll attack the Avenger in their own special mission type that involves huge cannons trying to destroy the ship on the ground. But if they gather enough Knowledge theyвЂ™ll begin sabotaging the Avenger, and they can start interfering with your Covert Actions (more on those in a moment), potentially resulting in your agents being captured. At first, theyвЂ™ll just attack the regions you control, damaging your income and gaining Knowledge. The Chosen are also active on the strategic world map. (Rescuing a captured soldier requires that you send your troops on a stealth mission.) So many of their attacks donвЂ™t even do damage, but instead inflicts a new вЂњdazedвЂќ status that leaves XCOM soldiers temporarily vulnerable to interrogation вЂ“ or worse, capture вЂ“ if the Chosen can reach them before a teammate can move adjacent to them and snap them out of it.

Unlike the Rulers, the ChosenвЂ™s goal isnвЂ™t to kill soldiers вЂ“ theyвЂ™re trying to disable your troops and interrogate them in order to gain a resource called Knowledge, which will eventually lead them to the Avenger. This makes the Chosen effectively map modifiers, forcing you out of the rut of playing the same way every time even before you engage them in direct combat. Solomon says that in the case of the Hunter youвЂ™ll be warned when youвЂ™re targeted and itвЂ™ll be easy to get out of his line of fire, but that and the WarlockвЂ™s summoning will force you to move and change up the way youвЂ™d have played otherwise. The examples given were the Hunter, who can snipe you from across the map, and the Warlock, who can summon spectral enemies out of the ground. (ItвЂ™s not actually random вЂ“ they each have an agenda behind the scenes.) The Hunter, the Assassin, and the Warlock each have what Solomon calls map behaviors, which means that as soon as you make contact with an enemy on a mission theyвЂ™ll teleport in on the far side of the map and do their best to throw a wrench in your plans. The role of showing up in random missions to ruin your day is now occupied by The Chosen, a trio of blue-skinned, white-haired alien siblings created by the Elders. That means things like reloads or certain special abilities wonвЂ™t trigger them, which should give us a little more room to breathe when in combat.

#Xcom 2 covert actions free#

TheyвЂ™ll also be easier to manage: instead of reacting to every single action any XCOM soldier takes, theyвЂ™ll now only get a free move for an attack or a movement, and even then only if it happens within the RulerвЂ™s line of sight. However, once youвЂ™ve engaged them if they escape theyвЂ™re free to pop up in any other Mission as normal (unless that mission is also invaded by a Chosen). With War of the Chosen installed, youвЂ™ll be notified that certain facilities are guarded by a Ruler they wonвЂ™t come after you until youвЂ™ve voluntarily attacked their hideout at the time of your choosing. Stay with me, because this gets kind of complex.ДЇirst, a big issue for the existing XCOM 2 community: whatвЂ™s to become of the Rulers, the absolutely vicious boss characters introduced in the Alien Hunters DLC? Once the ultimate threat to XCOM, theyвЂ™ve been scaled back and reigned in. What it promises to revamp and layer on top of an already amazing tactical combat game makes me a little bit frightened at how much time IвЂ™m likely to sink into it when it comes out on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 at the end of August. A massive info dump from Creative Director Jake SolomonДЄs you might surmise from the thousands of words of detail below, gleaned from a massive, hour-long info dump from XCOM Creative Director Jake Solomon today, XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is a huge expansion.