Welcome to the XCOM 2: War of the Chosen web manual.
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XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is the expansion to the 2016 strategy game of the year.
War of the Chosen adds extensive new content in the fight against ADVENT when additional resistance factions form to eliminate the alien threat on Earth. In response, a new enemy known as the “Chosen” emerges with one goal: recapture the Commander of XCOM. The expansion includes new Hero classes to counter the “Chosen”, new enemies, missions, environments and increased depth in strategic gameplay.
This manual covers the new units and gameplay specific to War of the Chosen.
You may also wish to read the XCOM 2 manual, which covers the controls, units and gameplay that apply to both XCOM 2 and War of the Chosen.
Each of The Chosen possesses their own strengths and weaknesses. This means every encounter you have with them will be different from the last. Each Chosen can be encountered multiple times and will grow in power over the course of the game.
The Chosen's strengths and weaknesses are procedurally generated, meaning each time you start a new campaign, each of The Chosen's strengths and weaknesses will differ from the previous campaign.
The Hunter can stalk your troops wherever they are on the map. He can perch in unusual places thanks to his grappling hook and is equipped with a powerful sniper rifle that can fire Tracking Shots, targeting your soldiers wherever they are on the map. He has also been known to toy with his prey, using concussion grenades and tranquilizer shots.
The Warlock is armed with and assault rifle and utilizes a variety of psionic abilities. He can summon a flurry of spectral zombies that rush XCOM soldiers and explode once within range of them. He can also teleport his allies to different locations around the battlefield and manipulate your soldiers using mind control.
The Assassin is a stealth-based melee enemy who, armed with a katana, is deadly at close range. Her beam rifle is equally dangerous and she is equipped with special smoke grenades that can temporarily blind units, limiting their line of sight.
A deadly new alien capable of creating dark copies of your soldiers.
An ADVENT soldier who carries a flamethrower and incendiary grenades.
A psionically-charged ADVENT soldier who provides bonuses to other enemies and can turn your soldiers against you.
Reapers are infiltration specialists and stealth marksmen. With an enhanced concealment mode called “Shadow,” Reapers have greater mobility options over your standard XCOM soldier.
Primary Weapon: Vektor Rifle
Secondary Weapon: Claymore
Skirmishers are offensive powerhouses, capable of dealing with threats whether they are up close or at range. Skirmishers have an integrated grappling hook to scale buildings, but it can also help close the gap between a Skirmisher and its target. Once in close, a Skirmisher may then employ his Ripjack, a wrist-mounted blade, to stab the enemy with deadly force.
Primary Weapon: Bullpup SMG
Secondary Weapon: Ripjack
These rogue warriors wield immense psionic power. Taking out enemies builds a Templar’s “Focus”, which makes their abilities more powerful.
Primary Weapon: Psi blades
Secondary Weapon: Autopistol
Each resistance faction has their own headquarters on the Geoscape. Each provides different benefits when you scan them.
Other resistance factions have missions that they will need support on. Deploy XCOM soldiers on these operations to help the factions hunt the Chosen and receive rewards such as additional soldiers, scientists, engineers, and intel. Covert Actions are managed from the Ring facility on the Avenger.
Each of the factions is able to provide bonuses to either strategy or tactical gameplay. You can only issue a limited number of orders to each faction. Additional order slots can be unlocked by upgrading the Ring facility or through specific Covert Actions. Orders can only be changed at the end of each month.
Soldiers develop relationships over time, but some will grow faster than others depending on how compatible they are. Sending compatible soldiers on missions together will allow their friendships to develop into strong bonds with tactical benefits.
This bond is formed through combat. Soldiers that share this bond gain:
You must first build the Training Center facility on The Avenger for soldiers to reach this bond level. Soldiers that share this bond will gain the following advantages:
Soldiers must work together in the Training Center facility to reach this bond level. Soldiers that share this bond will gain the following advantages:
The Will of your soldiers can now be affected by an expanded set of events on the battlefield. If they are sent on repeated missions with low Will, soldiers become tired and can develop Negative Traits.
Soldiers who are tired can become afraid of specific enemies or actions. These fears can trigger tests of Will, and if the soldier fails they may panic, go berserk, or even obsessively Hunker Down or Reload.
The Chosen prioritize incapacitating units in order to kidnap or extract information from them. When soldiers are dazed by a Chosen, there is still a chance to save them. You can move another soldier to an adjacent tile and click the Revive button to save them.
Customize and pose your soldiers, then add filters, text, and backgrounds to generate your own resistance posters. These appear in-game and can be shared with friends. The Photobooth is accessible in the Armory, as well as at the end of missions.
Utilize the perfect strategy in new regular one-shot community challenges to claim the top spot on the global leaderboard.
Soldiers earn Ability Points in combat. Spend them in the Training Center to give your units additional abilities.
Bondmates can reach Bond Levels 2 and 3 if you assign them to the Training Center.
Coordinate Covert Actions with the other resistance factions.
This facility heals injured soldiers more quickly than the Advanced Warfare Center. If you choose to upgrade this facility, soldiers can get a boost to their Will and Health prior to a mission.
These technologies provide significant strategic and tactical bonuses, but must be researched immediately or they will be lost.
These research projects will take significantly less time to complete if they are started immediately.
The SITREP system dynamically adds new modifiers to the tactical layer to make sure every mission provides a unique challenge. SITREP info is shown as part of the mission details.
War of the Chosen adds additional gameplay options to XCOM 2. They can only be selected when starting a new game. On the main menu, click the New Game button. The Select Difficulty screen will appear. Click the Toggle Advanced Options View button. You can choose from the following:
Every effort has been made to make War of the Chosen as compatible with current hardware as possible. However, if you are experiencing problems when running War of the Chosen, please read on.
The latest version of the FAQs can be found by selecting the FAQs button in the Support tab of the War of the Chosen pre-game Options window (this is the window that opens when you launch the game), or by going straight to the Feral website: http://support.feralinteractive.com
Contacting Feral
If the FAQs and/or updates do not solve your problem, then please feel free to contact us. The following information must be obtained before contacting Feral Technical Support:
All the information required can be obtained by opening War of the Chosen and clicking on the Support tab in the War of the Chosen pre-game Options window. In the Support tab, click on the Generate Report button. Once the report is generated it will appear as a file in your ~/Downloads folder (the “~” symbol refers to your home directory). Now click on the Create Email button. Remember to attach the XCOM 2 WotC Report.txt file to your e-mail.
In your e-mail, please include a brief description of the problem you have experienced with War of the Chosen.
E-Mail: support@feralinteractive.com
If you prefer to speak with a member of the support team, you may call on the following numbers:
North America Callers
Tel: 1-888-997-6752 (Toll Free)
Available between 9.00am and 5.00pm GMT, Monday to Friday.
United Kingdom Callers
Tel: 020 8875 9787
Available between 9.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday.
International Callers
Tel: +44 20 8875 9787
Available between 9.00am and 5.00pm GMT, Monday to Friday.
Outside of these hours, please leave a message with your name, number and the game for which you are seeking support.
Please check the warranty information provided by Steam.